Chapter 39: Lu Li Has Been Abducted by a Monster!

Lu Li’s second question was a bit tricky. What did he mean by "Which of you three is the strongest?" Was he asking them to have a contest? Exactly—that was precisely what Lu Li intended. If there was going to be internal competition, he wanted them to compete to the death.

Of course, they had another option: possessing someone and starting a killing spree, then seeing who could finish off everyone present first. But "rules" were "rules." The rules of urban legends were set in stone. They might evolve to become more refined, but they would never violate the core rules. Until all three questions were answered, the Pen Spirit would never take action. The same applied to the other two urban legends. Since they were triggered by Lu Li, they wouldn't harm anyone; after all, this was only the second question.

There were only two possibilities: either they didn't know the answer and would fight to decide a winner, or they would provide the answer directly. Lu Li wasn't afraid either way, because he had his final "killer move" question ready. He waited quietly, but he was disappointed. The three legends remained silent for a moment, then moved simultaneously. The Pen Spirit wrote "Me." The Chopstick Spirit returned to the water bowl and pointed toward the pen. The Dish Spirit covered an arrow drawn on the paper that pointed at the Pen Spirit. Seeming to think the aim was off, the pen shifted slightly to align itself perfectly with the arrow. Then, it stood upright, looking almost like it was puffing out its chest in pride.

Lu Li narrowed his eyes. It seemed the second question hadn't gotten rid of them. He would have to use his trump card. He glanced at Pan Shuai and then at Xing Tian. Seeing them watching him with bated breath, Lu Li took a deep breath and asked the final question: "Where is my wife?"

This question was a checkmate! Did he have a wife? In this new worldview, he didn't. In his original world, he didn't either. But in the Inverted World, he did—and he had two. Was a marriage certificate not proof of a wife?

This question was a trap. If the spirits said he had no wife, they would be lying, and Lu Li could slap them in the face with his marriage certificate. That would break the rule of "accurately answering three questions," and the breach would be their own doing. Although Pan Shuai hadn't specified the outcome, they would likely fall into a deep slumber. If they chose to attack instead, Lu Li would immediately activate the Dream World to pull them and Xing Tian’s group inside.

But if they answered... Lu Li felt a surge of excitement. Then he would know where Miss Bai and Miss Luo were! Either way, Lu Li and his team wouldn't lose!

As expected, the three spirits froze, clearly trapped in a logical paradox. In their perception, derived from the entire worldview, Lu Li was a confirmed bachelor. Therefore, the fact that "Lu Li is single" was an absolute truth. But when they tried to answer, they found they couldn't. They could only fail to answer if the answer was incorrect. Because they lacked independent thought and were merely "rule-bound urban legends," they could not violate their own nature. Their rule was to "provide the correct answers to three questions." Thus, if "Lu Li is single" was the incorrect answer, it meant he truly did have a wife. Yet, the laws of the world insisted he didn't. So, they remained deadlocked.

Lu Li felt a flicker of disappointment, then joy, then disappointment again. It was a tug-of-war between his lust and his cowardice. He was disappointed because the spirits didn't know where Miss Bai and Miss Luo were. He was happy because they clearly couldn't kill him now. He was disappointed again because finding the ladies was more important. As they say, lust had trumped fear—or perhaps one could say devotion had overcome caution. To Lu Li, it made no difference. What was the distinction between love at first sight and being driven by desire? There was no difference at all!

Five minutes passed, and the others still didn't dare to breathe. Although Pan Shuai didn't know when Lu Li had acquired a wife—why hadn't he told his brothers? That woman-chasing, friend-forgetting bastard! But the issue wasn't that; the problem was why the three spirits had stopped moving. Was there a glitch? Or did Lu Li really not have a partner?

Xing Tian had been shocked by the question, then delighted by the spirits' reaction, and finally filled with despair. He was shocked because he feared all three spirits were present, and those two boss-level entities were actually Lu Li's wives? What a terrifying family of bosses! He was delighted because the spirits' failure to answer suggested the two bosses were not in this world. And he was in despair because, to a speck of dust like him, whether there was one Mount Everest or three made no difference. Lu Li was a super-boss capable of traversing different worlds! Even without those two, he was still doomed.

Lu Li didn't care about their inner turmoil; he was growing impatient. "If you're going to answer, do it! If you can't, get lost! Why all the stalling?"

At his scolding, the spirits finally moved. The pen wrote two characters on the paper: "Wait a moment." Then the dish was lifted, and the pen and chopsticks rolled inside. The dish was covered again. About three minutes later, the dish opened, and the pen and chopsticks emerged. This time, they didn't hesitate and simultaneously wrote a location on the paper: "Old Locust Village."

"Old Locust Village?" Lu Li raised an eyebrow. "Where is that?" Were Miss Bai and Miss Luo there? The village couldn't be in this world, or the world's rules would have been inverted or plagued by dream parasites.

Lu Li looked at Pan Shuai. He didn't get an answer; instead, he saw the expressions of pure horror on the faces of Pan Shuai, Hao Liang, and Luo Hao, and watched them rush toward him. The next moment, everything went black, and Lu Li lost consciousness.

He didn't see the Pen Spirit, Dish Spirit, and Chopstick Spirit drawing a circle in the void behind him. Space tore open, and countless withered hands reached out from within to drag him inside.

Pan Shuai lunged forward. "Old Lu!!!" But he grabbed only thin air.

Pan Shuai stared at his empty hands. After a long silence, he forced himself to regain his composure and turned to command, "Liang, go find out where Old Locust Village is."

"Understood," Hao Liang replied in a low voice.

Watching them force themselves to remain calm, the Xing Tian group looked at each other. Old Locust Village... wasn't that the place mentioned in their mission prompt, the one linked to the root of the urban legends?