Rational suspicion arose when she heard the conversation between the four; she left Run Sheng’s side and transferred to Tan Wenbin.
But clearly, in a battle of wits, she was outmatched by the humans.
Xue Liangliang and Li Zhiyuan had actually noticed, but purposefully didn’t make it known.
"Big brother, I’m really hungry."
The girl pleaded with Li Zhiyuan, her face exuding a bashful charm.
She was indeed quite cute and could easily invoke sympathy, no wonder she managed to receive help from Xue Liangliang and the others.
Unfortunately for her, Li Zhiyuan was devoid of such superfluous emotions.
Perhaps sensing this, she didn’t target the younger brother.
Li Zhiyuan raised his other hand and swung it towards her.
In reality, Li Zhiyuan sat motionless, but the white dust pinched at his fingertips began to float without wind towards Tan Wenbin, precisely at the back of his neck.
Tan Wenbin’s nose itched, and he couldn’t help but want to sneeze.
But soon after, he felt a chill on his neck as if a large chunk of ice was pressed there, followed by a burning pain. It felt like hot and cold hell, as if that large patch of skin was about to roll up.
In the Underworld state, Li Zhiyuan saw the girl screaming in agony.
She ran away, towards the distance, her figure fading gradually.
Li Zhiyuan lowered his head to look at the girl’s arm in his hand, bloody, like a blood-soaked lotus root.
The awkward question now for Li Zhiyuan was whether he should chase after her. He had never fought in an Underworld state before, and he didn’t know how to fight. Should he catch up and grapple with her, trying to kill her?
But how would he know if she’s truly "dead"? Her arm was already in his possession, yet she wasn’t dead.
Or perhaps, he could use the method from Wei Zhengdao’s Black Book to see if he could control her?
But this girl didn’t seem to be a Corpse; she turned to ash.
While hesitating, the opportunity slipped by as the girl’s figure grew fainter and fainter until it disappeared.
This was also considered a good outcome, as he had driven her away.
No wonder it’s called "exorcism."
Such creatures would be quite a handful even for those specializing in this field, let alone someone like him, out of his professional scope.
Would she be able to return to the cremation urn, or had she become a wandering ghost, eventually dissipating?
If she dissipates, then so be it; it’s what she deserved.
Li Zhiyuan closed his eyes, his consciousness began to surface, and soon, the Underworld state ended.
When he opened his eyes again, he realised that Run Sheng, Xue Liangliang, and Tan Wenbin had each affixed a talisman paper on themselves.
Li Zhiyuan: "These talisman papers are useless."
Run Sheng retorted: "They are useful. She transferred from me to Binbin just now, so they didn’t change color."
Everyone was clearly aware of the situation now because Tan Wenbin’s neck was bruised and black, still aching intensely at the moment.
"Hiss... She sneakily crept onto me, damn it!"
While inspecting his wound, Xue Liangliang teased: "Maybe she hung around your neck most of the time along the way."
"Shit, that explains why I can never remember English vocabulary, I forget as soon as I memorize!"
Li Zhiyuan said: "She has been driven away, and most likely won’t come back. Even if she does, we can just exorcise her again."
While speaking, Li Zhiyuan looked down at his hands; the piece of arm was obviously invisible, and wouldn’t exist in reality, yet he still picked up some dry leaves from the ground and rubbed them between his hands.
He then took another look at the faces of the three; although they couldn’t instantly revert to normal, the "deep darkness" had lightened significantly.
"Now, what we should consider is how to leave this place," Xue Liangliang pointed at the village, "If we cannot find another way to break the situation, then I can only suspect that the key to leaving must be in the village."
"There are people in the village, I saw them, but I don’t know if they are alive."
Run Sheng said: "Let’s go into the village now, while my stomach isn’t too hungry, and I still have the energy."
"Give me some more time, I’ll think of another way."
Li Zhiyuan picked up the Compass again, stood up, and began to observe the Feng Shui.
Xue Liangliang followed Li Zhiyuan, while Run Sheng was massaging Tan Wenbin’s neck.
"Be gentle, gentle, it hurts!"
"When it flows, it doesn’t hurt; when it hurts, it doesn’t flow."
Li Zhiyuan didn’t go far, first gazing at the village, then at the path, and then he lowered his head to fiddle with the Compass.
At this moment, he had somewhat given up, as if he had a solution he would’ve used it earlier. Currently, he was just making a last struggle, because he really didn’t want to enter that village.
"Xiao Yuan, I really think we should try the method I mentioned and take a look in the village."
"Brother Liang, you’re an exception based on personal experience. The reason you were able to get out last time was because someone outside was pressing down on the Bai family town."
"Xiao Yuan, you misunderstand, my point is, since we want to leave but can’t, does that mean the way in is the way out, just in reverse?"
Li Zhiyuan realized he had indeed misunderstood Brother Liang and also felt that Brother Liang, not being hung by the little girl, was really useful.
"If we want to verify that, we can split into two groups, one group stays in place, and the other follows a specific route to run, then we observe and record. For instance, take corners, or run in circles, to see how we end up back at the starting point."
"No, no, we can’t split up."