Chapter 70: The Crimson Evil Ghost

"That fellow E-Tu... is causing me trouble again."

Quietly closing the third eye between his brows, Li Boyang muttered a few indistinct words under his breath.

By now, Li Boyang had long since returned home, lying on his small bed to recuperate in peace.

After all, even with the altar acting as a substitute to bear the brunt of the backlash.

The remaining small portion of the earth vein's power was still enough to keep Li Boyang bedridden for a while.

This is the greatest difference between divine abilities and spells.

A divine ability is one's own innate talent, something akin to an instinct.

Whether innate or acquired, once a divine ability manifests, how far you can take it depends entirely on the extent to which you develop it.

Spells, on the other hand, rely on external forces to achieve a specific goal.

Whether it be gods or earth veins, they are, in essence, external powers that do not belong to oneself.

The worst consequence of overusing a divine ability is merely exhaustion.

Conversely, with spells, not only must one follow various taboos during use, but the consequences of a backlash are also extremely severe.

It was fortunate that Li Boyang’s current physique had already transcended that of a mortal.

The baleful energy of the earth vein was merely a branch of the earth vein's power, which was the only reason it hadn't completely shattered his meridians.

Even so, Li Boyang had still used the Luo Qiu in advance, only then managing to return home appearing to have no injuries at all.

Otherwise, just thinking about Chen Yun’s incessant nagging gave Li Boyang a massive headache.

Although the current situation wasn't much better, at least she wouldn't mutter right in front of Li Boyang.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"Tell me, what do you think he was doing last night?"

Staring suspiciously at Li Boyang’s room for a long time, Chen Yun finally couldn't help but ask her husband.

Li Boyang had always risen early and never had the habit of oversleeping or lingering in bed.

At this time of day, he would usually either be climbing walls and trees in the village with Li Jingshu or would have already headed off to learn from the Mountain God.

"Didn't you keep complaining that he doesn't act like a normal child, leaving you with no sense of maternal accomplishment?"

"Now that our son has finally slept in for once, why are you unhappy instead?"

Li Yu, who was eating breakfast, took a moment to lift his head, his eyes full of teasing and doting affection.

After so many years as husband and wife, Li Yu sometimes understood Chen Yun’s mindset even better than she, as a wife and mother, did herself.

"How can that be the same!?"

Plopping down into a seat opposite Li Yu, Chen Yun retorted indignantly.

"That child has been independent since he was small; he insisted on sleeping alone as soon as he turned one, and as he grew up, it was rare to see him playing with other children his age."

"Now that he’s acting so abnormally, aren't you worried at all?"

Quickly shoveling down a few mouthfuls of rice, Li Yu suddenly lowered his voice and said.

"Of course I’m worried..."

"But what I know even better is that the child is far more capable than we imagine."

Before Chen Yun could speak again, Li Yu took the initiative to confess.

"He was injured when he came back last night..."

Before the words had even faded, Chen Yun nearly jumped up.

Fortunately, Li Yu had the foresight to reach out and press down on her shoulder immediately.

"The child doesn't want us to worry; can't you even see that much?"

With her eyes wide, Chen Yun glared fiercely at her husband, though her voice unconsciously grew quieter.

"When did you find out? Why didn't you tell me?"

Turning his head away with a guilty conscience, not daring to meet Chen Yun’s gaze, Li Yu replied in a low voice.

"When the storm dissipated last night and the child came home, I smelled a faint scent of blood on him."

"Although the scent was very faint, it couldn't fool a hunter like me."

"That wasn't the blood of some wild beast; it was our son's blood. He was injured..."

Seeing that Chen Yun was about to explode again, Li Yu hurriedly explained further.

"I saw that he had no visible wounds on his body, and since the child didn't want us to worry, I just pretended not to know."

"But after being injured, one needs to recuperate; that is something unavoidable, no matter how miraculous our child is."

"Once our son has rested well, you can boil him some ginseng soup and rice porridge to nourish his body; I believe he will recover very quickly."

Glancing at Li Yu with lingering suspicion, Chen Yun finally turned and headed toward the kitchen.

"If I find out you and our son teamed up to lie to me, you won't be coming home for dinner at night anymore!"

Listening to Chen Yun’s low-voiced curses, Li Yu gave a helpless smile.

As the only hunter in Li Family Village, Li Yu had managed to save up quite a bit of wealth over the past three years.

Three consecutive years of bumper harvests had not only allowed Li Yu to expand their originally simple house into a proper courtyard, but even allowed them to eat their fill of precious white rice.

More importantly, various mountain goods and medicinal herbs had also become daily staples for Li Yu’s family, and indeed the entire Li Family Village.

The mountain goods were the fruits of Li Yu’s hunting trips, which could add a bit of meat to the village's daily diet.

The medicinal herbs were the result of Li Boyang and Li Jingshu scavenging everywhere, which greatly reduced the number of deaths in the village due to illness and injury.

"Yun'er, our child is far more promising than we ever imagined."

Gazing deeply toward Li Boyang’s small room, Li Yu seemed to return to the time a year ago when he went hunting in the mountains.

That time, Li Yu had uncharacteristically failed.

Perhaps it was simple grudges, or perhaps it was because Xi Luo’s aura was gradually dissipating...

Several Earth-Borers had quietly surrounded him without Li Yu noticing.

By the time Li Yu realized something was wrong, one of the Earth-Borers had already viciously rammed into him.

Although Li Yu had relied on his agile skills to dodge the first sneak attack from the Earth-Borer.

The successive appearances of more Earth-Borers had driven him into a desperate situation.

Yet, at this critical moment, several crimson drowsy-bugs suddenly flew out from nowhere, successfully putting several of the Earth-Borers into a deep slumber.

Seeing this, how could Li Yu not know that these drowsy-bugs were protecting him?

Unfortunately, before Li Yu could recover from his surprise, a massive, almost demonic Earth-Borer quietly appeared behind him.

Because that Earth-Borer had appeared so abruptly.

Neither Li Yu nor the drowsy-bugs could react in time, directly resulting in him being gored and severely injured in an instant.

In the final moments before Li Yu lost consciousness, he saw the mountain forest burning—he saw a "crimson evil ghost" walking out from the flames.

From that day on, Li Yu never saw another Earth-Borer near Li Family Village again.

Li Yu certainly knew why this was, and he knew exactly who had done it.

"Sometimes, when a son is too promising, it really does make parents feel like they have no sense of accomplishment..."

Sighing imperceptibly, Li Yu only hoped that the "crimson evil ghost" would appear less often in the future.

At the very least, he could not let Chen Yun see that angry "crimson evil ghost."

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(End of Chapter)