Chapter 33: The City God Passes Through

At noon today, Li Si stir-fried braised spare ribs, garlic greens, and egg drop soup.

After the two finished eating, both were still somewhat unsatisfied. Li Si also found it a little strange. His appetite seemed to be larger than before. Then he understood. It was because he had recently been practicing martial arts and exercising.

But what surprised him was that Cao Meng’s appetite was no less than his own. In his heart, he could not help feeling both amused and helpless. Sure enough, half-grown boys could eat their fathers poor.

However, this was a good thing. It meant Cao Meng’s body was very healthy.

As for whether he would feel distressed over the money, he really would not. After all, to someone like him, whose lifespan had only a little over a year left and who lived with no guarantee of surviving the next day, money could truly be considered an external thing.

His short lifespan and the feeling that he might die at any time had also made Li Si think through many things, and so he had become much more carefree.

Afterward, Cao Meng went to clean up the bowls and chopsticks, while Li Si went to the study to read books. Although the books here were not as varied as those in the world of his previous life, there were still worthwhile parts in terms of classical meanings and principles.

So Li Si still quite liked reading. This was also one of his few pastimes in this world.

After Cao Meng finished washing the bowls and chopsticks, seeing that Li Si was reading, he took a small bowl by himself and practiced writing with water at the table in the hall.

At the same time, he was also pondering what Li Si had said to him today, but he also felt that Teacher’s words were somewhat profound. He had never heard such principles before.

Especially that line, when one carries a sharp blade, killing intent arises on its own. He could not figure it out even more. After all, he was still only a seven or eight-year-old child.

The two maintained this quiet environment and studied like this. Before long, it was the Shen hour in the afternoon. The sun was scorching, and at this time, some children were already waiting outside.

Seeing children waiting outside, Cao Meng went to the study to notify Li Si.

Interrupted from reading by Cao Meng, Li Si looked at the sky and knew it was time for teaching. Then he instructed Cao Meng to collect the clothes properly, walked out of the study, came to the main gate, and let these children in.

Afterward, Li Si first poured some tea for the children. Once Cao Meng had collected the clothes, he placed Xiaoyu in the corner as he had yesterday and began teaching them the Hundred Family Surnames. During his teaching, he often used deeds he had just read in some historical books to explain which surnames had produced which famous figures, and what great or amusing things they had done.

The group of children followed Li Si and listened in fascination. Without realizing it, they learned dozens of characters. And because of Xiaoyu’s Spiritual Light ability, they instantly remembered these dozens of characters deep in their hearts.

However, what Li Si did not know was that it was not only these children who listened in fascination. On the roof of his house, a man wearing a red leather jacket was also listening in fascination.

When Li Si announced the end of class, an annoyed expression appeared on the deathly blue face of the red leather-jacketed man on the roof. But then, as though he thought of something, he giggled and slowly turned into nothingness, vanishing from sight.

After Li Si announced the end of class, he had the children go home. At the same time, he instructed them that they absolutely had to be careful recently.

After they left, Li Si took Cao Meng to a nearby restaurant to eat.

There was no helping it. It was almost seven o’clock at night now, so it was impossible to go buy vegetables. They could only eat at a nearby restaurant.

He ordered chestnut braised chicken and stir-fried greens, and the two of them sat upstairs in the restaurant and began eating.

“Teacher, the food in this restaurant isn’t as tasty as what you make.” After Cao Meng finished eating a chicken drumstick, he furtively glanced around and said in a low voice.

“Just eat your food. Why say so much?” Li Si glared at Cao Meng, then placed the other chicken drumstick in his bowl.

Seeing Li Si glare at him, Cao Meng immediately became somewhat sheepish and stopped speaking, continuing to lower his head and eat.

After finishing the meal, Li Si paid the bill and was about to go back. At this moment, he once again heard the sound of the night watch.

Dong, dong!

Dong, dong!

Dong, dong!

“The sky is dry, things are parched. Be careful with fire and candles.” The night watchman’s voice came from afar.

“It is the Xu hour.” A trace of worry appeared in Li Si’s eyes, and without hesitation, he took Cao Meng and headed home.

After returning home, Li Si instructed Cao Meng to go bathe, while he himself held the Eight Trigrams Mirror and shone it all around the house, yet found nothing. It seemed that the original owner had truly abandoned this place.

He breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time, he also felt somewhat powerless. If the original owner were here, he had no confidence in dealing with him and could only rely on using the Protective Talisman to achieve a counter-kill.

But the Protective Talisman had too many limitations. Not only was its reaction a beat slow, but if a ghost or monster did not use one of their strange spells and instead took a club and struck him with it, it might still be able to beat him to death.

Of course, Li Si had not tried this, but that day, when that servant struck him with a club, the Protective Talisman had shown no reaction at all. He also did not know whether this was because that servant was half-human and half-corpse, or because it truly could not prevent injury from tools.

Moreover, even if it could defend against ghost creatures, the ghost creature had to actively attack. Otherwise, it would also be of no use.

This was also why he had actively provoked Madam Zhang Guo in the Zhang Residence before.

In fact, at noon today, when he had spoken of the original owner’s painful past in the courtyard, he had also harboured this intention. Yet he had not expected that the original owner would be so cunning. As soon as he saw that Li Si had discovered him, he immediately fled.

This also proved that the original owner was very likely a ghost creature no weaker than the Dismemberment Ghost.

Thinking that there was a ghost creature with exactly the same face as him wandering outside, Li Si’s heart became somewhat complicated. At the same time, he also made up his mind. He had to kill him, even if it meant letting the Protective Talisman’s duration shorten again.

He absolutely could not allow this ghost creature to continue doing evil. He did not want the original owner to become a strange, wicked thing that survived by eating people.

Suddenly, at this moment, a gust of yin wind blew past, and the air seemed to grow several degrees colder in an instant.

Li Si’s expression changed. He turned his head and looked outside through the window, only to find that the street was empty, and he discovered nothing.

At this moment, he suddenly felt a chill down his spine. A terrifying pressure that made him tremble came from far away. It was like a mouse encountering a group of cats, as if he might be eaten at any time.

Li Si immediately crouched beneath the window, not daring to look again. He only felt as if his heart was about to leap out of his chest, and all the hairs on his body stood upright.

At the same time, the cloth pouch at his chest could not help trembling as well, as though it were also extremely afraid.

On the main street, from an angle mortals could not see, a huge figure three or four metres tall, around 9.8 to 13.1 ft, was walking along the street in silent stillness.

This figure was extremely fat. The flesh on its belly covered even its legs, making it look like a gigantic walking toad.