Chapter 72: Tender Shoots Growing from the Skin

“Mm... it hurts.” In the darkness, Li Si’s body moved. He only felt that the back of his head hurt badly. He reached out to touch the back of his head and discovered that a bump had already risen there.

Gently rubbing the bump on the back of his head, he stood up and looked around. He discovered that it was pitch black here, almost impossible to see any light.

It was only because Li Si’s eyes had been strengthened by the side effect of Ghost Covers the Eyes that he could see clearly in this darkness.

He discovered that he had actually been locked inside a dark prison cell. He touched the wall beside him, and dirt was scraped down by his hand. This was an earthen wall, seemingly compacted by something.

Afterward, Li Si also discovered He Zhong lying on the ground, as well as three other strangers.

He looked toward those three. He saw that among them were two women and one man. The man and one of the women both looked to be about thirty or so, like a married couple. The remaining one was a little girl of eleven or twelve.

These three looked like a family of three.

Li Si carefully looked at the three of them, and felt a chill crawl from his tailbone to the back of his head, making him temporarily forget the pain at the back of his head.

He walked up to the three and discovered that the surface of their skin had actually already turned emerald green. On parts of their skin, faint green shoots had already drilled out.

“What is going on?” Li Si felt goosebumps rise all over his body, as if those green shoots were growing beneath his own skin, bit by bit twining through his flesh and blood, making him unable to resist the impulse to scratch at his own skin.

But he immediately cast this impulse to the back of his mind and walked up to He Zhong, examining his body. He found that He Zhong was no different from usual, and there was no emerald green thing on his skin.

Li Si immediately relaxed. He gently shook He Zhong, but He Zhong showed no reaction of waking at all.

Li Si’s expression changed, and he immediately shook him with greater force.

Finally, under his vigorous shaking, He Zhong showed a slight reaction and slowly opened his eyes.

“This place...” After waking, He Zhong was about to shout loudly, but Li Si was quick-eyed and quick-handed, immediately covering his mouth with his hand.

“We were drugged. We are now in a prison cell. Do not make too much noise,” Li Si said to He Zhong in a low voice.

He Zhong reacted at this moment as well and hurriedly nodded.

Seeing He Zhong nod, Li Si breathed a sigh of relief and released the hand covering He Zhong’s mouth.

“That Chen Zhongyang truly is not a thing. I treated him so well in vain, yet he repaid kindness with enmity!” After Li Si released him, He Zhong immediately cursed in a low voice.

Li Si waved his hand, pointed at the three people to the side, and said in a low voice, “Let us wake them.”

As he spoke, he walked toward the only man among the three.

Only at this moment did He Zhong discover that there were actually three other people beside him. He also walked to the woman’s side, preparing to wake her.

However, when he reached the woman’s side, he saw that the woman’s skin had split open slightly, and a tender shoot sprang out from the crack.

This frightened He Zhong so badly that he almost cried out in terror.

But as someone who had long wandered at the bottom of society, He Zhong’s reaction was still quite fast. He immediately clamped his hand tightly over his own mouth, not allowing himself to shout.

After he adapted to the woman’s appearance, fear appeared on his face. He bent over and walked to Li Si’s side, trembling as he said, “Scholar Li, this is a demon!”

Li Si shook his head slightly and also replied in a low voice, “They are not demons. They are humans. If we do not find a way to save them, we will become like them too.”

He had already examined them just now. These three truly were not demons, but humans parasitized by peach seeds.

Human being, peach seed: He is a person parasitized by a peach seed. He is unconscious and will die in five days, transforming into a peach tree demon.

Hearing Li Si say this, He Zhong was half-believing and half-doubtful. But he immediately thought of the rumours about Li Si he had heard in the county city, and thought inwardly, Could it be that Scholar Li truly has methods to subdue demons and eliminate devils?

Thinking this, he believed Li Si’s words a little more.

Afterward, the two continued trying to wake the three people, only to discover that these three could not be awakened no matter what, as though they were dead.

At this time, Li Si also understood. If the peach seed state was not removed, then these three would never be awakened.

At this moment, Li Si also noticed Xiaoduan standing outside the cell, and he felt both annoyed and amused.

This Xiaoduan had actually just watched him be captured and brought here, without the slightest intention of helping protect him.

However, this could not be blamed on Xiaoduan. He was just a child, and his intelligence itself was ignorant of worldly matters. On top of that, he was a low-level ghost creature, so his brain worked even worse.

Li Si had not given him an order to protect him, so it was normal that he had not protected him.

Li Si could not help feeling somewhat helpless. He thought that in the future, he definitely had to take in a ghost creature capable of helping him do things. He had truly had enough of little idiots like Xiaoduan and Xiaoyu.

However, now was not the time to dwell on this matter. Right now, he had to think of how to get out of this cell.

At this moment, Li Si suddenly thought of something. Why had he been affected by the peach seed, yet nothing had happened to him at all?

When he had shaken He Zhong earlier, it had still taken great effort to wake him, which showed that the peach seed’s unconsciousness effect was very strong.

Then the problem was definitely with himself.

Thinking this, Li Si could not help reaching into his robe and taking out an object wrapped in cloth. He opened the bundle. Inside was a stack of talismans, and some black ash had appeared on top of the talismans.

His heart stirred. He counted the talismans in his hand and discovered that there were only twelve talismans, one Low-Level Demon-Slaying Talisman missing.

“Could this Low-Level Demon-Slaying Talisman have the effect of removing peach seeds?” Li Si thought inwardly.

Thinking this, he could not help looking toward the dry, withered old man standing to the side and staring at him.

Just now, when He Zhong saw Li Si take talismans out from his robe, he could not help confirming his earlier thought. How could Scholar Li’s ability to subdue demons and eliminate devils be some laughing matter? He was clearly a true expert.

“Uncle He, come here. I may have a way to help you remove the peach seed,” Li Si said to He Zhong, waving the talisman paper in his hand.

Hearing Li Si say this, a delighted expression could not help appearing on He Zhong’s face. He immediately walked up to Li Si.

Seeing He Zhong come over, Li Si said nothing more and directly slapped a talisman onto his body.

Strangely enough, the moment this talisman touched He Zhong’s body, it directly turned into ash.

“It is done,” Li Si said with a smile. Just now, he had sensed that He Zhong was no longer in the state of being parasitized by a peach seed.

“Thank you, Scholar Li.” Hearing Li Si say this, He Zhong’s face could not help showing delight. The move Li Si had just made had given him a tremendous shock. He had never seen a piece of paper turn into ash the moment it touched a person. Clearly, this was the legendary effect of driving away evil.

When he had just been touched by that talisman paper, it was as if something extra in his body had suddenly disappeared, and he immediately felt lighter.

Seeing He Zhong’s shocked appearance, Li Si could not help finding it somewhat funny in his heart. This was only because they were in this world. If this were another world, Uncle He would truly be very easy to deceive.

“Superstition is not something one should have,” Li Si could not help thinking.

Afterward, he looked at the three people lying on the ground and prepared to take out three Demon-Slaying Talismans to remove their peach seed parasitism.

Perhaps this way, there would still be hope of saving them.

However, at this moment, a series of heavy footsteps slowly approached from above.