Chapter 270 - Fear
Amidst Lu Juren and Luo Juanhua's fearful gazes, Li Huowang’s body slowly floated up from within the ground.
Then, he stared at the silver in Lu Zhuangyuan’s palms and said, “It seems like he has been threatened by someone else. Alright then, there’s nothing much you can do now.”
With that, Li Huowang turned toward the door.
As Li Huowang opened the door, he once again sank his illusion into the ground. Once he became invisible again, he entered the kitchen.
The cook remained the same as before as he covered his body in a blanket and stared outside the window while trembling as if he was afraid of something.
Compared to the woman from earlier, the cook didn’t have the smell of blood or rust on him.
While Li Huowang was stealthily observing him, the cook suddenly placed both of his hands into his pants. At the same time, his face became very snarly.
Seeing this, Li Huowang frowned and left.
Li Huowang went outside and saw the waiter wiping the tables while looking in the direction everyone was staying.
That fatty was right. The people of Pi County are indeed panicky and their faces really do look terrible.
Realizing that he wouldn’t be able to find any information at the inn, Li Huowang walked out into the rain.
Just as he stepped out, he saw an old man who was wearing a raincoat and a veiled hat while coming from the opposite direction. He was wearing wooden clogs.
When the old man looked toward where Li Huowang was standing, he was horrified by what he saw. He cried out loud before directly fainting in the rain.
What the? Did he see me? How did he see me?
Li Huowang looked down but saw nothing wrong with his technique; he was still invisible.
However, after a moment, Li Huowang then realized what was happening. Even though his illusion was inside the ground, his real body could still interact with the physical world. Now that it was raining and he was standing in the rain, others could see a human-shaped void where there is no rain.
It was no wonder that the old man fainted. Even Li Huowang would’ve been frightened if he saw something like that.
On the other hand, everyone had heard the old man screaming, causing them to look in his direction.
I can’t do this now. I need to wait until after the rain stops.
Li Huowang returned to the inn.
Back in the room where the Lu family was staying, they were still discussing what they had seen vehemently.
“Heavens! The young Daoist can phase through walls!” exclaimed Luo Juanhua, shocked.
“Why are you so surprised? Calm down. This is normal,” said Lu Zhuangyuan before turning toward his youngest son. He extended his hand and carefully patted his son’s head. “Xiucai, did you see that? That is an amazing skill. You need to learn it well. Who knows what else you will be able to learn?”
However, Lu Xiucai instantly growled at his father. If it wasn’t for his older brother, then he would’ve directly spat at his father.
“Don’t bother me you old fool! I’m busy!” Lu Xiucai closed his eyes.
Seeing how his youngest son had changed so completely, Lu Zhuangyuan sighed and sat down near him while smoking. He had always controlled his youngest son by beating him; now, that wasn’t working anymore and so he didn’t know how to teach his son.
The rain continued pouring throughout the night. It finally stopped the next day, but the skies were still dark.
Li Huowang wore a raincoat and exited the inn early in the morning. He walked past the awful-looking people within the town.
When they saw him, everyone scattered and stared at Li Huowang with fear in their eyes.
On the other hand, Li Huowang just ignored all of them and went straight toward the largest administration office of the town.
He had finally decided where to go after thinking about it last night.
If he wanted to find out what was happening within Pi County, then the administration office in charge of the entire county was definitely the place that would contain what he wanted to know.
I’ve been found.
Li Huowang glanced over his shoulder and saw two town guards following him. They were wearing blue robes and had the same awful look to them. Their lips were purple from the cold and they had heavy eye-bags under their eyes. Currently, they were glaring at Li Huowang’s back.
Li Huowang decided to act as if he had not seen them before quickly turning into an alley.
Seeing this, the two town guards ran quickly and entered the alley behind him, but were shocked to find it empty.
“Old Wu, he’s gone. What should we do?” asked the younger guard.
The older town guard looked at the ground, but couldn’t find any footprints. After a moment, he waved his hand and said, “Let’s go!”
Meanwhile, Li Huowang was hiding in a corner of the wall near the roof. After confirming that they had left, he quickly came down and carefully made his way to his destination.
Li Huowang knew that every county would have a book that recorded anything major that happened within the county. This book was Li Huowang’s goal.
Li Huowang sank his illusion into the ground and turned invisible before easily entering the administration center. Once there, he searched around the offices and soon found what he needed.
Year of the Rat and Ox, Fourth Month, Famine... People sold their own children to buy food.
Year of the Earth Horse, end of the Lunar New Year, Eclipse.
Li Huowang flipped through the pages until the last entry. However, he was surprised to see that the latest entry was recorded two years ago and the only thing it recorded was that they had a good harvest that year.
Impossible. The entire County is struck with panic and fear, and yet they haven’t recorded it down? Or... are they trying to cover it up?
Just as Li Huowang was thinking about it, he heard the painful cries of a boy. Surprised, he quickly placed the book back where it belonged. Then, he gently tiptoed across the hall to where the sound was coming from.
His sharp hearing could pick up the words that came from the child’s mouth.
“Father... It’s painful... Mother... I don’t want it...”
Soon, Li Huowang found where the sound was coming from. It was coming from the firewood room. By now, the voice had also become very clear.
“Father! Stop! Don’t pull it! Waaaa~ Mother~ It’s painful! Stop...” The boy’s voice was very miserable; it was as if he was being tortured.
Is this what the harvester told me about? They are beating up their child?
Li Huowang carefully approached the paper window and used his wet finger to poke a hole through it.
As soon as he looked into the room, his pupils shrank in shock.
He saw a crying boy who was tied to a pillar. He looked quite awful.
Two people stood beside the boy. Based on their looks, they seem to be the boy’s parents. Even though they looked reluctant, they still held a metal clamp and used it to pull at the boy’s genitals.
In response, the boy shouted, his chained body shaking from the pain.
Li Huowang couldn’t believe what he was seeing. The pain that the boy was suffering from was probably almost comparable to his own torture methods.
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