6: Chapter 6: Breaking Out
6 -6: Breaking Out
Pei Laoliu had been fortune-telling for many years, and his storytelling skill had also become exceptionally proficient.
Moreover, with Zhang Xiaoman listening so intently at this moment, such a twist indeed gave quite a fright.
However, Zhang Xiaoman was only startled at the first moment he heard about the unexpected incident; once he regained his composure, curiosity strongly took over instead.
At this point, he was somewhat eager to know what exactly was going on.
“Master Liu, what happened next?”
Zhang Xiaoman asked anxiously.
Pei Laoliu pressed his hand down on him to signal him to be patient.
Then he took another sip of tea to moisten his throat, before he continued:
“You wouldn’t know how shocked I was when I suddenly saw a living face attached to the door!
Moreover, the face was not just sticking to the back of the door, but it was also continually twisting and struggling, as if it was about to jump out!”
“I saw that the area around the face was covered with dense, blood-vessel-like veins, back then my soul nearly flew out of fright!”
Hearing this, Zhang Xiaoman visualized a horrifying scene in his mind.
Somehow, he also recalled the incident he had encountered the previous night and shivered involuntarily.
“Do you know what my first thought was at that time?”
Pei Laoliu suddenly said with some fear:
“My first reaction was that I had fallen into a trap!
This young fellow beside me must be a servant ghost or some sort of clone; they had lured me in to harm me!”
As he spoke, his eyes widened, as if reliving the scene.
“I’ve lived this long, and though it was my first time encountering this ghostly thing, I’ve told many ghost stories before, and I have a good grasp of those stories!”
“Plus, I’m at least half an insider, though I don’t have real skills, the tools in my hand are genuine!
The Peach Wood Sword was indeed made from an old peach tree, and the Black Dog Blood was taken from my own dog, Xiao Tian!”
“There’s a saying, strike first to gain the upper hand!
I suddenly swung my arm, and that small bowl of Black Dog Blood I was holding splashed onto...
the face of that demon.
It must not have expected me to act so swiftly, it was caught off guard, and immediately let out a miserable scream!”
Hearing this, Zhang Xiaoman couldn’t help but admire the old man’s decisiveness.
He himself had encountered these odd entities, and he truly understood the horror of being in such a situation.
This was totally different from watching movies or reading novels.
Facing life and death situations with one’s own life at stake, if it were someone less courageous, they probably wouldn’t even be able to stand still, let alone have the courage to fight back.
The old man continued to say:
“When the demon let out that scream, I saw the face attached to the door scream as well.
Though I was glad that my gamble paid off, the shriek it produced was so sharp and piercing, I nearly fainted!”
“Luckily, I, Pei Laoliu, am also of firm resolve.
I bit the tip of my tongue and shouted loudly ‘Evil spirit!’, and then with two strides, I charged over and slashed its face with a sword...”
Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiaoman sighed inwardly, “Master Liu is mighty,” then he quickly urged:
“Then what happened next?
Did you kill that demon?”
Pei Laoliu, unabashedly said:
“Next?
Of course, I fled through the door!”
Zhang Xiaoman was stunned, his look of admiration gradually stiffened.
“Old man, you just...
just ran away like that?”
Pei Laoliu glared and scolded:
“You punk, think I, your Master Liu, haven’t lived long enough?
If I didn’t run, should I have stayed to fight demons and exorcize evil?
With my half-baked skills, wouldn’t that be courting death!”
As he said this, he seemed to recall something else, his tone wistful:
“It’s just a pity that I left all my tools behind there, couldn’t bring a single one back, and they were my partners for earning a living over the years!”
Zhang Xiaoman broke a sweat.
“So you just ran away, not caring about your reputation?”
The old man glanced at him and said,
“Well, there wasn’t anyone else there to see it at the time, and it’s not like the ghost is going to spread the word about it, right?
Besides, where is a reputation as important as one’s life?”
He paused and then added, “Moreover, after this incident, I’ve decided not to continue in this line of work...
It’s too dangerous.”
Zhang Xiaoman was speechless but finally understood why the old man had decided to wash his hands off this risky business.
To put it simply, in two words—he chickened out.
“After returning, I thought it over carefully.
The first half of my life, I was just lucky not to have encountered a real ghost...”
Pei Laoliu talks with a tone mixed with relief and fear,
“But just because I haven’t seen them doesn’t mean they don’t exist!
If I were to encounter one again...
I’m not ready to die yet, I plan to enjoy my peaceful retirement at home!”
Zhang Xiaoman nodded in agreement.
Yes, as an ordinary person, who would actively want to encounter such oddities?
“Alright, we’ve eaten and shared stories, now go do whatever you were doing.
If you want that cart, take it now, it’ll save me the nostalgia.”
The old man started to usher people out.
Just then, the big black dog Xiao Tian, who had been quiet this whole time, suddenly perked up its ears, then stood up abruptly and started barking towards the door.
“Woof!
Woof!
Woof!”
Zhang Xiaoman was startled, his first thought being that the ghost from the story had come knocking on their door!
Pei Laoliu didn’t hesitate much, just sat there and yelled,
“The door isn’t locked, come on in!”
The noise outside paused for a moment, and then two men pushed the door open and stepped in.
After surveying the layout of the yard, they walked towards Zhang Xiaoman and Pei Laoliu.
These were two policemen in uniform.
Zhang Xiaoman suddenly felt a bit nervous.
Having just received the System, he was still lacking a bit of security, subconsciously thinking about potential exposures of secrets.
Pei Laoliu was also stunned, evidently, the identity of the two men was a bit unexpected to him as well.
“Are you Pei Laoshi?”
The speaker was a middle-aged man with a square-shaped face.
Pei Laoliu quickly stood up, found a stool, and invited the two policemen to sit down.
After all, with the nature of his business, he was somewhat wary of government workers.
This wasn’t exactly a legitimate business, and sometimes, if you were unlucky, you’d get dragged in for criticism and education.
“Yes, that’s me.
What can I do for you, officers?”
Zhang Xiaoman, seeing they were not after him, also secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Thinking back on his previous nervousness, he suddenly felt his face getting warm.
He was too impatient.
The lead policeman sat down, his expression was not accusatory, yet neither was it overly friendly.
Neutral and unreadable, giving nothing away.
“Pei Laoshi, on the evening of July 7th, where were you?”

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