Chapter 63 - Red Veil
Seeing the change in Li Zhi's expression, Li Huowang walked over. "Brother Li Zhi, I can explain about yesterday's situation."
Li Zhi raised his hand and stopped Li Huowang from speaking further before speaking in an irritated voice, "No need to explain. I didn't do anything to you anyway, so just let it be."
Having said that, Li Zhi stood up and grabbed his wife, heading straight out of the house.
Seeing their backs, Li Huowang remained silent.
The Second Deity said that I'm the Strayed Immortal. It seems that whatever that is, it is something special. She even told me not to stare at the Household Immortal, almost as if she knew what I was doing. I must pry that information from her mouth.
He finally had some clues, and so Li Huowang was reluctant to give it up.
"Senior Li, what's wrong? Did you have a fight with the Shaman?" asked Puppy.
Hearing what Puppy said, Li Huowang shook his head. "Nothing, it's just something personal. Go and eat your breakfast. We finally have the chance to sleep on a bed, so rest well these few days. Once we get out of this village, we will only be able to sleep on the roadside."
For the next few days, Li Huowang didn't go and find Li Zhi, nor did he check what the other was doing. He knew that Li Zhi should still be angry about the last time, and so it was not wise to seek out the Second Deity. He decided to bide his time.
Li Huowang had a feeling that this was the best course of action, but while he was waiting, a troublesome situation appeared.
Bai Lingmiao became sick.
It was troublesome indeed. The sickness was both serious and insignificant at the same time. It was serious because this was a poor village where no illness should be taken lightly; it could very well take her life. But it was also insignificant because with the pills that Li Huowang refined in Zephyr Temple, he was more or less on the level of a village doctor. He might not be able to cure the more serious illnesses, but something as light as this was easy to handle.
Li Huowang held Bai Lingmiao's feverish head in his lap and carefully fed her a red pill.
"Senior Li, am I dying? I don't want to die..." The frail Bai Lingmiao held onto Li Huowang's sleeves.
"Don't think of something stupid. It's just a cold. I just gave you medicine, so you should get some sleep. Once you sweat off the fever, you should be healthy once again," said Li Huowang.
Thud thud thud.
At that moment, a knock on the door cut their conversation short. Li Huowang looked up and saw that it was Li Zhi and his wife.
"How is it? I've heard from my friend that your sister is sick. Do you need help?" asked Li Zhi.
"No need, but thanks." Li Huowang carefully covered Bai Lingmiao with a blanket and walked out.
"No need to be so formal with me. You gave me some noodles before, so it's natural for me to help you out. The Immortals from the Bai family are very good at healing people from illnesses. As long as you don't try to steal my wife, we can still be friends and I will help you," said Li Zhi, making it seem like the issue had resolved itself.
"It's just a cold, so there's no need for you to do your thing. Also I'm afraid that we might not be able to 'pay' them," said Li Huowang.
Li Zhi stiffened before chuckling. "Yeah, you are right. Looks like I'm being too meddlesome. The Immortals should not be summoned so willy-nilly. Also, you are quite a weird Taoist. Not only can you not deal with evil beings, you can't even cure someone from their illness."
Hearing this, Li Huowang re-evaluated the man grinning in front of him.
"I am already curing her. She already ate the pill, so all we need to do is wait," explained Li Huowang.
Li Zhi shook his head. "That won't do. I've seen another Taoist burn a yellow talisman for their patient. At that point, no matter what kind of illness they had, the patient would be cured in an instant."
Li Huowang smiled lightly and felt the situation was just right for his question. "Li Zhi, can we talk? It's about your wife. She's different from the other people. Are the Second Deities of the other Shamans the same?"
Li Zhi's smile froze. "Li Huowang, please don't ask such things. You are a cultivator, are you not? You also have some secrets that you would never share with me. Tell me, have I ever asked you where all these malformed people come from? I didn't, right?"
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Having said that, Li Zhi patted Li Huowang's red Taoist robe and left with his wife.
Previously, Li Huowang had seen how talkative Li Zhi was, and how he even dared to curse the Immortal families; knowing all this, he could sense that Li Zhi was currently putting on a facade.
Li Huowang pondered on it for a while before returning back to the room to take care of Bai Lingmiao.
That night, he was awoken by the sound of someone tapping on the window in the middle of the night.
Creak~
The wooden window opened and he could see a pair of red shoes hanging outside, gently dangling in the air.
Li Huowang recognized them—they belonged to the Second Deity. She had come to see him.
Li Huowang thought about it for a moment before silently whispering, "I will meet you in the forest in front of the village."
Seeing the pair of red shoes slowly disappear, Li Huowang took a deep breath and got out of the bed to dress up.
With the faint moonlight guiding the way, Li Huowang quickly entered the dark forest and saw the Second Deity standing still below one of the trees.
Li Huowang carefully looked around but didn't find Li Zhi anywhere. "Second Deity, what did you need to tell me?"
The Second Deity once again used one of her nails to pierce her own fingers and used her own blood to write on the red veil.
However, the distance was too far, making it so that Li Huowang couldn't read it properly. He slowly approached the red veil.
"You...Have...To...Be...Careful..." Li Huowang read the words out loud.
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Halfway through reading him it, the Second Deity suddenly raised her hands and her black fingernails stabbed straight into Li Huowang's neck.
Bam!
Li Huowang reacted quite quickly as he grabbed the red veil and kicked the Second Deity in her stomach.
Even though he was out of danger for now, there were four bloody holes on both sides of his neck.
He fished out some Blood Nourishing Pills and ate them as he stared at the Second Deity.
It had never occurred to him that the Second Deity was going to try and kill him! He had always thought that she was trying to inform him of some danger.
However, when he saw the face of the Second Deity, he froze.
Her face was distorted, covered with green snake scales, porcupine quills, fox ears, and many other animal organs.
But amidst all that, there was still a small part of a human face, and looking at it, he could tell that it was none other than Li Zhi!
No, to be more accurate, it was a female version of Li Zhi, with some makeup powder on the remaining human skin.
At this moment, one half of her mouth had been transformed into a beast maw, but the remaining human lips even had some red lipstick.
Seeing that Li Huowang had seen her real face, 'Li Zhi' covered her mouth and laughed like a fox.
"To think that the Strayed One was so inexperienced even after probing for half a day. You must have been quite lucky to have escaped capture for so long."
"To think that the Strayed One was so inexperienced even after probing for half a day. You must have been quite lucky to have escaped capture for so long."
Two voices rang out at the same time, one from the front and another one from within the dark forest.
Dong! Dong! Dong!
At the same time, the sound of the drum rang out from somewhere in the forest.
"Summon~ The~ Gods~"
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Chapter 64 - Drum
"Summon~ The~ Gods~"
Li Zhi's clear voice rang out from within the forest, and the peculiar Second Deity followed the rhythm of his singing and drumming as she began to tremble.
"The sun set on the Western mountain, and the skies went dark~ Every house closed its doors while the magpies and crows flew back to their trees~ The sparrows flew to the rafters, and the roads—AAH!" Li Zhi's chanting was abruptly interrupted, causing the Second Deity to stop in its tracks. She raised her head in shock, only to see Li Huowang smiling.
"You may have been testing me, but that doesn't mean I was not doing the same with you. I've already been deceived by the monks before and have learned my lesson. There's no way I wouldn't prepare some defenses for myself," said Li Huowang.
Just as he finished speaking, footsteps could be heard. Puppy, Simpleton, and the others were approaching him while carrying weapons and holding a bloodied Li Zhi hostage. Xiaoman currently held onto his drum.
Li Huowang took the drum from Xiaoman and threw it onto the ground before using his sword to pierce it right in front of Li Zhi's face.
Pu Chi!
The taut drum was destroyed easily.
"Looks like this is something extremely important to you. Regardless of which Immortal family you follow, you can't summon them without this drum, right?" asked Li Huowang.
After probing Li Zhi these few days, Li Huowang had realized that no matter how strong the Immortal families were, a Shaman was still a mortal. Once you managed to subdue them, everything would be fine.
Seeing the blades around him, Li Zhi, who had been beaten by a club, displayed no fear or hatred on his face. He just laughed bitterly, "Unfortunately, that is not something for you to decide."
Jiang!
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A sharp sword blade was pressed against Li Zhi's neck. "You still want to lie? Tell the Second Deity to stop resisting!"
Li Huowang was staring at the Second Deity with a distorted face. Li Zhi may have been subdued, but that human-beast hybrid was still a problem.
"Hehe. Why do you think she would listen to me?" asked Li Zhi as he let out an eerie chuckle.
Li Zhi had barely spoken when the Second Deity let out a bestial roar from her disfigured mouth before charging into the forest on all fours.
The Second Deity had escaped, leaving Li Zhi all alone.
"Li Huowang, I'm not lying to you. We Shamans are not the same as you. Sometimes, there are things that are beyond our control." Li Zhi's face was pale as he tried to explain.
"Do you think, perhaps, that I will let you go out of kindness after just listening to you?" Li Huowang's sword inched closer.
"Hehe, that's impossible." Facing certain death, Li Zhi looked surprisingly calm.
Upon seeing his hostage be so calm, Li Huowang pondered for a moment before asking. "What exactly is a Strayed Immortal? Why are you calling me that?"
This was what he cared about the most. There must be a reason why others were trying to catch him; after all, he had been referred to as such twice now.
Li Zhi sighed. "It looks like you really don't know. I was fooled by your bloody robes."
"What is a Strayed Immortal?!" Li Huowang said forcefully, his sword drawing a thin line of blood from Li Zhi's neck.
Seeing how agitated Li Huowang was, Li Zhi chuckled. "Let me give you a tip. You are quite smart, but you can't win against the Immortals."
Immediately after saying that, Li Zhi's eyebrows started growing longer as porcupine quills started growing from his eyelids. At the same time, his nose extended forward and his entire face morphed to match the Second Deity.
Li Huowang swung his sword toward Li Zhi's neck, but instead of seeing a spray of blood, he only saw a bunch of hard snake scales underneath Li Zhi's skin.
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"Kill him!!" shouted Li Huowang.
Hearing Li Huowang's command, Simpleton swung his massive wooden club with such force that the wind was ripped apart as it smashed into Li Zhi's head.
Blood and flesh sprayed everywhere as the half-transformed Li Zhi fell onto the ground, his head smashed into pieces.
Dong Dong Dong!
However, at that moment, the sound of rapid drum beats rang out from within the dark forest, attracting everyone's attention.
This situation caused Li Huowang to be caught with his pants down as he looked at the broken drum on the ground.
A drum? How could he still play a drum?! I just destroyed it!
"Summon~ The~ Gods~"
Amidst the sound of the drum beats, Li Zhi started chanting, while a figure stumbled out from within the forest—it was the Second Deity, no, it was Li Zhi.
As the original Li Zhi transformed into the Second Deity, the Second Deity that had previously left the area transformed into Li Zhi—the two of them had easily swapped places.
Dong Dong Dong!
The sound of drum beats continued to ring out, causing everyone to look downward and see the source of the sound. All of them gasped in terror.
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Li Zhi's clothes were torn apart. At the same time, one of his hands had torn away a portion of his abdomen and stretched it out while his other hand was beating it with the whip.
Li Zhi had used his own skin and flesh to make a drum to play after his previous one was destroyed!
Dong Dong Dong!
"The sun set on the Western mountain, and the skies went dark~ Every house closed its doors while the magpies and crows flew back to their trees~ The sparrows flew to the rafters, and the roads to the houses were closed~ Ten houses with nine locked~ Only one remains unlocked~ Offer incense, beat the drums, summon the Immortals~" chanted Li Zhi, while beating the "drum".
Immediately after the chant, despite her smashed head, the fallen Second Deity stood up on her feet.
The sound of flesh being sliced could be heard as Li Huowang and all the people by his side pierced their weapons into the Second Deity.
Li Huowang was certain that he had pierced her heart, but the Second Deity didn't budge.
"First comes red and then comes yellow~ I Invite the the wind and the clouds bringing the Sad King~ Red is the general while yellow is the vanguard~ The wind and clouds standby while the Sad King runs the sect ai~"
As Li Zhi continued chanting, an incredible amount of strength started coursing through the Second Deity as she twisted her body, causing everyone to lose their grip on their weapons.
Shit! I need to stop Li Zhi from playing the drum! He's the linchpin!
The bronze bell appeared in Li Huowang's right hand.
Ding Ding Ding~! Dong Dong Dong~!
As he started to ring the bell, two different sounds reverberated in the forest, clashing with each other.
At the same time, the edges of everything around them converged, taking the form of a Wandering God.
A dizzy Li Huowang shook his head and commanded the Wandering God, causing the latter to split into four before charging straight toward Li Zhi.
Meanwhile, Li Zhi ignored his bloody body and torn skin, chanting even more fervently. His veins started bulging as he started chanting twice as fast.
"The feast had been prepared~ It will be delicious~ Everything is delicious~ Just tell me what you want~ I will prepare everything~ You want beef and mutton~ You want chicken, ducks, or geese~ Even if you want the flesh of the Strayed Ones~ I will get it all for you ai!~"
At that moment, Li Huowang felt a sudden stabbing pain from his neck—somehow the Second Deity had teleported behind him and was biting into his shoulder with her razor sharp teeth.