Chapter 35: Lu Li, the Traveler Between Worlds
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Chapter 35: Lu Li, Traveler Between Worlds
The Pen Immortal
Lu Li sat at home, deep in thought.
The name Pen Immortal was certainly famous enough to thunder in one’s ears, and Lu Li more or less knew how the game was played.
But he did not know the exact procedure.
He searched online, yet in this world’s reality, he found no information whatsoever about the ritual.
Perhaps the Supernatural Bureau had blocked it.
There was no need to ask Pan Shuai and the other two. He had just put on an act in front of them; going to ask now would not expose him?
But if the world’s rules had changed…
Had that fellow’s identity changed as well?
Lu Li took out his phone and opened his contacts.
Sure enough, Fang Yuebei’s number was still there.
It seemed that even if the world itself changed, Lu Li’s personal relationships would remain intact.
He called Fang Yuebei.
The call did not connect. It seemed there was no signal on the other end.
With a sigh, Lu Li could only try to recall the things he remembered from the original world.
Then he went out to buy the materials and began making preparations.
In a white SUV heading toward Lu Li’s home, Xing Tian spoke calmly from the driver’s seat.
“One final confirmation. What are our identities?”
“Temporary field workers from the provincial capital branch of the Bureau of Supernatural and Paranormal Incident Response and Management. We were dispatched here at the request of the Luocheng branch to help them deal with the fifty-plus urban legends because they’re short-handed.”
“Who is our contact NPC?”
“Pan Shuai, deputy leader of the Luocheng branch’s field operations team.”
“What is our mission?”
“To assist the Supernatural Bureau in discovering the truth behind the urban-legend incidents. If we can resolve an incident, we receive an A-high rating. If we cannot resolve it but still reveal the truth to them, we can receive a B-high rating.”
“So what should we do?”
“Work hard to clear the scenario and let the Supernatural Bureau know the truth behind the urban legends.”
“Good. I won’t say more. Just remember one thing: don’t complicate matters.”
Xing Tian’s cold eyes swept over his companions in the rearview mirror.
“You all know that I came back alive from the last Triple-A-grade dungeon, right?”
“We know! It was only after you returned that we learned that world was the highest-difficulty, Triple-A-grade scenario!”
A bespectacled young man’s eyes were full of excitement.
“You were the first Descender ever to return alive from a Triple-A-grade world! Everyone calls you ‘Asura Xing Tian’ now!”
Neither world difficulty nor dungeon difficulty was displayed beforehand.
Both changed randomly according to the progress of the dungeon.
You only learned the two difficulty levels when the dungeon was settled.
After all, they affected the distribution of rewards.
“Back then, there were six of us, but I was the only one who came back alive. Do you know why my five companions died?”
The other four shook their heads.
Xing Tian’s expression was icy.
“Because they liked complicating matters.”
Damn it! He should never have gone looking for that monster, Lu Li!
Or perhaps, after one of them had been shot dead, the others should simply have stayed put at the police station.
All they had to do was survive for three days!
Instead, everyone else died, and he had lost a third of his possessions as well.
What was more, he had been too embarrassed to mention that his final mission rating had only been a C-low.
The evaluation had read: “A task any normally functioning idiot could complete.”
So what if all he had done was lie flat and grovel?
Was that shameful?
Not in the slightest!
At least he was still alive! And he had even made quite a name for himself!
But Xing Tian had also learned his lesson: if you did not court death, death would not come looking for you.
From then on, he would devote himself to the Way of Survival. Aside from completing the bare minimum required by the mission, he would absolutely touch nothing else!
And unless absolutely necessary, he would never harm an NPC in a dungeon.
Who knew what kind of trouble that might cause?
He had suffered nightmares for an entire week afterward!
In his dreams, all he saw was Lu Li’s handsome face and the two female monsters wearing those smiling-yet-not-smiling expressions.
But now that he thought about it, why was this dungeon world also set in Luocheng?
It should be a parallel world.
The Luocheng where that monster Lu Li lived was deeply problematic, and countless things there were inverted.
This place at least looked normal. And the existence of supernatural phenomena such as “urban legends” and the “Supernatural Bureau” actually made him feel reassured.
What he feared most were worlds that appeared perfectly normal.
Those were the truly terrifying ones.
After what he had experienced in the previous world, he practically had PTSD.
Yet the farther the car went, the more something felt wrong.
Why did this route, and the buildings along the roadside, look so damn familiar?
But after thinking it over, Xing Tian laughed at himself for being paranoid.
They were both Luocheng, and the eras were probably about the same. It was only natural for the roads and buildings to look similar in parallel worlds.
He had seen plenty in his time.
But half an hour later, when they reached their destination, his expression gradually grew grave.
Wasn’t this residential complex… the one where Lu Li lived?
No way…
Could something really be this absurd?
No! It was just an illusion!
This world had not been turned upside down! It was merely a parallel world!
In any case, he certainly was not going to visit Lu Li’s apartment to see whether the man was there.
Even if this was a parallel world, he did not want to see that monster’s face again!
Come to think of it, he remembered that monster lived in Building Eighteen, on the eighteenth floor, apartment 1804.
It couldn’t possibly be such a coincidence, right?
But when the police guided the SUV inside and it finally stopped in front of Building Eighteen, Xing Tian went numb.
It really was Building Eighteen!
When he got out of the car, three young men around thirty years old, all dressed in black suits, came to greet them.
The one in front was slick-haired and powdered, with his hair combed straight back. The man on the left was tall and thin, with somewhat dark skin. The one on the right stood well over six feet tall and probably weighed two hundred pounds, yet wore a pair of glasses.
The leader walked over and shook Xing Tian’s hand.
“Hello. I’m Pan Shuai, deputy leader of the Luocheng branch’s field operations team and the person in charge of this urban-legend incident. These two are my colleagues, Hao Liang and Luo Hao.”
“Mm. Hello. We’re from the provincial branch. As you know, my name is Xing Tian.”
Xing Tian wore a solemn expression, like a true responsible professional.
At the very least, his imposing back and deep, steady voice filled his four companions with a sense of security.
Pan Shuai assessed the man before him.
He was wearing the same black suit as Pan Shuai, clearly a standard-issue uniform from the bureau.
He appeared to be in his thirties, but the corners of his eyes already bore the creases of a mature man weathered by life, and there was a touch of gray at his temples.
Yet the taut suit stretched over his body plainly told Pan Shuai that this was a trained fighter—and not a weak one.
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“Xing Tian? Is that your real name?”
“It is.” Xing Tian nodded. “Could you give me a detailed explanation of the incident?”
“No problem. We’ll talk as we walk.”
Pan Shuai released his hand, turned around, and led the group past the cordon and into the apartment building.
“Some time ago, a minor internet celebrity summoned fifty-six different urban legends simultaneously one night in the early hours of the morning. We don’t know how she summoned so many, or what her purpose was. She’s dead, after all.
“Afterward, the first person infected by those urban legends failed to survive even the first one and died. The urban legends then ‘spread’ to a second person.”
Pan Shuai sighed, lit a cigarette, and handed another to Xing Tian.
“So our mission is simple: help the target safely experience the urban legend on site, then put the legend into dormancy.
“If we fail… we can become the next targets of those urban legends and bring them back to the bureau for slow, careful handling.”
Although Pan Shuai spoke casually about something involving mortal danger, his expression was far from relaxed.
Xing Tian leaned over and used the flame from Pan Shuai’s cigarette to light his own. After taking a drag, he asked, “Mm. Is there anything unusual about this target?”
“Nothing. He’s just an ordinary person,” Pan Shuai replied instantly.
He, Hao Liang, and Luo Hao had already agreed on their story. They would help conceal from Xing Tian the fact that Lu Li was a supernatural being.
Good brothers did not need to say much. They understood that Old Lu did not want to be constrained, so they chose not to make an issue of it.
“Mm.”
Xing Tian was about to ask another question when he noticed that the elevator had stopped on the eighteenth floor.
The ominous premonition in his heart grew stronger and stronger.
When they followed Pan Shuai to apartment 1804, he nearly lost his composure.
The fingers holding his cigarette trembled slightly. Xing Tian brought it to his mouth, but, without noticing, inserted the lit end between his lips.
“Fuck!”
He hurriedly spat out the cigarette, covered his mouth, and asked the question that had been tormenting him.
“By the way, what’s the target’s name?”
Please don’t be Lu Li!
Please don’t be Lu Li!
Please don’t be Lu Li!
“Lu Li. Lu Li, as in strange and bizarre.”
Fuck!
It really was him!
Xing Tian took a deep breath and managed to keep his expression under control.
“All right. Let’s go in.”
Maybe this was only the Lu Li of a parallel world.
Maybe?
Pan Shuai had said he was just an ordinary person!
As long as he did not recognize Xing Tian, then he definitely could not be the Lu Li Xing Tian knew!
Pan Shuai nodded and knocked on the door.
It opened almost at once.
Lu Li’s handsome face appeared in the doorway.
“You’re here? Perfect timing. I’m making dinner. Everyone, come in and eat. We’re having hot pot tonight.”
Then he saw Xing Tian standing behind Pan Shuai and the other two, his face deathly pale and twisted with terror.
“Oh? Isn’t this Xing Tian?”
Xing Tian’s state of mind collapsed.
It really was him!
For fuck’s sake! Why me?!
Thanks to Old Friend 233 for the generous captain-level donation.
Thanks as well to Gu Xun in a Blue Robe, Asking Neither the Return Date Nor Speaking of Farewell, Confessional Pig, Reader 20180625060841908, A Certain Dean, and Reader 2021030110412243218 for your generous donations.
End of Chapter
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