Chapter 4: Homecoming

Li Zhen sensed the spiritual entity’s presence drawing ever closer. A chill ran down his spine as fear of impending doom filled him.

He harbored no illusions about the effectiveness of his hiding spot; the hospital room was too simple—anyone could see him by merely bending over.

He glimpsed the approaching figure’s feet, each step bringing them nearer.

“Found you!” The boss bent down, taking in Li Zhen’s half-grown appearance.

Yet, he showed not a shred of mercy. His rune dart remained pointed at Li Zhen.

Li Zhen focused intently. The rune dart emanated an alluring aura, but despite trying to harness it for guidance into his storage space, he failed utterly.

With this last resort now useless, goosebumps covered his body. Extreme terror made his heart race, pounding relentlessly against his chest.

Deep within his heart, the small dragon core seemed to sense its host’s peril, responding with a single beat of its own.

In that moment, a faint pressure radiated from Li Zhen’s dragon core.

This time, it was the boss whose body froze. A shudder resonating from his very soul robbed him of control over his limbs.

This was a suppression on the level of life itself. With no guard whatsoever, Li Zhen bore the full brunt of this pressure, especially feeling its weight upon his very soul.

Li Zhen felt his heart suddenly lurch—a beat entirely different from before. It seemed to stir something within him, evoking a sense of mental fatigue akin to what he experienced when extensively using his storage space to gather items over long periods.

Unsure of what had transpired, he only saw the rune dart slip from the boss’s grasp and fall.

He wasn’t one to passively await death. Seeing an opportunity unfold before him, Li Zhen swiftly emerged from beneath the bed and caught the falling rune dart.

While not an expert with such weapons, he possessed some knowledge of rune darts.

In the city, these magical firearms were strictly regulated, permitted for use solely by the Safety Agency’s security officers. They were also the coveted weapons that many children dreamed of wielding since their youth.

Li Zhen himself owned a realistic-looking toy version of a rune dart, meticulously crafted down to minute details—though, naturally, it remained nothing more than a plaything.

However, precisely because of that replica toy, once he took hold of the actual rune dart, he instinctively knew how to activate it.

The boss, having continuously used the rune dart earlier, hadn’t even bothered to engage its safety mechanism.

Li Zhen pulled the trigger, firing a rune dart that struck the boss in the neck and jolting him out of his stunned state.

But it was too late. Li Zhen’s finger didn’t pause, unleashing a rapid volley from the rune dart gun.

Despite being a cultivator, the boss had no chance at such close range with no defense against the barrage of rune darts.

His body crumpled heavily to the ground, blood seeping from multiple holes.

This was Li Zhen’s first kill. His mind went blank; there was no time for thought. He glanced down at the rune dart gun in his hand, pondered for a second, then stored it in his inventory space.

He sensed another spiritual object emanating from the boss’s body, its aura nearly identical to the dark green branch.

Without hesitation, he focused on the spiritual object’s presence, using its energy to guide it into his inventory space.

On Scar, who had been burned alive, lay a blade-type magical artifact. After a moment’s consideration, Li Zhen decided not to claim it. However, he detected another distinct spiritual object near Scar’s chest. Concentrating on this item, he successfully retrieved it as well, adding it to his collection within the inventory space.

The aura of blade-type magical artifacts was the weakest. Leaving behind one such artifact at the scene would make things far more believable.

Li Zhen wasn’t particularly concerned for himself; he was just a twelve-year-old child—a mere bystander caught up in events beyond his control. Although there were signs of a rune dart battle on the site, who would suspect him of being responsible for the missing weapon? After all, no one could find the rune dart unless his storage space was exposed.

As for why he’d taken the risk of leaving the rune dart behind, it stemmed from his deep-seated insecurity.

Memories from his predecessor’s life had shown him that this world was perilous, but as someone who’d grown up in Yunxi County, those dangers had seemed distant—mere tales from others’ lips or sensationalized news reports.

Yet here he was, barely moments into his new life, already facing death. How could that not shatter any sense of safety?

A rune dart was a special type of magical artifact. Even an ordinary person equipped with one could unleash terrifying power.

Just like Li Zhen, a twelve-year-old boy, who had used a rune dart to slay a cultivator who should have been far too powerful for him to overcome.

Of course, the rune dart wasn’t invincible. It posed a fatal threat to ordinary people and cultivators in the early stages of Qi Refining.

But for cultivators in the middle stage of Qi Refining, the threat was significantly reduced. As long as they took proper defensive measures, it was very difficult for the rune dart to cause them any harm.

As for cultivators in the late stage of Qi Refining, the threat was even smaller. Even if such a cultivator had no defenses up whatsoever, the rune dart would be incapable of causing fatal damage.

Li Zhen stored the rune dart back into his storage space, having heard the sounds of commotion outside.

He once again scurried under the bed, which fit his role as a young patient. Only then did he notice two new spirit artifacts in his storage space: one was a section of dark green tree branch. Judging by the cut end, it seemed to match the previous piece he’d fused with—a split from the same branch. The second item was a crystalline pendant.

No wonder those two cultivators came looking—they must have each obtained half of the dark green tree branch from their room next door. This way, they could potentially gain more benefits.

Before Li Zhen could fully comprehend what was happening, someone burst into the room. He hastily suppressed the urge to devour at his heart.

The intruder was immensely powerful; this much he could tell from sensing the aura of a spiritual object that far exceeded mid-tier rank one artifacts.

A peculiar wave swept through the air, and the newcomer discovered Li Zhen.

“Child, my surname is Shang, I’m a constable here now,” the man said softly as he pulled Li Zhen out from under the bed. “There’s no danger anymore!”

Constable Shang didn’t believe there was any connection between Li Zhen and the incident at the hospital. Such conflicts among cultivators often spilled over from outside influences into the city—how could they possibly involve a twelve-year-old child?

Constable Shang called for a pretty female officer to stay with Li Zhen while the others began cleaning up the scene.

Upon receiving simultaneous calls from both the security bureau and the hospital, Father and Mother Li were terrified. They arrived at the hospital shortly thereafter.

“Zhen’er!” Seeing their unharmed son, Father and Mother Li felt immense relief. Nevertheless, Mrs. Li couldn’t help but embrace Li Zhen tightly upon seeing him.

“Mom, can we go home now?” Feeling somewhat guilty about staying on-site, Li Zhen softly asked if they could leave.

“Alright, let’s go home!” Mother Li agreed hastily, thinking her son was still traumatized.

Li Zhen had been thrust into one predicament after another—such a series of events would unsettle even adults, let alone a 12-year-old child.

Father Li found Constable Shang and the doctor, obtaining their permission for the family to leave the hospital.

They returned in the small pickup truck—the only vehicle Li Zhen remembered his family owning, purchased originally to transport spirit rice.

Feeling somewhat exhausted, Li Zhen appreciated being half-supported by his mother during the ride. In his previous life, he never experienced such maternal warmth; it was comforting to have this bond now.

As the pickup truck pulled up before their house, Li Zhen took a moment to examine the building while waiting for the garage door to open.

The structure before him didn’t resemble an ordinary dwelling. This single-family home spanned over three hundred square meters, standing more than twelve meters tall.

Of course, this didn’t necessarily mean the Li family was wealthy; at most, they were slightly better off than average folks, far from being rich by any stretch of the imagination.

The twelve-meter-high building, excluding the underground garage, essentially comprised two floors. The lower level, about three meters high, housed the living quarters for the family of three and storage space. The second floor, on the other hand, was dedicated to cultivating first-order spirit rice.

The second floor employed a composite structure planting method. Within a space measuring nine meters high and over three hundred square meters in area, the planting surface area was expanded to three acres.

The reason for growing spirit rice using this approach rather than cultivating it in traditional spirit fields was dictated by the external environment.

Yunfou City was relatively safe within its walls, but security outside remained uncertain.

While there were no powerful beasts roaming beyond the city limits, even small demonic rodents could prove troublesome enough to give anyone a headache. Moreover, vast numbers of spiritual insects made farming spirit rice outside the city prohibitively expensive.

Don’t underestimate the cultivation of spirit rice; despite our advanced technological era, its growth still heavily relies on the care of cultivators.

The water needed for spirit rice isn’t ordinary H2O; instead, cultivators must use minor cloud-rain techniques to generate spiritual rainwater. Only such spiritual precipitation can nurture the proper development of spirit rice.

In Yunxi County, owning such a large building dedicated to spirit rice cultivation wasn’t a free perk. Each harvest required an 80% yield to be remitted upwards, leaving only 20% for the family’s own use.

As Li Zhen reflected on these matters, the small pickup truck pulled into the underground garage.

Exhaustion weighed down on Father Li, Mother Li, and Li Zhen alike. The entire family, without another word, retired to rest.