"Hihihi~ Tell me. Do I look like a human or a God?"
The 'thing' in the forest shook the branches, its voice growing louder and sharper.
"You look like a human! Please spare us! We are all hardworking people just trying to survive!"
Lu Zhuangyuan was overtaken by fear and began groveling on the floor, kowtowing endlessly toward the direction of the voice.
He continued groveling until he saw a pair of feet wearing red-colored embroidered shoes at the edge of the forest.
Chills ran down his spine as he slowly raised his head and saw a girl in a padded flower jacket standing there, her feet comically small. Her face was large and pale, but her mouth was very small in comparison. Her eyes, like black beads, were unmoving and unblinking. Her white face stood out especially in the darkness, almost resembling a floating balloon.
"Hehe, you think I'm a human?" The 'girl' with tiny feet covered her mouth as she laughed, before walking closer to the bonfire.
When Lu Zhuangyuan saw her body wriggling as though she didn't have a skeleton, he realized he was truly doomed. It was a real spirit this time!
"A-a child! Everyone! Wake up! I need a boy's urine!" Lu Zhuangyuan's terrified voice woke everyone up.
Lu Juren grabbed a burning stick from the bonfire and threw it toward the spirit.
However, the burning stick passed right through the body of the 'girl.'
The 'girl' with tiny feet slowly approached the bonfire before stopping. She then turned toward the eastern direction.
At the same time, the tree branches in front of Li Huowang shook as he and the rest of his group emerged from the forest, holding glowing rocks in their hands.
"Hmm?" Bai Lingmiao, who had already removed her blindfold, saw something was wrong. "Senior Li, that 'girl' might be a spirit! She has another face on the back of her head!"
Li Huowang unsheathed his long sword and warily stared at the girl with tiny feet. "What are you?"
"Hehe~ Can't you see? I'm a human!" Her voice rang out again as she moved her body like a centipede, quickly approaching her new targets.
Meanwhile, Li Huowang refused to back down. He immediately pulled the bronze bell from his left sleeve. There was a dent on the surface of the bell.
As soon as he shook it, the ear-piercing sound of the bell rang out, causing everyone, including Li Huowang, to cover their ears as they experienced intense head-splitting pain.
However, Li Huowang did not stop; he kept ringing the bell. Soon, he saw everything within his vision, including the spirit, begin to shake.
At that moment, the padded jacket of the spirit exploded, releasing a cloud of black fumes.
The bronze bell was effective against her!
The spirit screamed in pain and retreated into the depths of the forest, her body slowly disintegrating. Soon, she disappeared from everyone's view.
The ringing of the bell stopped, and Li Huowang examined the bell with a surprised expression.
To think that this thing could not only summon the Wandering Gods but also be used in situations like this.
Unfortunately, every time he rang the bell, all he could achieve was to make the edges of the world squirm and shake; the Wandering Gods never appeared before him. He wasn't sure whether it was due to the dent in the bell or something else.
At the same time, the more he learned about this world, the more bewildered he became. What were all these monstrosities?
"Savior!! Our savior! Thank you so much for helping us! I was blind not to acknowledge you before! Come! Come and join us by the fire." Lu Zhuangyuan, tears and snot all over his face, happily pulled Li Huowang toward the fire.
Compared to that scary thing, the weird-looking people behind the young Taoist were much better! With the young Taoist here, at most they just looked scary, but the spirit from earlier could've taken their lives!
"Sigh! This damned animal! If it hadn't suddenly run away, how could I have possibly abandoned you?" Lu Zhuangyuan gestured with his smoking pipe toward his horse, tapping it gently.
After tapping his pipe a few times, he suddenly shouted toward the people behind him. "Juanhua, quickly go and bring out some buns and water. Bring the largest and best-quality white buns. Also, bring three... no, five salted duck eggs!"
Li Huowang wasn't used to such hospitality, especially with how friendly Lu Zhuangyuan was acting toward them. "Old man, there's no need to go to such lengths for us. Can I ask you some questions?"
"Ask! Ask away! You just saved all our lives earlier! Ask me anything!" Lu Zhuangyuan patted his chest with pride.
Lu Zhuangyuan even wiped the mouthpiece of the pipe he was smoking with his shirt before lighting it up and passing it to Li Huowang.
"Erm... thanks, old man, but I don't smoke. Now, can you tell me what it was that we just encountered? What was that thing called?" Li Huowang said as he gently pushed the pipe back into Lu Zhuangyuan's hands.
Li Huowang still knew nothing about this world. If he wanted to survive here, he needed to learn more about it.
Lu Zhuangyuan was stunned by his question. "Huh? How would I know? Young Taoist, you were the one who chased it away. Shouldn't you know more about it than me?"
Looking at the old man's confused eyes, Li Huowang realized he had asked the wrong person. The old man probably didn't know any more than him.
"I heard you shouting and asking for a boy's urine. Would that be able to hurt that thing?"
"Yeah! These kinds of things are afraid of filthy things. I've heard that it could work even if we used our snot. But the best item would still be a young boy's urine. It's filled with Yang energy, and at the same time, it's considered really filthy."
"Really? Have you used it before?"
In response to this question, Lu Zhuangyuan, who had been confident in what he had said until now, suddenly turned sheepish. He chuckled, his eyes darting around. "Maybe? It was the elders in the village who always told us this technique. Since they told us about it so often, I guess it should work."
Li Huowang sighed.
Why is this another piece of folklore passed down through word of mouth? This place is so backward.
"Alright, old man. Then let me ask you something you would know the answer to. Have you encountered these kinds of things before? If yes, how frequent is it?"
"Nah, if I were to encounter these kinds of things every day, I would've quit traveling with my troupe and taken my son back to the village to tend to the fields," Lu Zhuangyuan said as he placed his pipe in his mouth and took another puff.
"I've traveled for so long and have only encountered spirits a total of four times," he continued.
"I see." Li Huowang surveyed the forest around him. He now had a slightly better understanding of the world he was in.
After living with Dan Yangzi for so long, he had expected things like the Black Taisui to be everywhere around him. However, that didn't seem to be the case.
Even though everyone had heard of these kinds of things happening, from the looks of it, encountering them was still quite rare.