Chapter 269: Fear

Chapter 269 Fear

Amidst the bewildered gazes of Lu Juren and Luo Juanhua, Li Huowang's figure gradually rose from beneath the ground.

With a solemn expression, he glanced at the silver in their hands and spoke: "Judging by this, he must have been threatened. Alright, your part is done."

Having said this, he turned, pushed open the door, and walked out.

Li Huowang pushed open the door, once again concealed his spectral hue beneath the earth, and returned to the cook's quarters.

He was unchanged from before, still wrapped in a quilt, shivering as he gazed at the paper windows all around, as if fearing something.

Compared to the woman earlier, the greatest difference about him was the complete absence of any scent of blood.

Just as Li Huowang was peeking, suddenly the cook raised both hands, shoved them directly into his cotton trousers, and began fumbling with a grotesque expression.

Witnessing this scene, Li Huowang furrowed his brows tightly and turned to leave.

This time he found the waiter again, but the man was nervously wiping the table while glancing toward where the Lu troupe was staying.

That fat man had been correct; the people of Pixin were quite jittery, and their complexions were indeed poor.

Finding no desired information within the inn, Li Huowang lifted his foot and walked out into the torrential rain.

However, after only a few steps, an old man clad in a straw raincoat, wearing wooden clogs, and topped with a bamboo hat walked straight toward him.

When he looked in Li Huowang's direction, his eyes widened to their limit, accompanied by a heart-rending scream, his eyes rolled white, and he fainted directly into the rainwater.

"He can see me? How can he see me?" The bewildered Li Huowang looked down at his body and found it indeed empty, nothing there.

Suddenly, Li Huowang realized that his spectral hue had been shifted underground; although invisible, his physical body remained outside, capable of touching things.

Outside, it was raining everywhere, yet just where he stood, there was a dry human-shaped void free of rain; this was too strange.

No wonder the old man had been startled suddenly; if it were me, I would probably be startled too.

When he saw people on the street hearing the noise and looking toward the old man, Li Huowang shrank his body and stepped back into the inn. "This won't do; wait until the rain stops."

Inside the Lu troupe's room, though Li Huowang had left, they were still discussing.

"Oh my god! The little Daoist master knows wall-passing techniques!" Luo Juanhua's eyes widened instantly.

"Panicking like that, what does it matter to you! Behave yourself." Lu Zhuangyuan said with a stern face, then turned and walked toward his youngest son sitting cross-legged on the bed.

He reached out, carefully stroking his head, saying, "Xiucai, did you see? How powerful this spiritual ability is. You must learn it well. If you truly master the wall-passing technique, what couldn't you do in the future?"

Woken by the noise, Lu Xiucai stared at his own father with a devouring gaze; if not for seeing his older brother come over, the words in his mouth would have sprayed out.

"Old bones! Don't bother me! I'm busy!!" Saying so, Lu Xiucai closed his eyes again.

Looking at his youngest son whose personality had completely changed, Lu Zhuangyuan sighed lightly, sat beside him with a disappointed expression, and lit his tobacco pipe.

In the past, dealing with his youngest son always involved beating, but when beating stopped working on his son, Lu Zhuangyuan suddenly didn't know how to teach him.

The rain in Pixin fell all night; by the next day, although the sky was gloomy, the rain finally stopped.

Li Huowang, who had risen early, wore a straw raincoat and walked out of the inn, passing among the scattered people of Pixin who all looked terrible.

Seeing Li Huowang, the people of Pixin still showed fear, one by one leaving Li Huowang's field of vision.

Ignoring them, Li Huowang kept winding his way toward the largest mansion in the county town, the yamen where the magistrate held court.

Yesterday, taking advantage of sleeping time, he had already selected his target.

If there was anywhere most likely to find out what actually happened in Pixin, the yamen managing the entire county was definitely number one.

"I've been tailed." Not surprised, Li Huowang took advantage of turning a corner to glance at the two constables in green robes behind him.

Their complexions were just as poor as everyone else's, lips frozen purple, heavy dark circles hanging under their eyes, staring straight at Li Huowang's back.

Li Huowang pretended to notice nothing and turned directly into the corner.

Just as these two constables quickened their pace and rapidly arrived at the corner to turn, the two constables were bewildered to find nobody in that alleyway.

"Old Wu, lost him, what now?" The younger constable looked at the older one with a troubled face.

The older constable looked at the ground without any footprints with an unsettled expression, thought for a moment, waved his hand, "Go!"

Li Huowang, hidden on the wall, watched them leave; when he could no longer see their backs, he turned, flipped off the wall, and slowly crept inside; the other side of this wall was his destination.

As far as Li Huowang knew, every county generally had a county chronicle recording major events within the county. And this was Li Huowang's target.

In his invisible state, Li Huowang moved through the entire yamen as if entering an uninhabited land, quickly finding what he sought.

"Year Zichou, Summer, Fourth Month, Xin Si, Great Disaster... Commoners exchanged children to eat..."

"Year Wuwu, Shen Hui, Jingzhe, Heavenly Dog Eats Sun..."

Li Huowang turned page by page, flipping until the latest notes, discovering the most recent record was from two years ago, the content recorded was actually a great harvest in the county?

"How is this possible? Everyone in the county is terrified like this, and the magistrate recorded nothing? Or is he deliberately concealing it?"

Just as Li Huowang was pondering, he suddenly heard a painful child's wail.

Li Huowang's heart tightened; he closed the county chronicle in his hand, placed it back in its original position, slowed his pace, and carefully followed the sound.

His keen hearing allowed him to hear more clearly; amidst the crying and screaming was a child's voice. "Dad... it hurts... Mom... don't..."

After walking for a while, Li Huowang had arrived outside the woodshed where the sound originated; at this moment, the sound had become crystal clear.

"Dad!! Don't pull, don't pull!! Wah wah wah~ Mom~ It hurts, it hurts..." The boy's voice was extremely miserable, as if undergoing torture.

"This must be the beating children mentioned by that old reaper before?" Li Huowang secretly approached the paper window, dipped his index finger in saliva, and carefully poked a hole in the window.

When Li Huowang's eyes looked through that hole inside, his pupils instantly shrank to the smallest size.

He saw a child, running snot and tears, naked and tied to a pillar, pitiful beyond measure.

Standing nearby were a man and a woman; judging by the reluctance on their faces and their features, they should be the child's parents.

Reluctant though they were, they used an iron clamp to clamp the lower body tightly, trembling as they pulled hard outward.

Instantly, an extremely sharp scream erupted, the bound body jumping ceaselessly.

This scene made Li Huowang's eye corners twitch; this pain must be nearly equal to his own torture.

(End of Chapter)