Chapter 8

Liu Shengzhi, upon seeing this scene, a sudden thought arose in his mind, and he knew it was not good.

He already knew what these monsters chasing him were.

He had read a lot of miscellaneous books and remembered that the bamboo sticks thrown into the fire to make a loud noise were called firecrackers.

In the era before gunpowder was invented, people would cut sealed bamboo sections and throw them into the fire to burn, causing them to crackle and pop. This was the origin of firecrackers!

The peach wood charms he saw last time and the firecrackers he saw this time seemed to indicate that this place was definitely in the human world, and it was the beginning of the year.

However, facing extreme danger, Liu Shengzhi had no time to think about more things.

Because he soon realized that in many ancient books, it was recorded that the initial purpose of setting off firecrackers was to drive away mountain spirits (mountain goblins).

Could the monsters chasing him be mountain spirits?

Thinking of this, he felt even more distressed. Looking back, he found that these things had already caught up to him.

Liu Shengzhi was so frightened that his soul almost left his body. He instinctively tried to find something to defend himself.

But he had nothing on him, and there didn't seem to be any large stones around.

In desperation, Liu Shengzhi only managed to pull out his mobile phone.

"You are my little, little apple, no matter how much I love you, it's never too much..."

The loud "Little Apple" song suddenly echoed through the ancient, simple street.

The few mountain spirits that were chasing him relentlessly were actually frightened by the sound. Just as they were about to catch up to Liu Shengzhi, they fled in panic.

What the hell, this works?

Liu Shengzhi was stunned, thinking, "If I had known that the 'Little Apple' could scare away mountain spirits, I would have also played 'Tantuo' on my phone!"

After the shock, Liu Shengzhi put away his phone and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. He suddenly realized that his physical strength had increased significantly.

He knew that with his previous weak constitution, he wouldn't have been able to run this far, let alone sprint 100 meters without passing out.

"Could the cultivation method recorded in the immortal book be so powerful?"

Liu Shengzhi thought about it, and the only possible reason was the immortal book.

The tension he felt when he first arrived at this strange and eerie place suddenly vanished.

At this moment, Liu Shengzhi noticed that the buildings along the road were becoming fewer. In the dense fog ahead, there seemed to be a market, with many people buying and selling.

"Strange, there's a market on New Year's Day?"

Liu Shengzhi muttered, finding this place increasingly eerie.

According to the ancient books he had read, setting off firecrackers to drive away mountain spirits was a custom during the New Year.

It was very similar to the legend of the "Year" in some places!

As he slowly approached the market, he saw that it looked more like a flea market with stalls on the ground.

Liu Shengzhi saw on a nearby stall what seemed to be dark, ancient artifacts. There were arrowheads with copper rust, pottery jars, and many other unidentifiable items.

They were almost no different from the items sold in antique markets! Could there be so many scammers in this place too?

Curiosity piqued, Liu Shengzhi walked over and picked up a strangely shaped, dark object, examining it for a moment.

However, as Liu Shengzhi lowered his head, a chill ran down his spine. In that moment, he saw that a person buying something nearby had a broken knife stuck in their body.

This wasn't a movie; with the knife inserted so deeply, the person would have been dead long ago.

Looking around, his heart sank. He realized that none of the people around him were alive!

Some were missing limbs, some had no heads, and even those with complete bodies looked extremely pale and floated as if they would be blown away by the wind.

Damn!

Liu Shengzhi shouted in his heart.

When he was in a trance, he wasn't afraid of these ghosts, but that didn't mean he wasn't afraid now.

When he was in a trance, his state was similar to that of a ghost, so he didn't need to fear these things.

However, now he had a body. More importantly, these ghosts were actually buying and selling, clearly not the kind of mindless wandering spirits that could be easily dealt with.

They might be vengeful ghosts!

Liu Shengzhi thought, feeling extremely distressed.

At this moment, many of the ghosts' eyes seemed to be drawn to Liu Shengzhi, paying attention to him.

The countless gazes fixed on Liu Shengzhi made his hair stand on end.

Moreover, these ghosts looked at Liu Shengzhi with greedy and even murderous eyes, showing a desire for fresh flesh and a hatred of the living.

"Trouble, this time I'm in deep. I wonder if playing 'Little Apple' can drive them away..."

Despite the dire situation, Liu Shengzhi still managed to find some amusement in these thoughts.

The ghosts, showing their greed, revealed corpse spots and fangs. Countless ghosts surged forward, surrounding him.

But at this moment, the ghosts suddenly seemed to encounter something terrifying and scattered to both sides.

A scholar in a black robe with wide sleeves, though the clothes looked somewhat old, emerged from the fog.

Seeing the scholar, the ghosts fled as if they had encountered their natural enemy.

"Still standing there? Follow me!" the scholar called out.

Liu Shengzhi snapped back to his senses, nodded frantically, and ran to the scholar's side.

Seeing their prey about to slip away, the ghosts became restless again.

The scholar then revealed a pill the size of an egg in his hand, emitting a pungent smell. The evil spirits, upon seeing it, all fled.

"This is the smell of realgar!" Liu Shengzhi immediately recognized it.

Long-term illness had made him somewhat knowledgeable about medicine, even though he hadn't become a good doctor, he could still identify it by smell.

Suddenly, he remembered what it was!

"It's the Ghost-Repelling Pill!"

According to legend, during the Wei, Jin, and Southern and Northern Dynasties, people would wear the Ghost-Repelling Pill when traveling to ward off evil spirits.

A few evil spirits, seemingly unwilling to give up, boldly rushed over. The scholar frowned and sprinkled a red mist.

The evil spirits that were hit by the red sand screamed, emitting black smoke and retreating.

"This is cinnabar sand!"

Liu Shengzhi immediately recognized it. This substance was rarely mentioned in ancient texts, but the "Immortal Book" contained the recipe.