Reverse flow of the Yellow Springs

Chapter 53 Ghost Stories Notes
"What a troublesome curse," Li Yelai remarked upon seeing Yin Huo's tacit agreement. "Even if you knew she was your teammate, you probably wouldn't entrust your backs to her without trust, would you? Not only that, but you wouldn't dare tell her about many confidential missions, would you?"

“No, her authority is not low, so she naturally has the necessary intelligence. However, her teammates are indeed hesitant to entrust their backs to her.” Yin Huo nodded: “This is also one of the reasons why she acts alone. Although we all rationally understand that it is the effect of the curse, and we can suppress our suspicions and tell her the information, we can’t help but be suspicious of her every time we see her or mention her. No one can stand being suspected by their teammates.”

"Perhaps to prove herself, she often faces dangerous missions alone. This has caused her strength to rise rapidly. She is already a sixth-sense psychic."

“Speaking of which, your curse resistance is quite high, so you don’t need to worry about that. Once you’ve grown up, you might be able to become her teammate,” Yin Huo said. “That’s a good thing, I suppose.”

"Um, let me survive this misfortune first, shall we?" Li Yelai shrugged. "I'm even afraid of being struck by lightning. By the way, can psychics withstand being struck by lightning?"

"As long as the psionic barrier is thick enough, or the physical strength is high enough, it'll be fine. Of course, if you have abilities like lightning control in the Zero Path, you might not have to worry. But you, a myriad of phenomena, are hard to say, so don't go out in the rain!" Yin Huo complained, "Stay away from me in the rain!"

"No way! I have to follow you to the death!" Li Yelai retorted.

Yin Huo then led Li Yelai out of headquarters and into a vehicle returning to the East City branch.

The first phase of Operation Ark has ended.

Inside a window on one of the headquarters floors, Little Mad King silently watched the departing vehicle.

"You've seen Night General?" An elderly woman approached her, stopping about five meters away, and asked with a smile. Even as a high-ranking official in the processing department, the old woman didn't get close to Little Mad King. This was the safe distance he considered.

"Yes, he is indeed unaffected by the curse," Little Mad King replied calmly. "He might become my teammate in the future. But right now, he's too weak. Don't you really intend to send him into the wilderness to hone his skills?"

"It's not the right time yet," the old woman replied with a smile. "Besides that, what other ideas do you have?"

"An idea?" The Little Mad King rarely showed a smile: "With such strong curse resistance, isn't he the best candidate to kill that human traitor!"

The old woman was taken aback; she naturally knew who the human traitor the Little Mad King was talking about was.

Some experienced psionicists not only possess powerful psionic abilities but can also apply curses in combat.

Like a doll, she uses the curse of fear incarnate to terrify enemies who see her, turning the curse into a weapon as well.

Once upon a time, there was also a powerful psychic in the second border city who possessed strong curse abilities.

Her curse was to make all creatures that saw her fall irrevocably in love with her. That person, corrupted by a force, became a member of the forbidden Heavenly Realm, where he murdered many Night Watchmen.

Because of this curse and the protection of the Heavenly Realm, many teams that wanted to eliminate the traitor ultimately failed.

Therefore, in Little Mad King's opinion, Li Yelai's curse resistance was high enough to effectively kill that enemy.

"Let's consider that after he's strong enough," the old woman thought for a moment, then continued, "Do you have any other ideas?"

"Anything else? No." Little Mad King said calmly, "If he had appeared five years earlier, I wouldn't have let him leave. But now, I don't need him anymore."

"You think I'd believe that?" the old woman frowned.

"It's not like you'd believe me now," Little Mad King said calmly.

The next day, Li Yelai, who had just finished training at the branch, was stuffed into a car and taken away by Zhishi.

I had promised Cheese that I would go to her uncle's house for dinner.

Li Yelai inquired with several colleagues he got along well with within the branch.

I learned that my uncle's daughter was also a member of the team.

Cheese's cousin, codenamed Floating.

Once a team of elite Night Scouts, five-awareness powerhouses!
It is said that he was the mentor of the current captain, Yang Chen.

She is also the daughter of that uncle.

But in an operation a few years ago, an elite team was almost completely wiped out.

When the giant city's personnel found them in the wilderness, only four handlers, including Yang Chen, were alive. The bodies of the rest of their teammates could not be preserved.

The Floating One also perished in that operation.

Perhaps out of revenge, Cheese eventually joined the team as well.

Her uncle, on the other hand, was exceptionally friendly to the officials, especially the team members.

Perhaps seeing his teammates reminded him of his daughter.
Thinking about all this, Li Yelai, sitting in the passenger seat, felt a bit conflicted: "Is there anything I should be careful about later?"

"Just eat your meal properly and then leave." Cheese glanced at Li Yelai: "What's wrong, are you panicking because you're meeting the parents? Are you missing a few steps?"

After a moment of silence, Cheese said, "Don't worry about it too much. He just knows you saved me and is expressing his gratitude. Just say whatever he says. If he uses any strange terms of address, just keep going along with me."

"A strange title?" Li Yelai frowned.

Soon, Cheese drove Li Yelai to a luxury apartment in the Huancheng District.

Pushing open the door, Li Yelai saw a beautifully decorated yet cozy living room. He also saw a middle-aged couple busy in the kitchen.

Upon seeing Li Ye, the middle-aged man carrying a bowl of hot soup and wearing an apron smiled and urged, "Xiao Ye, Xiao Qi, you've finally arrived. Come, come, try my cooking."

For some reason, Li Yelai remembered that Cheese's name was not Xiaoqi, but Xiaoya.

Moreover, Xiaoqi seems to be her cousin's name?

Li Yelai looked at the cheese strangely, but the cheese remained unmoved and responded to his uncle's words: "Dad, your cooking skills aren't necessarily that good."

"You little rascal," the uncle replied, his eyes pleading as he looked at Li Yelai.

Dad? Xiaoqi?
Li Yelai's heart skipped a beat, and she understood something. So, she also greeted her uncle with a smile.

"Hello, uncle!"

"What a handsome young man! Xiaoqi has grown up. She knows how to bring people home now." The middle-aged woman warmly invited Li Yelai to sit down, praising his appearance.

"Hello, aunt!"

This made Li Yelai greet him somewhat reservedly, but he didn't feel any pressure when chatting and eating with his peers.

But this was my first time visiting my elders' home.

So, I sat obediently on one side of the dining table and, under the warm hospitality of my uncle and aunt, picked up my rice bowl.

Cheese sat beside him, her own bowl having been empty for a long time. She then noticed her uncle and aunt still serving Li Yelai food and showing concern for him.

Li Yelai, however, seemed somewhat hesitant, completely unlike his usual self.

Cheese couldn't help but stretch out her little foot, kick off her slippers, and stomp on Li Yelai's instep.

"You're usually quite talkative, aren't you?" Cheese teased, "Now you're mute?"

"They're too enthusiastic, I'm scared," Li Yelai said in a low voice, wiggling his leg to push aside Cheese's foot.

"What are you afraid of?" Cheese asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm afraid that if I open my mouth, we'll become family. That would be a different price!" Li Yelai complained.

"Laughable, you wish!" Cheese got angrier and angrier, and stepped on Li Ye's foot again: "You talk as if you've been wronged!" Seemingly noticing the commotion under the table, Uncle glared at Cheese: "Little Ye rarely comes here, don't bully him!"

The cheese is a bit sour. Why is this uncle siding with outsiders?
At this moment, the aunt looked at the two of them bickering and suddenly her eyes reddened.

"If Xiaoqi were still alive, she would have brought a boy home by now."

Li Yelai and Zhishi's expressions froze, and their uncle's expression also changed unpredictably.

That Xiaoqi is their daughter, Cheese's cousin.

Previously, the reason why Cheese was called Xiaoqi was because my aunt seemed to have mistaken Cheese for Xiaoqi.

The other three simply let them be addressed that way, and went along with their aunt's act.

Unfortunately, in the end, my aunt seemed to have come to her senses.

She became somewhat overwhelmed with emotion, tears streaming down her face: "Xiaoqi, Mommy misses you so much, my darling."

The uncle got up and comforted his aunt repeatedly. He then led her back to their room.

After a long while, the uncle, looking tired and haggard, returned to the dining table and sighed to Li Yelai, "Please excuse me, she was really looking forward to your arrival. Unfortunately, while cooking, she suddenly..." (The last sentence is a separate, unrelated statement: "I'll trouble you all to act with me.")

"That's not true," Li Yelai shook his head.

He understood that his aunt couldn't accept her daughter's death and often mistook Cheese for her daughter.

Originally, she knew that Xiaoya had brought her colleagues to eat, but her illness suddenly flared up, and she mistook the cheese for Xiaoqi.

Finally, she suddenly regained consciousness while eating. The grief of losing her daughter caused her to have another emotional breakdown.

Perhaps to divert attention from this sad topic, the uncle wiped his face.

He said to Cheese, "I've already arranged everything for university. You can register tomorrow."

"Wait!" Cheese interrupted, frowning. "Uncle, are you confused? I graduated a long time ago! What need is there for university?"

Li Yelai also looked puzzled.

Cheese, from a well-off family, went straight to university after graduating from high school. She graduated long ago.

Uncle frowned at Cheese: "What nonsense are you talking about? You..."

Then, the uncle seemed to sense something was strange as well.

He shook his head vigorously: "No, you have indeed graduated. But why... what happened? Why did we want you to go to Huancheng University?"

Cheese and Li Yelai's expressions changed. Their uncle's current behavior was clearly influenced by some kind of hypnotic or suggestive power.

"Listen to me, clear thinking!" After using his ability, Cheese quickly swallowed saccharin.

The uncle's expression changed from conflicted to surprised: "Have I been affected by a power?"

Cheese frowned and asked, "When did you start having this idea? After meeting anyone, did you start having this idea?"

My uncle frowned and thought for a long time before saying, "It seems... it seems like it was when we went to Huancheng University to discuss business. Suddenly, I wanted you to get into that school."

My uncle runs a tile business, and recently the area around the university campus needs to have its tiles replaced.

He had visited the school about two weeks ago.

"Is there something wrong with that school?" Li Yelai frowned. "But why did your uncle, who was hypnotized, let you get into the school? Why?"

“At times like this, we can’t rely on speculation,” Cheese replied, and contacted the branch office directly, reporting the entire incident.

Soon, more information came in.

Following the Fantasy Band incident, people in the Dongcheng district began sending their children, mostly in their twenties, to this Huancheng University. Some of these children even transferred from other universities.

Those affected were either young and beautiful girls or children of wealthy businessmen from privileged backgrounds.

Their parents and elders, or even themselves, are determined to get them into university.

Some people gave up respectable jobs and high salaries that earned them thousands of dollars a month.

Some people, even though they can't afford it, will still scrape together the tuition fees to get into university.

Meanwhile, a strange rumor about rules suddenly emerged on campus. But it remained just a rumor, and nothing unusual actually happened on campus.

The authorities have already dispatched numerous investigators to the university to investigate and have also dispelled the hypnosis on those who were affected.

Preliminary speculation suggests that this may be a forbidden item that was previously escaped.

Class C Forbidden Item: Ghost Stories Notebook!

This is a paper version of ghost stories that is randomly generated within a certain range.

Holders can not only view all the rules, but also learn how to break them.

You can also select certain characteristics to attract people who match those characteristics to the target audience.

Once the effect is triggered, if any rules are violated within this range, the forbidden item will eliminate the violator.

In mild cases, it can lead to memory loss; in severe cases, it can cause brain damage or even death.

The authorities once listed this forbidden item as one of the Black Prison's defensive measures. They wanted to use the supernatural tales of the rules to strengthen the Black Prison's defenses.

But later it was discovered that the rules this guy arbitrarily generated were far too troublesome.

In the end, the proposal was abandoned.

Clearly, Cheese's uncle was influenced by this taboo and wanted to send Cheese to university.

“I see.” Cheese analyzed, “Then we know for now that someone in the university has obtained that forbidden item.”

"And they've already chosen the people to drag into the supernatural tale: young, beautiful girls and wealthy second- or third-generation rich kids. Hey, I must be the former. That's why my uncle, who's been affected, has a logical flaw and wants me to go back to university."

"How vain!" Li Yelai complained, then asked, "Why is this an option?"

"Haven't you heard of Long Aotian?" Cheese glanced at Li Yelai and said, "He's probably a bit of a chuunibyou (a Japanese term for someone with delusions of grandeur), trying to use supernatural tales to slap the rich second-generation in the face and win the heart of a beautiful woman. Otherwise, he wouldn't have chosen these characteristics. He deliberately brought these 'audience members' to show off in front of them."

Li Yelai frowned: "Just for this, you're using forbidden substances?"

“Using forbidden things to satisfy desires is the most common thing,” Cheese responded. “They don’t understand the dangers of forbidden things. There are many tragedies because of this.”

“However, while ghost stories are troublesome, they aren’t too dangerous for us psionicists,” Cheese replied. “The authorities plan to have us infiltrate with them to find the holder.”

"You?" Li Yelai pointed to himself with a puzzled look: "Did I get included too?"

"Of course, with you there, they might just stick their face right up to you!"

(End of this chapter)