Chapter 36: Illusion

After Cao Meng left, Li Si also began preparing at home the things he needed to enter the mountains.

In truth, the things he needed to prepare for entering the mountains were mainly dry rations, rice, clothing, tinder, and the like.

According to Luo Ye, the place where Cao Qing’s corpse was hanging was at least a day’s journey away. That meant that for the following period of time, he would definitely have to stay in the mountains for a while, so he naturally needed to prepare more thoroughly.

After he had packed the clothes and rice, Li Si still felt as though something was missing. After thinking about it, he went straight out. He still needed to buy a rain cape, rope, and other things. That way, if he encountered heavy rain, he would not be quite so miserable. He did not have these things at home, so he could only go out and buy them.

After Li Si had gone out for some time, a man wearing a red leather jacket suddenly appeared on the roof. His eyes showed a puzzled expression. He listened on the roof for a while, then drifted down from the roof and landed in the courtyard of the house.

He hunched his thin body and looked around. Seeing no one nearby, he began sneaking back and forth through the courtyard, stopping from time to time while his ears twitched.

Only after hearing no sound did he begin wandering again. After finishing his circuit of the rear courtyard, he paused, tilted his ear toward the hall, and, seeing that there was no sound, slowly walked into the hall. In the hall, he saw a sack of rice and packed clothes, and immediately became curious.

He brought his nose over and sniffed them, then walked away somewhat disappointed, turning toward Li Si’s bedroom.

After entering the bedroom, he wandered around inside. Then he seemed to discover something interesting. He pulled open the bedsheet and carefully crawled under the bed.

After he entered beneath the bed, the bedsheet fell, and beneath the bed was pitch black. He was somewhat happy. His deathly blue face split into a grin, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth. His eyes stared fixedly at the bedsheet, as though he wanted to see through it.

He remained motionless like this. However, after about half an hour, his smile gradually slackened. He crawled out from under the bed and walked out of the bedroom.

He passed through the hall and entered the study. After entering the study, this man wearing a red leather jacket swept his gaze around the room.

His gaze fell on the bookshelf. He walked over and flipped through the books on the shelf, and a trace of disgust appeared on his deathly blue face.

He reached out, about to tear up these books, but then seemed to think of something. His movement paused. He carefully wiped the dust off the books and put them back.

Afterward, he began walking around the room again. An anxious look appeared in his eyes, and crystalline saliva began flowing from the corners of his mouth.

In the end, he searched even the kitchen, but seemed still unable to find what he wanted. Immediately, his eyes began turning somewhat crimson, and his deathly blue face began twisting, drool flowing everywhere.

Suddenly, he opened that mouth full of sharp teeth and loudly said, “Now it is said that Zhao Wuqi, son of the Marquis of the Northwest, competed in poetry when envoys from Yao came to Wei. With one poem, Longing for Qingqiu, he surpassed the talented scholar Qian Shaoqing of Yao, and so he became proud and arrogant.”

“Once, when he could not win at chess against the First Prince, anger attacked his heart, and he picked up the chessboard and smashed it against the First Prince’s head. With that one smash, he smashed away the Marquis of the Northwest’s noble title...”

The man in the red leather jacket spoke in the room, but the voice was Li Si’s voice, without the slightest difference, as though Li Si were the one speaking in the room at this moment.

The man in the red leather jacket spoke for roughly half an hour. Then he seemed to sense something and suddenly closed his mouth, stopped, and floated lightly up onto the roof.

After some time, Li Si returned. After opening the door, he placed the rain cape, rope, and some miscellaneous items he had bought on the table.

Buying things this time had taken quite a long while. Things like vegetables, the rain cape, and rope had been quite easy to buy.

But he had also wanted to buy a good fire striker. After all, his previous fire striker was too ordinary, and the straw paper inside had almost finished burning. If he could not light a fire in the mountains, that would be troublesome.

He had searched for quite a while before finding a shop that sold this fire striker, so it had taken so much time.

Li Si sat down beside the table, poured a cup of water, and drank a mouthful. At the same time, he was also thinking about today’s matter.

He had already made up his mind about bringing Cao Qing’s corpse back, and did not intend to change it. Although he might encounter danger, he had already prepared himself.

He was still within the Protective Talisman’s period of effect right now. If he was still timid and hesitant at a time like this, he would definitely die even faster in the future.

The Zhang Residence incident had told him that even if he did not cause trouble, trouble might still come looking for him on its own.

A person had to learn to fulfil himself.

Right now, he had only a little over a year of lifespan left. There was already no retreat. Not only did he have to bring Cao Qing’s corpse back, but if there was a chance, he also wanted to kill that demon tiger.

Thinking this, Li Si could not help sensing the shop with his mind. The Blazing Sun Peachwood Heart Sword, Eight Trigrams Purple Yang Mirror, and one year of lifespan had always been hanging there. The items in this shop were all extremely useful. These days, he had been looking at this shop all along and truly coveted them.

But he could not exchange for any of these items. Of course, as for the one year of lifespan among them, even if he had two hundred soul points right now, he still would not exchange for it.

These few items had remained hanging in the shop over the past few days without changing. The only thing that had changed was the refresh time below.

Li Si looked at the bottom line of text in the shop.

Next Product Refresh Time: 2 days, 23 hours, 9 minutes, 11 seconds.

“Still three days.” Li Si murmured in a low voice. As long as three days passed, the shop could refresh. He was somewhat nervous and also somewhat expectant.

What made him nervous was that he only had one hundred and thirteen soul points, and he was afraid that when the shop refreshed, all the items would be things like the Blazing Sun Peachwood Sword, which he could not afford.

What made him expectant was the hope that useful items he could afford would appear, giving him more confidence to survive in this world. It would be even better if there were a Protective Talisman.

Thinking of the Protective Talisman, he immediately went to sense its condition.

Protective Talisman: A protective talisman written with an unknown red liquid, making ghost creatures below high-level unable to directly harm the wearer.

It loses effect after 30 days of wearing. Current remaining time: 9 days, 7 hours, 10 minutes, and 23 seconds.

Li Si’s heart was somewhat complicated. This Protective Talisman had helped him too much. Whether it was the fox demon or the Dismemberment Ghost, he had relied on the Protective Talisman to turn danger into safety.

Unfortunately, this Protective Talisman would lose effect after nine days.

Thinking this, Li Si no longer had any interest in looking at the shop and walked toward the bedroom.

What should come would always come. There was no need to think so much. Thinking so much would only make him suffer even more. Why bother?

After entering the bedroom, Li Si lay down on the bed and closed his eyes.

After a while, his eyes suddenly opened. He rolled over, half-crouched on the floor, pulled open the bedsheet, and shone the Eight Trigrams Mirror in his left hand under the bed.

At the same time, a small boy in plain clothes appeared beside Li Si, stretching out his tongue, ready to launch an attack at any moment.

However, when he looked into the Eight Trigrams Mirror, he discovered nothing at all inside it.

“An illusion?” Li Si let out a long breath, stood up, put away the Eight Trigrams Mirror and Xiaoduan, and lay back down on the bed.

Just now, he had again felt as though it was very difficult to sleep, as though there were a ghost creature under the bed. But clearly, this time, it was his illusion.