Return to Reality

"There isn't much time left. Hurry."

Wearing the Human Skin Mask, Li Yi dragged Zhao Qian swiftly along Ghost Street.

He had bought Coffin Grass and two Mud Horses, settling everything. He had wanted to spend a little more, but there simply wasn't enough time, so he had to give up. Otherwise, he could still have spent some of his Lifespan to buy a few strange and unusual things.

After all, Li Yi had already prepared himself to welsh on the debt.

Relying on his own memory, Li Yi did not take a wrong turn. Before long, he led Zhao Qian into the familiar alley from earlier, then turned left and right through it.

Not long afterward, the two of them stopped before the gate of a small courtyard.

After looking around and seeing no ghosts wandering nearby, Li Yi finally dared to speak. "Miss Zhao, I won't go in. Sorry for the trouble, but please help me bid farewell to Master. I'm afraid that if Master sees me, the matter with the Coffin Grass will delay things and prevent you from leaving safely. Besides, I have to go home too."

"My parents are still waiting for me to care for them. It's a pity I'm not alone in this world, or I really would like to follow Master to Xingzhou and take a look."

"Big Brother Yi." Tears welled in Zhao Qian's eyes. Although she had spent very little time with Li Yi—less than an hour—they had already gone through many things together.

Especially just now, he had directly spent sixty years of Lifespan for the sake of a Master he had known for less than an hour.

She knew very well that after parting on Ghost Street this time, they might never see each other again in their lives.

"It's all right. Take good care of yourself from now on, and take good care of Master. If fate allows, we may still meet again someday." Li Yi patted her shoulder and spoke earnestly.

"I think I just saw Yin Soldiers wandering nearby. Hurry inside. I'm leaving."

At that moment, something passed through the corner of Li Yi's eye.

It looked like an ancient soldier carrying a spear, drifting past in a haze. His hair stood on end, and his heart jolted. He dared not continue talking and hurriedly put on the mask before turning and running.

"Big Brother Yi!" Zhao Qian called out again.

Li Yi did not turn back. He merely waved goodbye, and his figure soon vanished around the corner of the alley.

"Creak!"

At that moment, Zhao Ge heard the commotion from inside the house and hurriedly opened the door.

Zhao Ge looked left and right. When he saw the Yin Soldiers wandering nearby, his expression changed drastically. He hastily grabbed Zhao Qian and pulled her into the courtyard, then shut the gate.

Fortunately, the Door Gods on the gate had not yet faded.

The Yin Soldiers passed by without being disturbed. They simply drifted past, then went after the traces of other living people.

Inside the courtyard.

Zhao Ge barked in a low voice, "What happened? Where's Mengde? What's the blood on your shoulder?"

His eyesight was excellent. At a glance, he saw the bloodstain on Zhao Qian's shoulder.

It had been left behind when Li Yi patted her shoulder.

"Big Brother Yi just left. He asked me to bid farewell to Father. He wanted to leave Ghost Street and go home. He was afraid of delaying us, so he didn't come in. Big Brother Yi is fine and completely safe. This blood was left behind when Big Brother Yi signed the contract."

Zhao Qian explained, then took out the Coffin Grass. "Father, look. This is the Coffin Grass Big Brother Yi bought."

When Zhao Ge heard that Li Yi had left without saying goodbye, he felt somewhat disappointed at first. But after hearing that Li Yi was safe, he let out a sigh of relief. Yet when he saw the Coffin Grass in his daughter's hand, his eyes suddenly widened. "Such a large Coffin Grass? How much Lifespan did it cost?"

"S-sixty." Zhao Qian did not dare hide it and stammered out the answer.

"Sixty?"

Smack!

Zhao Ge erupted in fury. He slapped Zhao Qian across the face. "You fool! Mengde doesn't understand the ways of the world, but don't you? Sixty years of Lifespan is taking his life! Your father finally took in such a good disciple in his old age, and this is how you ruin him? If the medicine is too expensive and we can't afford it, then forget it. Your father's life is nearly over anyway."

Zhao Qian's face flushed red from the blow, but she did not dodge. She simply endured it and cried, "How could your daughter not know? But I couldn't stop Big Brother Yi. He signed without the slightest hesitation."

Zhao Ge kicked Zhao Qian over again and pointed at her as he cursed, "Do you think that excuse can fool me? If you truly meant to stop him, could Mengde have signed? You were clearly hesitating and wavering, and in the end you let Mengde buy the Coffin Grass."

"Father, what choice did you expect your daughter to make then? Sixty years of Lifespan—I couldn't pay it. If I could have, I wouldn't have hesitated for even a moment. Big Brother Yi made the offer himself. Although I felt guilty, I didn't know whether I should stop him. If I stopped him and we missed the timing, I could only watch helplessly as Father died." Zhao Qian began to sob.

Hearing this, Zhao Ge slowly lowered the hand he had raised. Then he slapped himself hard across his old face.

"Sigh."

He let out a heavy sigh and sank into deep self-reproach and anguish.

Zhao Qian continued, "Father, Big Brother Yi has a Lifespan of one hundred and fifty years. He'll be fine. Once he begins cultivating, he'll naturally be able to make up the Lifespan he lost. Don't you believe in Big Brother Yi's cultivation speed?"

"A Lifespan of one hundred and fifty? Is that true? You're not lying to me?" Zhao Ge suddenly raised his head and stared at her.

"Big Brother Yi tested it with the Lifespan Plate. I saw it with my own eyes. There was no way to fake it." Zhao Qian wiped her tears and stood up.

Zhao Ge said, "Dragon Sinew, Tiger Bone, vigorous blood and qi, extraordinary talent. Such a Lifespan isn't surprising, but losing sixty years is the same as losing half a life. The two of us owe Mengde far too much. If I had known this would happen, you should have left with Mengde just now, helped him care for his parents, looked after his daily life, and even taught him the Fighting Style I hadn't finished teaching him."

"Father, I'll go find Big Brother Yi now and spend the rest of my life repaying his kindness." After saying this, Zhao Qian immediately moved to chase after him.

Zhao Ge hesitated, but before his daughter could step out of the courtyard, he grabbed her. "There isn't enough time. The Soul-Departing Incense is about to burn out. Mengde may already have left Ghost Street by now. Forget it, forget it. Mengde and I were simply fated not to go far together. Go back, go back. If fate brings you together again someday, then go with him."

"All right. I'll do as Father says." Zhao Qian pursed her lips and could only suppress the impulse in her heart.

At that moment.

The courtyard gate suddenly rang with a series of heavy bangs.

The tremendous noise instantly jolted Zhao Ge and Zhao Qian awake.

"Quick, get back into the coffins! The Door Gods on the gate have lost their effect. The Yin Soldiers and ghosts are coming in. We can't stay here any longer. We have to go back." Zhao Ge reacted at once, suddenly dragging his daughter into the main hall before quickly opening the coffin lid.

The coffin was empty.

Zhao Ge sent his daughter into the coffin first and closed the lid. Then he lay down in another coffin beside it. With a push of strength from his hand, the coffin lid fell shut with a bang.

After the two of them climbed inside, a gust of sinister wind suddenly blew open the courtyard gate.

The sinister wind swept into the main hall, scattering white paper offerings all over the floor.

The Soul-Departing Incense burned out.

Yet the two coffins in the middle of the main hall strangely vanished.

Zhao Ge and Zhao Qian, who had been inside them, vanished as well.

The sinister wind swept through the courtyard but found nothing. Finally, it blew open the windows and left the small courtyard, leaving behind a scene of utter chaos—and the piece of wood marked with a Fist Print.

At the same time.

In a corner of Ghost Street.

Li Yi was crouched on the ground, blood dripping from his finger.

The blood fell onto a small horse made of mud on the ground.

"Come to think of it, does this really work? I can't believe I'm actually going to believe something this bizarre."

He was deeply doubtful, but Li Yi had no other choice. He could only try his best. Otherwise, he might truly be trapped to death on this eerie street.

However, after the blood dyed the Mud Horse red, something inconceivable happened.

A black sinister wind began to howl around the Mud Horse.

The wind grew stronger and stronger, blowing so hard that Li Yi could barely open his eyes.

Then, amid the gale, Li Yi actually heard the neighing of a fierce horse.

"Something this miraculous really exists?"

When the black sinister wind dispersed, Li Yi opened his eyes wide and saw a tall, divine-looking black steed standing before him. It was not a living creature. Its body was still made of mud, yet it could move freely.

The sight surpassed Li Yi's understanding somewhat.

But when he remembered that ghosts had appeared in this world and Extraordinary Creatures now existed as well, what was happening before him no longer seemed particularly strange.

"Take me away from Ghost Street and back home." Li Yi leaped up and mounted the steed.

Although he did not know how to ride a horse, he could cling tightly to its neck so that he would not fall off.

The steed raised its hooves and neighed. Then it snorted, spilling black smoke from its nostrils.

Its iron hooves thundered, and the steed carried Li Yi forward in an instant.

"What incredible speed."

Li Yi felt a fierce wind howl past his ears, while the scenery around him blurred. As the steed galloped beneath him, it gave him an indescribable sensation, as if it were riding on clouds and mist.

"Wait, is the flesh on this horse falling off?"

He immediately noticed that as the steed galloped, large chunks of material peeled off its body. When Li Yi raised his hand, it was covered in black mud.

The mud was foul-smelling and fishy. He had no idea what had been mixed into it.

Yet the steed did not stop. It continued charging madly in a single direction.

The surrounding buildings gradually began to change.

The ancient, eerie street slowly disappeared, and the large red lanterns overhead gradually went out. In the darkness around him, the outlines of towering buildings slowly emerged. Many scrapped cars even began to appear on the nearby roads. All these changes happened in the span of a few moments.

Li Yi seemed to have crossed into another world, returning once more to the modern city.

"I really made it back alive."

Suddenly.

The steed's speed slowed. Li Yi discovered that he had appeared at a street entrance in the Ruined City, with the area shrouded in danger directly behind him.

He glanced back.

That eerie street still existed, as if it hovered between reality and illusion. Li Yi could even see the shadows of many terrifying ghosts wandering through it. Clearly, everything that had happened before had not been an illusion conjured by him at death's door. It had all been real.

The steed began to stagger as it moved. Its body had collapsed so badly that its stark white bones were exposed beneath it.

It continued forward for several hundred meters.

The Mud Horse seemed to have reached its limit. It could no longer carry Li Yi back to the Old Town District. After letting out a mournful cry, it completely fell apart, turning into a heap of sludge and rotten bones.

Li Yi fell from the steed, but quickly steadied himself. Looking at the completely ruined Mud Horse, he felt a secret pang of regret.

"So it's a one-time consumable. It can't be used repeatedly. Fortunately, I prepared ahead of time and bought two Mud Horses." He patted his pocket.

The remaining Mud Horse was still perfectly preserved and undamaged.

However, he was keeping it only as a precaution. Li Yi would not use it lightly unless the situation was truly special.

"I'll have to walk the rest of the way myself. It isn't far, anyway." Seeing everything familiar around him, Li Yi gradually regained his confidence. He did not linger and immediately retraced the route he had taken to the Danger Zone.

He glanced around briefly.

It was still the dead of night, with perhaps two or three hours left before dawn.

It seemed that Li Yi had not been trapped on Ghost Street for very long.