Chapter 272: Ghost

Shortly after, the waiter gently knocked on Li Huowang's guest room door. Upon entering, he saw the guest, whose face was covered by a copper coin mask, seated at the head of the round table, sipping tea.

"Sir? I heard you were looking for me?" he asked cautiously, his back hunched, as he approached the round table.

"Sit," Li Huowang said, holding the teapot with one hand as he poured a cup for the man.

"Oh, please don't bother, I can just stand," the waiter demurred. "Sir, did you call me for something specific? Is there anything unsatisfactory about our inn's service?"

Having interacted with them for some time now, the waiter no longer felt as fearful of these strangers.

With a soft clink, a gold ingot was placed directly in front of the waiter. "I have some questions for you," Li Huowang said. "If you can answer them, this gold is yours."

Before the waiter could even process what was happening, Li Huowang cut straight to the chase: "Why are the people in this county so terrified of 'shrinking yang'? What causes 'shrinking yang' and 'shrinking yin'?"

At these words, the waiter, whose face had only moments before held a strained smile, instantly turned pale with fright. He spun around, ready to bolt out the door.

However, the moment he turned, his head collided with the stone slab on Gao Zhijian's chest. Dazed, he saw stars and crumpled backward.

When he next came to, he found his limbs tightly bound with tough ox sinews, rendering him completely immobile. A tall, burly man stood nearby, glaring at him menacingly.

*Clink, clank.* With the metallic sounds, Li Huowang's torture kit slowly unfolded before the waiter.

The waiter shivered involuntarily at the sight of dark red bloodstains clinging to the sharp implements.

"My apologies," Li Huowang said with a flat tone, "I'm not very articulate. When I need to ask something, I simply resort to what I'm best at. It's rather embarrassing; I haven't learned much else in this world, but I've certainly mastered all sorts of ways to torment people." His calm words sent a chill through the waiter, making him feel as though he'd been plunged into an ice cave.

"This particular tool is for gouging out eyeballs. Let me tell you a secret: your eyeballs themselves don't actually feel pain. If you don't believe me, you can gently pry open your eyelids and touch your eye; any pain you feel comes from the flesh around it."

As the rounded iron implement glided along the edge of the waiter's face, goosebumps instantly prickled all over his body.

The waiter appeared utterly terrified by Li Huowang's words, yet despite his bloodless face, his lips were pressed into a tight, stubborn line. He still showed no intention of answering.

Realizing this approach wasn't working, Li Huowang set down the iron clamp he was holding. He then picked up an iron spindle and presented it to the waiter.

"Do you know what this is?" he asked. "It's not for winding thread. This is for winding intestines."

"It's quite simple to use. First, a small incision is made at your navel. Then, an end of your intestine is pulled out, hooked onto this spindle, and then... you just keep pulling and pulling..."

"Do you know what that sensation is like? Close your eyes and really imagine it."

"If you'd rather not imagine it, that's fine too. You'll experience it soon enough. Just a preview: it's an incredibly unpleasant sensation, making your body feel utterly hollow."

No sooner had he spoken than Li Huowang tore the waiter's clothes with a *rip*, exposing his gaunt abdomen. The moment Li Huowang's five fingers grazed his navel, the waiter finally broke.

"I'll talk! I'll talk!" The pungent odor of urine slowly began to seep from beneath him.

Standing nearby, Gao Zhijian scratched the back of his head. He mused that Senior Brother Li was quite articulate, capable of terrifying someone so thoroughly with just his words.

Li Huowang's hand slowly withdrew from the man's stomach. "Speak! What exactly causes 'shrinking yang' and 'shrinking yin' among the people of Pi County?"

"Ghosts! There are ghosts!" the waiter wailed, his voice utterly wretched. He looked equally disheveled, with snot and tears streaming down his face.

"Some lonely wandering ghosts don't have 'life roots'!" he sobbed. "They want to be reborn as men, so they come to the human world to take them! That's why they're trying to steal our 'life roots'!"

The waiter's explanation struck Li Huowang as utterly absurd. "What kind of nonsense is this?"

This was quite different from what he had anticipated. He had originally thought the 'shrinking yang' and 'shrinking yin' in this area were caused by some malevolent entity.

"Could they be mistaking some evil spirits for actual ghosts? Is it an unusually unique malevolent entity attacking them? But what kind of ghost would only target 'life roots'? In such a situation, surely the Bureau of Celestial Surveillance would dispatch someone?"

Li Huowang, his brow furrowed in thought, pondered for a moment before looking at the waiter again. "Have you ever seen this so-called 'life root'-stealing ghost yourself? What does it look like? Is it tangible, or incorporeal?"

He needed to understand it clearly now so he would be prepared if he encountered it again.

At this, the waiter shook his head frantically like a rattle-drum. "No! People can't see ghosts at all! The 'life root' just keeps shrinking inward! It eventually shrinks people to death!"

Seeing that the man could now speak coherently, Li Huowang untied him. He then helped the still-terrified waiter onto a stool.

Compared to earlier, Li Huowang's tone was now significantly gentler.

"Alright, it was just a simple question, wasn't it? Was there any need to hide it? Why didn't you tell me before? Believe it or not, we are genuinely here to help you."

Hearing Li Huowang's words, the waiter immediately covered his face and burst into loud sobs. He appeared utterly terrified, his voice laced with despair.

"I can't say it!" he cried. "If I tell you, both you and I will be haunted by ghosts! We'll lose our 'life roots'!"

At these words, a sudden chill ran through Li Huowang. He gripped his sword hilt with one hand and swiftly scanned the room with alert eyes.

He examined everything in the room: the windows, the wooden door, under the bed. Yet he found nothing amiss; everything appeared perfectly normal.

Reflecting on the various malevolent entities he had encountered before, this was the first time Li Huowang had heard of anything so bizarre—something that could apparently spread simply by word of mouth!

Although the waiter's words contained many inconsistencies, Li Huowang decided it was better to believe them than to dismiss them entirely.

Li Huowang immediately looked up at Gao Zhijian, who was guarding the door. "When we leave later," he instructed, "remember not to mention this to anyone else!"

Gao Zhijian nodded vigorously; he too had no desire to transmit this potential danger to their comrades.

Disregarding the potential danger, Li Huowang reached out, forcibly pulled down the waiter's hands, and stared with an unusually solemn expression at his despairing face.

"Who told you all this?" Li Huowang pressed, "Who told you that if you speak of it, you'll be haunted by ghosts? Did they mention any way to deal with this malevolent entity?"

Although he carried two demon-slaying swords on his back, the entity he was dealing with this time seemed extraordinarily peculiar.

"I... I don't know!" the waiter stammered. "Everyone just says so!" With that, he disregarded Li Huowang's proximity, reached down, unfastened his waistband, and fearfully glanced inside.

The next instant, the waiter froze as if struck by lightning. His pants slid limply down, exposing his bare lower body directly to Li Huowang's view. "It's... smaller..."