Chapter 135
Chapter 135
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 135
>Chapter Title: Found
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“What’s that?”
As Bai Lingmiao started heading toward the Ershen, Xiaoman pulled her back.
“Be careful, don’t go over there.”
Glancing at the Ershen at the edge of the forest, Bai Lingmiao pulled her hand free. “It’s fine. There shouldn’t be any danger anymore.”
Seeing Bai Lingmiao head over just like that, the others grew uneasy and followed along, torches in hand.
When they reached the Ershen’s side, they finally understood where those sounds from before had come from.
By the light of their torches, they watched the lunatic in the woods flailing his arms and legs.
“Mom, I’ll eat it. You really don’t need to feed me. It’s fine even with the IV in my hand.”
Li Huowang, covered head to toe in dirt, sat on the ground amid a pile of dead leaves, smiling at a spiderweb in the tree.
He clutched a long strip of stone in his hand and gnawed at it, the crunching sounds nonstop. Even with his mouth full of blood, he didn’t stop.
“Mom, I swallowed it. I really swallowed it. I’m not a kid anymore—you don’t need to worry about me being picky. Heh heh.”
“Woof woof~” Mantou circled around Li Huowang, tail wagging nonstop. That was the source of the woofing from earlier.
“Senior Brother Li!” Seeing him in such a pitiful state, tears streamed down Bai Lingmiao’s face as she cried out.
She couldn’t help taking a few steps forward before forcing herself to stop.
“Hurry! Get some rope and tie up Senior Brother Li! He’ll be fine soon!”
Some unknown amount of time passed before Li Huowang opened his eyes again. The first thing he saw was a familiar face streaked with tears.
He managed an utterly exhausted smile. “You’re here? How did you find me?”
Sobbing, Bai Lingmiao wrapped her arms tightly around Li Huowang’s head, pressing it hard against her chest.
She said nothing, but her deep emotions conveyed themselves through the contact.
A warmth bloomed in Li Huowang’s heart, along with an emotion that felt somewhat unfamiliar. “Is this… joy? It’s been so long since I last felt it…”
He patted her back and thought for a moment before speaking in vague terms. “I… I went off to clear up some matters and handle some trouble. How did you all get here?”
Li Huowang didn’t want the others to know what he’d been through, or what his past self had done.
After some animated conversation, everyone gradually quieted down.
Beside the campfire on the pitch-black forest path, Li Huowang held a bowl of hot soup and took a gentle sip. It warmed his stomach and washed away the bloody taste in his mouth.
The insides of his mouth were all scraped raw from the rocks, but Li Huowang knew this sort of injury would heal in no time.
He gave Bai Lingmiao’s soft right hand a light squeeze, offering her some comfort once more.
“It’s alright now. The trouble’s all over. We can keep heading home.”
As Li Huowang spoke, he looked at everyone gathered around him, at the concern in their eyes.
He knew there were still plenty of people in this world who truly cared about him.
He cupped his hands toward the others. “Everyone, you’ve been through a lot. Li thanks you all.”
He didn’t specify what for. Some things were best kept in the heart, with no need to spell them out.
At that moment, Lv Zhuangyuan, seated to Danyangzi’s right, spoke up with a fawning smile. “Oh, come now, that’s not necessary at all. It’s only right.”
“What happened to you just now, young Daoist? Did you run into something evil? Why were you eating rocks? What kind of evil spirit is that powerful?”
Li Huowang had already learned why the Lv family troupe had come along. He couldn’t care less about such minor details.
He shook his head and pointed at his temple with a wry smile.
“My head’s got a few issues. Don’t worry, it’s nothing serious.”
At that moment, Gouwa, squatting beside Jiang Yingzi, stared wide-eyed as he spoke. “Senior Brother Li… you’re really alright now? You’re not going to crawl into someone’s belly and eat your way out from the inside again… right?”
The moment the words left his mouth, Lv Zhuangyuan and the others turned green with fear. Zhao Wu thumped him hard in the side and hurriedly tried to smooth things over.
“What are you saying in front of outsiders? When has our Senior Brother Li ever eaten anyone? That was just during an episode—he only thought he was.”
“Ah~ Yeah, yeah! My pig brain—I’m always mixing things up.” Realizing his slip, Gouwa hurriedly chimed in agreement.
But it didn’t ease Lv Zhuangyuan’s nerves much. His smile clearly stiffened, while his youngest son was even worse off, starting to shake like he had chills.
“Enough with the act. Some things happened, and they happened. There’s no need to cover them up.” Li Huowang shattered the false atmosphere the others were trying to maintain.
“Master Lv, let’s be frank. In the past, I did plenty of awful things. I won’t explain myself—I can only say it wasn’t by my choice.”
“If Master Lv thinks it’s too risky for your family, then we part ways amicably. If not, you’re welcome to travel with us as long as you like. As friends, I’ll naturally keep you all safe.”
“Oh dear, oh dear, what’s this, young Daoist? Do you think this old man’s that kind of snob? I trust your character completely—you must have had your reasons.” Smiling broadly, Lv Zhuangyuan hurriedly picked up a bowl of hot soup.
“This old man’ll use tea in place of wine to apologize to you, young Daoist. Who’s talking about leaving? Whoever leaves is a turtle’s bastard son!”
Li Huowang raised his own bowl, tilted it toward Lv Zhuangyuan, and took a sip.
Whether he stayed or left was a trivial matter to Li Huowang. What he needed to think about now was what came next for him.
After reconsidering, Li Huowang addressed everyone before him. “We’ve been delayed by all this for far too long. Good thing it’s all sorted now. Tomorrow, we set off again and leave Si Qi behind.”
Once he got these people safely home, a huge weight would lift from his shoulders. It’d make whatever came next far easier.
“Senior Brother Li, we can’t leave yet. The abbess said that if we found you, we should have you go back and let them know you’re safe.” Bai Lingmiao passed along this unexpected message.
“No need to make a special trip just to report that you’re safe. We can write a letter and send it via post station.”
With the issues resolved, there was really no need to go back. An Ci Nunnery wasn’t far, but it wasn’t close either.
“No, the abbess said you need to come back in person. It seems like she has something to tell you face-to-face.”
“Face-to-face?” Li Huowang frowned in thought. “Sounds like it’s more than just reporting in. Does the abbess have something going on?”
After pondering for a bit, Li Huowang shoved his bowl into Bai Lingmiao’s hands.
“Alright, then we’ll make one more trip to Heng Hua Mountain. It’ll give us a chance to get a better grasp on the overall situation in the world.”
Ever since arriving in this forsaken place, he’d been constantly chased with no time to figure out what it was really like.
How many sects were there? How far did their influence reach? What taboos should he keep in mind when dealing with them?
Since he’d be traveling further, he needed to learn all he could about these things.
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