Chapter 33: Returning to Reality

"Not much time left, run quickly."

Li Yi, wearing the leather mask, pulled Zhao Qian and ran rapidly on the Ghost Street.

He bought Coffin Ganoderma and two mud horses, and solved all the things. He originally wanted to consume more, but time was not enough, so he had to give up. Otherwise, he could spend some lifespan to buy some strange things.

After all, Li Yi was prepared to default.

Relying on his own memory, Li Yi did not take the wrong route, and soon brought Zhao Qian to the small alley he was familiar with before, and then turned left and right.

Not long after, the two stopped in front of a gate of a small courtyard.

Looking left and right, seeing no ghosts wandering nearby, Li Yi dared to speak: "Zhao girl, I won't go in. Trouble Zhao girl to help me say goodbye to master. I'm afraid that master will delay time because of the Coffin Ganoderma, so that you have no way to leave here safely, and I also want to go home."

"I still have parents to take care of at home, it's a pity that I am not alone, otherwise I really want to follow master to Xingzhou to see."

"Yi brother." Zhao Qian's eyes welled up with tears. Although she and Li Yi spent a very short time together, only knowing each other for less than an hour, they experienced a lot.

Especially just now, to apprentice to a master for less than an hour, he directly spent sixty years of lifespan.

She knew very well that this Ghost Street farewell might mean never meeting again in this life.

"It's okay, you have to take good care of yourself in the future, take care of master. If there is fate in the future, we can still meet." Li Yi patted her shoulder and said seriously.

"I seem to have seen Yin soldiers wandering nearby just now, you go in quickly, I'm leaving."

At this time, Li Yi glanced over.

It seemed that an ancient soldier holding a long spear was passing by, floating. His hair stood on end, and he was shocked in his heart. He didn't dare to chat anymore, hurriedly put on the mask, turned around and ran.

"Yi brother..." Zhao Qian shouted again.

Li Yi didn't look back, just waved his hand to say goodbye, and his figure soon disappeared at the corner of the small alley.

"Creak!"

At this time, Zhao Ge in the house heard the movement and hurriedly opened the door.

Zhao Ge looked left and right. When he saw Yin soldiers wandering nearby, his expression changed suddenly. He hurriedly pulled Zhao Qian into the courtyard and closed the courtyard door.

Fortunately, the door gods on the courtyard door had not faded.

The Yin soldiers passed by without disturbing, just floating and passing by, and went to chase the aura of other living people.

Inside the courtyard.

Zhao Ge whispered: "What happened, where is Meng De? What is the blood on your shoulder?"

His eyesight was very good, and he saw the bloodstains on Zhao Qian's shoulder at a glance.

That was left when Li Yi patted her shoulder.

"Yi brother left just now, he asked me to say goodbye to father, he wanted to leave the Ghost Street and go home, because he was afraid of delaying our time, so he didn't come in. Yi brother is fine, he is very safe, this blood was left when Yi brother drew the pledge."

Zhao Qian explained, and then took out the Coffin Ganoderma: "Father, look, this is the Coffin Ganoderma bought by Yi brother."

Zhao Ge heard that Li Yi left without saying goodbye, first felt a bit lost, but after hearing that Li Yi was fine, he breathed a sigh of relief. But finally, seeing this Coffin Ganoderma in his daughter's hand, his eyes widened: "Such a big Coffin Ganoderma? How much lifespan did it cost?"

"Sixty." Zhao Qian didn't dare to hide it, and spat out hesitantly.

"Sixty?"

Slap!

Zhao Ge was furious instantly, and slapped Zhao Qian on the face: "Bastard, Meng De doesn't understand the world, don't you understand either? Sixty years of lifespan is taking his life. Father finally accepted such a good apprentice in his old age, you doing this is destroying him. Medicine is expensive, if you can't afford it, forget it. Anyway, father's life is almost at the end."

Zhao Qian's face was slapped red, but she didn't dodge, just accepted it, and then cried: "How could daughter not know, but daughter couldn't stop Yi brother, he didn't hesitate at all and drew the pledge."

Zhao Ge kicked Zhao Qian over again, pointing at her and scolding: "You can fool others with this rhetoric, but can you fool me? You really had the heart to stop, could Meng De draw the pledge? Clearly, you were hesitant, and let Meng De buy this Coffin Ganoderma under half-pushing and half-pulling."

"Father, how could daughter choose at that time? Sixty years of lifespan, daughter can't afford it. If daughter could afford it, daughter wouldn't have the slightest hesitation. Yi brother made a move at this moment, although daughter felt guilty in her heart, she didn't know whether to stop it or not. If stopping it missed the time, daughter could only watch father go to die." Zhao Qian cried.

Being told this, Zhao Ge slowly put down the raised palm, and then slapped his old face heavily again.

"Sigh."

He sighed heavily, and then fell into deep self-blame and pain.

Zhao Qian continued: "Father, Yi brother has a lifespan of one hundred and fifty, he will be fine. After Yi brother practices martial arts in the future, the lost lifespan can naturally be made up. Doesn't father believe in Yi brother's cultivation speed?"

"Lifespan of one hundred and fifty? Is this true? You didn't lie to me." Zhao Ge

"Brother Yi used the Life-Span Compass to measure it; I saw it with my own eyes, it cannot be fake." Zhao Qian wiped away her tears, stood up, and said.

Zhao Ge said: "Dragon tendons and tiger bones, vigorous Qi and blood, and a heaven-sent talent—it is no surprise he has such longevity. But to lose sixty years of life is equivalent to losing half a life... Our father and daughter owe Meng De too much. Had we known this, you should have just left with Meng De earlier, helped him take care of his parents, attended to his daily life, and even taught him the fighting techniques I hadn't finished teaching."

"Father, I will go find Brother Yi right now and use the rest of my life to repay his kindness," Zhao Qian said, and immediately wanted to chase after him out the door.

Zhao Ge hesitated for a moment, but finally grabbed his daughter before she stepped out of the courtyard: "There is not enough time. The time for the Soul-Departing Incense is almost up. Meng De might have already left the Ghost Street by now. Forget it, forget it. Meng De and I ultimately lack the fate to be together. Go back, go back. If we are fated to meet again in the future, you can follow him then."

"Alright, everything shall be as Father decides." Zhao Qian pursed her lips and had no choice but to suppress the impulse in her heart.

At this moment.

A thumping sound suddenly came from the courtyard gate.

The massive commotion immediately startled Zhao Ge and Zhao Qian awake.

"Quick, quick, get back into the coffin! The door gods on the gate have failed; the Yin soldiers and ghosts are coming in. We cannot stay here any longer; we must go back." Zhao Ge realized what was happening, fiercely brought his daughter into the main hall, and then quickly opened the coffin lid.

The inside of the coffin was empty.

Zhao Ge first sent his daughter into the coffin and covered it well, then lay down in another coffin nearby himself. With a surge of strength from his hands, the coffin lid also fell firmly into place with a bang.

After the two of them lay inside, the courtyard gate was suddenly blown open by a gust of Yin wind.

The Yin wind swept into the main hall, blowing the white paper money scattered on the ground into the air.

The Soul-Departing Incense burned out.

But the two coffins in the middle of the main hall had strangely vanished.

Also vanished along with them were Zhao Ge and Zhao Qian, who had been inside the coffins.

The Yin wind swept through in a circle, finding nothing. Finally, it blew open the windows and left the small courtyard, leaving behind only a scene of chaos and the piece of wood imprinted with a fist mark.

At the same time.

A corner of Ghost Street.

Li Yi was squatting on the ground, his finger dripping blood.

Fresh blood dripped onto a small horse made of mud on the ground.

"Is this really useful? I actually believe in such a bizarre thing."

He was very skeptical in his heart, but Li Yi had no other choice; he could only try his best, otherwise, he might really be trapped and die on this eerie street.

However, after the blood stained the mud horse red, an inconceivable thing happened.

A gust of black Yin wind began to blow around the mud horse.

The wind grew stronger and stronger, blowing so hard that Li Yi could barely open his eyes.

Subsequently, amidst this gale, Li Yi actually heard the neighing of a spirited horse.

"There really is such a magical thing?"

When the black Yin wind dissipated, Li Yi widened his eyes and saw a tall, mysterious black steed appear before him. This steed was not a living creature; its body was still made of mud, yet it could move freely.

Such a scene somewhat exceeded Li Yi's understanding.

But thinking that ghosts had appeared in this world and supernatural creatures now existed, what was happening before his eyes did not seem so strange.

"Take me away from this Ghost Street and return home." Li Yi leaped up and sat on the steed.

Although he did not know how to ride a horse, he could hug the steed's neck tightly so he wouldn't fall off.

The steed reared its hooves and neighed, then exhaled, emitting black smoke.

Then, with iron hooves galloping, the steed carried Li Yi and instantly charged out.

"What a fast speed."

Li Yi only felt the gale whistling in his ears, and the surrounding view became blurred. The steed beneath him had an indescribable feeling as it galloped, as if it were riding the clouds and mist.

"Wait, the skin and flesh on this horse are falling off?"

He immediately discovered that as the steed galloped, large chunks of material were peeling off its body. Li Yi raised his hand to look, and his hand was covered in black mud.

This mud was fishy and foul-smelling; he didn't know what had been mixed into it.

But the steed did not stop; it just ran frantically in one direction.

The surrounding buildings gradually began to change.

The ancient and eerie streets began to disappear, the large red lanterns overhead gradually extinguished, and the silhouettes of high-rise buildings slowly appeared in the surrounding darkness. On the nearby road, many scrapped cars began to appear... All these changes happened within a few moments.

It was as if Li Yi had crossed some other world and returned to the modern city once again.

"I really came back alive."

Suddenly.

The steed's running speed slowed down. Li Yi now discovered that he had appeared at a street corner in the abandoned district, and behind him was that area shrouded in danger.

He looked back.

That eerie street still existed, as if lingering between reality and illusion. Li Yi could even see many terrifying ghost figures wandering about, showing that everything that happened before was not a hallucination before death, but was real.

The steed's gait began to stagger; its body had collapsed too severely, even revealing the stark white skeleton inside.

It continued forward for another few hundred meters.

This mud horse seemed to have reached its limit and could not send Li Yi back to the old city district. After a mournful neigh, it completely collapsed, turning into a pile of sludge and rotten bones on the ground.

Li Yi fell from the steed. He quickly steadied himself and looked at the completely ruined mud horse, feeling secretly regretful in his heart.

"So it was a one-time consumable; it can't be used repeatedly. Fortunately, I was prepared beforehand and bought two mud horses." He touched his pocket.

The remaining mud horse was well-preserved and undamaged.

However, he kept it just in case; Li Yi would not use it easily unless it was a special situation.

"I'll have to walk the rest of the way myself; it's not far anyway." Li Yi saw the familiar surroundings and gradually felt more confident. He did not linger here and immediately turned back along the route he had taken to the danger zone.

He glanced around slightly.

It was still late at night; there were probably two or three hours left until dawn.

It seemed Li Yi had not been trapped in Ghost Street for very long.