Chapter 271: Ghost

Chapter 271 Ghost

Not long after, the innkeeper's boy gently knocked on the door to Li Huowang's guest room. When he entered, he saw the guest wearing a copper coin mask sitting at the head of the round table, drinking tea.

"Guest? I heard you were looking for me?" He hunched his back, approached the round table, and asked cautiously.

"Sit." Li Huowang held the teapot in one hand and poured a cup before him.

"Oh oh, you're too polite, I can just stand here. Guest, did you summon me for some orders? Is there anything our inn failed to attend to properly?"

Having been in contact for so long, the innkeeper's boy now appeared less fearful of these outsiders.

"Duo." A small gold ingot, the size of a little finger, was placed before the innkeeper's boy. Li Huowang said, "There are some things I wish to ask you. As long as you can answer, this gold is yours."

Before the innkeeper's boy could figure out what was happening, Li Huowang got straight to the point: "Why do the people in the county fear the shrinking so much? What causes the shrinking of the male and female organs?"

Hearing this, the innkeeper's boy, who had just managed a forced smile, suddenly turned pale with terror and immediately turned to flee outside.

But as soon as he turned, his head collided with the stone slab on Gao Zhijian's chest, instantly seeing stars and collapsing weakly backward.

When he regained his senses, he found himself bound by tough beef tendons, unable to move an inch, while a tall man stood nearby glaring at him fiercely.

"Clatter," accompanied by the sound of metal clashing, Li Huowang's torture kit slowly unfolded before the innkeeper's boy.

Seeing the dark red bloodstains seeping from these sharp tools, the innkeeper's boy shivered all over.

"My apologies, I am clumsy with words and don't know how to speak. To ask questions, I can only use my most skilled method. Please excuse me. Since coming to this world, I haven't learned much else, but I am proficient in every method of torturing people." Li Huowang's flat tone made the innkeeper's boy feel as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

"This tool is for gouging out eyeballs. Let me tell you something, actually, eyeballs cannot feel pain. If you don't believe me, you can pry open your eyelids and touch them with your hand. What feels painful is the flesh around the eyeball."

As this round iron tool scraped along the edge of the innkeeper's boy's face, goosebumps rose all over his body.

The innkeeper's boy looked terrified by Li Huowang's words, yet despite having no color in his face, he pressed his lips tightly together, still unwilling to answer Li Huowang's question.

Seeing this wouldn't work, Li Huowang put down the iron circular clamp in his hand, picked up an iron spindle again, and displayed it before the innkeeper's boy.

"Do you know what this is? It's not for winding thread, it's for winding intestines."

"This thing is very simple to use. Just cut a slit at the position of your navel first, then pull out a piece of intestine from inside, hang it on this spindle, and then keep pulling and pulling..."

"Do you know what that kind of feeling is like? Close your eyes and think about it carefully."

"If you don't want to think, that's fine too. In a moment you will feel it yourself. Let me spoil the plot first, that taste is very unpleasant, feeling as if your body is empty."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a ripping sound occurred, and the innkeeper's boy's clothes were torn apart by Li Huowang, revealing his shriveled abdomen. When Li Huowang's five fingers touched his navel, the innkeeper's boy finally broke down.

"I'll say! I'll say!!" The foul smell of urine slowly seeped out from beneath him.

Beside him, Gao Zhijian scratched the back of his head. He thought Senior Brother Li was quite good with words; relying solely on speech could scare someone like this.

Li Huowang's hand slowly withdrew from the other's stomach. "Speak! What exactly caused the shrinking of the male and female organs among the people of Pi County?"

"There are ghosts! There are ghosts!" The innkeeper's boy's voice was extremely miserable, his appearance equally ragged, with snot and tears streaming all over his face.

"Some lonely wild ghosts want to reincarnate as men, so they come to the human world to take!! So they want to steal ours!"

The innkeeper's boy's words made Li Huowang feel extremely absurd. "What nonsense is this?"

This was quite different from what he had thought. He originally believed the shrinking here was caused by some evil spirit.

"Could they have mistaken certain evil spirits for ghosts? Is it a particularly special evil spirit attacking them? In this situation, the Sky Monitoring Bureau should send someone over, right?"

Frowning, Li Huowang pondered for a moment, then looked at the innkeeper's boy and asked again: "Have you ever seen the so-called ghost? What does it look like? Is it the kind you can touch with your hands, or the kind you cannot?"

Asking clearly now, so when encountering it again, I would be prepared.

Hearing this, the innkeeper's boy shook his head like a rattle drum. "No! Humans can't see ghosts at all! Eventually, they will shrink people to death!"

Seeing the other party could speak properly now, Li Huowang untied the innkeeper's boy, then helped the terrified individual sit on a stool.

Compared to before, Li Huowang's tone was much kinder now.

"Alright, isn't it just asking you some simple matters? Was it necessary to hide and conceal? Why didn't you tell me before? Believe it or not, we truly are here to help you."

Hearing Li Huowang say this, the innkeeper's boy immediately covered his face and burst into tears. He looked extremely fearful, with a hint of despair in his voice.

"Can't say it! If spoken, both you and I will be haunted by ghosts!"

Hearing this, Li Huowang suddenly felt a chill run through his whole body. He gripped the sword hilt with one hand and quickly scanned around alertly.

Windows, wooden door, under the bed—Li Huowang inspected everything within the room, yet discovered nothing; everything appeared so normal.

Recalling the various evil spirits experienced before, Li Huowang heard of such sinister things for the first time, something that could spread via word of mouth!

Although the innkeeper's boy's words had many loopholes, Li Huowang now preferred to believe it existed rather than not.

Li Huowang immediately looked up at Gao Zhijian guarding the door and said: "When we go out later, remember not to tell others about this!"

Gao Zhijian nodded vigorously. He also did not want to pass the danger on to his companions.

Li Huowang disregarded the danger, reached out directly to forcibly pry open the innkeeper's boy's hands, staring intensely at his desperate face with an exceptionally grave expression.

"Who told you these words? Who told you that telling others would result in being haunted by ghosts? Did he mention any way to deal with this evil spirit?"

Although he carried two swords capable of slaying demons on his back, the thing encountered this time looked exceptionally strange.

"I..... I don't know! Others all say so!" Finishing speaking, the innkeeper's boy ignored Li Huowang standing beside him, reached out to undo his belt, and looked inside with trembling fear.

The next moment, this innkeeper's boy was struck like lightning, freezing stiff on the spot.....

(End of Chapter)