Golden Bell Shocks the Wraith!

Having made up his mind, he hesitated no longer.

Chu He found a large burlap sack and crammed all the food and clothes into it. Once it was full, he slung it over his shoulder like a thief and motioned for Li Zhi to follow, tiptoeing toward the courtyard gate.

Watching Chu He's furtive back, Li Zhi's mouth twitched slightly.

Isn't he practically telling everyone he was running away?

But...

Li Zhi smiled slyly, his expression laden with meaning.

The more obvious it was, the better.

The moment Chu He stepped out of the house, the hairs on the back of his neck rose for no reason, and goosebumps prickled across his skin.

Was something really watching him from the shadows?

The sudden unease made him believe more than half of what Li Zhi had said.

"Which direction are we leaving the village from?"

Chu He turned to Li Zhi, who was carrying a bundle. "Since you'd had this idea for so long, you must have a detailed plan already, right?"

Li Zhi did not deny it. "We'll head east. Not many people live there, so no one will notice us."

Chu He nodded and took the lead, with Li Zhi following close behind. One before the other, they vanished into the dim night.

Tap, tap, tap—

After the time it took an incense stick to burn, the two were walking through a narrow alley. On either side stood old houses abandoned years ago when the wraiths had invaded the village. No one lived there anymore.

Back then, Li Xiang and his wife had lived in this area.

Chu He occasionally glanced around. Broken walls and crumbling ruins, webs clustered thickly, insects and rats scurried about—amid the decay lurked a trace of gloom.

"Wait for me... wait for me..."

Halfway through, an urgent cry suddenly rang out beside them.

"Don't turn around, and don't answer!"

Li Zhi warned from behind.

Chu He nodded and broke into a sprint. Only after the voice faded beyond hearing did he speak. "Have we already been discovered?"

"Wasn't it only a matter of time before we were discovered?"

Li Zhi rubbed his hands together, utterly unconcerned. "The moment we left the house and ran this way, our tracks were exposed. I don't know how they did it, but they truly can command some of the wraiths. That's why the road ahead is the hardest part..."

Chu He understood the logic as well. If Han Zhong truly harbored ill intentions toward them, he would never let them leave so easily.

The two said nothing and continued onward, following their chosen direction.

An alley that ordinarily took only a few steps to cross now stretched long and winding.

Even after walking several steps, they still could not see its end.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

At some point, a chill wind suddenly began to blow.

The wind seemed to carry peals of children's cheerful laughter.

Chu He drew his neck in slightly as an inexplicable chill swept through his body. With his current cultivation, he should not have felt such ordinary cold, yet the reaction of his body revealed just how abnormal the situation was.

At the same time, his steps abruptly halted. His eyes widened slightly, his whole body poised to strike, muscles taut like a fully drawn greatbow.

It was gone!

Li Zhi's footsteps were gone!

As his thoughts snapped back, no one commented on his abnormal behavior. He did not need to turn around to know that Li Zhi behind him had already vanished.

Chu He showed no shock, as if everything had been within his expectations. Calmly, he took off his outer robe and gathered up everything that had come into contact with Li Zhi, wrapping it all into a bundle before tossing it into an abandoned house beside him.

Sure enough, the instant he did so, the chill lingering around him vanished.

The dark clouds dispersed, and bright moonlight spilled down.

Chu He narrowed his eyes with a smile, baring a mouthful of gleaming white teeth.

"I wonder whether Senior Brother Li likes my gift?"

Splat—

Breathing in the fragrance of rain-soaked earth, Chu He lifted his feet and stepped through the muddy puddles. The alley exit, which had seemed impossibly far away, appeared before him in an instant.

But at the very moment he stepped out.

That eerie, clinging chill wind once again brushed past his ear.

"Hehe... haha... hehe..."

Blurry peals of laughter surfaced beside his ears. Chu He closed his eyes, his chest rising and falling as he exhaled a blast of scorching white vapor.

The next moment, his eyes flew open, vicious golden light blazing within them.

"You ungrateful piece of trash!!"

Rumble—

His sinews and bones boomed as his blazing blood qi surged into motion!

That vast, surging blood qi, many times beyond that of an ordinary person, flowed through every muscle and meridian with the unstoppable force of a collapsing mountain.

Dazzling golden light spread outward, condensing three meters around him into a huge, dim and ancient golden bell. The bell descended upside down, enclosing both Chu He and the strange chill wind teasing at his ear.

Dong, dong, dong—

His heartbeat pounded like a hammer, striking the golden bell invisibly.

Where the sound waves passed, muddy water evaporated and earth and stone shattered apart.

Visible golden ripples undulated within the bell. The flowing chill wind abruptly stopped, then let out a shriek that set teeth on edge.

"Ah—"

"Shut up, you cheap-boned thing!"

Chu He's eyes blazed like rainbows. He whipped his head around and saw the chill wind at his ear gradually forming a twisted, ghastly face amid the violent vibrations. Without another word, he launched both fists like cannon barrels, punching through the distorted face.

"Ding dong! Wraith qi absorbed. Energy +3!"

The irritating shriek immediately died out. A Resentment-grade wraith perished beneath his fists.

[Chu He]

[Martial Art: Golden Bell Shield (Second Layer)]

[Energy: 15]

The panel appeared again. Seeing that his energy had accumulated to 15 while the Golden Bell Shield technique still showed no response, anxiety inevitably rose in his heart.

He had never expected...

The energy required for the third layer would be several times that of the second!

Chu He reined in his blood qi without pausing in the slightest. He picked up the burlap sack he had tossed aside and swiftly left the alley.

It was inevitable that he had exposed his strength this time, and word would reach Han Zhong sooner or later. If Han Zhong was nearby, he would certainly find a way to eliminate this unpredictable factor—he could not remain in Earth River Village for even another moment.

Unless... he possessed power beyond Han Zhong's.

Unfortunately, the energy required for the third layer put that thought out of reach for now.

Beyond the alley lay a dirt road, muddy from rain and overgrown with withered grass. Several strangely shaped peach trees stood on either side. Veiled in wisps of mist, their bizarre branches looked inexplicably like clawing wraiths.

Crunch, crunch...

Stepping over dead branches and fallen leaves, Chu He walked through the peach grove. Once he crossed it, the village wall would be less than a hundred meters ahead.

He hurried onward, paying no heed to the rainwater dripping from peach leaves and soaking his collar, nor caring in the slightest about mud splashing across his legs and feet.

Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, Chu He saw a figure hanging from a peach tree at an angle.

He stopped sharply and narrowed his eyes to look.

Then he realized it was only a scrap of rotten cloth hanging from the peach tree.

Had he seen wrong?

When he turned back, an unusual sensation suddenly came from beside his feet.

Looking down, he saw a human head wrapped in hemp vine rolling to a stop before him, while a child's innocent laughter rang clearly beside his ear.

"Hehe, big brother, can you kick him to..."

Splat!

Chu He stomped down viciously. Dead leaves flew everywhere and earth and stone burst apart as he blasted a small crater into the ground. The ball of wrapped human head exploded like a watermelon, blood mist and rotten flesh scattering in all directions like fireworks.

Chu He's eyes were cold and still. His body tilted faintly toward the girl's direction, one hand cupped beside his ear like a horn as he spoke in a voice devoid of discernible emotion:

"Say that again. What did you want to do?"

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