Then, I tore another strip of cloth, wrapped it around the chicken's comb and tail feathers, and hung it at my waist!
I moved extremely quickly, which allowed Zhao Xī to take a slight breath of relief.
"Luo brother is decisive enough. I thought you wanted to keep this chicken," Zhao Xī said, bowing.
I managed a smile, but didn't say anything.
The chicken stopped bleeding, and I threw its body to the ground.
With the bowl of blood in hand, I pushed open the door of the living room, quickly walked to the gate of the yard, and poured a circle around the fence.
The blood soaked into the earth, emitting a black-red scent.
During this time, I also vigilantly watched the direction in which the three hungry ghosts left.
Fortunately, they did not return.
Soon, the blood was cleaned up, and I returned to the living room. I coughed, saying, "Chicken blood has a prohibitive aura. Even if ghosts were to approach this yard, they would not dare to step in."
Zhao Xī nodded, but there was finally unease in his eyes. "Time is passing, and it's not right. Even if Zhang Hai may have gotten into trouble, that Luo Hou should not have problems either. How come he hasn't come yet?"
"Zhang Gui can't be killed... But if Luo Hu dies, it's truly a death." Zhao Xi's expression grew increasingly solemn.
I immediately understood, it's no wonder Zhang Gui dares to fight.
He is literally borrowing a body to return to life, and if the body is truly useless, it's no big deal to have the soul flee, similar to a gold frog shedding its exoskeleton.
But Luo Hu is different; he's a flesh-and-blood human being. If he dies, he truly loses his life.
I didn't say anything, I kept silent.
It was not that Granny was weak; the injury I sustained on my right arm was the most severe I had ever suffered in these many years.
Zhao Xi's condition definitely indicates that he too has serious hidden injuries.
If Luo Hu were even slightly weaker than us, he might really die.
I glanced at the decapitated chicken carcass with my peripheral vision, and my heart was still unsettled.
A six-year-old chicken, just like that, wasted.
Unknowingly, Zhao Xi's shadow had once again spread to my feet, and the feeling of coldness overwhelmed me. However, it was more effective in concealing my human scent.
Zhao Xī explained that earlier, Luo Hu had said that we were humans, and therefore, could not avoid the hungry ghosts. This way, we could deceive them.
After a while, I finally suppressed the feeling of unease. It was all right; the chicken blood had added an extra layer of protection to the yard.
The most important parts of the chicken tail feathers and the comb that I left behind can be used with the most tyrannical of nine schools of magic!
In a blink of an eye, another ten or so minutes had passed. When Zhao Xi couldn't contain himself any longer and said he was going to look for Luo Hu, the heavy footsteps echoed once again.
My partner and I looked at the crack of the door at the same time.
A man with a potbelly emerged from the dike, and it was none other than Luo Hu.
He himself seemed to be uninjured, but the person he was carrying looked extremely terrifying.
Zhang Hai's head had been brutally opened, completely hollowed out.
The wide, staring eyes were utterly lifeless.
As Luo Hu walked into the yard, he sniffed his nose intensely, while Zhao Xi coughed heavily. This relieved Luo Hu and he walked quickly towards the hall.
I then opened the door.
After entering the yard, Luo Hu glanced at us. He first showed a hint of joy, then looked at me, his expression freezing slightly, showing some surprise.
"Luo brother has injured his right arm, but there are no other serious issues. You don't need to worry." Zhao Xī spoke in a deep voice.
Luo Hu made no sound, looking at Zhao Xī with his eyebrows furrowed deeply.
"I'm fine too, just a little minor injury," Zhao Xī coughed and looked at Zhang Gui with a difficult expression.
"The old woman is indeed tough, and more suppressive of corpses. Where is Zhang Hai's soul?" Zhao Xī asked immediately.
I always feel like something is off, but in fact, everything seems to be right, and there's nothing abnormal.
"When the old woman was devouring the corpse, he should have had no time to escape. The corpse was eaten raw, and his soul experienced too much pain, causing it to disintegrate. It will take some time to recover."
"I feared that if his corpse was left there, he would not be able to recover. So I took him out from the old woman's mouth." Luo Hu responded in a deep voice.
A shiver ran through my heart.
Taking it out?
Then this means that Luo Hu is stronger than both Zhao Xī and me?
That he could defeat the old woman he had summoned and then save Zhang Hai's corpse.
I focused my gaze on Zhang Gui's corpse, and from the lifeless look in his eyes, it was indeed evident that his soul had dispersed.
This pain is no less severe than if he were dead again. To recover, it is indeed quite challenging.
"It's also a lesson for Zhang Gui," Zhao Xī sighed slightly, and his expression did not seem to blame Zhang Gui.
"That chicken, is it dead?"
Luo Hu placed Zhang Hai's corpse on the ground and glanced at the old chicken.
Only then did Zhao Xī recount the previous encounter with the hungry ghosts, and how he used his ghostly shadow to protect me. He also mentioned how that beast almost betrayed him by nearly crowing and ruining everything.
He paused for a moment, then said, "Fortunately, Luo brother reacted in time and cut its throat with a single blow."
He looked at me, and his expression became more familiar.
Luo Hu seemed to be deep in thought, and then he suddenly said, "Why don't you retract your ghostly shadow? I have a yin card here that can conceal one's aura."
As he spoke, Luo Hu was about to take off the semi-transparent Buddha statue that was hanging around his neck.
"Still, never mind. What exactly is inside your yin card, Luo brother? It's best not to give him any trouble. What if there's a contradiction?" Zhao Xī smiled and directly declined.
Then Zhao Xī told me that Luo Hu had a collection of amulets, not a single one of them was a positive one; they were all yin amulets, as if he were hanging around with full-body evil ghosts.
These ghosts have no significant connection with him, unlike those that were deliberately cultivated to be controlled.
I finally had an epiphany.
I'm not familiar with these amulets, but I've heard a bit about them from Old Qin's head. They are both positive and negative.
However, Old Qin particularly warned me not to touch these amulets. There are some things that can easily damage one's karma and attract backlashes.
"Just as long as it can conceal your aura, I don't mind how you do it." I said something that would not offend either party.
Luo Hu seemed slightly dissatisfied, casting a glance at Zhao Xī.
At first glance, Luo Hu seems like a decent person, but his heart is a bit smaller?
Then, I opened the topic again and said, "Should we immediately plan to find Zhao Kang or wait until Zhang Hai's soul congeals back?"
"We can't wait for him. Once his soul returns, it won't be able to help. He's not a ghost, but can only return to this lifeless body. By then, he'll be immobile. We can only wait until we leave and give him a new body. The ghosts on his body can be released and used, but it's not easy to control."
"Luo family brother, you'll be in charge?" Luo Hu asked me again.
Without saying a word, he began to search through Zhang Gui's clothes.
Zhao Xī's expression changed again, and he intercepted Luo Hu.
"I think it's best not to," he said in a deep voice again: "All three of us have our ways. As we've just mentioned, we didn't want Zhang Hai to enter the house in the first place. Now that he's had an accident, if we take away the ghosts he has been cultivating, and they are damaged in the process, it won't be easy to explain."
Luo Hu's eyes narrowed slightly, and he suddenly fixed his gaze on Zhao Xī's face. He didn't speak, but his eyes grew a bit colder.
I felt a little off.
These two, why do they seem to be hinting at something?
Luo Hu's intentions are good; they're all for my convenience.
Zhao Xī seems to be blocking, but his starting point is also correct...
Both of them are normal, but I still feel that something is not right...
At this moment, an even more peculiar scene unfolded.
The old Gong, who had been hanging above the nightpot, turned his head and laughed at me in a sinister manner!
