And with a paynt of three bottles of Disaster Liquid, the transaction was completed. Lu Yibei felt that it was a fair price, while Gu Qianqian, on the other hand, felt that she made a great profit.
“So, we’re done here?” Yibei asked as he handed the three bottles of Disaster over. “By the way, be careful when handling this thing – its flammable, explosive, and toxic! If you’re not careful with it, and it slips out of your hand… Boom!”
He made sure to emphasize the word ‘Boom!’ with an exaggerated, explosive motion with his hands.
It was fun to be a bit an towards Gu Qianqian and savour her reactions.
Gu Qianqian, predictably, was a frightened by his words. She frowned as she scrunched up her nose, and nodded tremblingly.
“G-got it!”
She was deathly afraid that the tiny glass bottles in her hand would slip, making sure to escort them with her two hands as she carefully brought them towards her trolley parked by the alleyway.
While this was happening, he went back to the front of the stall and studied the statue of Acala, the Immovable. He was wondering about how he was going to take it with him when his eyes inadvertently swept across the rest of the stall, and an involuntary frown made its way onto his face.
Aren’t these all the alchemical potions from the Serpent’s mory? Did Gu Qianqian refine all these?
Just as he was about to scourge through his mories to confirm, a premonition flashed in mind, interrupting his thoughts.
[She’s about to pick up the dirty pork trotters from the ground.]
Are you kidding … he cursed inwardly. Lo and behold, as he turned around, Gu Qianqian was seen squatting by the muddy puddle with her fingers hovering above the discarded pork trotters.
“…Gu Qianqian.”
“Wh-wh-wha-!?”
The sudden ntion of her na startled her, and the pork trotters that she picked up slipped out from her hand once again, splashing onto the mud. The pork trotters were now coated with a more even layer of mud and gri.
And her face paints a scene of distress and despair.
Yibei stood next to Gu Qianqian and patted her shoulder, “Forget about it. We cannot save it anymore. I’m afraid we must let the dead rest in peace.”
“At the very least,” he continued. “It didn’t suffer through any pain in its last days. Co on, let us bid farewell to it.”
“B-but…” Gu Qianqian glanced at the pork trotters once more, then back at Yibei, hesitating to speak.
“…I could just treat you to so food so other ti,” he offered.
“You said it yourself! No takesy-backsies!” she blurted out, and the system had no ti to halt the brakes on Gu Qianqian’s tongue.
“Sha on you, Gu Qianqian! Sha on you! You really are the worst student I have ever had the misfortune of teaching!” the system roared. “He’s trying to trick you, Gu Qianqian! Do you really believe a Witch is going to treat you to food for free? He wants sothing from you!”
Listening to the system, Gu Qianqian felt a little scared before pouting, turning back to Yibei as she muttered hesitantly, “…maybe not. Pork trotters are kind of expensive.”
“Doesn’t matter. I just need to ask you sothing, and if possible, I need you to help with a little favour. Treat it as a bribe-in-advance of so sort,” he gestured.
A girl like Gu Qianqian absolutely does not operate on the sa channel as normal humans… she’s like a doe who had just escaped from the forests, who will easily accept the offers from any wolves. I think it’s good to tell her my intentions upfront so she doesn’t misunderstand anything…
Plus! She’s pathetic enough as it is! I don’t have the heart to lie to her!
“Did you refine those potions yourself?” he asked, cursing at himself inwardly.
“Yup!”
“Ah, you’re amazing!” he praised nonchalantly.
Gu Qianqian’s face turned slightly red as she scratched the back of her head, saying, “Ah! It wasn’t much! You’re making feel all giddy inside!”
“No, no, take it from ! You’re great at this!” he praised again. “We’re friends, correct? And considering that you’re great at refining potions, could you help refine my own potions? Is that alright with you?”
Just as Gu Qianqian was about to agree, the system snarkily yelled inside of her head.
“Ooh! Ooh!” they shouted. “Ooh! Called it! I told you so! I. Called. It! He was trying to trap you! Decline his request, Gu Qianqian!”
“System…”
“Gu Qianqian, he’s trying to abuse your powers without giving anything back in return! I’ll have you know that he’ll probably backstab you the first chance he gets!”
The system will use all the worst possible presumptions to speculate about the personality of a Witch.
What can’t the World Ender do? He’ll use you, then kill you to silence you! And that’s the most gentle thod he has to deal with you!
“System!”
“My bad. What were you saying?”
“He offered to pay ! I don’t have to refine the potions for free!”
The system blinked.
“He’ll offer one unit of dicine and one unit of… Disaster? Is that what it is? He’s offering these two things as deposit!”
Gu Qianqian, with a smile, continued to give a blank stare at Yibei as she took the two glass bottles, waiting for the system to respond to her.
“System! The bottles are already in my hand! How do I reject her?!”
“The hell are you rejecting him for?! Accept his offer!”
Gu Qianqian, you’re too naïve! If you accept his offer, you can refine the Disaster Liquid into sothing powerful! The system thought to itself.
“But that isn’t what you told earlier…” Gu Qianqian pouted inwardly. “You just said that he’s trying to trick , and I must decline his offer at all costs.”
The system was silent for a mont, before replying, “Gu Qianqian, we must be analytical in this situation, and accept compromises – if we don’t help him refine these potions, he’ll find sobody else to do so. Plus, if we help him, we’ll gain profits! It’s still a net win for us in the end!”
“Moreover,” the system smirked inwardly. “We could add a little sothing extra to his potions – poison, toxins, curses… the possibilities are endless! Kekeke!”
“System…”
“Yes, Gu Qianqian?”
“I thought we were the protagonists who act as the Aspects of Justice, so why are you laughing like we’re the villains?”
“…”
…
Two bottles for deposit, and another for the final paynt.
Although the price of an additional three Disaster Liquids was not cheap, Yibei didn’t feel as if he lost a lot.
I have a lot of Disaster stored anyways, and I am able to produce them daily. I don’t care about vendors charging a high price, I’m just worried that nobody will buy them in the first place.
Earlier, when he was wandering around the ghost market searching for buyers, it seems like, except for Fu Er and Gu Qianqian, nobody was willing to purchase Disaster. Even if there was a price, it was very unreasonable.
“I need you to help refine this potion. Could you take a look?” Yibei asked, writing down the formula of the potion with the pen and paper given to him by Gu Qianqian.
“[Desolate Fire]?” Gu Qianqian muttered as she studied the formula given by Yibei, before turning back into her mind to ask the system, “System? What is this potion used for?”
“It seems like it can be used to temporarily strengthen the power of fire-based spells, which is in line with her own psychic attributes. Hence, she is almost guaranteed to drink it, so it is the perfect opportunity for us to poison it!”
Seeing that Gu Qianqian was staring at the formula for a long ti, Yibei asked, “Uh, is this too difficult for you?”
If Gu Qianqian has trouble refining this potion, that ans that she wouldn’t be able to help with refining the potion to cover for my deficiencies and reinforce my core – and that is a big deal to .
Hence, to be safe, he wanted to request Gu Qianqian to refine a random potion to test her skills before commissioning her to refine the potion that he needs.
“Of course not!” Gu Qianqian suddenly boasted. “This is much simpler than the [Copper Sphere of the Sun]! However, it’ll take three days to refine this for you!”
I could easily make seven or eight potions in a day, but the system told that it would take two days to prepare the poison. Gu Qianqian gulped inwardly.
Three days? Seems like I can’t make up for my deficiencies before going to the Happy Community. With [Desolate Fire], I can at least guarantee so form of protection for myself, though.
“[Copper Sun of the What]? What did you just say?” Yibei asked curiously.
“Oh, that’s not…” Gu Qianqian realized that her words slipped, and a trace of panic flashed in her eyes. “Sun. Light. Light source. Yeah! In short, it’s a light bulb.”
Light bulb… Yibei thought of Gu Qianqian’s ho under the bridge, with a light switch that causes the light in her humble shack to flicker every ti he tries to turn it on, and couldn’t help but nod.
“That’s pretty silly, but it’s good, in my opinion. At least you don’t have to steal electricity from the street light on the bridge anymore. If you get caught, you might get detained!” Yibei said.
As he spoke, he took out two volcanic crystals that acted as the ‘sovereign’ of the potion, and placed them in Gu Qianqian’s hands.
“This is the ‘sovereign’ dicine that [Desolate Fire] needs, and two of them is enough to refine almost ten potions. After considering production losses, I’ll be satisfied if you manage to produce just eight of the potions.”
“Ah, but problem is, I don’t have any more supplentary dicines to act as the ‘minister’,” Yibei sighed. “They’re cheap, though. I trust that you’ll be able to buy them yourself?”
The prices of several more common dicinal materials that are used as the ‘minister’ are incredibly low nowadays. Like a piece of hay amongst piles of hay.
However, Gu Qianqian was still reluctant to part with such a small amount of money, and could only do so after the system’s earnest persuasion.
“O-okay. I accept.”
“Cool!” Yibei earnestly said. “We’ve reached a deal! I’ll co back to pick up the potions in three days.”
Before he left, he stood up and placed Acala right next to his bag. Then, he calmly and discreetly helped Gu Qianqian to pick up the dirty pork trotters, and made sure to dispose of them in a garbage bin very far away to ensure that she won’t go through the garbage to retrieve her ‘food’.
I feel a bright light shining on my body. I feel like an upstanding citizen with a red scarf on my chest, gleaming brighter and brighte-
[She’s shedding tears of grievances over her lost pork trotters.]
“…”
…
Gu Qianqian carefully stowed the Disaster Liquid and volcanic crystals given to her by Yibei into her trolley. Then, she turned back to pick up her fallen pork trotters, only to find that the puddle they were marinating in was now empty.
She stared at the muddied puddle illuminated under the dim light of her stall’s lantern, unable to accept the cruel reality that her pork trotters have left this world…
…until a tempting aroma wafted into her nose.
Huh? What is that?
…Pork trotters?
Gu Qianqian was stunned for a mont, imdiately turning around to be greeted with a bento gingerly placed on top of her tiny stool. She hurriedly opened it to be greeted with two large and juicy braised pork trotters that were teeming with flavour and steam.
A sticky note with hastily written words was pasted on top of the bento.
[The night market next door is closed, and I could only get these pork trotters after banging on the door of a hawker down the street for a long ti. It might be a little cold now, but enjoy.
P.S. Braised pork trotters are tastier if they are seasoned with various spices. I don’t have the ti today, but I will make so for you another day.
Yours sincerely,
Lu Yibei]
…
On the old, dilapidated streets outside the ghost market, a man smoked one cigarette after another, and drank a bottle of alcohol after each smoke.
Zhang Dexian leaned against the corner of the alley as his gaze was affixed onto the street lights above his head, like a man who failed to follow his dreams.
He couldn’t understand why fate was being so feisty with him.
It took him more than two hours to hunt for an additional urban legend core, which was enough to purchase the Divine Object he was seeking from that vendor. However, as he was finished digging the core out of the urban legend, he received a heartbreaking ssage from the urban legend group chat.
[oldinternetperv001: Dexian! The thing that you were looking for was purchased by sobody else. Rember VACCARIA? From your review at the slaughterhouse? Well, you can complete more commissions and redeem her information, and bring it up to her yourself.]
[oldinternetperv001: You could also use just the forum’s designated user-to-user transaction feature, but she hasn’t registered an account yet, it seems. Not sure when she’ll do it either.]
[oldinternetperv001: Sorry for your loss, want so sexy pictures to unwind?]
[oldinternetperv001 is sending you multiple files…]
Zhang Dexian glanced at the ssages that were blowing up his phone and put it down, before finally letting out a loud roar down the alleyway.
“I haven’t lost yet! I will only admit defeat when I die. The fight is never open until I admit defeat! Just you wait, lady, I’ll find you!”
And he downed another bottle of alcohol.
…
Late at night, in the outskirts of Huacheng where the Amber Mansion resides.
Jiangli, donning a black, lacy nightgown, leaned against her bed with a pillow against her back. She picked up the tablet next to her pillow and studied the commission that she had not had the ti to look at in detail earlier in the day.
The commission was posted a week ago, and although many people have viewed the commission, nobody has accepted it, and there were very few users who left comnts related to the commission.
[Defend Chaldea: Wow, sobody’s actually requesting a commission on this place? I fear nobody will accept this.]
[Happy Assassin: Ditto. An uphill battle.]
[Master Rice and the Green Mountain: The rewards are way too little.]
…
“These users seem to know sothing…” she muttered, shaking her head as she read the comnts.
Although there wasn’t much information on the Happy Community, it was obvious how wary the users of the forum were about it.
She tapped on [Accept], then scrolled down to read on the detailed information left by the original poster.
The information seed like a story, as if the user was telling her the story face-to-face.
Probably their personal experience, she thought to herself.
The weirdly-specific, yet highly descriptive commissions are common on the urban legend forums, probably because the forums require every commission publisher to describe it in as much detail as possible so that those who accept the commission know to the fullest extend the details of it to enable them to complete the task more safely.
[The Internet once claid that the Happy Community is the most liveable residential community in Huacheng, and it took a lot of effort to buy the last available unit here.
After spending more than half a year renovating the unit, and struggling to move my things in for another month, I finally moved into my dream community.
Strangely enough, after moving in, I found that what was said online is very, very true.
It may the close to the city, but it offers the tranquillity of the suburbs. The air is cool in the morning, and the grass seems much greener over here. When I open the window in the morning, I can see many birds flying about in the air.
My neighbours are the best. Occasionally, I would run into soone going to the park with their child, or walking their dog, and they would always have a warm smile on their face to greet .
In the centre of the community is a manmade lake with a water fountain, where you get to enjoy the serene sound of water all day long.
At the ti, I felt that my dream of living here has been achieved. Although I was alone even after graduating for about eight years, at least I finally had an apartnt unit to myself…]
As Jiangli read the post, she nodded thoughtfully to herself.
When I tagged along the Night Division to investigate the Happy Community, what we saw was consistent with what the original poster is describing. The environnt, the people, the living standards… it was all too good.
There is absolutely no sign of any urban legends lurking there.
However, the eerily perfect living environnt of the Happy Community is exactly why the people feel that sothing is wrong there.
There will be differences between humans. With that many people living in a tight-knit community, how is it possible that there are no conflicts?
Plus, there is a strange phenonon that no resident of the Happy Community will live over forty.
So dismissed the above rumour as so sort of attempt to thwart the peace of the Happy Community, “A sar campaign,” they would claim.
However, the Night Division’s data cannot be false. More than thirty residents died within a year, which is grounds for suspicion and further investigation.
Jiangli continued to scroll down.
[…It all started when I officially moved into the house.
The property managent organized a welco party for all the new residents, but since I caught a cold, I had to cancel.
I was lying in bed that night, listening to the music coming from the welco party outside. I forgot when I had fallen asleep, but I do rember waking up.
I walked to the kitchen to get myself a glass of water, and subconsciously looked out the window and noticed sothing strange.
All the buildings, as far as the eye can see, were dark. Not a single window had a light on, as if the community was abandoned overnight. All I could see was the red aviation lights on the roof, flashing like a pair of scarlet eyes as it painted the entire community a dim red.
Even the park was pitch-black. The only lights that were on were the dim street lights, and I could hear nothing.
I rember it being around nine o’clock at the ti. The party must’ve just ended, but it shouldn’t be that quiet.
My mind was still burnt from the fever, and I went back to bed without thinking too much. When I woke up the next day, I chalked my experience last night up to a fever dream.
In retrospect, if I had noticed sothing was wrong earlier, I would’ve left the community.
I swear!
The next day, the property manager ca to my unit and told that he wanted to hold a small party – just for , to make up for the party that I missed last night.
How thoughtful, isn’t it? However, I had a few urgent responsibilities to attend to, so I never had the chance to accept his offer.
I don’t know when the feelings of unease started, but they only grew stronger day by day.
I tried searching for the problem, but I found nothing.
The air is still as crisp as ever. The lake is still as clear as ever. My neighbours are still as friendly as ever. However, sothing is nagging in the back of my head, telling that sothing is wrong.
I was plagued by a nightmare that the community was concealed, like a large, malicious shadow.
Like a crocodile awaiting its prey under a quiet lake, disguising itself as a piece of wood.
The crocodile would remain motionless, but its sinister eyes would dart here and there, scanning every corner of the community.
Only then did I realize what the problem was – the welco party!
It started bugging that the property manager was visiting too often. At first, he extended an invitation to a party once every half month, then it was once a week, and finally, once every three to four days.
It was as if I would only be called a mber of the community if I attended that damn party…]
The party. Jiangli’s gaze paused for a mont, tapping her chin lightly with her fingertips. Seems like the problem starts at the welco party. If I find a way to participate, I’ll find the root of the problem.
TRANSLATOR NOTES:
I hope all of you are enjoying the story! Nothing much to add-on here, but it is very lovely reading all of your comnts! See you on the next chapter!
P.S., I have a very important exam coming up in the next two weeks, and I’m not very sure if that will affect my upload schedule (Tue&Fri) considering its already pretty spread out. I’m just leaving this here in case I take a sudden leave. If it does co to that, I will make sure to leave a note in the T/N that I won’t be uploading. Again, unlikely that I won’t post, but if my studies get in the way, I’ll notify all of you.
As always, if you’ve enjoyed the translation, feel free to leave a tip on my Ko-Fi below! Any amount helps the translation! ^.^
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