Chapter 11 – Haunted by an Evil Spiri (2/2)

With a rooster’s crow, the sun began to rise, and Li Qingshan’s eyes snapped open. Sunlight landed on his face through the trees, which was rather dazzling. The coldness on his body had vanished. The black ox looked at him from nearby with great fascination.

Li Qingshan said, “Where’d you go, brother ox? Did you know what I came across last night?”

“I came back a long time ago. Isn’t it just a little ghost on you?”

“And you just watched on?”

“What am I supposed to do?”

Li Qingshan grimaced and said nothing. The black ox had told him a long time ago. “No matter what danger you come across, you better not rely on me, as I’m not even going to lift a finger to help out.” Right from the beginning, the ox had never given him the opportunity to rely on it. Li Qingshan glanced at the gazelle by the ox’s foot, which prohibited him from complaining even more. The black ox had already provided him with the most crucial assistance. He could not rely on the black ox for everything.

Under the warm sunlight of the rising sun, Li Qingshan stood up and loosened up. “Fortunately the little ghost won’t come out during the day, as I really can’t last much longer than that. Brother ox, I’m practising a daoist ability after all, yet I can’t even deal with a mere ghost?”

“If it were not for the ability you practised, you wouldn’t have even been able to last through the night. Once you achieve the strength of one ox, you’ll be brimming with vigour, and you obviously won’t be afraid of a mere ghost.”

“Then how much longer do I have to wait?”

“Apart from that, I have another idea.”

“What idea?”

“Ghosts are afraid of murderous and vicious auras the most. If you claim a hundred or so lives with your hands, I’ll guarantee you that anything evil will avoid you like the plague. That little ghost won’t even be able to get in a range of ten steps from you.”

Li Qingshan rolled his eyes. “Am I supposed to massacre the entire village?”

“It’s not like that’s impossible. What, you want to try it?” The black ox sniggered.

“Why don’t I butcher you into steaks first!” Li Qingshan ignored it. He dealt with the gazelle first. After eating breakfast, he tossed this matter aside for now and ignored his fatigue before applying himself to another day of cultivation.

However, as soon as he began cultivating, he felt that it was rather different from before. A thin, weak sliver of ‘qi’ flowed through his body. He would have never discovered it had he not been careful.

The qi was not like the true qi mentioned in those wuxia novels, stored within the dantian and flowing along the meridians. Instead, it flowed freely like a fish, passing through every part of his body. Whenever he punched out hard, the sliver would flow through his arms and into his fist. All of it would happen in a single moment.

His mind eased up, and the sliver flowed off somewhere. It was like a misbehaving child, basically beyond his control. He told the black ox about this.

The black ox was not surprised. Instead, it said meaningfully, “It’s all thanks to that little ghost that you were able to sense the existence of qi so soon. You can say that it’s a blessing in disguise.”

On the edge of life and death, Li Qingshan had used everything that his mind and willpower could offer to fend off the yin qi. The little ghost had departed, but the willpower lingered, turning into a trace of true qi.

“So this is true qi?” Li Qingshan gazed at his palm. “What exactly do you use true qi for?”