Chapter 451: Skilled Imitators in Hua City

“Knocked… knocked out? This… doesn’t make sense!”

Lu Yibei withdrew her gaze from the girl and looked at the toilet plunger in her hand.

It looked very ordinary, with a wooden handle and a red rubber end.

She stared blankly for two seconds, then as if suddenly remembering something, she spun around and looked into the nearby mirror, her eye twitching.

In the mirror, the silver-haired girl was holding a crude, ancient-looking Broken Sword.

[This sword is called the Pure Lotus Sword. ‘Lotus’ refers to the heart, ‘Pure’ means a merciful heart that does not kill. The Pure Lotus Sword is the sword of the heart, cutting through the heart and karma, but not people.] This was information Lu Yibei had obtained from a strange dream.

“……”

Actually, this is normal, right? If my reflection in the mirror can turn into a beautiful girl, it’s only reasonable that a toilet plunger can become an ancient sword… Like hell it is!

Lu Yibei rubbed her slightly throbbing brow.

She had only wanted to give this trespasser, who had scared her half to death, a little warning, but she hadn’t expected things to go so awry.

This world is just too crazy.

Lu Yibei looked at the girl hanging from the window, propped her chin with one hand and pondered for a few seconds, then grabbed the girl’s hands and tried to pull her inside.

And then…

She found that this was not an easy task.

The girl looked small, but unexpectedly, she was full of hidden strength.

In order to pull her inside, Lu Yibei almost ended up dismantling the window.

—-

A moment later, the living room lights came on.

Lu Yibei studied the girl’s face, lost in thought.

She had seen this girl before-not at the intersection during the day, but in that strange dream.

When the girl had waved and called to her from across the street at the intersection, Lu Yibei had already recognized her as Gu Qianqian.

No one else had seen Gu Qianqian at the time, so she had assumed it was just a hallucination brought on by the dream.

She never expected Gu Qianqian to actually show up in her home. Was this a sign that her condition was getting worse late at night?

Lu Yibei sat up, reached out to check the girl’s breathing.

A faint breath pulsed against her fingers, warm and damp, silently confirming the girl’s real existence.

Withdrawing her hand, Lu Yibei flopped back onto the sofa, holding her forehead and sighing.

“Damn it, that dream is making me question my whole life!”

With Gu Qianqian’s appearance, the line between dream and reality seemed to be blurring.

For a moment, she couldn’t tell what was real and what was fake.

If the memories from the dream were false, then why was Gu Qianqian standing right in front of her?

If the dream memories were real, then wouldn’t Ah-Hua be someone else’s fiancée?

Just thinking about it was a little… cough, cough, how could that be!?

Lu Yibei slumped on the sofa for a while, then got up and went to the storage room to fetch a few wires.

Familiar or not, she still had to tie her up…

After all, in the dream memories, Gu Qianqian was no “good person.”

Using a few wires as thick as a pinky, she wrapped Gu Qianqian three times to the left, three times to the right, and tied her up securely.

Lu Yibei waited around, bored, then stood up, picked up a vase from the living room, and headed straight for the bathroom.

If a toilet plunger can become an ancient sword, why can’t a vase become a Pure Jade Vase?

Who knows, maybe other things in the house have changed too. That bamboo mat looks a lot like a golden-threaded jade shroud, Lu Yibei thought.

—-

Over an hour later.

To control for variables, Lu Yibei brought everything in the house she could move to the bathroom and checked them all in the mirror.

And then…

Her fantasies were shattered.

Except for the toilet plunger, nothing else in the house had changed at all.

She sat on the toilet, holding the plunger, staring at the mirror, questioning her life.

Just then, a muffled moan came from the direction of the living room.

Gu Qianqian was finally awake.

—-

“Ugh, my head hurts…”

Gu Qianqian muttered, slowly opening her eyes. She froze for a moment when she saw the scene before her.

A completely unfamiliar living room, a mess as if it had just been ransacked by thieves.

Where… is this?

Is this Lu Yibei’s home?

Gu Qianqian wondered, instinctively trying to move, only to feel a tight binding around her body.

Looking down, her mind was instantly filled with question marks-more marks than her teammates’ pings during a sudden grave move in a Yaso-level group.

Several wires were tightly wrapped around her, tied off with two bows.

“Shh-shh-shh-shh-!” Slippers shuffled across the floor, making faint footsteps.

Gu Qianqian froze, looked toward the sound, and her pupils contracted violently.

A tall silver-haired girl was approaching, holding a coldly gleaming Broken Sword, her face expressionless.

“Sys, system, it’s her, it’s her!”

Lu Yibei, “……” Why are you screaming? You sneak into my house like a ghost and I haven’t even yelled yet!

After calling out a few times in panic and getting no response, Gu Qianqian realized the system had been out of contact for a while and shut her mouth.

And then…

Her whole state shifted from happy and hungry to scared and hungry.

After wandering for days in this city where no one could see her, suddenly seeing Lu Yibei, Gu Qianqian had actually been very excited and happy.

It was like, in the most desperate, lonely, helpless moment, suddenly grabbing onto a lifeline.

But when the Broken Sword struck her head, she suddenly realized that this lifeline was covered in thorns and poison.

Maybe I really was so hungry I lost my mind, to come looking for her.

Just like how the system used the core entity of a haunting as bait to catch hauntings that had gone mad from hunger, Gu Qianqian thought.

Lu Yibei could be the kind-hearted, good cook Lu Yibei, but she could also be the unpredictable, ruthless Calamity.

“……”

Gu Qianqian guiltily lowered her head, avoiding Lu Yibei’s gaze.

Why is she still looking at me? Could she already know about that thing?

Aiya, I told the system long ago, I want to defeat her fair and square, not do those despicable things, Gu Qianqian thought.

Although the system had always emphasized the danger of Calamity.

But she always felt that as long as Lu Yibei hadn’t fully become a haunting, they could still be friends, and she wouldn’t harm her.

When she wrote the anonymous letter to The Midnight Watchers Society, she had asked the system what would happen if their schemes were discovered by Lu Yibei.

……

The system told Gu Qianqian, “Then you can only face her honestly, and try to move her with love.”

“Eh! You can do that? If I move her, will everything be fine?” Gu Qianqian asked.

She was about to ask why the system hadn’t used the “move with love” method earlier, when she heard the system say, “No, but if you do that, you’ll just die a little more quickly.”

After all, the only ones Calamity wouldn’t torment are those she has loved, or those who have loved her… the system silently added in its heart.

Lu Yibei paced over to Gu Qianqian’s side, holding the toilet plunger in front of him as a shield, wary of any sudden mishaps. He was just about to say something when he saw Gu Qianqian suddenly look up, her face serious as she declared, “I love you! Alright, go ahead and do it!”

“???”

Lu Yibei was stunned for a moment, and the toilet plunger in his hand clattered to the floor. The thought of “harsh interrogation” he’d planned for Gu Qianqian instantly vanished.

I’m dumbfounded.

What does this mean?

Even in the memories he’d gotten from the strange dream, there was no scene of him dating her!

While he was still confused, he suddenly noticed Gu Qianqian’s gaze drifting to the side, as if she was staring at something.

Following her line of sight, he saw the unfinished takeaway roast chicken rice from yesterday on the coffee table.

Lu Yibei looked at the takeaway, then at Gu Qianqian, narrowing his eyes as he probed, “Are you really hungry? Did you come to me just to eat?”

“Gurgle-!” Gu Qianqian swallowed, then nodded.

“Just to confirm, you eat human food, right?” Lu Yibei pressed.

Gu Qianqian hesitated, as if worried about upsetting Lu Yibei, and said weakly, “It… it doesn’t have to be human food!”

At that, Lu Yibei’s gaze toward Gu Qianqian instantly became wary again, and he unconsciously gripped the toilet plunger tighter.

“If it really doesn’t work, cat biscuits are fine too!” Gu Qianqian said earnestly. “I used to eat them when I was wandering around-they’re delicious!”

“Uh, I didn’t steal food from cats! Someone left them on the street to feed the cats, but the cats didn’t seem to like them.”

Lu Yibei, “……”

Tying up a girl and feeding her cat biscuits? What kind of twisted pervert do you think I am?

Wandering, living under bridges, eating cat biscuits…

Damn, why do I suddenly feel a little sorry for her?

Lu Yibei took a deep breath and said, “You can eat if you want, but before that, you have to answer a few questions for me.”

“Mm-hmm.” Gu Qianqian’s eyes lit up, nodding her head like a pecking chick, but then she lowered her head, sneaking glances at Lu Yibei’s expression as she muttered softly, “Some questions, I can’t answer.”

She really wanted to eat, but she wasn’t willing to betray the systems for it. That was her principle.

Lu Yibei pondered for a few seconds, then said calmly, “I understand. If it involves violating your principles, you don’t have to answer.”

With Lu Yibei relaxing the conditions, Gu Qianqian’s face brightened. “Okay, okay!”

According to the systems, getting a Calamity to make even the tiniest compromise was a huge success.

Lu Yibei nodded slightly and began, “First question: What’s your name, and how do you know me?”

First, confirm whether there’s any discrepancy in memory.

Gu Qianqian froze, a look of surprise on her face.

Why would a Calamity ask this kind of question? Is there some trick to it?

“I-I’m Gu Qianqian. We met at school, Hua City University of Technology.”

Worried there might be some dirty trap behind the Calamity’s question, Gu Qianqian deliberately left out a lot of details when answering.

That’s a lie!

According to the development in the dream memories, we clearly hadn’t met yet at Hua City University of Technology! Lu Yibei thought.

“Second question: Are you a ghost?”

“How could I be!”

“Then why can’t others see you?”

“I, I…” Gu Qianqian opened her mouth, holding back for a long time before finally choking out with a sob, “I don’t know either!”

This time it seems to be the truth? Lu Yibei pondered for a moment, then continued, “In your eyes, am I male or female?”

Although in the dream memories, he did have the strange ability to turn into a Witch at night.

But memories can be deceiving.

Gu Qianqian was stunned, looking at Lu Yibei with confusion, her gaze slowly drifting down, finally stopping at his chest, then looking at her own chest.

It seems…

Aside from a slight difference in size, there’s not much difference, so she should be female, right? Gu Qianqian thought.

Actually, Gu Qianqian had always been puzzled too-was Calamity a boy or a girl? But when she asked the systems, the answer was, “Depends on her mood.”

Lu Yibei, noticing the change in Gu Qianqian’s expression, understood instantly. “Alright, you don’t need to say it. I get it.”

Even though I know, I still don’t want to hear it with my own ears, someone saying in a tone that’s both certain and a bit excited, “Of course you’re a girl!”… Lu Yibei grumbled inwardly.

“So… why did you just say you love me?”

Gu Qianqian was stunned for a moment, looking troubled. “Uh… can I not say?”

This question involved the systems. Even if Calamity went back on her word, even under torture, I couldn’t say!

“Alright!” Lu Yibei nodded. “Then, do you know who Jiang Li is? Or, do you know her?”

“Um…” Gu Qianqian studied his expression, then whispered, “Jiang Li is an operator of The Midnight Watchers Society in Hua City! I know of her, but I don’t know her personally.”

Strange, Lu Yibei is so familiar with her, why ask me?

The Midnight Watchers Society in Hua City… Lu Yibei nodded thoughtfully. “Last question: why are you following me? Even coming to my house?”

As soon as he finished speaking, Gu Qianqian’s cheeks flushed red, and she stammered, “I… I want to…”

“Want?”

“Want to, um, mooch a meal!”

“Is it really just as simple as mooching a meal?”

Gu Qianqian shrank her neck like a startled little animal, nervously, “If… if possible, I’d like to stay the night too…”

Halfway through, Gu Qianqian paused, worried Lu Yibei would refuse, and quickly added, “Just one night, I’ll leave early tomorrow morning.”

After eating and resting for a night, she still had to keep searching for the systems and her brother.

“How do you know I’ll feed you, and let you stay over?” Lu Yibei pressed.

“Didn’t you just say that was the last question?”

Lu Yibei frowned, “…”

Call her clever, but she really does look silly.

Call her silly, but at times like this, she suddenly gets sharp…

—-

“Da-da-da-da-da-da-!”

Knocking sounded, followed by a shout from outside the door.

“Hello, takeaway from Maidji!”

Creak-

“Thank you.”

Lu Yibei opened the door a crack, reached out to take the takeaway from the delivery person, and quickly shut the door before the guy could notice anything strange inside.

Carrying several buckets of family meals, he returned to the living room, cleared a space on the coffee table, set them down, and sat across from Gu Qianqian.

Smelling the aroma wafting from the packaging, Gu Qianqian, who had just been listless, instantly perked up as if injected with energy, stretching her neck like a giraffe.

“Lu Yibei, thank you, you’re such a good person!”

Gu Qianqian beamed, but as she spoke, she noticed Lu Yibei’s cold face and suddenly felt the atmosphere was a bit off, her smile gradually stiffening.

Lu Yibei didn’t seem to have any intention of untying her.

“Aren’t you… going to untie me?”

Lu Yibei glanced at Gu Qianqian and said coolly, “You wish! I only said I’d feed you, did I ever say I’d untie you?”

You can know a person’s face but not their heart. Even if you talk sweet and act harmless, who knows if beneath that silly cute exterior, you’re filled with some unspeakable horror?

If I untie you, you might skip the chicken drumstick and eat me instead!

For safety’s sake, it’s better to keep you tied up, Lu Yibei thought.

Gu Qianqian looked at Lu Yibei, then at the Maidji family bucket on the table, and said weakly, “But, but if you keep me tied up, how am I supposed to eat?”

“No problem, I’ll feed you. Of course, if you mind and would rather go hungry, that’s fine too,” Lu Yibei replied expressionlessly.

Gu Qianqian didn’t even think, blurting out, “I don’t mind at all! As long as I can eat, I don’t mind anything!”

As she spoke, her eyes sparkled and she shook her head like a spoiled kitten waiting to be fed.

Lu Yibei pushed Gu Qianqian’s desperately craning head back to its original position. “Don’t rush. Since I promised to feed you, I will, but before that, you still need to do one thing…”

He was halfway through when he saw Gu Qianqian staring intently at the family bucket on the coffee table, her attention completely elsewhere. Lu Yibei pursed his lips, then took out a chicken drumstick from the packaging, holding it up in front of Gu Qianqian.

Sniffing the scent of fried chicken, Gu Qianqian’s nose twitched, her neck stretched out, and her pink tongue, like a soft, slippery, flexible little snake, licked back and forth over the golden, crispy skin several times, never quite getting to eat it, her eyes growing anxious.

In the end, she chose to compromise.

“So, what do you want me to do? Just say it, hurry up!”

Lu Yibei, “…” Where’s your dignity? Your pride and dignity? Acting like this, if you fall into someone else’s hands, you’ll get beaten, you know?

Although Lu Yibei still couldn’t be sure if Gu Qianqian was dangerous or not.

But one thing was certain: this girl would sell her soul for good food.

Lu Yibei had no doubt that if he tied a fragrant chicken drumstick to a bamboo pole and string, and dangled it in front of Gu Qianqian, she’d run dozens of kilometers like a mule chasing a carrot.

Setting down the drumstick, Lu Yibei turned to the bedroom and brought back a phone, a sheet of paper, a pen, and a stamp pad, then sat down in front of Gu Qianqian again.

“Before I feed you, you have to make a statement first, to prove that you’re staying at my place of your own free will, and that I’m not holding you captive.”

“Since other people might not be able to see you or hear you speak, I’ll try recording a video first. If neither your image nor your voice can be captured, then we’ll present it in written form.”

This was something Lu Yibei had just thought of when the delivery person came to the door earlier.

Although others couldn’t see Gu Qianqian, and she was only staying for one night, just to be safe, it was better to draft a statement.

If a neighbor or someone else noticed something strange and called the police, having this statement on hand would at least keep him from being accused of violent illegal detention.

And… he might be able to learn something else as well, Lu Yibei thought secretly.

Even though doing this felt a bit excessive toward Gu Qianqian, Lu Yibei vaguely felt that she seemed to have done something even worse to him.

Like, for example, poisoning his medicine.

And this vague feeling came from that strange dream…

Gu Qianqian looked at Lu Yibei, annoyed. “But this is lying! I really was… by you…”

“Would you rather lie, or would you rather eat?” Lu Yibei interrupted, his expression merciless.

“I, I…” Gu Qianqian’s chest heaved for a moment, but as the hunger in her belly surged, she instantly deflated. “I want to eat.”

“Then make the statement!”

“Oh…” Gu Qianqian replied weakly.

Lu Yibei nodded in satisfaction, picked up paper and pen, wrote for a while, then held it up in front of her, coldly saying, “Read it out loud.”

As he spoke, he picked up his phone with his other hand, turned on the recording mode, and aimed it at Gu Qianqian.

Just as he expected, Gu Qianqian’s figure didn’t appear in the camera, but he didn’t know if her voice could be recorded.

Gu Qianqian pouted, looked at the words on the paper, and stammered as she read, “I, I, Gu Qianqian, ID number, uh, long dash…”

“What long dash?” Lu Yibei lightly knocked her on the head. “That’s where you fill in your ID number!”

“Say your ID number, I’ll fill it in for you.”

“Oh, oh!” Gu Qianqian nodded. “510…29.”

Lu Yibei filled in Gu Qianqian’s ID number in the blank, held the paper up to her again. “Come on, start over.”

“I, Gu Qianqian, ID number 510…29, solemnly declare that my presence in Lu Yibei’s home is not due to violent detention by Lu Yibei, but because I am… I am… Eh, what does this letter game mean?”

“Kids shouldn’t ask about things they shouldn’t know!”

“Oh…”

—-

Just as Lu Yibei had expected, the phone couldn’t record Gu Qianqian’s image or her voice, but fortunately, she could still touch the ink pad and successfully left her fingerprint on the statement.

Her image couldn’t be captured, but her fingerprint could-what did that mean?

Was Gu Qianqian’s existence somewhere between real and unreal?

Wasn’t that basically a ghost?

Lu Yibei shook his head, tossing the wild guess out of his mind. After carefully putting the statement away, he began to feed Gu Qianqian.

Only then did he realize just how hungry and how much Gu Qianqian could eat.

A whole fried chicken drumstick brought to her mouth-one in, one out, and in less than five seconds, only the bone was left.

Not even a scrap of meat remained, making one want to sigh, “In Hua City, there are masters of oral skills, and from then on, the king no longer attends court early.”

An hour later.

After watching that petite body devour five buckets of Maidji family buckets and prepare to start on the sixth, Lu Yibei couldn’t help but ask, “Don’t you feel stuffed?”

“I’ve been hungry for days, hehe!” Gu Qianqian smiled sheepishly and kept her head down, working hard.

Lu Yibei curled his lip. “Look at you, starving like this. Why didn’t you try to get some food yourself? No one can see you anyway.”

If it were me that no one could see, I’d probably have already put on a bunny girl outfit and wandered around the library, Lu Yibei thought.

For a moment, Gu Qianqian looked as if she’d heard something unbelievable, her mouth slightly open, eyes wide as she stared at Lu Yibei.

“You, you mean, steal things? Even if no one can see me, I can’t steal! Taking without asking is stealing, and that’s not okay!”

“Sorry…”

Under Gu Qianqian’s gaze, so pure it could burn one’s soul, Lu Yibei felt his cheeks heat up. He raised his hand to his forehead, blocking his eyes, at a loss for words.

—-

A moment later.

“Click–!”

Lu Yibei was feeding Gu Qianqian when the sound of the door lock turning suddenly rang out without warning.

The door opened.

From outside came the voice of Nanling Rao Hua.

“Yibei, are you up? You haven’t had dinner, right? Grandpa made some braised pork tonight, I heated it up for you and brought it upstairs.”

At the sound, Lu Yibei’s body stiffened slightly. He turned to look toward the door and saw Nanling Rao Hua’s figure, his mind going blank…