Chapter 14 – Bursting Through the Door (1/2)

Li Qingshan asked many questions, and the child answered all of them as if he did not know how to lie. He either nodded or shook his head, but he could only answer simple questions. Complicated questions would only leave him dazed.

When Li Qingshan asked for his name and where he came from, he shook his head for both of them. When he asked whether the witch was still hiding any tricks, the child stood there blankly.

Despite that, Li Qingshan managed to understand many things. The witch really was behind the child’s death after all, refining him into a little ghost to serve her. Originally, he could speak as well, but the witch had fed him a bowl of medicinal soup that turned him into a mute.

Li Qingshan guessed that the witch had abducted this child and was afraid he would blabber along the way, so she had turned him into a mute. However, whenever he mentioned the witch, the child’s face would become filled with fear.

Li Qingshan said gently, “Don’t worry, I won’t harm you. I will kill that old hag and set you free.”

Unknowingly, the child had approached Li Qingshan, and there was now attachment on his little raised head.

Li Qingshan revealed a comforting smile and wanted to touch his head, but Li Qingshan’s hand passed through his body, and he immediately froze.

The child became depressed, lowering his head and silently crying.

Li Qingshan suddenly felt sorrow well up inside. He roared at the sky. Why were there so many injustices in the world? When humans harmed each other, they were no less brutal than demons and monsters.

On the other hand, the child was stunned, looking at Li Qingshan in surprise.

Under the moonlight, the young man with unswerving determination actually had something sparkle at the corner of his eyes.

Li Qingshan mocked himself. “Looks like men really shed no tears unless they’re grief-stricken. I’ve embarrassed myself.”

The child stood on his toes and extended his hand to touch Li Qingshan’s face. He removed a tear droplet and cradled it in both hands. It seemed rather heavy to him.

“Don’t take that!” Li Qingshan turned red and suddenly understood the black ox’s difficulties slightly. How could the tears of a man be handed to someone else so casually?

He thought of what the ox had said again. Weak ghosts were incorporeal. Only when they had cultivated to a certain degree could they gradually become tangible and lift real objects. With how weak this child was, he must have only been able to carry extremely light things.

The child only lowered his head and gazed at the transparent liquid in his hands.

Li Qingshan was helpless. He looked around and felt rather strange. Why had darkness descended at such a late time tonight? The landscape around the house was somewhat gloomy, but things were still clearly visible.

Li Qingshan muttered to himself, “Brother ox really is a monster. His tears even have such miraculous usage.”

“It’s late. I need to go to sleep. Because of you, I wasn’t able to rest up properly last night. I still have things to do tomorrow. I need to recover my strength.”

Li Qingshan returned to his house to sleep, while the child crouched down at the entrance. Under the moonlight, he was half-transparent, just like the tear droplet in his hands.

Li Qingshan slept extremely heavily that night, only waking up when the sun was well and truly up. The child had already left, probably unwilling to move about during the day.

He washed his face and rinsed his mouth before practising the Ox Demon’s Fist of Great Strength a little. Then he picked up the thick steel blade he had received from Li Fugui, went through his thoughts, picked up a few pieces of gazelle meat, and left through the door.

The three scoundrels were currently sitting together with worried looks. With patch-haired Liu’s death, their group had lost its backbone. Their time in the village became tougher and tougher, and they were basically detested by everyone as lowlives.

They wanted to copy patch-haired Liu’s brutality or Li Qingshan’s viciousness, but how could they manage? Even filling their bellies became an immediate problem, let alone drinking alcohol and eating meat. They could only work for caretaker Liu and barely earn a meal to eat. They were nowhere close to having it as easy as before.

At this moment, Li Qingshan suddenly visited them. The three scoundrels went up to welcome him in a hurry. He had come with a frosty look, a blade in one hand and meat in the other, naturally giving off an aura of might. No one would look down on him just because of his age.