027 Something Evil

"Hehe, tell me, do I look like a human or a god?"

The thing lurking in the forest set the branches swaying wildly, and its voice grew even more ear - splitting.

"You look like a human! You look like a human! Oh, venerable spirit, our whole family has endured so much hardship. We're just struggling to make a living! If we've offended you in any way, please be magnanimous!"

In a blind panic, Scholar Lü threw all caution to the wind. He immediately flopped to the ground and kept kowtowing desperately in the direction of the forest.

As he kowtowed, he suddenly froze. At the forest's edge, he saw a pair of small feet in embroidered shoes, standing there like two menacing spikes.

A chill ran down his spine. Slowly, in utter shock, he propped up his head. There, he beheld a small - footed woman in a brand - new, flowery cotton - padded jacket, standing all alone.

Her face was deathly pale, but her mouth was minuscule. Her eyes were like black beads firmly inlaid on her face, not blinking even once.

Her entire pale visage was shrouded in darkness, looking like a tiny, ghostly airbag floating in mid - air.

"Hehe, do you think I look like a human?" The small - footed woman covered her mouth and tittered, then started mincing her delicate small feet towards the campfire.

When he saw that the woman's body wriggled as if it had no bones at all as she walked, the last glimmer of hope in Scholar Lü's heart was completely snuffed out. He realized he had truly encountered something supernatural!

"Kid! Kid! Stop sleeping! Quick, pee! You're a boy!" Scholar Lü's terrified, sobbing voice jolted the others awake.

In his panic, the Jinshi Scholar Lü shakily grabbed a burning piece of firewood and hurled it forcefully at the woman.

However, the attack was in vain. The firewood went straight through the woman's body as if it were a mere illusion.

Just as the small - footed woman was about to reach the campfire, her body suddenly went rigid. Her big head abruptly swiveled towards the eastern forest.

The branches swayed violently, and Li Huowang and the others emerged from the forest, clutching several glowing fluorites in their hands.

"Hmm?" Bai Lingmiao, who had already removed the cloth strip, sensed something amiss. "Senior Brother Li, look, this woman is truly evil! She has no back of the head. There are faces on both the front and the back!"

With a sharp "clang", the long sword was unsheathed. Li Huowang stared warily at the extremely strange small - footed woman in the distance. "What are you?"

"Hehe, I'm a human. Don't I look like one?" After the ear - piercing voice rang out, the small - footed woman wriggled her slender body like a venomous centipede and switched her target of approach.

Naturally, Li Huowang wasn't about to sit back and do nothing. Without a moment's hesitation, he reached into his left pocket, and a deflated Taoist bell materialized in his hand.

"Jingling, jingling..." The ear - splitting sound of the bell reverberated. Everyone present, including Li Huowang himself, clutched their heads in agony.

Li Huowang didn't stop. He continued to shake the bell with all his might because he saw that everything in his sight was shaking violently, including the small - footed woman.

Under the shaking, her brand - new flowery cotton - padded jacket began to split, and some black, noxious gas seeped out continuously.

This copper bell was having an effect on this woman!

Suddenly, the small - footed woman let out a blood - curdling scream. Her gradually collapsing body swayed frantically and retreated into the forest. In the blink of an eye, she vanished from Li Huowang's sight.

The sound of the bell gradually faded. Li Huowang looked down at the Taoist bell in his hand in disbelief. "Although I didn't summon Lord You, I really never expected you to have such a use."

He didn't know if it was because the bell was flattened or for some other reason. Although Li Huowang had obtained the Taoist bell from Master Danyang, every time he shook the bell, the lines around him just swayed randomly and didn't condense into Lord You like before.

The more he saw of this world, the more bewildered he became. What on earth was this chaotic world?

"Master! Master! Thank you so much for your help! I really had eyes but failed to recognize a real expert. Come, come over and warm yourself by the fire."

Overwhelmed with gratitude, Scholar Lü bowed deeply and stepped forward. He eagerly pulled Li Huowang towards the campfire.

Compared with the thing they had just encountered, the strange beings following this Taoist priest seemed much more docile. After all, with the Taoist priest in charge, these things were just scary at most, while the previous one could really take people's lives.

"Damn it! If that brute hadn't suddenly run away like a madman, how could I have been so rude to the master?" Scholar Lü took out his tobacco pipe and pretended to knock it on the saddle.

After knocking a few times, he turned around and shouted, "Hey, Juanhua, hurry up! Bring some baked buns and water! Bring the biggest white - flour bun! And three... no! Five salted duck eggs!"

Scholar Lü's sudden outpouring of enthusiasm made Li Huowang quite ill at ease. "Sir, there's no need to go to so much trouble. May I ask you a few questions?"

"Ask! Ask anything you want! Young Taoist priest, you just saved our whole family's lives! Hehe, you can ask whatever you like!" Scholar Lü slapped his chest boldly and readily agreed.

Seeming to think he wasn't being enthusiastic enough, he stuffed the mouth of the tobacco pipe under his armpit and rubbed it vigorously for a few times. Then he lit it again and held it out to Li Huowang with both hands in a fawning manner.

"Er... Thank you, sir. I don't smoke. Do you know what that thing we just encountered was? What's its name?" Li Huowang gently pushed the well - worn tobacco pipe aside with his hand.

He knew nothing about this world at present. If he wanted to survive safely, he had to learn as much as possible.

Scholar Lü was obviously taken aback by the question. "What? How would I know that, Taoist priest? Didn't you drive that thing away? Don't you know?"

Looking into his confused eyes, Li Huowang realized he had asked the wrong question. In this regard, this old man might not know as much as he did.

"I heard you say to use a boy's urine. Can a boy's urine harm that thing just now?"

"Yes, yes, yes! Definitely! Those things are afraid of dirty things! I've heard that smearing snot on them also has an effect. But the most effective one is still a boy's urine. It has the strongest yang energy and is also a dirty thing."

"Really? Have you used it before, sir?"

Scholar Lü, who had been so certain just now, gave a sheepish smile when asked by Li Huowang. His eyes darted away a little. "Maybe it works. The old people in the village have always passed this down. Since everyone says so, it must be right."

Li Huowang sighed helplessly. It was all about things passed down from ancestors again. Were the ways of passing on experience here so backward?

"Well then, sir, let me ask you something you know. Have you encountered many things like this?"

"No. How could such evil things happen every day? If it really happened every night, I would have sold all my belongings and gone back to the countryside to farm with my son long ago." Scholar Lü put the tobacco pipe in his mouth and puffed away contentedly.

"I've been out for so many years, and I've only encountered such things four times."

"So that's how it is..." Li Huowang looked at the dark forest around him and gained a new perspective on this world.

After staying with Master Danyang for a long time, he thought there were black Tai Sui everywhere outside. Now it seemed that was not the case at all.

Ordinary people had heard of these things, but they were far removed from them.