Chapter 435: Epilogue (2)

“You are under arrest! Surrender immediately or you will be killed on the spot!”

With a loud shout, fifteen operators from The Midnight Watchers Society, including Jiang Li, simultaneously revealed the Death Owl Emblem on their chests and charged down the hillside within a few breaths.

Before chaos could spread among the large group of Illegal psychics and hauntings, the operators of The Midnight Watchers Society pounced like a pack of wolves on the hunt.

After the three major hauntings-Luo Hua Dong Nu Qiao Lian, Crimson Upright Saw Gaspar, and Person in the Shadow-fell, the psychics and hauntings gathered near the Taoyuan Bridge were almost all a disorderly mob trying to sneak into Taoyuan to loot amidst the chaos. Whether in cooperation or strength, they were far inferior to the elite operators of The Midnight Watchers Society who had responded to the Crimson Owl signal and rushed to support.

In the first thirty seconds after the operators of The Midnight Watchers Society charged into the crowd (of hauntings), there were still psychics and hauntings attempting to resist, with the Miracle Order followers being the most intense, making the scene extremely chaotic for a moment.

However, as time passed, the suppressive power of the operators gradually became apparent. From initial suppression to a sweeping, overwhelming cleanup, it took less than three minutes.

As one Illegal psychic and haunting after another fell, the operators of The Midnight Watchers Society took out one after another button-sized standardized psychic artifact called the [Thousand-Mechanism Lock], activating them with psychic energy fluctuations to form sealing spell formation shackles, skillfully capturing them alive.

“……”

Several Miracle Order followers who had already crossed the broken bridge and were closing in on Lu Yibei heard the commotion behind them, glanced back at the operators of The Midnight Watchers Society, then looked at Lu Yibei ahead, exchanged glances, chose to believe in miracles, and continued to charge forward.

“Brothers and sisters, don’t be afraid! The light of miracles protects us! If she can’t stop us, we win!”

Lu Yibei, “……” Another “if.” You might as well rename yourselves the “If Order.”

Next, the neighing of a horse came from behind.

A lithe white figure burst from the crowd, nimbly tapped several times on the broken bridge piers, leapt over the broken bridge, and with iron hooves trampling, instantly sent a Miracle Order follower flying under his astonished gaze.

In the next moment, before the other Miracle Order followers could react, Jiang Li swung the nearly four-meter-long blade in her hand. The blade flashed like a shadow, avoiding vital points, and left a bloody mark on each of them.

Then…

The Spirit Pattern unfolded, Hydra’s toxin was released, and the blood gushing from the wounds of several Miracle Order followers instantly turned a purplish-black hue.

Several screams rang out almost simultaneously as the Miracle Order followers convulsed and collapsed one after another.

Clearly, the miracle had not descended upon them.

Seeing this, Lu Yibei felt a surge of joy and fiercely growled at the Miracle Order member who had fallen before her, “Serves you right! Let’s see if you dare do these illegal things again!”

“Hey! You still dare glare at me, you bastard?”

Lu Yibei looked at Jiang Li and said seriously, “Leader sis, hurry up and cuff him, I’m scared!”

“That’s him! He was just spreading some deadly cult theory, trying to recruit people. I saw it with my own eyes.”

“……” Jiang Li looked at Lu Yibei, silently took out a Thousand-Mechanism Lock.

“Ding-!”

A soft sound as the Thousand-Mechanism Lock was activated.

“Good job cuffing him! People like this should-” Lu Yibei was halfway through her sentence when she felt a tightness around her wrist, paused in confusion, and looked at Jiang Li in bewilderment. “Wait, leader, why are you cuffing me? I’m a really good person!”

“……”

Jiang Li glanced sideways at Lu Yibei’s twisted and deformed right ankle, then at the wound on her back still bleeding, a trace of concern flashing in her eyes before quickly returning to calm.

“A good person? Heh!”

“Wait, wait!” Lu Yibei exclaimed, “Leader of The Midnight Watchers Society, what do you mean by this?”

Jiang Li raised her hand and gently removed her faceplate, rolling her eyes at Lu Yibei. “It means you’re under arrest.”

Lu Yibei’s eye twitched, and she said aggrievedly, “Come on, officer, I didn’t do anything!”

Jiang Li looked at Lu Yibei calmly. “You are suspected of damaging public facilities, killing dozens of suspects not yet convicted, and abusing psychic energy in public, causing psychic energy residue pollution and seriously endangering public safety.”

“But…”

Jiang Li’s icy gaze softened, her tone shifting, “Considering you’re injured, you’ll be sent for treatment first.”

Lu Yibei, “……”

I see, so you just want to force me to get treatment?

Ugh, I didn’t expect Meow Meow-chan to be into handcuffs. Just thinking about it is kind of embarrassing.

As Lu Yibei thought this, she discreetly gave Jiang Li a look.

[Now’s not the time for treatment, I still have things to do!]

Jiang Li glanced at her busy colleagues on the other side of the broken bridge and responded with a look.

[You’re this badly hurt and still want to stir up trouble?]

Lu Yibei sighed silently and looked deep into Taoyuan.

Although Gou Meng had repeatedly assured her that her plan would succeed, several hours had passed since the city barrier bombardment, and there had been no movement on that end. She couldn’t help but worry and wanted to go deeper into Taoyuan to check on the situation.

Jiang Li saw through Lu Yibei’s thoughts and shook her head helplessly.

[Then I’ll go too. (heart emoji)]

Lu Yibei frowned slightly.

[That might not be a good idea.]

Isn’t this like bringing a paladin into the demon king’s lair and planning to chat and laugh with the demon king?

It’s not that Lu Yibei didn’t trust Gou Meng, she just didn’t trust Gou Meng’s familiars.

Even if Gou Meng’s familiars wouldn’t hurt Jiang Li, seeing an operator from The Midnight Watchers Society enter Taoyuan, they’d definitely throw rotten eggs and vegetable leaves or something.

Jiang Li looked at Lu Yibei, then at the operators behind her, and gave Lu Yibei a look.

[If you don’t act with me, do you really think you can slip away from them in your current state?]

Although Lu Yibei had participated in the previous operation to intercept and kill members of illegal psychic organizations, and had even slain three notorious major hauntings, she was, after all, a haunting herself-a highly unstable factor-and she had blown up the Taoyuan Bridge.

Even if, in the end, her merits offset her faults and The Midnight Watchers Society let her off, before that, if given the chance, the Society’s operators would still capture her first and wait for the verdict.

In fact, dirty deals like those between Lu Yibei and Xing Yuan weren’t unheard of between The Midnight Watchers Society and hauntings, but they were always conducted in secret; if brought to light, it would be a serious violation.

“……”

Man is the knife, I am the fish-who knows what might happen.

Even though my principles are already at rock bottom, if I fall into the hands of The Midnight Watchers Society and get tortured, I might just break through that bottom without meaning to.

After pondering for a moment, Lu Yibei looked into Jiang Li’s eyes and nodded, then walked to her side, swung herself onto the horse, and wrapped one arm around her waist.

“Let’s go!”

Seeing Lu Yibei mount so skillfully, Jiang Li’s body stiffened for a moment, her cheeks flushed briefly, and she hesitated to speak. After a moment, she turned and called out softly to the busy operators of The Midnight Watchers Society.

“Everyone, there’s a seriously injured suspect here who needs immediate treatment. I’ll take her and leave first.”

With that, iron hooves thundered, and their figures swept away like the wind.

–

“…Twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five…”

Lu Yibei sat cross-legged on the “horse’s back,” counting the spoils from intercepting hauntings on the Taoyuan Bridge, her eyes gleaming with the light of a miser.

The fifty-nine psychics and hauntings she’d captured alive had all been taken away by the arriving operators of The Midnight Watchers Society. What remained were twenty-seven low-tier haunting core entities; after setting aside two for healing her coat, she still had twenty-five left, plus three Class A Haunting core entities…

After this haul, she’d nearly gathered all the funds needed for the Completion Potion. Next, she just had to figure out how to buy the materials-after all, according to Fat Master, some ingredients were hard to get even with money.

Thinking about it, if the stories of nearly a hundred hauntings and psychics were made into a horror series, it’d probably take over a hundred episodes.

In other words, “Gu Qianqian” killed off an entire TV show’s worth of people?

Tsk tsk, what a sinful woman-truly ruthless! Lu Yibei thought.

After tallying her gains, Lu Yibei suddenly remembered something and lightly patted Jiang Li’s back, speaking slyly, “Leader, as the main operator of Hua City, are you interested in a little cooperation?”

“…” Jiang Li glanced at Lu Yibei out of the corner of her eye, saying nothing.

“Don’t ignore me!” Lu Yibei continued, “Look, Gou Meng’s fall attracted so many reckless fools. If the King of Hauntings in Hua City fell, wouldn’t that lure in a bunch of idiots too?”

“How about this: I’ll play dead and spread rumors, Hua City’s Midnight Watchers Society will handle the ambush and arrests, and when we get the spoils, we split them fifty-fifty. What do you think?”

Although Jiang Li was long used to Lu Yibei’s constant scheming, when it came to the order of Hua City, it was out of the question.

Besides, this kind of entrapment operation would be extremely dangerous for the King of Hauntings being used as bait.

“Aren’t you afraid that Hua City’s Midnight Watchers Society might collude with those psychics and the Society’s insiders to take out the city’s biggest unstable factor-you?”

Lu Yibei, “……”

–

Deep within Taoyuan, a large number of hauntings and psychics were gathering around the massive pit where Gou Meng lay.

It had only been about four hours since Tang City’s city barrier entered its cooldown phase.

The Midnight Watchers Society had issued a Crimson Owl signal and began operations around Tang City; the news quickly spread through various illegal channels, just as the news of Gou Meng’s impending fall had spread rapidly.

With the Society’s intervention, aside from a few desperate outlaws, those hoping to fish in troubled waters began to back off in the face of the Society’s and Taoyuan’s subordinate ambushes.

As of half an hour ago, the number of illegal psychic organization members, solitary psychics, and hauntings trying to sneak into Taoyuan had clearly started to decrease, giving the psychics and hauntings guarding Taoyuan a chance to catch their breath.

However, this peace and stability would be short-lived. If Gou Meng didn’t wake up soon, then before The Midnight Watchers Society could dispatch enough suitable operators to guard the area, the eight hundred li surrounding Taoyuan, now without its King of Hauntings, would remain chaotic for quite some time.

Whenever Mao Sanyou thought of hauntings rampaging around Tang City, he almost wanted to be an unfilial son and break the promise he’d made to his father on his deathbed.

“Da-da-da-da-!”

The sound of hooves came from afar. Mao Sanyou looked in the direction of the sound and saw Lu Yibei and Jiang Li.

When the two arrived deep within Taoyuan, a crowd of psychics and hauntings had already gathered in front of the massive pit where Gou Meng lay.

After hours of fierce battle, all of them bore injuries of varying degrees; some even had to rely on their companions for support just to barely stand steady.

These psychics and hauntings had either received favors from Gou Meng or were themselves residents of Taoyuan. Some were old, some young, some ugly, some beautiful, some fat, some thin. Some looked like elite professionals, others like rural farmers, and there were even those who looked like toddlers just weaned.

And these psychics and hauntings, so different in origin, appearance, and age, had all, at this moment, gathered by the edge of the abyss-like pit because of Gou Meng, lowering their heads to gaze into its depths.

It was as quiet as the final moment of silence at a funeral, the farewell to the deceased, making Lu Yibei feel the urge to pick up the suona after so long and play a tune as a token of respect.

She frowned as she climbed down from Jiang Li’s back, spotted Mao Sanyou beneath Grandpa Turtle’s massive body, and limped over awkwardly. She nudged him with her elbow and asked in a low voice, “Hehe, what’s going on? Why does everyone look like their mother just died?”

“Did the pesky little sister fail and not make it through? That can’t be, right? Isn’t there still light coming from below? I think she could still be saved.”

“Ahem!” Mao Sanyou cleared his throat awkwardly and whispered, “The situation is a bit complicated right now. Auntie could be considered to have succeeded, but also failed.”

“Huh? What kind of ‘good, but kind of rotten’ way of putting things is that? What nonsense phrasing is that?” Lu Yibei couldn’t help but complain, then pressed, “So is she dead or alive?”

“She’s both alive… and dead,” Mao Sanyou said.

“…” Lu Yibei pondered Mao Sanyou’s words, propped her chin with one hand, nodded seriously, and said, “So, the pesky little sister went from being a plant to a vegetable, right?”

As soon as she finished speaking, all the psychics and hauntings around, including Grandpa Turtle, gave Lu Yibei strange looks.

Under those scorching gazes, filled with either disgust or simmering anger, Jiang Li felt as if facing a formidable enemy. She gripped her long blade tightly, stepped forward, and shielded both Lu Yibei and herself.

Wasn’t someone just saying it might be dangerous for me to come here? Now it seems she’s the real danger, Jiang Li thought helplessly.

Seeing this, Mao Sanyou hurriedly grinned apologetically at the psychics and hauntings, signaling them to calm down, then turned to Lu Yibei and explained in detail what had happened to Gou Meng.

Jiang Li listened to Mao Sanyou’s explanation from the side, pondered for a few seconds, and said, “Hmm, the situation really does sound a bit troublesome! It’s kind of like the Ship of Theseus, isn’t it?”

“What’s that?” Lu Yibei asked, bewildered.

“It’s a paradox of identity,” Jiang Li explained. “If the wood on Theseus’s ship is gradually replaced until none of the original wood remains, is it still the same ship?”

“Now, aside from the name, Gou Meng’s psychic energy and core entity have both transformed. Is she still the same Gou Meng as before? That’s up for debate.”

As Jiang Li finished, the malice in the eyes of the surrounding psychics and hauntings grew even stronger.

Mao Sanyou, “…”

Are you two here to stir up trouble?

At a time like this, can’t you say something nice?

If everyone decides to kill you two later, I won’t be able to stop them! Mao Sanyou thought, quietly putting a little distance between himself and Lu Yibei to avoid being caught in the crossfire.

“She has to be the same Gou Meng as before!” Lu Yibei thought for a moment, then said earnestly, “How can you compare a ship and a haunting?”

“Even though her original body was destroyed and her power changed, her soul is still the same soul, her memories are still the same memories, and nothing she’s done has changed in the slightest.”

On this point, I have personal experience… Lu Yibei silently added in her heart.

She knew very well that after swallowing The Witch’s Egg, her body was no longer the same as before, and she had two additional haunting powers inside her. Yet everything she had experienced remained undiminished; she always felt she was still the original Lu Yibei.

No doubt!

Uh… it’s just that now she had a bunch of messy new titles, but that didn’t change who she was! Lu Yibei thought.

“And another thing…” Lu Yibei lifted her head, sweeping her gaze over the psychics and hauntings gathered by the giant pit, and said something shocking, “Are you all brain-dead or what?”

Mao Sanyou, “!!!”

Jiang Li, “…”

For a moment, Jiang Li and Mao Sanyou almost wanted to disassociate themselves from her and walk away.

“You want to use the powers of Gou Mang and Shao Siming to awaken the pesky little sister? Of course that would harm her! She was never Gou Mang or Shao Siming, was she?”

“Think carefully, who was it that once protected and helped you? Was it Gou Mang? Was it Shao Siming? No, right? Because the one who protected and helped you was Gou Meng!”

“Yeah, that’s right! It was just Gou Meng, no one else!”

As Lu Yibei finished, the psychics and hauntings at the edge of the giant pit all fell silent, deep in thought.

They felt Lu Yibei made some sense, but…

“But…” After a long silence, Grandpa Turtle lowered his massive head and asked Lu Yibei very seriously, “Then what do you think we should do to awaken the Patron?”

Lu Yibei pondered for a few seconds, straightened her back, and replied confidently, “No idea!”

I was just following the usual story routine with a bit of trash talk. Honestly, I thought the pesky little sister would wake up halfway through my speech! Lu Yibei grumbled inwardly.

“…”

The psychics and hauntings who had just forgiven her suddenly wanted to kill her even more at that moment…