As he left, the old shopkeeper said worriedly.
"Young Hero Chu, last night I heard some guests say that someone in the city had contracted a strange illness. Their bodies became completely immobile, and by the next morning, they had vanished—neither living nor dead, without a trace. Could they really have been eaten by demons?"
He had heard some of what Li Xuanhai said that day, and could not help but grow afraid.
"Old shopkeeper, don't worry. Haven't you been staying at the restaurant with Master Li lately? He's a Muscle Tendon Realm Martial Artist, more than capable of keeping you safe. I'll look after Shi Tou, too. Nothing will go wrong there."
Chu Feng reassured the old shopkeeper for a while, then picked up the prepared food box and left.
He walked through the bustling streets until he reached the desolate northern edge of the city, where scarcely anyone lived...
By then, the sun had already sunk more than halfway below the horizon. The shadow of a wooden house ahead stretched long and thin. It was the wooden house Chen Shi Tou had just built.
Chu Feng sniffed, and an indescribably sweet floral fragrance flooded his nostrils. It was almost too sweet.
"I don't remember there being any wildflowers nearby?"
Chu Feng looked around but found nothing. Perhaps the wind had carried the scent from somewhere far away.
Even so, he remained on guard.
He walked up to the wooden house and stared at its tightly shut door before calling out, "Shi Tou, I brought your favorite braised pork..."
But the wooden house was silent, as though no one were inside.
The sun had now almost completely disappeared. Beneath the shroud of shadows, the wooden house crouched in the wilderness like a demon ready to open its bloody maw