Chapter 449: Peering from Underground

In the family quarters of Hua City University of Technology, rows of half-old, half-new buildings built at the turn of the century stood neatly in line.

At noon at the end of August, the weather still carried a trace of summer’s lingering heat.

After lunch, on both sides of the main road in the neighborhood, under the shade of the street trees, more and more elderly people gathered, fanning themselves, playing chess, and playing cards to cool off.

Nanling Rao Hua was good-looking and warm-hearted, deeply loved by the elderly in the compound. Together with Lu Yibei, the son of Wang Meili, who was a legendary figure in the compound, the two of them always drew a round of gossip and warm greetings from the elders.

“Ah-Hua, thank you so much for last time. The lamp you helped me buy online is bright and energy-saving,” a kindly old lady smiled at Nanling Rao Hua.

“There’s nothing to thank me for, Grandma Zhang. It’s what I should do. If your lamp breaks again next time, just call me anytime!”

“Ah-Hua, you were right. That group selling health products really were scammers. My friend Old Xie spent over ten thousand yuan on those health products, and his son took them to get tested. Guess what? The main ingredient turned out to be sweet potato flour. Old Xie was so angry he had a stroke.”

“Is that so?” Nanling Rao Hua pursed her lips. “Grandpa He, you don’t know, using sweet potato flour is already considered having a conscience. At least it won’t kill anyone, right? Haha!”

“Ah-Hua, when are you going to marry Yibei? This old man hasn’t been feeling well lately. You two need to hurry up. I still want to live to drink your wedding wine!” An old man playing chess looked up and asked.

“Uh…” Nanling Rao Hua’s cheeks flushed, and she was momentarily speechless.

“You just know how to spout trash talk!” Another old man playing chess scolded. “They’re about to be college students. A student’s job is to study. Why talk about marriage now?”

“Ah-Hua, don’t listen to Old Wang’s nonsense. If he can’t live to drink your and Yibei’s wedding wine, that’s just his bad luck!”

“Checkmate!”

“Hmm?” The old man who spoke turned to look at the chessboard, stunned. “Wait, Old Wang, did you switch my pieces? Your horse was clearly blocked just now. How did it jump here?”

“Stop talking nonsense. This is the White Dragon Horse. It can cross even the Eagle Sorrow Ravine!”

“Then…” The old man picked up his general piece and crossed half the board to capture the other old man’s general. “I’m Sun Wukong!”

“…”

Watching the two old men bicker, turning chess into some kind of duel card game where winning depended entirely on talking, Lu Yibei and Nanling Rao Hua exchanged a glance, nodded at each other in unison, and then, as if escaping, ran off toward Building Five of the neighborhood.

If they didn’t slip away now, it would be too late. At this rate, the two old men would soon drag them in as referees.

A moment later, in the stairwell of Unit 1, Building Five, on the third floor.

Nanling Rao Hua looked up at the stairs leading upward and raised her eyebrows at Lu Yibei. “Want me to walk you up?”

“Come on…” Lu Yibei shook his head. “Heroine, I just had some insomnia last night and am a bit frazzled, that’s all. I’m not at the point of needing someone to take care of me. Don’t worry.”

“Just go home, take a hot shower, drink some milk, and get some sleep. You’ll be fine.”

“Alright, then you go home and get some rest too!” Nanling Rao Hua patted Lu Yibei on the shoulder, took out her keys as she spoke, and continued, “If you need anything, call me anytime. I’ll come up.”

“Yeah, you have a spare key anyway.” Lu Yibei nodded.

With that, he waved at Nanling Rao Hua and headed upstairs.

Nanling Rao Hua took out her key to open the door but didn’t go in right away. Instead, she stood in the stairwell, watching Lu Yibei leave. Only when his figure disappeared from sight did she sigh and go inside.

—-

Lu Yibei dragged his tired body up to the fifth floor, took out his key to open the door, and called softly into the house, “I’m back.”

Saying “I’m back” upon returning home was a rule set by Wang Meili in her early years. She said it was to prevent the day she brought an “uncle” home and got caught by Lu Yibei, which might traumatize his young heart.

Although that was just Wang Meili’s trash talk, and she had never brought any outsider home in over a decade, the rule had subtly become a habit for Lu Yibei.

After waiting a moment and hearing no response from inside, Lu Yibei slowly changed into slippers and walked toward his room. As soon as he entered, he collapsed onto the bed like a corpse.

He’d had strange dreams all night yesterday, leaving him utterly exhausted, but now that he was really lying in bed, he felt afraid.

He was afraid that as soon as he closed his eyes, that bizarre dream would appear before him again.

“Ring–!”

The bell rang once. Lu Yibei took out his phone and glanced at it. It was a message from Nanling Rao Hua.

Nanling Rao Hua: “This weekend, high school graduation dinner. I’ve already replied to the homeroom teacher for you. Remember to come!”

Lu Yibei: “……”

The college entrance exam had just ended. As the former class monitor, he should have been the one to organize this graduation dinner, but nearly two months had passed and he hadn’t done anything.

In a person’s life, with every graduation, some familiar and close people turn away and are never seen again.

Lu Yibei wasn’t cold by nature; he just couldn’t stand those parting scenes.

Before everyone went their separate ways, gathering for food and drink, holding a farewell ceremony, classmates taking turns raising their glasses and choking out a few heartfelt words-just thinking about it made Lu Yibei feel like he was attending someone’s funeral.

But now, since someone else had organized the dinner for him, it seemed he couldn’t escape.

Lu Yibei: “Alright, I’ll definitely go. That’s it, okay? I’m going to sleep for a bit.”

After replying, Lu Yibei tossed his phone aside, lay on his back staring at the ceiling, and after who knows how long, finally drifted off to sleep.

On the other side, in the boudoir of Nanling Rao Hua.

After reading Lu Yibei’s reply, she put down her phone, sat in silence for a while, grabbed the Storm Battle Axe plushie by her bedside, angrily pounded the bedboard, then raised her pillow and buried her head in it, letting out a series of muffled growls, her feet kicking the air uncontrollably.

She had always had a straightforward temper; even when dating Lu Yibei, she preferred being direct to coy, acting more like a skilled swordsman.

But ever since last night, or perhaps even earlier-about half a month ago-she gradually realized that Lu Yibei seemed a bit different from before.

It was as if he’d put on a heart-protecting mirror and donned anti-stab armor, making it impossible for her to get close.

This sense of distance was strange; clearly, they were just less than ten meters apart, upstairs and downstairs, still chatting online, yet it felt like he was thousands of miles away…

—-

When it came to finding people, Gu Qianqian was an expert.

With the skills she’d honed over years of searching for people, though not enough to find her uncle’s family who’d vanished into thin air, it wasn’t too hard for her to track down Lu Yibei.

Although almost everyone in this city couldn’t see her current state, which posed quite an obstacle.

Still, after spending most of the day, she finally located the family quarters of Hua City University of Technology.

Of course, while it sounded simple, in reality, it was largely thanks to Gu Qianqian’s rather outrageous cheat.

“Calamity” was the top priority among the seven legendary tasks issued by the systems.

Gu Qianqian might not be great at remembering things, but after all this time, she’d long since memorized all the information related to Calamity.

Not to mention anything else, just knowing that Calamity’s old mansion was on Mudan Street meant that if she put in the effort, she’d find him sooner or later.

Besides, Gu Qianqian hadn’t eaten for days.

If her hunger level were like a rage meter, just for a bite to eat, she could instantly transform into a berserker in a red fury, her ability to act off the charts.

By evening.

Gu Qianqian stood at the main gate of the Hua City University of Technology family quarters, hands on her hips, gazing at the small buildings ahead, dyed red by the setting sun, and rubbed her nose.

Next, all she had to do was look for any household that mentioned the name Lu Yibei, and she’d find him, right?

If that didn’t work, she’d just go door to door; she’d find him eventually.

After that, she could figure out how to get a good meal from him! Gu Qianqian thought confidently.

However, reality soon dealt her a heavy blow.

In this neighborhood, she found at least a dozen households mentioning “Lu Yibei” or “Yibei”…

—-

Around seven or eight in the evening, as darkness was about to fall.

After sleeping for a long time, Lu Yibei was suddenly jolted awake by a wave of intense pain.

In his chest, it felt as if a ferocious beast was clawing and tearing at his heart, a cold, bloody aura spreading from his chest to every part of his body.

The indescribable agony appeared without warning, causing Lu Yibei to curl up on the bed, his body convulsing uncontrollably.

Something was trying to come out of his body… The thought flashed through his mind.

He struggled to reach for his phone on the bedside table, wanting to call Nanling Rao Hua for help, but at that moment, his eyes suddenly burned with pain.

In an instant, he felt as if his blood had been ignited, surging through his body with astonishing heat.

He even saw golden-red light flowing through the veins on the back of his hand exposed outside his sleeve, the hairs on his hand standing on end, every pore opening, sweat pouring out, and as soon as the sweat seeped out, it evaporated into wisps of white smoke.

The next moment, just as he got the phone in his hand and hadn’t had time to dial a number, it exploded with a loud “bang!”, spraying black, foul-smelling liquid everywhere.

At that instant, a surge of heat rushed through his body, charging straight into his heart, colliding with the cold, sinister energy brewing in his chest.

His heart seemed to stop for a split second. Lu Yibei’s body convulsed violently, and he collapsed from the edge of the bed onto the floor, drained of all strength.

“Ugh-ah!”

A painful groan escaped uncontrollably through his clenched teeth.

Lu Yibei felt as if his body had turned into a gladiatorial arena with no rules, where cold and heat battled each other with no holds barred.

They fought, heedless of whether the arena itself would be destroyed.

Just as Lu Yibei felt he was about to lose consciousness from the excruciating pain, his lips suddenly moved as if beyond his control, opening and closing, and a trembling murmur escaped his mouth.

“There is a place with zhong mountain. There is a woman clad in green…”

“It is mist and also stars, her child, and the lips that blow out the flame in the darkness…”

In a near-unconscious state, Lu Yibei hazily finished reciting two lines. Immediately after, he felt the strange sensations in his body begin to slowly subside.

But just then, he suddenly sensed a terrifying presence rising from the silence, as if awakening from slumber, casting a cold glance at the city from below, from deep within the earth.

It felt just like when he was a child and changed his score of 18 to 98 before showing it to Ms. Wang Meili, and she pulled a bamboo stick out from under the sofa-that same terrifying look in her eyes.

That time, Lu Yibei had only insulted Ms. Wang Meili’s intelligence out of childish innocence.

But he could feel that if Nanling Rao Hua hadn’t happened to come looking for him that day, he might have been beaten to death.

That gaze, like a god casting its eyes upon the mortal world, lasted for about a second before vanishing without a trace, as if it had never appeared.

Cold sweat soaked Lu Yibei’s clothes. He lay on the floor, still in shock, not daring to move a muscle.

It was early autumn, and the night air was already turning cool.

Half an hour later.

A breeze blew in from the window, brushing over Lu Yibei’s sweat-drenched face. He shivered slightly, snapping out of his daze. After carefully surveying his surroundings and confirming there was no danger, he propped himself up on the bed and headed for the bathroom.

It must be because of that dream last night… Lu Yibei thought.

After the terrifying ordeal he’d just experienced for nearly an hour, he was even more convinced that everything he saw in his dream was real.

Because, in the dream, he’d had a similar experience.

And the shattered phone embedded in the wall proved to him that none of it was an illusion.

—-

“Splash-splash-creak-!”

After quickly rinsing off his sweat-soaked, sticky, uncomfortable body, Lu Yibei turned off the faucet and stepped out of the shower, his eyes betraying his exhaustion.

He’d clearly slept for a while, but after everything that had just happened, he hadn’t gotten a bit of rest.

His whole body ached, as if he’d come down with some joint disease.

Drying his hair with a towel as he walked out, Lu Yibei paused in front of the bathroom mirror, then backed up and returned.

The reflection in the mirror… seemed a little off?

He frowned and stared into the mirror, eyes wide.

Steam filled the bathroom, like opening the door to a sauna, a wave of mist rolling in.

Watching his reflection gradually become clearer as the steam dissipated was like drawing in a mobile game-you knew you’d probably get nothing good, but you still hoped for a lucky result, making it hard to breathe.

Then…

When the image in the mirror finally came into full view, Lu Yibei couldn’t help but curse.

“Damn! What the hell is this?!”

Like a hallucination, the mirror reflected a tall, curvaceous silver-haired girl, her fair, delicate skin still beaded with water, every inch exuding a terrifying allure.

Staring at the girl in the mirror, Lu Yibei found himself unconsciously entranced. The towel slipped from his hand, and then he saw an even more breathtaking sight…

Ps: The chapter number is a duplicate of the previous one, but the content is correct.