dognovel Chapter 132 You've made it so hard for this old servant to find you!
Chapter 132 You've made it so hard for this old servant to find you!
Chapter 132 You've made it so hard for this old servant to find you! (6.5k)
To make sure he wasn't mistaken, Li Jiuhe quietly got out of bed and tiptoed to the door.
Having seen the old peddler during the day, he knew the man was bald and somewhat hunched over.
The silhouette of the person outside the door, illuminated by the moonlight, was indeed no different from that of the old peddler.
"In the dead of night, is this old peddler so powerful that he dares to come out alone?!" Li Jiuhe was deeply surprised.
He quickly shrank back and retreated to the corner behind the door.
The door was slowly pushed by the person outside, but because the door bolt had been inserted from the inside, the bolt gradually deformed under the force of the force from the outside.
This is a terrifying force, extremely large, and capable of slowly pushing the wood, causing it to deform and crack, with almost no sound.
During the day, Li Jiuhe sensed that the old peddler had many secrets. First, he was very strong, able to fight the Guan family father and son head-on. Second, his purpose in entering Ye City was unclear.
Was it merely to deliver talismans to the people to ward off evil spirits, only to trap himself in Ye City and be unable to leave?
This man has always lived on the outskirts of the city, claiming to be researching how to leave Ye City. He refuses to move to the county government office and does not reveal any of the results of his research to the outside world.
Otherwise, wouldn't it be faster to leave if everyone pooled their wisdom and efforts and came up with a solution together?
Shortly after, the bolt broke completely, and the door slowly opened.
Li Jiuhe felt inexplicably nervous. He didn't know what the old peddler wanted by suddenly and quietly showing up at his door.
One foot stepped into the house, and then the old peddler's bald figure entered the house.
Upon seeing this guy, Li Jiuhe was startled, only to find that the old peddler had his eyes closed.
Not only that, but the guy's clothes, which were fine during the day, were now tattered, as if he had been scratched by something. Blood was oozing from the corners of his mouth and nostrils, and his scalp was torn open, revealing his white bones.
"He—is already dead?!" This sight terrified Li Jiuhe.
For a moment he was stunned, unable to understand how the old peddler, who was strong enough to go toe-to-toe with the Guan family father and son, could suddenly die? How did he die?
No wonder this person could walk at night without fear of ghosts, even so late at night; it turns out he himself had become a ghost.
What surprised Li Jiuhe even more was that the exorcising candles in the room seemed to have no effect on this guy at all; the candlelight shone on him without any reaction.
The old peddler entered the house and paused slightly, seemingly noticing that no one was on the bed.
He then turned around quickly, as if he could automatically lock onto the location, and pounced on Li Jiuhe, who was hiding in the corner.
Although Li Jiuhe possessed exceptional physical abilities, with strength and agility far exceeding those of ordinary people, he knew he still had no chance of winning against this strange old peddler.
Because this guy was clearly stronger than me when he was alive, and now that he's a ghost, he'll only be more powerful.
He quickly got up and thrust the silver-plated dagger he had prepared at the old peddler who was lunging at him.
The old peddler reacted extremely quickly, slightly shifting his body to easily dodge the knife. He then struck with lightning speed, grabbing Li Jiuhe's neck and lifting him up.
This guy's strength far surpassed Li Jiuhe's, making it impossible for him to break free even with his desperate struggles. He could only feel a foul, stench of corpses hitting him.
Li Jiuhe didn't wait to be killed by the old peddler; instead, he immediately initiated a mission reset.
I woke up from my sleep and the palpitations I felt earlier returned.
Li Jiuhe sat up in bed and turned to look at the door. The old peddler was already standing outside, motionless.
He quickly thought it through and realized that this guy was here to kill him, and he was no match for the old peddler at all, since this wasn't an advantage of his mission definition ability.
He looked around, then quietly got out of bed, put two unlit candles into his pocket, took a tinderbox, and moved a wooden chair to the bed.
Because one side of the bed is against the wall, and above the wall is a beam, while the other side is the room of the mute Li family of three next door.
At this moment, it was quiet over there, and it was clear that all three of them were fast asleep.
During the day, someone had told Li Jiuhe that these exorcising candles were only effective against most ghosts, preventing them from getting close, but they were not absolutely effective.
If people within the area shrouded by the fire keep provoking the ghost, or if the ghost is too powerful, it will also enter the fire's range to kill and devour the humans.
And the vengeful ghost of that old peddler just now seemed to look like that.
Just as Li Jiuhe was climbing up the roof beam, the old peddler began to push the door with all his might, causing the bolt to buckle slightly.
Li Jiuhe quickened his crawling speed and soon climbed over to the room where the Li family of three lived.
The moment his feet touched the ground, the male head of the Li family was awakened. He lay on the bed and looked at the scene with a look of horror on his face.
Li Jiuhe made a shushing gesture, indicating that he should not make any noise.
Then I heard a slight cracking sound from the door latch in the next room.
Although this world was created from boundary stones, after spending the past two days with these people, Li Jiuhe felt that they were real people, and none of them were fictional.
He would not intentionally harm any innocent person, nor does he want innocent people to be harmed.
I glanced at the little girl sleeping soundly on the bed.
Li Jiuhe quickly turned around, opened the door, ran out, and gestured for the male head of the Li family to close the door.
His hurried run made a noise, and the old ghost peddler next door seemed to hear it, closing his eyes and quickly turning around to leave the room.
Li Jiuhe's figure flashed by at the entrance to the courtyard outside the house.
Without any hesitation, the old peddler chased after Li Jiuhe as if he could see him.
At this moment, the woman of the Li family, who was in the house, also woke up. The couple looked terrified, not knowing what was chasing Li Jiuhe.
But it was already late at night, and they dared not leave the house.
Although several rooms in the large backyard of the county government office were lit with candles, the spacious area meant that most of the space was not illuminated by candlelight.
Li Jiuhe didn't dare approach those rooms either. He knew the old peddler's ghost was chasing after him, and he was afraid that this guy, who wasn't afraid of candlelight, would hurt others.
He ran quickly, and when he was almost at the back gate of the county government office, he saw a bloody, mangled thing crawling on the ground. He couldn't make out what it was, but it must have been another terrifying ghost.
At the same time, a rustling sound came from the treetops above. Looking up, a giant python was coiled above, but the python's head was the face of a beautiful human.
Moreover, upon closer inspection, one might discover that the python's body is not actually a snake's body, but rather a strange body completely fused with a human body, like a naked beauty crawling on a treetop, its forked tongue flicking out, its beautiful eyes fixed intently on Li Jiuhe.
On the contrary, the old peddler's ghost was nowhere to be seen at this moment, and even the sound of his footsteps disappeared.
Without hesitation, Li Jiuhe immediately took out a complete candle from his pocket and quickly lit it with a tinderbox.
The moment the candlelight flickered on, the beautiful python that was approaching overhead immediately retreated, and the indistinct mass of flesh crawling on the ground also slowly moved backward.
Just then, Li Jiuhe heard a sound coming from the dried-up pond next to him. It was probably another ghost that had been about to approach, but had now also been frightened away.
He reached out to shield the flickering candle flame, quickly opened the back door of the county government office, and left.
As they reached the street, a gust of cold wind blew by, causing the flame of the candle in their hand to flicker rapidly, almost going out. Li Jiuhe immediately reached out to protect it.
A warm candlelight enveloped his body, giving him a cozy feeling, and the chilling wind seemed unable to harm him at all.
Although he hadn't seen the old peddler's ghost again, Li Jiuhe suspected that it was hiding somewhere in the backyard of the county government office, waiting for him to return.
So Li Jiuhe didn't turn back, but instead walked quickly along the street, holding a candle.
He planned to leave the area and find another deserted house to hide in.
After walking for a while, because he had the fire candles to ward off evil spirits and because he didn't provoke them, no ghosts dared to get close to him.
However, he kept hearing rustling sounds behind him, and Li Jiuhe knew that there must be other ghosts following him.
He turned around and saw a woman with disheveled hair dragging an infant behind her, the two seemingly connected only by an umbilical cord.
They also saw a tall, strong man carrying two heads on his shoulders.
The two heads, one fat and one thin, seemed to be arguing, but their voices were very soft, like mosquitoes or flies, and could not be heard at all from three meters away.
At this moment, these ghosts were about five meters away from him, which was exactly outside the range of the candlelight.
Before long, more ghosts joined the procession, including those with animal bodies and human heads, and several corpses pieced together to form a bizarre, enormous ghost.
There was another creature completely covered by a white sheet, its gender indiscernible. Its face kept changing, sometimes male, sometimes female, alternating constantly.
Li Jiuhe even noticed that the changes in this guy's face included the likenesses of the Blade Master Ahui and the long-haired girl Xiaoyu.
In other words, the two younger members of the Guan family must have encountered this vengeful ghost, and most likely they have already been possessed.
Judging that he was already quite far from the county government office, Li Jiuhe decided not to delay any longer and prepared to hide in an empty house nearby.
He noticed that the vengeful spirits following him seemed restless and had closed the distance between them, from five meters to four meters.
If he continues down this path, these ghosts will inevitably approach and test him.
However, Li Jiuhe was certain of one thing: the Guan family would not appear at night, because they also had to be wary of a large number of ghosts.
Therefore, for him, having a candle in his hand was actually a relatively safe option.
After finding an empty room, he was about to approach when he suddenly heard a strange, low roar coming from not far behind the house, which did not sound like a human.
He had never been to this area of the city before. Looking around, he saw that there was no candlelight in the vicinity, and all the rooms were dark.
These houses are mostly empty, and it seems that all the people in this area have probably died.
Li Jiuhe subconsciously turned around and found that the ghosts that had been following him closely were now standing at a distance, seemingly unwilling to come closer.
A thought flashed through Li Jiuhe's mind, and he realized it was probably caused by that low roar. He was also a little curious.
After going around to the back of the house, I took a look by the moonlight and the candlelight in my hand and saw that there were twenty or thirty ghosts surrounding another house behind it!
These ghosts come in all shapes and sizes, and are of all kinds of bizarre forms.
Each one was perched on the walls, doors, and windows of the house, as if there was something inside that they longed for.
The howling ghost was incredibly tall, almost as tall as the house, yet as thin as a bamboo pole. Its clothes were tattered, and its long, frizzy hair stretched out like a bird's nest, with the rest piled up on its shoulders, making it look extremely strange.
Several other ghosts, just as powerful as this one, were also constantly ramming into the house.
There wasn't a single candle glimmer of light coming from the house; it was completely dark inside. Li Jiuhe wasn't even sure if anyone was inside.
But if there's no one around, why would these ghosts behave so strangely?
The house was like a drop in the ocean, seemingly on the verge of collapse, yet it stood firm and never fell.
After glancing at it, Li Jiuhe, worried about attracting the attention of those ghosts, immediately looked away and entered the empty house he had just chosen.
Although he had only caught a fleeting glimpse, he was certain that any one of the strange creatures surrounding the house was more powerful than the ghosts that followed him.
The situation was very strange, and he was very curious about what was inside the house.
However, we cannot go and check it now. If we really want to explore, we must wait until dawn when those ghosts have left.
With the candlelight burning, Li Jiuhe sat in the simple, dilapidated house, a faint smell of blood wafting from the room, until dawn.
Throughout this time, he could hear a large number of strange sounds coming from in front of the house behind him, intermittently, until the last moment before dawn, when the sounds finally stopped.
Li Jiuhe peered out the window and discovered that all the ghosts that had followed him had vanished.
However, the street remained quiet. Even though it was already daylight, there was still no one in sight. It seemed that this place was a heavily haunted area, with no pedestrians even during the day.
There might not even be a single living person left in this area.
But what happened to that house behind last night?
Li Jiuhe's curiosity was reignited. He blew out the candle that had been burning, then opened the door. After carefully checking for any danger, he left the room and headed towards the back.
Upon seeing the house behind him, he immediately stopped, his face filled with terror.
Several terrifying ghosts remained around the house, some sitting, some lying down, and some crouching, motionless and still guarding the place.
Even though it was already dawn and their ghostly power seemed to have greatly diminished, they were still so powerful that they persisted in guarding the house.
This scene fueled Li Jiuhe's curiosity even more. He wanted to know what was in that room that could attract ghosts so much that even Tianming couldn't drive them away.
These ghosts are indeed very powerful, including the bamboo pole ghost that is as tall as the house. It is lying upright on the ground, and its arm moves occasionally.
The other fierce ghosts also seemed subdued, as the approaching dawn would have a significant impact on them, and their strength would certainly be weakened.
Li Jiuhe originally intended to go directly there during the day, but seeing the situation now, he had to change his mind.
He lit the candle again and then tried to slowly approach.
If these terrifying ghosts attack him, he will simply reset the mission and think of another way.
He cautiously approached the house. The evil spirits seemed to sense his presence, but he ignored them and held a burning candle for warding off evil.
This caused the listless ghosts to refrain from taking any action, at most glancing at Li Jiuhe.
He quickly arrived at the tightly closed door of the house, reached out and gently pushed it. The lock on the inside of the door seemed to have been broken by the vengeful ghost from the previous night, and it fell directly to the ground and then opened.
But at that moment, Li Jiuhe suddenly felt a chill down his spine.
He turned around and saw that his pores all over his body suddenly opened up, and goosebumps kept rising.
He saw a woman dressed in black with disheveled hair standing behind him, her back to him, forming a back-to-back standing posture.
A wave of yin energy swept over, and Li Jiuhe couldn't help but shiver.
He didn't know when this woman appeared, or when she got so close to him from behind.
But the next second he felt a chill in his throat. The woman's arm twisted, and her long, sharp nails slashed his throat at an eerie angle. The movement was incredibly swift, leaving him no time to react.
Task reset.
Li Jiuhe stood not far from the house, carefully checking behind him to see if there was a woman in black.
After confirming that there was nothing there, he changed direction this time, went around to the opposite side of the house, and approached the door from another direction.
But as soon as they got close, the chilling feeling approached once again.
Looking back, the woman in black had silently returned to his back, still back to back.
Before he could react, Li Jiuhe's throat was instantly slashed by fingernails.
The task has been reset again.
He was panting heavily, realizing that the woman in black was far too strong, even stronger than the bamboo ghost. Not only could she move around normally during the day, but she was also impervious to candlelight, and her killing speed was incredibly fast.
No matter how many times you kill him, he won't be able to react.
It could be said that this woman is probably the most powerful ghost in the entire Ye City.
There must be something extremely important in that room!
Li Jiuhe knew he couldn't give up; he had to go in and take a look.
It felt like the woman was guarding outside the house because she didn't want anyone to get close, otherwise she would kill anyone who went in.
He guessed that the exorcising candles should work, but since the terrifying female ghost had her back to him, perhaps her posture could weaken the candlelight's power over her.
Having made up his mind, Li Jiuhe moved the lit candle behind his back, put his hands behind his back, and slowly approached the house as if he had his hands behind his back.
Upon reaching the door, the familiar chill did not creep up from behind, so this tactic seemed to work. He then gently pushed the door open.
But at that moment, the candle held behind him trembled slightly, and a chilling sensation once again crept up his spine.
Looking back, the woman in black was still approaching him in the same way, and the burning candle seemed to be affected by a cold wind, flickering twice before going out.
The task has been reset once again.
Li Jiuhe quickly pondered for a moment, then lit both candles on his person and used the same trick again, carrying them on his back as he slowly approached the house.
At the same time, he kept his other hand behind his back to protect the flickering flames.
Reaching the door, he used his foot to push it open. This time, the expected chill did not come from behind him, which told him that the increased flames must have been effective.
He then stepped into the house and saw a strange young man sitting cross-legged on the only bed in the room, motionless.
Just then, the chilling feeling behind him approached again, and the candle in his hand trembled violently, extinguishing both flames at the same time.
This time, Li Jiuhe didn't wait for the sensation of coldness in his throat; instead, he quickly reset.
"Phew—" He let out a long sigh.
Looking down at the two candles in his hand, he quickly made a decision, broke the candles in half, making four, and then lit them all.
He still carried the four burning candles on his back and walked step by step toward the house.
He did not move all the candles in front of him, but entered with his back to the door.
Because if he did that, there was a high probability that the female ghost would stick directly to his defenseless back.
This time, he walked sideways and used his foot to push open the door, making sure that all four candles were on his side, illuminating his chest and back, and he kept his hands protecting the flames.
As expected, the journey was fraught with danger but ultimately safe. The eerie and terrifying chill didn't return until he entered the house.
Li Jiuhe immediately hooked the door with his foot and closed it. Then he looked around and saw that the woman in black had not followed him.
He didn't dare to extinguish the four candles burning at the same time, and quickly turned his attention to the unfamiliar boy in the room.
Although the young man was dressed in coarse linen clothes, he had fair and delicate skin, handsome features, and a hint of heroic spirit.
The boy's eyes were closed, but he opened them after hearing the noise at the door.
Upon seeing Li Jiuhe enter the house in such a strange way, and with four burning candles in his hand, he raised an eyebrow and showed surprise.
"You're not a peddler?" the boy asked.
Li Jiuhe was surprised and shook his head: "No, my name is Lin Feng."
"This area is a restricted zone. How did you find me?" The boy put down his crossed legs, gently rubbed his thighs, and then stood up.
Li Jiuhe told the truth: "I wasn't looking for you. I happened to come here last night while hiding from ghosts."
The boy looked clearly disappointed and asked again, "Then why did you go into this room?"
Li Jiuhe said, "There are ghosts outside, and they won't leave even during the day. I want to see what's attracting them."
He then carefully examined the boy before him. Clearly, it was because the boy was in the room that the boy immediately changed the subject: "What's the situation in the city now? Is it possible to leave Ye City?"
"No." Li Jiuhe shook his head. "That old peddler has been studying the ghostly fog outside the city near the west gate, but so far he doesn't seem to have made any progress."
"Do you know him?" The boy became wary.
Li Jiuhe noticed the change in his expression and immediately waved her hand: "I'm not familiar with him. I only saw him once yesterday, and he turned into a vengeful ghost in the evening and even came into the house to chase me—"
"No, that's not right." The boy exclaimed in surprise, "He can't be dead. He's very strong, probably the strongest person in the entire Ye City!"
"Were you followed when you came here?"
"Probably not," Li Jiuhe said suspiciously. "But I was followed by a female ghost in black just now, back to back. She should be outside. I used the candlelight disc player to get rid of her."
Speaking of this, he also felt puzzled. If the boy in this house was the one those vengeful ghosts outside had been trying to attack, why wouldn't he leave even when daylight arrived?
But there were no candles burning in this house last night, so how did this kid manage to avoid being invaded by evil spirits outside?
Although the boy was surprised, he quickly calmed down and said, "You were probably used by that peddler. The peddler won't die, and he's not here to kill you. He just wants to use you to attract the attention of the ghosts around me, or to drive them away, especially that woman in black with her back pressed against him!"
Li Jiuhe asked in surprise, "His purpose in doing this is—"
"Kill me!" the boy replied.
As soon as he finished speaking, the door opened, and a bald old man walked into the room with his hands behind his back.
Judging from his clothes and appearance, he was indeed an old peddler.
His expression was sinister, a half-smile playing on his lips, clearly indicating his smugness. He slowly spoke, "Second Prince, you've made this old servant search high and low!"