Living steadily in the world of gods and mystery

Chen Li barely suppressed a laugh, "You all right?"

"Fine!" Zhang Yan turned his head away, avoiding Chen Li’s gaze, and muttered resentfully.

"Tell me, what happened?" Chen Li urged.

At first, Zhang Yan was hesitant and too embarrassed to speak, but after Chen Li’s repeated questioning, he finally recounted the whole incident in detail.

Actually, there wasn’t much to the story.

It was just a plain robbery, where he wasn’t picking a fight or provoking anyone. He was just walking along when suddenly a few people blocked his way, and after being captured without much resistance, they beat him up.

Not only were all his valuable possessions, such as Spirit Stones, magic artifacts, and talismans, taken, but even his clothing was stripped off. The only good fortune was that he had been left with his life.

"From what you’ve said, these villains all had considerable strength, so why would they strip off your clothes? Were you wearing a magical robe when you went out?" Chen Li inquired.

"Given the current situation, how could I possibly venture out in a magical robe? It was just an ordinary old robe." Zhang Yan replied with frustration, feeling it was a great humiliation.

"That’s odd then, it’s not worth much money," Chen Li remarked curiously. His expression suddenly became serious as a thought struck him, "Are you sure you weren’t being followed?"

Zhang Yan’s face froze.

Being naked and ashamed at the time, his thoughts in a panic, he was dodging and hiding everywhere and couldn’t pay any attention to whether or not he was being followed.

"You mean?"

"The fact that they left you alive might not be because you were lucky, but because they intended to ’catch a big fish with a long line’. It’s very possible that you’ve been targeted!" Chen Li explained.

The atmosphere immediately grew tense.

Zhang Yan could not pretend to be a corpse any longer; he got up from the bed, gritted his teeth and said, "Those heartless beasts, how can they be so cruel? Now I’ll move back to the old house, but I don’t even know if it’s been taken over by someone else!"

"Heh, if you’ve really been targeted, moving probably won’t help," Chen Li sneered, his words cold, "I told you not to sell talismans, to stop selling them, but you just wouldn’t listen, as if you preferred to suffer losses. Look where that got you, you’re almost unable to save your own life now!"

Even with his chest feeling as if there was a heavy stone on it and his heart full of worry, Zhang Yan still couldn’t help but flush with embarrassment at Chen Li’s words and felt utterly humiliated.

Luckily, his current complexion hid any sign of embarrassment.

"Uncle..." Zhang Shuniang looked towards Chen Li.

"Forget it, for Shuniang’s sake, I’ll deal with these villains. Let me first check out the situation outside."

After Chen Li had left.

"Dad, it’s good that I went to find Uncle secretly. If we listened to you, we would have been doomed. And you were still scolding me just now," Zhang Shuniang boasted of her merit.

"Sigh, I’ve really lost face completely this time, it’s Dad’s fault!" Zhang Yan sighed.

"Dad, you are already very powerful, it’s just that Uncle is even more so!" Zhang Shuniang said earnestly.

"You..." Zhang Yan felt that his daughter would be the death of him one of these days.

Soon Chen Li returned.

"How is it?" Zhang Yan asked anxiously.

"My guess was correct, your house has indeed been watched, but I only found one person. The rest are probably waiting until night to show up. To avoid alerting them, we’ll handle them all together later," Chen Li explained, "As for now, there shouldn’t be any danger. I’m heading back."

"Ah!" Zhang Yan wanted to say thank you but found himself unable to utter the words, ultimately only managing to sigh and said, "Shuniang, go see Fellow Daoist Chen off. No, for safety’s sake, stay at Fellow Daoist Chen’s house for now. Don’t come back yet."

"Dad, I won’t leave; I want to stay with you."

"Be obedient!" Zhang Yan scolded, his face stern.

In conjunction with his disfigured face,

Chen Li almost laughed out loud again.

...

Ultimately, Zhang Shuniang followed Chen Li with tears in her eyes.

"Uncle, my dad staying at home alone won’t be in any danger, right?"

"Hard to say!" Chen Li responded.

Zhang Shuniang’s tears immediately started to fall faster.

Women really are made of water.

Chen Li didn’t tease her further, "Don’t worry, nothing will happen during the day."

Zhang Shuniang wiped her tears and asked, "You’re not lying to me?"

"Not lying!" Chen Li swiftly changed the subject, "How are you getting on with your talisman learning?"

"I can draw Cleaning Talismans now, and I’m currently learning how to draw Silencing Talismans!"

"You’re learning fast," Chen Li said with a smile.

Zhang Shuniang couldn’t help but crack a smile herself.

The two of them entered the house.

"Shuniang, why are you crying? What happened?" Zhou Hong saw Zhang Shuniang’s tearful eyes and asked Chen Li.

"Her father was robbed again this morning, and that’s not the end of it..." Chen Li briefly explained the situation.

Counting this time, Zhang Yan had been robbed twice already.

Sigh, such bad luck!

There was no one to blame.

...

Nightfall had quickly descended.

Chen Li leaned against a large tree, shrouded in shadows, closing his eyes to rest his spirit.

Clad in a grey robe, he perfectly blended into the darkness, not the least bit conspicuous.

He quietly waited.

As time ticked away second by second, he remained still like a statue until finally, at midnight, faint footsteps gradually approached. Chen Li followed the sound with his eyes.

He saw four masked figures in black, moving swiftly.

"Finally here, damn it, nearly a whole night’s wait,"

Chen Li cursed under his breath, gently shaking his slightly stiff muscles, as blood circulation quickened, and his body rapidly became limber.

He stepped out of the shadows and headed towards the four black-clad figures.

A faint killing intent spread through the air.

He quickened his steps.

"Who’s there!" one of the black-clothed figures demanded in a deep voice.

Chen Li didn’t respond.

His brisk walk turned to a sprint, and after three steps, his speed reached its limit. Simultaneously, he swiftly activated an Amulet.

"Not good, retreat quickly!"

The black-clothed figures felt their hair stand on end and their scalps tingle.

But it was already too late.

The figure that had been fifty meters away just a second before was now right before their eyes.

One of the figures felt a strong gust hit his face, a silhouette rapidly enlarging in his pupils; in the nick of time, he managed to slap on an Amulet for himself. The next moment, a sword light flashed by like lightning.

The Protective Shield, along with the body, was split in two.

After killing one person, Chen Li’s speed didn’t decrease even slightly. His movements ghostly, even before one sword light faded, another shone brightly, swift as a fleeting horse, as quick as a flash of lightning.

Cold!

Sharp!

Grim!

In the blink of an eye, the black-clothed figures fell in succession.

The wet sounds of stabbing flesh rang out distinctly in the silence of the night.

Chen Li’s assault was too fast for the black-clothed figures to react.

By the time they realized what was happening,

he had already charged into the crowd, drawing his sword to unleash carnage, adding to their extreme panic and disarray. Until the last black-clothed figure was killed, from start to finish, not one of them had managed to launch an attack.

The entire process from the start of the sprint to the end took a mere two seconds, and if counting from the commencement of the slaughter, it was only a matter of half a second.

It was like a massacre.

Only after Chen Li sheathed his sword,

did the four bodies consecutively hit the ground.

Blood and entrails were strewn everywhere, a sight of sheer gore.

"After reaching the later stages of Qi Cultivation, my thought and reaction speed have indeed increased a lot," Chen Li stood still at the scene, pondering, "If it had been before, I wouldn’t have managed this effortlessly."

This time, he didn’t even need to use the Scolding Skill.

"My strength has become stronger!"

The yard gate opened.

Zhou Hong came quickly, followed by Zhang Shuniang.

The air was dense with a rich, nauseating smell of blood. Zhang Shuniang’s face was pale, holding back her fear, she stood behind Zhou Hong, darting her eyes, not daring to look at the corpses sliced in half.

"Are you hurt?" Zhou Hong asked.

"Just a rabble, how could they injure me!" Chen Li replied.

Zhang Yan, hearing the commotion, came out just in time. Upon hearing the conversation, his heart constricted, but he pretended not to notice. He approached and performed a deep bow, "One cannot express sufficient thanks for such a great favor. The kindness of Fellow Daoist’s rescue will always be engraved in Zhang Yan’s heart."

"Ah, you’re too kind, too kind. It was just a small effort on my part," Chen Li quickly came forward to help Zhang Yan up. "Alright, the stench of blood is too strong here! Quick, take Shu back."

Under Chen Li’s persuasion,

the two soon departed.

Afterward, Chen Li searched each body.

Unfortunately, the findings were limited. Besides four mid-grade Magic Artifacts and a few Talismans, there was nothing else, a meager consolation.

He performed the Traction Skill.

Under an invisible force, the bodies floated up, forming a line, following him into the woods where he ’dug’ a large pit and filled it with the bodies in sequence.

Chen Li thought for a moment and then tossed in a few Evil-Repelling Talismans.

"You’re dead now, so stay put!"

Then he lifted a large amount of soil with his power and buried the corpses.