Chapter 80
The little boy's name is Huang Xingbo. He took us to observe the situation in the village.
"Kid, where are your parents?" I asked curiously.
The child lowered his head and said timidly, "Grandpa said my parents are away on a long trip and won't be back for a long time."
After hearing this answer, I understood what was going on, but I didn't show it on my face. We walked in silence all the way, and no one spoke again.
Our walk around alarmed many villagers. Although they didn't know Master Zhang and me, they recognized the old village chief.
"Dezi, who is this?"
Before the old village chief could reply, Huang Xingbo excitedly said, "He's here to catch ghosts for us!"
The children were ignorant and thought that all this was done by ghosts.
More and more people gathered, affecting Master Zhang's exploration, and the old village chief had to ask everyone to disperse. However, after hearing that Master Zhang was there to help, many people still followed him from a distance.
We walked around the village, and Teacher Zhang couldn't help but admire it. He said, "This coffin arrangement is incredibly sophisticated. If they hadn't signed the contract, I could break it right now. But now the contract is set. If we break it by force, I'm afraid everyone in the village will suffer."
"What should I do then?" I asked.
"In this case, we can only eliminate the person behind the scenes." Master Zhang said.
"But we have no idea where he is right now."
"So we need to lure him out."
"How?"
"First, we need someone with strong vitality to walk around the village at night. The demon will definitely not miss such a good opportunity to increase his lifespan. When he shows up, I will keep him."
As soon as Master Zhang finished speaking, the old village chief looked at me and said, "I'm old now, and that person probably won't look down on me. Let my younger sister do it."
I couldn't help but despise him. I thought he had changed, but I didn't expect him to be so terrible. Although I could definitely be the bait myself, it felt different to do it myself and to have someone else push it to me.
"Then let me do it. I'm not afraid anyway." What I said was indeed true. Ever since I took the Resurrection Grass, Ganmu and the Fountain of Youth at the Tianshi Mansion last time, my vitality has been much greater than that of ordinary people. It would not be an exaggeration to say that it was a blessing in disguise.
Master Zhang smiled and said to me, "Don't worry, there won't be any accidents."
Master Zhang has been practicing in the Tianshi Mansion for the past two years. With his current level, unless an old immortal like Zhang Jingzhi comes out, he will be considered the strongest Taoist priest. If he can't protect me, there is no need for such a demon to use this method to increase his lifespan.
"When do we start?" I asked.
"I'll go back and prepare at ten o'clock tonight," said Master Zhang.
So, we returned to the village chief's uncle's house. Wang Xingbo asked me innocently, "Sister, after tonight, will I not have to sleep in there anymore?"
He pointed to the coffin outside the door.
I cupped his little face and said with a smile, "Yes, from now on you can go wherever you want to play."
"Great, I'm going out to find Mom and Dad."
When we heard him talk about his parents, we all fell silent, hoping that this white lie would never be exposed.
In the afternoon, Master Zhang drew three talismans. He gave me one and told me to keep it with me. He posted the other two, one inside the house and the other on the front door.
"You all sleep in the house tonight and don't walk around." Master Zhang said.
"Can we sleep in the house now?" the old man said uncertainly.
Master Zhang nodded.
The old man probably never thought that after living in a coffin for decades, he could actually sleep in a house today.
The old village chief said, "Master, nothing will go wrong."
"Don't worry, I will make sure you are safe." Master Zhang said affirmatively.
I glanced at the old village chief and saw him smiling awkwardly.
I waited until nightfall. As agreed, I carried my lantern and began walking from the east end of the village to the west, back and forth. Indeed, because this village was so poor and had little contact with the outside world, lanterns were still needed for lighting.
That demon is incredibly patient. I've been gone for so long, and he hasn't even shown up. You know, Master Zhang gave me a talisman that can amplify my vitality this afternoon.
As I walked, I saw the whole village covered in green smoke. He was coming.
Though the night was dark, the smoke was clearly visible. A wisp of it stretched toward me, like a rope, wrapping around my neck. Meanwhile, the talisman Master Zhang had given me was rapidly disappearing. This indicated he was draining my life force. However, the talisman, blessed with Master Zhang's magical power, could hold it back for a while. But judging by its speed of evaporation, if Master Zhang didn't act now, he would be sucking my life force away.
I was secretly worried. If it had happened before, I would have taken action long ago. But now, I can't do anything. This feeling of leaving my fate to others is really not good.
Suddenly, a flash of fire shot up from the front. It was the burning talisman, flying into the air. The entire line of green smoke was burned off, and the green smoke tied to my neck disappeared without a trace, quickly dissipating.
The man knew that he had fallen into Master Zhang's trap and wanted to escape immediately. But Master Zhang would not let him go and chased him in a few steps.
I ran as fast as I could, trying to catch up with Master Zhang. This mountain path was incredibly difficult to navigate, a path even for rabbits. It was narrow and steep, with thorns lining the sides. If you weren't careful, you'd fall, and be severely crippled.
But the man was walking as if on flat ground, so fast that we couldn't catch up at all.
After chasing for more than half an hour, the man had already disappeared.
Master Zhang stopped ahead and said, "Don't chase us. It's too dangerous if we can't see the road clearly. We'll come back tomorrow morning!"
"What if he runs away?" I said breathlessly.
"You can't run away. I have a way."
"Okay, let's go back first." I was so tired, it seemed that my physical strength was still a little weak.
It was easier to go up the mountain than down, and it took us much longer to go down than to go up. It was already two or three o'clock when we got back to Huang Xingbo's house. The old village chief and his three companions hadn't slept and had been waiting for us to come back.
After seeing the two of us, the good village chief asked anxiously: "How is it?"
"Let him get away. We'll look for him tomorrow morning by following his trail," said Master Zhang.
When he heard that the man had run away, the old village chief was obviously very anxious, but he was too embarrassed to express it.
"It's okay, Master, don't worry. Our life is worse than death anyway. I am already satisfied to be able to stay in the house tonight." said the old man.
"Sister will definitely destroy him, right?" Huang Xingbo said naively.
"Yes, the master and I will go find him tomorrow. He will definitely not be able to escape," I said.
We talked for a while and then took a rest. We were going to look for that person at daybreak.
However, Huang Xingbo seemed very curious about sleeping on the kang and did not sleep the whole night.
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