Chapter 96: Exorcism

Holy crap...

What a woman with eyes sharp enough to catch every speck of dust.

She would not even let a steamed bun escape?

The moment Li Changluo saw White Lotus roll up her sleeves and prepare to search him, he was livid.

So this is the reward you meant to give me...

Please, be merciful and spare the bun in my arms...

"If you won't take it out yourself, then I'll do it for you."

White Lotus smiled faintly and nodded to Lin Eggy beside her.

Lin Eggy lifted a finger. The rope binding Li Changluo slowly slid off his body, then crawled back, inch by inch, into Lin Eggy's backpack.

Seeing that the matter had already been exposed, Li Changluo thought, so what if it is just a bun? Do you have to treat it like I was peeking at you while you bathed?

Fine, I'll take it out myself.

So Li Changluo reached down into his trousers to pull out the bun he had secretly hidden there...

And then...

At that very moment, White Lotus, who had still been smiling just a second ago, suddenly stretched out her slender, jade-like hands and seized both of Li Changluo's wrists.

He had no time to dodge, and she locked his hands in a firm grip.

The two of them were thus...

Finger to finger...

"What are you doing?"

White Lotus was stunned. Her face turned green as she looked at Li Changluo in confusion.

"I'm... feeling so weak."

Li Changluo actually...

Let himself fall into White Lotus's arms.

Her skin was cool to the bone, and a faint fragrance drifted softly through the air.

The scene was far too familiar. Even Li Changluo began to doubt himself.

Why am I so weak? Why do I throw myself into every girl's arms the moment I see one?

Damn this body...

Damn this useless body...

Damn this shameless body...

I despise you.

White Lotus gave a coy huff, shoved Li Changluo away, then leaped like a fish vaulting over the dragon gate to land behind him. She slapped both palms onto his back.

"Auntie, do I need to take off my clothes or something?"

Li Changluo could not help thinking of the scenes in martial arts films where a master passes on his power. Wasn't it always like this?

"Shut up. No talking."

With this little hooligan, who could shamelessly cross the line at any moment, White Lotus was at a complete loss. Even her usual calm and generosity had begun to give way to irritation.

Then Li Changluo suddenly felt it: the moment White Lotus's palms struck his back...

his whole body turned ice-cold.

So cold.

It was exactly the same as the chill he had felt down his spine the last time in Homeward House.

Could it be...

Was she really passing on her power?

Was she giving me all her life's cultivation?

Was I about to cheat the system for real?

Was I going to rule the world?

Ha ha...

But...

I really do not understand.

What kind of power transfer involves smacking me in the back palm after palm?

Is she teaching me Iron Sand Palm or what?

Blood had already begun to seep from the corner of Li Changluo's mouth, and his face twisted in agony.

White Lotus stood behind him, striking his back one palm after another, all the while muttering under her breath.

That scene looked exactly like some qigong master treating a patient on the spot.

The atmosphere was taut with tension.

Li Changluo wanted so badly to ask: was all this really necessary for a single steamed bun?

Could I not just take it out myself?

As he spoke, he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

And then, at that very moment, Li Changluo felt as though something had pierced straight through his body.

Something inside him seemed to be clinging on desperately, tugging with all its strength.

"Why won't any of you leave me a way out?"

At that moment, a familiar voice rang in his ear.

This voice...

Wasn't it Bi Luo, that little comic-drawing loli?

Li Changluo's heart lurched. A thought flashed through his mind.

Has the little loli possessed me?

"Come out first. Whatever trouble you're in, I'll help you, all right?"

White Lotus kept slapping his back while speaking in the gentle, soothing tone of a caring older sister, trying to persuade the thing hidden inside Li Changluo's body.

"No. My body was already destroyed by that dragon brat. If I come out now, my soul will be wiped out too."

"Either let me go, or destroy him along with me. We'll die together."

From within Li Changluo's body, Bi Luo's adorable little voice shouted anxiously and domineeringly.

Die together my foot...

My body never agreed to this, all right?

Who gave you permission?

It was like a thief caught after stealing someone's money, and while holding a knife to the victim's throat, still yelling at the owner.

I don't care about anything else. Either let me keep stealing from him every day, or we'll all happily go to prison together.

Anyway, I am not leaving you.

Last time, when Li Changluo had tried to run, Little Green, who had suddenly barged into Homeward House, had slammed him straight into that thing that looked like an anywhere door.

As Li Changluo thought it over carefully, he remembered that he had crashed into something, and then a bone-deep chill had swept through him. After that, it had been as if he had lost his memory entirely, unable to remember what had happened.

Could it have been then that this little loli slipped into his body?

Trying to seize the nest and occupy my body, to take over my handsome, carefree frame?

Absolutely intolerable.

"If... if you won't come out, then you'll have to watch me pee every day."

Li Changluo tried to force the stubborn little loli out with a show of strength, but after thinking for a long time, he really could not come up with any solid reason. In the end, he could only blurt out such a feeble excuse...

Even he himself had no confidence that this would work.

...

Everyone present was dumbstruck, unable to speak for a long while.

Of course it would not work. A little loli who had lived for over a hundred years was already a sly old fox. What had she not seen?

It was like some three-year-old brat standing there with his pants soaked, asking an old auntie:

Seen anything this impressive before?

"All right, then forget it. I won't force anyone to do things they don't like."

White Lotus slowly drew her palms back.

Li Changluo was so angry he nearly exploded on the spot and shouted:

Forget it?

I went through all this trouble working with you, and you just say forget it?

You made me bleed!

At least try once more, will you?

And yet...

Li Changluo could never quite see through White Lotus.

Just as everyone was preparing to call it a day and go home, White Lotus took a deep breath, gathered all her strength, and without warning brought down another heavy palm on Li Changluo's back.

She had launched a surprise attack on the little loli inside his body.

Li Changluo felt as though his entire skeleton was about to fall apart. A wave of searing pain nearly suffocated him.

Then his body seemed to be wrapped in ice. Cold. Piercingly cold.

Around him, the ground and walls were slowly beginning to freeze.

Li Changluo could even feel cold frost continuously surging out of his body, and he could hear the crisp patter of ice chunks dropping to the floor.

So cold. So cold...

Could it be...

Am I some kind of ice cream monster?

"Quick, use the campfire skill."