Chapter 34: A Strange Voice

This thing seemed to sense something and stopped. Beneath its lumpy skin, a pair of eyes with narrow pupils shifted slightly and looked toward Li Si’s home. After looking for a while, it withdrew its gaze and continued walking forward.

Although its body was enormous and its footsteps heavy, it did not make even the slightest sound as it walked.

As that huge figure walked farther and farther away, Li Si finally felt the pressure lessen. However, he felt as though he had collapsed from exhaustion, covered all over in cold sweat.

“What exactly is that thing?” Li Si murmured in a low voice. Just now, he had even felt that the Protective Talisman would be unable to protect him.

After murmuring, he also remembered what Liu Qin had said this morning, that Lord City God would return tonight. A few guesses arose in his heart. Since the City God was returning, and since no ghost or monster could possibly dare enter the county town now, the thing just now was very likely the City God.

But he was still somewhat uncertain, because he felt that what had just passed by was not an immortal or god, but rather a terrifying ghost creature.

“It should be an illusion.” Li Si licked his dry lips. If that really had been a ghost creature just now, then this county town was likely about to become a dead city.

“Teacher, what is wrong? Are you feeling unwell?” Cao Meng, who had finished bathing, walked into the hall. Seeing Li Si sitting on the floor as though exhausted, he ran over in concern.

Seeing Cao Meng looking normal, Li Si seemed thoughtful, then said, “Go back and sleep. Rest early.”

After saying this, he got up and staggered somewhat toward the rear courtyard.

Taking off his clothes, Li Si scooped up a ladle of cold water with a gourd dipper and poured it from his head down to his feet. The icy cold water instantly calmed his uneasy heart.

Since the City God had come, it was also a good thing. From Xiaoduan and Xiaoyu’s reaction in the cloth pouch earlier, it could be seen that the City God still had a suppressive effect on monsters and ghost creatures.

In this way, Li Si no longer needed to worry about some demons, monsters, and ghosts reappearing in the county town, and he could also live a stable life for a while.

But unease still lingered in his heart. After all, the feeling this City God gave him was extremely strange.

Li Si’s heart trembled, and he scooped up another ladle of cold water and poured it down from his head.

As for other matters, he could talk about them later. Thinking so much now was useless.

After bathing, Li Si washed his clothes and hung them up. Then he went to the study to take a look and discovered that Cao Meng had already fallen asleep.

He shook his head slightly and placed Xiaoduan in the study, having him protect Cao Meng. Although he guessed that the City God had already returned and the ghost creatures had almost all fled, it was better to be safe than sorry. It was still better to be careful.

Then Li Si walked toward his own bedroom. After entering the bedroom, he lay down on the bed and prepared to sleep.

But for some reason, no matter how he tossed and turned, he remained completely sleepless.

His mind kept recalling the dream from last night, the animal corpses beneath the bed, and the terrifying thing that had frightened him tonight.

Letting out a long breath, Li Si looked toward the roof beam again. Because of the Dismemberment Ghost’s warning, he had paid frequent attention to the roof beam from yesterday until today, but he had never discovered anything strange.

Even when using the Eight Trigrams Mirror, there was nothing at all.

He could not help suspecting that the Dismemberment Ghost had deliberately deceived him to make him restless and uneasy.

But he threw this thought aside again. Thinking of the Dismemberment Ghost’s final moment before death, Li Si still chose to believe the Dismemberment Ghost.

A ghost who, even after becoming a ghost creature, still wanted to bring her child with her could not have been too evil before dying.

Moreover, he had the Womb Ghost, her son, with him, so she had even less reason to deceive him.

There was definitely something strange about this roof beam. However, since he had not found anything recently, perhaps this ghost creature had sensed that the City God was about to return and had run off.

Thinking this, Li Si set this matter aside. He only needed to pay more attention in the future.

Moreover, he should not leave this county town recently. He planned to wait until the next shop refresh and see whether there might be any good items. It would be even better if there were a Protective Talisman.

As he thought and thought, Li Si entered dreamland, and tonight, no liquid dripped from the roof beam.

At the same time, in a dark great hall.

A man wearing a red leather jacket stood trembling in the center of the great hall, his whole body shaking like chaff in a sieve.

“During this recent period when I was not in the county town, did anything happen?” From above the great hall, a muffled voice came through the darkness.

“Ah.” The man wearing the red leather jacket looked fearfully at the huge figure in the darkness above, then opened his mouth and said, “Have you heard? The Zhang Residence issued a reward. If someone can help the Zhang family kill that ghost creature, they can receive one thousand taels.”

This voice sounded somewhat deep and rich, appearing somewhat out of place coming from the red leather-jacketed man.

“Lord Lu, that place must not be visited. I heard that several people who went to the Zhang Residence all died there.”

“Scholar Li is a person with true awe-inspiring righteous qi. He cursed the fox demon until it revealed its original form.”

“I thought before that woman didn’t look like any good person. Sure enough, she was a demon. Ptui.”

“Ah, have you heard? Scholar Li beheaded a zombie today. He was so powerful, hehe...”

“This Scholar Li is truly remarkable. Let me tell you, but don’t spread it outside. The ghost creature in the Zhang Residence was killed by Scholar Li.”

Then one voice after another came from the red leather-jacketed man’s mouth. There was the voice of a charming young woman, the scolding voice of a fierce woman, the idle chatter of layabouts, the conversation of women, and many others. Each was vivid and lifelike, as though the owners of these voices were right here speaking.

And these words revealed the recent Zhang Residence incident, the fox demon mourning incident, and the zombie incident.

“So many things happened?” A voice came from the tall seat. Then the owner of this voice pondered slightly and murmured thoughtfully, “Scholar Li. Interesting.”

During the next seven days, Li Si’s life was extremely peaceful, so peaceful that he even felt as though it were an illusion, as if the demons, monsters, and ghosts he had encountered before had all been false. However, the Black Sword hanging in the study, the Dead Jade at his chest, The Black Tortoise Record in his mind, and the existence of Xiaoduan and Xiaoyu clearly told him that all of this was real.

These days, he woke early every day and led Cao Meng through morning practice. In the afternoons, he taught the nearby children to read at home. In his free time, he practiced The Black Tortoise Record and read books.

As for why he often taught the nearby children to read, it was because this was something the previous owner had liked doing, and Li Si happened to like it very much as well. He always felt that he should bring something to this world.

Every day, he lived a very full and satisfying life. However, during these days, Cao Meng’s father had still not come, which also made Li Si somewhat worried.

And today, an unexpected person appeared.