Chapter 518: Too Strange!

23:07, east district of Hua City, Lianhua Bridge Auto Repair Shop. This is the largest auto repair shop in Hua City.

Inside the repair shop, Li Xuan, physically and mentally exhausted, sat slumped on the sofa in the reception area, staring blankly at the variety show looping on the TV, the coffee in his hand already cold.

“Tap, tap, tap!” The light sound of leather boots striking the floor echoed.

A young man in work clothes walked over from the repair bay, a tired yet thoroughly satisfied smile on his face.

“Li-Ge, all five of your cars have had their tires changed!”

“Li-Ge?”

“Oh, okay.” Li Xuan snapped out of his daze, looked at the young man, and asked, “How much? I’ll pay by card.”

Hearing this, the young man gave an awkward laugh. “Ha, Li-Ge, you must be joking. Your friend already paid for you long ago!”

“Paid again…” Li Xuan muttered to himself, his suspicion of Bai Kai deepening further.

To this day, he still didn’t know why Bai Kai paid to puncture his tires and remove his wheel hubs.

——–

“The other four cars will stay here for now. Please do some maintenance while you’re at it. I’ll come pick them up when I have time!”

“Don’t worry, Li-Ge!”

“Sorry to trouble you. I have something else to do, so I’ll be off.”

“Alright, take care and drive safe!”

Bang—-

After closing the car door, Li Xuan adjusted his seat slightly, fastened his seatbelt, gripped the steering wheel tightly, and his gaze sharpened. In an instant, his whole demeanor shifted from dejected and gloomy to sharp and fierce.

It didn’t feel like he was at the entrance of an auto repair shop, but rather at the starting line of the Tour de France Rally.

In fact, when he was young, his dream was to participate in the Tour de France Rally. But as the years passed, the dream faded, and the Tour de France Rally had been suspended for many years due to the frequent haunting incidents.

Sometimes, Li Xuan actually envied Bai Kai quite a bit. In his view, if only he had Bai Kai’s incredible speed, maybe he could relive his old dream and, while hunting hauntings, experience the thrill of racing at breakneck speed.

Vroom—-! On the empty city road, the sports car’s engine roared.

Accompanied by the passionate music of <Make My Day>, Li Xuan drove his beloved car on the way back to his apartment. Watching the city nightscape change outside the window, he frowned slightly, lost in thought.

He kept feeling like he had forgotten something important today.

But what was it?

Was it the reason why Bai Kai, so out of character, suddenly went “beast mode” and punctured the tires of five cars at once?

No, although that guy usually only targeted one car at a time, when he would strike and his reasons for doing so could never be explained by common sense. It was as if his brain was seriously ill.

It was…

Bzz bzz—-bzz bzz—-!

Just as Li Xuan was deep in thought, his phone suddenly vibrated, interrupting him.

“Hello, disciple, it’s me.” Upon answering, a familiar voice came through the car’s speakers.

The call was from his Shifu, Bi Xuzi.

“Shifu?” Li Xuan’s eyes lit up a little.

He didn’t know why Shifu had been angry before, but judging from now, he must have forgiven him, right?

His Shifu, who had been giving him the cold shoulder for so long, suddenly called him, making him quite happy.

“Mm, it’s me. Your junior sister Huá Sāng is leaving to return tomorrow, right? The Headmaster asked me to check in on his behalf–how is your junior sister Huá Sāng doing in Hua City?”

“That girl has had a tough life. So young, yet she has to bear the risk of her Spirit Pattern losing control at any moment. Honestly, this trip away from home, not only is the Headmaster worried about her, but even us old folks are quite concerned.”

“Speaking of which, I really don’t know what the Headmaster’s uncle was thinking. He knew her Spirit Pattern had problems, yet still sent her on such a difficult mission. Sure, we usually give her the cold shoulder, but that’s just for show. This time, the Headmaster’s uncle really went too far…”

“Alright, Shifu, don’t worry! Junior sister Huá Sāng is doing great–eating well and sleeping soundly.” Li Xuan interrupted with a smile.

As soon as he finished speaking, his smile froze, and the corners of his mouth twitched violently.

Wait, junior sister Huá Sāng?!

Damn, how could I have forgotten her?

At that moment, Li Xuan finally remembered what had been bothering him all day.

“Hello? Disciple, why did you suddenly go quiet?”

“Uh…” Li Xuan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and stammered, “N-nothing. Shifu, um, I just ran into some jerk racing me on the road. I seriously suspect it’s a haunting incident–can’t let it go! I’ll talk to you later!”

“Hmph, how long have you been away from the sect? Still so reckless–what kind of behavior is that? Never mind, just take care of yourself!”

“Mm-hmm, got it, bye!” Li Xuan replied perfunctorily.

The moment he hung up, he jerked the steering wheel, and with the screech of tires against the road, the sports car drew a gorgeous and graceful arc on the road, turning around and speeding off toward Mudan Street.

——–

In the dead of night, Mudan Street was utterly silent. A thin mist drifted over the winding water channel, and not a single light shone from the houses on either side.

In the alley before the Hua City Folk Culture Administration Bureau, the wind always blew at a steady pace. Beneath the high walls and carved eaves, a young girl lay face down on the ground, motionless.

“Da-da-da–!” Suddenly, a burst of footsteps broke the quiet of the alley.

Li Xuan, looking anxious, rushed in from the end of the alley. When he saw Huá Sāng lying on the ground, he first let out a sigh of relief, but then his expression grew heavy.

Could something have happened?

Earlier, when Huá Sāng came to Hua City, Bi Xuzi had only hurriedly told him, “Remember to untie your junior sister Huá Sāng,” before hanging up, not wasting a single word, nor telling him that Huá Sāng was currently in a state where her Spirit Pattern could lose control at any moment.

Bi Xuzi’s attitude, the unpleasant rumors about Huá Sāng circulating among the disciples, and her behavior after arriving in Hua City had all made Li Xuan extremely averse to this junior sister.

But now…

Li Xuan looked at Huá Sāng with concern. When he saw the neatly stacked snack wrappers beside her, his mouth twitched. After probing her condition with his psychic sense, his rollercoaster emotions finally came to a stop.

Her Spirit Pattern was very stable. It seemed junior sister Huá Sāng had probably eaten her fill and was now “nourishing her health” again.

Heh, Shifu is always spouting alarmist nonsense all day long.

He’s always calling me reckless, but does he ever look at who I learned it from!

Grumbling inwardly, Li Xuan suddenly recalled the concern Shifu had shown for Huá Sāng on the phone just now, and a wave of jealousy rose in his heart.

Yes, he was jealous.

Although Shifu treated his disciples with the principle of “strict with oneself, lenient with others,” which was understandable, it always made him feel like he was a guaranteed pull in a mobile game.

As everyone knows, being verbally harsh but caring in action, and tormenting juniors, are both old traditions of the Great Pure Palace.

Sitting on the stone platform at the edge of the alley, waiting for Huá Sāng to wake up, Li Xuan rummaged through the unfinished snacks she’d left, found half a bag of peanuts, and started eating them out of boredom to pass the time.

“Hey, these peanuts taste pretty good!”

Surprised by the unexpected flavor, Li Xuan couldn’t help but exclaim.

Seemingly startled by his voice, Huá Sāng let out a soft nasal sound and woke up.

Seeing her slowly sit up, Li Xuan raised an eyebrow and gave an awkward laugh, “Sorry, junior sister, I ran into some trouble today and almost forgot about you.”

“It’s fine.” Sitting up, Huá Sāng nodded obediently, rubbed her sleepy eyes, and looked over at Li Xuan. When she saw the bag of peanuts in his hand, her expression immediately turned odd.

“Senior brother, are you very hungry?”

“No, why?” Li Xuan tilted his head in confusion.

“If not, you’d better not eat those. They’re dirty,” Huá Sāng said blandly.

“Dirty?” Li Xuan looked at the peanut packaging in his hand, full of confusion. On it were the big characters–Xu Fu Ji Peanut Chocolate.

Why is it peanut chocolate, not just peanuts?

Wait!

Junior sister, she seems, probably, never eats things that are hard to chew…

At this thought, Li Xuan’s expression froze, and he looked at Huá Sāng for confirmation.

Her messy hair covered her face, making her expression unreadable, but she gave a slight nod, confirming his suspicion.

She’d been hungry almost all day, and just jelly and yogurt were clearly not enough.

Seeing this, Li Xuan’s face turned deathly pale, and his stomach churned violently.

“Ugh–ugh–!”

In that moment, he suddenly understood why the elders of the sect felt such a conflicted mix of concern and deep aversion toward Huá Sāng.

Probably because sometimes, she really doesn’t act like a normal person, does she? Li Xuan thought.

——–

“Haunting Incident: Scourge of God? What the heck is that? Attila? Did a mobile game character finally become a haunting? It can’t be the real Huns coming back from the dead, right?”

“Damn, damn, this is awesome!”

Walking along the road from the parking garage to the apartment building, Lu Yibei stared at a short video on his phone and couldn’t help but exclaim.

It was about a minute-long drone video, showing a desolate gobi desert. A jagged ravine, about fifty meters wide and flickering with countless sparks, snaked all the way to the horizon.

Just as the video’s title described, the scene looked like a deity had lashed the earth with a whip of destruction in anger, splitting the ground and sending flames spewing forth.

Too terrifying–only a catastrophe-class psychic or a haunting could pull off something this massive, right? But…

What does this have to do with me, the Tormentor of the Hua City?

I’m just here for the spectacle! Lu Yibei curled his lips indifferently.

Nowadays, a lot of people want to scroll through a couple of short videos whenever they have a bit of free time, and Lu Yibei was no exception. However, with the Void’s reminders, whenever he scrolled through short videos, he always paid special attention to those strange and bizarre news stories, secretly guessing at the haunting incidents hidden behind them.

According to the Void, many of those odd and unbelievable news stories were actually smokescreens released by The Midnight Watchers Society or other similar organizations, trying to cover up the truth behind haunting incidents.

It was just like those videos analyzing how some countries had already been infiltrated by hauntings–they made a certain amount of sense. Otherwise, why were there so many foreign self-media accounts talking about “strange fates and fortunes”?

Hmm, not long ago, the Ganges New Delhi basin turned crystal clear overnight–there must be something fishy about that!

Oh, and short video apps devouring time was also a big problem!

Lu Yibei scrolled through short videos while secretly complaining, and before he knew it, he’d arrived at his own doorstep.

He put away his phone, took out his keys to open the door, entered his home, changed his shoes, ignored the little Haunting lurking suspiciously in the living room, and headed straight upstairs.

He didn’t know when it started, but he’d actually begun to look forward to Wang Yingying waking up.

It was like playing a pet-raising game, waiting for an unknown pet egg to hatch.

Although the chances of Wang Yingying waking up on her own were very low, what if a miracle happened?

Standing at the top of the stairs, he turned on the light and glanced at the bedside table. Lu Yibei let out a silent sigh.

Wang Yingying was still just a ball.

Then, he noticed the headset hanging on Wang Yingying and frowned. He turned and shouted downstairs, “Hey, was it you guys who put the headphones on it? Didn’t I tell you not to mess with it?”

It’s not that I’m worried something will happen to it; I’m mainly worried that if you interact with it too much, you’ll get into trouble yourselves… Lu Yibei added silently in his heart.

After a few seconds, hairball’s weak voice came from downstairs, “We… we were just trying to give it some prenatal education for you! We meant well, Lady Witch!”

Prenatal education? Lu Yibei frowned, picked up the headphones and listened for a moment, and his face instantly darkened.

In that instant, he suddenly felt that maybe, over the past couple of days, he’d shown Wang Yingying too much care, making the little Haunting at home jealous enough to want to harm Wang Yingying.

It was like when a second child is born, and the eldest feels neglected and unbalanced, so they deliberately take revenge on their younger sibling.

“Damn, a recitation of the Great Compassion Mantra? Are you trying to give it prenatal education or send it off to the afterlife? Tsk, this is useless!”

After complaining, Lu Yibei quickly turned off the scripture recitation that was playing, switched to a crosstalk compilation, and then put the headphones back on Wang Yingying.

Now that’s what I call prenatal education!

When the child is ‘born’ in the future, it’ll be sharp-tongued and quick-witted, so it won’t get bullied at school.

Yes, in Lu Yibei’s plan, he was going to send Wang Yingying to school.

In his view, Wang Yingying seriously lacked basic knowledge about the world, and its worldview was a bit off. It needed education to better integrate into this world.

Thinking this, Lu Yibei gently patted Wang Yingying, then took out the Pure Lotus Sword from his backpack, sat cross-legged on the bed with the sword in hand, focused his mind, and injected psychic energy into it.

A faint golden glow spread like flowing water, the ancient Broken Sword let out a low hum, sending ripples through the air.

In the next moment, a sudden change occurred.

The air around him instantly became heavy, as if a massive boulder had appeared out of nowhere, pressing down on him, and a faint sense of suffocation crept in.

Then, as if hallucinating, Li Xuan’s figure flashed before his eyes.

His face was pale, his expression twisted in pain, as if he were enduring immense suffering.

In an instant, goosebumps rose all over Lu Yibei’s body, as if he’d touched something filthy. He jerked his hand and threw the Pure Lotus Sword away.

“What the hell!? What’s going on?”

“Why did I see that guy’s figure?”

“This is bad, really bad, something’s gone terribly wrong!”

Lu Yibei knocked on his head, looked expressionlessly at the Pure Lotus Sword lying on the floor, and started to doubt his life.

While trying to enter a dream and contact the Ancestors, Li Xuan’s figure suddenly flashed before his eyes.

It was just like when you’re admiring Bai Xiaohua with full concentration, and suddenly a high-energy horror movie clip pops out from under her little skirt.

He didn’t know why this happened, but it was truly shocking.

So damn weird!