Chapter 250: Cohabitation

Collecting the potion, Lu Yibei quietly took cover in the darkness of an alleyway.

Will at least one of these potions cause harm to me? Heads if yes, tails if no. Lu Yibei thought to himself as he took out his copper coin and flung it into the air.

Smack!

The copper coin was still spinning as he caught it mid-air. With his ability of precognition, he didn’t need to see the copper coin’s answer.

“Tsk, I knew it! I knew there was a hygiene problem from the very start! To think I even gave her the chance to fess up!”

Gu Qianqian is so kind! He grumbled to himself. If it were up to me, her bank account number and every teeny-tiny dark secret would have been exposed by now.

He glanced out the alleyway towards Gu Qianqian’s humble stall, and as he was deep in thought, he flung his copper coin up into the air again.

Fling!

The copper coin spun gracefully, and its shiny surface reflected the moonlight.

Before his eyes could heat up, however, his hand shot out and caught the coin firmly in his palm.

He initially wanted to use his ability to test if Gu Qianqian had any ill intent towards him, but as soon as he flung the coin upwards, he realized that he didn’t want to know the answer to that question.

Precognitions are not reliable… the future is always changing… tsk, tsk…

If I judge a person’s good or bad solely through divination, shouldn’t I just lose myself and become the copper coin?

He chuckled to himself as he put the coin back into his pocket, then rummaged through the bag of potions. He then took the good potions out and put them into his backpack.

If the potion is good, I’ll consume it when necessary, but if there is a problem with it…

I guess it’s a great chance to test it out on the enemy to see what side effects the bad potions have.

…

Returning to his apartment, it was still the wee hours of the morning. Opening the door, he was greeted with a pitch-black living room.

“Hello? Anyone home?”

He called out again, but nobody responded.

Weird. Jumeng has nobody to go out and play games with, and my little apparitions have nowhere else to go.

The house was quiet, as if he had just went back in time and first started living here after moving out of Shui’s house.

Scratching his head, he walked in and went upstairs. Launching himself into bed, he stared at the ceiling in a daze, occupied by his thoughts.

I thought she was still injured, so why head out late at night?

…but if she’s fine, why would she stay at my house?

…

Under the moonlight, at the small garden on the top floor of Huacheng University’s library, a variety of flowers bloom.

A girl sat on the railing with her legs hanging, and her big, emerald-like eyes gazed at the moon through a ferocious-looking mask as she hummed an ancient song to herself.

Soon, soft footfalls could be heard entering the garden, and a figure emerged from the shadows. The figure walked up to the girl and bowed to her.

“You’re finally here. Why were you looking for me in such a hurry? Surely, you’re not trying to rush me to locate that pesky urban legend?” Jumeng pouted.

“It’s been so long, and I couldn’t find any clues,” she continued. “I estimate that she may have left Huacheng long ago.”

“No, you’re mistaken,” Lin Yiqi shook her head. “You’re right – it’s been so long, and I am no longer concerned over that matter.”

Plus, even if I find her, beating her up will do me no good, Lin Yiqi thought to herself.

“Absolutely not!” Jumeng waved her fist and boasted. “I, the Great Jumeng, have promised that I will beat her up! And hence, I must beat her up!”

“Don’t you worry about a single thing! Before I leave, I will most definitely avenge you!” Jumeng reassured.

“…thanks in advance, I guess,” Lin Yiqi murmured. “But that is not what I’m here for today – I’m here to warn you that you should leave Huacheng as soon as possible.”

Jumeng tilted her head in confusion, “Why? I thought we agreed that you didn’t need to bestow me any offerings?”

After all, the food Lu Yibei makes at home is quite delicious, she noted.

“No, it’s not because of that, but… are you dating someone?”

“Huh?” Jumeng frowned and made an ugly face.

“You got yourself a hot sugar daddy?”

“Listen – I’m not you.”

“You’re busy… looking for worshippers?” Lin Yiqi guessed again.

Recalling her daily life with Yibei, Jumeng replied, “I guess? That kid relies on me a lot!”

Lin Yiqi’s eye twitched slightly. Why do I hear a hint of pamper-and-pride in her words? Ah, none of my business…

“Well, I was guessing because you have been living like a hermit lately,” Yiqi explained. “I was worried that you haven’t noticed that there is some unrest in Huacheng lately – a few days ago, I was praying to Zigu¹, and…”

“Wait, what the hell?” Jumeng interrupted. “You’re praying to that nasty woman again?”

“Well, I am her dependent,” Yiqi gave a bitter smile. “While you’re away, I can only rely on her to ensure the safety of me and my children.”

“…Continue.”

“While I was praying to her, Zigu revealed that urban legends are beginning to gravitate towards Huacheng. I’m afraid that…”

Hearing this, Jumeng’s eyes narrowed as she interrupted once again, “You’re telling me that somebody is trying to organize a Night Parade?”

“Yes. After all, Huacheng has not been ruled over by an urban legend for a long time now.”

“I see. If that’s the case, it might be a bit of a bother, but there is nothing to be afraid about.”

Nothing? Lin Yiqi was about to speak, but swallowed her words. She glanced at the seemingly harmless goddess in front of her, and swallowed her words once again.

Attempting to occupy an area through a Night Parade is tantamount to declaring war on all urban legends of the area, which is very risky for the urban legends who organize it.

However, Jumeng has performed this very ritual three times while expanding the area of her influence, and every single time, she would kill all the urban legends who tried to resist.

Therefore, a Night Parade may mean nothing to her.

However, it’s impossible for her to interfere, correct? After all, she stored more than half of her power in the Peach Blossom Tree in the Garden to intimidate any trespassers with ill intent.

This is a reasonable assumption for Yiqi to make – right now, Jumeng is enjoying herself outside of her domain. If she were to return and find that her territory has been torn down, she would never be able to live the embarrassment down.

“Alright,” as Yiqi was deep in thought, Jumeng jumped down from the railing and walked up to her, patting her shoulder. “Thank you for informing me about this. I guess it pays to be good to you!”

“However,” she continued. “A Night Parade takes a lot of time to prepare, so I still have time – I should be back in Taoyuan before then. Also, the Night Parade is a fight between gods, and mortals will inevitably be collateral. I’d advise you to not join in on the fun, because if you accidentally get caught in the crossfire, I’m afraid not even your bones will be left considering your abilities.”

“I understand.”

Jumeng shrugged as an aura of brilliant emerald surrounded her. In the blink of an eye, she transformed herself into a magpie with gorgeous wings. She was just about to fly away, but circled mid-air to perch on Yiqi’s shoulder.

“If you have time, head back to Taoyuan to see your grandmother. She misses you a lot – and don’t bring that ghost-baby of yours! She doesn’t like seeing things like that!”

After saying what she needed to, she flapped her wings, and disappeared under the moonlight.

…

Meanwhile, on the rooftop of Jingyi Apartments, several tiny apparitions gathered together.

These are the tiny apparitions that lived in Yibei’s apartment.

The jacket fluttered out from the dark corner, and emptied its pockets.

Plop! Plop! Plop!

More than dozen urban legend cores the size of rice grains were scattered onto the floor.

Today was the very first day that the jacket trailed behind several other tiny apparitions to complete its plan of [Conquering the City and Establishing Our Territory]. It successfully infiltrated the other apparition’s ‘lair’ in an abandoned parking lot near the apartment.

The apparitions’ psychic fluctuation levels could barely even reach a pitiful D-, and they were no match for the jacket. They persisted in the fight for less than half an hour, and the few who survived scattered and ran away.

While the rest of its friends were salivating at the cores, the wig stood up and cleared its throat, announcing, “Ahem! Before we dig in, I would like to say a few words.”

“Our mission of hunting shadowy apparitions has ended in great successs! Kudos to us, the members of [Envoys of Love and Peace; Models of Morality and Conscience; Handsome Men and Beautiful Women; The Witch’s Warriors’ Group]! Our victory over the cockroach-rat and the snail-monster will be one for the books!”

“In addition, I would like to address our members of [Envoys of Love and Peace]-”

Clink!

“Ow!”

Before the wig could begin speaking again, a black orb-like figure flew from the side, kicking the wig as it flung over the railing. The wig’s shrill shout could be heard as it gradually got further and further away.

“That damn bitch is so chatty for something without a mouth – yes! Although we did come up with that name together, do you really have to read it out completely every, single, time?! I’ve had enough!” the eyeball cursed. “Whatever! Let’s dig in!”

As it spoke, the eyeball revealed its maw from the center of its round body – like a starfish, the eyeball split into five sections, revealing rows of densely-packed teeth. A tongue shaped like a tentacle revealed itself, and with a single swipe, the eyeball devoured three of the grain-like cores on the ground.

Seeing the eyeball digging in, the other apparitions also revealed their maws and ate.

For a moment, on that very rooftop, strange lights could be seen flashing, accompanied by the sound of chewing.

One would think that a strange, ritualistic feasting of an evil god’s servants would be taking place.

After a while…

Burp!

After they ate, the eyeball burped and muttered, “I feel that we’re becoming stronger… how about…”

“…we organize a Night Parade of 100 Demons, and take over Huacheng?”

As soon as it spoke, its friends were stunned as they ‘gazed’ at the eyeball. Some were so shocked that they forgot to swallow their remaining cores.

A barely Level D urban legend is planning to occupy Huacheng? What the hell did you swallow?!

It is no different from a child who had just graduated from kindergarten wanting to enroll into a university.

“Why are you all looking at me like that? Even if we can’t do it, we represent that Witch!”

…you’re not making sense.

Under the silent gaze of all the apparitions, the eyeball took a firm and steady step forward, determined to achieve its dreams.

…

Next day, at 5:37 p.m.

The autumn rain was chilly as it bit into the skin, and the sky was shrouded in a deep fog, like a divine silkworm hard-at-work weaving dense clouds into the sky.

In a book bar across the street from the Happy Community, a blonde girl with a seductive aura sat by the window, pulling her leather jacket closer to herself.

The cold rain was splattering against the window, forming a thin layer of condensation on the window. With a finger, she drew messy, incomprehensible symbols on the glass, and it was hard to tell what she was writing.

As she finished scribbling, one could see that it was simply a mahjong tile representing the rooster.

Jiangli was somewhat glad that she had decided to sit down in the book bar, avoiding the fate of being entangled in the cold wetness of the rain.

Perhaps it was because she was taken away by the Eclipse Society when she was younger while it was raining like this, which is why she has always hated weather like this.

Of course, the rain also reminded her about the behaviour of a certain someone, and she couldn’t help but let out a sigh.

We agreed to meet in the afternoon, didn’t we? Where is she? It’s been a few hours now, and she even set her status to [Do Not Disturb]…

If she hadn’t already accepted the commission from the forums, Jiangli would’ve thought that she had run away because of the dangers that might exist in the Happy Community.

The sky gradually darkened outside. She withdrew her gaze and continued to flip through her half-read book, titled [A Farewell to Arms].

It is a novel written by the writer Ernest Hemingway, and the protagonist of the novel is somebody who is running away.

Jiangli continued reading the book, and soon, she could hear the sound of rushed footsteps coming her way. Looking up, she saw a girl with white, wet hair, walking over with a guitar bag as she plopped down on the seat opposite of hers.

“Sorry, I’m late! I was busy playing some musical instruments at the cultural center, and when I came over, there was a traffic jam!”

Jiangli stared at her in silence for a few seconds and spoke, “Taking into account the road conditions, coupled with the heavy rain, the average traffic jam from the center will not exceed ten minutes, but here you are, late by three hours.”

“How unlucky, right? Every time we came across a traffic light, it turned red! And every time we reach a crossing, some old ladies will be crossing the road – I mean, I even had to pay ten yuan extra for the cab fare! Ridiculous!”

Jiangli was silent again as she gazed out the window. Looking at the Happy Community framed by the rain and the window, she spoke, “I’m afraid it’s a little too late for us to conduct an investigation. In the community, visitors are prohibited from entering or exiting after eight o’ clock in the evening…”

Smack!

Before she could finish speaking, she was interrupted by the Witch slapping something on the table.

“And who told you we were visitors? We live there. We can come and go as we please.”

Did she… rent a house there? Is that what she has been doing the past few days? Also, did she just say… Looking at the document detailing the housing arrangement, she tilted her head and muttered, “We live there?”

“That’s right!” the Witch pointed one finger at Jiangli, “You…” and the other at herself. “…and me! Weren’t you the one who suggested that we ‘team-up’ to complete this mission? Think about it – how can we investigate the problem thoroughly if we don’t live in the community? Logically speaking, all of the strange things started to happen after the residents move in, so how can we investigate if we aren’t residents in the first place?”

Makes sense, but…

Jiangli frowned. “I don’t think this is very convenient for the two of us…”

“What do you mean? I’m a girl, and you’re a girl. Are you worried I might do something to you? Or do you have some sort of dirty little secret you can’t share with me?”

“I think you’re the one with the dirty little secret.”

“What secret could I possibly have?” the Witch puffed up her chest and winked. “I’m just a very ordinary girl!”

With a straight face, Jiangli looked at Yibei’s chest, then at her own chest. She took note after making a comparison, and silently zipped up her leather jacket.

Looking at the girl before her, who is very undoubtably a girl, who also has a very high probability of being her unreliable subordinate in the Night Division, she felt that this situation is unbelievable.

How does she pull this off so confidently? Don’t you feel ashamed of yourself?

“Alright, but even if you want me to move in with you, shouldn’t you at least let me take a look at the house before we make any plans?” Jiangli compromised.

If she persisted too much, she was afraid that she might reveal her true identity, and this wasn’t a game that she was planning to lose.

“Ah, about that – I took a look at our unit yesterday. Nothing special about it, but I guess somebody did die in the unit not long ago. Bah! You’ll see it when we get there!”

“…”

…

It was still rainy, and because of that, there were very few pedestrians in the community. Soon after the two entered, they realized that they were the only two people around.

Looking around, the area of the community is very large, with twelve buildings standing in the shape of a ring. Looking at the windows, the lights shining from them seem to weave together a string of strange letters, which resembled tombstones with engravings on them.

Standing at the bottom floor and looking up fills one’s heart with a strange anxiety, as if they will topple over and bury everything in this community with rubble and dust.

The biting wind, carrying the raindrops, blew across the community, causing the grass and trees to sway with it. The branches and leaves rustled under its persuasion, and yet, under the seemingly warm and harmonious community, they couldn’t help but shake off the minute, uneasy atmosphere that could barely be detected with their psychic senses.

It was as if they were walking in the territory of a sleeping beast. If it wakes up, it will lead to a terrifying end for the community.

As they walked, the Witch seemed to sense something, and spoke to Jiangli with her eyes: Something’s wrong.

I feel it too, Jiangli nodded in reply.

The two of them nodded at each other, and began briskly walking back towards their rented unit, as if they were saying: Let’s get out of here, we can talk about it later!

…

Jiangli would soon come to realize that she would be deceived – the unit that Yibei rented is a small, boutique apartment with one bedroom, one living room, one kitchen, and one bathroom.

Jiangli sat down in the living room, and her face was so gloomy that it appeared as if she was about to summon her own rain in the apartment.

There’s only one bed. There’s only one bed. There’s only one bed. There’s only one bed.

Is she trying to do something weird to me?!

Noticing something unusual about her supposed superior’s temperament, the Witch hurriedly explained to clear the air, “Oh, I’m not going to sleep with you. You don’t have to worry about anything.”

…What a strange thing to say! Is she trying to hide something?

“Oh, that came out wrong, tsk…” the Witch paused. “Actually, I don’t plan to sleep at all tonight.”

“What do you mean?”

“I want to take a walk outside to see if the rumours are true – whether the residents here are as nice as they seem according to the Internet.”

As she spoke, she put down the guitar bag on the living room floor, took out a laba², and walked outside.

“…?!”

TRANSLATOR NOTES:

Guess who forgot to update again yesterday… me. I guess I got a little too comfortable on my little ‘break’ the past two weeks ToT, hopefully we can resume back to the normal schedule of Tuesday and Friday soon enough!

Note 1 – Zigu: Zigu is the Goddess of Toilets, and she was a concubine who was physically abused by a vengeful wife and eventually succumbed to the abuse.

Note 2 – Laba: Laba, or Suona, or Dida, is a Chinese musical instrument which resembles a trumpet.

STORY DISCUSSION:

Yibei running late to meet Jiangli in the book bar:

Yibei about to wreak havoc on her neighbours with the laba to see how nice her they are:

As always, if you’d like to support the translation, you can do so below ^.^