Fear

Li Huowang’s figure gradually rose from the earth, causing Lü Zhuangyuan and Luo Juan to stare in shock.

His expression grim, he glanced at the silver in their hands. “Looks like someone threatened him. That’s enough. You’re done here.”

With that, he turned, pushed the door open, and walked out.

Li Huowang pushed the door open, sank his insubstantial form back into the ground, and once again entered the cook’s room.

The man was unchanged—still wrapped in his blanket, shivering as he stared at the paper windows, as if terrified of something.

Compared to the woman from earlier, the most obvious difference was that he carried no scent of blood.

Just as Li Huowang was observing him, the cook suddenly raised both hands, plunged them into his own trousers, and began working frantically, his face twisted in a grimace.

Frowning, Li Huowang turned away.

This time, he went to find the innkeeper’s assistant. The man was nervously wiping a table, glancing repeatedly toward the Lü family troupe's quarters.

The fat man earlier hadn’t lied—the people of Pi County were jittery, and their complexions were indeed terrible.

Finding no useful information in the inn, Li Huowang headed for the door, toward the downpour outside.

He had barely taken a few steps when an old man wearing a straw rain cape, wooden clogs, and a wide bamboo hat walked toward him.

The moment the old man’s eyes landed on Li Huowang’s direction, they flew wide. He let out a piercing shriek, rolled his eyes back, and collapsed into the rain.

“He can see me? How can he see me?” Startled, Li Huowang looked down at his own body. It was empty—nothing there.

Then it hit him. He had hidden his insubstantial form underground, so he was invisible. But his body was still outside, still solid enough to touch things.

It was pouring rain everywhere, except for the exact outline of a man where he stood. That was far too conspicuous.

No wonder the old man had been so terrified. If it had been him, he’d have been scared too.

When he saw people on the street turning toward the commotion, Li Huowang shrank back and ducked into the inn. “This won’t work. I’ll wait until the rain stops.”

Back in the Lü family troupe’s room, even though Li Huowang had left, they were still talking.

“Holy heavens! Little Daoist can walk through walls!” Luo Juan’s eyes went wide.

“Calm down! What’s it to you? Settle down,” Lü Zhuangyuan said sternly, then turned and walked over to his youngest son, who was sitting cross-legged on the bed.

He reached out and carefully patted his head. “Scholar, did you see that? Such a powerful supernatural art. You need to study hard. If you truly learn how to walk through walls, what couldn’t you do in the future?”

Awakened by the noise, Lü Xiucai glared at his father with murderous eyes. If it weren’t for his older brother standing nearby, he would have let loose a torrent of curses.

“Old bones! Stop bothering me! I’m busy!!” With that, Lü Xiucai closed his eyes again.

Looking at his youngest son, who had become a completely different person, Lü Zhuangyuan sighed quietly. A defeated look on his face, he sat down beside him and began to smoke his pipe.

In the past, he had always solved problems with his youngest son by beating him. But now that beating no longer worked, Lü Zhuangyuan had no idea how to teach the boy.

The rain in Pi County lasted all night. By the next morning, though the sky was still overcast, the rain had finally stopped.

Li Huowang got up early, put on his rain cape, and walked out of the inn, passing through the sparse, sickly-looking locals of Pi County.

When they saw Li Huowang, they still showed fear, quickly moving out of his sight.

Ignoring them, Li Huowang kept taking detours, heading toward the largest mansion in the county—the yamen, where the magistrate held court.

He had chosen his target the night before, while pretending to sleep.

If there was anywhere most likely to hold information about what was happening in Pi County, the yamen was the first place.

“I’ve been spotted.” Not particularly surprised, Li Huowang caught a glimpse of two men in blue constable uniforms following him as he turned a corner.

Their faces were just as sallow as everyone else’s, their lips pale and chapped, heavy dark circles hanging under their eyes as they stared fixedly at Li Huowang’s back.

Pretending not to notice, Li Huowang ducked into an alley.

The two constables quickened their pace and rushed around the corner—only to find the alley empty.

“Old Wu, we lost him. What now?” The younger constable looked at the older one with a troubled expression.

The older constable stared at the ground—there were no footprints—his face flickering with uncertainty. Finally, he waved a hand. “Let’s go.”

From his perch on the wall, Li Huowang watched them leave, invisible. Once they were out of sight, he dropped down, slipped over the wall, and began creeping toward his destination.

According to what Li Huowang knew, every county kept a gazetteer recording major local events. That was his target.

His invisible form moved through the yamen like it was empty, and he quickly found what he was looking for.

“Year of Zi-Chou, Summer, Fourth Month, Day of Xin-Si—Great Famine… People exchanging their children for food.” “Year of Wu-Wu, Ninth Month, on a Hui day—Startled Insects, the sky-dog devoured the sun.”

Li Huowang flipped through page after page until he reached the most recent entry. The last record was from two years ago, and it noted a great harvest for the county.

“How is that possible? The entire county is scared out of its wits, and the magistrate recorded nothing? Or is he deliberately hiding something?”

Just as Li Huowang was pondering, he heard the agonized scream of a child.

His heart tightened. He closed the county gazetteer, put it back in its place, and slowly crept toward the sound.

With his keen hearing, he could make out the words mixed with the crying. “Dad… it hurts… Mom… don’t…”

After a short walk, he arrived outside a woodshed. The sounds were now perfectly clear.

“Dad!! Don’t pull! Stop! Waaah—Mom! It hurts! It hurts!!” The boy’s voice was absolutely miserable, as if he were being tortured.

“Is this the ‘beating the child’ the old harvester was talking about?” Li Huowang crept closer to the paper window. He wet his index finger with saliva and carefully poked a hole in the paper.

When his eye pressed against the hole and he looked inside, his pupils shrank to pinpricks.

He saw a child, covered in snot and tears, naked and tied to a pillar, utterly pitiful.

Next to him stood a man and a woman. Judging by their reluctant expressions and their features, they were clearly the child’s parents.

Reluctant as they were, they held an iron clamp between them, clamped tightly around the child’s lower body. Trembling, they pulled outward with force.

Instantly, the child let out an incredibly piercing shriek, his bound body thrashing violently.

Li Huowang’s eyes twitched at the sight. That pain was almost as bad as the torture he himself had endured.