Chapter 422: Just Don’t Run Off!

The sun sank below the horizon, as if heaven and earth had merged together. For a brief moment, the endless valleys of Taoyuan seemed to freeze, the last glimmer of daylight fading at the edge of the sky, everything shrouded in night.

As darkness fell, the flock of Fire Crows that had long lain dormant deep in the valley suddenly grew restless.

“Yaa-yaa-!”

Accompanied by their raucous cries, swarms of Fire Crows burst out from the caves deep within Taoyuan, circling in the sky, tracing scorching paths as if they were about to set the heavens ablaze.

Watching this scene, Ms. Rabbit’s expression grew grave. Soon, a strong wind swept by, and Shu E’s figure landed beside her. She didn’t turn her head, only said lightly, “It’s beautiful, isn’t it…”

Shu E scratched the back of his head, puzzled. “Beautiful? You’re actually here admiring the scenery? I’ve been looking for you forever-there’s big trouble brewing, don’t you know?”

“Just got word: according to the Council of Elders’ assessment, the Fire Crows leaving the cave where the Fusang divine tree is means that the monster with Fuyang’s power is about to fully awaken-estimated in three to five hours.”

“And the Council of Elders said, if necessary, we can give up on acquiring Fuyang and Gou Meng’s powers. After all, the main mission of this trip has already been completed by another squad member.”

Ms. Rabbit turned around with a dark face, rolling her eyes at the clueless Shu E, snapping, “I got it.”

The Eclipse Society has nearly a hundred subordinate organizations, big and small, with a dozen or so forming sizable groups. Though these organizations share the same belief and all answer to the Council of Elders, they aren’t necessarily close with each other.

If, besides her and Shu E, there were other members of Eclipse Society’s subordinate organizations who had infiltrated Taoyuan and completed the Council’s assigned task, Ms. Rabbit wouldn’t be surprised at all.

The Eclipse Society always prefers saturation deployment.

Shu E seemed to catch her displeasure from her face and pressed, “You don’t look too happy?”

“…” Ms. Rabbit’s eyes brightened slightly, then she nodded. “A bit.”

“Oh, then hang in there. We can’t ignore the Council of Elders, right?”

Ms. Rabbit stared at Shu E for a few seconds, sighing silently. “I really wonder what goes on in your head all day.”

“You can’t think with your heart, only your brain. The heart’s all muscle, only the brain does the thinking,” Shu E said earnestly.

Ms. Rabbit, “…”

–

Chunfeng Residence.

Jiang Li and Gou Meng sat in the main hall, each on the chair furthest from the other, staring intently at one another. One’s gaze was cold with a hint of mockery, the other’s eyes held a trace of amusement, like an elder watching a junior.

They’d been locked in this silent standoff for over ten minutes now. Where their gazes met, psychic energy faintly collided, emitting a subtle, almost imperceptible hum.

During this time, Jacket had nearly bolted in terror from the two ladies several times, only to be forcibly held in place by Lu Yibei using the familiars’ mark.

Granted, in this situation, honesty really is a good way to solve problems-but not physical honesty!

I’m your master-if we die, we die together!

Jacket, “…”

,,Ծ‸Ծ,,

Sandwiched between the two, Lu Yibei shrank her head, feeling the terrifying pressure hidden in the silence, like a death row inmate awaiting the guillotine. The burning pain in her eyes was no less than when she’d stared directly at the Haze Deity before.

So… the threat from having these two meet is no less than being listed ninth on The Midnight Watchers Society’s national Wanted List for terrifying hauntings?

No, no, how could Meow Meow-chan ever hurt me? And my pesky little sister probably isn’t that petty…

Lu Yibei thought, raising her hand to rub her throbbing brow, sneaking a glance at Gou Meng and Jiang Li through her fingers.

The two remained silent.

Lu Yibei, “…”

Damn it, say something! If not, just fight already.

Just staring like this-what is this supposed to be?

If this keeps up, even if my heart holds out, my eyesight won’t.

Just as Lu Yibei was getting anxious, Jiang Li’s gaze shifted from Gou Meng to her, revealing the classic “Meow Meow-chan” scary smile.

Though the lighting in the room hadn’t changed, her face seemed shadowed, her pupils darkening considerably.

Here it comes-Jiang Li’s signature death stare!

[I was pretty cold on the way here.]

“…”

Reading Jiang Li’s meaning from her eyes, Lu Yibei was momentarily speechless, tentatively sending back a look.

[Want me to warm you up?]

Jiang Li’s gaze drifted to Lu Yibei’s collar, gently shaking her head.

[No need, I can’t fit in there.]

[Let me explain! It’s just that I couldn’t beat her, so I…]

[No need to explain, I get it. Why are you so flustered? Or is it that I interrupted your date with the King of Hauntings in Taoyuan, and now you feel like you’ve been caught cheating?]

Jiang Li shot Lu Yibei a look, then glanced subtly at Gou Meng.

With both magpie and human forms, a stable and pure psychic energy fluctuation, and aside from some age discrepancies between her appearance and The Midnight Watchers Society’s files, Jiang Li had guessed Gou Meng’s identity almost instantly.

And for Lu Yibei to survive the Dream Come True Journey and fight her way back was proof enough of her strength. If she wasn’t lying, anyone capable of absolutely suppressing her wouldn’t be ordinary. Narrowing down the possibilities, Jiang Li grew more certain of her guess.

[How did you know she was Gou Meng?]

[Of course I analyzed it. Impressed? [heart emoji]]

Lu Yibei was stunned for a moment, feeling a bit lost.

She’d thought Jiang Li would be furious after seeing Gou Meng try to crawl into her clothes at the door. She’d even prepared to use her wits to muddle through, as long as she could keep her life.

But…

Isn’t this reaction a bit too calm, too rational?

Is she a robot?

Emmm… robot girlfriend? That actually sounds kind of exciting? Lu Yibei thought secretly.

As Lu Yibei pondered, Jiang Li gazed at her face, briefly lost in thought.

To say she wasn’t angry at all would be a lie.

But in her view, liking someone doesn’t mean making him cut off all contact with other women and then beating her chest to prove loyalty.

Some things, if he wants to say them, when the time is right, he’ll say them himself and won’t regret it. As for everything that happens along the way, as long as you face it calmly, it’s fine.

Moreover, now is not the time for romance anyway. It’s not impossible to deal with Lu Yibei properly later.

Yes, that’s right. Jiang Li is a girl who cares about the bigger picture, but she’s also especially petty.

“Bang-!”

As Jiang Li was thinking, a muffled sound of someone slapping the table interrupted her thoughts.

Gou Meng couldn’t take it anymore. She slapped the table, jumped down from her chair, puffed out her cheeks, pouted, and quickly walked over to Lu Yibei.

It’s clearly a story for three people, so why am I the only one who doesn’t get a name?

You two are exchanging glances over there, like you’re doing some kind of encrypted communication. Are you completely ignoring me?

So what if you have a romance!

As half a deity of romance, Gou Meng actually knows a lot about this elusive thing. If two people can communicate just with their eyes, even if it hasn’t reached the level of welding the red string of fate into iron chains, at the very least, there are two or three dead knots tied.

Although I’m limited by my power and can’t curse your romance, no matter what, you two won’t get the blessing of me, currently a half, but soon to be a complete, deity of romance. Bastards! Gou Meng thought fiercely.

“Big sister, who is she really? She looks so fierce. Does she hate me? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

Gou Meng tugged at Lu Yibei’s sleeve, gently shaking it, her pair of emerald green eyes looking up at her pitifully, unblinking.

“Even though you said you’ve been wanting to talk to me for a long time and that you must say it today, but in this situation… Sigh, maybe I should just go? I don’t want you two to fight because of me.”

Lu Yibei held her forehead, “…”

Damn! Where did this green tea pesky little sister come from?

You’re dead set on messing with me today, aren’t you? Lu Yibei thought.

“We’re not fighting because of you, and you don’t need to leave.” Jiang Li looked at Gou Meng calmly and said, “Weren’t you two going to talk about something? Time should be tight, right? If you have something to say, just say it quickly.”

Hearing this, Gou Meng was stunned for a moment, then rolled her eyes and spat lightly, “Tch! Boring!”

She originally thought this was just a big-breasted, brainless, seductive vixen and wanted to tease her, but didn’t expect her to be so high-level?

But…

Why is it that even though I just wanted to tease them, I feel a strange sense of defeat?

Like I lost something…

Damn, I really feel a bit unwilling!

Gou Meng thought, clenching her fists, then slowly relaxing them, before swaggering over to sit in the center of the main hall, her gaze calmly sweeping over Jiang Li and landing on Lu Yibei.

“Then I’ll just say it directly? I don’t need to avoid her, right…”

“Meow Meow-chan.” Lu Yibei introduced blankly, “I… met her online, uh, a best friend, yes, the kind you can’t kill even for extra money, n-no need to avoid her.”

Although the burning sensation in her eyes had quietly faded, even now, she still felt like she was dreaming.

They were about to fight just now, and she thought that tonight, one of the three of them would have to die, and it would most likely be her.

Online friend? You’re even doing online dating now? Aren’t you afraid of being scammed? Gou Meng’s mouth twitched, but she continued, “Then I’ll get straight to the point!”

“What you suggested, having me send some people to pretend to be various invading forces with you, infiltrate the enemy, give false information to confuse them, muddy the waters, and then fish in troubled waters, is indeed feasible.”

“But there’s still a problem. I can’t give you too many people for support. If, while misleading those guys, too many of them gather by accident and a direct conflict breaks out, I’m afraid we won’t be able to deal with them quickly, and those people will just get bogged down, wasting combat power for nothing.”

“…” Lu Yibei opened her mouth, organizing her words, about to say something to Gou Meng, when she heard Jiang Li interject in a cool tone, “I have a way for that.”

As she spoke, she turned to look at Lu Yibei, “If you can lure those members of the illegal psychic ability organizations to a fixed location, I can guarantee that none of them will come back.”

After speaking, she subtly sent a message to Lu Yibei with her eyes.

[According to reliable sources, the initiator of this operation is The Midnight Watchers Society inspector Xing Yuan, and she’s also leading the team. [heart emoji]]

Lu Yibei nodded in response.

[Yeah, I got it.]

If it’s Godmother, she should be able to pretend not to know about me and the pesky little sister.

As long as we act well enough when the time comes, it’ll be fine.

I’m just kindly leading everyone to sneak into Taoyuan to make a fortune, and on the way, we run into The Midnight Watchers Society’s army ambushing us. You can’t blame me for that, right? If you want to blame someone, blame bad luck!

The only problem is, I originally wanted to package those guys up and sell them on that Void kid’s website, but if I have to cooperate with The Midnight Watchers Society now, I probably won’t be able to sell many.

Lu Yibei thought, then looked at Gou Meng and said seriously, “But there’s still a key problem: how do we gain their trust? Just relying on the tokens I took from the guys I knocked out probably won’t be enough to win everyone over.”

Gou Meng raised her eyebrows slightly and said, “That’s easy. I’ll tell you a secret later that’ll be enough to make them all flock to you, won’t that do?”

“Wouldn’t that…” Lu Yibei frowned, hesitating.

Those guys are already after Gou Meng. If we leak even more secrets to them, won’t Gou Meng be in even more trouble?

“Are you stupid? It’s just a secret that’s seventy percent true and thirty percent fake.” Gou Meng rolled her eyes. “Even if they sense something’s off, with the lure of profit, they won’t figure it out right away.”

“In that case, actually, I can also provide a little help.” Jiang Li interjected, glancing nonchalantly at her own back.

Noticing Jiang Li’s movement, Lu Yibei, who had almost given her a full-body essential oil massage and seen her back up close, immediately understood.

She has the Eclipse Society totem on her body. Although after years of suppression, the totem on her back has almost lost its effect, it’s still very useful for pretending to be a member of the Eclipse Society.

“This…” Lu Yibei looked at Jiang Li, then at Gou Meng, frowning, “This was my dumb idea in the first place, but now you two are the ones taking the risks. I really feel a bit embarrassed.”

Hearing this, Jiang Li and Gou Meng exchanged a glance, nodded, as if reaching some kind of consensus in an instant, then looked at Lu Yibei together and said in unison, “Just don’t run away when the time comes!”

Lu Yibei, “…”

Damn! Why are you suddenly teaming up to bully me? Is this women’s friendship?

Is this how you see me?

I still have a whole car full of Paper Cicada Immortals outside. There’s no way I’d run before they explode! Lu Yibei thought firmly.

Uh, after they explode, that’s another story.