Chapter 109 - 108: [A Curse? Serves You Right! (Part 1)]

Chapter 109: Chapter 108: [A Curse? Serves You Right! (Part 1)]

"You’re back? Here, these are the Protective Talismans I brought back from the Daoist temple. Never take them off, except when you’re showering." He Xiaotian pulled out some incredibly valuable, ultimate-form Protective Talismans from his pocket—they combined offense, defense, and an early warning system all in one.

"Don’t underestimate these things. If you run into any evil spirits, your life might depend on them. If a talisman suddenly gets hot, don’t overthink it—just run as far away as you can. Of course, you don’t need to do that if you’re at home.

"The idol in the living room has also been consecrated by a Daoist. Any common evil spirits or strange entities that sneak in will be mercilessly slain. You also have the Four Great Marshals in your bedrooms. Take the one on the coffee table with you whenever you drive out to run errands."

He Xiaotian put a Protective Talisman on each of them, but his cousin was missing again.

’No one knew what he’d been so busy with lately.’

He only ever came back for dinner.

Perhaps noticing the confusion in He Xiaotian’s eyes, his aunt spoke up. "Junming is looking for a job, but you know how it is. It’s almost impossible to find a job these days that doesn’t require overtime."

’Those damn capitalists.’

"When my cousin gets back, make sure he puts on his Protective Talisman. And have him pick one of the idols to always keep in his car," He Xiaotian said with a resigned sigh after a moment of thought.

’He doesn’t want to be a freeloader, so I can’t really fault him for it.’

’Besides, people are social creatures, after all.’

’Doing nothing all day gets really boring.’

A few days ago during dinner, they had been discussing opening a small supermarket in the residential complex.

One that wouldn’t be open at night, of course.

He Xiaotian was utterly speechless.

’A supermarket that’s closed at night? They’d lose at least half their potential earnings, right?’

’Maybe even more.’

But he was relieved. It was better for them to have something to do than to just waste away at home.

And since they’d only be open during the day, it would be very safe.

’In any case, unless they start winning the lottery every day—the jackpot, at that...’

’...they’ll never make more money than me!’

Before dark, Liu Junming returned.

He was very excited and even brought back a bottle of red wine.

After some questioning from the family, it was revealed that he had found a job.

He was a security chief at a high school, and his work hours matched the students’ class schedule.

In Hua Country, there’s one thing that’s absolutely unavoidable.

Evening self-study sessions!!

Especially in high school. If you aren’t studying until 10 p.m., can you even call yourself a serious student?

However, starting about six months ago, high schools all over began to cancel their evening self-study sessions.

The reason?

Heh. The average person had no idea.

But anyone in the know would inevitably be reminded of all those "404-ed" news stories they’d come across.

Once again, under his cousin’s resentful gaze, He Xiaotian devoured five whole roasted lambs, let out a satisfied burp, and returned to his room to sleep.

His appetite had soared, and if he didn’t get enough nutrition every day, his body would send out hunger signals.

However, this wasn’t an absolute rule. If he were in combat or a harsh environment, He Xiaotian, as a Martial Artist, could last for five or six days without food or water while maintaining full combat strength.

If it went beyond a week, however, his power would inevitably start to decline.

In severe cases, he could even die of exhaustion.

As for being able to survive without ever eating or drinking... that’s not the work of a Martial Artist. That’s an immortal!

Back in his room, he took a refreshing shower. Wrapped in a bathrobe, he pushed open the bedroom door.

"Yaaawn..."

He Xiaotian yawned, ready to get a good night’s sleep.

’Tomorrow, I’ll ask Liu Rui if he knows a way to quickly earn a large amount of Spiritual Energy Crystals.’

’Being in debt feels terrible, after all.’

"Hee hee hee!"

A sinister laugh, laced with cunning, reached his ears.

He Xiaotian turned his head and saw a gaunt, hunched man emerge in the new mirror he had bought.

His face was painted in grotesque clown makeup that was neither fully human nor ghostly, creating an inexplicable sense of dread.

"I ask, you guess..."

Before the creature could finish, He Xiaotian viciously clenched his fist. He bent his arm, and the tensed muscles bulged like a coiled dragon, radiating a sense of explosive power.

???

The clown-faced man was completely flabbergasted. ’Every human who’s ever seen me has screamed and cowered in a corner, trembling in fear. What’s with this guy?’

’Some even bolted for the door in a panic.’

’Not that they ever escaped, of course.’

So seeing He Xiaotian’s reaction, he was momentarily stunned.

But what the human did next made the... ghost, absolutely furious!

Then, from his massive fist, He Xiaotian raised his middle finger.

It was a universal gesture. It didn’t matter that he was a ghost.

Even a caveman would have instinctively understood that the person before him was showing him utter, blatant contempt.

But despite his fury, he didn’t attack immediately.

’My powers aren’t suited for a direct fight.’

’Besides, my greatest pleasure comes from toying with the fear in a human’s heart.’

’I love driving my prey to a mental breakdown before sadistically slaughtering them. The pleasure is unparalleled.’

"I’ll ask a riddle, you guess the answer..."

The clown-faced man composed himself and once again flashed what he considered an amiable smile.

But beneath the makeup, his visage only looked more terrifying.

"Guess my ass!"

He Xiaotian crossed the room in two great strides, stopping right in front of the mirror.

Scorching cyan flames suddenly erupted all over his body. Before the clown-faced man’s disbelieving eyes, He Xiaotian swung his massive palm and slammed it down.

CRASH!

The mirror instantly shattered as the flames blazed.

Accompanied by a series of bloodcurdling screams, a pile of ash appeared at He Xiaotian’s feet.

[Ding! You have slain a White Wanderer Realm Ghost and gained 100 Experience Points.]

"What’s wrong with you, keeping me up in the middle of the night?"

With that said, he quickly cleaned up the mess, lay down on his bed, and went to sleep.

DRIP! DRIP!

He Xiaotian was jolted from his sleep. He opened his eyes to find water constantly dripping from his ceiling.

He wiped the strange liquid off his face and sniffed it. ’Blood?’

Before he could react, a rotting female corpse dropped from above.

FWOOSH!

Cyan flames instantly enveloped his entire body. Before the corpse could even touch him, it was incinerated into ash.

[Ding! You have slain a Rotten Woman and gained 100 Experience Points.]

He Xiaotian sat up, annoyed. ’Good thing my control over my flames has improved so much.’

’Otherwise, that last burst would have probably incinerated my bed.’

’Things were perfectly fine until now. Why are all these ghosts and ghouls popping up one after another tonight?’

’Do they all think I’m some easy target?!’

’And that so-called "expert" security guard in the complex is a total waste of space.’

’I’ve run into evil spirits three times in my own damn apartment, and that guy hasn’t sensed a thing.’

’It’s a world of difference compared to that security team from the Palace Garden.’

’Figures. You get what you pay for. The old proverbs don’t lie.’

"So you’re not going to let me sleep, huh? Fine. I’ll be waiting for you all."

He Xiaotian got dressed, left the bedroom, turned on the TV, and started waiting.

He annihilated four more evil spirits before dawn.

They weren’t very strong, granting him a total of 400 Experience Points.

"Impossible. I couldn’t find a single one of them before, and now I can’t even sleep in peace. Wait a minute... a curse?" He Xiaotian muttered to himself, suddenly remembering the words the Gluttonous King had spoken when he’d shattered its statue.