Chapter 275: Big and Small

Deep night, the appearance of the ghost did not frighten Li Yi; instead, it stirred his eagerness.

He was different from the people of this world—he did not fear ghosts in his heart, only struggled with having no means to combat powerful ones, his strength left unused; now that he held this cracked short staff, capable of repelling and injuring ghosts, he had the confidence to face them head-on.

The strange child, pale-faced, wearing a round hat and long robe, now ran barefoot across the ground, its speed uncanny—each step looked normal, yet after two or three strides it advanced several meters, as if space itself had been warped by supernatural forces; yet Li Yi found nothing odd about this inexplicable sight.

For he had already witnessed similar supernatural phenomena; he was not disturbed by these things, but instead gathered his blood qi and unleashed his Gangqi.

Boom!

A burst of sound, Li Yi's figure shot forward instantly—he held the letter in one hand and the cracked short staff in the other, ready to complete the delivery in an instant.

The noise drew the strange child's attention; in an instant, it turned its head toward Li Yi's direction.

But it was too slow.

Li Yi's figure was already gone from his previous position; his speed outpaced even the ghost's reaction—in a mere flash, the cracked short staff struck the strange child.

He had expected the little ghost to be instantly repelled as imagined, but an unexpected turn occurred.

Though the cracked short staff struck the child, it caused no effect whatsoever—as if an ordinary wooden stick had hit the ghost.

"How?" Li Yi was stunned.

At that moment, the pale face of the strange child turned toward him.

Li Yi was startled, his body tore through the air and he rapidly retreated, putting ten meters between them; he gripped the cracked short staff tightly, his expression shifting uncertainly—he could not understand why the supernatural item in his hand had failed.

He subtly tightened his grip, unleashing his Gangqi again.

The cracked short staff could not be destroyed under any circumstances—this was one of the defining traits of a supernatural item.

So… was the method of use wrong?

Had the messenger on the second floor lied about the usage method? Had he deliberately given false information to deceive him?

What a naturally evil messenger—he even after death, managed to trick him once more.

The strange child now seemed to have locked onto Li Yi; the rapid running sound resumed, and in his vision, the ghost ignored everyone else and charged straight toward him.

"If the method is wrong, try again—maybe it'll work."

Seeing this, Li Yi did not retreat; he had confidence to maneuver against this ghost, and if all else failed, he could instantly reach Liu Qingqing's side and have her force the ghost back.

But he did not wish to do so yet.

He unleashed his power again and charged forward once more.

This time he was more cautious, holding back some strength, ready to withdraw at any moment.

Indeed.

His speed left the strange child unable to react; as he neared the child, he swung the cracked short staff repeatedly, maintaining a delicate distance—avoiding any contact with the ghost.

He expected this attempt, too, would yield nothing.

Until, once, the cracked short staff struck the strange child's head—when something bizarre happened.

The ghost was instantly severely injured, as if a common person had been struck with a heavy club—it collapsed to the ground and fell motionless, as if unconscious.

"Success?"

Li Yi was startled, then realized—the cracked short staff only worked when striking the target's head; hitting any other part was useless. This repeated trial had revealed the correct method.

"Good. Now that I've found the right method, there's no need to keep dodging the ghost."

He looked at the strange child lying on the ground, studying it carefully.

He found that the blow had only rendered the ghost unconscious for about ten seconds; after ten seconds, it began to stir, but to fully regain mobility, it would take roughly thirty seconds total—meaning one such strike could hold a ghost for nearly half a minute.

During that time, Li Yi shoved the yellow letter directly onto the ghost's body.

So… had the delivery task been completed?

Yet he saw no sign of the yellow letter vanishing; he then lit the letter paper, but found no path leading to the Ghost Post Office appeared.

This meant the delivery task had not been completed.

"Why? The target is clearly a ghost, the letter has been delivered—so why isn't the task complete?" Li Yi was baffled, but he had no time to ponder further, for the ghost he had knocked down was now stirring, struggling to rise again.

Should he strike it again?

Just as Li Yi thought this—

Suddenly—

A heavy footstep echoed suddenly on the first floor of the collection hall—urgent, yet tinged with anger, each step powerful and resounding, rapidly approaching.

"Another ghost? Li Yi, something's wrong—evacuate the collection hall immediately." Liu Qingqing's voice rang out from a dark corner.

Clearly, she too had heard the second set of footsteps echoing.

The current situation had exceeded their original plan; the best course now was to withdraw first, then find another way to deliver the letter—there was still time, no need to press on recklessly; if they failed, all of them might be wiped out.

"Hold off this ghost's attack for me—I'll find the correct way to deliver the letter." Li Yi's firm voice came through—he refused to miss this chance.

Both ghosts had appeared.

The opportunity to deliver the letter lay within this moment—if they missed it now, gathering both ghosts in the collection hall again might be impossible; perhaps no such situation would arise again in the remaining days.

"Fine—one chance. Whether we succeed or fail, we leave." Liu Qingqing hesitated briefly, then gritted her teeth and agreed.

Li Yi swiftly retrieved the letter, then retreated quickly while the strange child remained on the ground.

At that moment, the owner of the other footstep had stepped over the last puddle on the stairs and arrived on the second floor.

In the darkness stood a taller figure—the ghost, too, wore a long robe and round hat, its face pale as a corpse freshly entombed, identical in attire to the child, only one was an adult, the other a child.

Two identical ghosts?

Li Yi froze for a moment.

Then he noticed a difference—the adult ghost's eye sockets were not hollow; one white eyeball was present, rotating, seemingly perceiving everything around it.

The next instant—

The rotating eyeball suddenly stopped, locking onto a messenger on the second floor.

But that messenger did not notice—he could see nothing in the darkness, only knew a ghost had appeared ahead.

Yet Li Yi saw everything clearly.

He realized the messenger had been targeted by the ghost, likely to be attacked.

Indeed.

The large ghost immediately sprinted forward, its heavy footsteps echoing relentlessly, stimulating everyone's senses.

The ghost is coming?

The darkness intensified everyone's fear—they could not see the ghost approaching, only that the footsteps grew closer, closer, as if the ghost would appear before them any second.

"Liu Qingqing, block it—right in front of you." Li Yi reached out, instantly shifting Liu Qingqing's position directly into the ghost's path.

At that moment—

A crimson glow erupted from Liu Qingqing's body; within the glow, a blurred figure emerged, as if a powerful ghost had possessed her.

The charging ghost was struck by another supernatural force, instantly halting in its tracks.

Seizing the opportunity, Li Yi shoved the yellow letter directly onto the ghost's body, then lit the letter paper again.

Yet another infuriating outcome occurred.

The path still did not appear—the letter had still not been delivered.

The small ghost's delivery failed; the large ghost's delivery failed too.

At that moment, even if Li Yi were an idiot, he understood—he muttered: "These two ghosts, big and small, appear as two, but are actually one—both must be together to complete the delivery task."

"Then what now?" Liu Qingqing asked.

"Hold on a moment longer." Li Yi moved again, his power exploding instantly—he moved faster than the ghost, returning to the small ghost's side.

The small ghost had just risen, but immediately received another blow.

The cracked short staff struck its head, sending it crashing back to the ground.

In the instant it fell, Li Yi kicked out.

Without risking contact with the ghost, his qi surged—the small ghost was blasted through the air, hurtling toward the large ghost before Liu Qingqing; and as the two made contact, Li Yi followed swiftly, shoving the letter between them.

Thud!

A collision echoed—the two ghosts fell together.

"Go."

Li Yi no longer hesitated—he grabbed Liu Qingqing with one hand, swung his other fist, smashing the nearest window, then shot out instantly.

His Gangqi erupted fully, surrounding winds swirling violently.

Everyone was sucked out by this force, leaving the second floor of the collection hall in an impossible manner.

Guo You and the others had no time to react—their bodies were flung outward; terrified, they feared they would be crushed upon landing.

But outside was only grass—they landed without dying, though bruised and sore.

"Did we succeed?" Liu Qingqing asked urgently.

"I don't know." Li Yi paid no attention to anything else—he lit the letter paper: "The ghosts have locked onto us—if we don't leave now, we all die."

This time, the letter paper worked.

As the black letter paper burned, a winding path appeared before them.

Indeed—their earlier guess was correct: the ghosts in the collection hall, big and small, were one entity, and only together were they complete.

But the path had not fully formed when two heavy footsteps—big and small—sounded rapidly behind them.

"Li Yi, the ghosts are coming!" Guo You's terrified voice echoed.

"Retreat to the Ghost Post Office." Li Yi stuck the black letter paper into the ground, gripping the cracked short staff, preparing to face the final attack.

But the next instant—

A messenger from the second floor was flung away by a tremendous force, then collapsed to the ground, face ashen, his breath instantly gone.

Hm?

Li Yi's face turned pale; his spiritual sense at the Spirit Perception realm hadn't even caught how the ghost had struck.

"Ghost Domain. This ghost has a Ghost Domain," Liu Yan said through clenched teeth.

As she spoke, the lights near the surrounding greenery instantly went out.

A chilling aura spread around them; darkness surged from all directions like a tide, swallowing everyone whole.

"Did the power increase when the big and small ghosts joined together?" Li Yi immediately thought.