Many of the outlaw soldiers fell to Li Huowang's attack. Realizing that she could no longer afford to ignore Li Huowang, Peng Longteng decided to separate her army. Half of the army continued their attack against Bai Lingmiao and the rest while the other half followed Peng Longteng to attack Li Huowang.
"Huowang?"
Just as Li Huowang was on the verge of collapse, a blurry voice rang out. But, he shook his head, causing the voice to disappear.
Then, Li Huowang raised his head and saw the soldiers that were charging at him. Seeing them, he smiled. "You think I don't know the soldiers' combat methods? I call this the 'torture method'."
When Peng Longteng was once again in front of him, Li Huowang roared. "Come! We fight one-on-one!"
However, all he got in response was a halberd being swung right at him.
"Brat, you think I can't defeat you? If it wasn't for how self-harming this technique was, I would've used it before! Roar!" shouted Peng Longteng as she raised her halberd. At the same time, the soldiers around her clashed their weapons with each other.
A horrible screeching sound resonated through the entire area.
But the sound wasn't coming from the weapons clashing against each other. Instead, it was coming from the soldiers. Their screams were impossibly horrifying and guttural, such that they could strike fear into the hearts of their enemies. ๐ฏ๐ง๐๐๐ฌ๐๐๐ฃ๐ค๐๐ฎ๐ต.๐๐ค๐ข
Accompanying their horrifying screeching was a rain of bloodโall of them started to bleed from their seven orifices.
However, the blood evaporated instantly, forming clouds of blood that enveloped all of the soldiers.
Even Peng Longteng was not spared, her blood flowing out from her helmet.
As they continued bleeding, the soldiers soon started shriveling up.
Now, all of them were nothing more than demons shrouded in a red mist, their eyes devoid of all feelings and their only purpose being slaughter.
At that moment, Li Huowang's sword suddenly reacted to the killing intent being emitted by the soldiers, causing a faint dragon roar to be heard; it was as if the sword was resonating with them.
"ROAAAR!" roared the outlaw soldiers as they thrust their weapons toward Li Huowang.
Seeing this, Li Huowang immediately used his new power and shifted his real body elsewhere.
But the enemy's plan involved overwhelming Li Huowang with pure strengthโthey did not even attempt to locate where Li Huowang's real body was as they started attacking indiscriminately.
At that moment, a single drop of blood fell from Li Huowang's body and mixed with the bloody fog.
Instantly, all the soldiers turned toward Li Huowang. They had sensed him.
As Li Huowang stared into their eyes, he saw nothing but greed and yearning.
These soldiers have eaten humans before and not just once, but many, many times!
Li Huowang instantly understood.
"Men! It's time to eat some flesh!!" roared Peng Longteng.
At the same time, the outlaw soldiers howled like hungry ghosts, their saliva dripping down from their mouths as they charged toward Li Huowang without any regard for their lives, instantly turning the situation extremely dangerous for him.
Li Huowang wanted to use the Profound Records but he couldn't do it anymore! Everytime he tried unfurling the Profound Records, the soldiers would interrupt him.
Gradually, Li Huowang's situation worsened and he almost died a few times.
Just as everything was about to go awry, the sound of a drum was heard.
Dong dong dong~
At the same time, one of the soldiers was thrown down by a red-veiled woman, his head instantly decapitated.
Bai Lingmiao had arrived to help him, finally allowing Li Huowang to have some breathing room.
I can't use the Profound Records like this! It's too easy for it to be countered!
After a moment, Li Huowang sheathed his bloody sword and tore open his own skin without any hesitation.
Shou San's appearance from back then had given him an idea. If he could become like Shou San, then he could use the Profound Records anytime he wished without needing to unfurl it on the ground.
Li Huowang unfurled the Profound Records and directly inserted it into his own flesh. The pain was so unbearable that it instantly caused him to start howling.
Even so, Li Huowang was unable to embed the Profound Records into his flesh.
"Hm?" Noticing that something was off with Li Huowang, Peng Longteng instantly pointed her halberd at him. "Invisible wind, follow the Heavens!"
Just as Peng Longteng shouted those words, the berserking soldiers arranged themselves into a Wind Formation as they charged toward Li Huowang.
On the other hand, as they got closer, Li Huowang's body suddenly burst into flames. Gradually, Li Huowang's skin was burnt completely black, his appearance becoming similar to that of the God that the Ao Jing Sect worshiped.
At the same time, the flames on Li Huowang's body burst forth and engulfed the soldiers. Given that the soldiers were all clumped together, it was quite effective.
However, Peng Longteng charged straight through the flames as she ran toward Li Huowang. Instead of feeling fear, she was excited. "Haha! Brat! Not bad, but I've already seen through your illusion. You are dead!"
A massive gust of wind blew Li Huowang's flames back with every swing of her halberd. As she got closer and closer, Li Huowang finally realized just how tall she was. She was at least two heads taller than him!
JIANG!
As he blocked a swing from her halberd, Li Huowang's feet instantly sank three inches into the ground.
At the same time, Li Huowang's flames engulfed Peng Longteng. Despite being armored quite heavily, soon the skin underneath her armor started to burn and swell.
Even so, Peng Longteng was not the slightest bit afraid; instead, she was ecstatic. It was as if her entire existence was meant for slaughter and war!
"Hahahaha! This feels great! Come on! Fight me some more!" shouted Peng Longteng as she knocked Li Huowang away with her halberd. Then, she once again swung it toward Li Huowang.
Engulfed in flames, both of them were locked in a frenzied battle where a single hit from the other would mean death.
As he saw Peng Longteng's armor slowly starting to glow with a reddish hue, Li Huowang had a daring idea. After a moment of consideration, he charged toward Peng Longteng, lowering his body in the process.
"One more time!" shouted Peng Longteng.
However, this time around Li Huowang did not dodge the halberd that was swinging down from above. Instead, he raised his sword and used it to stab through the gap in her helmet.
He intended to kill her even if it meant that he would be heavily wounded.
Even though he managed to dodge the blade of the halberd, he was still hit by the pole, instantly causing a large cavity to appear on his body. Despite this, his sword managed to find its mark.
Just as he had thought, the heat of the flames had made the helmet much softer than before.
At that moment, Li Huowang's sword, which was engulfed in flames, stabbed Peng Longteng's neck in the very same spot he had stabbed her last time. As he roared, a cracking sound was heard. Then, with one last burst of strength, he sent Peng Longteng's armored head flying into the air.
Then, everything became quiet as the blood fog retreated from the outlaw soldiers. All of them stared at Li Huowang in horror as they immediately disappeared in front of him.
At the same time, the flames engulfing Li Huowang scattered as well.
Li Huowang's remaining eye had been cooked to the point that it was barely functioning. Still, he looked down and inspected his body.
At this moment, he didn't have a single inch of skin left on his body. All that remained was a charred mess. In fact, his body had become quite a bit smaller from being burned so much.
Plop.
Without his skin, the Profound Records fell onto the ground.
When Li Huowang suddenly felt his back tingling, he turned around in a daze, only to find a round faced man.
Even though the man was scared of Li Huowang, he still held his dagger with a handkerchief as he used it to stab Li Huowang numerous times.
For a moment, Li Huowang was confused by that man's actions as he stabbed Li Huowang numerous times, leaving countless wounds on Li Huowang's dried body.
Who is this guy and what is he doing?
As he thought about this, Li Huowang swung his sword and ripped open that man's stomach.
Cao Hai staggered backward before placing his back against Peng Longteng's body and sliding down. He stared at her unmoving body that was standing even in death with eyes filled with yearning. "General..."
On the other hand, Li Huowang stood up shakily and staggered back toward where Bai Lingmiao was. Amidst the intense pain, his mind soon started to wander off.
It is so painful. Why am I always getting hurt so much? Is living supposed to be this painful? I don't feel like living anymore... But... I can't... I must survive! Mom... It hurts so much... Can you make all this pain go away?
Just as Li Huowang was hobbling back, he suddenly sensed movement behind him.
When he slowly turned around, he saw that the headless Peng Longteng had raised her halberd as she prepared to swing it down toward him!
The headless Peng Longteng was still capable of moving. This was completely out of Li Huowang's expectation; there was no way he could've seen it coming.
Presently, Li Huowang didn't have any skin now and his senses had dulled by quite a lot. Even his movement speed had slowed down considerably. There was nothing he could do but watch as the giant halberd was swung down toward his head.
Am I going to die?
He was not afraid; in fact, he even felt a sense of freedom as the end approached.
At the critical moment, a shadow leapt up and crashed into Peng Longteng's left shoulder. The impact from the tackle was so massive that it caused Peng Longteng to slightly shift toward her right.
The halberd narrowly missed Li Huowang and fell to his left, leaving him surprised at having survived the attack.
He looked up and saw that the silhouette belonged to none other than Gao Zhijian.
At the same time, another silhouette in red suddenly appeared in front of Li Huowang. Then, the face of a beast emerged from underneath the red veil and picked Li Huowang up by his neck before running away while carrying him.
As he was dragged away from Peng Longteng, Li Huowang stared at the white clouds above him. He smiled; having someone else come rescue him felt quite nice.
After dragging the burnt Li Huowang far enough away, the beast released its jaws and placed him down before running back.
However, given that their enemy could still move, Li Huowang refused to lay down just like that. Despite the immense pain, he tried sitting up before ordering Puppy, "Go and bring the Profound Records for me."
Hearing the command, Puppy swallowed his saliva; he wanted to prop Li Huowang up, but he didn't know where to hold him. After all, there was no skin left on his body. Then he asked, "Senior Li, where's the Profound Records?"
Li Huowang used one of his few remaining fingers to point toward where Peng Longteng was.
But at that moment, someone else made a run for it instead. It was Chun Xiaoman! As she reached the location pointed by Li Huowang, she picked up the Profound Records.
Despite Li Huowang's orders, the situation had suddenly changed.
Gao Zhijian had been pierced through by the halberd, his body limp as it was propped up. The difference in strength between him and Peng Longteng was too big.
"Quickly give me the Profound Records!" Li Huowang shot up and tried to walk over but he fell down soon after. At this point, his entire body was essentially burnt into a giant piece of charcoal. Each step he took made a part of him fall off.
Chun Xiaoman saw how terrible Li Huowang looked and then she saw Peng Longteng fling away Gao Zhijian. Seeing their dire situation, she grit her teeth, she unfurled the Profound Records and placed her sword against her left arm before chopping it off.
Once chopped, her left arm quickly lost all color; then, the hair on her dismembered left arm grew into numerous tentacles. Soon, the entire arm, along with the tentacles all burrowed into the ground.
Just as Peng Longteng raised her halberd and was about to run toward Li Huowang, Chun Xiaoman's dismembered left arm exploded from beneath the ground and crashed into Peng Longteng's body, sending her flying away. The force from the impact almost caused Peng Longteng to let go of her halberd.
Just then, the red-veiled woman ran over on all fours and leapt into the air. Three rotting wolf skulls appeared from beneath the red veil before forcefully biting down on Peng Longteng's halberd.
At the same time, the sound of the drum rang out from a distance.
Dong dong dong~
"The turtle carries the Earth, while the Earth carries the Heavens~ A pair of magpies observe everything~ A single blink from the turtle would shake the Earth~ The Heavens and Earth would topple if the turtle rolls over~"
Dong dong dong~
As the chanting rang out, the red-veiled woman turned her body at an impossible angle in the air. Thanks to the extreme torque generated from her twisting body, Peng Longteng finally lost her grip on the halberd.
Without a weapon, the headless Peng Longteng could no longer fight as efficiently as before. Soon, Chun Xiaoman's arm and the tentacles coiled around Peng Longteng's body and trapped her.
On the other hand, the red-veiled woman threw the halberd onto the ground before launching herself at Peng Longteng once more, assaulting her with the three wolf skulls. After tearing apart Peng Longteng's armor, the wolf skulls made short work of Peng Longteng's body, stripping her flesh off her bones.
When he saw that everything was over, Li Huowang finally fell unconscious. Up until now, he had only been keeping himself conscious through sheer willpower. The last words he uttered before falling unconscious were, "Save Gao Zhijian."
Even as he lost consciousness, Li Huowang was on the verge of death. His consciousness faded in and out repeatedly.
I'm so tired... No... I can't give up. Someone is waiting for me.
Everyone paid a terrible price to rescue me. I can't die!
Who? Who is watching me? Who are you?
He wasn't sure how long he was out for, but he finally opened his one remaining eye.
The familiar surroundings told him that he was currently on the ox-cart.
He looked downward and saw that Bai Lingmiao was currently holding an urn as she slowly applied a sticky yellow oil on his body. Looking at her reddened eyes, he knew that she had been crying.
Li Huowang tried his best to open his glued lips. As a thin stream of blood flowed down from the corner of his mouth, he asked, "How is Gao Zhijian?"
His hoarse voice caused Bai Lingmiao to jump a little before she carefully approached Li Huowang's head, tears welling up in her eyes once again.
"Where is Gao Zhijian?" Li Huowang asked again. He was very worried about how Gao Zhijian was impaled by the halberd before being flung away.
Bai Lingmiao wiped off her tears and replied, "He is fine. I summoned the Immortal families to heal him. Thankfully, the halberd hadn't pierced through any of his vital organs."
"That's good." Li Huowang smiled and tried to sit up, only for Bai Lingmiao to stop him.
"Senior Li, you can't move now. I am applying rat oil onto you. My mother once told me that it's very effective at treating burn wounds," said Bai Lingmiao.
Li Huowang listened to her and continued laying down on the ox-cart while Bai Lingmiao started applying layers of rat oil onto his charred body. Then, Bai Lingmiao told him about what had happened after he fell unconscious.
No one knew what kind of cultivation method Peng Longteng had. How she was capable of moving her body without a head was anyone's guess.
The only thing they knew was that the bloodthirsty general was finally dead. This could be considered her retribution for the dead villagers.
Peng Longteng's bones had been extremely dense, to the point that they couldn't be broken. It was only after all the flesh on her body had been stripped away that she finally stopped moving.
After the danger had passed, all of them quickly crossed the border and entered Qing Qiu to avoid having the remaining outlaw soldiers following them.
After Bai Lingmiao finished telling Li Huowang everything, the ox-cart fell silent. After a moment, Bai Lingmiao asked hesitantly, "Senior Li, can you teach Chun Xiaoman how to regrow her arm? She lost her left arm. Even though she said that it's fine, she's still so young and it's such a shame..."
The headless Peng Longteng was still capable of moving. This was completely out of Li Huowang's expectation; there was no way he could've seen it coming.
Presently, Li Huowang didn't have any skin now and his senses had dulled by quite a lot. Even his movement speed had slowed down considerably. There was nothing he could do but watch as the giant halberd was swung down toward his head.
Am I going to die?
He was not afraid; in fact, he even felt a sense of freedom as the end approached.
At the critical moment, a shadow leapt up and crashed into Peng Longteng's left shoulder. The impact from the tackle was so massive that it caused Peng Longteng to slightly shift toward her right.
The halberd narrowly missed Li Huowang and fell to his left, leaving him surprised at having survived the attack.
He looked up and saw that the silhouette belonged to none other than Gao Zhijian.
At the same time, another silhouette in red suddenly appeared in front of Li Huowang. Then, the face of a beast emerged from underneath the red veil and picked Li Huowang up by his neck before running away while carrying him.
As he was dragged away from Peng Longteng, Li Huowang stared at the white clouds above him. He smiled; having someone else come rescue him felt quite nice.
After dragging the burnt Li Huowang far enough away, the beast released its jaws and placed him down before running back.
However, given that their enemy could still move, Li Huowang refused to lay down just like that. Despite the immense pain, he tried sitting up before ordering Puppy, "Go and bring the Profound Records for me."
Hearing the command, Puppy swallowed his saliva; he wanted to prop Li Huowang up, but he didn't know where to hold him. After all, there was no skin left on his body. Then he asked, "Senior Li, where's the Profound Records?"
Li Huowang used one of his few remaining fingers to point toward where Peng Longteng was.
But at that moment, someone else made a run for it instead. It was Chun Xiaoman! As she reached the location pointed by Li Huowang, she picked up the Profound Records.
Despite Li Huowang's orders, the situation had suddenly changed.
Gao Zhijian had been pierced through by the halberd, his body limp as it was propped up. The difference in strength between him and Peng Longteng was too big.
"Quickly give me the Profound Records!" Li Huowang shot up and tried to walk over but he fell down soon after. At this point, his entire body was essentially burnt into a giant piece of charcoal. Each step he took made a part of him fall off.
Chun Xiaoman saw how terrible Li Huowang looked and then she saw Peng Longteng fling away Gao Zhijian. Seeing their dire situation, she grit her teeth, she unfurled the Profound Records and placed her sword against her left arm before chopping it off.
Once chopped, her left arm quickly lost all color; then, the hair on her dismembered left arm grew into numerous tentacles. Soon, the entire arm, along with the tentacles all burrowed into the ground.
Just as Peng Longteng raised her halberd and was about to run toward Li Huowang, Chun Xiaoman's dismembered left arm exploded from beneath the ground and crashed into Peng Longteng's body, sending her flying away. The force from the impact almost caused Peng Longteng to let go of her halberd.
Just then, the red-veiled woman ran over on all fours and leapt into the air. Three rotting wolf skulls appeared from beneath the red veil before forcefully biting down on Peng Longteng's halberd.
At the same time, the sound of the drum rang out from a distance.
Dong dong dong~
"The turtle carries the Earth, while the Earth carries the Heavens~ A pair of magpies observe everything~ A single blink from the turtle would shake the Earth~ The Heavens and Earth would topple if the turtle rolls over~"
Dong dong dong~
As the chanting rang out, the red-veiled woman turned her body at an impossible angle in the air. Thanks to the extreme torque generated from her twisting body, Peng Longteng finally lost her grip on the halberd.
Without a weapon, the headless Peng Longteng could no longer fight as efficiently as before. Soon, Chun Xiaoman's arm and the tentacles coiled around Peng Longteng's body and trapped her.
On the other hand, the red-veiled woman threw the halberd onto the ground before launching herself at Peng Longteng once more, assaulting her with the three wolf skulls. After tearing apart Peng Longteng's armor, the wolf skulls made short work of Peng Longteng's body, stripping her flesh off her bones.
When he saw that everything was over, Li Huowang finally fell unconscious. Up until now, he had only been keeping himself conscious through sheer willpower. The last words he uttered before falling unconscious were, "Save Gao Zhijian."
Even as he lost consciousness, Li Huowang was on the verge of death. His consciousness faded in and out repeatedly.
I'm so tired... No... I can't give up. Someone is waiting for me.
Everyone paid a terrible price to rescue me. I can't die!
Who? Who is watching me? Who are you?
He wasn't sure how long he was out for, but he finally opened his one remaining eye.
The familiar surroundings told him that he was currently on the ox-cart.
He looked downward and saw that Bai Lingmiao was currently holding an urn as she slowly applied a sticky yellow oil on his body. Looking at her reddened eyes, he knew that she had been crying.
Li Huowang tried his best to open his glued lips. As a thin stream of blood flowed down from the corner of his mouth, he asked, "How is Gao Zhijian?"
His hoarse voice caused Bai Lingmiao to jump a little before she carefully approached Li Huowang's head, tears welling up in her eyes once again.
"Where is Gao Zhijian?" Li Huowang asked again. He was very worried about how Gao Zhijian was impaled by the halberd before being flung away.
Bai Lingmiao wiped off her tears and replied, "He is fine. I summoned the Immortal families to heal him. Thankfully, the halberd hadn't pierced through any of his vital organs."
"That's good." Li Huowang smiled and tried to sit up, only for Bai Lingmiao to stop him.
"Senior Li, you can't move now. I am applying rat oil onto you. My mother once told me that it's very effective at treating burn wounds," said Bai Lingmiao.
Li Huowang listened to her and continued laying down on the ox-cart while Bai Lingmiao started applying layers of rat oil onto his charred body. Then, Bai Lingmiao told him about what had happened after he fell unconscious.
No one knew what kind of cultivation method Peng Longteng had. How she was capable of moving her body without a head was anyone's guess.
The only thing they knew was that the bloodthirsty general was finally dead. This could be considered her retribution for the dead villagers.
Peng Longteng's bones had been extremely dense, to the point that they couldn't be broken. It was only after all the flesh on her body had been stripped away that she finally stopped moving.
After the danger had passed, all of them quickly crossed the border and entered Qing Qiu to avoid having the remaining outlaw soldiers following them.
After Bai Lingmiao finished telling Li Huowang everything, the ox-cart fell silent. After a moment, Bai Lingmiao asked hesitantly, "Senior Li, can you teach Chun Xiaoman how to regrow her arm? She lost her left arm. Even though she said that it's fine, she's still so young and it's such a shame..."
"No!" Li Huowang replied, adamantly denying her request. But when he saw how wronged Bai Lingmiao felt, Li Huowang's tone became gentle as he explained, "Actually, there's no method to learn; there's only endless suffering. Trust me, compared to going through that, losing an arm is nothing much."
If Chun Xiaoman wanted Ba-Hui to notice her, then she would have to experience the utmost of physical and mental pain. Having experienced that twice, only Li Huowang knew what he had to go through.
He didn't want his companions to experience the same sense of despair as him. At the same time, he was afraid that Chun Xiaoman might end up going crazy.
"Oh, I just thought that it would be quite a shame for Chun Xiaoman to lack an arm from such a young age," said Bai Lingmiao.
"Don't worry. There must be other methods to regrow an arm in this crazy world. We will just have to find them," assured Li Huowang. However, he didn't even know whether he was consoling himself or Bai Lingmiao.
Just then, Li Huowang sniffed the air. "Do you smell something? Why does it stink?"
"Senior Li, you have a lot of dead flesh on you. Given that it is rotting, it would naturally smell bad," replied Bai Lingmiao.
"Rot? Smells bad?" muttered Li Huowang. Then, he suddenly started laughing. This was a laughter that came from the bottom of his heart.
'Decay' had reappeared in this world, meaning that the world had started returning back to normalcy.
At the same time, since 'decay' had returned, a daring thought popped up within Li Huowang's mind.
Does this mean that the Abbess came back to life?
Li Huowang made a bold guess. It was just wishful thinking, but it could very well be real. After all, in this bizarre world where the laws were twisted, anything could happen.
He suddenly had a strong urge to run back to the kingdom of Si Qi and check on the Benevolent Nunnery; however, it was nothing more than a fleeting thought. He knew that he couldn't go back there in his current state.
He had just killed Peng Longteng. Unless he wanted to seek death, he shouldn't think about returning to the kingdom of Si Qi for the next few years.
So, 'decay' has returned. Did it return on its own, or did a being bring it back?
Li Huowang tried to think about it as he recalled the Bodhisattva composed of flies back within the Benevolent Nunnery.
The Righteous Monastery worshiped a Flesh Buddha and they obtained a power associated with flesh and blood.
The Ao Jing Sect yearned for Ba-Hui's power[1] and used their pain to commune with it in order to obtain extraordinary power.
Does this mean there is a being that is in charge of 'decay'? Does it mean that something happened to the previous being when 'decay' had disappeared? Now that 'decay' is back, does that mean that the being is once again present at its original place?
All sorts of thoughts ran through his mind.
Thinking back, the Abbess's death was too unnatural. How could such a powerful individual die within the pig's pen?
Were multiple beings at war with each other and the Abbess was just caught in the crossfire?ย ๐ง๐๐๐๐คโฏ๐๐๐ฐ๐ฃโฏ๐ญ.๐คโด๐ฎ
Li Huowang instinctively thought about the beings within the Baiyu Capital. Back when he was outside the Ox Tail Gate, Li Huowang had seen that the beings inside were consuming something.
Was it them?
When he tried to recall what had happened that day, Li Huowang suddenly felt sharp pain shooting through his body and his breath became rapid.
"Senior Li, what's wrong?" asked Bai Lingmiao as she noticed that something was wrong with him and quickly held his hand.
Li Huowang tried his best to forget about the Baiyu Capital. "I can't listen... I can't think... Stop thinking..."
In order to break his train of thought, Li Huowang quickly asked Bai Lingmiao, "Where is the book? Where is the Fiery Scripture? Quickly bring me the wax-covered book!"
Hearing this, Bai Lingmiao quickly rummaged around before giving him the wax-covered Fiery Scripture.
As Li Huowang chanted, the white wax was engulfed in flames before congregating together. The flowing white wax then slowly crawled onto Li Huowang's charred body and slowly started treating him. It crawled slowly, cauterizing the wounds on his body.
A pungent smell filled the interior of the ox-cart.
On the other hand, the pain made Li Huowang relax. He needed the pain to stop himself from thinking.
Those things were not for him to think about. After all, the leaders of the various kingdoms should be the one responsible for dealing with the Natural Disasters.
At this point, everything had already been resolved and there was nothing he could do. All he needed to do was to survive. Only when he became stronger would he have the rights to think about these matters.
Then, Li Huowang suddenly remembered something and asked Bai Lingmiao, "Where is the Profound Records? The blood-red bamboo slip?"
When Li Huowang stopped his chanting, the white wax once again changed back into normal wax.
When Bai Lingmiao heard Li Huowang ask about the Profound Records, she was quite hesitant but relented in the end and went outside.
A verbal fight ensued outside. But Li Huowang could barely hear it.
After some time, Bai Lingmiao returned with the Profound Records.
Seeing her return, Li Huowang used all of his strength to sit up, causing Bai Lingmiao to be surprised.
"Come, pull off the scab on my back and shove that thing inside me," said Li Huowang. He wanted to implant the Profound Records into his body while his skin had yet to grow back. It was a good opportunity to do so. Once his skin grew back, the Profound Records would be embedded within him. That way, he wouldn't have to unfurl it every time he wanted to use it. That way, it would be easier to attack with it as well.
Previously, he had been curious as to why Shou San would hang the Profound Records onto his chest. But now he knew.
Bai Lingmiao naturally knew why Li Huowang wanted to do so. "Senior Li, do youย haveย to do this? If you do this, then no one else will be able to use the Profound Records anymore."
Li Huowang nodded resolutely. "Yes, that's my intention."
This time around, Chun Xiaoman had lost an arm. There was no telling who would lose what the next time a situation like this happened.
The Profound Records was too easy to use. Everyone else could just copy him. Thus, he would rather keep the Profound Records embedded under his skin to ensure that no one else could use it again.
Bai Lingmiao bit her lips, but in the end, she decided to follow his instructions. She shakily placed her pale hands onto the scab on Li Huowang's back and tore it down. Li Huowang's painful scream could be heard from within the ox-cart.
Underneath the scab was Li Huowang's bleeding tissue. Bai Lingmiao carefully unfurled the Profound Records and placed it onto his back.
Once she was done, Li Huowang turned around and quickly laid down before pressing the Profound Records deep into his body.
After everything was over, Li Huowang finally closed his eyes to rest. It had been a very tiring day. As he was falling asleep, Li Huowang opened his hazy eyes and looked at Bai Lingmiao. "Did you get everything from Peng Longteng's body?"
Bai Lingmiao nodded. "Puppy said that the armor could probably be sold for money and so we placed everything onto the ox-cart. We even carried the massive halberd; even if we can't use it on our own, we can always melt it down and reforge it into weapons we could use."
"What else did you obtain from Peng Longteng's body besides the armor and halberd?" asked Li Huowang.
1. original text states that they worship Ba-Hui, which is incorrect. Ao Jing Sect's god is someone who wants to consume Ba-Hui's power and usurp it ?
Bai Lingmiao nodded. "The General had an identification plate on her. Initially, Puppy thought that it was made of gold, but it was actually bronze. There's not much value to it."
"An identification plate? Show it to me," asked Li Huowang.
Soon, the identification plate was placed in front of him. It was indeed a bronze plate with Peng Longteng's name and position etched onto it.
"There's an emblem of a tiger at the top of the plate. This must be the identification plate of the soldiers." Li Huowang traced his finger at the top of the tiger's head before asking Bai Lingmiao to store it. He decided to keep it; after all, they might be able to make use of it in the future. ๐๐ฃ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐๐ง๐ ๐ง๐๐.๐๐๐บ
Even if they didn't use it, it was just a single plate and didn't weigh that much. On the other hand, Dan Yangzi's sacred text was much heavier than that plate, and its usage was very limited as well. Even so, they were still carrying it with them.
"Oh, Peng Longteng had a book with her as well. Since none of us could read it, Gao Zhijian took it," said Bai Lingmiao.
"Book?" Li Huowang was just beginning to relax when he became alert once more. "Bring the book over."
Hearing this, Bai Lingmiao headed outside only to return empty handed after a while.
"Zhijian said that the book is just a manual containing different techniques for soldiers to cultivate in. It's not very interesting," said Bai Lingmiao.
"He didn't want to give it to you? Call him over and I will talk to him directly." Li Huowang became even more suspicious.
Why does he not want to give it to me if it's just a normal training manual?
Soon, Gao Zhijian soon arrived near the ox-cart. At this moment, his body was covered in bandages while his face was still pale from his injuries.
Then, Li Huowang asked seriously, "I know that Peng Longteng was incredibly strong and that she had quite some tricks up her sleeves. I know that you also want to learn them and become stronger, but these training methods have their own risks. If you aren't careful with them, then you can die. Do you understand me?"
Li Huowang was suspicious that the book contained Peng Longeteng's training methods and that Gao Zhijian was secretly trying to learn from it.
After going through so much, Li Huowang had understood that in this crazy world, it was impossible to obtain any power without paying a price.
To obtain something, one must sacrifice something.
Thus, any cultivation or training methods had to have their own inherent risks. Li Huowang did not want Gao Zhijian to turn into another Peng Longteng.
"This... this... this is just... a training manual..." said Gao Zhijian sheepishly.
"Since it's just a training manual, then why are you hiding it? Show it to me!" demanded Li Huowang.
Gao Zhijian hesitated for a while, before finally passing him the book.
The book was called Jiang Yuan. Li Huowang turned over the coarse paper with his charred fingers and saw the words written on it.
"Those who use this manual are bound to the Emperor and have to gather soldiers for the military. One must not camp on terrains that are difficult to move on. One must convene with allies at strategic locations. One must not stop at dangerous environments. One must come up with tactics at chokepoints. One must fight to their death in an environment with no place to retreat. Some paths cannot be taken, some enemies must not be attacked, some cities must not be taken, and some lands must not be contested. Those who do not adhere to the above nine rules will lose their lives even if they are an Emperor... Wait... Is this really a manual?" Li Huowang was surprised as he looked at Gao Zhijian before turning back to the manual once again.
Even though the content was difficult to understand, and Li Huowang struggled to comprehend the latter part of the manual, there was nothing wrong or supernatural about it. It was just a normal manual.
Pak!
Li Huowang closed the book and stared at Gao Zhijian in confusion. "It's really just a normal manual. But why are you so obsessed with it?"
"It's... it's nice to read," replied Gao Zhijian as he extended his large hands and took back the book.
When Li Huowang saw Gao Zhijian's bandages starting to get bloody once more, he dismissed him. "Go back and rest first. Once your injuries get better, you can continue reading it."
Hearing this, Gao Zhijian smiled and nodded before taking the book back with him away.
Once he was gone, Bai Lingmiao quickly grabbed a thin blanket and covered Li Huowang's body. "Senior Li, your injuries are very serious. There's no need for you to worry about things like them right now. You need to rest."
Li Huowang wanted to sleep, but the pain from having the Profound Records embedded within his back was keeping him awake. He stared at the roof of the ox-cart, his mind wandering around. He had nothing to do. After some time, he got too bored and called out, "Miaomiao, please prop me up. I want to see the outside world."
Bai Lingmiao was quite reluctant, but still did as she was told after some persuasion.
When the curtains of the ox-cart were pulled open, all Li Huowang saw was a large field of green grass. They were traveling through the grass plains.
As he took in the beautiful scenery around him, Li Huowang felt his spirit getting uplifted. It was the same feeling that one would get if they got to drink a large cup of iced water during summer. He could see the grass swaying rhythmically amidst the gentle breeze.
"Is this Qing Qiu? It is so much more beautiful than Hou Shu," commented Li Huowang.
Bai Lingmiao nodded and agreed, "I've heard my father tell me that Qing Qiu is located to the west of the Liang Kingdom. He told me that the horses and goats of Qing Qiu were of excellent quality."
Li Huowang nodded. "'Qing Qiu' means green hills. I can see the 'green', but where are the hills?"
Bai Lingmiao had never traveled far from her village, and so she didn't know how to answer his question.
"Who among us is from Qing Qiu?" Li Huowang asked after a moment.
"Sun Baolu is from Qing Qiu. Besides him, there was another disciple and two of the assistants. However, all of them except Sun Baolu are dead," replied Bai Lingmiao.
Hearing this, Li Huowang sighed. "Find out where they used to live. We will send their bodies back."
Too many had died during their travels.
"Mmhmm. But I've heard that the people of Qing Qiu do not bury their dead. Let me ask Sun Baolu," replied Bai Lingmiao.
Bai Lingmiao continued talking for a while, but didn't get a reply.Puzzled, she turned around and saw Li Huowang frozen on the spot with his single eye opened wide from shock. It was as if he had seen something; however, there was nothing but grass outside.
"Senior Li, what are youโ" Just as Bai Lingmiao was speaking, her words were cut short when she saw the wounded Li Huowang suddenly grab his sword, leap out of the window, and crash onto the floor.
The impact instantly caused his charred left leg to snap like a twig. At the same time, cracks started appearing all over his body.
But Li Huowang ignored all of it. Instead, he pointed his sword toward his left arm, making it so that he could cut off his left arm at a moment's notice.
Seeing this, Puppy, who was the closest to him, ran over to Li Huowang and hugged his right arm to prevent him from cutting his left arm off.
"Quick! Bring the chains! Senior Li's illness is back!" Puppy shouted at his companions.
Li Huowang froze and asked Puppy, "You can't see them?"
"Ah?" Puppy didn't know what he was referring to. "See what?"
Hearing his words, Li Huowang's body collapsed listlessly onto the soft grass below as he stared at the sky above with his one remaining eye. He was the only one who could see the headless Peng Longteng standing there like a statue, her shadow covering his entire body.
Peng Longteng's armor was still glowing red with blood seeping out from the cracks of her armor. She looked the same as how she looked during her fight with Li Huowang.
Why did she become an illusion and follow me? Why?
Li Huowang didn't know how it happened.
At that moment, he suddenly saw something moving behind Peng Longteng's illusion.
It was Jin Shanzhao, or to be exact, only his upper torso. His organs were rotting as they trailed behind him.
He too had become an illusion!
As Li Huowang was being tied up with a chain by his companions and carried into the ox-cart, he saw Jin Shanzhao opening his mouth, as if he wanted to say something.
"What do you want to say?" asked Li Huowang.
Jin Shanzhao's mouth opened and closed, but in the end, no voice came out.
Splash~
Yang Xiaohai closed his eyes as he dunked his head into the clear river water. After shaking his head a few times, he raised his head, feeling quite spirited. ๐ง๐โฏ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ.๐ธโด๐
With this, he had managed to finish washing up and drinking water at the same time.
"The water is so sweet here," muttered Yang Xiaohai as he rubbed off the water on his chin before filling a pail of water and hurrying back.
After traveling for so long and having had enough food to eat, Yang Xiaohai's body was no longer as skinny as before. He now had distinct muscles and his face was no longer yellow. He had even grown quite a bit taller.
"Good morning, Senior Cao Cao," Yang Xiaohai greeted Puppy, the latter circling around some of the ladies. However, when he saw how Puppy didn't have any time to talk with him, Yang Xiaohai just smiled and walked up to the pot.
He was no longer the innocent child he once was; he knew why Puppy was working so hard at serving the ladies.
Given that most of them were still asleep, they hadn't yet started a fire under the pot. They waited until almost everyone was awake before starting the fire to cook breakfast.
After placing down the pail of water, Yang Xiaohai picked up a stick from the fireplace and started observing Chun Xiaoman, who was practicing with the sword, from the sidelines. Then, he started copying Chun Xiaoman by swinging the stick, focusing just as hard as Chun Xiaoman.
When she saw what Yang Xiaohai was doing, Chun Xiaoman suddenly sent a stab toward him. Flustered by the sudden attack, Yang Xiaohai fell onto the soft grass.
Chun Xiaoman was holding the sword with her one remaining arm as she said, "Get up and practice with me. You can't just learn by staying on the sidelines."
Usually, Li Huowang would practice swordplay with her; however, given his current condition, it was almost impossible for him to do so.
Hearing Chun Xiaoman's words, Yang Xiaohai got excited and picked up his stick before trying to stab her.
Yang Xiaohai was someone who loved practicing with the sword and didn't loathe how tiresome it was. After all, if he managed to learn well, then he wouldn't be bullied by others even if he ended up becoming a beggar once more.
They continued practicing until they saw Bai Lingmiao come out from the ox-cart.
Seeing her, Chun Xiaoman sheathed her sword. "Let's go and prepare breakfast. They are awake now."
"Ok!" Yang Xiaohai happily returned to the fireplace and the pot. But when he got back, he frowned upon seeing someone else doing his job of starting the fire.
It was a plump woman. She was one of the women Senior Li had saved from the bandit's camp.
Many of the women had died back at the border of Hou Shu due to the attack of the outlaw soldiers. She was one of the few remaining survivors.
"Get away!" said Yan Xiaohai as he ran over and took the flint from her hands. He was adamant about not letting anyone take his place.
The plump woman was not angered by his actions, and instead smiled sheepishly. "Little fellow, you are back?"
Yang Xiaohai had once talked to this woman for a while, but he had never expected her to suddenly claim that she came from the same village as him. He hated her quite a lot. She was particularly good at scheming.
After being rescued by Li Huowang, all the women had been eating and drinking without worries. Some of them even ran away at the border. However, more importantly than anything else, the women that were traveling with them had even started taking over Yang Xiaohai's jobs! So, he hated them.
But the one he hated the most was the plump woman with a beauty mark on her chin.
"Don't call me little fellow, and I'm not from the same village as you!" shouted Yang Xiaohai. There was no way things could be so coincidental. The woman was obviously lying.
Seeing his reaction, the plump woman smiled, a dimple appearing on her left cheek. Then, she started talking to Yang Xiaohai as he started the fire, "Little fellow, what is the name of that large man? He's so strong."
Yang Xiaohai turned around and saw Gao Zhijian who was gritting his teeth while trying to lift the halberd up. Veins could be seen bulging around his neck as he exerted all of his strength to do so.
"And why do you care?" asked Yang Xiaohai, annoyed.
"Little fellow, are you annoyed with me?" The woman smiled and dusted off some dirt from Yang Xiaohai's body.
"Don't touch me!" shouted Yang Xiaohai, causing the woman to step back a little.
Feeling wronged, the woman asked, "Why are you doing this? I was finally able to meet someone from my village and I just want to get close to you."
I was sold when I was young so there's no way you would recognize me!
But, in the end, Yang Xiaohai never said those words to her.
"Don't come and steal my work. Just sit there next time," said Yang Xiaohai.
"But my benefactor is injured... I was just trying to help," retorted the woman weakly.
Hearing her words, Yang Xiaohai turned and stared toward the ox-cart.
At this moment, Li Huowang was staying inside the ox-cart.
As Yang Xiaohai recalled everything that had happened to them, he started getting worried.
Senior Li was their pillar. He must live!
After a while of trying, the flint finally produced some sparks and started a fire. Then, Yang Xiaohai raised his head and ordered the woman. "Go and fetch some water."
The woman was not angry at being ordered around by a child, and instead looked eager. She turned around while carrying an empty pail.
Meanwhile, Yang Xiaohai patted the dirt on his shirt and approached the ox-cart warily. When he got close, he heard someone talking.
"What are you trying to say? What should I do for you to take Peng Longteng and leave?" asked a voice.
Yang Xiaohai moved to the other side of the ox-cart and saw Li Huowang perched on the window.
Compared to how burnt his body was before, he looked much better now. Even so, his appearance was still quite gruesome.
Half of his head was covered in new skin while the other half was still exposed with some patches of scarred flesh. The skin and flesh from his jaws had been burned off, exposing his white teeth that clacked when he spoke.
Not only did the current Li Huowang look scary, his eyes were constantly staring at something distant as he continued to talk to himself. "Monk, do me a favor and ask him what other final wishes he had? I know that he's very pitiful and I do want to help him, but why is he still following me around as an illusion? Shouldn't he be following around Peng Longteng, the one who had killed him?"
At that moment, Li Huowang's one remaining eye suddenly darted around before fixing itself on Yang Xiaohai.
Yang Xiaohai suddenly felt his scalp tingle from fear, almost causing him to run away. Now he knew why Li Huowang's ox-cart was usually much further away from the others.
Li Huowang himself was almost as scary as an evil being.
"Is something the matter?" asked Li Huowang.
Yang Xiaohai was so afraid that he didn't know where he should place his hands.
"Senior... senior... sen-senior... senior Li, is everything alright?" asked Yang Xiaohai. Even though he was terrified, he still cared about Li Huowang.
However, Li Huowang just ignored him and continued to talk to himself.
Yang Xiaohai quickly fled back to the fireplace, only to be stopped by Puppy.
"How's Senior Li?" asked Puppy.
Yang Xiaohai shook his head. "I think Senior Li's condition is slowly getting worse. Should we find a doctor?"
"How can a doctor possibly treat him? Even that Baldy could only suppress it in the past," said Puppy as he stood there with a worried look on his face. He too wanted to cure Li Huowang. "I remember what the Black Taisui looked like. That Baldy used to feed those to Senior Li to suppress his illness. But the question is, where can we find one?"
Gao Zhijian's face was red as he carried the halberd back onto the ox-cart. He had to use all his strength just to carry it back. ๐๐๐ฆโฏ๐ธ๐ฆ๐๐๐๐ทโฏ๐.๐๐๐
Once he got it back onto the ox-cart, even without waiting to catch his breath he quickly took out a cloth and wrapped the halberd up. Senior Li had told him before that whenever he was done with training, he had to wrap the halberd up. Given that this halberd originally belonged to a General of Hou Shu, it might draw them into a conflict if the officials from Qing Qiu recognized it.
After he finished wrapping the halberd, Gao Zhijian scratched his head with a sigh. He had trained for so long, but was only barely able to carry the halberd around. On the other hand, Peng Longteng had been able to easily wield the halberd as if it weighed nothing. He had measured the halberd and had thought about cutting it to make it shorter and lighter. Twelve feet long was just far too big for him to use it.
While cavalrymen often required their weapons to be twelve feet long, those fighting on foot wouldn't require such a large weapon. After all, it would be too hard to use such a long range weapon to fight an enemy in close quarter combat.
Then, Gao Zhijian opened the curtains of the ox-cart and stared at the messy armor kept within. He had tried measuring it and adjusting the size to fit his body. He was sure that the armor was definitely extraordinary, especially since it was able to block Senior Li's sword. But that woman was larger than him. He would have to find a blacksmith to alter the size if he wanted to be able to wear it properly.
At the same time, the other issue was the weight. The entire armor weighed several hundred pounds. His strength was still insufficient to use such a thing.
"Simpleton, what are you doing? Come here, I have something to talk to you about. It's good news!"
Hearing the voice, Gao Zhijian begrudgingly turned around and saw that the voice belonged to Puppy.
"Did you see those girls? Some of them are interested in you!" said Puppy.
Gao Zhijian looked at where Puppy was pointing and saw that several women were staring at him. After being found out, the women immediately hid behind another cart.
"Simpleton, do you want a wife? If you want, then I, Cao Cao, will become your Yue Lao[1] and help you hook up with them!" declared Puppy.
However, Gao Zhijian completely ignored Puppy as he continued checking the pieces of armor with a sour expression on his face.
"Are you thinking that they are dirty? You shouldn't do that; you know, they never even treated you like a simpleton. All of us are born with defects, and so we can't choose who we get to marry. So, we might as well settle for one of them. If you miss your chance, then there might not be another one in the future~ Let me tell you this: I think I have a chance with one of them. Who knows, you might be able to attend my wedding reception soon," bragged Puppy as he rattled on and on.
"Go... Go..."
"Go? Yeah, let's go!" responded Puppy.
"Go... Go away!" shouted Gao Zhijian, causing Puppy to be surprised.
"Hey! I look up to you as a brother and was worried about your love life! It will be close to impossible to find someone if we miss our chance this time around!" said Puppy.
But Gao Zhijian just slapped Puppy away, causing the latter to fall onto the ground.
After a moment, Puppy grumbled and cursed under his breath while walking toward Zhao Wu's ox-cart.
"Ps~ Psps~"
On the other hand, Gao Zhijian called for Bun who was sleeping under one of the horse carts.
Hearing the voice, Bun stretched its body, and slowly walked toward Gao Zhijian.
As Gao Zhijian carefully cradled the dog, he felt its smooth fur running across the palm of his hand causing him to start smiling. He reached into his shirt and brought out half a piece of cornbread. Seeing the food, Bun instantly started wagging its tail.
Then, Gao Zhijian tore off some of the bread and placed it on his palm before silently enjoying the feeling of Bun licking his palm.
Bun ate really fast and the cornbread was finished in just a few moments.
As he saw this, Gao Zhijian closed his eyes and buried his face into Bun's soft fur. He really liked dogs. Dogs were better than humans. He had even thought about asking Senior Li to give the dog to him.
After a while, Gao Zhijian stopped what he was doing and carefully took out the soldier's training manual and started reading it once again. He didn't know why he never got tired of reading it. While he didn't truly understand the contents of the book, he felt a familiar feeling when he read it.
Meanwhile, Puppy saw Gao Zhijian hugging Bun and shook his head. "Sigh, he's still a bit stupid. To think he prefers dogs over women."
"Puppy, I would advise you to behave a bit. If you act rashly against those women, then I guarantee that Chun Xiaoman will kill you; even Senior Li is too injured to stop her right now," warned Zhao Wu while holding an abacus. He was counting their inventory.
"Even if you don't support me, why are you admonishing me? I would never be rough with those women even if I'm trying to find a wife. I have many methods to woo them without touching them! Just you wait, I am sure I will be able to get a wife before we reach Liang Kingdom. Do you want to bet?" said Puppy.
"Sure, sure. You are amazing. Go and try to hook up with one of the girls. I'm a bit busy counting our inventory right now. If I don't do it right, then we will end up without food for days," said Zhao Wu, shooing him away.
Puppy scratched the white patches on his face and stared at Zhao Wu. Zhao Wu's body was still the same as ever, with one shoulder higher than the other. After a moment, Puppy tried to persuade him one more time, "Are you sure you don't want to come with me? You should know that people like us would have a hard time finding a wife. If you don't seize your chance, then you will be single forever."
At this point, Zhao Wu became annoyed. "Senior Li is already injured so badly, yet you still have the time to think about such trivial things?"
"Relax, he can even grow back an entire arm. What are you afraid of? I've finally made sense of Senior Li, and he's bloody amazing!" said Puppy as he raised his thumb high up into the air. "Relax, even if the Lord of Hell were to come and find him, Senior Li would still be fine."
However, Zhao Wu was still worried. He thought about everything that had happened throughout their journey and how Senior Li had managed to survive through every single crisis. All of them had some impairments here and there, but Senior Li's illness was invisible, and it was the most dangerous of them all.
"What are you worried about? Senior Li is more or less half an Immortal right now with so many powers under his belt. Even if we encounter something dangerous, there's nothing we can do to help him. Zhao Wu, didn't I say it just now? We must know our limits. I know I don't have the strength to do much, and so I don't bother with it at all," said Puppy.
"Why are you so pessimistic?" asked Zhao Wu, irritated.
"As if you are very ambitious. Except for Senior Li, all of those who were ambitious had already been killed by that Baldy back in that cave," Puppy scoffed.
The sound of the abacus suddenly stopped before Zhao Wu spoke in a voice filled with hesitation, "Puppy, do you think Senior Li could teach those powers to us?"
The moment Zhao Wu said that, Puppy hugged his stomach and ran away. "Aiya~ Aiya~ My stomach hurts~ I need to go to the toilet now, so we will talk later."
Puppy knew that Li Huowang's powers came at a price. Chun Xiaoman had used it once and lost one of her arms. That was too scary. It was also possible that the reason Senior Li became crazier by the day was due to those powers. He did not want to end up like him.
1. god of marriage and love ?
Ox-carts. Although they were a lot slower than horse-drawn carriages, they could carry a lot more weight. Furthermore, there was no need to be concerned about the food required to feed out here in Qing Qiu since it was available everywhere.
Li Huowang and his group had a smooth journey after leaving Hou Shu, and did not encounter any evil spirits or bandits. Moreover, Li Huowang's injuries were gradually improving. Thus, everyone was in high spirits.
As the ox-cart continued to move slowly, Li Huowang limped alongside it. At the same time, Bun faithfully circled around him while wagging its tail.
"Senior Li, why don't you head back into the cart and rest? Your injuries haven't been completely healed," said Bai Lingmiao worriedly.
Li Huowang's newly grown hair swayed slightly as he shook his head. "Lying in the cart all the time makes my limbs stiff. Walking is good, and besides, I'm recovering quite well now. At least Bun is now able to recognize me."
Li Huowang still remembered how Bun barked at him back when he first got off the cart. But that couldn't be blamed on it; he did indeed look quite frightening back then.
Fortunately, Bun could recognize him now. His skin had healed completely, and just as planned, the Profound Records was safely embedded within his back.
"Senior Li, we can take a break now. We'll continue walking for another two hours after noon and finally reach Women's Mountain," said Sun Baolu. Being a local, he was quite familiar with the area.
Nowadays, Sun Baolu always had a smile on his face. He used to be very quiet, but had become a lot more talkative ever since they arrived in Qing Qiu.
"Are you really going back, Old Sun? Why don't you join us so that you don't get kidnapped again?" suggested Zhao Wu.
However, Sun Baolu simply smiled brightly and shook his head in response to the suggestion. "No, someone is waiting for me. I have to go back home."
Meanwhile, Li Huowang raised his crutch and pointed to a nearby stream. "Let's head there and start a fire."
It was quite challenging to find firewood in Qing Qiu, but they were finally able to start a fire after gathering some dried branches.
After starting a fire, the others went to fetch water and forage for wild vegetables.
Meanwhile, Li Huowang sat alone, once again lost in his own world, detached from the outside noise. He looked up and saw Peng Longteng blocking the sun.
Even after all this time, she was still around.
His only solace was the fact that she was just standing there motionless and not doing anything.
Peng Longteng looked quite towering in her heavy armor. Even without her head, she still easily surpassed Li Huowang in terms of height. Li Huowang estimated that she was at least two meters tall when she was still alive.
At that moment, Li Huowang suddenly heard some unusual sounds. Even so, he didn't turn around to check on it; he knew that the sound was coming from Jin Shanzhao dragging his organs through the grass.
Why did both of them turn into illusions and start following me?
This was a question that had been filling Li Huowang's mind for a long time; however, he didn't have an answer.
It was not just these two either; the earlier illusions of Jiang Yingzi and Monk also left him without any answers.
Is this the power of a Strayed One? Can the Strayed Ones control the people they have killed?
A new speculation appeared in Li Huowang's mind.
How can I make them disappear? No... that's not right either... I didn't kill Monk. In fact, he might still be safe and sound back in the Righteous Monastery, never to have actually died.
But, if they aren't appearing due to my powers as a Strayed One, then what could be the reason? Could it be that I actually have a mental illness?
Li Huowang was feeling a little disoriented when he suddenly felt an itch, causing him to reach his bruised hand into his new clothes and scratch himself.
When Bun noticed his actions, it raced over and started wagging its tail as it squatted down in front of him.
Rip!
Li Huowang tore a huge piece of dead skin and hurled it toward Peng Longteng.
"Woof woof woof!" Bun barked delightedly while chewing on the dead skin greedily.
After finishing the snack, Bun went under Peng Longteng's legs and obediently sat in front of Li Huowang. Li Huowang knew that Bun liked these treats. All of his dead skin from before as well as his severed leg had all gone into its belly.
As he stared at Bun, Li Huowang stretched out his hand to pat its head, and then gazed off into the distance toward Peng Longteng.
After a while, he sighed deeply and mumbled to himself, "Well, at least these two don't talk. They won't be as annoying as Monk."
"Daoist, am I annoying? I'm not, am I? I haven't done anything," said Monk.
Hearing this, Li Huowang just gave a self-deprecating smile and chose to remain silent. Self-assurance was just that; he was more concerned about what would happen next after these three illusions.
What if these illusions multiply in the future? What if... I end up becoming like Dan Yangzi?
Li Huowang shivered as he thought back to the horror of Dan Yangzi and the hundreds of hallucinations.
I need to figure out what's going on and get rid of them. If I end up like Dan Yangzi, then I will surely go insane.
With these thoughts, the urgency of resolving his issues as a Strayed One became even more apparent to Li Huowang.
"Baolu!" called out Li Huowang, instantly causing Bun's ears to perk up. Then, it turned around and saw Sun Baolu running toward them. After a moment, it took a few steps forward, pushed its head against Li Huowang's legs, nudging him with its black nose.
"Senior Li, you called me?" asked Sun Baolu.
At this point, Li Huowang closely examined Sun Baolu once again. He was still the same as when they left the Righteous Monastery, still wrapped up tightly in his clothes. In fact, throughout their journey, he had always kept a low profile, to the point that Li Huowang sometimes forgot that he was even there.
"Do you know Qing Qiu well?" Li Huowang asked.
Sun Baolu nodded. "I'm very familiar with it."
"Very familiar?" Li Huowang was a bit surprised; this was the first time he had heard anyone say that.
Unless met with unforeseen circumstances, a majority of the people in this world would spend their whole lives within the same twenty miles. Sun Baolu's assertion that he knew the entire place very well made Li Huowang skeptical.
"People in Qing Qiu are not like people in other areas. We follow nature. We travel to areas where nature is fertile. From my grandfather to my father, we've moved around Qing Qiu all our lives," explained Sun Baolu.
Hearing this, Li Huowang finally understood. "Oh, so the people here are nomadic."
Seeing the vast grasslands, Li Huowang could have guessed as much. People here relied on the land for everything, including their food.
"The sun is scorching today. Why don't you take off some clothes?" suggested Li Huowang. But when he saw Sun Baolu just standing there smiling, Li Huowang didn't insist further.
"Well, let's get down to business. Are there any experts here? Maybe someone like Dan Yangzi?" asked Li Huowang, finally bringing up the real reason behind calling over Sun Baolu.
Upon hearing this, Sun Baolu's face showed a hint of confusion, but he quickly regained his composure. "I don't know if the Lama from Luoism count or not, but my dad and grandfather respect them a lot, and it's said that they can communicate with spirits. I've only heard about that, and haven't witnessed it myself. I've only seen them twice ever since I was young. They came to ask for food, and my dad entertained them."
Based on what Sun Baolu explained, Li Huowang got a basic understanding of what the so-called Lama from Luoism were like.
According to Baolu's description, they were the ones responsible for hosting the wedding and funeral ceremonies all over Qing Qiu. He also learned that they were rather secular, and that they did not place any restrictions on meat or wine.
These Lama also claimed that there were no evil spirits in the entirety of Qing Qiu because of the protection of their Immortal Heaven.
"No evil spirits? There's none at all?" Li Huowang looked around, surprised at the stark contrast between this place and the others.
"Well... at least I haven't seen any, and neither have any of the others," said Sun Baolu. He wasn't as certain as Li Huowang had expected him to be.
"No evil spirits... Do you want to get in touch with those Lama? Perhaps you can ask for information about Strayed Ones," suggested Sun Baolu.
But after careful consideration, Li Huowang dismissed the idea. Even if he had the bronze coin mask, it was too dangerous to recklessly interact with other factions. If he were to be recognized as a Strayed One, it would lead to a lot of trouble.
After all the things he had been through, in his eyes, none of the factions besides the Benevolent Nunnery were any good.
It was Liang Kingdom after they passed through Qing Qiu. For now, there was nothing more important than getting to Liang Kingdom safely.
With this thought, Li Huowang came to his decision.
We can't bring this group of people there. After sending all these people along their separate paths, I might go and look for them myself.
"Tell me more about these so-called Lama from Luoism. What's their reputation like around here?" asked Li Huowang.
"They're still alright, at least in my experience," said Sun Baolu.
Li Huowang continued to question Sun Baolu, extracting all the bits and pieces of information about the Lama from Luoism that he could.
"Senior Li, time to eat," called out Bai Lingmiao.
A bowl of clear noodle soup was placed before Li Huowang, and there were some small, white tubers floating in it.
"What is this?" asked Li Huowang as he used his chopsticks to pick one up.
"I don't know. Senior Sun told us that these vegetables can be eaten. He said that he used to dig them up from the grass and eat them as snacks. He called them wild yams," replied Bai Lingmiao.
Li Huowang stuffed a wild yam into his mouth and gently bit into it. He found that they were like bitter potatoes, but the taste was decent.
At that moment, Bun, who was lying on Li Huowang's body, suddenly perked up, and then dashed toward a grassy area in the distance.
"Why did Bun run off? Should we follow for a look?" asked Bai Lingmiao.
"Let it have some fun. We're usually rushing on the road, and it's tough to find time to relax. Bun understands human nature, and will return when it's time to leave," said Li Huowang as he continued to eat. At the same time, Bai Lingmiao squatted beside him as she continued to watch over him.
Soon, the bowl of wild yams was quickly finished by Li Huowang, prompting Bai Lingmiao to serve him another bowl.
Li Huowang didn't know if it was because his skin was growing back or something else, but his appetite right now was no less than that of Gao Zhijian or Bai Lingmiao's.
As she gave him another bowl of noodle soup, Bai Lingmiao reached her right hand out to gently pat off the dust on Li Huowang's body and she said longingly, "Senior Li, after passing through Qing Qiu, we'll soon arrive at Liang Kingdom. Once we arrive at my village at the base of the Cowheart Mountain, we can settle down over there. We can use the silver to buy a few acres of land. Then, you can use oxen to plow the land, and I will weave at home. When we have saved enough money for a house, we can share the house with my parents."
"Working the fields and weaving? Do you want to do that for the rest of your life?" asked Li Huowang as he slurped the rest of the noodles.
Hearing his response, Bai Lingmiao responded carefully, "Senior Li, you don't want to work in the fields? That's alright, you don't have to. We have oxen."
"I'm fine with doing anything, but I must cure my illness first," said Li Huowang.
Hearing this, Bai Lingmiao grabbed his hand. "Senior Li, it's alright. I don't mind you being like this. I can take care of you whenever your illness acts up."
Li Huowang recalled Bai Lingmiao's swollen face from before, and shook his head firmly. "No, it must be cured."
He had to cure this illness, otherwise he wouldn't dare let himself stay by Bai Lingmiao's side in his current condition. Currently, he was like a ticking time bomb, one that could burst at any moment, capable of doing something he would end up regretting for the rest of his life.
Although he still had Yang Na and his mother on the other side, they were merely hallucinations and didn't actually exist. It was time he gave up on them.
"Senior Li, I beg you. It's fine like this, don't go looking for anything more. Didn't you tell me before that even the powerful Abbess couldn't find a solution either?" begged Bai Lingmiao.
Li Huowang placed his bowl down and looked at her with surprise. "How would we know if we don't give it a try? Don't you want me to be cured of my illness?"
Hearing this, Bai Lingmiao hesitated, but finally chose to remain silent as she looked down.
On one hand, she was worried about Li Huowang's safety. But on the other hand, she was even more concerned that one day, if his illness was truly cured, then he would abandon her when he no longer needed her.
A healthy Li Huowang was too good, far too good, someone far beyond her reach.
Meanwhile, Li Huowang continued to eat his noodles, his eyes watching Peng Longteng, Monk, and half of Jin Shanzhao. He recalled his speculation about the Sitting Oblivion Dao, and his gaze grew more resolute.
No, I must completely resolve the issues associated with being a Strayed One. If Bei Feng from the Sitting Oblivion Dao really is a Strayed One, then there must be a way.
Even if there isn't a way, I must look for one. If I don't, then I would be letting myself down.
At that moment, Bun returned while holding a dead rabbit in its mouth. It placed the rabbit in front of Li Huowang and wagged its tail excitedly.
Bun's arrival broke the deadlock between the two. Bai Lingmiao reached out to rub the mutt's head. "Good dog. You know that Senior Li's body needs nourishment right now."
She picked up the rabbit and headed toward the pot.
Li Huowang looked at her departing figure, then said to Bun who had its tongue stuck out, "I know that she has my interests at heart, but I really dare not continue to be like that and accompany her for the rest of our lives. Honestly, I'm afraid that I may accidentally kill her some day."
"Woof woof!" Bun barked at Li Huowang, and then placed its nose on the ground.
Li Huowang reached into his clothes and pulled out another piece of dead skin, then threw it toward Peng Longteng. ๐๐ง๐๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฃ๐ธ๐๐๐.๐๐๐
Seeing this, Bun immediately dashed toward Peng Longteng's crotch.
Meanwhile, Sun Baolu used his excellent skills to roast the rabbit , turning it into a delicious meal for everyone.
Li Huowang walked slowly with the support of a crutch, leading the blindfolded Bai Lingmiao. He couldn't move fast as his severed leg had yet to fully heal.
Fortunately, the ox-cart wasn't fast either. It sacrificed speed and compensated for it by carrying a greater load while matching Li Huowang's current pace.
"Is this Women's Mountain?" Li Huowang squinted, shading his eyes with his hand as he looked at the distant hills. As he looked at these hills that were devoid of trees and covered with only green grass, he understood why this kingdom was called Qing Qiu[1].
However, it might also be related to the lower height of these hills, unlike those mountain peaks that reached into the clouds. These grass-covered hills were akin to clusters of low ridges that were not interconnected.
"Senior Li, do you see the resemblance? When you squint and look, don't those hills look like half a woman's face lying down?" said Sun Baolu as he excitedly pointed with his fingers.
Li Huowang examined them carefully before shaking his head. He couldn't quite make out the obscure likeness between those hills and a woman's face.
These oddly-shaped hills were very strange, and there were neither too many nor too few. They just seemed to appear out of nowhere in the landscape, with no apparent connection between them.
"This year is the Year of the Moon, and according to our ancestral tradition, my family should be camping and grazing about a hundred miles from here. It won't be long until I can reunite with them!" said Sun Baolu, excited.
However, Li Huowang wasn't particularly interested in what Sun Baolu was saying. He was more concerned with their supplies. With there being so many people on this journey to Qing Qiu, their foodstock was running low.
"Can we find a market to buy food inside Women's Mountain? If not, we are going to starve to death," asked Li Huowang.
"Yes, no doubt about it. People from the nearby areas would often go there to exchange goods. I even went there once when I was seven," replied Sun Baolu.
With Sun Baolu's explanation, Li Huowang knew that in the vast and sparsely populated Qing Qiu, nomadic people would often choose a specific area to facilitate trade. Over time, these areas would become established marketplaces. Officials from Qing Qiu also came to these locations to collect taxes.
When Li Huowang saw tiny black dots moving at the base of the hills, he realized that Sun Baolu's information was correct. There were indeed people over there.
"Let's go. But remember to put on your veiled hats beforehand to avoid drawing attention from the locals," said Li Huowang as he donned his veil. His current bruised appearance wasn't any better than the others.
As the ox-cart approached the Women's Mountain, they followed a small path that led to the inside of the encircled area. In an instant, everything suddenly became clear.
A vast area of tents stretched out before Li Huowang and the others. The sound of horse hooves, people shouting, and donkeys braying filled the air. Li Huowang suddenly felt like he was attending a lively fair.
Many of the Qing Qiu people were dressed quite differently compared to the people from Hou Shu. Currently they were all preoccupied with their affairs, shouting and calling out to each other in this bustling marketplace.
At the same time, the sheer number of livestock led to an enormous amount of dung. The distinctive smell filled the air, causing everyone to furrow their brows.
The most significant difference between the people from Qing Qiu and Hou Shu were their rosy faces. The people of Hou Shu were covered in heavy freckles, regardless of age or gender. This was perhaps due to the prolonged exposure to the sun.
They also noticed that the people of Qing Qiu generally had shorter statures compared to Li Huowang and the others, making their group a lot more noticeable.
Everyone around them wore rough, makeshift leather garments, and circular bone ornaments could be seen dangling from the braids of the women and around the waists of men. Aside from bones and leather, they used grass for almost everything elseโfrom crafting grass shoes and hats to weaving grass baskets, which were available for sale.
When Li Huowang's group entered, they attracted the attention of the Qing Qiu people. Faced with foreigners, everyone regarded them with caution and indifference.
At that moment, a loud noise and a chopping sound suddenly rang out from a nearby grass stall. A sharp knife was raised high and brought down forcefully, splitting the head of a hairless, grotesque dog into two halves.
Startled, Bun whimpered and quickly sought refuge beneath the ox-cart, with its tail between its legs.
"Are you truly a Qing Qiu native? You seem quite different from them," Li Huowang remarked as he glanced through the black veil toward Sun Baolu.
Sun Baolu's face dimmed as he explained, "It's because... my mother is from another place."
However, his eyes quickly lit up as he rushed through the crowd toward the front. He quickly made his way through the crowd, clearly overwhelmed with excitement as he embraced an elderly Qing Qiu person and proceeded to engage in conversation.
When they got closer, Li Huowang realized he couldn't understand their conversation at all.
Of all places, it had to be this one that had its own language.
Li Huowang was speechless; he could foresee some communication issues during their time in Qing Qiu. ๐ป๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ธโฏ๐ท๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฃโฏ๐.๐ค๐๐ฎ
Following a brief exchange with the elderly person, Sun Baolu returned to Li Huowang and said enthusiastically, "Senior Li, there is no doubt about it! That person is one of my kin! My family is not far from here."
"Alright, even if it's not far, we still need to proceed one step at a time. First, help us buy some food. We're running low on supplies," said Li Huowang while surveying the lively marketplace. Their inability to communicate due to the language barrier meant that they would have to rely on Sun Baolu for negotiations.
Sun Baolu nodded in agreement and was about to dive into the bustling crowd, but was suddenly stopped by Li Huowang. "Wait for a moment. Is there a place to eat around here? Everyone is hungry and could use some rest."
Soon, everyone arrived at a noodle stall where green noodles could be seen hanging from the rafters, making the whole place resemble a forest.
According to what Sun Baolu told them, here each group would cook their noodles in a shared pot and pay only for what they consume.
Although this method of eating was unfamiliar to the rest of the group, it didn't stop them from enjoying the meal. The aroma of the grass-infused noodles, combined with the spiciness of the mutton and spicy sauce, made for quite a delectable meal.
The noodle house was crowded with many diners. Fortunately, the presence of the hanging noodles made it difficult for the nearby people to see Li Huowang's group without their veils.
Where's Bun?
Li Huowang suddenly realized that the mutt was nowhere to be seen. As he turned to look for it, he saw Bun returning from underneath the noodle stall, holding something in its mouth. It spat the object out near Li Huowang's feet, and then sat down, wagging its tail while waiting for a reward.
As he saw the gleaming white bone near his feet, Li Huowang was puzzled. "What is this?"
While the others were unfamiliar with it, Sun Baolu recognized it immediately and explained, "Senior Li, that is a horse bone. Qing Qiu people rear horses, and they naturally eat horse meat as well. It's quite tasty."
1. Qing Qiu can also be known as green hills ?
"Horse bones? Where did you end up getting one of those? Please don't bring over random things. I'm almost out of scraps of my own dead skin to feed you," Li Huowang turned to Bun.
Bun clearly didn't understand Li Huowang's words. It just lowered its head and used its black snout to nudge the horse bone closer to Li Huowang's feet. "Woof?"
Seeing this, Li Huowang patted its head and turned to Sun Baolu who was sitting across from him. "Alright, we are done eating. Since the place is different, the food will also be quite different. Just choose some local goods that aren't easily perishable."
After finishing his instructions, Li Huowang nodded in Bai Lingmiao's direction, prompting her to hand him a money pouch she had sewn for herself using some scraps.
Sun Baolu weighed it with his hand, then stood up and wiped his mouth. "Okay, it's on me!"
"It's getting late, so let's check into an inn to rest. Staying outside every day can be quite tiring as well," said Li Huowang as pushed himself up with his crutch.
However, they soon faced a new challenge. Without Sun Baolu, they didn't understand what the people of Qing Qiu were saying.
After some gesturing from Puppy, they finally managed to check-in.
Bun followed Li Huowang into the tent-like room, circled him a few times and then settled down before starting to gnaw away on the horse bone it had found earlier.
Lying on the straw mat, Li Huowang sighed deeply and closed his eyes, allowing his tense body to relax.
A delicate pair of hands gently cradled Li Huowang's head to rest it on a pair of soft thighs. Then, the same gentle fingers rhythmically pressed against the newly grown hair on his head. As he breathed in the familiar scent, Li Huowang gradually drifted off to sleep.
"Wait, your fingernails seem a bit long," Li Huowang held her hands and slowly opened his eyes only to realize that the person he was facing was not really Bai Lingmiao but her Second Deity.
From his current position, Li Huowang could barely make out what was inside of the red veil. It was quite dim inside the red veil. Even with Li Huowang's excellent vision, he could only see the fox-like eyes that were glowing with an eerie light. However, there was something unsettling about the number of eyes. It was not a symmetrical pair but one larger and two smaller eyes.
At that moment, something inside the red veil gently moved and blocked Li Huowang's view.
"What do you want?" asked Li Huowang as he looked at her calmly. In the past, trouble from the Second Deity might have been a more concerning matter for him. But after his many experiences, her affairs didn't seem so important anymore.
"Hehe..." The Second Deity grabbed Li Huowang's hand and slowly brought it into her red veil.
Li Huowang felt snake scales, fur, and something that pricked his skin, something akin to a hairpin.
Then, she suddenly grabbed Li Huowang's hand and quickly pulled it, stuffing it into her bulging clothes. She slowly bent down, and the red veil got closer and closer to Li Huowang's face.
As they got closer and closer, some things were faintly appearing in front of Li Huowang through the red veil. There were human-like skulls, animal skulls, and some other objects that couldn't be identified easily. Li Huowang looked at them and said calmly, "I don't know where you're from or whether you're involved in the schemes of the Immortal families, but if you dare to harm Bai Lingmiao, then I won't let you off! Since you've always been watching from the sidelines, you must know that I have the ability to back those words, even if... it comes at a great cost."
Li Huowang threatened her and waited for her response.
To his surprise, she didn't get angry or scared in the face of his threat. Instead, she suddenly broke down.
The sound of her crying resembled the eerie wails of a female ghost, sending shivers down one's spine. Although it was terrifying, the Second Deity was really crying. She leaned against him, nestled in his arms, and continued to sob.
As Li Huowang gazed at the red veil, he hesitated for a moment. Then, he found himself embracing her; it was as if the one crying in his arms wasn't the Second Deity but the girl suffering from albinism with whom he had been through many life and death situations.
Li Huowang hesitated as he reached out his hand. After some contemplation, he began to softly caress her head.
Amidst the soft sounds of crying, the exhausted Li Huowang started to drift off into a deep sleep. After traveling for so long, his body was indeed weary and in need of rest.
"Senior Li, wake up! We've arrived at Cowheart Mountain! We are finally home!"
"Home?" Li Huowang opened his eyes to see the massive mountain and the village nestled beneath, as well as the vast golden rice fields nearby. The scene was quite harmonious and completely different from the gloomy visions of his dreams.
After a moment, he shifted his gaze upward and examined the mountain's appearance. He good-naturedly asked in surprise, "This doesn't look like a cow's heart at all. Do you guys just name these places randomly?"
Turning around, he saw Bai Lingmiao standing beside him.
"I don't know. My grandpa taught me this, and his ancestors taught him too," replied Bai Lingmiao as she turned and smiled, revealing her frightening face.
Green snake scales appeared to crawl like centipedes on her white fox fur. Black needle-like thorns dotted the fur without hindering the movement of the scales. However, when the snake scales reached the center of her face, they couldn't go any further; two beastly eyes which radiated an eerie green glow blocked their path.
"Senior Li, what is wrong with you?" asked Bai Lingmiao as she took a step forward, causing Li Huowang to step back.
With his keen senses, Li Huowang suddenly felt something behind him. He abruptly turned around, and the two beast faces, which were now even more distorted and horrifying, appeared before him once again.
"Husband, do you dislike the way I look?"
"Ah!" Li Huowang was drenched in cold sweat as he opened his eyes, only to see that he was still in the grayish canvas tent.
He turned and saw Bai Lingmiao snuggled beside him, then glanced toward Jin Shanzhao and Peng Longteng in the corner. Only then did he realize that he had just had a nightmare.
It felt so real... I haven't had a nightmare in a long time.
Li Huowang turned on his side, pulled Bai Lingmiao closer to him, then closed his eyes again.
Is this a new nightmare now?
Li Huowang shook his head.
No... this time, it is not a nightmare. Because Jin Shanzhao and Peng Longteng are here.
Not long after he closed his eyes, he opened them again; he sensed someone lying down behind him.
At that moment, a bifurcated red tongue slithered from behind and gently licked Li Huowang's bruised neck. "Husband, do you dislike the way I look?"
Li Huowang pulled Bai Lingmiao closer into his arms, holding her even tighter. He buried his face in her white hair, and slowly said, "I don't mind, but you are not Bai Lingmiao."