Chapter 514: Epilogue (1)

Late at night in Hua City, at the foot of the hill below Ban Shan Primary School.

Lu Yibei dragged his exhausted body down the mountain path, holding a round, chubby ball of flesh in his arms, and stopped at the empty roadside at midnight.

After saying goodbye to Nanling Rao Hua, he returned to his own home and began to focus on erasing all traces of his existence. However, when the traces were completely wiped out and he emerged from his meditative state, opening his eyes, he found himself lying between a pair of unfamiliar man and woman.

Three pairs of eyes met, and the scene was extremely awkward for a moment.

The man looked astonished and asked Lu Yibei with a hostile attitude, “Who are you? Why are you in my bed?”

Lu Yibei was silent for two seconds, then turned to the woman beside him and said with a blank face, “Yeah! Who am I? Hurry up and tell him!”

And then…

That pair of strangers, whether they were a couple or husband and wife, started fighting.

Lu Yibei took advantage of the chaos to escape the scene.

He had originally planned to stay another night in that “home,” but he never expected that erasing his traces in the special space would leave him homeless.

All that could be said was, when Ms. Wang Meili constructed the special space, every rule was too perfect and reasonable, leaving her beloved child completely unprepared.

With all traces of his existence gone, the home Lu Yibei once lived in naturally disappeared as well.

It made sense, but not entirely, and was even a bit absurd!

……

Standing by the roadside lost in thought for a moment, Lu Yibei reached out and waved at the empty street. After waiting a while and seeing that no taxi suddenly stopped in front of him, he frowned.

Damn, without haunting transformation, even the bond with Uncle Zhang Shan doesn’t work anymore?

Forget it, bringing Wang Yingying along, it’s not a good idea to take Uncle Zhang Shan’s car anyway.

If he ended up infecting Uncle Zhang Shan with some strange Nocturnal Syndrome, that would be bad.

Muttering to himself, Lu Yibei looked down at the white, soft, and squishy ball of flesh in his arms, which occasionally wriggled, then looked up toward University Town and started walking.

As the King of Hauntings in Hua City, although he still had many means of transportation to choose from, aside from Uncle Zhang Shan’s taxi, the rest–like the Evil Spirit Bridal Sedan, Jiangshi Horse, Earth Centipede King, and other hauntings–

But riding those underworld things through the streets would attract the attention of The Midnight Watchers Society, and that would just be another hassle.

Might as well walk back himself!

——–

Great Furnace, lower level.

In the spacious laboratory, a large amount of Alchemy equipment was running, a pungent smell filled the air, and dozens of Eclipse Society members wearing special gas masks and protective suits bustled about.

On a rocking chair in the corner of the lab, the withered old man slowly sat up straight and waved at Shu E and Ms. Rabbit, who were busy not far away.

Ms. Rabbit stopped two or three steps away from the old man, folded her arms across her chest, and watched coldly.

It wasn’t her first day dealing with this old man, but so far, she still hadn’t gotten used to the inexplicable disgust and discomfort that arose whenever she got close to him.

In the two previous body modification experiments, the old man had deliberately hidden many details from her.

Although she knew this was a transaction, and whether or not to tell her the details of the experiment was entirely up to the old man, she always felt that the things he was hiding from her would eventually become a disaster.

Shu E stepped forward, bowed slightly, and said respectfully, “Elder Li, do you have any instructions?”

“Things are almost settled here. Go check next door and see how things are going,” the old man said with a beaming smile, the wrinkles on his face piling up, making him look rather sinister.

Go see how things are going? Ha! Are you sure it’s not to see if there’s anything to gain? Ms. Rabbit sneered inwardly.

After working as a temp in the Eclipse Society for so long, Ms. Rabbit had gradually figured out some of the ropes. The members of the Council of Elders faction and those of the president’s faction were always fighting openly and secretly.

Although the two factions appeared harmonious on the surface and would even support each other when facing external threats, in reality, it was at best icing on the cake–there was never any real help in times of need.

If the interests were tempting enough and there was no risk of word getting out, stabbing each other in the back wasn’t out of the question.

But precisely because she sensed this atmosphere within the Eclipse Society, Ms. Rabbit had even started to enjoy staying here.

After all, secretly backstabbing “teammates” was what she did best.

“Understood,” Shu E replied, then turned and walked out of the lab.

Ms. Rabbit gave the old man, who had lain back down, a meaningful look, withdrew her gaze, and quickly followed.

On the other side.

Meihong Zhuang stood before the floor-to-ceiling window in the main control room, gazing down at the laboratory below, shrouded in thick smoke, where a group of Eclipse Society members bustled about, a meaningful smile curling at her lips.

Those Eclipse Society members hurried back and forth, salvaging intact parts from scrapped Alchemy equipment, cleaning up the toxic substances left behind after the Black Sun Fire Seed burned away the Beast of Inheritance’s flesh and blood, as well as tending to their unfortunate fallen comrades.

At the edge of the laboratory, several Eclipse Society members in red robes carefully escorted a massive orb of light bound by countless silver chains, heading down a dimly lit corridor.

Inside the orb, clusters of semi-transparent flesh bubbles stacked together like a beehive, occasionally flickering with faint light.

Sealed within these flesh bubbles was a portion of power that Berses had plundered from Qi Nanzhu’s special space using the Beast of Inheritance’s flesh and blood.

“Pfft—-!”

The door to the main control room was pushed open, Shu E and Ms. Rabbit walked in side by side.

Meihong Zhuang turned around, saw the newcomers, and covered her mouth with a light gasp, “Oh my, isn’t this Shu E? Long time no see! I’ve missed you so much!”

“How have the elders been lately? I haven’t greeted them in ages, shame on me. Next time you see the elders, remember to send my regards!”

As she spoke, she twisted her snake-like waist and stepped forward, ignoring Ms. Rabbit’s presence, her hands naturally resting on Shu E’s body, leaning in as if to rely on him, her slightly open collar revealing a glimpse of the black solar totem tattooed on that enticing snowy skin.

With her body, she completely blocked Shu E’s line of sight toward the laboratory.

Who in their right mind tattoos a totem on their chest? Ugh! Shameless vixen! Seeing this, Ms. Rabbit rolled her eyes and spat at Meihong Zhuang in her mind.

“Elder Li sent us to see if there’s anything we can help with.” Shu E looked straight ahead, expressionless, as if completely uninterested in Meihong Zhuang.

“Help?” Meihong Zhuang arched her brows and chuckled lightly, “Hehe, asking you loyal supporters of the Council of Elders for help comes at a high price! Little B probably can’t afford it.”

“Besides, things here are basically under control now, so there’s no need to trouble you.”

“……” Shu E opened his mouth, about to say something, but Ms. Rabbit, standing behind him, placed a hand on his shoulder and pulled him back.

“Let’s go!”

Shu E turned to look at Ms. Rabbit, his brows slightly furrowed, “But……”

“They don’t want us here, staying any longer would just be awkward, right?” Ms. Rabbit interrupted, pulling Shu E further away from Meihong Zhuang.

Then……

In the brief moment when a gap appeared between Shu E and Meihong Zhuang.

Her gaze slipped through the gap, landing on the red-robed Eclipse Society members escorting the power away.

However, just as she was about to memorize the features of those red-robed Eclipse Society members, whether by coincidence or intent, Meihong Zhuang nonchalantly stepped into her line of sight.

“……”

Shu E was silent for two seconds, nodded, and then let Ms. Rabbit pull him toward the door.

Just before the door closed, beneath the snow-white fur covering Ms. Rabbit’s pair of rabbit ears, flesh squirmed and suddenly opened a slit, within which crimson eyes trembled, their gaze fixed on those red-robed Eclipse Society members until they disappeared down the corridor.

The main control room door slowly closed.

Ms. Rabbit, having memorized the features of those red-robed Eclipse Society members, withdrew her focus and narrowed her eyes slightly.

Dark thoughts intertwined in her mind……

——–

Beside the laboratory, in a separate small room.

Berses sat in a wheelchair, hunched over a desk, writing something.

His body was wrapped in bandages, the skin glimpsed through the gaps charred black from burns, copious pus oozing from the wounds, leaving dark yellow stains on the white bandages, making him look like a living corpse.

Yet his eyes burned with fanatic light.

[Respected president:

This time, the Beast of Inheritance slipped from control, and I cannot shirk responsibility. Once my injuries heal, I will return to your side to accept punishment.

Before that, I have four matters to report:

First, the fundamental reason for this operation’s failure was the contract of psychic codename 3, which helped the Beast of Inheritance break free from control. Then, a disciple of the Great Pure Palace, Huá Sāng, re-anchored the special space that was about to go out of control.

I believe, as core members of The Midnight Watchers Society, their actions may indicate that The Midnight Watchers Society has also detected the existence of special entities and has already begun corresponding actions.

If so, once a large number of special entities fall under The Midnight Watchers Society’s control, the consequences would be terrifying and must be guarded against.

Second, when I used the Black Sun Fire Seed to try to destroy the Beast of Inheritance, to prevent it from falling into the hands of The Midnight Watchers Society or others, a brief, unidentified catastrophe-class psychic energy fluctuation appeared, shattering the Black Sun Fire Seed that had invaded the special space via the Beast of Inheritance’s entity.

I suspect the source of that psychic energy fluctuation is closely related to Qi Nanzhu, or perhaps Qi Nanzhu’s fall years ago was merely feigned death.

Third, although this incident resulted in the Beast of Inheritance breaking free from control, I did not come away empty-handed.

While plundering power from Qi Nanzhu’s special space via the Beast of Inheritance’s entity, I not only obtained a considerable amount of high-tier power, but also captured special entity No. 11, as well as a previously unseen, unknown symbiotic-type power replication.

Based on these two powers, I have conceived a brand new experiment. I will soon refine the details and formulate an actionable plan, and will present it to you in person when I return.

Fourth, while I was focused on Qi Nanzhu’s special space, my agent embedded in the Miracle Order sent important intelligence.

The new Miracle Saint Child has arrived!

Nearly ten years have passed since the previous Miracle Saint Child was jointly killed by The Midnight Watchers Society and the Nightfall Alliance. During this time, the Miracle Order nearly fell apart. The arrival of the new Miracle Saint Child may reunite Miracle Order members scattered across the globe.

Although the Miracle Saint Child is far inferior to the president, if the Miracle Order rises from the ashes, it could cause significant losses to our Eclipse Society.

Additional: A new special entity.

Gu Qianqian: Currently in Hua City, carrying Spirit Pattern [mythical type – Sacred Body of Goddess Kua’e]. The entity displays characteristics of both psychic and haunting symbiosis, not the usual haunting parasitism, possession, or contract, but a higher-tier symbiotic state. Specific symbiosis mode unknown.

That is all.

Berses Viklan ]

“Black sun at noon, tomorrow’s collapse……”

After finishing the letter, Berses murmured the description as he placed the parchment scroll on the candlestick, letting the pitch-black flame consume it, turning it into a wisp of blue smoke.

Two hours later.

Hua City University Town, Jingyi Apartment Complex.

The little Hauntings residing in Lu Yibei’s home gathered around the meatball on the coffee table, whispering among themselves, the atmosphere tense.

“What do you think this is?” Hairball asked.

“To me, it looks like some kind of haunting’s egg…” Denture said seriously. “Don’t you feel it? There’s an unusual psychic energy fluctuation inside this meatball.”

“But what kind of haunting’s egg is it? Why did he bring this thing back?” Hairball asked again.

“Heh, do you even need to ask?” Eyeball (Cursed by the World’s Malice – Battle-Scarred Edition) sneered. “I think this is his egg. The time he disappeared, he must’ve gone off to lay eggs!”

“No way?” Hairball said, half-believing, “He can do that?”

“Hmph, look at you, so ignorant!” Eyeball wiggled as it spoke, showing off. “Ever heard of The Witch’s Egg?”

“Mm-hmm!” the little Hauntings responded in unison.

“Literally, The Witch’s Egg is the egg of a witch type. So I’m sure this is that woman, she went out these days and laid it behind our backs…”

Before Eyeball could finish, the little Hauntings suddenly scattered like birds and beasts.

“Hey, where are you all going!? I haven’t… Wait! Something’s wrong!”

Eyeball suddenly realized the psychic energy fluctuation around had grown intense. It spun around and saw Lu Yibei in the darkness, his eyes glowing gold.

He stared expressionlessly at Eyeball, parted his lips, and uttered two words, “Royal authority…”

In the next moment, Eyeball was flattened as if by an invisible giant hand, turning into a pancake stuck to the coffee table.

Watching Eyeball fall unconscious, Lu Yibei shrugged, silently picked up a fruit knife, cut a slit in its body, drained 300cc of blood into a teacup, then picked up Wang Yingying and headed upstairs.

—-

Upstairs, after placing Wang Yingying on the nightstand, Lu Yibei sat at his desk, opened his laptop, and stared at the desktop, sorting out what he needed to do next.

First, he had to find a chance to study the new abilities he’d obtained. [Royal authority] was manageable, but the body-altering ability consumed too much energy; he’d have to precisely grasp the usage limit.

Second, waking Wang Yingying was a troublesome matter. Letting them exist as an unconscious meatball like now wasn’t a long-term solution.

But how could he wake them up? He couldn’t just feed them a haunting’s core entity, could he?

Then there was the issue of obtaining that fragment of Pure Lotus Sword from Great Pure Palace. If he wanted Fu Xinyi to steal it, he’d first need a chance to get close to Fu Xinyi.

But whether as the King of Hauntings or as an unremarkable reserve operator, it seemed difficult to get an opportunity like in Tang City to approach a genius disciple of Great Pure Palace.

He’d have to ask the Ancestors later to see if there was another way.

He also needed to make more Alchemical Bombs and Paper Cicada Immortals. He could ask Du Sixian to have the hauntings in Hua City help with the Paper Cicada Immortals, but Alchemical Bombs were a bit troublesome.

Recently, he hadn’t produced any disaster water, which directly affected his Alchemical Bomb production and a major source of income.

Damn, he kind of missed Ms. Rabbit. He really wanted her to chop him a few times.

“Beep beep beep, beep beep beep—-!”

A message notification suddenly sounded, interrupting Lu Yibei’s thoughts.

On the desktop, some social software had somehow started and logged in by itself, and a chat window popped up in the center of the screen.

Online Pervert 0: “Wang Buliuxing, those 20-plus gigabytes of Bai Xiaohua study materials on your computer are awesome! Where’d you get them?”

Lu Yibei: “……”

Wang Buliuxing: “Damn, you guys, is it really okay to mess with someone’s computer like this? [Angry]”

Online Pervert 0: “Sorry, didn’t know you minded so much. I’m willing to compensate you with five gigs of study materials.”

Wang Buliuxing: “You think five gigs will buy me off?”

Online Pervert 0: “It’s a resource link…”

Wang Buliuxing: “Bro, from now on you’re my long-lost brother!”

Online Pervert 0: “No problem, we’ll share more later. But first, business. We found the Xiezhi Crown you wanted.”

So fast? As expected of the online haunting organization! Lu Yibei thought.

Wang Buliuxing: “What’s the price for this intel?”

Online Pervert 0: “Our boss heard you recently obtained a Divine Land prototype?”

Wang Buliuxing: “???”

Your intel is a bit too well-informed, isn’t it? Lu Yibei frowned.

Online Pervert 0: “Relax, the boss doesn’t want your Divine Land prototype, just a promise from you.”

Wang Buliuxing: “A promise?”

Online Pervert 0: “When you eventually advance the Divine Land prototype into a Divine Land, you must share your advancement experience with our boss.”

That’s still a long way off! Trading a promise for the material for Jiang Li’s Spirit Pattern advancement didn’t seem like a loss, Lu Yibei thought.

Wang Buliuxing: “No problem.”

Online Pervert 0: “One more thing, I heard you’re on good terms with the Beast of Inheritance? Can you introduce them and invite them to join our group?”

Beast of Inheritance? Lu Yibei glanced at Wang Yingying on the nightstand and frowned.

Wang Buliuxing: “That might not be possible right now.”