Chapter 277
Chapter 277
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 277
>Chapter Title: Ghost Arrival
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> “Hahaha, are the people of Pi County all idiots? They actually believe bullshit like penis shrinkage.” Gouwa laughed wildly.
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> “If you were thrown into a situation where everyone’s just parroting each other, you’d be no better off.”
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> When he saw the street outside, which should have been deserted, suddenly bustling with activity, he set down the teacup in his hand and headed out.
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> “Everyone follow me. Bring your weapons. Stay on the outskirts of the crowd later and keep watch for me—no side incidents.”
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> No one knew what method Yang Hongzhi had used to spread the word, but the county yamen in Pi County was surrounded by terrified people, packed so tight not even water could leak through. Plenty more stood atop the walls and rooftops as well.
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> Tens of thousands crammed together, buzzing like a massive swarm of flies.
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> Yang Hongzhi sidled up stealthily to Li Huowang’s side and shot him an excited look.
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> “Daoist, is this enough? Pretty much one person from every household showed up.”
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> He’d just gone back to check and found his own son’s privates really hadn’t shrunk. He already believed this man’s words seventy or eighty percent.
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> Li Huowang nodded as he eyed the sea of heads packed tight beside him. In two or three strides, he leaped right onto the stone lion at the yamen entrance.
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> “Fellow villagers of Pi County! Don’t panic! I’m here to tell you there’s no ghost stealing men’s privates at all—you’ve all been tricked! Penis shrinkage, clitoris shrinkage—it’s all fake! It’s nothing but a rumor!”
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> The moment Li Huowang spoke, the crowd erupted like fireworks, everyone exploding into noisy chatter.
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> “Ding ding ding~!” A piercing bell rang, drilling straight into everyone’s ears and making the whole crowd instinctively clap their hands over them.
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> Once the bell drowned out the chatter, Li Huowang stopped shaking the Dao bell and tossed it to Chun Xiaoman at his side.
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> As everyone slowly uncovered their ears, Li Huowang thought for a moment, then raised his voice again.
> “Everyone! That jumping shaman who supposedly died from penis shrinkage—County Magistrate Yang and I already checked him out! He was just faking death. He fled gods-know-where ages ago!”
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> “And think hard now—who here has seen it with their own eyes? Whose prick shrank right into their gut? Remember: not what your son said, or your neighbor said, but what you yourself saw firsthand! Anyone?!!”
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> At Li Huowang’s question, every face in Pi County showed hesitation.
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> Just as Li Huowang figured they’d cast off their fear and panic next, a different strange voice cut through the scene.
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> “Yes!” A woman with half-white hair, clutching the bundled infant in her arms, tottered forward.
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> Trembling, she peeled back the layers of clothing and hoisted the naked child high overhead, thrusting it excitedly toward the others to show.
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> “See this? My kid’s privates got shrunk! This guy’s a liar! Don’t believe him!”
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> Li Huowang scrutinized the woman carefully. Once he confirmed she wasn’t a Sit-Forget Daoist in disguise, he shifted his gaze to the child in her arms.
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> “This your kid? His privates stolen by that invisible ghost?”
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> “Yeah! Look! Where’d his privates go? Gone!! Waaah~ My poor doomed son~~~~” The woman clutched the child tight and burst into loud sobs.
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> “Really all shrunk away?” Li Huowang stared at the empty space below, his head jolting sharply.
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> But the next second, Li Huowang snapped to it. With a bizarre expression, he asked her a perfectly ordinary question.
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> “Auntie, isn’t it possible your kid’s a girl?” It looked far too natural—no way shrinkage could fake that.
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> After he said it, the woman recoiled as if terrified, hugging her child tight as she backed toward the crowd.
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> “Bullshit! My belly was pointy when I was pregnant! No way I popped out a money-loser! I birthed a son!”
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> The instant the woman finished, she dropped straight to her knees before an old man, clutching the child as she anxiously defended herself.
> “Head of the house, don’t believe him! This ain’t my fault at all—I really birthed a big fat boy to carry on the line! That ghost took the kid’s privates. This really ain’t my fault.”
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> The woman’s words planted unease on every face. The chatter swelled louder.
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> “To keep from getting abused at her husband’s place, she’s forcing her daughter into a boy. How come you weren’t this clever back when the Sit-Forget Daoists were around?”
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> As the murmurs below grew louder, just as Li Huowang moved to steady things, a scream suddenly burst from the crowd.
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> The packed crowd instantly gaped open a wide space. Dead center stood a beggar in tattered rags, hoisting a rusty short knife high in his hand.
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> Amid a man’s agonized howl, he brutally sliced off the other’s privates and hung them on himself with satisfaction.
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> The trembling, swaying monobrow beggar rose, a sinister grin on his face as he eyed the terrified faces all around.
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> “Hehehehe~~~ Privates~ Privates are mine~ With privates, I can reincarnate~”
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> As he spoke, his body floated up like a ghost and lunged at another man nearby.
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> “Aaah!!” Women’s screams rang out as everyone on site panicked and fled every which way.
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> Just as the target was about to get tackled, one of Li Huowang’s fingernails shot over.
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> “Clang!” A sharp ring as the nail cap struck him, echoing with a crisp metallic clash.
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> In the chaotic mess, Li Huowang bulled his way toward the beggar. By the time he arrived, several men and women already lay on the ground nearby.
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> “Clang!” Li Huowang charged with sword raised and slashed right down on him.
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> What Li Huowang hadn’t expected: the Purple-Spike Sword—a razor-sharp weapon of the soldierly arts—couldn’t even break the skin when it struck him. It just rang out crisply.
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> Seeing Li Huowang in a bind, the others rushed in too.
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> Gao Zhijian thundered over with heavy footfalls, his wolf-tooth club whirling through the air with whooshes.
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> Their weapons clashed and crossed, Li Huowang trading blows back and forth with the foe.
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> But the more he connected, the more off it felt to Li Huowang. This ghost ahead of him was seriously wrong.
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> If this thing was really a ghost, wasn’t it way too bizarre?
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> Ghosts that shrugged off blades and spears? That even a demon-slaying sword couldn’t cut? And showing up smack in broad daylight, no less?
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> As Li Huowang racked his brain for a way to take the guy down, he wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but he felt the other blink at him. A thousand thoughts raced through his head in that instant.
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> Under the eyes of all Pi County’s folk, they watched the copper-coin-masked man go back and forth with the ghost.
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> Their hearts rose and fell with every shift in the fight.
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> After a quarter-hour deadlock, Li Huowang drove his foot straight into the man’s chest.
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> Right after, he whipped out a yellow talisman and slapped it onto the man’s forehead. Everything finally went still.
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> Panting hard, Li Huowang swept his sword around in a circle and declared firmly.
> “You were right—there really is a privates-stealing ghost, and that’s him! Now I’ve killed him!”
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> Cold fact: this rumor really exists, and the date it recently spread is beyond imagination.
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> (End of chapter)