Chapter 55: Awakening

Inside a bedroom, Li Si lay on the bed. His eyes trembled slightly, then slowly opened.

He turned his head slightly and looked at his own body, only then discovering that his current appearance was simply too miserable to look at. Both sides of his shoulders were wrapped tightly in hemp cloth, and his feet were covered in densely packed blood blisters. Some black medicinal ointment had been applied on them, making them look extremely tragic.

Li Si turned over, making himself lie more comfortably, and let out a long breath. He knew that this life of his could finally be considered to have been picked back up.

“Scholar Li, you are awake?” A surprised shout came from the doorway.

Li Si turned his head and looked over. He saw a middle-aged man standing at the doorway. This person had two small mustache patches, wore a crimson long robe, and was dressed properly. Seeing Li Si wake up, he immediately shouted in delight, his face full of surprise.

“Doctor Zhang, thank you for treating me.” When Li Si saw this middle-aged man, he pulled up the clothes beside him and draped them over himself, about to rise and bow.

This middle-aged man was precisely the famous doctor of this county town, named Zhang Jingcheng. The person who had treated the original owner last time was also him.

“Scholar Li, there is no need to thank me. Compared with what Scholar Li has done, what I did was merely an ordinary matter.” Zhang Jingcheng quickly walked in and hurriedly helped Li Si up.

Seeing the somewhat admiring look Zhang Jingcheng had toward him, Li Si immediately knew that this person had learned of what he had done.

His head immediately began to hurt somewhat. This Zhang Jingcheng was a loose-tongued fellow. Last time, the news that the original owner was seriously ill and about to die had also been spread around the county town by him. This time, his own matter had probably also been spread everywhere by this person.

“Scholar Li survived that serious illness last time, and now you even escaped from the tiger demon’s mouth. You truly are blessed with great fortune and a great life!” Zhang Jingcheng helped Li Si up, looked him up and down, and clicked his tongue in wonder.

At this moment, sounds came from outside, and a middle-aged man dressed in a fitted martial outfit and a child ran in.

Li Si looked over and saw that these two were precisely Luo Ye and Cao Meng.

He was just about to greet them, but unexpectedly, after Cao Meng came in and saw him, his eyes reddened, and he knelt straight to the floor.

Bang! Bang! Bang! After kneeling on the floor, Cao Meng knocked his head hard against the floor several times in a row.

The sounds of kowtowing were muffled, and everyone present was somewhat stunned by what they heard.

“Brother Luo! Pull him up!” Li Si’s expression changed, and he hurriedly shouted to Luo Ye.

When Luo Ye heard Li Si’s words, he quickly pulled Cao Meng up.

After Cao Meng was pulled up, at this moment, the other three people in the room could clearly see the green bruises on this child’s forehead.

“Teacher... I...” Cao Meng’s head was a little dizzy. Looking at Li Si, he spoke haltingly.

“All right. You do not need to say more. I understand what you mean.” Li Si interrupted Cao Meng, gave a deep sigh, and said, “The matter has already passed. You must live properly from now on and listen to Uncle Luo, understand?”

Hearing Li Si say this, Cao Meng hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

When Luo Ye heard Li Si’s words, he also stroked Cao Meng’s head and said sincerely, “Scholar Li, I will take good care of this child.”

“I am tired now and need to rest for a while.” Li Si rubbed his forehead and said with a bitter smile.

When the others heard Li Si say this, they also felt that he was injured and wanted to rest. So they prepared to withdraw and let him be alone.

At this moment, however, Li Si seemed to think of something. He suddenly turned his head and called out, “Brother Luo, wait a moment. I have something to say to you.”

When the three heard Li Si’s words, their bodies paused, and they turned back to look at him.

Afterward, Luo Ye smiled at the two of them and said, “You two go out first. Scholar Li and I will discuss some matters.”

After the two went out, Li Si found a comfortable position and lay down. Looking at Luo Ye, he asked, “How is Brother Cao’s body?”

When Luo Ye heard Li Si ask about Cao Qing’s funeral matters, he sighed and said, “The body has already been buried. The government office questioned people earlier. Originally, they were going to come to you, but later Liu Qin stopped them. He said he would come find you after some time.”

Li Si frowned slightly. He did not know what this Liu Qin meant, helping him stop the people from the government office and even wanting to find him. He did not have any friendship with him.

Since he could not figure it out, he stopped thinking about it. Afterward, he rose slightly and gently beckoned to Luo Ye, telling him to bring his ear over.

When Luo Ye saw Li Si like this, he knew Li Si wanted to tell him something private, and immediately brought his ear over.

After Luo Ye brought his ear close, Li Si lowered his voice beside his ear and said, “The tiger demon has been killed by me. There is some gold at the cliff where Cao Qing was. Think of a way to retrieve it yourself.”

When Luo Ye heard Li Si say this, a horrified look immediately appeared in his eyes, and he was about to retreat a few steps. He had not expected that the tiger demon had actually been killed by Li Si. He had only thought that Li Si had escaped down from the mountain and had not encountered the tiger demon at all.

Li Si pulled him back and continued speaking in a lowered voice. “Find a place to hide this money properly. From now on, this money belongs to you.”

Luo Ye’s legs became somewhat weak, and his voice trembled slightly as he said, “I cannot take this money!”

Although he did not know how much gold Li Si was talking about, it was certainly a vast sum to him. He was unwilling to take it.

“Just treat this money as something you are keeping for me. I may come to you for it in the future. You can use this money as you please and improve your life a little, but you must use it cautiously. Otherwise, it can easily bring disaster.” Li Si patted his shoulder, then found a comfortable position on the bed and lay down. He continued, “The choice is entirely yours. All right, I want to rest.”

After saying this, he ignored Luo Ye, turned over on the bed, and faced away from Luo Ye.

Luo Ye opened his mouth, but in the end, he sighed and walked out of the room.

Hearing Luo Ye leave, Li Si turned over, sat up, and pondered slightly.

Giving this gold to Luo Ye had also been a decision he had made on the spur of the moment just now, because there was around 150 kg (~330 lb) of gold, and it was useless even if he took it. After all, he could not very well carry around 150 kg (~330 lb) of gold while fighting ghost creatures in the future.

He only had a little more than one year of life left, and had no time to manage wealth.

And leaving that 150 kg (~330 lb) of gold on the mountain was still leaving it there. It was better to find someone trustworthy to hold it, and when he needed it, he could just go to that person to take it.

As for Luo Ye, although he was sometimes rather timid, put another way, this person was very intelligent. He understood the situation and knew when to advance and retreat.

Moreover, judging from his attitude toward Cao Meng, he was also a loyal and righteous person, not a treacherous villain.

If this money was placed in Luo Ye’s hands, he would instead not really dare to spend it. This could minimize a great deal of trouble as much as possible, and could also let Cao Meng, this ill-fated child, live a good life.

Thinking of this, Li Si felt around in his chest and took out a lump of gold about the size of a palm, then put it back into his chest.

How much money there was did not matter. As long as it was enough to use, that was fine.

Afterward, at this moment, Li Si seemed to think of something. With a movement of his will, he immediately became somewhat excited. The mall had refreshed!

He swept his will toward the nine items in the mall, and immediately, the information for the nine items appeared in his mind.