Chapter 436: Epilogue (3)

What is it like to be surrounded by a group of prehistoric behemoths?

Most people can’t answer that question, but Lu Yibei feels that if someone were to ask, she might just be able to give an answer.

After her shocking words successfully roused the enthusiasm of the psychics and hauntings to “judge” the Witch, several hauntings-including Grandpa Turtle-whose bodies rivaled those of prehistoric beasts, surrounded her tightly. Their massive shadows overlapped on her, a surge of malice crashing down, the oppressive feeling so strong it was suffocating.

A cold sweat slowly trickled down Lu Yibei’s temple, her eye involuntarily twitching, then she raised her head expressionlessly and said, “E-everyone, don’t get too excited!”

“Well, it’s not like I don’t know, I’m just not sure if the method I have in mind will work.”

“If you don’t mind, I’m actually quite willing to give it a try. What do you all think?”

At her words, the giant beast-like hauntings all turned to look at Grandpa Turtle. Seeing him nod slightly, they finally restrained their anger toward Lu Yibei.

Sensing that the malice from the giant beast brothers surrounding her had diminished considerably, Lu Yibei secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Immediately, her thoughts began to race, searching through her extensive knowledge of occultism for a relatively reliable method.

Her own knowledge and experience were as meager as the figure of an underdeveloped young girl, but the Great Serpent God’s knowledge and experience were quite rich. Averaging the two, she could barely be considered a knowledgeable Witch.

It’s just like saying, “If you add my money to the richest man’s, it’s over a hundred billion.”

Lu Yibei thought to herself, slowly closing her eyes and immersing her consciousness into the Great Serpent God’s knowledge.

In an instant, countless colorful, semi-transparent light spheres appeared before her eyes like hallucinations.

Lu Yibei’s gaze swept over those semi-transparent spheres containing the Great Serpent God’s memories. Accompanied by a wave of dizziness and mental fatigue, fragments of bizarre and peculiar knowledge flooded into her mind.

“How to Claim More Female Snakes During Mating Season”-what the hell is this?

“Three Hundred and Sixty Ways to Shed Skin”-this guy has lived so many years, just what has he been researching?

“Don’t Try to Guess What Humans Are Thinking”…

When Lu Yibei received the Great Serpent God’s knowledge, she took it all in wholesale; useful and useless information was chaotically mixed together. The knowledge completely useless to her made up seventy percent, if not more. Trying to find a way to awaken Gou Meng from all this in a short time was like searching for a needle in a haystack.

This was one of the reasons why, even after her tolerance increased slightly, Lu Yibei hadn’t spent much time deciphering the Great Serpent God’s knowledge.

As time ticked by, seeing Lu Yibei standing motionless with her eyes tightly shut, like she had turned to stone, the psychics and hauntings began to suspect she was just putting on a show to stall for time, their emotions growing restless and uneasy.

At that moment, after exhausting herself mentally and on the verge of giving up from a splitting headache, Lu Yibei finally found a memory in the Great Serpent God’s knowledge about observing a deity from birth to being cooked and eaten by Him.

Got it! “A Close Study of Newborn Deities: From Birth to Belly”-this might actually be useful!

Lu Yibei thought, opened her eyes, and moved closer to Jiang Li, whispering in a voice only the two of them could hear, “I remember, according to The Midnight Tome, if enough people firmly believe in a haunting, the haunting may become real, right?”

“Mm.” Jiang Li responded softly, “According to current records and research… yes.”

“Then do you think, with so many psychics, hauntings, and ordinary people in the eight hundred li around Taoyuan all believing in Gou Meng’s existence, is that enough to help her condense the core entity of the haunting and awaken her?”

Jiang Li froze for a moment, her eyes widening as she looked at Lu Yibei.

[What are you planning? Don’t do anything reckless!]

Lu Yibei gently patted Jiang Li’s shoulder, a gentle smile appearing in her eyes.

[Judging by your reaction, it should be enough. I’ll go try it first.]

Now, isn’t it true that there’s no other way left?

Besides, these psychics and hauntings in Taoyuan aren’t going to let me go so easily, are they?

If I do nothing, I’ll probably get a good beating.

Lu Yibei looked toward the bottom of the massive pit, at the cluster of light radiating a vermilion glow. She straightened her back and walked over, then stopped at the edge of the pit.

According to the Great Serpent God’s observation of that unlucky newborn deity’s memories, the birth of a deity is often accompanied by the emergence of a new power description. Plus, The Midnight Tome records that “when enough people firmly believe in a certain haunting, the haunting may become real”…

Lu Yibei thought that to awaken her pesky little sister, what might be needed was precisely a power description pointing to “Gou Meng,” a haunting that had never existed before.

As for what kind of description would count as pointing to “Gou Meng”…

How would I know? I’ll just wing it!

Lu Yibei grumbled inwardly, took a deep breath, pondered for a moment, then parted her lips and solemnly began to recite.

“Master of the eight-hundred-li Taoyuan, deity of matchmaking…”

Hearing Lu Yibei’s low chant, Grandpa Turtle turned his head to look at her. In his aged, murky, enormous eyes, a strange light flickered.

He felt a thought surfacing in his mind, as if he was about to grasp something important. Just then, Lu Yibei suddenly stopped.

“Go on! Why did you stop?” Grandpa Turtle urged anxiously.

Lu Yibei, “…” Do you think I wanted to stop?

I just couldn’t think of a suitable title to slap on my pesky little sister’s head for a moment.

Lu Yibei pondered for a few seconds. Under Grandpa Turtle’s repeated urging, she reluctantly continued her recitation.

“The in-game purchase deity who misappropriates her familiars’ assets, freeloading off the Calamity’s household for food and drink… mmph-!”

Lu Yibei was suddenly silenced, as Jiang Li covered her mouth from behind.

Lu Yibei turned her head to glance at Jiang Li, [What are you doing? I haven’t finished yet!]

Jiang Li glared fiercely at Lu Yibei, her gaze like a knife ready to carve a piece of flesh from her, [If I let you finish, we’ll all die here today. Look at those guys.]

Lu Yibei frowned and glanced around at the hauntings surrounding the massive pit, her face turning pale.

All around, hundreds of eyes stared at her, gleaming with menace, as if about to spit fire. Under the shroud of shadow, the sounds of claws scraping rock, fists swinging through the air, heavy snorting-strange phenomena filled her ears.

Lu Yibei, “…”

Now the misunderstanding has blown up. They’ll probably kill me, maybe even scatter my ashes.

Meow Meow-chan will probably get a second tombstone as well.

Lu Yibei’s mind raced, searching for a way to handle the situation. The psychics and hauntings were slowly closing in, bringing a terrifying sense of oppression. Just then, Grandpa Turtle suddenly shouted.

“Everyone, calm down! Look at Lady Gou Meng!”

His deep, thunderous voice rolled out. The psychics and hauntings all froze, then turned in unison to look at the bottom of the massive pit. The anger in their eyes was instantly replaced by excitement and fanaticism.

That cluster of vermilion light, which had seemed on the verge of dissipating, had solidified somewhat after Lu Yibei’s rambling, and now pulsed rhythmically, as if something was being nurtured within.

Seeing the psychics and hauntings calm down and stop approaching Lu Yibei, Grandpa Turtle smiled, lowered his huge head, and leaned in beside her, saying, “My friend, although your words just now were somewhat disrespectful to the Patron, I understand why you did it.”

“Let us finish the rest together, shall we? Many among us, both people and hauntings, have been with the Patron for decades or centuries. I believe, in some ways, we know her better than you do.”

“…” Lu Yibei silently looked at Grandpa Turtle and nodded solemnly.

Is there any choice but to agree now?

If I say “no” now, these guys will probably tear me apart and offer me up as a sacrifice to my pesky little sister, Lu Yibei thought.

–

In a realm of chaos.

Gou Meng heard countless voices ringing in her ears-old and young, male and female, gentle and earnest, coming from very far away, their words hard to make out.

However, when she summoned the last bit of strength to listen, those whispers suddenly grew intense.

“Fruit born of the divine tree of Fusang in days past, king of myriad magpies, the one who defies misfortune with money, sovereign of the eight-hundred-li Taoyuan, master of matchmaking and offspring, exalted being who benefits the people with the virtue of wood…”

“…Gou Meng, we call for your arrival!”

“…Gou Meng, we call for your arrival!”

Gou Meng, “…”

What is all this?

It all seems to be about me, but why does it sound so strange?

Unconsciously, she felt that something had changed in her haunting’s core entity, but then again, maybe not.

It just felt a little different from before.

Maybe she had grown just a tiny bit, barely noticeable.

Suddenly, ripples drifted through the chaos, and Gou Meng’s figure began to change.

It was as if the sound of thunder flickered across the distant sky in her mind. In a daze, the scattered, shattered, chaotic, and disordered psychic energy in the chaos surged toward her with every whisper, reuniting and slowly mending the damage to her haunting’s core entity caused by the power shift.

Somewhere unseen, a force appeared out of nowhere, as if dragging something indescribably heavy, pulling her away from the chaos and back into reality.

With every rise, the speed increased, until finally she was darting through the swirling lights and shadows as if flying.

She looked back, and in the darkness behind her, she saw a peach tree born from the same root. Two birds perched on its branches-one was a glossy magpie, and the other was a three-legged crow radiating golden light.

Just as she felt herself about to awaken, the magpie suddenly spread its wings, flew toward her, and gently landed on her shoulder.

She smiled softly and murmured, “Goodbye.”

Then…

Her cheek suddenly felt the cold wind blowing from afar, the rich moisture of melting snow, and the dawn’s first light.

Her true life as “Gou Meng” had officially begun.

–

Deep within Taoyuan, at the bottom of a massive pit.

A woman in a red dress lay sleeping.

Her face was pure white, flawless as if carved from mutton-fat jade, her lips full, and her thick, interlaced lashes like brushes.

Her appearance was almost identical to Gou Meng’s, the only difference being that the original Gou Meng had a seductive yet elegant air, while this woman was more dignified.

“The haunting’s core entity has condensed, her body has recovered-so why hasn’t the Patron awakened yet?” Grandpa Turtle studied Gou Meng for a long time, then looked to Lu Yibei for answers.

“…” Lu Yibei frowned in thought, then said seriously, “Maybe she’s just too tired and needs to rest? But if you really want her to wake up now, I might have a way.”

“What way?” Grandpa Turtle pressed.

Lu Yibei beckoned Grandpa Turtle over, whispered a few words in his ear, and he immediately looked enlightened.

Without hesitation, Grandpa Turtle took a deep breath, activated his psychic energy, and shouted,

“Patron, Patron! Something terrible has happened! Wang Buliuxing, that rascal, somehow got all your game account passwords. He’s destroying your gear, releasing your pets, and using your credits to draw from the standard pool!”

As soon as Grandpa Turtle finished, Gou Meng’s lashes fluttered, then she snapped her eyes open, sprang to her feet, and shouted anxiously, “Stop! Stop! My wife, my husband, my precious money!”

Afterward, she steadied herself and saw the hundreds of psychics and hauntings, including Lu Yibei, all staring at her around the massive pit. Her mouth twitched uncontrollably.

Gou Meng, “…”

Did I just get a new lease on life only to suffer social death immediately?

Damn, this must be one of Lu Yibei’s wicked ideas!

Gou Meng thought fiercely, her gaze slowly shifting to Lu Yibei’s belly, her expression growing twisted…

–

Morning, 8:15. The distant dawn glimmered, illuminating the land around Taoyuan.

Taoyuan Scenic Area, on the third viewing platform near Jin Chan Rock.

Xing Yuan looked at the 358 psychics and hauntings captured last night, all awaiting judgment, and rubbed her aching brow.

So many psychics and hauntings waiting for judgment, and with less than a hundred operators from The Midnight Watchers Society, safely escorting them for trial was definitely a daunting task.

Just as Xing Yuan was struggling with how to solve this problem, a strong yet incredibly soothing psychic energy fluctuation suddenly swept out from deep within Taoyuan, beautiful as if stumbling upon love.

Looking up, above the depths of Taoyuan, under the gloomy sky, a bright ray of light pierced through the clouds, quickly expanding, sharp as a blade, soon breaking through the dark clouds that had shrouded Taoyuan for a month.

Crimson rays rippled like silk across the sky, as if a deity was revealing their miraculous power to all.

“Heh, come back to life, have you?” Xing Yuan chuckled, turned to look at the busy golden horn negotiating with the other operators, and called out, “Golden horn, pass the word-forget about those psychics and hauntings who haven’t been convicted.”

“When we withdraw, just take the major offenders who appeared on the Wanted List in each city.”

Golden horn was stunned, surprised, “Madam Inspector-General, why?”

“Why?” Xing Yuan rolled her eyes at golden horn. “The owner of this land has returned. We’re just the kind-hearted folks who helped catch the thieves-why meddle any further?”

Three days later, inside Chunfeng Residence.

Lu Yibei and Gou Meng sat at a round table, their gazes heavy as they stared at the dark red flesh sealed inside a transparent crystal jar on the table.

“What the hell is this thing?” Lu Yibei asked.

He had come at Gou Meng’s invitation to Chunfeng Residence to confirm whether the fruit knife Crow Slave used to stab Gou Meng was a component of the Pure Lotus Sword, but instead encountered this disgusting thing that made him feel repulsed.

“No idea.” Gou Meng pursed her lips. “But the reason Fuyang’s power revived is all because of it, and…”

“It seems to be very interested in you?”

Interested? Lu Yibei looked at the crystal jar, at the dark red flesh that kept surging toward his direction like some obsessed pervert, his eyes filled with increasing disdain. “I’m definitely not interested in it.”

“You’d better kill it quickly. Keeping something like this around is bound to be a disaster.”

“Good point!” Gou Meng nodded, and as she spoke, she twisted open the seal on the crystal jar.

The moment the seal was undone, the dark red flesh inside the jar began to grow at an unprecedented speed, several times faster than what Gou Meng had seen on the Fusang divine tree.

In the blink of an eye, the dark red flesh sprouted several tentacle-like fleshy horns, shooting toward Lu Yibei.

Seeing this, Lu Yibei’s heart tightened. Caught off guard, those fleshy horns actually touched the skin of his arm.

The next moment, lava-like light flowed over the fleshy horns, and in an instant, a streak of crimson appeared. As the crimson tissue stabilized, the lava-like light appeared again, then crimson, then lava, then crimson, then lava…

Just like that, the dark red flesh, in the process of imitating Lu Yibei’s power, bounced back and forth dozens of times between the two powers, until finally, with a “pop,” it exploded into foul-smelling slime.

Gou Meng, “…”

What just happened? Why did this thing react so violently when it encountered Lu Yibei? And when it tried to imitate his power, it actually… failed?

“Ugh… ugh…”

Splattered all over with the foul slime, Lu Yibei retched as he grabbed a towel to wipe himself down, while asking Gou Meng, “This is disgusting. Is this normal? Ugh…”

“…” Gou Meng didn’t know how to answer Lu Yibei. After a few seconds of silence, she replied blandly, “Yeah, this is pretty much normal.”

“Tch!” Lu Yibei spat in disgust, stood up, and said, “You should stop collecting these weird things. One day you won’t even know how you died!”

“By the way, do you have a place to shower here? I want to wash up. That thing’s slime got all over me, and now I smell like a stinky insole soaked in a can of herring for three days.”

“Uh…” Gou Meng twitched her lips, replying weakly, “No.”

There are top-notch hot springs in Taoyuan, and here I’m washing with tap water. Am I stupid?

“Tch, forget it!” Lu Yibei picked up the fruit knife from the table, stood up, and said, “I’ll head back to the hotel first.”

“I’ll shower when I get back, then it’s about time to leave. Professor Ma booked an afternoon flight.”

With that, he got up and walked out of Chunfeng Residence.

Gou Meng watched Lu Yibei walk away, and just as his figure was about to disappear from Chunfeng Residence, she suddenly remembered something, jumped up, and shouted.

“Hey! Wait a minute!”

Lu Yibei paused, turned around, and pursed his lips. “What is it? Are you going to say you want me to stay and you’ll take care of me? I’ll have to think about that.”

“You wish!” Gou Meng rolled her eyes, annoyed. “I was going to ask if we should renew our ally contract?”

“Is that necessary?” Lu Yibei retorted, raising his hand and giving it a little shake. “Hasn’t it always been here?”

“…” Gou Meng was silent for a moment, then smiled sweetly and gently shook her head.

(End of this volume)