17 Chapter 17 [Bizarre]

Lu Li could feel that the spiritual power converted from the purple aura was much denser than the evil Yin energy absorbed in the graveyard!

Absorbing a wisp of purple aura was equivalent to absorbing seven or eight wisps of red aura.

Although he still didn't know what the composition of this purple aura was, he guessed that it was a variant of the evil Yin energy.

The most important thing was that such a good thing was in the middle of the river, and there was a huge lump of it!

"What if I absorb all the purple aura at the bottom of the river?"

Just thinking about it made him eager to try.

With this thought, Lu Li continued to activate the jade pendant to absorb the faint purple aura.

There was not much purple aura around him, to begin with. It was just a small wisp that was separated from the ridiculously dense purple aura from the middle of the river.

The tiny blob of purple aura got fainter and fainter as Lu Li continued absorbing it.

However, just as Lu Li was about to absorb it all in one go...

Lu Li suddenly sensed movements from the Yamato sword! Even though Lu Li didn't take it out as it was inside an alternate dimension, he could still somehow feel it.

It vibrated a little.

This was the first time Lu Li felt it vibrating after obtaining it.

Just as he was puzzled, he saw the purple aura in the middle suddenly moved.

A thread of dense purple aura extended towards the purple aura that was being absorbed by Lu Li at an extremely fast speed!

Lu Li was startled.

He made a prompt decision to immediately cut off the connection with the purple aura.

The thread of purple aura had already extended out to the river water under his feet. The purple aura then spread out towards Lu Li's direction.

This movement startled Lu Li so much that he immediately took a few steps to the side.

A chill emitting from his soul swept over him.

Lu Li knew that he had probably gotten himself into trouble. He didn't dare to stay any longer and immediately ran away.

At the same time, he saw a seven or eight-year-old boy playing with the mud on the ground with a plastic shovel nearby.

Lu Li was afraid of what would happen next, so he went up to the boy, picked him up, and quickly ran away.

"Ah! What are you doing? Put me down!"

The little boy was astonished by Lu Li's sudden action and shouted.

This also attracted the attention of the people on the side of the shore.

Lu Li immediately felt his heart racing. He hoped that these people wouldn't surround him. If someone got caught up in this, it was very likely that someone would die!

However, Lu Li was worrying too much.

After Lu Li ran for more than a hundred meters, he turned back to take a look.

However, he discovered that the purple aura had only spread towards the bank of the river. Unable to find its target, it quickly withdrew.

Lu Li watched as it returned to the surface of the river.

Subsequently, it left a ball of faint purple aura on the spot, then returned into the middle of the river.

The ball of purple aura left on the spot was the same density as when Lu Li first saw it.

Lu Li immediately understood.

"The fainter purple aura on the shore was intentionally left here by that dense purple aura?"

Lu Li's guess was correct.

Because soon, he saw a few clusters of faint purple aura on the other side of the river.

This meant that there were many places where it deliberately left the purple aura on the shore.

But what was the use of this purple aura?

"Could it be like a trap, waiting for humans or other creatures to step on it?"

Lu Li vaguely felt that there was something at the bottom of the river.

Thinking of this, Lu Li put down the child in his arms.

No matter what the purple aura was, Lu Li didn't dare to continue absorbing it.

Although a wisp of purple aura was equivalent to seven or eight wisps of red aura, Lu Li could feel that this purple aura was far more dangerous than the evil Yin energy at the cemetery!

Before he investigated what this purple aura was and what was at the bottom of the river, it was best not to do anything to it.

"Brother Li?"

At this moment, the little boy that Lu Li put down seemed to recognize Lu Li and tentatively called out.

Only then did Lu Li notice that this child looked a little familiar.

"You are, Ru?"

"Yes."

The little boy nodded.

Lu Li remembered now. This kid was the child who lived along the same alleyway as his old house.

Lu Li's family has now moved into his current house. They moved when Lu Li was in middle school.

As for this child, Lu Li did not know his actual name. His family name was not Ru, but Xu. However, his parents always called him Ru. It seemed to be his nickname, so Lu Li also called him that.

Lu Li remembered that Ru's parents seemed to be a divorced and reorganized family.

He had an eleven or twelve-year-old sister at home.

Ru looked at Lu Li and asked, "Brother Li, why did you suddenly carry me so far away?"

"It's nothing, I was just playing with you."

Lu Li patted his head and saw that he was holding a plastic bucket in his hand. There seemed to be something translucent in the bucket, so he asked, "What's in your bucket?"

Ru heard this and seemed to be very pleased with himself as he took out the thing in the bucket for Lu Li to see.

He smiled simply and honestly. "It's slime. Isn't it beautiful? Sis gave it to me."

He saw that the thing in Ru's hand was something similar to jelly, bouncy and jello-ey.

Lu Li thought that it was a slime creature, so he was somewhat excited. But upon closer inspection, Lu Li didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

It was just a rubber toy. It looked smooth and transparent, and it was soft to the touch. Lu Li had played with something similar when he was young.

"Well, it does look beautiful. Have fun then. I'll be leaving first."

Lu Li said and was about to leave.

"Okay, bye, brother Li."

"By the way, don't play by the river anymore. Go play somewhere near your home, understand?"

Out of kindness, Lu Li reminded his ex-neighbor's child.

However, Ru pouted and said unhappily, "My parents are fighting at home. Sis told me to play by myself."

"Uh..."

Domestic violence?

Hearing Ru said this, Lu Li remembered that his parents did mention that Ru's current parents later got divorced in his previous life.

They were originally divorcees that each had a child. Now that Ru mentions it, their family seems to be in some sort of troubling situation.

But Lu Li couldn't do anything about this. He couldn't care less about other people's family matters.

He could only say, "Then don't play by the river. The river is very dangerous. You can play by the south side of the city."

"Ok."

Ru nodded obediently.

Such an obedient child, but unfortunately he's stuck with his current problematic parents. Lu Li felt a little sorry for him.

So he asked him, "Do you want to eat Shumai?"

When Ru heard this, he nodded his head in confusion. "Yes."

Shumai was a local snack. It was like a little dumpling, wrapped with tofu and minced meat. It was salty and sweet. When dipped in sweet vinegar, it was very delicious. It was cheap as well.

When Lu Li was in school, he often did not have lunch in the school canteen. He especially went out to eat Shumai.

Lu Li took Ru to the shop he frequented the most. He ordered 6 dollars worth of Shumai and a meatball soup that costs 8 dollars.

Lu Li was also craving for this. Previously, when he went to work in a big city, it was difficult for him to eat delicacies from his hometown. Eating it, it tasted the same as he remembered.

One mouthful after another, he finished the last bowl of minced meatball soup with celery.

He felt content.

It was wonderful.

During the meal, Lu Li also learned about the situation at Ru's house. Only then did he know that the domestic violence of Ru's parents had been going on for a long time.

His father liked to gamble. Every time after gambling away all his money, he would rummage their home for cash.

At first, it was just tiny stakes. It wasn't too much trouble. As time goes on, he often gambled until he had no money and turned on their family savings. His mother had no choice but to hide the money deliberately.

As time went on, conflicts arose, and they often fought with each other.

When Lu Li heard this, he was also quite helpless about the situation. It was difficult to persuade gamblers. Living in this kind of household, it would be much better for the kid to be ignorant of the severity of his situation.

His sister was eleven or twelve years old, so she should be much more mature. That was why she didn't want her younger brother to hear quarreling voices and told him to go out and play.

Lu Li didn't know what to say to Ru, only replying something like "You should study hard in the future".

Ru ate the delicacies and was in a good mood. He smiled and said that he would study hard in the future and earn money to support his sister and mother.

Excluding his father.

Lu Li just smiled and encouraged him.

When they finished eating, it was already past five o'clock, and the sun was setting.

Lu Li sent him home.

When he reached his house, he saw Ru's father sitting at the entrance smoking.

When he saw Ru, his father's eyes were a little fierce, as if he did not like his son very much.

Lu Li greeted him, "Uncle Xu."

"Ah, it's Lu Li."

"I brought Ru back."

"Sorry to trouble you. We just finished cooking dinner. Do you want to come in and eat together?"

"It's alright. Dinner is ready at my home too. I have to go back."

Lu Li originally wanted to say something.

But what could he say about their family matters? Saying anything would have the opposite effect. They will assume that Ru had exposed his family's dirty laundry, causing Ru to be beaten and scolded.

Trying to be considerate, Lu Li walked straight home after saying goodbye.

He still had to go to school the next day and to pass his spiritual power test results to his homeroom teacher.

Compared to other people's family matters, joining the Spirit Martial class and improving his Spiritual Power Index were the things that Lu Li should consider now instead.