Upon hearing Li Huowang's response, the bifurcated tongue slowly retracted back into the blood-red veil and its mouth that was adorned with pointed teeth curved slightly upward into a faint smile. Then, the Second Deity, who was lying on the bed, carefully leaned toward Li Huowang, with Bai Lingmiao by his side.
The three of them lay quietly on the bed, not saying anything. The room finally fell silent.
As expected, Li Huowang once again overslept the next day. Thankfully, no one was on his case this time around.
"Senior Li, here you go." A bowl of white liquid was placed in front of the incapacitated Li Huowang.
"What is this?" asked Li Huowang; he noticed some white substances floating inside.
"Sheep milk curdled with tofu. I heard from Baolu that a saying in Qing Qiu suggests that drinking sheep milk helps wounds heal faster," said Bai Lingmiao.
Hearing this, Li Huowang took a big sip from the bowl. It wasn't particularly tasty or unpleasant. He was just not used to it. Nevertheless, as long as it wasn't overly salty or spicy, he wasn't picky when it came to food and drinks.
After he finished his bowl, Bai Lingmiao picked up a towel and reached over to Li Huowang's mouth, gently wiping away the milk mustache from the corners of his mouth.
"How's Sun Baolu's progress with the supplies?" asked Li Huowang.
"He left early this morning. He said that the sheep from the first store were in poor condition, and so he planned to visit a few more places," replied Bai Lingmiao.
"What? Sheep? I told him to buy food stocks. Why is he buying sheep?" asked Li Huowang.
Bai Lingmiao chuckled. "I asked him the same thing earlier. He explained that in Qing Qiu, live sheep are considered provisions. Sheep's milk is suitable for consumption. And when the sheep's dung dries, it can serve as a source of fuel. Plus, live sheep can move on their own, which is more convenient than carrying around dry rations."
"Ah, I see. Well, alright." Li Huowang decided to follow local norms in this instance.
After keeping away the bowl, Bai Lingmiao went over to Li Huowang and softly held his calf and pulled back his pants, carefully observing the healing progress of his severed leg.
"Senior Li, look! It has grown down to your ankle. It should be fully healed in the next few days," exclaimed Bai Lingmiao joyfully.
As he stared at Bai Lingmiao's delicate face, Li Huowang momentarily got lost in his thoughts. He couldn't help but recall the happenings of the night before. ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ธ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ต.๐ฌ๐ค๐ข
"Miaomiao, have you been keeping something from me recently?" asked Li Huowang.
"Hmm? What's wrong? I haven't kept anything from you," said Bai Lingmiao, tilting her head with a puzzled expression.
Li Huowang went straight to the point, completely disregarding whether she really knew what was going on. "It is concerning your Second Deity. Has she been affecting you? Or have the Immortal families threatened you?"
"No, why would she threaten me? Our lives are connected. If I die, then she will die too," replied Bai Lingmiao.
"Is that so?" Li Huowang thoughtfully regarded Bai Lingmiao. "Remember, I'm right here. If there's ever any trouble, make sure to come to me, alright?"
Hearing this, Bai Lingmiao nodded. Then, with a hint of caution, she asked, "Senior Li, there is nothing much to do today. Can we go out for a walk?"
"A walk? Why?"
"Just... to go out and have some fun. After all, I haven't been to Qing Qiu before. It seemed quite lively outside when we came here yesterday," Bai Lingmiao replied with a rare mischievous grin on her face.
Li Huowang re-evaluated the girl before him. Her current demeanor reminded him of the time he watched a movie with Yang Na. At that moment, it suddenly dawned on him that this young girl, despite all her maturity, was still just a teenager.
Li Huowang suddenly felt a pang of guilt. He hadn't considered this aspect before.
"Alright then, let's go. Let's have a good time today," said Li Huowang as he picked up his crutch and walked out of the rudimentary inn with her support.
Once outside, the glaring sun made Bai Lingmiao scrunch up her pink eyes. "The sun is so bright today."
Li Huowang quickly untied the white ribbon on her wrist and used it to cover her eyes. "No, your eyes must be covered up. Otherwise, the sun will hurt your eyes."
"But... this way... I can't see anything..." Bai Lingmiao's enthusiasm waned, realizing that she would have to miss this rare opportunity.
"In that case, you can hold onto me, and I'll describe everything I see to you. How does that sound?" suggested Li Huowang.
"Okay... that works!" The smile on Bai Lingmiao's face immediately returned as she clasped Li Huowang's clothing with both her hands.
"Miaomiao, there's someone in front of us, buying a baby lamb. Here, reach out and feel it," started describing Li Huowang.
Bai Lingmiao reached out and stroked the lamb's furry head. In response, the lamb stuck out its tongue and licked her palm from below, startling her into withdrawing her hand swiftly.
After a while, she carefully reached her hand out again.
"Come on, let's continue," said Li Huowang.
Then, the one-eyed and one-legged Li Huowang started hobbling around with the support of his crutch. Bai Lingmiao walked slowly by his side in the bustling marketplace, her eyes still covered.
Through Li Huowang's descriptions, Bai Lingmiao gradually learned about the ins and outs of the entire marketplace. At the same time, she felt genuinely happy now. Although she could not see anything, she could still feel that Senior Li genuinely cared for her and was there for her.
After a while, Li Huowang suddenly came to a halt, causing Bai Lingmiao to accidentally bump into him. She asked, "Senior Li, why did we stop walking? What do you see?"
"Oh, there's a group performing tricks up ahead. They're spitting fire. The fire was so high that it ended up burning someone's hair, and now that person is jumping around in a frenzy," replied Li Huowang.
Li Huowang's description of the scene amused Bai Lingmiao, to the point that she even felt like taking off her blindfold to sneak a peek. However, Li Huowang stopped her.
"Another person is swallowing knives. He just shoved three knives down his throat without even blinking," continued Li Huowang.
As he continued to describe the scenes of the people around them, Li Huowang and Bai Lingmiao both wore smiles.
Meanwhile, the ragged slaves had lifeless expressions, having long become completely numb to their situation.
The kingdom of Qing Qiu had more to offer than its green noodles and tent-like inns. There was a darker side to it all. They were involved in human trafficking!
"There's a monkey act next to the fire-breathing show. That monkey is very intelligent, even to the point of being able to whip its owner," Li Huowang continued to relay. "Quick, the monkey is heading our way. Let's go."
Li Huowang limped while guiding the blindfolded Bai Lingmiao away from that area.
Li Huowang continued to accompany Bai Lingmiao through the marketplace, thinking that they had seen enough for the day. However, they soon encountered an unsettling sight on the market platform.
There was a dead body being disemboweled with a dagger.
"Senior Li, what's happening over there?" asked Bai Lingmiao.
"People are wrestling over there. The guy looks enormous, and is probably twice as heavy as you," lied Li Huowang.
"Senior Li, I'm not that heavy!" Bai Lingmiao blushed and nudged Li Huowang's arm.
"That was my mistake, let me correct that. The wrestler is probably four times as heavy as you," said Li Huowang.
At that moment, Li Huowang abruptly lifted his head to gaze at the sky. The sky had suddenly been obscured by something.
It was a flock of vultures.
At that moment, dozens of pitch-black vultures swooped down and covered the corpse, going wild as they tore at it savagely.
The vultures competed fiercely over their scarce meal. After gorging themselves, they scattered like flies, leaving behind only a pile of scattered bones and some hair on the ground.
Then, the people who had been waiting on the side approached the pile of scattered bones while carrying small hammers, and gently started tapping the bones. Once the bones had been properly fashioned into trinkets, they decked themselves with these trinkets, adorning their hair and garments with them.
As he saw this, Li Huowang finally understood how the people of Qing Qiu got their bone ornaments.
"Senior Li, what do you see? I want to know!" Bai Lingmiao tugged at Li Huowang's clothes, asking repeatedly.
Da da da~
Just then, Bun skipped through the crowd and arrived by Li Huowang's side, carrying half a human skull in its mouth. Then, it dropped the skull by his feet while wagging its tail and sitting there, panting continuously.
When Li Huowang saw Bun fetch him a human skull, he suddenly realized what the bone from before wasโit should have been a human bone as well!
Does Bun like the taste of humans now since I kept feeding it scraps my skin?ย ๐๐๐๐๐จ๐ฒ๐๐๐จ๐ฏ๐๐.๐๐ผ๐บ
Li Huowang was starting to regret his earlier actions as he watched Bun with a pained look on his face.
"Woo?" Seeing how its owner did not react, Bun tilted its head and used its black snout to push the skull closer to Li Huowang's feet.
Seeing this, Li Huowang extended his hands and started rubbing Bun's head. At the same time, Li Huowang raised a dagger and cut off a piece of his own flesh and placed it in front of Bun.
Li Huowang held the bloodied dagger and aimed it at Bun's neck.
He had decided that he would kill the dog the moment it was attracted to the piece of flesh.
Even though Li Huowang had come to like the dog after traveling with it for so long, he would never keep a man-eating dog by his side, both for the sake of himself and the others.
However, Bun just continued to enjoy the head pats, not the slightest bit attracted to the piece of flesh. After waiting for a moment, Li Huowang slowly retracted the dagger.
Bun hadn't become a crazy dog that loved to eat humans. It just loved to fetch things and present them to Li Huowang.
But, compared to Bun, one person came to mind when he started thinking about how suspicious all this seemed.
It was a human bone, so why did Sun Baolu say that it was a horse bone? Something's up... Why did he lie to me?
Li Huowang frowned. Sun Baolu was the only one who could interact with the people of Qing Qiu. If there was something wrong with him, then they were all in big danger.
"Senior Li, what's wrong? Why are you not talking anymore? Are you feeling tired? If so, we can just head back." Bai Lingmiao felt the atmosphere was off and tried to be considerate.
"Oh, it's nothing. Bun just fetched the hoof of a donkey. It's right in front of us; you can touch it if you want," replied Li Huowang.
When Bai Lingmiao felt Bun's familiar head, she smiled. "So it really is Bun. I see that it loves to fetch a lot of different things for us. I have to wonder... where did it learn to do that?"
Just as Bun was about to lick Bai Lingmiao's hand, Li Huowang stopped it and pulled her away.
"It's definitely a bad habit. Bun, let's go. We should look at the other places in the market as well," said Li Huowang as he kicked away the skull and continued talking to Bai Lingmiao.
The incident from earlier did not stop Li Huowang and Bai Lingmiao's little adventure through the market. They continued browsing the place with Li Huowang describing what was going on to Bai Lingmiao.
They were going to resume their journey tomorrow anyway, and he didn't want to make Bai Lingmiao worry because of these small issues. At the same time, he also decided to temporarily hide his suspicions about Sun Baolu.
In order to prevent Bai Lingmiao from accidentally seeing those gruesome scenes, Li Huowang did his best to guide her away from those places. But due to that, the places they could go to were quite limited.
Soon, many people within the market noticed a hobbling man guiding around a blind woman, walking through the market again and again. However, the man would say a different thing every time they passed through the same area.
With Li Huowang's crafty storytelling, Bai Lingmiao still managed to 'see' how wonderful the place was without taking off her blindfold. It took them the whole afternoon before they finally decided to stop. The sun would soon set causing the temperature to drop.
"Miaomiao, it will be dark soon. We should head back," said Li Huowang as he took off Bai Lingmiao's blindfold.
Bai Lingmiao blinked a few times and excitedly looked around, but was disappointed; she didn't see any of the interesting things that Li Huowang had told her about.
"Since it's going to be dark soon, many of them have already closed shop for the day. Let's go back well," Li Huowang gently explained to her.
Bai Lingmiao looked at the sky and nodded. "Yeah, you are right. Let's go back. Ah! Today was so fun!"
As he saw Bai Lingmiao's smile, Li Huowang's heart ached.
Was she satisfied with just this?
"Senior Li, look. Bun is still following us," said Bai Lingmiao.
Li Huowang stared at Bai Lingmiao as she rubbed Bun's chin. "Don't touch it. The dog has become quite dirty."
"No worries. Bun is quite clean. Everytime we found a river during our journey, Bun would always wash itself in the water," said Bai Lingmiao.
Li Huowang said nothing. Both Bai Lingmiao and Bun didn't know any better, and so he didn't know how to explain. In the end, he just slowly hobbled back to the inn.
Seeing this, Bai Lingmiao quickly stopped petting Bun and went to support Li Huowang, helping him distribute some of his weight by letting him lean onto her.
"Woof!" Meanwhile, Bun barked and wagged its tail while circling around them.
However, the quiet atmosphere didn't last long.
Soon, Li Huowang and Bai Lingmiao saw Sun Baolu standing on the deserted street, accompanied by tens of goats.
Sun Baolu was very happy when he saw Li Huowang. "Senior Li, look at all these goats! After an entire day, I've picked the best of the best! Oh, Senior Bai, this is the leftover money after I bought all these goats."
Li Huowang looked at Sun Baolu.
He still looked the same as before.
Li Huowang acted as if nothing had happened and calmly said, "Let's herd the goats back. We still need to resume our journey tomorrow so that you can reunite with your family as soon as possible."
"Yay!" Sun Baolu did not realize that something was wrong with Li Huowang and started herding the goats back.
None of them said anything along the way. After arriving at the inn, Sun Baolu quickly herded the goats to the side of the ox-cart. Then, he went and boasted to Zhao Wu about how he had chosen the best goats with the lowest price.
"Sun Baolu, are you really that happy to go back home?" asked Zhao Wu while munching on some cornbread and staring at Sun Baolu. He felt confused; the Sun Baolu in his memories was not someone that was this jovial.
"I'm really confused. You are just like a regular human without any disabilities. Why did that Baldy capture you?" asked Zhao Wu suddenly.
Sun Baolu's face froze as he pulled his sleeves down. "Did that Baldy ever need a reason to capture people? The goats are here, so just count them. They will be our food source for our travels so please be more careful with them."
Zhao Wu nodded and Sun Baolu left the ox-cart.
As Sun Baolu thought about how he would be able to reunite with his family soon, he broke out into a smile. He happily skipped around for a while before stopping abruptly.
In front of Sun Baolu was Li Huowang, leaning against a wooden beam. At this moment, his gaze looked quite... unfriendly.
"Senior Li? Is something wrong?" Sun Baolu asked carefully.
Li Huowang used his chin to point toward the outside before placing his crutches underneath his armpit and hobbling out. "Let's go and have a chat, just the two of us."
Sun Baolu hesitated for a moment before finally deciding to walk out.
As it got darker, very few people could still be seen outside at this point.
The bone-chilling wind blew gently, tugging at Li Huowang's and Sun Baolu's sleeves.
Sun Baolu was not having a good time. He was trying to think about how to answer Senior Li's question. After all, he had never thought that his lies would be seen through so quickly.
"No need to delay this anymore. We still need to resume our journey tomorrow. So tell me, why did you lie and say that the bone was from a horse, not a human? How many more things are you hiding from us?"
Sun Baolu hesitated for a moment, and then sighed. "Senior Li, it's not that I wanted to intentionally hide it from all of you, but I just thought that there was no reason for me to explain the local traditions of Qing Qiu to you and everyone else; after all, we are just passing through this place. I was afraid that you would think we are weird."
"Cutting up a human being, feeding them to the vultures, and then using their broken bones as decorations? I don't think this is a tradition," commented Li Huowang. He was still shocked by what he had seen today.
Hearing the doubt in Li Huowang's voice, Sun Baolu explained as best as he could, "Maybe outsiders would think that this is crazy, but this really is one of the traditions followed by the people of Qing Qiu. Except for those who died from an illness, everyone else is given a sky burial. Since the dead would also rot underneath the ground, we might as well use them to feed the animals and then hunt them down for food. Regardless of what we do, everything is decided by the Immortal Heaven. All living beings would still go through reincarnation afterward."
Li Huowang looked at Sun Baolu calmly. "Immortal Heaven? Do the people of Qing Qiu worship it as a God? Where does it usually reside?"
This was the second time Li Huowang had heard of that name.
Sun Baolu pointed at the moon. "It's there. The Immortal Heaven cannot touch us, and we cannot see it, but it will always have something that we want."
"Hm?" Hearing his words, Li Huowang looked at the moon as well.
"That's the belly button of the Immortal Heaven while the entire night sky is its shadow. Its shadow is made from the two candles it holds during the night," explained Sun Baolu.
"The entire night is its shadow? And what about the day?" Li Huowang asked.
"During the day, the sun represents the two candles it's holding! The Immortal Heaven will observe us behind the candles. Thanks to it, we can live a good life," Sun Baolu said as if it was the truth.
Hearing those words, Li Huowang began to ponder.
The Five Realms of Buddha mentioned by the Righteous Monastery, the Nuo Opera performers that talked about Da Nuo, the Baiyu Capital that Li Huowang himself had seen, and now the Immortal Heaven described by Sun Baolu.
Everyone had their own views about the world. Some of them even contradicted the others.
However, Li Huowang had seen 'it' itself and knew that there was no Immortal heaven, nor was there any Da Nuo or the Five Realms of Buddha.
All Li Huowang had seen was a world gone crazy. The humans living within it and the beings living above it were all being tormented along with the world.
Li Huowang wanted to ignore all the other worldviews, but he tried his best not to do so.
Maybe the things I saw were mere illusions, and maybe what they said is true? No matter what, the world and Gods any of them described were much better than the crazy world I saw back then.
As he saw Li Huowang just standing there silently, Sun Baolu said with a bitter expression on his face, "Senior Li, you don't believe me, do you?"
Li Huowang thought about it and finally gave his answer, "I trust you. But then, what about the people who took the pieces of bones as decorations?"
"That's also one of the rules that has been passed down in Qing Qiu. Legends say that the bones contain a person's bravery and strength. If we wear them on our body, it will not only increase our bravery and strength, it could also repel evil. But only the bones of extremely talented individuals are highly sought after. The unpopular ones just have their bones buried under," explained Sun Baolu.
"Why is the culture of Qing Qiu so... unauspicious?" questioned Li Huowang.
"Is it unauspicious? I think it's normal," said Sun Baolu matter of factly. ๐๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐๐๐๐ท๐๐ญ.๐ธ๐ฐ๐
After Sun Baolu explained more about the culture of Qing Qiu as well as some of their myths, the scene Li Huowang had seen before started to make sense.
Even so, Li Huowang was still suspicious and did not let his guard down.
Sensing the suspicion in Li Huowang's gaze, Sun Baolu revealed an unpleasant expression on his face. "Senior Li, we are all comrades that escaped from the Zephyr Temple. You've already sacrificed so much just so you could let us return home. I would never lie to you. Even if I wanted to hurt you, I would've done so when you were unconscious. After all, you are far too strong and a single hit from you would probably kill me."
Li Huoawng nodded. "That's indeed the case. Then, since you trust me so much, can you tell me why you wrap your clothes so tightly around your body?"
Something definitely happened to Sun Baolu's body. Li Huowang had never really given it much thought before, but now he wanted to know what Sun Baolu was hiding.
Hearing those words, Sun Baolu paled and hugged his shirt tightly before taking a few steps back. He didn't know why Li Huowang would suddenly ask aboutย that.
"What are you afraid of? You can just show me. All of us have some kind of deformity one way or another. Do you think that any of us would laugh at you? Or do you think that your condition is worse than mine?" pressed Li Huowang.
Sun Baolu felt extremely humiliated by Li Huowang's words. His eyes were red as he shouted, "Senior Li! I'm really different from all of you! Please, I beg you! If you keep pushing it, then I would rather just kill myself!"
When he saw just how big his reaction was, Li Huowang hobbled closer. "You are going to go home soon and we will most likely not meet each other again. Do you still want to hide it?"
Sun Baolu took a deep breath and shouted, "Fine! I will tell you and only you alone once I get back to my home! You must never tell anyone else or I will die right in front of you!"
Seeing how serious Sun Baolu was, Li Huowang realized that there was no reason to push him any further; they were comrades and not enemies.
At the same time, Li Huowang also realized he had become far too suspicious of everyone after being lied to by the members of the Sitting Oblivion Dao.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I'm just asking," assured Li Huowang. He decided to temporarily trust Sun Baolu as he started hobbling back toward the inn.
Hearing those words, Sun Baolu wiped his tears with his sleeves and helped Li Huowang walk back to the inn.
Just as they had almost reached the inn, Li Huowang heard something from the right. He turned around and saw that something glowing was headed their way.
Li Huowang stopped at the entrance of the inn. "Wait, that light is weird. It's too diffused."
The light slowly came closer and closer causing Li Huowang's eye to widen with shock.
"Baolu... Didn't you say that there were no evil beings in Qing Qiu? What is that?" asked Li Huowang.
"That's not an evil being, that's a Lion Dance. Senior Li, don't you know about Lion Dance?" asked Sun Baolu, confused.
"Lion Dance?" Li Huowang's still could not fathom it. The thing that was approaching them was not the Lion Dance that he knew of. The Lion Dance he knew was festive and glamorous, not a large dirty white sheet that didn't even have a head on it!
Underneath the white sheet was a glowing white light. The light illuminated the white sheet from within, as well as the surroundings. Li Huowang noticed that it was the same exact light that he had seen just now.
Li Huowang wouldn't have thought that it was an evil being if it was just a glowing piece of white sheet, but what made his hair stand on end were the various dried handprints on the white sheet.
Under the illumination of the light, the white sheet was somewhat translucent, and there were handprints of various sizes clearly printed on it.
As the Lion Dance got closer, Li Huowang saw that it had many white tassels attached to it, the same ones that were seen on the funeral banners.
Then, Li Huowang looked down and saw the legs of the performers. They weren't wearing shoes and their feet were caked in mud.
If there was one similarity between this and the Lion Dance that he knew, then it was the hands holding up the white sheet. They were all swaying rhythmically while moving forward, almost as if they were dancing. Everytime they moved forward, the sound of pieces of wood smacking against each other could be heard from underneath the white sheet, as if following a beat.
"Senior Li, it's fine. I also cried when I saw them for the first few times, but afterward I got used to it," said Sun Baolu, trying to reassure Li Huowang.
However, Li Huowang just carefully pulled his coin veil up a bit to cover more of his face. "Sometimes the things we are used to are not all that safe. Why doesn't that Lion Dance have a head?"
"That's because they are still disciples! Only the masters have the qualifications to don on the head. The disciples usually practice at night when no one is around," explained Sun Baolu.
Once Sun Baolu explained everything to Li Huowang, he shouted toward the Lion Dance. Based on his tone, Li Huowang could tell that Sun Baolu was cheering on the Lion Dance performers.
But the headless Lion Dance did not respond to his cries. They just kept moving forward slowly and rhythmically before passing by Li Huowang and Sun Baolu.
After a while, the Lion Dance finally left the street. Now, the Lion Dance was nothing more than a glowing white light in the darkness, the same as before. During the entire process, the Lion Dance hadn't even reacted to Li Huowang or Sun Baolu.
"See, Senior Li? Qing Qiu is not the same as the other places. With the protection of Immortal Heaven, the evil beings dare not come out over here," said Sun Baolu proudly.
Li Huowang was still somewhat suspicious when he looked at Sun Baolu before heading into the inn. "Then, why is the Immortal Heaven so selfish? Why is it only protecting this area?"
"I don't know. My family was the one who taught me that," replied Sun Baolu.
"The Lion Dance... Do the masters among them gather and teach the disciples so that they can take the mantle as the next generation?" asked Li Huowang.
"No, they don't gather disciples from the public. They are inherited instead. There's a special place in Qing Qiu where they came from, called the Lion Dance Palace," explained Sun Baolu.
"Lion Dance Palace?" Li Huowang mumbled and repeated the name. He had heard of it before but he couldn't remember where.
Just as he was thinking hard about it, Monk's illusion suddenly shouted and pointed in the direction of the Lion Dance, "Daoist! Something's not right! Something's wrong with the Lion Dance!"
"Hm?" Li Huowang turned and looked at Monk's illusion. "What's wrong?"
"Did you not count them? The number wasn't right! There were more hands than there were feet under that sheet! Something's definitely wrong with that Lion Dance!" replied Monk.
"Wait!" Li Huowang tried his best to remember what he had seen and a chill went up his spine.
If it wasn't for Monk, he would've failed to notice it.
Why were there more hands than there were feet?!
"Senior Li?" Sun Baolu retreated a few steps back when he saw Li Huowang mumbling to himself. Just as he was planning to call for the others and ask them to bring the chains in case Li Huowang's illness relapsed, Li Huowang started hobbling back inside.
"Baolu, we won't be sleeping tonight! We need to guard everyone!" shouted Li Huowang while hobbling inside.
"Ah? Oh! Alright!" While Sun Baolu didn't know why they still needed to stay up at night to stand guard, he did it anyway.
During the third section of the night, Sun Baolu saw as Li Huowang stood up and called for everyone to start preparing to move out.
The others didn't know why they needed to travel during the night, but they did as they were instructed.
At this moment, they had traded their gold and silver for a whole bunch of highland barley and several lambs.
"Here, let me handle it! I'm great at it! When I was young, I helped some rich people to herd their lambs for two years!" Lu Zhuangyuan volunteered himself and was temporarily assigned the position of the lamb herder.
Soon, they left Women's Mountain under the moonlight.
Throughout the process, Li Huowang kept looking backward from time to time. He looked terrible due to the lack of sleep.
Given how anxious Li Huowang was, everyone thought that something would happen to them. However, they didn't have the energy to think about other stuff and so the mood of the entire group became depressing.
Chun Xiaoman was carrying her sword as she went over and asked Sun Baolu, "What happened to Senior Li? Wasn't he always by your side? I saw him bringing Senior Bai to happily play around earlier, so why did he suddenly become like this tonight?"
Sun Baolu hesitated for a moment before whispering back, "I don't know either. There shouldn't be a problem."
Sun Baolu's voice was as quiet as a mosquito as he continued, "Maybe Senior Li is having one of his episodes again. I remember that every time it happened, there was always someone trying to harm him through his hallucinations."
Xiaoman looked at the nervous Li Huowang and ran over to Bai Lingmiao to question her instead.
But even as they arrived at a river to rest, Chun Xiaoman still had no idea what had happened to Li Huowang.
"Set up the pot, gather some of the lamb feces and start the fire under it!" instructed Li Huowang.
Meanwhile, some of them scattered to find some wild vegetables.
Puppy's eyes lit up as he caught two grasshoppers from the long grass. He plucked off their wings and legs before placing them into a pouch on his waist.
"Qing Qiu is so fertile. I can't believe that I managed to catch some good food so quickly over here," mumbled Puppy as he started to look for more grasshoppers.
After a while, Puppy suddenly found a small spiny vine. He carefully twisted a part of the vine off before peeling it to reveal the emerald core within. Then, he chewed on the core, feeling satisfied. He had eaten this before and it tasted quite good, just like a stalk of celery.
Just as Puppy was about to harvest the entire vine, a basket fell in front of him, surprising him. He raised his head and saw that it was Chun Xiaoman's basket. She had placed the basket down in front of him as she walked toward Li Huowang.
"Please bring these back when you return to the fireplace," said Xiaoman.
"Hey!" Puppy grumbled when he saw Chun Xiaoman so blatantly use him for physical labour. But, in the end, he wasn't able to raise his voice for fear of being chopped up by her.
Meanwhile, Chun Xiaoman approached the sitting Li Huowang. "Senior Li, why are we traveling so urgently today?"
Li Huowang patted the ground beside him and said. "There might be an unseen danger. I'm just guessing, but it's better to be safe than sorry."
As he spoke, he turned around and looked in the direction of the Women's Mountain. Whether or not the Lion Dance Palace was an established sect like the Righteous Monastery, he was glad that they hadn't noticed his identity.
Should I make contact with them and ask them about Bei Feng of the Sitting Oblivion Dao? No... It might be too dangerous. If I want to solve the issues related to being a Strayed One, then I need to work on something else first.
At that moment, Bun walked over and placed down a stone that it had fetched from somewhere else. Then, it started wagging its tail, hoping for Li Huowang to pet it.
"Senior Li, you don't have to shoulder everything by yourself. You already have an illness and it might even get worse if you just bottle everything up. You can tell us about your worries and we can figure it out together," said Xiaoman.
Hearing this, Li Huowang started patting Bun's head while calmly telling her what he had seen yesterday.
"So, your illusions told you that there were more hands than feet in the Lion Dance and then you recalled that it in fact did have more hands?" asked Xiaoman, feeling amazed. She suddenly felt that the whole thing was quite ridiculous and thought that Sun Baolu was right.
Li Huowang felt her distrust but didn't get mad. He just sighed disappointedly as he stared at the three illusions in front of him and mumbled, "See? This is why I prefer to keep it all to myself and not tell anyone."
If he spoke to others, not only would he not gain their understanding, they would even think that he was crazy if he ended up saying certain things out loud.
"Daoist, don't worry. I will always believe in you. It's fine if they don't understand you," declared Monk.
However, Li Huowang just ignored Monk's illusion and looked at Chun Xiaoman's empty sleeve. "Have you gotten used to only having one arm?"
Chun XIaoman was slightly surprised to see him taking care of her. "Losing an arm was worth it to save everyone's lives. After all, if it weren't for everyone here, then I would long be dead."
Li Huowang decided to use this opportunity to explain to her about his power. He placed his fingers into his left eye socket and gingerly touched the dry, but still recovering eyeball. "The ability to regenerate an arm... It's not that I don't want my secrets to be leaked, but that it's not something you can just use. The process would be too painful for you to handle."
Chun Xiaoman nodded. "I know. You would've taught it to me if I could use it. You are not someone that selfish."
Xiaoman wanted to say something else, but in the end, she decided against it. Instead, she just quietly approached Bai Lingmiao.
At this moment, Bai Lingmiao was picking some wild vegetables some distance away.
Xiaoman squatted down beside Bai Lingmiao and removed some of the wild grass from within Bai Lingmiao's basket. "If you want to live with him in the future, then you have to find a way to cure his illness. Right now it's even affecting his daily life."
However, Bai Lingmiao was still riding the high of their date from yesterday and just nodded along.
Seeing this, Chun Xiaoman gently nudged Bai Lingmiao's shoulder. "Did you hear me? I'm talking to you."
"Yes, I'm listening. Xiaoman, I'm fine even if he's not cured. As long as I get to be with Senior Li, I will be happy," replied Bai Lingmiao.
When she saw how stubborn Bai Lingmiao was, Chun Xiaoman sighed. "Why are you so stubborn? If it was anyone else who was being this stubborn, then I would've long since stopped caring about them."
Hearing this, Bai Lingmiao smiled and hugged Chun Xiaoman. "Thank you for your concern. I will listen to you."
Chun Xiaoman's heart melted when she saw Bai Lingmiao's cute face. "Fine, fine. Anyway, the sun is so bright today; you should quickly put on your blindfold."
"I'm just digging up some wild vegetables. As long as I keep my head down I will be fine," replied Bai Lingmiao.
Given that summer solstice was almost upon them, there were many wild vegetables to be found in the grassfield. They ate about half of the wild vegetables they collected while the rest of them were stored, meant to be eaten the next day.
Even though there were some rough bits and pieces of vegetables within their soup, they still ate it gladly, all thanks to the lard floating at the top of the soup.
After their meal, the men went and washed up in the river. The days were getting hotter and no one enjoyed having sweat sticking to their body.
After the men finished bathing, it was the women's turn.
Bai Lingmiao and Chun Xiaoman carefully supported the pregnant Luo Juanhua to the river while the other women that they had saved from the bandit camp followed them as well.
Some of the men were tempted to take a peek at the bathing women, but none of them dared to even look in the direction of the river when they saw Li Huowang sitting there menacingly like an iron pillar, guarding the women from unwanted gazes.
Behind Li Huowang was a scene straight from heaven. The setting sun dyed the river a beautiful red.
Bai Lingmiao poured the water that was glimmering with a red color onto her jade white skin, leaving glimmering droplets on her body.
Even Chun Xiaoman was astounded by the beautiful scene in front of her. ๐๐๐๐๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฏ๐ป๐๐๐๐น.๐๐จ๐
Meanwhile, Luo Juanhua, who also saw this scene, admired her as well. "Tsk tsk, such beautiful skin. Your man must love embracing and caressing you in bed."
Hearing this, Bai Lingmiao blushed and lowered her body into the water. "Sister Luo, what are you talking about?"
"There are no men here, so no need to be shy. But once you are at my age you will come to understand that for men, it's all just an act," said Luo Juanhua. Then, she carefully walked over while holding her belly and curiously asked Bai Lingmiao, "Say, how is your man in bed? Is he good? Does it feel good? Oh, and how long does he last?"
Hearing those questions, Bai Lingmiao was so embarrassed that she almost dove down into the water and Chun Xiaoman had to walk over and rescue her from the embarrassment. "Sister Luo, she's very shy; please don't embarrass her so much."
Luo Juanhua sighed pitifully. "I'm just trying to teach her since she's so young. But if she doesn't want to, then I won't do it. Plus all this is still quite tame compared to what we used to talk about in my village. There, every woman in the village would bathe together in the lake and our topics were so dirty that even the old men would run away whenever they heard us talking."
Having said that, Luo Juanhua carefully walked away toward another woman.
As she watched Luo Juanhua walking away, Chun Xiaoman held Bai Lingmiao's arm and pulled her up. "Alright, she's gone. You can stand up now or you will end up drowning."
Bai Lingmiao patted her chest and sighed. "I've never seen her be so open before. That startled me."
"They are already mature adults. They are all the same," said Chun Xiaoman as she used her cloth to help wipe down Bai Lingmiao's body.
"Do you think that we will also become like her once we reach her age? It's so embarrassing..." Bai Lingmiao blushed while staring at Luo Juanhua who was laughing with the others in the distance.
Chun Xiaoman spoke while still wiping Bai Lingmiao's body, "I don't think it's inappropriate. Since you've already slept with Senior Li, it's not really a taboo. So, don't slouch and stand straight."
However, Bai Lingmiao was so embarrassed that she couldn't say anything. She still felt that this topic was something private, and that it shouldn't be discussed with anyone else.
The women bathed for a long time. It was only when the skies were getting dark that they dried themselves off and wore their clothes.
Because of the fact that they had departed before dawn, most of them were already tired. Thus, all of them went to sleep quite early except for the ones who were standing guard at night. ๐ณ๐ซ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฏ๐๐จ๐๐๐น.๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ
"Since I have a lot of hair, I could only dry them halfway. Hope you won't hate them," said Xiaoman.
Hearing this, Bai Lingmiao hugged Chun Xiaoman with all her might and shoved her face into Chun Xiaoman's dense hair. "How could I hate it? I love my dear Xiaoman."
Xiaoman raised her hairy legs, tickling Bai Lingmiao all over.
"Hey, stop it! I'm ticklish!" said Bai Lingmiao.
"You love me? I think you love Senior Li more than you love me. I think that you will just wait for me to fall asleep before putting on your undies and then get into Senior Li's blanket," said Xiaoman.
"Senior Li is still wounded and I'm just going to go there to take care of him," defended Bai Lingmiao.
"Do you think he needs your care? I think there's only one thing you can take care of for him, hehe..." chuckled Xiaoman.
"Xiaoman, why are you like this too?"
Both of them were whispering to each other underneath their blanket when they saw someone carefully approaching the river.
"Who's that?" asked Bai Lingmiao.
"Who else? It's Sun Baolu. He never bathes with anyone. He's even more afraid of someone peeping at his body than us," replied Xiaoman.
Nothing happened that night except for some wolf howls.
When Li Huowang woke up, he was hugging Bai Lingmiao.
"Senior Li, you were having a nightmare," said Bai Lingmiao as she carefully rubbed his chin, feeling concerned.
"Don't worry. I'm used to it."
Li Huowang had bags under his eyes when he woke up. He looked toward the Women's Mountain one more time before finally deciding to let his guard down for a bit.
I never revealed anything, so they probably don't know that I'm a Strayed One. Even more so since they were just disciples. Regardless of whether they can be considered good or bad, we should be safe for now.
After they finished washing up, Sun Baolu brought a bowl of brown liquid to him. "Senior Li, time to eat."
"What is this?" asked Li Huowang, his sharp sense of smell almost causing him to start retching from the noxious scent.
"It's fresh lamb's milk mixed with lamb blood and some salt. Not only does it taste great, it's quite good for people with injuries too," said Sun Baolu as he took a sip before giving the bowl to Li Huowang.
Li Huowang took a sip and almost puked; however, he somehow suppressed the feeling and forced himself to drink it.
While it was definitely nutritious, it was not his cup of tea.
Meanwhile, Sun Baolu hopped up and down in excitement. "Senior Li, don't you think I was right? As long as we bring enough lambs, we don't have to worry about our meals!"
Li Huowang used his sleeves to wipe his mouth and gave back the bowl. "Sure... Anyway, we should be reaching your home soon after leaving Women's Mountain right?"
Sun Baolu's eyes lit up upon hearing this question. "Yes! Let's go! They should be just ahead!"
Even though the scenery around them looked the same to Li Huowang, Sun Baolu was still able to point out the differences.
"There! That mountain! I used to herd lambs over there! I lost my left molar tooth when I fell down over there! Oh, I also saw a white wolf in the east! I'm not joking, it really was a white wolf! My parents said that it was impossible but I definitely saw it with my own eyes! And look! Do you see the marks on the ground? This must be where my people set up their tents before! We are quite close!"
As they got closer and closer, Sun Baolu became more and more excited. In the final two days, Sun Baolu didn't sleep a wink and stood guard for both nights.
On the third day, after they walked over a small hill, they finally saw something differentโon the grassy green plains was a herd of white lambs and black cows.
There were several large tents close to the lambs, and most importantly, humans.
"HEEEEY!" Sun Baolu cried out as he ran toward his people. He abandoned everything and ran as fast as he could.
When Li Huowang and the rest approached them, they saw that Sun Baolu was being hugged by a group of crying people. They were his tribesmen! Even though they don't understand the language of Qing Qiu, Li Huowang could still feel the strong bond they had between them.
Seeing this scene, Li Huowang felt a burst of warmth in his heart. While he was happy about the fact that he had managed to bring Sun Baolu back to his home, he was even happier to see that Sun Baolu was being treated with kindness.
At that moment, Li Huowang saw a woman carrying a basin of milk out from a nearby tent. When she saw Sun Baolu, her face froze. Then, she threw down the basin and ran toward him.
Her voice instantly caught Sun Baolu's attention and he started crying when he saw her. Under everyone's gazes, both of them hugged each other and started crying.
"Wow... so he was telling the truth. He really did have someone waiting for him," said Puppy, feeling jealous.
While both Sun Baolu and the woman were hugging each other and cherishing the moment, an old man hobbled over to them. The old man was wearing several colorful ribbons on his neck. Then, he started speaking to Sun Baolu in Qing Qiu's native language.
From the looks of it, the old man's position was quite high; his words instantly caused both Sun Baolu and his woman to calm down.
Sun Baolu talked to the old man for a while before excitedly bringing him toward Li Huowang. Then, he excitedly introduced Li Huowang and everyone else to his tribe.
Li Huowang had no idea what Sun Baolu was telling them, but he soon had a rough understanding of what he had said. That night, Li Huowang was served with an entire rack of roasted lamb ribs and honey water.
That night, everyone finally had the chance to eat some meat again. None of them held any reservations and eagerly dug into the meat, directly using their hands.
The campfire was bright and warm. A crowd of people hollered at Sun Baolu while the latter was busy giving everyone a toast with a cup of wine.
Meanwhile, Li Huowang took in the festive scene and drank from his cow horn cup. "Is this bee honey? It's sweet but not overpowering."
"It's ant honey. It's even rarer than bee honey," replied a voice.
Li Huowang raised his head and saw a beautiful lady. Even though she was wearing Qing Qiu's garbs, her white skin gave her away as someone who was not born here.
When the woman saw Li Huowang staring at him, her eyes became red with tears as she kneeled down in front of Li Huowang. "Thank you for sending my son home from so far away! Thank you Daoist Li!"
Just as the beautiful woman's head was about to touch the blanket, Li Huowang reached out to help her up.
"Madam, there's no need for such courtesy. We are fellow brothers in distress, so helping each other out is only natural; there's no need for such a grand gesture," Li Huowang said appreciatively in the face of the woman's gratitude.
After repeated refusals from Li Huowang, she finally sat down.
Then, with a lingering fear in her heart, she said to Li Huowang, "After our son went missing, we searched all of Qing Qiu, but couldn't find him. I thought that I had lost him forever. Thankfully, he has returned unharmed."
With that said, she took out a string of prayer beads from her sleeve. Then, she began to spin them as she bowed toward the north.
Li Huowang noticed this and was taken aback. "May I ask which Bodhisattva you're praying to?"
Perhaps it was due to many of his experiences from before, but Li Huowang was especially sensitive to religious matters in this strange world. He had a feeling that there was something wrong with such practices here.
Hearing his words, Wu Yue misinterpreted them as Li Huowang mocking her. Thus, she explained helplessly, "Sir, I didn't mean that. Our son has managed to return all thanks to your efforts. It had nothing to do with some ethereal Bodhisattva."
"Also, I've stopped worshiping Bodhisattvas ever since marrying into Qing Qiu. Even so, I had been following Buddhist customs ever since childhood, and thus, it's a habit that's difficult to break," she added.
Li Huowang assured her, "I didn't mean to mock you. I was just merely curious about which Bodhisattva you were praying to."
Hearing this, Wu Yue was surprised. "Bodhisattva... Isn't Bodhisattva the one who saves people from their suffering and rescues the distressed? Is there a different one as well?"
Her reply, which reflected the ignorance of the locals, caused Li Huowang to inwardly sigh.
People in this world are so superstitious. They just believe in anything without discrimination. It's all blind faith. They are not that much different from Dan Yangzi.ย ๐๐ฟ๐๐๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐ง๐ ๐ง๐ฒ๐ฅ.๐๐จ๐
However, looking at it from another perspective, Li Huowang thought that Wu Yue's belief was a good thing. In this insane world, worshiping a 'real' Bodhisattva was far more dangerous than worshiping a false one.
"Madam, please, take a seat. I was just asking out of curiosity. By the way, I noticed earlier that Baolu was hugging a woman. Is she his lover?" asked Li Huowang as he tried to change the topic to ease the somewhat tense atmosphere.
"She is his older sister. She has been clinging to him ever since she was a child. They even had an engagement. She was so devastated after Bao'er went missing," Wu Yue explained.
"Older sister?" Li Huowang was surprised by her response. He couldn't comprehend how this parent could be so accepting of this unethical situation. And given that they are siblings, why is there such a significant difference in their skin color? Sun Baolu and the woman did not even appear to be of the same race.
"They don't share the same father. When I left the Liang Kingdom and came to Qing Qiu, Bao'er was already in my womb. At that time, Zhuo'er had already been born," Wu Yue clarified, hinting at her son's mixed heritage.
Li Huowang had immediately inferred this after observing the woman in front of him who had a skin tone that was different from the people of Qing Qiu.
At that moment, a dark-skinned, sturdy Qing Qiu man approached them with a smile. He held a cow-horn cup in his hand and spoke in a quick, rhythmic Qing Qiu dialect before extending the cup toward Li Huowang.
Seeing this, Wu Yue quickly translated. "Baolu's dad wants to thank you for saving his second son and wishes you an eternal life, blessed by Immortal Heaven."
"The toasts in Qing Qiu are certainly unique," Li Huowang nodded, and raised his cup in response, clinking it with the cup in the man's hand.
As he drank his honey water, Li Huowang studied the couple in front of him. Sun Baolu's parents did not appear to be the slightest bit compatible with each other.
The man was short and stout, with a broad face that could easily be mistaken for a monkey's. He looked completely unworthy of a beautiful woman like Sun Baolu's mother.
Li Huowang couldn't help but speculate if Sun Baolu's mother had been bought by the man. Given his previous experiences with the slave trade on Women's Mountain, he couldn't help but entertain such thoughts.
"Senior Li!" shouted Sun Baolu, already pretty drunk. He sobbed and hurled himself upon Li Huowang while mumbling something incoherently. "Senior Li! I can't bear to leave you! I'm not going back! I wish to stay with you and accompany you to the Liang Kingdom!"
Seeing his son in such a state, Sun Baolu's father quickly put down his cup and pulled his son away from Li Huowang to help him sober up outside the tent.
As Li Huowang watched their somewhat disheveled figures, he smiled.
Sun Baolu was talking nonsense. He was already home, reunited with his family. There was no reason for him to continue traveling with Li Huowang. Furthermore, there weren't that many places left for him to go through. Based on the map, Qing Qiu was not far from the Liang Kingdom. In fact, if the Cowheart Mountain wasn't too far away from here, then Li Huowang would even consider returning here whenever he had the chance in the future.
Li Huowang returned to his cross-legged sitting position and took a bite of the skewered roasted lamb that was covered in black spice. As he bit into it, the thick meaty fluids erupted on his tongue and a delectable aroma filled the air. He found this roasted lamb to be especially delicious.
He felt that it might have something to do with his enhanced senses, but to Li Huowang, having lived in two worlds, this was the tastiest lamb skewer he'd ever tasted.
The tender and succulent meat, combined with the salty and tangy seasoning, made every bite incredibly enjoyable. It was no wonder that everyone was so engrossed in their meals that none of them were talking; they were all huddled around the lamb and beef bones, gnawing away at them contentedly.
Like everyone else, Li Huowang too couldn't wait to dig into the delectable cuisine, and immediately set aside everything else to relish in the meal arranged for them.
The Qing Qiu guys danced around in a circle and tossed their heads, but it wasn't particularly entertaining. Even so, their exaggerated movements and actions enhanced the festive atmosphere within the large tent, bringing a smile to everyone's faces, including Li Huowang's.
After some of them had filled their bellies, they too began dancing with the Qing Qiu people, linking arms with them and swaying to the rhythm.
Here, the Lu Family Troupe's performance stuck out quite a bit because of their talented singing and acting. The unique melodies and moves that they introduced earned them a large amount of applause and cheers from the Qing Qiu people.
As he looked over the crowd, Li Huowang smiled.
Everyone appears to be having a good time here. However, why is there only sadness and pain when they are with me?
As Li Huowang was lost in thought, his keen senses detected someone staring at him.
It was Sun Baolu's mother.
He turned his head slowly to look in her direction and noticed a deeply troubled expression on her face, completely different from her earlier composed appearance.
Li Huowang turned to her and asked, "Madam, is there something you'd like to tell me?"
Wu Yue, who had been hesitating for a while, finally made up her mind. "Benefactor, even though we have just met, I hope you don't mind me speaking openly. How about you and your group reconsider going to the Liang Kingdom? It's not a good place. Staying here might just be a better choice."
"Oh?" Her words managed to get Li Huowang to refocus his scattered attention. "Why do you say that? I've heard that the Liang Kingdom is the most affluent place here. While the people from other places have to endure droughts and hunger, the people of the Liang Kingdom never go hungry."
"Everyone says that the Liang Kingdom is good, but how can those who haven't been there truly understand how they treat their people?" asked Wu Yue agitatedly. She seemed to have recalled some unpleasant memories as she almost started retching and had to cover her mouth in distress.
"Hmm?" Li Huowang furrowed his brow at her words. Her description contradicted what Bai Lingmiao had said. She had once described her hometown as a carefree paradise.
After a moment, Li Huowang signaled for Bai Lingmiao to come over. Seeing his signal, she promptly set down her cup beside Xiaoman and joined them.
Taking Bai Lingmiao's hand, Li Huowang turned to the lady beside him and asked, "Madam, can you tell us some more?"
Wu Yue lowered the hand that had been covering her mouth as she looked at Bai Lingmiao, who was leaning forward, and eventually shook her head. "I was thoughtless. We shouldn't talk about such things during mealtime as it might ruin your appetite. Benefactor, if you want to know more, we can talk about it tomorrow."
With that, she turned around and left, leaving both of them puzzled.
"Miaomiao, did you live comfortably in the Liang Kingdom? Did people bully your family? How are the local authorities there?" After a moment, Li Huowang began questioning Bai Lingmiao.
In fact, Li Huowang knew very little about the Liang Kingdom, the place where he envisioned living in the future. He knew that the Liang Kingdom was quite large and was the strongest among all these countries, but that was about it.
If they were going to spend their whole lives there, then he needed to know more.
"We're living very well! Nobody dares to bully us! I have quite a large family, and my grandfather is the village chief. All the other uncles and aunts are very kind to me, and even my elder brothers and sisters treat me quite well. In fact, what Puppy and Xiaoman said about looking down on or disliking someone based on their appearance doesn't happen where I come from at all," said Bai Lingmiao.
"Have you only ever stayed in Cowheart Mountain? What about the other parts of the Liang Kingdom? Have you been there?" Li Huowang asked again.
"I don't know... I haven't been to other places," replied Bai Lingmiao.
Bai Lingmiao's words made Li Huowang slightly concerned about what Baolu's mother had just said earlier. Now, he was genuinely curious about what she had wanted to say.
At that moment, Li Huowang noticed Sun Baolu puking in the distance. He walked over and helped him exit the tent.
Realizing that he couldn't wait until tomorrow, Li Huowang decided to ask Sun Baolu. After all, since he was her son, he should know some things about his mother.
"Stop drinking and sober up. I'm here to ask you some questions about your mother," said Li Huowang to the drunken Sun Baolu, who was leaning against a water bucket.
"Drink! More!" Sun Baolu had a silly grin on his face as he raised the empty cup in his hand and aimed it at Li Huowang's chest.
"Ah..." Li Huowang sighed as he reached for the hilt of his sword behind him, gently unsheathing a fraction of the blade. In an instant, the rising murderous intent made Sun Baolu start trembling uncontrollably, while the haziness in his eyes was replaced by extreme fear.
Clang!
Li Huowang sheathed the sword and reached for Sun Baolu's empty cup, then scooped up some cold water from the nearby bucket and poured it over his face. "Are you awake now?"
Sun Baolu nodded repeatedly as he took quick, shallow breaths and wiped the water off his face. "I'm awake, I'm awake!"
"Is your mother from the Liang Kingdom? Did she tell you anything about the Liang Kingdom?" Li Huowang asked.
Sun Baolu's expression became somewhat peculiar upon hearing this question. "Senior Li, what's going on? We were all having a good meal, so why are you suddenly asking about this?"
Feeling that there wasn't anything that needed to be kept hidden, Li Huowang told him about what his mother said and his own concerns. "If the Liang Kingdom is truly as bad as your mother says, then the rest of us might need to consider finding another place to settle down."
With a flushed face, Sun Baolu raised his head and looked at the round moon in the sky. "Senior Li, can I choose to not say anything?"
Hearing this, Li Huowang was slightly displeased. "Does your family really have these many secrets? You act like you can't tell anyone anything, almost as if you're the emperor's illegitimate child or something..."
Sun Baolu gritted his teeth. "Fine! You saved my life and brought me back home. If you want to know, then I'll tell you. What do you think of my mother's appearance?"
"Hmm?" Li Huowang didn't quite understand where this topic was heading. How was this related to the question he had asked earlier?
"My mother is quite good-looking, right? When she was younger, she was even more beautiful than she is now, almost ethereal!" continued Sun Baolu.
"That doesn't sound like something a son should say about his mother. It's better to be more discreet in front of outsiders," Li Huowang reminded him. From the looks of it, Sun Baolu still wasn't entirely sober.
"Senior Li, if my mother was as beautiful as I said, then what do you think she did in the Liang Kingdom before?" Sun Baolu looked at Li Huowang with a bitter smile.
Hearing this, Li Huowang's heart skipped a beat. He chose to remain silent as he waited for Baolu to continue explaining.
"My mother was only fourteen when she was dressed up and hired at a noble's mansion to serve as a 'beauty paper'," Sun Baolu shivered as he uttered a phrase that Li Huowang couldn't comprehend.
"What's a 'beauty paper'?" asked Li Huowang.
"My mother used to clean people's buttocks with her tongue. That's what it means to be a 'beauty paper'!" Sun Baolu gnashed his teeth as he finished the sentence.
This revelation stunned Li Huowang. He finally understood why Baolu's mother felt ill when discussing the Liang Kingdom and why she believed that they treated people inhumanely.
Previously, he had thought that being a concubine or a prostitute still implied a sense of humanity. However, in the Liang Kingdom, these beautiful women were valued solely to wipe people's buttocks.
"You think that's too disgusting? Wrong! That is just the beginning! What do you think 'beauty pots' refers to? Those Liang Kingdom people have all sorts of twisted ways to dehumanize people!" shouted Sun Baolu as he stormed away, leaving Li Huowang standing alone in the cold outside.
As he watched Sun Baolu's departing back, he felt a little regretful; however, that regret soon turned into disgust.
Compared to what he had just heard, even the Abbess of Benevolent Nunnery seemed clean and pure.
But just as the feeling of disgust settled in, he also felt a profound sense of helplessness.
He should have known that there was no utopia in this insane world.
Why did I even bother traveling thousands of miles? I should have just taken over the Zephyr Temple when I had the chance.
However, this was just a passing thought. After all, he still needed to think about those who needed to go back to their homes.
"Senior Li, are you okay?" Bai Lingmiao poked her head out of the tent, feeling concerned. She was worried about him having another episode.
"Yes, I'm heading in soon," replied Li Huowang.
The party within the tent continued, but at this point, Li Huowang had completely lost his appetite.
Li Huowang opened his eyes after the pounding pain eased and found himself lying in a small tent. By his side was Bai Lingmiao, wearing nothing but a bellyband. At this moment, she was silently combing her hair with a comb fashioned out of a bull's horn.
After a moment, Li Huowang reached out and pulled her into his arms.
Just as she was about to undo her bellyband, Li Huowang shared with Bai Lingmiao what he had learned the previous night.
As she listened, her bashful gaze gradually turned into one of horror and disgust. Sun Baolu's mother had been through far more than anything she could have imagined. How could someone commit such acts against a fellow human being?
"So, it appears that the Liang Kingdom isn't as wonderful as it seems," murmured Li Huowang as he placed his fingernail-less hand on Bai Lingmiao's shoulder and let out a sigh.
"But... but where I come from, these things don't happen... my hometown is great," said Bai Lingmiao weakly.
Li Huowang chuckled. Of course, that was something true for Bai Lingmiao. In their small and simple world, the vast majority of commoners spent their whole lives within twenty miles of their houses. As a result, they were more or less unaware and oblivious to the outside world.
At the same time, Li Huowang was aware that it was presumptuous to judge the entire Liang Kingdom based purely on the experiences of Sun Baolu's mother. Her's might just have been exceptional cases.
Nevertheless, Li Huowang always thought about the worst-case scenario. He needed to be prepared to be able to survive in this world.
Thus, Li Huowang lovingly embraced Bai Lingmiao, buried his nose in her soft neck, and took a deep breath before saying, "Don't worry. I didn't say that we are not going back. But, we should re-evaluate the situation after we enter the Liang Kingdom."
Hearing this, Bai Lingmiao breathed a sigh of relief. She had almost thought that Li Huowang had decided not to accompany her home.
"Let's get up. Now that Sun Baolu has returned home, we should also continue with our journey," said Li Huowang as he patted her head.
Although this was a nice place, there was no reason for them to stay in Qing Qiu when there were still potential dangers. They could rest all they wanted when they eventually reached their destination.
When the two of them emerged from the tent, they noticed that everyone else was already awake. After last night's drinking session, it was evident that the others had grown quite close to Qing Qiu residents. They even went so far as to wash up at the river while linking arms and chatting.
They were speaking to each other, but it was clear that neither side could understand the other's language.
The morning air was quite refreshing. As Li Huowang stood in front of the tent while surveying the lively surroundings and took a deep breath, he felt his spirit being lifted. He scanned his surroundings and eventually settled his gaze on Sun Baolu. Surprisingly, despite having consumed so much alcohol the previous night, Sun Baolu had woken up quite early. He was currently busy herding some of his sheep.
"What are you doing? There's no need to send any more sheep with us. We might not even be able to eat all the sheep that you've already given us," said Li Huowang as he approached Sun Baolu.
After returning home, Sun Baolu seemed to have become a bit more cheerful. He wore a bright smile on his face as he spoke to Li Huowang, "No worries. If you can't finish eating them, then you can just sell them. Qing Qiu's sheep fetch a good price in the Liang Kingdom. Consider it an early gift for you and Junior Bai."
As soon as Sun Baolu finished speaking, he sensed that Li Huowang was ignoring him. His eyes appeared to be empty as his body swayed, and his face became very unsightly.
This is bad!
Li Huowang suddenly squatted down and clutched his head, startling Sun Baolu.
"Baolu, quick! Go get a chain from Gao Zhijian and tie me up! It's happening again!" exclaimed Li Huowang in agony.
Sun Baolu quickly realized that Li Huowang was having another one of his episodes. He immediately threw down the whip he was using to herd the sheep, and ran toward the cowhide tent in the distance.
When he returned with a group of disciples, they found Li Huowang standing upright, tilting his head back and muttering to himself, "Wang Wei, I have nothing much to say to you. Please leave."
"I am very clear about my situation. Don't even think about using reverse psychology. Someone has already tried that on me before, and it won't work again."
Just when the disciples were unsure of what to do, Li Huowang seemed to sense their presence nearby. He spoke as calmly as he could, instructing them, "Have you brought the chains? If you have, then stop dawdling and tie me up. I'll do my best to stay still. After you've tied me up, go and pack your things. Once all of you have had breakfast, we'll continue with our journey."
Hearing Li Huowang's instructions, the others immediately snapped to attention and worked together to securely bind Li Huowang with the chains. Even so, when they recalled their previous experience, they didn't dare to take any chances and quickly moved away from him after they finished chaining him.
"Is it any of your business who I talk to? Here we go again! If you have the guts, then go ahead and kill me today. Otherwise, get the hell out of here!" said Li Huowang.
After saying this, Li Huowang fell silent, and just when the others thought that it was finally about to end, he suddenly erupted into a furious roar that startled them. "Do you want to die? I'm mentally ill now! Killing someone isn't a crime for me!"
Bound by his shackles, Li Huowang abruptly stood up upright like a zombie. This scene instantly caused the onlookers to step back in fear.
Meanwhile, realizing that something was amiss, the other Qing Qiu people gradually gathered around, with Sun Baolu repeatedly explaining what was happening to Li Huowang.
Soon, several hundreds of people formed a circle as they watched Li Huowang's performance. By this point, he'd gone from being an enraged figure to one filled with tremendous helplessness and frustration.
"Mom? Why are you here? I was just angry, I didn't want to kill anyone... Please, don't cry. My condition hasn't worsened," Li Huowang begged.
Then, as if he had heard something, Li Huowang's expression slowly shifted from one of resignation and irritation to one that was filled with pain. He gradually collapsed to the ground, curling into a fetal position.
"Mom, I'm begging you, just let Dr. Wang leave. I don't need treatment. I know my situation. Don't waste any more money hiring experts. Please... just keep it for your own use," pleaded Li Huowang.
Seeing his labored breathing and increasingly pained expression, Bai Lingmiao could barely hold back her tears. She wanted to rush over and hold him, but was pulled back by Luo Juanhua and Chun Xiaoman.
"Are you trying to get yourself killed? Senior Li can kill you with just a single touch!" reminded Xiaoman.
Li Huowang seemed to be listening to something. Soon, his face contorted in pain as he twisted on the ground like a worm, repeatedly rubbing his face in the grass. His tears mixed together with the dew on the grass, slowly turning indistinguishable from one another.
"Mom, are we short of money at home? If we are, then just tell me, and I'll figure something out."
"Don't lie to me. You've even cut your own hair with scissors. I can tell..."
At that moment, Li Huowang suddenly sprang up from the ground, his face contorting with anger as he screamed into the air, "Wang Wei! Shut your mouth! It's none of your fucking business!"
"You don't need to remind me that she is fake! Even if my mom is just a hallucination, I still wouldn't want her to be hurt!" Bound by chains, Li Huowang roared in frustration, his veins bulging on his neck.
But in the next moment, he slumped down again. Agony covered his face as he knelt down on the ground, repeatedly hitting his head against the earth. His banging started creating dents in the ground, each dent being larger than the last.
When Li Huowang finally stopped, he made every effort to keep his emotions in check and calm himself down.
"Mom, can you go outside for a moment? Don't worry, I'll have a good talk with Dr. Wang. It will be fine. I'm securely bound. I can't hurt him even if I tried," said Li Huowang.
At that moment, Bun suddenly emerged from the crowd, holding something in its mouth, ready to go close to Li Huowang; however, it was quickly held back by Gao Zhijian. "Don't... don't... don't go!"
"What do you want? Let me tell you, if you dare to exploit them, then I won't let you off!"
"What responsibility do you have? Just take your money! Can't you just deceive her and tell my mom that you're powerless?" Li Huowang exclaimed.
"I've told you before. People like you can't help with my affairs!"
"Fine, I misspoke. Hallucinations like you can't help me at all!"
"What are you trying to do? I won't try! Everything here is fake! It's all fake!"
As he spoke, Li Huowang twisted his head, plunging his entire head under the grass, burying it completely.
After a while, there was a loud boom. Then, Li Huowang lifted his head from the grass and shouted into the air with a distorted expression on his face, "Do you think you're tough? All you do is just stand there, blabbering on and on!"
"You dare to say that you understand me?! What do you understand?! Do you know what I've been through?! How could you possibly empathize?!"
"Take both sides seriously?! That's easy for you to say! If you have the ability, then why not put yourself in my situation and try it? Have you ever tried eating chocolate balls on one side while someone tries to force-feed you iron nails on the other?"
"I don't care about myself! I don't even mind swallowing nails! But I have people I care about, and I'm afraid of losing them!"
"I'm afraid that one day, while I'm using chopsticks to pick up food on one side, on the other side, I'm shoving chopsticks into Bai Lingmiao's eyes!"
"I won't give up! Someday, I'll find a way to get rid of these hallucinations! I won't suffer like this forever! Someday, I too will be normal!"
Li Huowang appeared to have seen something that caused his face to be in a state of disbelief. His pupils continued to twitch as his breathing grew even faster.
Then, Li Huowang abruptly turned again. At the same time, his worm-like bounded body burrowed into the earth and he shook his dirt-covered head vigorously.
"No! Li Huowang, you've already fallen for this twice! You can't fall for it again! This is fake!"
"You can't become confused again! The others are still trying to survive! If you get trapped again, what will happen to them?" ๐๐ณ๐๐๐๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ฏโด๐ฃ๐ฆ๐.๐ค๐๐
Under the gaze of the onlookers, Li Huowang kept rolling on the green grass, ruining the neat arch beyond recognition.
An hour later, Li Huowang finally stopped. He lay there motionless, no different from a corpse.
"I'm fine now, release me," said Li Huowang, his hoarse voice filled with exhaustion.
However, just as the others were about to rush forward, Bai Lingmiao stopped them. "You guys stay here. I'll go alone. Senior Li doesn't want to see anyone right now."
As the crowd gradually dispersed, Bai Lingmiao knelt beside Li Huowang and gently began to undo the chains. She was not bothered by the fact that he was caked in dirt and directly cradled his head in her arms while using her fingers to massage his temples.
Li Huowang inhaled deeply before exhaling all the stale air from his lungs. He stared blankly at the sky, and murmured, "Miaomiao, they kept on forcing me. I... am so exhausted..."
As she heard his voice, Bai Lingmiao was on the verge of tears. But given the circumstances, there was little she could do to help. All she could do was hold Li Huowang's head and give it a light massage.
Li Huowang looked at her, his expression somewhat hesitant. After a while, he whispered again, "Miaomiao, please stop treating me so nicely. It feels too surreal. I fear that everything here is merely a hallucination."
Bai Lingmiao's eyes glazed up, as she lay on Li Huowang's chest and choked on her tears.
After a while, Li Huowang held up his right hand in front of him. Then, he grabbed a dagger with his left hand and severed a portion of his little finger. As he experienced the pain, he silently closed his eyes. At the same time, the flicker of doubt between his brows dwindled away. "What a joke. How could this type of intense pain be faked?"
"Woo~?" At that moment, Bun approached them and gingerly walked around Li Huowang while holding something in its mouth.
Seeing it, Li Huowang picked up the severed part of his pinky finger and tossed it toward the mutt's feet.
"Woof!"
Bun immediately spat out the snake-like black object from its mouth, and excitedly used its front paw to hold down one end of the little finger while using its teeth to delicately start nibbling away at it.
Meanwhile, Li Huowang sucked on his bleeding right hand before patting Bai Lingmiao on the back to comfort her, "It's okay, don't cry. Get up. Look, everyone is secretly watching us."
Once she rose from his chest, Li Huowang carefully loosened the ribbon from Bai Lingmiao's wrist and put it on her eyes.
"The sun is quite strong during the day. Remember to cover your eyes up, or the sunlight might hurt them," reminded Li Huowang.
Then, Li Huowang led the blindfolded Bai Lingmiao back toward their carriage.
Following this incident, the residents of Qing Qiu all had strange expressions on their faces when they looked at Li Huowang.
Li Huowang didn't mind this since he was leaving and was unlikely to see them again anyway. He didn't give that much thought to what people said behind his back or how they perceived him.
"Until we cross paths again, Baolu. Goodbye. Do not forget to write us letters whenever it's convenient." Li Huowang stood by the carriage as he spoke to Sun Baolu who was holding a Qing Qiu girl.
Hearing this, Sun Baolu looked somewhat helpless. "Senior Li, I don't know how to read or write."
Li Huowang said hoarsely, "That's alright. Take care of yourself."
With that, he led the others and left the group of tents.
Li Huowang wasn't really interested in finding out more about what Sun Baolu had been hiding under his clothes. He wasn't such a gossipy person.
Puppy, Gao Zhijian, and the others went over to embrace Sun Baolu. Many of them were overcome with emotion. They were like brothers who had been through thick and thin. The thought of never being able to see each other again was quite heartbreaking for them.
Bun, being a dog, couldn't comprehend these emotions. It just kept circling Li Huowang while holding an object in its mouth.
As Bun's tail brushed past his leg for the fifth time, Li Huowang sighed. Lowering his gaze to face Bun, he said, "Spit out whatever's in your mouth. If you go around picking up random things again, then I'm going to make stew out of you!"
Bun spat out the object in front of Li Huowang and sat down while wagging its tail and staring at him.
"What exactly is this? Shedded snakeskin? Does Qing Qiu have snakes this big?" asked Puppy as he used a knife to lift the object brought by Bun.
At that moment, a dark figure suddenly darted out from the side, startling everyone.
Seeing it, Li Huowang, who had been utterly unconcerned until now, rushed toward it. As he held the object in his trembling hands, it was evident that he was quite excited.
"This is... a Black Taisui!"