Chapter 461: Qi Nanzhu’s Usual Naming Style

Twenty years ago, Hua City once fell into a period of chaos and darkness, when hundreds of psychics and hauntings were drawn there by Qi Nanzhu’s demise.

Although it was not as severe as Taoyuan not long ago, in that era, the number of hauntings and psychics had not yet surged due to the lengthening nights. Witnessing a single Class D haunting incident was enough to contact the “Approaching Science” program and film a three-part series.

Even under such circumstances, after the news of Qi Nanzhu’s fall spread, Hua City still gathered a staggering number of psychics and hauntings.

It’s easy to imagine just how tempting and maddening the things she left behind were.

That situation could only be described as utter “chaos.”

At that time, The Midnight Watchers Society had just transitioned from an ancient folk organization that hunted hauntings to a semi-official group and had not yet fully gotten on track. They were already overwhelmed dealing with the Eclipse Society, which had split off internally, and had no time to extend large-scale projects like constructing city barriers to Hua City.

The main operators stationed in Hua City were only Mushroom Girl, Hua Longyin, and Fu Zhengguo, plus the reserve operator Lu Ming. Together with Qi Nanzhu’s remaining subordinates, the number of combat-capable psychics and hauntings did not exceed twenty.

Facing a vast number of enemies, with The Midnight Watchers Society unable to provide support, it was almost impossible for them to protect the city’s peace.

If the “inheritance” left by Gou Meng and Fuyang could be compared to a high-end buffet with premium ingredients and plenty to eat, then Qi Nanzhu’s “inheritance” would add a “free” prefix to that high-end buffet.

During that nearly month-long period, every night in Hua City, an ominous aura would gradually rise from the deathly silent city.

Countless vague, twisted, eerie, or ferocious figures would appear on the streets and alleys.

Crying, maniacal laughter, chilling chewing sounds, ear-piercing screams… all sorts of terrifying noises echoed in the city’s dark corners.

Yet, after days of brutal fighting and heavy casualties on both sides, no psychic or haunting ever found the “inheritance” Qi Nanzhu left behind, as if she had played a colossal joke on everyone.

Although all the psychics and hauntings came up empty-handed, Bai Kai knew that Qi Nanzhu couldn’t have left nothing behind-she must have hidden it in some unknown way.

Those two were both cunning; even in death, getting any benefit from them was never going to be easy.

Soon, apart from the hauntings born in Hua City, about half of the outsiders-psychics and hauntings alike-left empty-handed, vanishing without a trace.

The remaining half, facing the endless retaliation of the “nanny killer” Lu Ming, mostly didn’t last a year.

Most psychics and hauntings have their limits.

Lu Ming’s style of revenge-“if one strike fails, escape immediately; not seeking to kill, only to disgust”-clearly exceeded what they could endure.

Moreover, his timing was always extremely precise.

Some of those psychics and hauntings were eating hotpot, singing songs, dreaming of finding Qi Nanzhu’s legacy and returning home as the King of Hauntings.

Some, starving, wandered the midnight streets, hoping to find a lucky victim to devour.

Some had finally managed to hook up with a female haunting and brought her home, ready to promote neighborly harmony.

In short, whenever they were about to feel happiness, that man would appear.

With a baby hanging on his chest and a milk bottle at his waist, he would burst out of the shadows without warning, enthusiastically delivering a combo of instant-cast spell formations, not caring how much damage he did, and then turn and run.

The whole process usually began with the baby’s cry and ended with a violent explosion, lasting no more than five seconds.

And then…

All the psychics and hauntings’ happiness was gone, all turned into that man’s happiness.

For a long time, hauntings whose names could stop children from crying at night elsewhere would, in Hua City, shudder at the sound of a baby’s cry after dark.

A year later, The Midnight Watchers Society gradually extricated itself from the Eclipse Society’s quagmire, came to Hua City to construct the city barrier, stationed or recruited operators and special task forces, and finally swept out the last stubborn elements, bringing the chaos in Hua City to an end.

Lu Ming also finally ended his “criminal” career, resigned from his position as an operator of The Midnight Watchers Society, recommended Bai Kai as his replacement, and began raising his child as an ordinary person.

It was also at that time that his child finally got a name-Lu Yibei.

Before that, obsessed with revenge, he dared not name his child. When in close contact with those psychics and hauntings, they always managed to learn the child’s name through all sorts of bizarre means and would use the name as a basis for cruel curses.

Although, before implementing the “Red Thread Interference Fate Trajectory Plan,” Lu Ming had considered using stacked curses to interfere with fate, after weighing the risks, he still felt it was too dangerous.

Lu Yibei never knew just how close he had come to a life stacked full of debuffs…

Bai Kai pulled his thoughts back and looked at Qi Dong, lowering his voice as he said, “So you mean, the place Yibei is in right now is the treasure Wang Meili left behind?”

“Her name is Qi Nanzhu!” Qi Dong corrected sharply.

Bai Kai curled his lip, unconcerned. “I know you don’t like that name, but you have to admit, it’s the one she gave herself.”

“Oh, right, I still remember the first time I met her, her self-introduction.”

At this point, Bai Kai shot Qi Dong a sideways glance, his tone growing increasingly mocking, “Hello, my name is Wang Meili-‘Wang’ as in the holy king of Huaxia, ‘Meili’ as in beautiful.”

Qi Dong’s mouth twitched; he couldn’t refute it at all.

Qi Nanzhu’s naming style had always been like this.

If not for that, he and his three brothers wouldn’t have been mocked by their clan for so long because of the names Qi Nanzhu gave them.

He was the third among his brothers; his eldest brother was Qi De, second brother Qi Long, and his fourth brother Qi Qiang. Taken individually, the names were normal enough, but when the four brothers were together…

Better not to mention it!

To keep Bai Kai from dragging out this topic, Qi Dong took the initiative to steer the conversation back, “I’m not sure exactly what she left behind, but that place gathered so much of her effort-it must be something extremely important.”

Bai Kai nodded in agreement.

He vaguely knew that before Lu Ming and Qi Nanzhu fell, they’d been secretly preparing something for their unborn child.

But he didn’t dare say much, nor ask too many questions, afraid that knowing too much would leave him with nothing but his underwear.

Besides…

As Lu Ming’s best brother, whatever Lu Ming wanted to do, he’d support him unconditionally.

Of course, the premise was that at least his underwear had to be left to him.

As a man trapped by love, who’d stumbled into the path of a gigolo, the right to control his own underwear was his last bit of stubbornness.

“And you should know, when Nanzhu started building that place, The Midnight Watchers Society headquarters sent people to warn her. After she fell, they sent people to search for a long time,” Qi Dong continued.

“If this gets reported, even if word doesn’t leak out, in the end… Anyway, no matter what, we can’t let The Midnight Watchers Society defile what Nanzhu left behind.”

As he spoke, Qi Dong’s eyes flashed with menace.

“Hey-!” Bai Kai sighed, “Hasn’t my senior explained this to you many times? Why are you still so suspicious?”

“You believe that man?” Qi Dong retorted. “I not only suspect them of coveting what Nanzhu left, I even suspect her death is related to them.”

Qi Dong knew far more details about Qi Nanzhu constructing that place than Bai Kai did.

He knew very well that what Qi Nanzhu did was extremely dangerous; one misstep could kill many people. So once The Midnight Watchers Society found out what she was doing, they would never just stand by.

“If you’re so suspicious, why’d you join The Midnight Watchers Society?” Bai Kai shot back irritably.

“What do you know? I’m infiltrating the enemy!” Qi Dong glared at Bai Kai. “If I had more talent, maybe the Supervisor position wouldn’t be your old flame’s.”

“Besides, if that man hadn’t come begging me, I wouldn’t have joined The Midnight Watchers Society!”

“…” Bai Kai opened his mouth, hesitated, and finally said helplessly, “Anyway, my senior would never do anything to hurt Wang Meili.”

If The Midnight Watchers Society really had a hand in Wang Meili’s death, with his personality and ability, he’d have become president long ago and dismantled The Midnight Watchers Society from within, Bai Kai thought.

“Hmph, wouldn’t hurt her?” Qi Dong sneered. “If he really wouldn’t hurt Nanzhu, he shouldn’t have brought her out in the first place!”

Bai Kai, “…”

This time, it was his turn to be unable to refute Qi Dong’s point.

—

Qi Dong and Bai Kai were kept in the holding room for over five hours before being released.

It wasn’t that the police officer was inefficient, taking so long to confirm their innocence.

The main issue was that the police officer got stuck at the stage of questioning the parties involved.

Trying to wake Gu Xiliu by normal means was just too difficult, and faced with a delicate young woman, the police officer couldn’t use any drastic measures.

After many attempts, they finally had to give up and just waited for Gu Xiliu to wake up naturally.

And so, they waited until dawn.

—

Early morning, just as the sky was lightening, in a luxury private room sealed by spell formation at The Underground World entertainment club.

Gu Xiliu looked a bit aggrieved as she faced the two gloomy men sitting across from her, her eyelids fighting to stay open, shivering slightly.

Bai Kai the operator and Qi Dong the team leader came to me-could it be because I slacked off during my last night shift? Gu Xiliu wondered.

That day, she’d only meant to take a nap and then go to work full of energy, but when she arrived at the Hua City Folk Culture Administration Bureau that night, she’d skipped right past Bai Kai, and Jiang Li was almost done with the night shift.

After a long silence, Bai Kai and Qi Dong exchanged glances and nodded to each other.

“Operator Gu, actually, we came to ask you for a favor,” Bai Kai got straight to the point.

“A favor?” Gu Xiliu breathed a sigh of relief, then frowned, her voice timid, “But, if it’s a favor, I… might not be suitable?”

In fact, Gu Xiliu had a bit of self-awareness; she knew she often fell asleep without warning, so she tried not to make promises to anyone.

Who knew when she’d fall asleep next, or for how long? In that case, if she agreed to something, she might accidentally break her promise, which made her feel guilty.

So, as long as nothing could make her break a promise, she wouldn’t break a promise!

“If it really doesn’t work, why don’t you go find Jiang Li operator?” Gu Xiliu said weakly.

She greatly admired and looked up to Jiang Li. In her eyes, someone like Jiang Li, who only needed three or four hours of sleep a day and could still help everyone solve a series of problems, was practically a fairy.

“No! Only you can help with this.” Qi Dong said seriously. “We know that after you fall asleep, you often dream of a city. We need you to go to that city and help us find someone.”

“Eh?” Gu Xiliu was stunned, staring at the two of them in shock. “That city really exists? I thought…”

I thought it was just a dream, just a dream that’s troubled me for so long, Gu Xiliu thought.

She had once wanted to look for the city in her dream, but after her “sword” was ready and her bag was packed, as soon as she stepped out the door, she overslept, missed her stop, and ended up stranded at Hua City train station.

“That’s right, that city does exist.” Qi Dong confirmed, taking out a piece of paper filled with writing from his small bag and handing it to Gu Xiliu.

“You just need to follow the instructions on this, and you’ll be able to contact someone in that city in your dream. Then, through that person, help us find the one we’re looking for.”

After listening to Qi Dong’s explanation, Gu Xiliu instantly regained her confidence, patting her chest and saying, “Don’t worry, leave this to me!”

“I might not be able to help with other things, but when it comes to sleeping, I’m really good at it!”

With that, she closed her eyes, her body went limp, and her head hit the coffee table with a “thud!”

Seeing this, Qi Dong’s mouth twitched as he looked at Bai Kai. “Is she…?”

Bai Kai spread his hands. “As you can see, she’s asleep.”

Qi Dong, “……”

She fell asleep just like that? Damn it, I haven’t even told her who to look for yet!

—

Legend has it that there is a haunting called the “Tasmanian Devil,” famous for its hellish cries.

Listening to Bai Kai play the suona, Qi Dong covered his ears, his eyes full of disdain.

For a moment, he even suspected that Bai Kai had secretly mastered the power of the Tasmanian Devil.

Accompanied by the terrifying sound of the suona, Gu Xiliu woke up from her dream for the fifth time.

Seeing this, Bai Kai hurried over, grabbed her hands, and asked anxiously, “How was it this time? Still no luck?”

Letting Gu Xiliu use her subtle connection to that city in her dreams to find Lu Yibei sounded like a good plan, but when it came to putting it into action, Bai Kai and Qi Dong realized there was a gap between ideal and reality.

All five attempts had failed without exception.

“Ugh…” Gu Xiliu opened her bright eyes wide, looking at Bai Kai in a daze, then silently took a pink butterfly-shaped spinner from her pajama pocket, flicked it with her fingertip, and let it spin.

She had fallen asleep and woken up so many times today that she could barely tell dream from reality. To confirm she was awake, she needed some special little tricks.

Like a butterfly dancing, the spinner spun for over ten seconds before slowly coming to a stop.

“Eh, I’m already awake?” Gu Xiliu mumbled softly, looked at Bai Kai, shook her head, and showed a guilty expression. “Sorry, still no luck, it’s always just a little bit off.”

After a pause, she added, “Before, as long as I slept deeply enough, I could get close to that city, but today, I don’t know why, it’s like…”

“…like something is stopping me from getting close.”

Something is stopping her from getting close? Bai Kai was stunned for a moment, then turned to Qi Dong with a questioning look.

Qi Dong crossed his arms and shrugged at Bai Kai, showing a “don’t ask me, I don’t know either” expression.

Although he knew a bit more than Bai Kai about the city Qi Nanzhu constructed, it was limited to the general structure and potential dangers.

If Qi Nanzhu had secretly added some mechanism to prevent outsiders from forcibly entering when constructing it, he had no idea.

You know nothing, so what’s the use of you? Bai Kai complained inwardly, then looked at Gu Xiliu again and said seriously, “It’s okay, let’s keep trying a few more times. Maybe we’ll get in.”

“Eh? Still have to sleep? Can’t I…” Gu Xiliu was dumbfounded.

For the first time in her life, she felt that sleeping had become a burden.

“No way! You promised me.” Bai Kai said sternly. “Aren’t you a big fan of Jiang Li? After this is over, I’ll arrange for you to do a mission with her, how about that?”

“Really?” Gu Xiliu tilted her head.

As Jiang Li’s little fangirl, although Gu Xiliu’s admiration hadn’t reached fanatic levels, being able to do a mission with her still made Gu Xiliu very happy.

However, ever since she had stood Jiang Li up seventeen times, Jiang Li had never done a mission with her again.

“Of course it’s true!” Bai Kai affirmed. “I’m telling you, soon she’ll be my goddaughter-in-law. When I’m her father-in-law, won’t she have to listen to me?”

At this, Qi Dong couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

How did that once innocent boy turn into this? He doesn’t even blink when lying to little girls now.

Not to mention Nanzhu’s son and Jiang Li’s ambiguous relationship-who knows when that’ll be resolved.

Even if it is, do you really think you can order her around? More likely, the two of you will be ordered around by her. Qi Dong thought with disdain.

“Ugh…” Gu Xiliu hesitated, then reluctantly nodded. “Alright, I’ll try again.”

With that, she closed her eyes, and soon her body went limp and her head dropped down.

Just as Gu Xiliu’s forehead was about to hit the marble coffee table, Bai Kai quickly stuffed a pillow under her head.

As a high-tier psychic, with her body’s toughness, if she collided with the marble coffee table, the only thing that would get hurt would be the table…