Chapter 9

"Miss Wang" laughed silently in the darkness.

The flickering light cast her shadow onto the headless statue.

It seemed as if the shadows in the room were demons stirring restlessly.

She untied her waist belt, and the loose Taoist robe slipped to the ground, revealing her snow-white skin and youthful, beautiful figure, which was truly a feast for the eyes. However, the crack on her face made the scene appear eerie and terrifying.

She then loosened her hair bun, letting her black hair fall down, and gathered it in front of her chest, stretching her hands behind her head.

"Rip."

With a slight tearing sound,

The scalp was actually peeled off like a piece of clothing, revealing a large blue demon head. The demon stared at Li Chang'an with eyes like copper bells.

Li Chang'an, however, seemed to still be asleep, not moving a muscle with his back to the demon.

The demon opened its mouth wide, revealing teeth like a file.

It pinched the scalp and carefully pulled it down.

Before long,

A massive ghost, nearly ten feet tall, leaped out of "Miss Wang's" petite body.

"Miss Wang," or rather, the blue-skinned demon, first carefully put away the human skin, neatly spreading it on the altar.

Then, it crossed the hearth and walked to Li Chang'an's back. Despite its large size, it moved as silently as a cat.

The demon's greedy eyes roamed over Li Chang'an, seemingly hesitating about which part to bite first.

Thighs, arms, back, waist?

After all, the first bite is always the most delicious.

Finally, the demon's eyes settled on Li Chang'an's neck.

The demon slowly approached, its mouth gradually opening, and droplets of foul-smelling saliva dripped from its file-like teeth.

"Indeed, just like the painting."

A calm voice sounded, and the demon's movements froze. It twisted its neck, quickly scanning the temple, and finally realized that the speaker was the "sleeping" Li Chang'an.

A thunderclap echoed, and the dilapidated temple turned a ghastly white.

It turned out that Li Chang'an, lying on his back, was holding a book. The page was open, and a fierce demon was depicted in color, entirely blue, with eyes like round bells and teeth like a file.

The demon's pupils instantly shrank to pinpoints.

Isn't this it!

For a moment, the demon hesitated.

Taoists often have strange spells, and demons often fall for their tricks.

With hesitation in its heart, its body subconsciously took a step back.

It stepped on the armor Li Chang'an had taken off, and the armor immediately scattered, losing its shape.

This made the demon snap back to its senses, and a wave of anger rose on its fierce face.

What can a Taoist who relies on a mortal's armor do?

It opened its mouth wide, ready to pounce.

Li Chang'an, who was facing away from it, immediately responded.

Without turning his body or head, he pulled out an object and pointed it at the demon.

Another thunderclap echoed.

White light illuminated the temple.

The object was a thick iron tube, with a wooden handle at the back. The cotton thread on the wooden handle had burned to the end.

The demon's body froze.

"What is th—"

"Bang!"

A loud noise, and a flash of fire.

A large amount of fine iron sand spewed out from the tube.

The demon didn't have time to react and was hit entirely.

The demon's blue skin was thick and tough, and most of the iron sand only penetrated the skin and got stuck in the muscles. Although the gun's sound was fierce, the damage was only superficial.

But it hurt!

Painfully.

Itchy!

Itchy to the bone.

But it couldn't move, not even turn its eyes. The iron sand, upon hitting it, released an invisible force that pinned it down.

"Thud."

The demon fell backward, its massive body shaking the entire dilapidated temple.

Li Chang'an immediately sprang up, his demeanor and actions far from the calmness he had shown earlier.

He struggled to turn the demon over, moved a large stone, and propped up the demon's head, exposing its thick neck.

Then he picked up the large axe he had brought, cut his thumb, and used his blood as ink to quickly draw a blood talisman on the axe.

"Heavenly煞煌煌, Earthly煞正方, I now write, all ghosts perish."

After reciting the spell, he smeared the blood on the axe blade.

Facing the demon's neck, he swung the axe.

"Ha!"

...

...

A desolate mountain, a dilapidated temple, the wind and rain were raging.

Between the flashes of lightning.

In the darkness, only the heavy breathing of a man and the dull chopping sounds could be heard.

Inside the temple.

Li Chang'an was drenched in blood and sweat, and the demon under his axe was left with only a small piece of flesh connected.

After a month with the old Taoist, Li Chang'an's greatest gain was not learning a few basic talisman techniques but realizing that ghosts are transformed from humans and demons have flesh and blood.

One axe blow, and the skin would split and the flesh would tear, just more solid and requiring more effort.

Li Chang'an held the large axe with both hands, took a few deep breaths, and mustered his last strength.

He swung the axe down.

"Clang."

The axe blade hit the hard bluestone, sparks flying.

Li Chang'an's palm hurt, and the axe slipped from his hand.

At the same time, the demon's head was finally cut off, rolling a few times to Li Chang'an's feet.

Li Chang'an didn't let his guard down but took a few steps back. After a month with the old Taoist, he had learned to be cautious.

Only when the demon's body, which was slightly twitching, finally stopped moving did Li Chang'an relax and sit down in the blood.

Mission accomplished!

Without the excitement of killing the demon, Li Chang'an now felt exhausted, scared, and relieved.

He had spent the night in the dilapidated temple, using himself as bait to attract the demon.

The gun was commissioned by County Magistrate Wang, who had the government mobilize skilled craftsmen to make it overnight. The iron sand was prepared using the old Taoist's ancestral talisman.

Li Chang'an had made all the preparations and waited for the demon to show up.

It was laughable that the demon had concocted a story about a young lady being lost. This could fool talismans, but not Li Chang'an.

Sure enough, after feigning sleep for half the night, the demon finally revealed its true form.

Even so, Li Chang'an's life was still in grave danger.

For example, when he showed the demon the painting in the book, it wasn't to show off.

It was because the fuse burned too slowly, and he had to stall the demon to buy time. Fortunately, the demon liked to transform into a beautiful woman to eat people, so it was a thinker. If it had been a brute, Li Chang'an would have been decapitated and bled out.

After resting for a while, Li Chang'an struggled to stand up.

He climbed onto the altar and first saw the human skin the demon had laid out.

Curiosity got the better of him, and he couldn't resist touching it. It felt smooth and delicate, like... a young girl's skin?

Human skin?!

His hand trembled, almost losing its grip. His expression changed several times before he put the skin aside.

Li Chang'an ignored it and took out the yellow-covered book, flipping through it page by page...

No change?

Li Chang'an was stunned.

He had risked his life to find the blue-skinned demon, hoping the book would change or even send him back to his original world.

But now...

Li Chang'an refused to believe it and carefully examined the book inside and out.

He didn't notice that, as he was examining the book, the demon's body was slowly dissolving.

The body finally turned into a pool of thick blood.

Suddenly,

A dizziness, which he hadn't felt for a month, hit him again.

In a hurry, he only managed to grab the human skin.

When Li Chang'an came to,

He found himself in a simply furnished room with a bed, a wardrobe, and a table and chairs. He turned on the bedside switch, and the fluorescent light illuminated the entire room.

So ordinary and simple, yet Li Chang'an was so excited that he jumped and shouted.

"I'm back!"

The door was suddenly pushed open, and his uncle stormed in.

"Thief..."

Upon seeing who was in the room, his expression turned to surprise.

"Chang'an? When did you come back? What happened to you?"

...

...

The dilapidated temple after Li Chang'an left.

The sky was slightly bright.

A deliberately lowered, old voice sounded outside the temple.

"Brat?"

"Are you inside? Brat."

Then, a cautious figure slipped in.

The old Taoist, carrying a long sword, entered the temple like a thief and immediately saw the pool of blood and the scattered armor and axe.

...

...

Li Chang'an didn't know the old Taoist was looking for him, nor did he know what the old Taoist would think upon seeing the blood.

At that moment, he was at Grandpa Li's grave.

"Grandpa, rest in peace. I'll come see you again soon."

He bowed respectfully, stood up, and picked up a shovel.

Next to the grave was a small pit, and inside the pit was a yellow-covered book wrapped in transparent tape.

He hesitated for a moment but finally swung the shovel.

That world, filled with demons, Taoist magic, and adventure, was indeed magnificent and exciting, but it was also filled with sorrow and uncertainty. In comparison, Li Chang'an chose this ordinary, mundane, yet peaceful world.

I'm sorry, Master.

Li Chang'an sighed softly and walked away.

But...

When fate strikes, it's like being caught in a heavy rain in the wilderness. Where can a humble mortal hide?