Chapter 274
Chapter 274
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 274
>Chapter Title: Death
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"It's smaller." The inn waiter's trembling voice instantly shrouded the entire room in a bizarre atmosphere.
In his breakdown, he didn't even bother tying his pants belt, kneeling directly on the ground as he fearfully kowtowed nonstop to his surroundings.
"Ghost Grandpa!! It really wasn't me who wanted to say it—he forced me!! You've got a head for your grievance and a master for your debt, so please don't steal my life root!!"
"My life root—if you take it, you can reincarnate! But I'll be stuck as a wandering ghost unable to!!"
His words scared Gao Zhijian into terrifiedly clutching his own with both hands, while Li Huowang instinctively glanced down as well.
"Could this so-called manhood-stealing ghost have actually come?" Li Huowang, his face extremely grim, quickly scanned the entire room once more.
With his current heightened senses, if there were truly something in this room watching him, he would definitely feel it.
But right now, he sensed no one's gaze on him, which meant one of two things: either this ghost was deliberately avoiding looking at him, or the thing had no eyes at all.
"An invisible evil thing? Like the one from the eighteenth of the twelfth month again?" Facing this sudden unknown enemy, Li Huowang didn't dare show the slightest carelessness.
In this damned place, he refused to believe that an evil entity capable of plaguing an entire region could only slowly steal from people bit by bit.
Unnoticed by everyone in the room, Li Huowang's translucent phantom and invisible true body had silently separated, while his right hand had already gripped the hilt of the sword behind him.
The atmosphere in the room grew increasingly oppressive. Just as Li Huowang focused all his attention on the empty surroundings,
the inn waiter sprawled on the ground suddenly stood up and bolted toward the nearby door.
"Could this thing possess people too?!"
As Li Huowang instinctively raised his sword to stab at the waiter's back, Gao Zhijian on the side lifted the stone slab at his chest. With a clang, it blocked Li Huowang's sword.
In that split second, the inn waiter had already dashed out the door.
Li Huowang's murderous gaze instantly shifted from the inn waiter to Gao Zhijian.
"This thing is so tricky this time? It took over Gao Zhijian's body that fast?"
Meanwhile, Gao Zhijian, clutching the stone slab, saw Li Huowang's fury-filled eyes glaring at him and panicked, waving his hands frantically. "I... I'm... it's me! I... I'm Zhijian."
But at this moment, Li Huowang didn't fully trust him, glaring at his honest face. "You say you're you, so you are? Judge by actions, not intentions—Gao Zhijian would never block my sword! Who the hell are you?"
"Li... Li Shixiong, that guy didn't... didn't get possessed by an evil thing!"
"He wasn't possessed—then why'd he suddenly run?"
Li Huowang eyed Gao Zhijian, whose eyes were clear, thought quickly, then pointed outside with his sword. "Fine. If you say you're the real Gao Zhijian, toss that Heavenly Book aside and go ahead of me. Find that inn waiter."
The guy's sudden behavior was too suspicious. Whether he was possessed or not, Li Huowang had to figure out what was really going on.
Once Gao Zhijian tossed everything he had onto the floor, he stepped out of the room under Li Huowang's guard to search for the suddenly fleeing inn waiter.
Finding him was easy. He'd just pissed himself in fear from Li Huowang moments ago—simply follow the trail of urine on the ground.
The urine trail didn't go far, looping around within the inn. Li Huowang finally spotted the pantsless inn waiter up on the beams of the inn's kitchen.
A rough hemp rope looped around his neck, hoisting him up entirely. His body swayed left and right with faint creaks.
The half-winter melon tipped over on the ground made it clear he'd done it to himself.
Hanged to death, the inn waiter's tongue lolled out long, his face turned blackish-purple, his horrifying expression staring dead at Li Huowang.
"He... he..." Gao Zhijian pointed in shock at the dangling inn waiter in the air, at a loss for words.
A man who was perfectly fine just moments ago had suddenly hanged himself—this was far too abrupt.
Li Huowang examined the inn waiter's eyes, filled with terror and despair, and the hands clenched tightly around himself, then turned to Gao Zhijian beside him.
"You're right. He wasn't controlled by any evil thing. To avoid being unable to reincarnate after death, the kid decided to off himself while he still could."
In the end, it wasn't some manhood-stealing ghost that killed him—it was his own fear.
Sword in hand, Li Huowang slowly circled the kitchen, searching for that so-called ghost.
He'd encountered plenty of evil things before, but never one this impossible to grasp.
Not even a glimpse, and already someone was dead.
Li Huowang's gaze drifted down to the inn waiter's manhood. It was indeed rather small.
"Daoist, what now? We don't even know where it is—you're done for this time!" The monk looked utterly panicked, as if he were genuinely anxious for Li Huowang.
Li Huowang glanced at him and said in a low voice, "Don't panic. Since it spreads through speech, right now it's only after me and Gao Zhijian. The others are safe for the moment. And with this body of mine, it'd take more than that to shrivel me up. As for Gao Zhijian... he's fine too."
"Li... Li Shixiong, wh-what do we do?"
Even the usually slow Gao Zhijian seemed panicked now. He pulled open his pants and reached in fearfully, terrified it might shrink into his belly and vanish.
Standing in place, Li Huowang surveyed his surroundings. The kitchen, which should have been utterly normal, now looked terrifyingly alien in his eyes. Chili peppers, cleavers, cutting boards, firewood—danger seemed to lurk behind every single one.
Li Huowang pulled open his pants and peered inside, letting out a sigh of relief. No change for now.
It seemed this shriveling wasn't instantaneous but gradual. He still had time to figure something out.
"Don't panic. Once we get to the root of where this thing came from and what its weaknesses are, we'll break free for sure!"
Li Huowang sheathed his long sword behind his back and turned toward the inn.
"Gao Zhijian, stay in the inn and keep watch! Make sure everyone else stays put and doesn't wander. Don't tell anyone about this—I'll go figure out how to drag that hidden thing out into the open!"
"Daoist, where are you going?" asked the monk, half his body stuck in the wall, looking puzzled.
"Since the whole Pixian are victims too, they're on our side now. No need to hide it. To deal with that thing, I need the county magistrate's help!"
(End of chapter)