Chapter 2029: Luring the Snake From Its Hole

Zhao Hai’s stroll around Li Village wasn’t for nothing. He wants to map the entire village into the Space so he can monitor it more conveniently in the future.

When Zhao Hai returned to Li Defu’s residence, he found Li Defu’s entire family waiting for him at the front door. Zhao Hai quickly said, “Senior, why are you all standing here?”

Li Defu looked at Zhao Hai and said, “Mister, did you discover something?”

Zhao Hai shook his head and said, “I didn’t. There’s nothing special with the graves. But Senior can rest assured, I will stay here for several days.”

Hearing Zhao Hai, the expression on Li Defu’s face couldn’t help but turn gloomy. But he also knew that it was impossible for Zhao Hai to catch the ghost in a short time. So he nodded and said, “Thank you very much, Mister. The meal has been prepared, Mister please follow me.” Zhao Hai nodded and entered the house along with the Li family.

After eating their meal, Zhao Hai followed Li Defu’s grandson to the room that was prepared for him. This was the guest room that the Li Family prepared for Zhao Hai.

Zhao Hai was clear about his own status. In the hearts of the Li Family, he wasn’t just a cultivator but their hope and savior. That was why the Li Family was anxious about him. The Li Family was afraid of offending him and making him leave in anger. If that happens, the Li Village would be in even greater trouble.

Through the night, Zhao Hai continued to monitor the situation in Li Village. The people of the village were very scared and went to bed early. Almost nobody left their houses. Although Zhao Hai was present, they were still afraid. Therefore, the whole village was very quiet at night.

Nevertheless, Zhao Hai kept being alert. He wanted to see what was attacking Li Village.

However, Zhao Hai wasn’t able to see anything throughout the night. Zhao Hai wasn’t worried. He continued to stroll the village during the day and slept in Li Defu’s house at night. 

Seven days passed and nothing happened. The peace of Li Village was also restored. More people were moving about during daytime since nobody was going missing anymore.

The people of Li Village were initially very polite towards Zhao Hai. But they slowly discovered that Zhao Hai had a good personality and was kind to the children of the village. Gradually, the village began to be more casual towards him.

Zhao Hai wasn’t in a hurry. He wanted to see how long the heart-digging ghost could endure. At the same time, during these days, he got in contact with Su Dingshan. He wanted to see if the nearby villages were being attacked by the heart-digging ghost. If there were attacks, then it means that the ghost could go to other places. If there wasn’t, then it means that the ghost was still in Li Village.

Soon, Su Dingshan told him that besides Li Village, the surrounding villages have no haunted events. With this information, Zhao Hai lived in Li Village for half a month.

Zhao Hai was now familiar with the people of Li Village. He knows everyone. As for the heart-digging ghost, it seems to have disappeared.

Zhao Hai also saw the dead corpses of those who were attacked, their hearts were indeed removed. Looking at their wounds, it seems like the hearts were dug out by sharp claws. But this wasn’t a surprising thing for the villagers. Beings with sharp claws were quite common in the True Spirit Realm.

Sharp claws weren’t only present on beasts, there were also cultivators who could develop sharp claws. At the same time, malicious ghosts could have sharp claws. And the corpses have been dead for a while. So it was even more difficult to judge what exactly attacked those people.

After 15 days with no results, Zhao Hai could no longer wait. Upon finishing their dinner, Zhao Hai looked at Li Defu and said, “Uncle Fu, it’s been more than ten days since I came to the village. However, the heart-digging ghost didn’t come out. I think it might have left. I have to go back.”

Upon hearing Zhao Hai, Li Defu didn’t say anything. He knew that Zhao Hai had already given the village a lot of face. Normal cultivators would have left a long time ago.

Li Defu nodded and said, “Li Village will remember Mister’s kindness. If Mister is in the area in the future, don’t hesitate to come visit.”

After resting for the night, Zhao Hai left Li Village the next day. Then he went straight back to Yalong City.

He bade farewell to Su Dingshan in Yalong City and without staying for a moment, he traveled straight back to the Tyrant Blade Sect. At night, he lived in a small town not far from Yalong City.

After eating, Zhao Hai returned to his room at the inn and closed his eyes. At the same time, he communicated with Cai’er who was monitoring the state of Li Village.

Although Zhao Hai left the village, he didn’t give up on his mission. Naturally, he didn’t believe that the ghost had left. But Zhao Hai knew that if he was in the village, the ghost would never come out. So he had to find a way to make the ghost appear again.

Li Village was very quiet at night. The villagers had nothing to do, so they rested early. Almost every family went to bed after dark.

In the middle of the night, a faint black shadow floated out of a small house in the village. Zhao Hai immediately noticed the black shadow. At the same time, he looked at the house that the black shadow came from. The owner of the house was someone named Li Tiejun. He was an honest man. Back when his roots were tested, he was found to be compatible with one spiritual root, so he couldn’t enter the Tyrant Blade Sect. Moreover, the cultivation manual of the Li Village has been lost. In the end, he could only be a farmer in the village.

Zhao Hai met Li Tiejun several times in the past and he seems to be a good person. He was honest and friendly, eager to help people in the village. He will help anyone with problems. 

Despite this, Zhao Hai had Cai’er monitor Li Tiejun’s home. Li Tiejun lived on his own. His mother had always wanted him to marry, but he hasn’t found someone. He was one of the few bachelors in the Li Village.

Seeing the situation inside Li Tiejun’s room, Zhao Hai couldn’t help but stare. He saw Li Tiejun taking out a small banner and casting spells. Judging from his spells, he was certainly a ghost cultivator. The black shadow was a ghost that he let out.

Zhao Hai didn’t expect that the ghost haunting Li Village to be caused by someone from the inside. What surprised Zhao Hai more was that there wasn’t any slight trace of yin energy on Li Tiejun’s body, which was quite strange.

But now wasn’t the time to look at Li Tiejun. Instead, Zhao Hai focused on the ghost that was released. This time, the ghost was heading towards a house, and it turns out to be Li Defu’s.

Zhao Hai coldly snorted. Then he moved and appeared back in Li Village. With a wave of his hand, he sent a blade towards the malicious ghost. It didn’t take long before Zhao Hai discovered the difference between this ghost and the ghosts back in the Wu Clan. The ghosts attacking the Wu Clan were all black and translucent. Although the Li Village’s ghost was also translucent, its body was a faint red. Moreover, this ghost didn’t have a weapon in its hand, only two sharp claws. It looked weaker.

As soon as Zhao Hai appeared, the malicious ghost immediately detected him. Seeing that there was no chance to escape, the ghost screeched and charged towards Zhao Hai.

The ghost’s screech was quickly heard by the people of the village. Families immediately lit their lanterns as several men looked out from their windows. It didn’t take long before they discovered Zhao Hai fighting a red-colored ghost.

This discovery caused the people of the Li Village to stare. They didn’t know when Zhao Hai came back, but none of them dared to come out. All of them stayed in their homes and paid attention to the situation outside.

Zhao Hai didn’t think much about the villagers as he continued fighting the ghost. He found that the ghost wasn’t very strong. At most, it was in the middle of the Rebirth Stage. Naturally, the ghost couldn’t contend against Zhao Hai. After around ten rounds, Zhao Hai killed the ghost.

Although the ghost was an ethereal being, it wasn’t actually immune to physical attacks. Moreover, Zhao Hai’s attacks contain spiritual qi which wasn’t a pure physical attack. Therefore, the ghost had no resistance against Zhao Hai’s attack.

After killing the ghost, Zhao Hai immediately rushed towards Li Tiejun’s place. It was clear that Li Tiejun was learning the ways of the Ghost Cultivators. Moreover, after Zhao Hai killed his ghost, Li Tiejun was injured. And seeing Zhao Hai appear on his doorstep, Li Tiejun knew that he had been exposed. He had no thoughts of running away, he knew that he couldn’t escape. Instead, he held his black banner as he prepared to fight inside his house.

As he looked at Li Tiejun, Zhao Hai’s eyes flashed a cold light as he said, “Tiejun, you were loved by the Li Village. Why did you betray the village? They are your family.”

Li Tiejun looked at Zhao Hai, then he laughed and answered, “Why? You ask me why? I’m someone who is compatible with a spiritual root. I can become a cultivator like you who will be respected wherever I go. But I can only farm here. The Li Clan obviously have a cultivation manual, but that old man Li Defu refuses to give it to me. He doesn’t regard me as a member of the Li Clan at all. So why should I treat the Li Clan as family?”

Hearing this, Zhao Hai couldn’t help but knit his brows as he said, “So you attacked your clan because of this reason?”

“Tiejun, it’s not that I don’t want to give you the cultivation method for the clan, but the clan simply doesn’t have it. The ancestor of the clan is only an Outer Disciple of the Tyrant Blade Sect. They didn’t have any achievements in the sect, so they settled outside and established the Li Clan. Later on, the ancestor was attacked and killed by a Ghost Cultivator. The cultivation method of the clan became lost with his death. The only thing we have is the ancestor’s blade. But without a cultivation method, you would only be acting like a fool if you use the blade.” At some point, Li Defu arrived and looked at Li Tiejun.