"Who?"
Jia Banxian was suddenly startled and turned his head.
There seemed to be a shadow that flashed by in the bushes behind him.
"Woof woof!"
The small black dog barked loudly and chased after it at incredible speed, disappearing from Jia Banxian's sight in no time.
"Who could it be?"
Jia Banxian stretched his neck, gazing in the direction the small black dog had chased, frowning with worry.
He did not notice that a shadow had quietly appeared behind him.
The shadow raised its hand, holding an iron hook, which was aimed at the back of Jia Banxian's head.
"Grandfather! Run fast!"
The clear voice of a child rang in Jia Banxian's ears once again.
He was greatly startled, sensing something unusual behind him. Without time to turn around, he hurriedly ran forward.
Bang!
The iron hook grazed his back and fell, embedding itself deeply into the ground.
"It's you!"
Jia Banxian turned around in shock. Upon seeing the person, his face paled with fright.
A sallow, emaciated old man wearing a battered woolen hat and filthy black clothes and cloth shoes. His face was rugged, with bulging eyes.
He looked very frightening.
It was the sanitation worker they had seen last night!
"You old beast, what do you want? I warn you not to mess with me. I've been trained!"
Jia Banxian clenched his fist and made a threatening gesture towards the sanitation worker.
"Give me back my bird!"
The sanitation worker, with a hoarse voice, pulled the iron hook out of the ground and stepped toward Jia Banxian.
"What bird? I don't know what you're talking about!"
Jia Banxian hurriedly retreated. The small parrot was in his arms, and he would rather die than give it to this despicable beast.
"That's my grandson's toy, give it back to me!"
The sanitation worker coldly extended his hand towards Jia Banxian.
His fingers were rough, and his hands were covered with black spots of various sizes.
"Nonsense! You've harmed so many children, yet you still dare to claim him as your grandson. Aren't you afraid of divine retribution?" Jia Banxian shouted angrily.
"It is my grandson!"
The sanitation worker flew into a rage, brandishing the iron hook viciously.
That iron hook was meant for picking up trash, and its tip was very sharp.
Jia Banxian didn't dare to fight back, dodging in a fluster, and was chased around in circles by the sanitation worker around the well opening.
Little Black must have been lured away by this old beast!
People with the constitution to travel in the underworld are inherently weaker than ordinary people. He is skilled in divination but not in physical combat.
And this old beast, although he looked as if his steps were unsteady, had a brute strength about him.
When Jia Banxian was being chased so fiercely, he shouted, "Lu family boy, come up quickly!"
But he would have been better off not shouting at all.
As soon as he shouted, the sanitation worker immediately stopped, glanced at the pitch-black well opening, and pulled out a pair of scissors from his dirty clothes, snipping the safety rope.
"You!"
Looking at the broken rope, Jia Banxian's heart sank.
"I'll fight you to the death!"
He picked up a stone from the side and hurled it forcefully at the sanitation worker.
The stone hit the sanitation worker, but he seemed not to feel any pain. Holding an iron hook, he strode straight towards Jia Banxian.
It looked as if the iron hook was about to come down.
"Woof woof!"
A little dog jumped out from the bushes, biting the sanitation worker's trouser leg and pulling him back with all its might.
Blocked in his steps, the sanitation worker stopped, and upon seeing the plump little black dog, a glimmer of light appeared in his cloudy eyes.
"A puppy! My grandson loves puppies!"
He seemed to have forgotten Jia Banxian instantly, reaching out to catch the little black dog.
The small black dog nimbly dodged and barked loudly at the sanitation worker, who with his slow movements, could not keep up with it. It circled behind the sanitation worker and bit him hard on the calf.
Not only were the pants bitten through, but a piece of flesh was also torn off along with them.
But what was strange was that...
There was no blood flowing from the sanitation worker's wound; instead, a strong putrid smell emanated from it.
"Is he a living dead?"
Jia Banxian turned pale with shock.
"Little Black, spit it out quickly, his flesh is poisonous!"
The little black dog, in disgust, spat out the flesh and bared its teeth, barking loudly at the sanitation worker.
"Naughty dog! I don't want it for my grandson!"
The sanitation worker shook his head, picked up the iron-headed tool again, and went after Jia Banxian.
The small black dog lunged forward again, biting his trouser leg, obstructing his steps.
"Naughty, you deserve a beating!"
The sanitation worker, enraged, swung the iron hook at the small black dog.
The small black dog was nimble and always managed to dodge easily.
With it diverting the sanitation worker's attention, Jia Banxian rushed to the well and shouted anxiously inside.
"Lu Fei, Lu Fei, can you hear me? Come up quickly! That old beast is coming, come up quick..."
But before he could get a response from Lu Fei, the sanitation worker came chasing again.
The sanitation worker's trouser legs were completely torn, exposing ashen-gray flesh that gave off a strong stench of decay.
There was no place for the small black dog to bite.
Jia Banxian had no choice but to circle around the sanitation worker again. After running two rounds, his knee suddenly ached, and then his leg gave way, causing him to fall to the ground involuntarily.
"Oh no, I pushed too hard, my old knee problem is acting up again!"
Jia Banxian clutched his aching knee and saw the sanitation worker already rushing to his front.
"Give me the bird back!"
The sanitation worker loomed over Jia Banxian like a shadow of death, raising his iron hook high in the air.
"In your dreams!"
Jia Banxian held his chest to prevent the little parrot from escaping, and instinctively ducked his head as the iron hook came down with force.
After a few seconds, he did not feel the iron hook pierce his back.
He cautiously opened one eye for a peek and was immediately overjoyed.
"Lu Fei!"
Lu Fei, drenched in sweat and covered in mud on his hands and feet, stood beside the sanitation worker, gripping his arm.
"Great, you finally made it up here!" Jia Banxian heaved a long sigh of relief, his heart completely back in place.
With Lu Fei around, what's there to fear from that old beast?
"The rope broke, so I had to climb up the well wall with my hands and feet, that's why it was slower!"
Lu Fei felt that the janitor's arm was cold and hard, like a corpse. He tugged hard a few times and took the hook away, throwing it far away.
"You're all bad people! All bad people!"
The janitor glared at them with resentment.
"We are the bad ones? You sure know how to turn things around!" Lu Fei frowned, helping Jia Banxian up. Seeing that both he and Xiao Hei were safe, he felt relieved.
"Taking my grandson's things! You are all bad people! Give it back, the bird is my grandson's!"
The janitor roared with fury, staggering forward, only to be kicked aside by Lu Fei.
"Lu family boy, his mind isn't right, he's a living dead. No need to reason with him." Jia Banxian snorted.
"A living dead person?" Lu Fei was surprised, looking the sanitation worker up and down.
He had thought that the person who kept a child's corpse must be a deranged evil cultivator.
"It should be due to the long-term influence of corpse qi. Look at his body, it's covered with corpse spots! This is probably karma!" Jia Baxian sneered.
"Is that so?"
Lu Fei took out the small jar he found at the bottom of the well.
"There was no corpse at the bottom of the well. I only found this. I wanted to ask who this contains?"
As soon as the sanitation worker saw the small jar, his eyes changed, filled with intense anger and resentment.