Chapter 39: You’re Going to Die
Seeing Li Zhen’s appearance, the woman inside the door felt an inexplicable sense of terror and instinctively retreated a few steps.
Li Zhen didn’t speak, but the pressure and fear she felt only grew stronger.
“Honey, co quick! There’s a strange man—” the woman called out anxiously.
“What strange man? Is he as stupid and weird as you are?”
The middle-aged man Li Zhen had seen downstairs earlier ca over, cursing as he walked to the door.
When he saw Li Zhen, he exaggeratedly let out a “Wow!” and said, “It’s you! You actually followed upstairs!”
“With that face of yours, don’t co to my house bringing bad luck. Here—take so money and go see a doctor…”
The man took out a few bills from his pocket and handed them toward Li Zhen.
When Li Zhen remained motionless, he quickly fished out even more money.
“Here, here, take it all. Go to a good hospital.”
Li Zhen lowered his head, glanced at the money, then looked up at the man and said, “You’re going to die.”
“Wha—” The man’s eyes widened. “I gave you money, and you’re still saying I’m going to die? Have you looked at yourself? You look like a corpse—walk outside and you’ll scare people to death!”
“If you don’t want the money, fine, just get out. I’ve already sent off two people; I don’t want to send off another. Otherwise, I’ll have to sell this flat for half its price.”
Li Zhen said flatly, “You know very well what you did in Nanyang. Now that they’ve co to Hong Kong Island, the first one they want to kill is you.”
“The Ten Curses of Nanyang”—the na sounded eerie, but its origin was roughly similar to that of the “Gu.”
Both were disasters brought back by Hong Kong n who went to Nanyang seeking thrills.
However, unlike the “Gu,” a few of the n involved in the “Ten Curses” were sowhat innocent.
Li Zhen couldn’t clearly recall so of the story’s details, but the exaggerated events and various head-descending curses were vivid in his mind.
What intrigued him most now was the head-descending sorcery perford by the sorcerer Naimi in that story.
Having walked the path of a head-descending sorcerer himself and turned into a half-human, half-corpse being, there was no way back for him.
He had to reach the pinnacle of the head-descending arts—only then might he find a sliver of life amid death.
Upon hearing Li Zhen’s words, the man’s expression turned visibly uneasy, but his tone remained stubborn. “What Nanyang? We just went there for fun. We didn’t do anything. Who’d want to kill ? Don’t talk nonsense!”
“Your surna’s Zheng?”
“Zheng Nan. You can just call Ah Nan.”
Li Zhen shifted his gaze toward the boy in mourning clothes in the living room. “Soone’s been watching you lately, hasn’t there?”
The man who called himself Zheng Nan also turned to look at his son.
Zheng Ze nodded. “Yeah, soone’s been spying on . I’ve noticed several tis. I’m really scared.”
Zheng Nan seed to recall sothing and smacked Zheng Ze on the head, snapping, “Why didn’t you say so earlier, you little brat? You’ll get your old man killed one day!”
Zheng Ze rubbed his forehead and pouted. “I did say it. You just didn’t believe . You said I ate too many cup noodles and went stupid.”
“Do you rember what the person looked like?” Li Zhen pointed to the schoolbag on the sofa. “If you do, you can draw it on paper.”
“Yes, yes, draw it!” Zheng Nan quickly grabbed his son, pressed him down at the coffee table, and fished a piece of blank paper and a pen from the schoolbag, shoving them into Zheng Ze’s hand.
Only after doing this did he rember Li Zhen was still at the door. He hurried over, smiling awkwardly, and ushered him inside.
“Sir… may I ask your na?”
“Li Zhen.”
“Mr. Li, please, have a seat. Ah Yuk! Pour Mr. Li so water! Why are you just standing there? Watching a show?”
The woman—Zheng Nan’s wife, Leung Hinyuk—quickly went to pour Li Zhen a glass of water.
Zheng Nan gave a fawning smile, rubbed his hands together, and craned his neck to sneak glances at his son.
A few minutes later, Zheng Ze handed the drawing to Zheng Nan.
“Dad, it’s done.”
Zheng Nan snatched the drawing eagerly, but the instant he saw it, all color drained from his face.
Li Zhen tilted his head slightly to take a look.
It was a simple pencil sketch—crude, abstract, the kind of drawing an elentary schooler would make. Yet certain features stood out.
The picture showed a man with a slightly wide jaw, short hair, and a short-sleeved shirt—dium build.
To emphasize the man’s eeriness and nace, Zheng Ze had shaded both his eyes black with chaotic pencil strokes.
Whether intentional or not, a few lines captured a subtle, twisted half-smile on the man’s face.
Zheng Nan stared at it blankly for a mont, then suddenly stood up, tossed the drawing beside Zheng Ze, and snapped, “What the hell is this supposed to be? Who can tell who that is? Redraw it! Redraw it! I told you to take art lessons, but you never listen!”
Zheng Ze grumbled, “I’m just a kid. It’s good enough you can tell it’s a man.”
“Talk too much and see what happens. Just draw when I tell you to.”
Wiping cold sweat from his forehead, Zheng Nan forced a smile at Li Zhen. “Mr. Li, who exactly are you? How co you know so much about the Nanyang head-descending sorcerers?”
Li Zhen smiled faintly. “Nanyang has its own rules. Hong Kong Island has its own. If a Nanyang sorcerer enters Hong Kong without our permission, he breaks our rules.”
A fellow practitioner? Could this be soone he could cling to?
Zheng Nan’s heart lifted, and he quickly said respectfully, “So you’re Master Li. In Hong Kong… there’s actually a rule that bans Nanyang head sorcerers from entering?”
“Anyone who cos to cause trouble definitely can’t.”
“Good, that’s good! Every trade needs its own rules. Otherwise, everyone would just do as they please, and the world would fall apart! But we really only went to Nanyang for fun—we didn’t do anything. So… who exactly is this person from Nanyang you ntioned, Master Li?”
Li Zhen stared into Zheng Nan’s eyes without replying.
Leung Hinyuk frowned. “What’s going on? Who’s coming from Nanyang to cause trouble for you?”
Zheng Nan’s throat bobbed as he swallowed. After a brief hesitation, he abruptly stood, roughly shoved Leung Hinyuk and Zheng Ze—who was pretending to draw but secretly listening—into a room.
“You two don’t understand. I’ll take care of it.”
Closing the door, Zheng Nan returned to the sofa and asked uneasily, “Is soone really coming from Nanyang?”
Li Zhen nodded. “According to reliable sources, his na is Naimi—a powerful Nanyang head-descending sorcerer. He’s co to Hong Kong Island seeking revenge.”
The faint hope in Zheng Nan’s heart instantly died.
What had happened in Nanyang was known only to him, his companions, and the head sorcerer Naimi himself.
Now that Li Zhen had directly ntioned Naimi by na, all his denial vanished.
That ant the mysterious and powerful Nanyang sorcerer truly had crossed the sea to Hong Kong, intent on killing them.
To be targeted by a head-descending sorcerer—what ordinary person wouldn’t despair?
Zheng Nan was completely terrified.
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