I Forged the Myth of the Ancient Overlords
Chapter 588 - 588 587.Not a decent person_1

Chapter 588: 587.Not a decent person_1 Chapter 588: 587.Not a decent person_1 Cao Manwen did not expect that this seemingly well-behaved, quiet girl would actually believe what he said.

Wait a minute.

The perspective shifting he had just done now flooded his mind again.

No decent person could simply believe that Lu Ban had superpowers based on his word alone, so could it be that this female classmate wasn’t decent?

He hesitated for a moment, unsure of how to reply.

At that moment, the other party sent another message.

[I joined a chat group about mysticism before, where people share messages about urban legends and strange incidents. Most of it is fake, but there’s also the real deal. I met someone before who claimed they could see ghosts and even went to check on Lu Ban, discovering he truly had an issue!]

After reading this, Cao Manwen’s feelings were complex.

He had not expected Tao Hongying, who appeared somewhat unsophisticated, to be interested in this sort of thing, or to join some chat group.

In Cao Manwen’s mind, people who liked this stuff were the disheveled types, wearing leather jackets, smoking cigarettes, and listening to heavy metal rock.

Hmm? Maybe Tao Hong Ying had turned into that as well.

Cao Manwen replied with a sentence.

[Did your group member really see a ghost around Lu Ban?]

The other party was silent for a moment.

Just when Cao Manwen thought she might have been joking around, playing truth or dare to tease him, and decided not to bring the topic up anymore, the other party forwarded a snippet of conversation.

After reading it carefully, Cao Manwen figured it was a conversation from that mysticism chat group. There were some photos including of Lu Ban’s Silence Media and the residential area he lived in.

In the conversation, someone called [Silver Winged Harbinger of Doom] spoke about their evidence after they went to find Lu Ban. They also mentioned a period of blurred consciousness, not knowing what they had been doing, and afterwards became a lot more well-behaved, no longer discussing anything related to Lu Ban.

Everyone felt that this person might have been possessed or brainwashed after meeting Lu Ban.

Some said that Lu Ban was making those movies to make everyone accustomed to the sight of monsters so that when real monsters invaded, people wouldn’t be surprised, thus allowing him to conquer the world.

Others claimed that Lu Ban was a demon from Hell or some haunted place, bent on spreading indescribable horror stories to mentally pollute everyone in the world.

There were also those who suggested that Lu Ban was here to destroy the world; the more people watched his movies, the stronger the monsters inside them became. Once you believed they were real, those monsters would come out and harm you!

In the mysticism chat group, Lu Ban had virtually become the image of a great demon lord.

Cao Manwen didn’t see it that way.

Looking at Lu Ban, as well as his attitude towards Professor Hu, the blind old man, Cao Manwen was more inclined to believe that Lu Ban was a guardian hiding in the shadows, protecting the world.

Moreover, “Nine Streams” was clearly the story of those old men fighting to protect their homes and country through the times of war.

Mainly, Cao Manwen felt that with Lu Ban’s powerful superpowers, there was no need for him to harm others in such ways.

His films were hurtful enough to people.

[Actually, it’s like this, when I was in the Department of Archaeology before, my mentor asked me to host Lu Ban, said it was for material gathering…]

Cao Manwen explained his experience to Tao Hongying.

The two of them chatted for quite a while, even branching off into some paranormal incidents Tao Hongying had encountered, as well as Cao Manwen’s archaeological digs.

He discovered that the girl listened with great interest to his accounts of excavating ancient tombs, organizing tomb chambers, and exploring burial sites.

In the past, when Cao Manwen met women introduced to him for arranged dates, they would frown upon hearing about his profession and work. The conversations were always disagreeable.

This made Cao Manwen suddenly feel elated.

Of course, he quickly calmed down, and before he went to flip through this female classmate’s photos, he thought that she might be just interested in legends and curses about ancient tombs, and that he had just happened to hit the mark.

[Are you still at Yannan? I’m working in this area now too, I think we could have a chance to meet up!]

Tao Hongying invited him.

“Am I being asked out?”

While feeling a little excited, Cao Manwen cautioned himself that she was likely just using him as a tool. He responded with a few lines.

The two arranged a time to meet near Yannan University on the weekend to talk about Lu Ban and, incidentally, take her for a tour of the Archaeology Department.

That day, Cao Manwen spruced himself up a bit and sat waiting for the other party in a milk tea shop near the school entrance.

By the way, Cao Manwen indeed went on to look for the other party’s photo afterwards, which was pretty much as he remembered: double braids, glasses, quite ordinary.

While waiting, Cao Manwen opened the reading app and continued the novel he had flipped to before.

After reading two chapters, he saw a girl walking towards him.

Her hair was slightly curly, dyed flaxen, and it was clear she was wearing makeup, dressed in fashionable and eye-catching attire, looking exactly like the type of beauty one often sees on Yannan’s streets with a decent head-turning rate.

If it hadn’t been for Cao Manwen seeing her photo before, having a certain impression, he probably wouldn’t have recognized her.

This wasn’t just the so-called ‘girls change eighteen times when growing up’, it was a complete transformation.

“Cao Manwen? You haven’t changed much at all.”

Tao Hongying said in surprise as she looked at Cao Manwen.

“Sorry, have you been waiting long?”

She sat opposite Cao Manwen.

“Not really, I was just passing time with a couple of novel chapters and then you arrived.”

Cao Manwen showed her his phone.

“What novel are you reading?”

Tao Hongying asked curiously.

“Just something to pass the time, it’s called ‘I Crafted the Myth of the Ancient Overlords’, it’s alright I guess.”

Cao Manwen replied.

“I’m reading it too; the novel is written quite well, it’s just that the author updates too slowly. I wish I could lock him in a dark room and have him churn out fifty chapters a day.”

Tao Hongying discussed the content of the novel with Cao Manwen, which made Cao Manwen somewhat relieved that he had read this book previously, as they had found a common topic of conversation.

As they chatted, the conversation turned back to Lu Ban.

“Do you think the stuff about ‘Nine Streams’ is true?”

Tao Hongying asked.

“I’m not sure, but I’ve seen the people from there.”

Cao Manwen took a sip of his milk tea.

“That Paper-cutting Official inside, he seems to have been setting up a stall at Panjiayuan Market for decades, and over those decades he hasn’t aged.”

“Really?”

Tao Hongying’s eyes widened, looking at Cao Manwen like a curious baby, making him avert his gaze.

“Can you take me to see him?”

“We could, but weren’t we supposed to visit the Archaeology Department today?

Cao Manwen scratched his head.

“The Archaeology Department is right here; we can visit it anytime, but what if that old man saw the ‘Nine Streams’ trailer and decided to pack up and flee? We better go today!”

She was excited.

Cao Manwen felt she made sense; he hadn’t gone to Panjiayuan Market since then, perhaps because he felt it would upend his worldview, or maybe he just selectively forgot about it. This time was perfect to go and ask in detail.

He drove his old classmate to Panjiayuan Market, but once they arrived, Cao Manwen realized that the antique market, which usually wasn’t very busy, was now packed with people three layers deep inside and out!

*

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