The Unruly Immortals

"Hahaha, are all the people in Pi County fools? They believe such nonsense about shrinking manhood," scoffed Gougua carelessly.

"If you were thrown into a situation where everyone else is blindly agreeing, you probably wouldn't fare any better."

Seeing that the street outside, which should have been quiet, had become lively, he put down the teacup in his hand and walked toward the outside.

"Everyone, follow me, and bring your weapons. Later, you'll keep watch on the periphery of the crowd for me, to prevent any unexpected complications."

Nobody knew how Yang Hongzhi had managed to notify everyone, but the government office of Pi County was surrounded by people who wore expressions of panic, and the walls and rooftops were similarly crowded with onlookers.

Thousands of people packed together, buzzing like a swarm of flies.

Yang Hongzhi secretly approached Li Huowang's side, looking at him with excitement.

"Celestial Master, do you see? This should be enough, right? Almost every household has sent someone."

He had just gone back to check and found that his son's vital part had not shrunk, so he had begun to believe this person's words to be seventy to eighty percent true.

Looking at the dense crowd beside him, Li Huowang nodded, then with a few strides, he leapt gracefully onto the stone lion at the entrance of the government office.

"Folks of Pi County! Don't panic! I am here to tell you, there's no such ghost that steals your vital part! You've all been deceived! The shrinking of manhood and womanhood is false! It's all just a rumor!"

No sooner had Li Huowang spoken than the crowd exploded into a hubbub of discussion.

"Ring, ring, ring~!" The piercing sound of the bell instantly penetrated everyone's ears, causing all present to subconsciously cover them.

Once the sound of the discussions was suppressed by the ringing, Li Huowang stopped his Taoist Bell and tossed it to Chun Xiaoman beside him.

As all the people slowly began to un-cover their ears, Li Huowang thought for a moment and then spoke out loudly again, "Everyone! Those who allegedly died of shrinking manhood, I have examined with County Magistrate Yang! The person was merely feigning death and has long since fled to who knows where!"

"And think carefully, all of you. Has anyone here actually seen someone's yang retract into their abdomen with their own eyes? Remember, not what someone's son said, or what a neighbor claimed, but what you yourself have witnessed! Have you?!"

Hearing Li Huowang's question, faces throughout Pi County showed hesitation.

Just as Li Huowang thought they were about to cast aside their panic and anxiety, a different voice emerged from the crowd.

"There is!" A middle-aged woman with half-white hair, holding her child swaddled in her arms, stepped forward tremblingly.

She shakily opened her clothes layer by layer and lifted her naked child high in the air, presenting him excitedly to the others.

"Look at this! My child's vital part has shrunk! This man is a fraudster! Don't believe him!"

Li Huowang looked closely at the woman in front of him and, after confirming she was not a disguise of the Oblivion Path, turned his gaze to the child in her arms.

"This is your child? His vital part was stolen by an invisible ghost?"

"Yes! Look! Where has his vital part gone? It's gone!! Wuu wuu~ my poor son~~~~" The woman sobbed loudly, hugging her child.

"Truly shrunk away?" Li Huowang looked at the empty space below and his head jolted with shock.

But the next second, Li Huowang reacted, looking at her with a strange expression and asking a very ordinary question.

"Aunt, is there any possibility that your child is actually a girl?" The resemblance was too natural, it didn't seem like something that could be achieved by shrinking.

After he spoke, the woman seemed frightened, hugging her child and squeezing into the crowd.

"You're full of it! When I was pregnant, my belly was pointed! How could I possibly give birth to a 'money-losing' child! I bore a son!"

Having said that, the woman immediately clutched the child and knelt in front of an elderly man, pleading anxiously, "Head of the household, don't believe him. It's really not my fault, I truly gave birth to a healthy, heir-bearing boy! It was the ghost that took away the child's life source, this really can't be blamed on me."

The woman's words unsettled everyone. The murmurs grew louder.

"To avoid being mistreated in your husband's family, you insisted on passing your daughter as a son. Why weren't you so clever when you faced Oblivion Path?"

As the murmuring from below grew louder, Li Huowang was about to stabilize the situation when a piercing scream suddenly burst forth from the crowd.

In an instant, the dense crowd cleared a large space, and in the center stood a beggar in tattered clothes, triumphantly holding a rusty short knife in his hand.

Amidst a man's wailing, he forcibly removed the man's life source and hung it on his own body, satisfied.

The unsteady beggar with his arching unibrow stood up, his face bearing a sinister smile as he looked around at all the terrified people.

"Hehehe~~~ life sources~ all the life sources are mine~ With these life sources, I can be reborn~"

As he spoke, his body astonishingly floated up like a ghost, lunging towards another man nearby.

"Ahhh!!" Accompanied by the screams of women, everyone present was thrown into chaos, fleeing in all directions.

Just as the man was about to be tackled, Li Huowang had already shot a fingernail at him.

With a "clang" of metal, the nail struck him, resounding with a crisp metallic clang.

In the midst of the chaotic scene, Li Huowang fought his way toward the man, but by the time he got there, several men and women were already lying on the ground.

"Clang!" Li Huowang drew his sword and charged at the person, slashing directly at him.

To Li Huowang's surprise, the exceedingly sharp Purple Tassel Sword, a military-grade weapon, didn't even break the skin and could only produce a crisp sound upon impact.

Seeing Li Huowang in trouble, others also rushed to join in.

Gao Zhijian moved with heavy footsteps, charging over, his Wolf Fang Club already whistling as he swung it around.

In the melee, Li Huowang exchanged blow for blow with the opponent.

But the more he engaged with this person, the more Li Huowang felt something was off—there was something very strange about this ghost.

If this thing was really a ghost, then wasn't it too odd? Could a ghost be immune to swords and spears? Not even the Exorcising Evil Sword could cut through? And to appear in broad daylight?

As Li Huowang was figuring out how to deal with this person, he couldn't tell if it was his own illusion, but he felt the other party blinked at him, prompting a flood of thoughts.

Under the watchful eyes of the citizens of Pi County, they saw the man wearing the Copper Coin mask exchanging blow after blow with the ghost.

Their hearts fluctuated with the tide of battle, at times soaring, at times sinking.

After a stalemate of a quarter of an hour, Li Huowang thrust his foot directly into the man's chest.

Immediately after that, he pulled out a yellow Talisman and affixed it to the man's forehead, finally bringing quiet to the scene.

Gasping for air, Li Huowang looked around with his sword and declared resolutely, "You're right, there is indeed a ghost stealing life sources, and he was that ghost! Now, he has been killed by me!"