Under the night sky, a thin mist drifted over Peony Street, like silk, lingering and floating along the clear canal.
On the second floor of the Peony Language Hostay Inn, Du Sixian leaned against the window, staring blankly at the canal with a troubled expression.
Earlier, An Qing had told her she was a 'trash-stream' genius, and she had believed it for a while, even confidently thinking she could master the Spells on the parchnt in a short ti.
However, after she actually started learning, she realized that whether she had any genius component was yet to be determined, but her 'trash' attribute was definitely off the charts.
From just after 3 PM to around 9 PM, over five hours, let alone getting a glimpse of the entrance, she hadn't even found where the threshold was.
Spells are like mathematics; they don't lie. If you don't know it, you really don't know it.
Du Sixian's personality was inherently stubborn, just like when she made urban legend videos and searched for 'Experts'. Once she set her mind on sothing, even if she hit a wall, she wouldn't turn back until she broke through the wall, or killed herself doing it, or was carried away by others.
And so...
She practiced Spells until her Spiritual Energy was depleted and An Qing had to carry her back to her lodging.
When they parted, An Qing's hesitant look dealt her a heavy blow.
Perhaps Sister Qing also felt she had misjudged. Maybe I'm not a genius at all. She just didn't tell the truth because she was afraid of hurting ?
But I won't give up like this. It wasn't easy to finally co into contact with the world of urban legend. Giving up now would be too soon!
Thinking this, Du Sixian slowly raised her hands again and quietly attempted the Spell she had seen on the parchnt.
"Barren wilderness, withered grass, bones, a wind fanning the embers, strike with the third Spell, Red Fla Flash!"
While chanting the spell in a low voice, Du Sixian recalled the description of Spiritual Energy circulation on the parchnt in her mind.
She imagined the withered grass and remains on the wilderness being ignited by crimson flas, attempting to guide Spiritual Energy to simulate the shape of flas at her fingertips...
The mont she outlined the shape of crimson flas in her mind, she suddenly felt sothing stir within her body, followed by a wisp of crimson light appearing on her slender fingertips.
However, that wisp of light only lasted for less than a second. The crimson fla hadn't even had ti to form a Prototype at her fingertips before it dissipated.
Du Sixian hadn't recovered from her depleted Spiritual Energy state, and now she was forcing herself to practice again. Imdiately, a wave of dizziness washed over her, her body swayed twice, and cold sweat streaked across her pale face.
"Ah——!"
After steadying herself, Du Sixian sighed helplessly, closed the window, and lay back on the bed.
She let her body sink into the darkness, allowing the fatigue and dizziness to consu her consciousness, and unknowingly fell into a deep sleep.
Then...
Once again, she fell into that strange dream.
...
A bone-chilling wind, mixed with slightly choking mist, hit Du Sixian's face, and she suddenly woke up with a start.
After a brief mont of panic, she looked at the dilapidated street before her, which looked as if humans had disappeared many years ago, and her eyes gradually beca strange.
"Why... am I having this dream again?"
Du Sixian murmured to herself, and suddenly, as if she had thought of sothing, she bent down and scooped up so sand, ford by the weathering of building debris on the ground, rubbing it gently between her fingers.
The grit scratched her tender palm, and the hard, rough texture felt incredibly real.
Releasing her hand and letting the sand fall from her fingers, she searched around for a while, her gaze falling on a puddle of sewage accumulated under a rusted fire hydrant. Her eyes narrowed slightly, and she quickly walked over.
Squatting beside the sewage, Du Sixian frowned slightly, suppressing her nausea, and reached out her hand, lightly tracing the surface of the water with her finger.
The pungent sll of the sewage and the sticky, greasy touch, just like the hardness and roughness of the sand and stone, were terrifyingly real.
"It's just as I thought!" Du Sixian muttered, a slight smile playing on her lips as joy filled her face.
In this dream, since the sight, sll, and touch are so real, does that an I might also be able to practice Spells here? Du Sixian thought.
As this thought crossed her mind, she slowly raised her hands, her red lips slightly parted, and tried to chant the spell in a low voice.
"Barren wilderness, withered grass, bones, a wind fanning the embers, strike with the third Spell, Red Fla Flash!"
As the spell was finished, a crimson flicker passed over her fingertips, and then, with a soft 'puff!', it dissipated.
However, this failure did not make Du Sixian feel discouraged at all; instead, her face was full of joy.
This was originally just an attempt, and after the attempt, she was pleasantly surprised to find that she could really practice Spells in this incredibly real dream.
Here, not only were everything she saw and heard incredibly real, but even the circulation of Spiritual Energy within her body and the fleeting heat at her fingertips when attempting to cast a Spell were exactly the sa as in the real world.
Most importantly, it didn't consu Spiritual Energy!
"It works! Again!" Du Sixian low-roared to cheer herself on and began practicing again.
"Barren wilderness, withered grass, bones, a wind fanning the embers, strike with the third Spell, Red Fla Flash!"
"Puff——!"
"Barren wilderness, withered grass, bones..."
Du Sixian practiced repeatedly. Occasionally, figures wandering in adjacent streets would cast glances at her, but they quickly withdrew their gaze, as if thinking she was an incomprehensible lunatic.
Everyone who appears here is seeking the blessing of the gods.
What are you doing running around here practicing low-level Spells if not being a lunatic?
As long as you please the gods, what can't you have?
...
"Sorry, there really isn't any!" Lu Yibei put away her brush and glanced at Ju ng, who was muttering about wanting a late-night snack. "Didn't you eat so much earlier? Are you hungry again now?"
"Tsk!" Ju ng pouted disdainfully. "That little bit wasn't even enough to fill a gap in my teeth. Back in Taoyuan..."
"Alright, alright, this isn't Taoyuan, this is my ho." Lu Yibei interrupted Ju ng. "Your Void, can you please bear with it a bit? If it's really unbearable, I'll make noodles for you to eat?"
"Hmph! Noodles? Do you know how to make longevity noodles?" Ju ng crossed her arms over her chest, her expression challenging.
"Isn't that simple?"
"I'm talking about longevity noodles made by transforming Spiritual Energy into water and kneading it into the dough. I used to go to Liao Zhai Tavern every week or two to eat a bowl. The taste, tsk tsk, was absolutely amazing."
Lu Yibei glanced at Ju ng, who was lost in reminiscence, and said irritably, "Then why don't you go now?"
"You heartless wretch!" Ju ng raised her hand and pointed at Lu Yibei's nose. "Sister, wasn't I stabbed by you? Going to Liao Zhai Tavern with injuries, I'd probably be eaten by other custors the mont I stepped out! It's all your fault."
"What the heck? What kind of tavern is that?" Lu Yibei asked in surprise. "Custors devouring each other, and the boss isn't afraid of affecting normal business?"
"It's a tavern exclusively for urban legend. Fighting is prohibited inside the tavern, but outside the door, they take no responsibility. How about it, isn't it interesting and exciting? If you sincerely beg , Sister will take you to see it soday." Ju ng raised her eyebrows at Lu Yibei.
Lu Yibei, "..." She briefly imagined the scene: a group of urban legend getting along amicably inside the Liao Zhai Tavern, while outside the door, a pile of monsters and vengeful spirits were tearing each other apart, with broken limbs and scattered body parts everywhere. A chill ran down her spine.
"No, no, I won't go to that kind of ghost place, even if you beg !"
With my diocre combat strength, going to a place like that would just be serving myself up as food for others, wouldn't it?
Thinking this, Lu Yibei turned and picked up the paper on the table, blowing on the ink that hadn't completely dried yet. The paper was covered with crooked hieroglyphs; it was a part of the content she had copied from the bamboo slip.
Although she only rembered less than a third of the content on the bamboo slip, if Ju ng recognized the characters on it and deciphered the information, she should be able to analyze sothing.
"Co here and take a look. I copied this from the bamboo slip. Would you mind translating it for ? Didn't you say you know many languages?"
"You've asked the right person for this." Ju ng jumped up from the sofa and walked towards Lu Yibei.
"I've lived for so many years, what language don't I understand? Not to ntion Chinese, even English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Japanese, and Korean are all at my fingertips. Tell , what language do you want Sister to translate it into for you? As long as you sincerely beg !"
"Just begging you, and I can choose any language?"
"Any!" Ju ng said proudly, with a hint of showing off.
"Then please, can you translate it into C language for ?" Lu Yibei said expressionlessly.
Ju ng's body stiffened upon hearing this, and then a blush gradually appeared on her small face. She hold back for a long ti before whispering, "This, I don't know this one. Pick another one, and I'm sure I'll know it."
"You know Java, right?"
Ju ng, "..."
She narrowed her eyes, scanning Lu Yibei back and forth.
I think this brat is deliberately trying to make trouble and embarrass , right?
Should I teach her a lesson and let her know who the Void is?
Seeing Ju ng's gaze gradually turn hostile, Lu Yibei cleared her throat and said, "Chinese, you know Chinese, right?"
Although Ju ng looked like a young girl, Lu Yibei felt that she was, after all, an old monster who was thousands of years old, and the consequences would be terrible if she got angry.
"Tsk, hand it over!"
Ju ng impatiently snatched the paper from Lu Yibei's hand, glanced at it, and then spat disdainfully, "Hmph, isn't this just the writing of those savages from the south? I recognized it at a glance."
"Amazing!" Lu Yibei gave Ju ng a thumbs-up with an expressionless face. "As the saying goes, 'Having an elder in the family is like having a treasure.' This saying is indeed true."
"And then? What does it say?"
Ju ng rolled her eyes at Lu Yibei and said, "In modern terms, it's just a diary."
"A diary?"
"Isn't it? Look here." Ju ng pouted and pointed at a line of text. "The month of early sumr, the third day. King Yu ordered to lead three hundred soldiers, carrying one hundred and twenty children with braided hair, into Mount Python to worship the gods. Tsk, truly not human!"
Lu Yibei nodded and said, "I completely agree with your point on this. Sacrificing children, that so-called king, is clearly not a good person."
As she spoke, she couldn't help but criticize the cruelty of feudal emperors in her heart and praise the greatness of socialist law.
Ju ng rolled her eyes at Lu Yibei and said, "That's not what I said, that's what he wrote. This line of text here roughly ans 'truly not human!'."
Lu Yibei, "???"
"And here." Ju ng pointed to another passage of text. "The sixth day, traveled eight hundred li, no signs of human habitation for four days. There were many poisonous miasmas in the forest, and the children cried at night. Couldn't sleep, annoyed the hell out of !"
Lu Yibei, "..."
It's not that I don't believe Ju ng, it's just that the content on this bamboo slip has a slightly off-kilter style.
Could this 'diary' full of Spells really trigger a urban legend incident?
Professor Ma must have gotten it wrong, right?
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