"He's the Bei Feng I've been chasing after?" Li Huowang asked. He felt as if a hammer had struck his brain; he couldn't quite believe that Bei Feng would end up as a dying man right in front of him.
Li Huowang had been thinking of Bei Feng all day and all night since he learned that Bei Feing knew how to deal with the hallucination and control the primordial breath inside of him
Li Huowang had been thinking about what Bei Feng would look like.
However, he truly never expected that he'd end up meeting Bei Feng here.
"Him? Is he really Bei Feng? Senior Zhuge, are you sure about that?" Li Huowang asked, staring at Zhuge Yuan with surprise.
"Yes, that's right. He is Bei Feng. He was hiding among the eunuchs, but I managed to find him."
Li Huowang held Zhuege Yuan's hands and shook them rigorously. "Thank you! Thank you!"
Then, he crouched down and propped Bei Feng up. Afterward, he whipped out a dagger and slowly sliced the skin layer on Bei Feng's face.
After several layers, Li Huowang finally saw the bloody mahjong tile—Bei Feng.
Li Huowang was so excited that he almost swooned.
Li Huowang's trembling fingers carefully caressed the bloody mahjong tile.
"Haha, how come you're so happy? Are you my long-lost son or something?" asked Bei Feng in a hoarse voice.
Li Huowang took a deep breath to calm himself down, but his voice was trembling from excitement as he said, "B-B-Bei Feng! I've been looking for you!"
"Oh? You've been looking for me? I guess you're not going to kill me until I tell you everything I know, then," Bei Feng remarked.
Li Huowang ignored Bei Feng's remark and gripped the dagger in his hand tighter before walking over slowly to Bei Feng. Then, Li Huowang stared into Bei Feng's eyes.
"Senior Bei Feng, can you help me? Please tell me how to shake off the hallucination of a Strayed One. Tell me that, and I'm more than happy to negotiate terms with you. I'll agree even if you want me to release you."
Li Huowang didn't care whether Bei Feng accepted it or not.
He just wanted to go to the next step.
However, Bei Feng's reply surprised him.
"Strayed One? Hehe, who told you I'm a Strayed One? I'm indeed Bei Feng, but I'm a fake. Fourth Brother is the true Strayed One, not me."
"Fourth Brother?" Li Huowang's pupils constricted. It was a haunting answer that plunged Li Huowang's elated heart into the abyss.
Bei Feng chuckled upon seeing the despair on Li Huowang's face. "What's wrong? Never played Mahjong before? Don't you know that there are four Bei Feng tiles?"
Four Bei Feng?! Does he mean that there are four Fa Cai? Four Bai Ban?! Four Hong Zhong? Li Huowang stood frozen as if he had been struck by a lightning bolt from out of the blue.
Moments later, Li Huowang snarled and lifted the man into the air by the neck. He thrust his dagger into Bei Feng's abdomen and twisted it wildly, roaring, "Impossible! How dare you try and trick me! Death will elude you once you've sufficiently angered me! You will never die until you tell me the answer!"
Li Huowang was about to talk about his exploits. "I'll have you know—"
"Junior Li," Zhuge Yuan interjected with an awkward look. "He's telling the truth. He's Bei Feng, but he's not a Strayed One. He tried to lie, but I saw through him."
Zhuge Yuan's words broke Li Huowang, and he went beyond pallid.
Li Huowang looked utterly lost, and he suddenly found himself unable to breathe. The feeling of immediately losing something that one had worked hard to obtain was truly the worst feeling ever.
"You like telling stories, right? Why did you not tell me that there are four Bei Fengs?"
"I thought you knew. I'm sorry I never told you this before, but it's not too late to tell you now," Zhuge Yuan said, opening his fan and regretfully patting his head with it.
"The Sitting Oblivion Dao members are adept at changing their faces. To the outsiders, they'd only appear one at a time, but each mahjong tile is shared with four others.
"That's why outsiders often think that the Sitting Oblivion Dao only has one individual representing a mahjong tile. They would always appear one at a time and always in different locations, and that is how the Sitting Oblivion Dao deceives everyone."
They had caught Bei Feng, but he turned out to be the wrong Bei Feng.
Li Huowang felt like his efforts had gone down the drain, and he was so angry at the harsh reality that he saw red. He twisted his dagger and swung upward, tearing through the Sitting Oblivion Dao's abdomen to slice the latter's heart into two.
Bei Feng's mouth was bleeding, and his features had distorted from the pain, but he seemed like he didn't care as he taunted Li Huowang. "Hehe, you're from the Ao Jing Sect? It makes sense, as you're an idiot as well."
"Junior Li, don't kill him. I kept him alive for you because he might know something."
Li Huowang was still furious, but he acknowledged that Zhuge Yuan was right. In the end, he whipped out the Fiery Scripture and started treating Bei Feng's wounds.
Bei Feng saw Li Huowang's actions and laughed louder. "Oh, you're not going to kill me? It looks like you still need me, after all, hahaha!"
Li Huowang cauterized Bei Feng's abdomen before finally taking a good look at the latter. Bei Feng was wearing the face of a plain-looking old man.
Li Huowang was angry, but he couldn't do anything. He also couldn't afford to waste any time, so he decided to move on.
"Since you're one of the Bei Fengs, where are the other three? You should know because the four of you share the same face," Li Huowang asked.
"Hehehe, looks like my hunch is right. Since you're looking for Fourth Brother, you must be a Strayed One too, am I right? You want to know the method to deal with a Strayed One's hallucination?" Bei Feng asked. He pieced together the puzzle pieces of information that Li Huowang had given to him and came up with the full story.
Li Huowang laid out his torture tools upon Bei Feng's refusal to answer him.
"I hate the Ao Jing Sect. You guys are always using the same antiquated methods. Sure, I can tell you, but ..." Bei Feng smiled at Li Huowang. "Are you going to believe me? I'm from the Sitting Oblivion Dao, after all, hehehe~"
Chapter 411 - Departure
Li Huowang glanced at Bei Feng taunting him before looking at Zhuge Yuan.
"Senior Zhuge, can you use your artifact that prevents him from lying?" Li Huowang asked. He knew that Zhuge Yuan's almanac was capable of countering the Sitting Oblivion Dao. With him around, the Sitting Oblivion Dao's deception wouldn't work.
"The almanac is still in effect. You can continue your questioning. He cannot lie for now."
Li Huowang kneeled down and looked at Bei Feng tauntingly. "What's wrong? Do you not want to say it? Should I ask Zhuge Yuan to add another rule stating that it's forbidden not to talk?"
"I'm not a three-year-old boy. The others are already in the city."
"Which city? Stop trying to skimp on the details!"
"Where else? Shangjing."
"Where are they right now?" Li Huowang asked.
"They arrived in the eastern area this afternoon, and I don't know where they are right now."
"Why are the Sitting Oblivion Dao members in Shangjing? Shangjing is where the headquarters of the Surveillance Bureau is located. Are you not afraid of getting captured?"
"Afraid? Hehe, we prioritize deceiving others. We're never afraid of anyone. The reason we never went to Shangjing is that we simply thought that it was a boring place," Bei Feng replied.
"Stop changing the subject! Talk! Why are you in Shangjing?!" Li Huowang roared with a grim look.
Bei Feng scoffed at Li Huowang's disfigured face and said, "Our boss, Shai Zi[1] told us to come here. He said that the Emperor of the Liang Kingdom is doing something in the shadows. He told us to come here and see if we can deceive him. As for what he's doing, you probably know more than me. I just arrived here, so I know less than you."
The emperor? Li Huowang recalled Ji Xiang's search for a Muddled One, the heavily damaged warship, and the previous emperor, who was executed not too long ago.
Li Huowang had an inkling that the Liang Kingdom was trying to do something in the shadows. It seemed that the Sitting Oblivion Dao had caught wind of it as well and had come to Shangjing to see what was up.
"Who else is with the three Bei Fensg?" Li Huowang asked.
"We're three Ba Tiaos, two Jiu Tiaos, four Bei Fengs, and two Hong Zhongs. Hehe." Bei Feng chuckled at Li Huowang.
Li Huowang slapped Bei Feng in the face. "Don't try to pull this trick again. The others have tried it on me, and it's useless!"
After learning everything he needed to know, Li Huowang finally stood up.
"Are you done? Is he useless to you now?" Zhuge Yuan asked, closing his fan.
Li Huowang nodded.
Zhuge Yuan unfurled a scroll, and a Muddled One's corpse appeared.
The long scroll circled around Bei Feng's head, and Bei Feng's eyes glazed over as he lost his memories of the Liang Kingdom. His body was changing as well; he shrank and became a small old lady.
The small old lady stood up with trembling legs. She seemed to have no idea what was going on. Upon seeing Zhuge Yuan and Li Huowang, she turned and ran toward a house.
"Where am I?! Honey, come out!" the small old lady shouted, knocking on the door.
"Aiyaya, don't worry. We're not going to eat you," Zhuge Yuan said, guiding her slowly into the house.
Zhuge Yuan emerged moments later and saw Li Huowang with a frown. "How is it? Were his words useful to you?"
Li Huowang nodded. "Yes, but we can't trust his words completely. Based on my experience with them, they can still deceive even while telling the truth. He had been telling the truth, but he definitely left out some details.
"He might have told me half-truths as well."
Li Huowang swept his gaze across the crowd of people, who were convinced that they were citizens of the Qi Kingdom. Then, he turned to Zhuge Yuan and whispered, "My apologies, but I will have to leave for a while. There's something I need to do. I'm not abandoning you; it's just that it's urgent. I'll return once I'm done."
"No worries." Zhuge Yuan was not offended at all. "Now that you know Bei Feng is within the city, what are you going to do?"
"The entire Sitting Oblivion Dao is here, so I can't fight any of them on my own. I have a plan, but I'm not sure whether it will work or not. Still, it's better than nothing."
Zhuge Yuan nodded. "Sure. Go and do your thing. You can come find me if you have any issues."
Li Huowang's heart felt warm at the remark. Zhuge Yuan was indeed one of the few kind people in this crazy world.
"All right." Li Huowang bowed to Zhuge Yuan and ran out of the Liang Residence.
Li Huowang didn't take a detour. He jumped on roofs after roofs, running in the southwest direction. His bold actions attracted some eyes, but no one stopped him the moment he raised his identity token.
Half an hour later, Li Huowang finally arrived at the Surveillance Bureau after jumping onto a myriad roofs. The person standing at the door wasn't the man from the Mo Family. The guard was a skinny woman covered in bandages with a black talisman on her forehead. Her skin was dark, and her orifices were plugged with yellow soil. It was downright frightening seeing someone like her in an empty room.
"Let me in, I have urgent news!" Li Huowang exclaimed.
The skinny woman didn't move, but the hidden door opened by itself.
Li Huowang ran into the hidden door and traced the path according to his memories.
Soon, he found himself in the hall filled with screens once more. He looked around and saw that there were few people in the hall, as only a handful of the screens were illuminated with candles.
Li Huowang ignored them and ran up to Nangong's desk. "Senior Nangong, I have urgent news! The entire Sitting Oblivion Dao is here in Shangjing!"
1. Meaning Dice, as in playing dice ☜
Chapter 412 - Surveillance Bureau
"What did you say?" Nangong looked at the disfigured man in front of him. The man had lost all of his skin, but his identity token and the bronze coin veil made the man's identity clear to Nangong.
A few months ago, Li Huowang appeared, and he had never appeared again. Nangong was starting to think that perhaps something untoward had happened to Li Huowang until he returned for the first time in ages and said something outrageous like the how entire Sitting Oblivion Dao was in Shangjing.
"Er Jiu, you can't make any jokes about that. Do you know the gravity of your words? If your information turns out to be inaccurate, you will be incarcerated!" Nangong warned Li Huowang.
"Of course! Senior Nangong, I'm telling the truth. I caught Bei Feng myself and interrogated him," Li Huowang said. He decided to tell Nangong the truth.
Indeed, he had captured Bei Feng, and the latter had told Li Huowang that all of the Sitting Oblivion Dao members were here except for Wan Tiao. The 108 normal mahjong tiles—the sixteen Dong Feng, Nan Feng, Bei Feng, Xi Feng, the twelve Hong Zhongs, Fa Cai, and Bai Ban were here.
A total of 136 Sitting Oblivion Dao members were in Shangjing!
The ordinary members of the Sitting Dao Oblivion were already a headache for the Surveillance Bureau, not to mention the Three Officials and Four Joys.
Most importantly, the Sitting Oblivion Dao leader Shai Zhi was in Shangjing as well.
Li Huowang had no idea how to play mahjong, but he could still remember seeing his mother play it during the New Year. Li Huowang recalled needing two dice to play mahjong.
It was difficult for him to face such strong opponents on his own. He needed to use the Surveillance Bureau. Li Huowang would then reap profits while the two were busy fighting each other.
"Senior Nangong, I know how important this news is, so I dare not lie! They must have a scheme going on, as they're all here. You know they're willing to destroy even a kingdom just to deceive!"
Nangong agreed with Li Huowang. The information was indeed extremely important, so Li Huowang was most likely telling the truth. "Wait here, I need to report this to the higher-ups. The risk is just too heavy, so I have to give them a report."
Nangong walked into the door on the left side of the hall with a frown.
Li Huowang watched as Nangong left and sighed. The matter wasn't over yet. Nangong was just the messenger, and he could never make a decision about such a monumental matter. Li Huowang had to convince the higher-ups to spur the Surveillance Bureau into action.
Li Huowang paced back and forth, thinking about how to convince the higher-ups.
"The Sitting Oblivion Dao is here?" A deep voice echoed from a screen on Li Huowang's left. He turned around and saw a large shadow on the screen. Li Huowang didn't reply because he wasn't sure whether the person was friend or foe.
"Hehe, seems like something is going to happen to Shangjing soon. I may have to hide in Hou Shu. Great, it seems that I still have time."
The figure behind the screen reminded Li Huowang of Tuoba Danqing and Ji Xiang's actions. Those veterans somehow sensed that something big was going to happen soon and had left before it could happen.
Tuoba Danqing had said that he was going to go hide in Qing Qiu once they had captured a Muddled One, but he ended up not making it back from the mission.
Meanwhile, Ji Xiang just gave Li Huowang a house in Shangjing and ran away.
"Do you know why the Sitting Oblivion Dao has gathered in Shangjing?" Li Huowang asked the figure behind the screen.
"Hehe. You don't know? Then it's better that way. This world is a crazy world indeed," the figure replied and stopped talking afterward.
Li Huowang felt anxious. Something big was about to happen, and he remained clueless about it. He walked toward the screen and looked behind but saw no one.
There was a wooden sculpture on the table, and it depicted a monk carrying a rucksack.
The monk's upper body seemed vibrant and full of energy. The monk looked cheerful as well and was all smiles; his large belly was comical, too. However, the monk's lower body was incomplete and was a tangled mass of black roots that made the carving look bizarre overall.
"Er Jiu! Where are you?" Nangong shouted from afar.
Li Huowang gave one glance at the wooden sculpture before walking out of the screen.
"Senior Nangong, I'm here!"
"Follow me! Lord Jian Zheng wants to see you!" Nangong exclaimed, and he looked quite anxious.
Li Huowang followed closely behind Nangong.
Li Huowang had yet to fully understand the hierarchy within the Surveillance Bureau, but Li Huowang knew that Lord Jian Zheng was definitely someone special if they were dealing with matters regarding the Sitting Oblivion Dao.
"Here, wear this. You look terrible without it. You shouldn't meet Lord Jian Zheng with that appearance," Nangong said, handing over a gray robe for Li Huowang to wear.
Li Huowang accepted it and wore the large, gray robe to cover his wounds.
"Remember, don't say anything stupid or lie to Lord Jian Zheng. He's going to know whether you're lying or not."
Does that mean he can read minds? Will he know that I'm a Strayed One if I even think about it? Li Huowang was shocked, and he couldn't help but ask, "May I ask which sect Lord Jian Zheng comes from?"
"Lord Jian Zheng is different from the both of us. He's a disciple of Confucianism. They distance themselves from the superstitious, and they do not cultivate anything at all."
"Doesn't that mean he's just an ordinary person?" Li Huowang asked, sounding doubtful. How could a higher-up managing the Liang Kingdom be a normal man?
"Do you really think that you can solve everything with your cultivation techniques? You're too naive. There are some people who are born special. Even without cultivation techniques, they're still capable of solving problems with their brain. Lord Jian Zheng even managed to deceive a Sitting Oblivion Dao member."
Li Huowang was astonished. He had encountered members of the Sitting Oblivion Dao quite a few times now, so he knew what would it take to deceive one of them. Li Huowang reckoned that Lord Jian Zheng had to be a monster in the brain department.
Li Huowang felt giddy with anticipation. He couldn't wait to meet someone like what Nangong had described. Of course, Li Huowang was also a bit nervous as to how he was supposed to negotiate with Lord Jian Zheng.
Li Huowang followed Nangong and walked down the wooden corridor until they reached a set of stone doors. There were two guards standing beside the gate like guardian deities.
Their killing intent told Li Huowang that they were from a military family.
Li Huowang followed Nangong through a maze-like room until they finally reached the doors of what looked like a study room.
"Lord Jian Zheng, Er Jiu is here," Nangong said, bowing toward the wooden door.
Chapter 413 - Jian Zheng
"You may return. Let him come inside by himself." An old-sounding voice echoed from behind the doors.
"Yes," Nangong said. Then, he hinted at Li Huowang to be careful before leaving.
Li Huowang took a deep breath and entered the ajar wooden door.
The study room wasn't large, and it looked like a normal study room as well. There were numerous books on the bookshelves on the left. The walls were also covered in various caricatures and art pieces, reminding Li Huowang of Zhuge Yuan's bamboo house.
If he weren't in the deepest and most remote part of the Surveillance Bureau's headquarters, Li Huowang would think that he was in a regular scholar's study room.
"Er Jiu greets Lord Jian Zheng!" Li Huowang bowed toward the man in front of him.
"Are you Er Jiu? Raise your head."
Li Huowang looked up, seeing Li Huowang's disfigured face.
Li Huowang also saw Lord Jian Zheng, and it turned out that Lord Jian Zheng was a skinny middle-aged man with a goatee. His smile lines were so deep that it separated his face into three parts.
Lord Jian Zheng wasn't wearing anything flashy. He was wearing a regular purple robe with a jade hanging from his waist.
Lord Jian Zheng was in front of the study table, busy approving documents with a brush dipped in cinnabar. There was a pot of tea bubbling on a small stove, making the room much warmer than outside.
Li Huowang's heart froze upon recalling Nangong's warning. He lowered his head and said, "Lord Jian Zheng, the entire Sitting Oblivion Dao is—"
"You entered the city with the Storyteller this morning, am I right?" Jian Zheng interrupted Li Huowang's sentence and train of thought.
Jian Zheng placed the brush on a stand and used a seal the size of his fist to stamp the corner of a document.
Li Huowang's heart quivered, but he started talking. He told Jian Zheng about the dispute between Zhuge Yuan and the Sitting Oblivion Dao, as well as how he discovered the Sitting Oblivion Dao's movement through Bei Feng.
Li Huowang told the truth and refrained from telling even a single lie. Of course, he skipped some of the details that the Surveillance Bureau didn't have to know.
"Oh, I know." Lord Jian Zheng sounded calm.
Li Huowang was surprised. After all, they were talking about the Sitting Oblivion Dao here, and they were all in the city.
"My Lord! The Sitting Oblivion Dao is here! They—"
"You don't have to tell me what to do. Why are you in such a rush? Are you trying to use the Surveillance Bureau to take revenge on the Sitting Oblivion Dao?" Jian Zheng asked with cold eyes.
A mysterious pressure enveloped Li Huowang, and he hurriedly said, "Er Jiu dares not to say that."
Li Huowang bit his cheek and took half a step back.
"Hmph! How uncouth." Jian Zheng ignored Li Huowang and continued with his task.
Jian Zheng ignored Li Huowang for fifteen minutes before finally taking the pot of boiling tea away from the stove and pouring himself a cup of tea. He took a sip of the tea before looking at Li Huowang.
"Don't worry about the Sitting Oblivion Dao. Someone else is going to deal with them. However, I need you to do something else. This is more important than the Sitting Oblivion Dao, so you need to be very careful about this."
Jian Zheng's reaction was outside Li Huowang's expectations, but it didn't mean that he could afford to be careless. Li Huowang remained calm, knowing that he couldn't reveal anything suspicious.
"Yes, please give me your order."
"I have no idea how you ended up knowing Zhuge Yuan, but I need you to go back to him. Someone will assist you at the right timing, and your mission is to steal the Six Divinations Almanac."
Six Divinations Almanac? What's that? Wait, the almanac?! Li Huowang recalled the almanac that Zhuge Yuan had wielded. Jian Zheng wants me to take Zhuge Yuan's almanac!
Li Huowang reeled in shock.
"This is an important mission, and I will personally oversee you. You must perform well. If possible, you should kill Zhuge Yuan. However, his death isn't mandatory," Jian Zheng added and frowned upon witnessing Li Huowang's silence. "Did you not listen to what I said?"
Li Huowang clasped his shaking hands together. "Yes, I heard and will obey."
Jian Zheng didn't forget to promise Li Huowang some rewards.
"Succeed, and I'll ignore some of the things you've done in the Surveillance Bureau. In fact, I will allow you to become an official of the Surveillance Bureau. Consider it your honor.
"You may also choose three artifacts from the vault. I know that the SItting Oblivion Dao destroyed your entire sect, so it's only natural for you to hate them. Complete the mission perfectly, and I will allow you to join in on the mission to kill the Sitting Oblivion Dao members. You will also be in charge of those we end up capturing."
Li Huowang nodded solemnly.
Jian Zheng seemed satisfied with Li Huowang's response. He picked up a stack of paper and gave it to Li Huowang. "You may return after you deliver these documents to the archive. The archive is beyond the third door on the left."
Li Huowang walked up and accepted the stack of papers with both hands before leaving the study. Once he was out of the study room, Li Huowang frowned. What should I do?
He couldn't stop thinking about the best next course of action. Li Huowang's initial plan was to pit both parties against each other while reaping profits during the chaos, but his plan ended up failing before he could even start working on it.
Jian Zheng's reaction was truly unexpected. After all, the entire Sitting Oblivion Dao was here. Li Huowang couldn't fight the entire Sitting Oblivion Dao on his own; he needed the Surveillance Bureau's help. Most importantly, he needed another plan.
Should I steal Zhuge Yuan's almanac for the Surveillance Bureau? That's absurd!
Zhuge Yuan was a talkative lunatic, but he was one of the very few friends Li Huowang had in this crazy world.
Li Huowang was still thinking about what to do when he finally arrived at the third door on the left. He looked down at the stack of papers in his hand and was about to enter the room when he caught a glimpse of the words on one of the documents.
Feng Erniu? Li Huowang was familiar with that name. It was the name of the Ji Xiang, who gave him a house in Shangjing before leaving. Li Huowang proceeded to read the report. Former Ji Xiang Feng Erniu and his wife are dead? Their heads have been submitted as proof? Ji Xiang is dead? He worked for the Surveillance Bureau for so long, and he was killed just like that?
Li Huowang recalled the pallid-looking plump Ji Xiang, and his heart grew cold upon seeing the glaring red circle drawn on the piece of paper.
Li Huowang glanced at the study room and realized that this wasn't a coincidence. Jian Zheng knew that Li Huowang was familiar with the former Ji Xiang and had put the document at the top of the stack as a warning.
Li Huowang took a deep breath and entered the archive.
Chapter 414 - Son
Li Huowang sat in the corner of the room and stared quietly at the citizens of Qi Kingdom talking about something. He overheard them talking about whether they would recruit a group of eunuchs in the palace or not.
Some of them thought that eunuchs couldn't be trusted, but others thought that eunuchs were still useful and that they had to recruit more eunuchs. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖
Li Huowang stopped listening to their discussion and turned to Zhuge Yuan next to him.
Zhuge Yuan was drinking tea as if he wasn't involved. He didn't express his opinion as well. Considering his status, he could have made a decision for everyone, but he didn't do that.
Li Huowang sat down next to him and asked. "Aren't you going to stop them? They've been talking about it for so long. We need a leader to stop them."
"No worries. Qin Lao is here, and they'll eventually come to a decision. I think they'll come to a decision by tomorrow. The little emperor is not the key issue here, but the empress."
"I hope they do move out tomorrow. Anyway, I'm going to the toilet," Li Huowang said. He stood up and walked outside. Rather than going to the toilet, however, Li Huowang left the residence through the courtyard.
A slightly faded humanoid window sticker talked to him once he was outside.
"Why are you still acting? The people outside are waiting for you anxiously, including Lord Jian Zheng."
Li Huowang frowned at the sticker. "I don't even know where he's hiding his almanac. Why are you in such a rush? I'll end up alerting him if I move haphazardly. Do you not have any idea just how strong he is?"
"Pick up the pace. We're at a critical juncture, and you can't take the easy path here."
"Relax. I know the best time to act, and it's when the Sitting Oblivion Dao members are fighting against him. He's definitely going to use the almanac against the Sitting Oblivion Dao."
"Are you sure that the Sitting Oblivion Dao will start moving soon?"
"Of course. Zhuge Yuan had fought them many times before. At this point, it's either he dies or the Sitting Oblivion Dao dies. They've ambushed him twice and are definitely going to do it again.
"Anyway, I have to go back now, or Zhuge Yuan will get suspicious of me."
Li Huowang turned around and ran away without waiting for the humanoid sticker's response.
The humanoid window sticker ceased all movement. In a house ten Li away, a chubby woman was holding a scissor tied with red thread. She crumpled up a window sticker and hurled it into the fire. Then, she told Jian Zheng everything.
Jian Zheng's eyes were squinting as he heard the report. Two beautiful ladies were massaging his back and shoulders.
The incense finished burning and the plump woman went and lit up another.
Jian Zheng spoke again when the white incense smoke drifted once more into the air.
"Tell the guards to release the two Sitting Oblivion Sect from the prison. Let them be the messenger. Tell them that we will fight the Storyteller at noon. The Surveillance Bureau only wants the Six Divinations Almanac, nothing else."
The chubby woman was shocked by the order. The Sitting Oblivion Dao was the nemesis of the Surveillance Bureau, but Jian Zheng was actually going to use them?
"Lord Jian Zheng, are they really going to do that?"
"I know that they're a group of liars, but they will definitely do that. Everyone thinks that they're just a group of crazy liars, but they actually have things they hold precious. They're simply hiding it properly."
Jian Zheng felt tired and proceeded to his bed. Upon hearing footsteps, the two ladies in the bed moved aside and lifted the blanket.
Jian Zheng lay down, and the two ladies lay at the edge of the bed. Jian Zheng placed his wrinkled feet in their bosoms, allowing their soft bosoms to envelop his feet.
Jian Zheng sighed and turned around on the bed. "Go. Notify me once we're moving out tomorrow. This is an important mission, and I must oversee myself."
"Yes, I understand."
The chubby woman raised the scissor and snipped it toward the direction of the lamp. The room was plunged into darkness. Then, she bowed slightly toward the bed before leaving the room.
Li Huowang woke up in the morning on the second day of his mission. He didn't eat breakfast and paced around the courtyard endlessly; his instincts were telling him that something was going to happen today.
Li Huowang ignored the people from the Great Qi walking past him.
The Liang Kingdom was in a more perilous situation compared to the Qi Kingdom. Li Huowang saw an approaching carriage. He prepared himself, but he saw an eunuch alighted from the carriage.
The eunuch was chubby with jade-like skin like the others, but he looked quite young. He wasn't wearing any jewelry, but prayer beads wrapped around one of his hands as embellishments.
The eunuch didn't walk into the residence. He stopped in the courtyard and started shouting, "Everyone, stop your useless work! We are not going to help you. We are returning the favor from before by acting like you do not exist at all."
Qin Lao was reluctant to let go of one of the few remaining help they could possibly obtain. "But Lord Zhuge is with us! Will you not reconsider? We'll share the glory once we succeed!"
The eunuch looked at Zhuge Yuan and bowed respectfully before chuckling at Old Qin. "Lord Qin, what do you think is most important to us, who are working in the palace?"
Everyone was stunned.
One of the ladies spoke hesitantly. "Gold?"
"Wrong! It's a son[1]! You can't help us, but the monks can!"
The eunuch took off his robes, revealing his enlarged belly covered in veins. The eunuch excitedly showed off his belly. "Who said that we can't have children after getting castrated? Do you not see this? This is my own son!"
The eunuch used his hand wrapped in prayer beads to caress his belly. Soon, an imprint appeared on the eunuch's belly as if what was inside had reacted to the eunuch's touch. The imprint resembled a hand!
Li Huowang felt a shiver down his spine. What the hell is happening to the Qi Kingdom? What did the monks from the Righteous Monastery do to impregnate the eunuchs? Wait, is his "son" even alive inside him?
The Righteous Monastery of the Qi Kingdom was clearly stronger and more influential than the Righteous Monastery of the Liang Kingdom.
Old Qin's hands trembled violently at the sight. "The monks from the Righteous Monastery are evil and have fallen into depravity! You're not going to live long by consorting yourself with them!"
"Who cares if they're evil? I'll help those who can give us a child, even though we've been castrated!" the eunuch retorted. Then, he carefully wrapped his enlarged belly with his robes, hiding it from everyone's line of sight.
1. Eunuchs are castrated once they accept their roles. This is to make them less threatening as servants of the imperial family. That's why they can't have children. ☜
Chapter 415 - Hong Zhong
"And that's why the officials are so close to the Righteous Monastery and the abbot. You're asking the wrong group of people for help. Of course, the exception is if you can give us sons as well."
The chubby eunuch returned to the carriage.
Right as he was about to enter the carriage, he stopped and looked back. "I almost forgot to say this, but Stepfather said that we will not interfere if you do make a move. If you're capable of imprisoning the empress, we'd be more than happy to deal with the aftermath for you."
With that, the chubby eunuch left, leaving behind a gloomy group of people.
Li Huowang had no intentions of getting involved, but he still couldn't help but remark, "The difference in power between your group and the enemy group is too large. I don't think you'll have many allies here for your cause. This is a lost cause."
"Don't worry; everything isn't set in stone. There are no permanent allies, only permanent interests; the result is still up to the heavens to decide," said Zhuge Yuan. He then put his fan away and continued, "We have the justification as well. The empress ruling the kingdom is unprecedented.
"I'm sure everyone knows that, and they're not going to bother us at all."
Li Huowang nodded.
Zhuge Yuan looked at Li Huowang and asked curiously. "Junior Li, are you okay? You've been quite unfocused recently."
"No, I'm fine," Li Huowang replied rather quickly.
"If you need my help, don't hesitate to ask me for help. I can still help you with some minor issues."
Glancing at the window sticker, Li Huowang shook his head. "No, it's fine. Let's just work together and deal with the issue here in the Great Qi. Your problems are more concerning than mine."
Clip, clop, clip.
The sound of horse hooves echoed from outside, and the combined volume was so loud that it sounded like an army was converging on their location. There was even the sound of drums, which grew louder by the second.
"Wait, why are the soldiers here?! I thought they were guarding the borders?!" someone shouted. The crowd inside the residence immediately got worried.
"Don't panic," Zhuge Yuan said calmly, calming down everyone. He picked up a few scrolls of art and walked outside.
Li Huowang frowned upon seeing the window sticker split into four pieces, briefly revealing Jian Zheng's face.
When Zhuge Yuan walked out, he saw rows of soldiers ahead of him. The combined killing intent of the soldiers was so thick that it was palpable. The people nearby failed to escape in time, and some of them were so frightened to the point of swooning.
"Hoho." Zhuge Yuan sat on the ground and unfurled one of the scrolls. A black Guzheng[1] appeared in front of him.
Ding~
Zhuge Yuan plucked on the string lightly, and the powerful drum noises were washed away.
The soldiers growled and ran toward them. When their killing intent reached its peak, a pool of blood appeared from underneath Zhuge Yuan's Guzheng, melting it into a puddle of blood.
The buildings in the four cardinal directions peeled away; the wooden tiles fell off, and four altars covered in talismans emerged.
Several purple-robed Daoists brandished their swords at the same time and started a ritual. Someone shouted just then, and a barrier sprang up, covering everything.
"Junior Li, don't you think this is interesting?" Zhuge Yuan waved his hand, and the old almanac appeared. He used his brush and pointed at the four altars. The four Daoists disappeared, and Zhuge Yuan's brush was suddenly covered in something.
Zhuge Yuan raised his hand and got ready to write when Li Huowang shifted his illusion and used his invisible right hand to snatch the old almanac. Li Huowang immediately somersaulted and dashed toward the window sticker.
"Li! Huo! Wang!" Zhuge Yuan's enraged voice echoed.
The tiles around him quivered violently.
"Stop watching and stop him for me!" Li Huowang shouted.
The people of the Surveillance Bureau appeared and surrounded Zhuge Yuan, but they weren't Zhuge Yuan's enemy at all. Several mahjong tiles appeared in the army just then, and they ran toward Zhuge Yuan with the same towering killing intent as the army!
Li Huowang was so busy escaping that he had no idea what was happening behind him. However, he could hear incessant cries. The voices echoed closer and closer the faster Li Huowang ran.
Upon reaching the rendezvous point, Li Huowang saw Jian Zheng waiting for him on horseback. No one else was around Jian Zheng, as the people of the Surveillance Bureau were doing their best to stop Zhuge Yuan.
"Give me the Six Divinations Almanac," Jian Zheng said, extending his arm.
"Here it is!" Li Huowang handed over the old almanac.
When Li Huowang's skinless hand and the wrinkled hand made contact, a sharp glint burst out of the almanac and flew toward Jian Zheng's neck.
Jian Zheng failed to react in time, but the jade pendant on his waist flashed once and shattered. A white smoke appeared from the jade pendant, and it enveloped Li Huowang's arm that was holding the dagger.
Li Huowang's arm was corroded until only the bone in his arm was left.
However, Li Huowang wasn't done just yet.
Li Huowang spat his molars, but he was caught off guard when his teeth failed to pierce Jian Zheng, merely getting stuck in the latter's chest. Clearly, Jian Zheng's purple robe had strong defensive capabilities; it wasn't just an ordinary robe!
"How dare you?!" Jian Zheng glared furiously at Li Huowang.
Li Huowang took to the air and sat on Jian Zheng before thrusting his corroded arm into Jian Zheng's neck. His attack finally worked, and Jian Zheng's blood dyed his beard red.
Li Huowang leaned forward and whispered. "Why do you think I did this? Because I'm fucking Hong Zhong! Do you really think I'd be friendly with you guys?!"
Li Huowang stabbed Jian Zheng once more, and the latter's head tilted sideways.
Jian Zheng was dead!
"HAHAHAHA! THIS FEELS AMAZING!" Li Huowang roared madly and turned around. Then, he raised his corroded arm while sweeping his gaze across the people who had surrounded Zhuge Yuan.
"Hahaha! I tricked you guys too! Did you guys really not think that I may be a member of the Sitting Oblivion Dao?!" Li Huowang tore off his face, revealing the flesh underneath.
Moments later, black tentacles burrowed out of his facial muscles and skull. The black tentacles moved together and transformed Li Huowang's head, making the latter's head appear rectangular.
grotesque noises echoed incessantly, Li Huowang's face distorted in pain.
"Father...!"
"Don't stop! Do it! Do it like what I taught you yesterday!"
Li Sui could only proceed, and Li Huowang's facial features became even more distorted. Li Sui popped out Li Huowang's eyeballs, and the latter's face finally resembled a Hong Zhong mahjong tile.
The Sitting Oblivion Dao members amidst the army cheered and whistled at the sight.
"Hahaha! Hong Zhong is amazing! To think he'd actually transformed into that brat!"
"Elder Hong Zhong is amazing!"
"Hong Zhong is unbeatable!"
Li Huowang laughed boisterously at their cheers. He even lifted Jian Zheng's corpse and shook it at them.
1. A musical instrument ☜
Chapter 416 - Retreat
"Hahaha, you want the Six Divinations Almanac? Hahaha, how naive! This treasure belongs to us—the Sitting Oblivion Dao!" Li Huowang mocked the members of the Surveillance Bureau.
Hong Zhong's illusion celebrated wildly and clapped around Li Huowang. It was his first time feeling such unprecedented joy; he had never felt such a rush, even when he was still alive.
Everyone came to a screeching halt and stared alternatingly at the Hong Zhong on Li Huowang's face and Jian Zheng's corpse in his hand.
The Surveillance Bureau members besieging Zhuge Yuan were stupefied. They didn't expect that one of their comrades would end up being a member of the Sitting Oblivion Dao in disguise, and he had even killed Jian Zheng!
The Surveillance Bureau rushed toward Li Huowang. Jian Zheng had died, and if they didn't want to be imprisoned for dereliction of duty, they had to capture Hong Zhong!
"Dad, they're running toward you!" Li Sui exclaimed.
Li Huowang was blinded, so he couldn't see what was going on.
"Calm down. Pop your eyeballs out and lead the way for me!" Li Huowang urged. He raised the blood-stained almanac and ran toward the city wall under Li Sui's guidance.
Anything could happen in this bizarre world. Jian Zheng was one of the Surveillance Bureau's higher ups, so Jian Zheng had been difficult to kill. However, Li Huowang didn't really care about success or failure. He did this to shift the blame onto the Sitting Oblivion Dao. Li Huowang had never taken the Surveillance Bureau's side; he had stayed true to his goal—capturing the Strayed One Bei Feng!
Bei Feng was still in the capital, but both the Surveillance Bureau and the Sitting Oblivion Dao had to fight each other for Li Huowang to catch Bei Feng! It had to happen at all costs, even if Li Huowang had to create conflict between them.
Li Huowang had no reservations when it came to taking advantage of them. The Sitting Oblivion Dao had deceived him so many times that they were practically archenemies now.
Meanwhile, Li Huowang wasn't worried about his cover getting blown by the Surveillance Bureau. There was more than one Hong Zhong, after all. In addition, the Sitting Oblivion Dao was famous for their deception to the extent that no one would believe them, even if they were to speak the truth.
The Sitting Oblivion Dao was in a difficult position now that Hong Zhong had killed Jian Zheng. Li Huowang had learned this trick from the Sitting Oblivion Dao, and he wasn't shy of taking a few pointers from their playbook.
Li Huowang jumped on roof after roof. He attached talismans to his knees and ran wildly. He'd laugh occasionally to taunt his pursuers. Li Huowang's instigation plan had succeeded. Now, all that was left for him to do was to escape from the Surveillance Bureau's pursuit and reclaim his true identity his Er Jiu.
Li Huowang had just jumped off a roof when a killing intent pierced him, making his hair stand on end.
Li Huowang felt himself twisting in mid-air. The blind Li Huowang then felt a strong breeze sweeping past him.
"Dad, someone on the wall threw a big stick toward you," said Li Sui. He had evaded the attack for Li Huowang.
"Don't panic; we're not too far away from the city wall. We'll be out soon!" Li Huowang felt a strange aura behind him, and the aura locked onto him.
Li Huowang's heart clenched, and he asked, "Li Sui, what's going on? Did something happen behind us?"
"Dad, the person you killed has just stood up! He's looking at your head!"
"What?! Jian Zheng is still alive? No way, he has to be dead! He's not Jian Zheng! He's someone else!"
Clearly, "Jian Zheng" had more tricks up his sleeves than Li Huowang could ever take into account. Li Huowang didn't have an exact grasp of the ongoing situation, as he was blind. However, one thing was for sure: the ordeal was far from over.
"Go!" Li Huowang switched places with his illusion and became invisible. Then, he ran toward the city gate with all his strength.
Li Huowang felt a chill above his head followed by a dull thud. The chill vanished immediately afterward. However, Li Huowang's situation was too dire for him to pay any attention to anything else aside from escaping. Li Huowang ran nonstop upon realizing that he didn't get hit by the oncoming projectile.
"Come on! Everyone, let's help Elder Hong Zhong!"
"Hong Zhong! We'll avenge you! Just go in peace!"
"Hong Zhong, make sure to send the almanac out of the city!"
The members of the Sitting Oblivion Dao shouted at Li Huowang, and he couldn't help but sneer in his heart. I'm deceiving you guys. I'm sure none of you has ever thought that you'd get a taste of your own medicine one day.
Of course, Li Huowang had no idea whether the Sitting Oblivion Dao members were truly acting as his rearguard, but the pressure on Li Huowang dropped.
Li Huowang soon reached the city gates. The heavy gates were closed, but it was no challenge for Li Huowang. He swung his bronze coin sword and sliced through the city gate as if it were made out of paper.
Li Huowang ran for quite a while until his hands eventually felt the familiar touch of bushes and leaves. In other words, he had left the city and had entered a dense forest.
Li Sui! Keep an eye out for me! Is anyone after us? Li Huowang asked inwardly.
"No, those people in armor stopped them from chasing after us."
It was the best possible outcome, but Li Huowang remained vigilant. He continued his run into the forest; sometimes, he'd turn invisible, and sometimes he'd wade his way through a river.
Several hours later, Li Huowang eventually stopped, feeling utterly exhausted. He was covered in beaded sweat as he sat on a boulder to catch his breath. The security in the city will definitely be heightened because of the chaos. I have to wait for things to cool down.
However, I can't wait for too long lest the Surveillance Bureau launches another attack on the Sitting Oblivion Dao while I'm not there. I have to be there before those two start attacking each other. I can't miss the golden opportunity.
Just as Li Huowang was engrossed in his thoughts, the sound of crunching leaves echoed to his left.
Li Huowang's ears perked up to listen.
"Ghost!" a terrified scream echoed, prompting the nearby birds to fly away. Then, there wasn't any more movement. Li Huowang frowned in bewilderment and confusion. Li Sui, who made that sound?
"An old man. He's carrying a lot of wood. He's on the ground right now, and he's not moving at all."
The perplexed Li Huowang made his way over to where he had heard the scream, and his hands soon found the old man.
Li Huowang groped around and discovered that the old man was wearing coarse clothes. The old man's face was covered in deep wrinkles as well, which was proof of his old age.
The firewood on his back and the broken hatchet in the old man's hand indicated that the old man was just an ordinary person who decided to come to the mountains to chop some firewood.
The old man still had a pulse, which meant that Li Huowang had simply scared him out of his wits to the point of fainting rather than death.
Li Huowang realized just then that the old man had to have been scared by his terrifying appearance. It made sense, as there was no way that Li Huowang's horrifying face was a common sight to ordinary people.
Li Huowang took out a dagger from his torture bag to try and restore his facial features. He raised his hands and reached out for his head, but he found nothing except for two tentacles bobbing up and down with an eyeball each.
Where did my head go?
Chapter 417 - What If
"Where's my head?"
Li Sui thought Li Huowang was talking to him, so he hurriedly replied, "Father, I know where your head is. It fell on the ground while we were in the city. Should we go back and pick it up?"
Li Sui's words seemed to drain the life out of Li Huowang. The latter went limp and collapsed to the ground.
"Father? Father, what's wrong?" Li Sui nudged Li Huowang with his tentacles, but he received no response. Li Sui couldn't understand why his father had stopped moving.
Was it because he lost his head? But Father lost his head long ago, and he still managed to run for such a long time. It shouldn't be because he lost his head.
The little toy that Li Huowang gave Li Sui squirmed all of a sudden. Li Sui used his tentacles to fish out the leather doll, and it grew rapidly once it was outside. In the blink of an eye, it became as big as a human being. It had Li Huowang's face, but it was shriveled up with just a thin layer of skin.
The flat and thin "Li Huowang" crawled and put his mouth on the shadow that his corpse had cast. In the next moment, "Li Huowang" began sucking. The shadow was funneled into the doll's mouth, and it grew rapidly.
Moments later, Li Huowang with a complete body and head appeared next to his own corpse. Li Huowang exhaled sharply in fear as he looked down at his headless corpse.
Li Huowang was already blind even before his head fell off his shoulders, so he had no idea who took his head away. However, Li Huowang believed that it was most likely the resurrected Jian Zheng.
Sure enough, the Surveillance Bureau still had tricks up their sleeves. If it hadn't been for the relic that had sacrificed its life for him, he would have died for real.
I must be extremely cautious the next time I face the Surveillance Bureau. Their techniques are too mysterious and dangerous. I may end up dying if I become too careless against them.
Just as Li Huowang was engrossed in his own thoughts, the surroundings abruptly trembled. Li Huowang thought the members of the Surveillance Bureau had arrived and were converging on his location when everything went white.
Li Huowang found himself staring at an unlit fluorescent light in the ceiling. He looked down and saw that he had been restrained with a straitjacket.
"Back again."
The doll had allowed Li Huowang to come back to life, but Li Sui was still inside his previous body. In other words, there wasn't anything stopping the hallucination from engulfing him once more, and as expected, Li Huowang found himself back here.
"Li Sui, Li Sui..." Li Huowang's voice was muffled by the cloth in his mouth. "Quick, come into my body and help me go back there."
Li Huowang immediately lifted his head and opened his mouth as wide as possible; the cloth covering his mouth stretched wide open as he struggled against it. The camera in the upper left corner flashed red and turned toward Li Huowang.
Li Huowang had no idea if Li Sui could understand him, as he couldn't speak properly. However, there was a high chance that Li Sui couldn't understand him at all, as he had yet to snap back to reality.
"Li Sui! Stop playing around and hurry up!" Li Huowang exclaimed. However, there was no response, and it made Li Huowang feel anxious.
Li Huowang was anxious, as the black spindle was in the abdomen of his corpse, so if everyone ended up seeing his new body, they'd immediately identify him as a Strayed One! His cover would get blown!
The door to the room was pushed open. Sun Xiaoqin walked in with a meal box, and she froze in her steps upon seeing Li Huowang. Moments later, tears of excitement flowed out of her eyes. "Son, are you finally awake? You're finally awake, right?"
Sun Xiaoqin rushed over and held Li Huowang's head to examine him.
Sun Xiaoqin then removed the cloth from Li Huowang's mouth; Li Huowang's mouth fluttered open, and he was just about to play dumb and act foolish, but the words got stuck in his throat upon seeing Sun Xiaoqin's worried face.
Li Huowang fell silent.
"It's okay, it's okay. The fact that you can understand me means that your condition is improving. You'll get better one day. Here, have some food," Sun Xiaoqin said, wiping away her tears and picking up the meal box from the ground.
Sun Xiaoqin opened the meal box, and it turned out to be a four-layered meal box containing protein, a vegetable dish, soup, and a serving of rice.
Sun Xiaoqin took out a plastic spoon and scooped up half a spoon of white rice. She then dipped it in the egg soup before picking up a piece of pork and bringing it over to Li Huowang's mouth.
Li Huowang had no idea what Sun Xiaoqin's actions meant in the real world, but he opened his mouth and ate it nonetheless.
"Great, my son really is the best. Mom knows that you always wake up hungry. My son really is much easier to handle compared to other parents."
Li Huowang swallowed the food and asked, "Mom, how did you get in?"
Sun Xiaoqin bit her lower lip upon hearing Li Huowang's question. Afraid of scaring her son, Sun Xiaoqin endured the excitement and said, "This place is called a hospital on the outside, but it's actually a prison. The food here is terrible, and I was afraid you wouldn't eat well, so I came to visit you.
"Visitors are usually not allowed, but the warden is an easygoing person. He immediately allowed me to visit you when I said that my son behaves the best with me at your side. I guess there are still good people in this world."
Li Huowang nodded and continued eating with relish. After chewing a few times, he noticed Sun Xiaoqin's strange behavior. Eventually, Sun Xiaoqin took a small amount of rice and used it to plug up the tiny microphone near them.
Sun Xiaoqin sat back down and explained, "I may not be by your side by the next time you wake up, son, so listen to me. If someone ever asks you about the gold, just tell them that it's from your grandmother's dowry. Do you understand?
"If you don't think it's going to work, then just stay silent. Never ever tell them that the gold was from your bed! There are many wicked people nowadays, so you must remember to never ever tell anyone about it!"
Li Huowang smiled helplessly and asked, "Mom, have you spent the gold?"
"What nonsense are you talking about? It was from your grandma's dowry! It must not be spent unless it's absolutely necessary! Don't worry, this place is funded by the government, and it's not that expensive.
"Your father is still doing his best to earn money as well."
"Mom, I gave you the gold so you could spend it freely. Don't save it. Anyway, this is all a hallucination, so I can have as much gold as I want—"
Li Huowang froze just then, and a terrifying question popped up in his mind as he stared at his mother. Li Huowang had always thought that this world was a mere hallucination, as he he could bring treasures here from the real world.
In addition, too many coincidences and unlikely things had happened to him so far.
However, Zhuge Yuan had said that the Strayed Ones could create something out of nothing. If his words were true, could it be that he had unknowingly used his power as a Strayed One to procure the gold and make those coincidences happen?
What if this world was real, too?
Chapter 418 - Reality
Could it be that this world is real as well? Li Huowang thought and looked around. He was a Strayed One, who had turned Dan Yangzi into an immortal, so materializing gold using his primordial breath would be a piece of cake for him!
But... why did I have to notice this now? I'm on the verge of catching Bei Feng and staving off the hallucination, so why does it have to be now? Li Huowang's face distorted into a grimace. Once again, he could no longer distinguish reality from the hallucination. If the hallucination was real, what was the point of his hard work?
What if this world is real? Li Huowang thought, and the idea became a Gu worm that burrowed into Li Huowang's mind, churning up a chaotic hodgepodge of emotions within him.
Li Huowang gnashed his teeth and smashed his face on the wall.
He wanted to use pain to distract himself from the ominous sensation.
No, this is wrong! This is wrong!
"Son! What's wrong with you?! Y-you're scaring me!" Sun Xiaoqin exclaimed, frightened by Li Huowang's actions. She put down the meal box and embraced Li Huowang's head, stroking his short hair repeatedly.
Li Huowang stopped moving and closed his eyes in pain. In reality, he wasn't afraid of wasting his efforts, nor he was afraid of pain and death. However, he was afraid of losing grip on what was real and fake. That sensation was just unbearable for him.
He couldn't confirm that this world was real, and even if his speculation ended up being correct, there would still be a degree of falsity to it. Is this even possible? How is this possible? I have yet to obtain that cultivation method. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖
How am I using my primordial breath? This doesn't make any sense. If both worlds are real, why can I materialize gold here but not there? Does my ability as a Strayed One vary in strength depending on the location?
Li Huowang glared angrily at the bedside table; he tried to use his mind to materialize a large piece of gold, but there was no change. Then, he tried to move the bedside table with his mind, but nothing happened.
Li Huowang's veins bulged, and his eyes became bloodshot. He was unwittingly transfixed on the bedside table, but it remained motionless.
"Son, stop scaring me. I really am scared. W-w-what's happening to you?" Sun Xiaoqin stuttered, and her intermittent sobbing made Li Huowang turn to her.
Li Huowang immediately noticed the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, and he realized just then that it had been a long time since he last saw his mother. It turned out that her mother had aged a lot in the meantime.
Even if she was fake, Li Huowang couldn't help but feel sorry for her.
"Mom, I'm fine. I really am fine," Li Huowang said in a low voice. He relaxed slowly after making a decision that he couldn't act recklessly without any evidence. If he were to foolishly make a reckless decision, he'd fall into the same plight as before.
Li Huowang shook his head vigorously to calm his chaotic emotions. Then, he started taking deep breaths to calm down his racing heart.
Since he was already suspicious about the possibility that this world might be real, Li Huowang decided to look for evidence rather than just speculate. At the moment, the probability of this world being real was quite low.
It doesn't make sense that I can bring anything from that world to this world, but I can't do it in reverse. I mean, there's no way that the other world is the fake one, right? It's impossible for this world to be the real one instead.
Li Huowang leaned against Sun Xiaoqin's embrace and enjoyed the rare moment of peace. He had been yearning for this feeling in his dreams back in the real world.
"Mom, how is Nana?" Li Huowang asked.
"Nana? Nana is doing well," Sun Xiaoqin replied, sounding uneasy. She was busy taking tissues out of her bag to wipe away Li Huowang's sweat.
Li Huowang had long become capable of discerning lies from anyone's words, and it was all thanks to his experience fighting against the Sitting Oblivion Dao for so long. In other words, Li Huowang easily saw through Sun Xiaoqin's lie.
"Mom, what happened to Nana?" Li Huowang asked, becoming gloomy upon noticing something amiss.
Sun Xiaoqin attempted to lie once again, but Li Huowang saw through it.
Faced with her son's incessant questioning, Sun Xiaoqin finally relented and said, "I hope you're not going to get mad at her for not coming here often. She's still a good girl, after all."
"I'm not going to get mad at her. I just want to know where she is right now."
"Nana dropped out of school, and her parents took her to see a doctor."
"What happened to her?" Li Huowang asked, sounding nervous.
"It wasn't anything serious; she's just a bit depressed, and she's no longer interested in anything," Sun Xiaoqin said, picking up the meal box and feeding Li Huowang once again.
Li Huowang chewed the food, but it became tasteless. Li Huowang's heart was bleeding as he thought about the girl who had always been by his side since he was young. She had sacrificed a lot for him, but he hadn't been able to give her anything in return.
"It's okay, son. I heard it's just a minor illness that can be cured with medicine. Don't blame yourself for it."
"Mom, can you untie me?" Li Huowang said.
Sun Xiaoqin hesitated with the meal box in hand. Eventually, she nodded. "All right! I guess it must be uncomfortable being tied up like that all day. It's great to move around a bit."
With that, Sun Xiaoqin untied the restraints on Li Huowang.
"Hey, Ma'am Sun!" A nervous-sounding male voice echoed from the surveillance camera in the room. "What are you doing? Stop that!"
"My son is feeling uncomfortable being tied up all day. Don't worry, I'm here! He's very obedient with me here!" Sun Xiaoqin replied and picked up the pace.
"Wait, I'm coming over! I'm coming now—" The voice was inexplicably cut off mid-sentence.
Just as Li Huowang regained his freedom, the door to the room was flung open by two large-framed prison guards with batons in hand. They stood at the door and stared at Li Huowang.
Li Huowang's limbs were slightly atrophic, as it had been a long time since he had exercised. However, the large-framed guards still gulped a mouthful of their own saliva and nervously called for reinforcements using their walkie-talkies.
It wasn't a strange sight. After all, Li Huowang was the mad martial artist of the prison, and he was exceedingly difficult to handle.
Li Huowang ignored the guards and grabbed the iron bars blocking the window, reaching out for the sky. As the warm sunlight touched Li Huowang's pale fingertips, a trace of longing burst out of his heart at the warmth that caressed his hands.
How wonderful would it be if this was reality...
Chapter 419 - Bai Lingmiao
"The sun sets behind the western mountains and darkness covers the sky~ Nine out of ten houses have closed their doors but one remains open~ Burn the incense, beat the drum, and Summon the Gods~"
Dum-dum-da-da-dum~
Bai Lingmiao circled around a bound naked man in the center of the room along with the urgent rhythm of the drumbeats.
A group of people were in the corner of the room, and their eyes were filled with tears.
"It's an auspicious day to close the doors. The Southern Dipper gets close to the Northern Dipper. Do not close the doors yet~ First spray three mouthfuls of divine water~ Step into the southwest and northwest corner~ With the Heavens and Earth as witnesses, chase away the evil spirits and monsters!"
When Bai Lingmiao's words fell, she took off her red veil and shoved it into a water basin. Then, she covered the man's face with the drenched red veil. The man let out a miserable cry reminiscent of a ghost or a wolf's wail as he writhed against the restraints.
The soaked red veil changed shapes according to the beat of the drum. Sometimes, it'd become a wolf head with a massive wound in the crown of the head, and sometimes, it'd become a colossal skull made out of the skull of four snakes.
The cries became louder, and the man tensed up before collapsing to the ground. A blurry red figure crawled out from under the red veil and ran swiftly toward a nearby pillar.
Bai Lingmiao didn't move. She waited until the misty red figure had crawled into the pillar before walking up to it.
The Second Deity's sharp nails pierced the wooden pillar, and the pillar cracked open, revealing a tiny blood-red palace.
However, it seemed like the tiny blood-red palace had grown from the wooden pillar itself. It didn't seem like someone had placed the tiny blood-red palace after the construction was done.
"Have you offended someone?"
The Second Deity swiped at the tiny blood-red palace with her black nails, and the tiny palace collapsed. The blood-red color of the palace's material dimmed rapidly.
The victim handed over a pouch of copper coins, but Bai Lingmiao didn't immediately accept them. She looked around at the bare walls and decided not to accept them.
"Copper coins are too troublesome to carry. You can just use that money to repair that pillar and think carefully about who installed that pillar in the first place. Remember to stay away from them," Bai Lingmiao said, turning around to leave.
Bai Lingmiao walked out and sat in the carriage. Then, she breathed a sigh of relief and said, "This job is really hard to find."
Chun Xiaoman waited until the Second Deity was on the carriage before pulling on the reins and directing the carriage toward Cowheart Village. "Miaomiao, are you done with the Immortal family's quota for this month?"
"Yes, and we have to do it again next month," Bai Lingmiao replied with a nod. Then, she leaned back on the carriage walls. Afterward, she picked up a book from the side and opened it.
The book contained simple characters, and the page that Bai Lingmiao had opened revealed the character for the word "duck" on the left and a duck drawn on the right.
Bai Lingmiao grabbed a wooden stick and wrote the character over and over again in the air. After memorizing the character, Bai Lingmiao flipped the book to the second page and saw a pig.
The book was filled with character worksheets, and it wasn't available anywhere else. After all, Gao Zhijian had personally made this book.
There were so many books and techniques under the ancestral hall, but they were all recorded in texts rather than images. Bai Lingmiao had to learn how to read to know what her family had left behind for her.
Amidst the incessant creaking of the carriage wheels, the sky darkened. When Chun Xiaoman pulled the curtain open, it was already pitch-black inside the carriage. The only source of light was a pair of green beast eyes floating in the air.
"Miaomiao, it's already late. How about camping here tonight?"
"You go ahead and do your thing. I want to keep reading."
Chun Xiaoman sighed at the reply and pulled down the curtain. Then, she walked away to pick up some firewood. Miaomiao's personality had changed drastically, especially her way of doing this—she was stubborn once she had made up her mind.
Bai Lingmiao spent all of her time learning characters except for eating and drinking, and it appeared that she wouldn't give up until she became perfectly capable of reading.
After collecting enough firewood to set up a campfire next to the carriage, Chun Xiaoman returned and saw two familiar figures standing silently in front of her.
"Thank you. I'll get the pot. Watch the fire and make sure it doesn't go out."
There were only two of them, so a large pot was unnecessary.
A small iron pot would do.
Soon, the guokui were broken into smaller pieces and thrown into the pot. Once it became a bit soft, Chun Xiaoman added cured meat and wild vegetables into the pot.
A simple meal was made in the blink of an eye.
Chun Xiaoman looked up and shook her head helplessly upon seeing Bai Lingmiao reading her book while eating. Chun Xiaoman was convinced that her close friend was going crazy.
"Why do you insist on doing such a troublesome thing? Gao Zjijian can read, you know?" Chun Xiaoman asked.
"It's always best to rely on oneself rather than others. Besides, his brain isn't good enough for what I want to read. What if he reads it wrongly? We'll have no idea, as we can't read those texts ourselves. Have you already forgotten how Li Huowang fooled that damned baldy last time? I don't want to end up like him."
"How about hiring some teachers, then?"
"That's a good idea. Let those teachers know that I'm a survivor of the White Lotus Sect. I'm sure they won't report me to the Surveillance Bureau."
Chun Xiaoman frowned. The old Miaomiao had never teased her like that. However, her dissatisfaction was assuaged when the Second Deity used her chopsticks to pick up two pieces of meat before putting them into Chun Xiaoman's bowl.
"You're still good to me," Chun Xiaoman said and leaned against the Second Deity's shoulder before continuing with her meal.
Soon, the meal was over, and the two lay on their beds, resting with their backs against each other. Bai Lingmiao turned around and put her hand on Chun Xiaoman's shoulder. At that, Chun Xiaoman decided to let go of her dissatisfaction.
Chun Xiaoman then turned around and stroked Bai Lingmiao's eyelid. Bai Lingmiao had changed, but she was still the same Miaomiao—the same close friend who would comfort Chun Xiaoman whenever she was the most vulnerable.
Chun Xiaoman was about to close her eyes when someone hugged her from behind.
Of course, it was none other than the Second Deity.
"Hey..." Chun Xiaoman trailed off mid-sentence. Eventually, she closed her eyes with an arm beneath the Second Deity and Bai Lingmiao's head.
The next morning, Chun Xiaoman woke up to find that the carriage was already moving. She yawned and stretched lazily. Then, she walked up to the front to take over the reins from the Second Deity, but the latter refused to hand over the reins.
"It's fine. I'm not going to get tired. I'm going to drive a carriage, not walk."
While the two were arguing, a small settlement appeared before them. The small settlement was full of farmers carrying wild game and woven baskets.
"Oh right, today is the fifteenth day of the month. It's when they set up the market."
The carriage soon entered the settlement, and a cacophonous din inundated the carriage from all directions. The noises were coming from the people hawking their goods on both sides of the street.
The carriage moved slowly as the street was filled with people. The majority of them simply listened to the hawkers without buying anything.
"Why is it so noisy?" Bai Lingmiao asked, sounding impatient. She pulled open the curtain, and the bright sunlight dazzled her. Li Huowang was about to cover her eyes with the ribbon that Li Huowang gave her when she spotted a familiar figure in the periphery of her vision.
"Xiaoman, isn't that Lu Xiucai?" Bai Lingmiao pointed out.