Chapter 29: Old Madam’s Third Hand
Chapter 29: Old Madam’s Third Hand
The night passed without incident.
Well, not entirely without incident. For any ordinary person, hundreds of ghostly disturbances would have occurred. The eerie dark mist even wrapped the entire deserted village like a zongzi. All night long, ghostly cries and howls filled the air.
But Li Si didn’t feel any pressure. That night, he meditated for four hours, pushing his second-layer Heaven-Turning Scripture cultivation progress by another 2%. His overall progress reached 16%, and his magic power cap increased from 1,500 points to 1,700 points.
This speed was undoubtedly fast.
As dawn broke again, Li Si’s triple-layered demon-sealing aura quickly dissolved. Refreshed and full of spirit, he faced the new day.
Following his routine, he collected the little mushrooms first, aiming for a prosperous start.
His luck was good today. He managed to capture six incomplete Seven Emotions Mushrooms, nine Rage Mushrooms, and three Longing Mushrooms, harvesting them all in one go.
The gross profit was 4,800 pieces of gray Firewood. This required deducting eighteen Evil-Warding Curses, three Heart Cleansing Curses, and one Calamity-Dispelling Curse, consuming a total of 2,440 points of magic power. That amounted to two strands of gray Fortune.
There was also 1.8% battle damage. Another two strands of gray Fortune were consumed to boost Bloodline and Bone Evolution Progress and reduce Alienation Contamination Degree.
The final net profit was 4,400 pieces of gray Firewood, which translated to 44 strands of gray Fortune.
After settling his daily profit report, Li Si didn’t hurry back to the stone house. He walked outside the formation array, staying within a hundred paces of the village. He enjoyed the stroll while using the Wish-Fulfilling Pearl for his routine survey of the surroundings.
He’d started enjoying this bizarrely peaceful life and truly didn’t want any surprises.
“It seems nothing waits to surprise me today.”
After circling the village, Li Si put away the Wish-Fulfilling Pearl and entered the formation array.
Only after he stepped into the stone house did a battered demon man emerge from a hilltop five or six miles east of the village. It was the one gravely wounded by the Five Tribulations Thunderlight Array days earlier.
Demon men normally lacked intelligence and couldn’t set ambushes or hide. Yet, something strange had happened to this Fallen Demon. It seemed to hold intense hatred for the deserted village that housed the Floating Cloud Sect.
Stranger still, it suppressed its hatred, hiding constantly. Despite Li Si scouting daily with the Wish-Fulfilling Pearl, it had gone undetected.
“Growl!”
With a low roar, the demon man leaped down the hill and squeezed into a narrow crevice in the cliff behind it. Inside lay over a dozen corpses of Evil God Cultists. Death had claimed them brutally, all now serving as the demon man’s food…
Inside the stone house, Jiang Ying brewed two pots of Great Soul-Returning Broth. One pot served everyone. The other belonged to Li Si. Neither Ji Chang nor Xu Shen objected.
A few days prior, Li Si had hunted anomalous trees and grasses on Western Mountain, gathering enough supplies to last everyone three months. Even with Li Si receiving extra portions, the stock would hold for two.
Water, not food, was now the scarce resource. It would last only about half a month.
After returning, Li Si saluted Old Madam as usual. But she sat rigidly still, not even partaking of the broth, seemingly lost on a spirit journey.
Breakfast was warm and pleasant. Once Li Si ate his fill, he deliberately sought Ji Chang’s advice on casting the Devil-Sealing Curse. He aimed to plant seeds, letting everyone know he was learning it.
This Dao technique proved incredibly useful. His mastery needed to be conspicuous.
Ji Chang held nothing back, especially with Jiang Ying watching. They depended on Li Si for the night watch.
“Younger brother disciple Li, you might rest during the day. I will take watch,” Jiang Ying offered, hoping to ease Li Si’s burden.
“Senior sister impossible!”
“Junior sister don’t!”
Li Si and Xu Shen spoke simultaneously. Each wore an amicable smile, though inwardly both cursed the timing and each other.
“Junior sister,” Xu Shen began earnestly, “We still don’t know whether yesterday’s unknown curse targeted you. Avoid lingering long outside the stone house. If what Zhuwazi provoked was an evil spirit, the consequences would be catastrophic. Death could be instant if conditions align. Wait until master ends her secluded healing.”
Li Si watched, genuinely surprised. He’d always thought Ji Chang and Xu Shen habitually duped Jiang Ying. Yet here was Xu Shen revealing unexpected concern.
But Li Si knew the truth – an Attached Ghost Child possessed Jiang Ying. Xu Shen’s grave warning wasn’t idle; he meant it.
Therefore—
“Senior sister, don’t worry. I need no rest,” Li Si stated sincerely. “My magic power is abundant. I feel no fatigue.” Truthfully, outside was his domain. They shouldn’t intrude. He could always gift them some oranges later.
And so the matter faded. Even the kind-hearted Jiang Ying wouldn’t gamble her life.
Li Si meditated outside for another four hours during the day, needing only a single demon-sealing aura this time.
Combined with four nighttime hours of cultivation, his daily progress jumped a staggering 4%.
Two peaceful days passed. The Heaven-Turning Scripture second-layer progress hit 22%, and Li Si’s magic power cap climbed to 2,300 points.
No major events unfolded. The expected Evil God Cultists never showed. The badly wounded demon man likely wandered elsewhere.
Besides collecting the daily little mushrooms, Li Si spent his time openly seeking Ji Chang’s, Xu Shen’s, and Jiang Ying’s advice on the Devil-Sealing Curse, leaving no room for doubt.
Li Si, as always, kept his hands impeccably clean.
Then, early on the third day: Li Si finished his nightly meditation – another 2% progress boost. He patrolled the village, chatted with the little mushrooms, and returned invigorated to the stone house.
There, he saw Old Madam awake. Had her secluded healing ended… or had the unreliable disaster struck again?
Ji Chang, Xu Shen, and Jiang Ying sat rigidly nearby, looking grave. Even the broth pots sat cold.
Unease pricked Li Si. Am I caught? Did the old woman hear my thoughts?
“Master!” Li Si stammered his greeting with a bow. Then he ducked his head, instinctively edging toward the wall, wishing to shrink into a tiny quail.
But today was clearly different. Old Madam’s murky eyes fixed on Li Si. “Li Si stays,” she rasped. “The rest leave.”
“Yes, master.”
Ji Chang and Xu Shen obeyed mutely, slipping out like docile lambs. Jiang Ying managed an encouraging glance at Li Si before shepherding Shanwazi and the three little ones out.
Could it be good news? Li Si remained anxious, though relieved he hadn’t reapplied his mind-cleaning aura or evil-warding aura after the morning mushroom harvest. Both protective fields were easily detectable up close. Only the disaster-warding aura shielded him now.
“Li Si, come forward.”
“Yes, master.”
Li Si shuffled slowly. The stone house was small; in a few reluctant steps, he stood three paces before Old Madam.
“Closer.”
Li Si’s hair stood on end. Images of horrific atrocities flooded his mind. Will she eat me as a snack?
Escape wasn’t an option. Finally, he reached her seat – feeling like standing before a Tyrannosaurus rex’s jaws. Life or death hung by a thread…
Then, a hand fairer than frost or snow stretched out. It grasped Li Si’s right hand. A warm current flowed instantly through his entire body.
That wasn’t the terrifying part. The terrifying part was:
Old Madam had grown a third hand!
Li Si’s mind shattered.
“Oh no… Is this it for me?”