Chapter 256: Calamity-Level Psychic Item

Chapter 256: Calamity-Level Psychic Item

The Sun was fully up, and sunlight began flooding into the windows, filling the entire room in its warm embrace.

A girl found herself waking up in a simply decorated bedroom. Opening her eyes, she was greeted with a white ceiling. Collecting herself from the brief confusion of waking up, she fumbled around for her mobile phone from the nightstand beside her.

She woke up due to the sound of her phone ringing and beeping endlessly as it vibrated on the nightstand. From the time Hua sent her first message at 5:30am up to 8:40am, three hours had passed, and Jiangli now has more than 30 unread messages and 10 missed calls.

“I can’t believe I fell asleep...” she grumbled, rubbing her eyes.

Ever since she was rescued from the grasp of the Eclipse Society, this was the first time she has slept so soundly outside of the Amber Mansion.

To think I fell asleep in a dangerous place like the Happy Community...

Jiangli would almost always sleep in a half-awake state, and would immediately wake up if she heard a slight noise – just like last night, when Lu Yibei got up and left the room.

However...

Thinking for a moment, she shook her head, deciding to blame that all-too-familiar bowl of instant noodles as the cause for her sound sleep.

After all, I should be able to sleep soundly with my saviour watching over me.

Swiping through her phone, she called Hua back.

Beep... beep...

“Mistress! Is that you? You finally called me back! I was so anxious when you didn’t pick up the phone, so, I... I...!”

“Well, something happened last night, and...” her lips remained open, but no words came out. She was busy remembering all of the things that happened last night, and got lost in her train of thought.

“...that kid didn’t do anything to you, right?”

“No, no. We slept together almost immediately.”

“Oh my god!” Hua screamed on the other end. “The both of you... slept together?! Damn it! I know that stupid brat is good-for-nothing, but for him to attack my Mistress...! Damn it! I’ll have to teach him a lesson! Oh, when I catch him...”

Hua has always felt that if she had held her ground when Jiangli requested her to leave back then, perhaps her Mistress wouldn’t have been kidnapped by the Eclipse Society.

Hence, she has since cultivated a form of survivor’s guilt – after Hua returned to her post as Jiangli’s personal maid, she became extremely overprotective over her Mistress, and would even resort to uncomfortable measures to do so.

“Hua?”

“Yes! I’m right here, Mistress!”

“Well, as you know, he, well, she is a currently a girl. I don’t think-”

“Mistress!” Hua exclaimed once again. “The sisterhood of scissoring sisters1 has existed since the start of time! I know that the both of you are girls now, but you must learn to protect yourself no matter what!”

“Oh,” Jiangli rubbed her forehead. “Hua, it’s not what you think. Nothing of what you are thinking right now happened last night.”

“...for real?”

“Yes,” Jiangli responded, lowering her head and glancing at her chest. “Will you take the time to come over later? I need you to bring me some things.”

Since her clothes were accidentally damaged last night, she was given an apron found in the apartment as a cover-up. She isn’t exactly in the right state to go out at the moment.

“Clothes and some daily necessities, please,” she listed out. “I may have to stay here for a few days.”

...

Before Jiangli left the bedroom, her mind yearned for the taste of instant noodles. She wondered how was she going to convey to the Witch that she wants another bowl of instant noodles without appearing weak and vulnerable.

As soon as she opened the bedroom door, however, she was greeted with a strange fragrance. She followed the scent trail and saw the Witch busy in the kitchen.

“That smells good.”

The Witch knew that her superior was approaching from behind. Curling her lips, she turned around and said, “Well, of course! I’ve got many secret recipes handed down from the Lao family.”

Jiangli rolled her eyes and scoffed, “Oh, so it isn’t the Lu family this time around?”

“Ah, uh... you were hearing things! You probably hurt your head or something last night! I don’t know!” the Witch retorted, turning back around to continue her preparations.

When she was little, she enjoyed adding a little something extra to the buns that she would buy from the bakery early in the morning before consuming them.

It wasn’t complicated by any means – frying the buns with a little scallion oil, and sprinkling some sesame seeds over them. This simple process is enough to enhance the taste and the aroma of the buns tenfold.

These buns were purchased by the gate of the community earlier in the morning, and the scallions and sesame seeds were, well, generously loaned to her by the neighbour living in the opposite unit.

Sizzle!

Sprinkling a handful of sesame seeds on the buns, she flipped the buns over on the pan as they soaked in the rich, fragrant oil. After a moment, the golden buns were served on a plate and plopped down right in front of Jiangli.

“Here. Enjoy!”

Jiangli blinked at the Witch, then at the plate before her, “You got up early to make this for me?”

“Tsk!” the Witch spat and looked away. “You may be beautiful, but is there any need for your thought process to be that wishful too? I was making it for myself, and I thought of making extra for Ms. Freeloader right over here. I’m generous, aren’t I?”

Well, I just happened to think of my dad last night, and when I woke up this morning, I started to miss his cooking...

Cursing underneath her breath, she picked up the chopsticks and stuck the bun into her own mouth.

“And if they investigate us, do you think our lowly shrine will be able to protect something as precious as that? Even if the gods provide us with divine intervention, the only thing that I’m able to do is skin myself alive.”

“I was just trying to help...” Tang Han stiffly replied after an awkward silence.

It was silent again between them, and Tang Han asked, “Hey, old guy, that thing that we have... is it truly part of a Calamity-Level psychic item?”

“You’re questioning a god’s judgement?”

“Yes! I am! The psychic energy fluctuations of that thing is way too weak! How about you hand it over to me so I can take a closer look at it? Maybe I can figure out how to use it!”

“Oh, you’re hellbent on pissing your old man off today. Cai Jin? Cai Jin! Come in the office!” Mr. Lee bellowed, slamming on the table. Immediately, a buff and burly man came walking through the door.

“I don’t want to look at my failure of a son anymore. Send him away as far as possible,” Mr. Lee muttered coldly. “And keep a close eye on this brat. If he talks like this again, pull ten teeth out for every word he says.”

“Dad, you...!” Tang Han words were stuck in his throat, but he hesitated to speak.

His father was too angry to even look at him. Mr. Lee averted his eyes, and quickly left the office.

Tang Han wanted to catch up to say something, but Cai Jin, the buff and burly man, stopped him, and soon, he was dragged away by a group of bodyguards.

...

Back home, Tang Han laid on the bed as he stared at the antique lanterns on his ceiling, and was lost in his thoughts.

Thinking about his earlier experience today, he was full of resentment. If it wasn’t his father, he might have burst out in anger.

“Stupid...! Nothing I do is right in your eyes... you just don’t like me! I’m right, aren’t I?! Why is it alright for you to hook yourself up with those evil gods, but when I talk to some weak urban legends, I’m in the wrong?”

“Fuck. If I can’t deal with you, then I’ll deal with that stupid Qin-guy-or-whatever...”

Anger is a strange thing. The more you think about something, the angrier you become; the more you concede, the more you feel you lose.

Tang Han knew that he couldn’t do anything to his father, so he could only endure his harsh words. Hence, he decided to vent all of his anger on that parasite named Qin Dalin.

...

The address of Qin Dalin, the foreman, was obtained by Yibei when he went to visit Tang Yao.

He wanted to thank Tang Yao for the information by treating him to his favourite buffet. However, as soon as Tang Yao heard the word ‘buffet’, his face turned pale, as if he was about to be served up his last meal, and vehemently refused the offer.

It was as if Tang Yao was saying, “You made my bladder hurt because of tea, so what will happen to me if I accept his invitation to the buffet? He might just kill me!”

However, Yibei continued to pester him with invitations, and Tang Yao gritted his teeth and told him the address of Qin Dalin. He made sure to warn Yibei that no other person is to know of this information, otherwise, something bad might happen to him.

Seeing how secretive Tang Yao was being, he felt the compulsion to meet Qin Dalin even more. His intuition seemed to hint that Mr. Qin must have some sort of way to locate the psychic who pulled the sword out of the Happy Community grounds.

...

Leaving the community, Yibei stopped a taxi and gave the driver the address given by Tang Yao.

Before setting off, she looked at the map, and it seems like Mr. Qin only lives a dozen kilometres away.

Despite this, the roads in Huacheng were winding and complicated to navigate. The taxi had to stop and check the map constantly, and it took more than an hour to reach her destination.

Stepping out the cab, she looked at the various buildings that were in the distance, and she couldn’t help but mutter, “Damn... you live like this? What the hell was this Qin-dude thinking about when he decided to stay here? Won’t you be afraid of bumping into something when you get up in the middle of the night to pee? Jesus...”

Ahead, the crooked cement road was littered with weeds on both sides, and the dense canopy of trees completely obscured the Sun above her. Through the dense branches, a collection of vintage, red-bricked houses could be seen.

After walking for about a hundred meters along the dim cement road, she finally arrived near the address given by Tang Yao.

It was a house trapped by tall, dark-grey walls. It resembled a Soviet-style building from the 1950s, and there was only one entrance – a large, rusty iron door.

The building itself is dilapidated and remote. Even before the nights became long, one might think it’s haunted. Now, nobody would dare to set a single foot into the building.

Entering through the gate, the situation behind the decrepit walls was just as she expected – a long, dark corridor with aged, yellowed walls was abandoned, populated by only garbage bags that hadn’t been cleared up in a long time. A pungent smell of rot flooded the corridor.

“Strange. According to what Tang Yao said, Mr. Qin made a lot of money from the Happy Community project. Why live in a place like this?”

“Tang Yao wasn’t trying to fool me, right? If he did, oh... I might just treat him to an ice-cream-only buffet...”

Yibei muttered to herself as a door near the entrance cracked open. The old, iron door slid open with a loud groan, which caused her to turn towards it immediately.

“Hello?” she greeted, walking towards the door. However, the owner didn’t seem to be willing to show their entire face. It was only barely open, revealing only half of their face behind the door.

The lights in the corridor were dim, and the Witch could only roughly identify the person behind the door. Surprisingly, it was a woman, and her eyes were bloodshot with dark circles underneath them. Her most striking feature was a large scarlet birthmark on her face.

“Excuse me, do you know of a Qin Dalin who lives here?”

Although she couldn’t smile, she tried her best to sound as kind as possible. However, she didn’t expect the woman to glare at her before slamming the door in her face. Waiting, the Witch knocked on her door twice, but she received no answer.

TRANSLATOR NOTES:

Note 1: “The sisterhood of scissoring sisters”: The term used this time was “grinding mirrors,” (磨镜) which, well, you can already guess the meaning from the previous chapter.

I’m not quite sure if “Apocalypse-Level Psychic Item” sounds corny, but I can’t think of any suitable alternatives for it so I’m open to suggestions :v Perhaps “Disaster-Tier?” Unsure. Anyways, I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend!

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