158 Ghosts Feeding on Qi

Li Xintian stepped inside to take a look. The room was slightly better than the outside, but not by much. It was damp and stuffy, and the cotton quilt on the wooden bed was black and filthy. He reached out to pinch it; the quilt was cold and damp, completely lacking any warmth. Sleeping in such a place at night without catching a cold would simply be a matter of luck.

It was hard to imagine a boy in his early teens living alone in this kind of environment.

"Pardon me, good men, where do you hail from?" At this moment, an old man's voice rang out from outside the door.

Tieshan and the other guards remained tight-lipped, not daring to carelessly reveal their whereabouts, following the instructions Li Xintian had given them beforehand for fear that loose-lipped guards might blurt something out and ruin the hostage-ransom operation.

"Old man, we come from Shuiwen County. Passing by this place and hearing that your village has been plagued by a demon, we specifically came to take a look."

Li Xintian immediately walked out of the house, only to see a crowd of villagers—men, women, and children of all ages—gathering around. At the fore stood an elderly man leaning on a walking stick.

"Ah, so you are young masters from the county. This old man pays his respects. I am Luo Shan, the head of Great Lake Village. The villagers call me Old Man Luo." The elderly village chief, named Luo Shan, looked somewhat flattered and hurriedly cupped his hands in a bow.

"You are too kind, Village Chief. It is we who have disturbed the peace of your village, and I hope you will not take offense," Li Xintian said politely.

Old Man Luo said, "No offense taken, no offense at all! It has been quite a few years since any outsiders visited Great Lake Village. Young Master Li is our very first guest of the year, and we are simply too thrilled; how could we possibly take offense?" As he spoke, he smiled sheepishly.

It seemed as though having no visitors to one's village was considered a deeply shameful thing.

Yet Li Xintian understood this sentiment. In ancient villages, if outsiders frequented the place, it would certainly bring a sense of pride to the residents. If a village remained unvisited for a long time, it would inevitably become a subject of gossip, with people whispering that the villagers must be unpleasant.

Naturally, that was a deeply disgraceful affair for any village.

"By the way, I heard from this young brother earlier that Great Lake Village is plagued by a demon. I wonder if that is true or false?" Li Xintian asked with curiosity.

Old Man Luo sighed and said, "Indeed it is! Young Master Li, do you see that great lake? Just a few years ago, a water demon suddenly emerged from its depths. There is no telling how many villagers who went fishing in the lake or washed clothes and vegetables by the shore have been devoured by the water demon. If not a dozen, then over twenty. I have lost count; every single one of them vanished without a trace, leaving neither body nor corpse behind."

"Could you tell me the details of this matter?" Li Xintian asked.

"Of course, of course. If Young Master Li is interested, you might as well spread the word when you go outside later. With a bit of luck, perhaps some righteous master of the martial arts will hear of it and come to Great Lake Village to vanquish this demon."

At the mention of the demon in the lake, a look of profound sorrow washed over the old village chief's face.

The other villagers likewise wore expressions of grief and helplessness.

People often said that family scandals should not be aired in public, yet the matter of the demon in Great Lake Village had to be proclaimed far and wide so that everyone would know a monster resided here.

This served a dual purpose: to warn and caution travelers, and to pray that righteous individuals, upon hearing of the demon, would come hither to exterminate it.

For the people of Great Lake Village, this was a desperate measure born of no other choice.

Soon, evening descended.

On the open ground in the middle of Great Lake Village, a bonfire was lit.

Li Xintian, Tieshan, and the other guards, alongside the old village chief and the residents of Great Lake Village, sat huddled around the flames.

Old Man Luo's wrinkled old face revealed a sorrowful expression as he recounted the tale of the Great Lake Village water demon to Li Xintian.

According to the old village chief, there used to be no demon in the lake. On the contrary, the waters teemed with plump fish and abundant aquatic life, allowing the villagers of Great Lake Village to haul in bountiful catches year after year, affording them a relatively comfortable existence. But that all changed five years ago on a certain day.

"That day was extraordinary," Old Man Luo began, cradling a teacup and spraying saliva in his agitation. "Dark clouds gathered thickly, lightning flashed and thunder roared, and the gale blew so fiercely that it tore the roofs right off the houses. Yet not a single drop of rain fell! In all my life, this old man has never witnessed such bizarre weather. Who has ever heard of roaring thunder without rain?"

"This state of affairs persisted for a full day and night, and only on the second day did everything grow calm again."

"Yet it was precisely after that day that the great lake by the village spawned a demon."

"I remember the first one to meet with disaster was Zhang Gen. He was fishing on the lake, and according to those in nearby fishing boats, a massive wave suddenly rose on the lake's surface and capsized his boat. In the blink of an eye, Zhang Gen vanished... At first, I thought it was merely an accident, but who could have known that more and more people would die thereafter? It wasn't until Gan, the mother of the boy Guzi, was washing clothes by the lake shore and was dragged into the water by a giant black fish, that I finally realized a demon had appeared in the lake."

At this point, Old Man Luo heaved another bitter sigh.

"Had I realized it sooner, so many lives would not have been lost. Such fine men and women, fed just like that to that damned monster."

While Old Man Luo spoke, Li Xintian and the guards listened in silence.

As the story continued, Tieshan and the other guards grew increasingly indignant.

"Damned beast, to be so utterly brazen! Devouring so many people—I truly wish to carve that creature into pieces while it's still alive."

"Indeed! Over twenty human lives, just snuffed out like that."

"Having committed such monstrous sins, isn't this demon afraid of retribution? Does the heavens not open its eyes even once to strike this beast down with lightning?"

Being devoured by a demon claimed twenty-odd lives, which came as a profound shock to everyone. They lived in Shuiwen County, which, under the stewardship of the Li family, was exceptionally prosperous; let alone demons, not even ghosts were ever heard of there.

The only encounter Li Xintian had ever had with a demon in Shuiwen County was the painted-skin ghost at Kuixing Pavilion.

However, since it had only harmed Wang Chongwen before being slain by Li Xintian, the incident never spread and remained unknown to the public.

"Village Chief, the Benefactor said he has a way to get rid of that demon and avenge us!" At this moment, the beggar boy Guzi interjected abruptly.

"Oh? Is that true?" Old Man Luo widened his eyes as he looked at Li Xintian.

Noticing Li Xintian's extraordinary demeanor and the robust, formidable presence of his retainers, he thought there just might be a way to rid themselves of this demon.

"Benefactor, I implore you, please save Great Lake Village!" Disregarding his advanced age, Old Man Luo dropped to his knees with a heavy thud.

"Over twenty people have died! If that demon is not eliminated soon, Great Lake Village is doomed. I beg of you, Benefactor!"

Li Xintian hurriedly stepped forward to support Old Man Luo, saying, "Village Chief, what are you doing? Aren't you shortening my lifespan with this? Get up quickly, please get up. I have already promised Guzi that I will vanquish the demon for Great Lake Village; there is no need for you to do this."

"Is... is this true?" Old Man Luo looked at him with eyes full of hope.

"Of course. If I, Li Xintian, do not eradicate this demon this time, I shall not leave Great Lake Village." Li Xintian made a solemn vow.

Old Man Luo was right; if this malevolent demon were not removed, Great Lake Village truly could not survive.

After much commotion, deep into the night, the villagers of Great Lake Village and the old village chief finally retired to their homes to rest.

Tieshan and the two squads of guards were also accommodated in the villagers' homes, and the finest room was cleared out for Li Xintian to lodge in.

Yet, Li Xintian felt not a shred of sleepiness.

"Tieshan, come with me for a walk by the shores of Taishu Lake," Li Xintian said in the dead of night.

"Understood, Young Master."

Tieshan, who was on night watch, acknowledged the order.

The weather was fairly decent tonight; under the moonlight, the path remained clearly visible.

Li Xintian did not suffer from night blindness. Had he been afflicted with such a condition, stepping out at night would have been out of the question.

When Li Xintian arrived at the lakeside, he saw eerie winds howling across the shore, soul-recalling banners fluttering in the breeze, and wet, dripping human figures standing amidst the lake water, staring blankly at Li Xintian and Tieshan.

There were men and women among the figures; they appeared to be villagers of Great Lake Village who had perished.

"Water ghosts transformed after death?" Li Xintian's gaze shifted slightly.

"That old village chief was right; truly a great many villagers have died here."

"Young master, what are you looking at?" Tieshan asked curiously, noticing Li Xintian staring fixedly ahead without moving.

Li Xintian replied, "I am looking at those souls who died unjustly."

With that, he walked forward.

He watched as a water ghost reached out, trying to grab the sacrificial offerings left on the shore, yet falling short because it was bound to the lake and could not leave the water.

"Water ghosts cannot leave the water," Li Xintian thought to himself suddenly.

"Since you are all villagers of Great Lake Village, why have you not gone to be reincarnated?" He walked closer and pushed the sacrificial food a little further forward.

The water ghost made a grasping motion, and a wisp of scent seemed to drift out, which it inhaled into its mouth before assuming a look of profound satisfaction.

Ghosts did not consume physical food; they fed solely upon aromas.

It was fortunate he had learned from ghost movies back in the modern era that ghosts feed on scent.

The water ghosts stared in astonishment at Li Xintian, seemingly caught off guard by the fact that he could perceive them.

"Our corpses are all controlled by the water demon, so we cannot be reincarnated. Even if the underworld commissioners came, they could not summon our souls away. We are doomed to remain here as water ghosts," said a female water ghost.

"The water demon decreed that only if we drag someone else into the water to drown will it permit us to leave and seek reincarnation."

"Indeed. Yet those on the shore are our own flesh and blood, our friends. How could we bear to drag them into the water to drown simply for the sake of our own reincarnation?"

The other water ghosts spoke with sorrowful reluctance.