Leaves of the Old Locust Tree

Lu Yibai was a bit curious about the Oddity suppressed by the Lion Umbrella.

Never mind whether it was strong or not; just the fact that it had consciousness and wasn't a complete idiot made it stand out among Oddities...

Perhaps this was an Oddity with a story?

But regardless, Lu Yibai remained cautious of it. In fact, its uniqueness made him even more wary.

The door to the new world had been pushed open, and alongside its splendor, danger had also increased. Boss Lu wanted to live a long life.

As the east brightened, the sky gradually lit up.

After dealing with Ghost Fiend and taking a trip through the grave within a grave, Lu Yibai felt a slight fatigue.

The sun was up, and it was time to sleep.

Boss Lu, with his reversed sleep schedule, drifted off to dreamland.

Of course, before sleeping, he placed the Lion Umbrella far away.

In his sleep, he didn't know that the Lion Umbrella, which he had tossed into a corner, trembled slightly.

At the lion's head carved into the umbrella handle, the lion's eyes flickered, and a gray-black light surged, slowly forming a blurry shadow.

Before it could do anything, a small leaf slowly emerged from Lu Yibai's trouser pocket.

This was a leaf from the old locust tree by the entrance of the Answer Bar, which had secretly slipped into Boss Lu's pocket that night.

This leaf from the old locust tree was like a little paper figure. It first poked out a corner from the pocket, as if peeking its head out to look around.

Then, it saw the slowly condensing shadow.

If Lu Yibai were awake, he would have noticed that the Oddity's shadow was clearer than any previous time.

The "grave within a grave" was rich in Yin energy, and it might have absorbed some of it silently.

The leaf from the old locust tree landed beside the bed. It stood up and swayed and twisted slightly, as if stretching.

Then, the leaf jumped a few times on the bed, as if preparing to run.

With a leap, it slowly floated from the bed towards the shadow.

It floated very, very slowly.

However, the Oddity's shadow was still condensing and unable to move.

The Oddity watched helplessly as the leaf floated right in front of it.

The leaf hovered in front of it for a moment, then, as if gathering all its strength, it drifted towards its face.

It was just a gentle float towards its face, like when you're riding a bike past a big tree and a falling leaf brushes against your face – ticklish, not painful.

But damn it, the Oddity was directly blown away!

It was so light, yet it felt like being slapped with immense force!

What the hell! What kind of ridiculous move was that??

Damn it! What the hell!

Before the Oddity could react, it was slapped back into the Lion Umbrella!

The gray-black light at the lion's head slowly dissipated. The Yin energy the Oddity had painstakingly accumulated was completely gone, or rather, it had been directly dispersed!

The leaf, like a paper figure, landed on the ground, as if nothing had happened, becoming indistinguishable from an ordinary fallen leaf.

It was a locust leaf.

Locust, the ghost of wood.

Lu Yibai slept for a long time and slept soundly.

Lately, he had been fighting Ghost煞 every day, and his mind and body felt a sense of fatigue.

However, he hadn't slept too deeply the entire time; he had kept a part of his mind alert.

The Yin energy and ghost energy in the "grave within a grave" were so dense, it was possible the Oddity in the Lion Umbrella might have secretly absorbed some.

This thing seemed to be very good at oral absorption. Anyway, Lu Yibai had no idea how it managed to absorb Yin energy and ghost energy on a regular basis.

Did it have special suction techniques?

But strangely, this thing hadn't come out to cause trouble?

It was truly strange.

In the "grave within a grave," Lu Yibai had also carefully observed the suppression runes carved on the walls. In fact, there were only a few patterns repeated over and over, and he had basically learned them all.

Last night, before sleeping, he had used his Night Watchman power to carve two of them in the corner of the bed, planning to trick it.

But he didn't manage to trick it!

Boss Lu felt a sense of emptiness and regret!

The Oddity in the Lion Umbrella probably never dreamed that even without the interference of the old locust leaf, it would still get thoroughly thrashed.

What a tragic world.

After washing up, Lu Yibai picked up the Lion Umbrella from the corner.

He continued practicing the Basic Umbrella Technique inside the house.

It was still afternoon, and many people were visiting the cemetery to pay respects.

Some were burning paper money, others were setting off firecrackers, and the air was thick with smoke and dust.

Normally, Lu Yibai would choose to stay indoors and practice his umbrella techniques during this time.

Now, the initial forms of his Basic Umbrella Technique could be executed with impressive force.

It had to be said that practical combat was truly beneficial, leading to rapid progress.

While practicing, Lu Yibai noticed fallen leaves on the ground.

"Huh, aren't these locust tree leaves?" he asked, picking up a leaf.

The old locust tree outside the Answer Bar looked quite aged, and Lu Yibai was curious about its exact age.

Every time he approached the old locust tree, he felt a sense of inner peace, though he didn't know why.

However, the leaf in his hand was even more withered than ordinary fallen leaves, and he wasn't sure why.

Tomorrow would be his last day of training at the cemetery, so tonight he planned to have a good time and take down several Ghost Fiends.

As night fell, Lu Yibai, true to his "ghost-attracting" constitution, encountered another Ghost煞.

He used his Lion Umbrella to split the Ghost煞, creating twenty of them.

As they were a collection of chaotic consciousness, the twenty Ghost Fiends were like twenty intellectually disabled beings. After their "mouths" for absorbing Yin energy were severed, they lunged at Lu Yibai like zombies.

The Lion Umbrella in Lu Yibai's hand displayed its power, and the Ghost Fiends dissipated one by one.

Sizzle—

The last ghost also vanished completely.

Lu Yibai leaned on his Lion Umbrella, gasping for breath.

Of course, ordinary people who couldn't see the Ghost煞 would have thought Lu Yibai was acting erratically.

Fighting wits with air.jpg.

His progress was now very evident; earlier, dealing with ten had been a struggle, but now he had doubled that!

He considered his current Basic Umbrella Technique to be at least at the minor accomplishment stage.

He just wondered what it looked like when Xiao Qi and Ji Dekeng fought with their umbrellas.

Lu Yibai had yet to see Lin Xiaoqi use her Cat Umbrella.

As for Ji Dekeng's Dragon Snake Umbrella, he had only seen it once or twice. Who knew if he was currently wreaking havoc in Modu.

Honestly, Lin Xiaoqi was one thing, but Lu Yibai truly couldn't picture Ji Dekeng's fighting style.

This guy, who loved wearing three-piece suits, round black-rimmed glasses, and pranced around with small, quick steps, was a bit too unique.

Brushing the dust off his clothes, Lu Yibai was in high spirits.

Tomorrow, he could finally go home!

Without realizing it, he had come to consider the Answer Bar his home.

(PS: First update, sorry, I forgot to schedule it...)