Chapter 152
Chapter 152
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 152
>Chapter Title: Shadow Puppet Play
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Chapter 152: Shadow Puppet Play
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> In the dead of night, on the dim paper window, crouched a ferocious and terrifying shadow puppet monster.
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> This scene was utterly chilling no matter how you looked at it, yet to Li Huowang, something even more chilling was that it had called him a heart elemental.
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> After all he’d been through, Li Huowang naturally understood what it meant when others addressed him with that term.
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> “Who exactly are you?” Li Huowang asked the bizarre shadow with a grave expression.
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> “Heh heh, you’ve come to my turf, and you don’t know who I am?”
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> No sooner had the words fallen than Li Huowang saw the shadow puppet on the paper window begin seeping into the room.
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> “Clang!” The sword blade was drawn, and the entire room instantly filled with murderous intent.
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> A dark red longsword appeared before Li Huowang in a flash. This was the first time he had formally drawn it.
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> In the next instant, something surged rapidly from the beast-shaped hilt throughout his entire body, making his blood rush, his veins bulge, and everything he saw tinged red.
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> As the black tentacles patterned with window lattice designs began to rise up from the paper,
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> Li Huowang’s right foot stomped forward fiercely, launching into a bow-step thrust.
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> His tongue pressed against the roof of his mouth as he couldn’t help but shout, “Kill!!”
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> Seeing the blood-red sword tip wrapped in baleful aura thrusting toward it, the shadow didn’t dare meet it head-on and swiftly shifted right.
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> A clattering of metal rang out as it instantly relocated to the wooden door beside them.
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> “Hmm? This sword... what’s your connection to the Right House of Siqi?”
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> Upon seeing the sword in Li Huowang’s hand, the thing’s voice carried a hint of hesitation, its movements now tinged with caution.
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> Under normal circumstances, Li Huowang might have paused to hear it out, but with his mind enveloped by that searing heat, he couldn’t.
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> Before it finished speaking, Li Huowang’s sword was already upon it.
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> The red blade flickering with chill light slammed heavily into the wooden door. With a “crack,” the door shattered into fragments.
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> Along with the doorframe, the shadow too disintegrated into pieces.
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> Bursting out from the room, Li Huowang’s gaze pierced through the corridor ahead to the distant window, where he saw a figure holding several wooden rods, manipulating the shadow puppet in the air.
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> The thing that had just fought him was the shadow cast by that puppet frame in his hands!
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> Seeing Li Huowang give chase, the man decisively tossed aside the shadow puppet and swiftly ducked back into his room.
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> By the time Li Huowang aggressively pursued, the room was empty, save for the shadow puppet on the floor gradually crumbling into black ash.
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> He’d only caught a fleeting glimpse earlier without paying much mind, but the deepest impression Li Huowang retained was the man’s face covered by an old brass mask.
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> “Clang.” The sword slid back into its sheath as Li Huowang took several deep breaths to calm himself.
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> “What’s this guy’s goal? Did he really just spot a heart elemental and get greedy for my money?”
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> Though he’d driven the man off, Li Huowang felt it wasn’t that simple.
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> “Wait, Bai Lingmiao!” Alert, Li Huowang rushed back to his own room at top speed.
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> Only upon seeing Bai Lingmiao lying peacefully asleep on the bed did Li Huowang exhale in relief.
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> Overconcern had muddled his judgment—Bai Lingmiao wasn’t some defenseless weakling; there was no need to worry about a decoy ploy.
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> Approaching the bedside, Li Huowang carefully examined the longsword in his hand.
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> It wasn’t surprising that someone had come looking for trouble, but this time was different from the others. He was no longer just running away—the one fleeing had become the enemy.
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> This excited Li Huowang somewhat. It meant he was finally gaining a foothold in this chaotic, bizarre world.
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> And it was all thanks to the sword his master had given him. The man had lost all will to fight upon merely seeing it.
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> Li Huowang knew full well he wasn’t wary of him—he was wary of the sword.
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> Beyond its formidable power, the sword held additional value.
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> “The Right House of Siqi? Is that the original owner’s name? Doesn’t sound like a sect.”
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> Li Huowang had no answer to that question. All he knew was that the sword had a significant origin, and his debt to his master had grown even heavier.
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> As Li Huowang gently stroked the scabbard, he suddenly sensed something unusual.
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> Looking down, he saw a pair of pallid hands with long black nails gripping his calf.
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> Li Huowang considered for a moment but didn’t shake them off. Instead, he looked under the bed at the secondary god and said,
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> “Thanks for the heads-up on what happened today. If you hadn’t warned me, I might’ve really gotten ambushed.”
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> Regardless of what had come before, a debt was a debt. Today, Bai Lingmiao’s secondary god had genuinely helped him.
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> That said, it was also one of Li Huowang’s puzzles. His senses were so sharp now—he’d detected bandits from afar before—yet this time someone had snuck right up to his door without him noticing until the warning.
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> “Does that guy have something on him that blocks detection? Wonder if it works on heart elementals too. If it does, it’d be great to rob it from him.”
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> “That way, fewer people would come sniffing around for trouble.”
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> Lost in these thoughts, Li Huowang suddenly felt the sensation on his calf change.
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> Looking down again, the pallid hands were gone, replaced by several cold, slithering things bulging up his pant leg, extending upward.
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> From the skin-contact feel, they resembled soft snakeskin.
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> Then, a tingling female voice softly sounded by Li Huowang’s ear. “Darling~”
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> Li Huowang’s scalp instantly went numb, goosebumps erupting all over. “Stop! I said stop!”
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> As Li Huowang’s hand gripped the hilt, ready to draw, the things in his pant leg finally withdrew slowly.
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> Glancing at the sleeping Bai Lingmiao, Li Huowang declared, “What happened before ends here—I don’t want to hear it again! Sleep!”
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> With that, Li Huowang lay back down on the bed.
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> In response to his words, the secondary god under the bed said nothing more, and the room fell quiet.
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> After such an incident, how could Li Huowang possibly sleep? He stayed awake with eyes open until dawn.
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> Only when he heard the street vendors’ calls outside the window did Li Huowang finally drift off in a daze.
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> When he awoke again, it was already afternoon.
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> Dressed and seated in the inn’s lobby, he ate his lunch while pondering last night’s events.
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> “Judging by his methods, that guy’s clearly no match for Zhengde Temple or Anci Nunnery. He might be a wild cultivator like Danyangzi. If that’s all, it’s not a big problem.”
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> “He said this was his turf, not theirs or their sect’s, so he’s most likely alone.”
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> Li Huowang had no intention of fleeing. If the man really meant to strike, a sparsely populated wilderness was easier to ambush in than a bustling town.
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> Just as he picked up a peanut with his chopsticks and popped it into his mouth, Li Huowang spotted the stately Lv Zhuangyuan entering with his two sons.
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> Connecting it to yesterday’s events, Li Huowang could easily guess what had happened.
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> “Master Lv, been off quarreling with those Nuo opera performers again? Judging by your stride, looks like you won this round?”
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> (End of chapter)
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