Chapter 184
Chapter 184
-----------------------------------------------------------------
>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 184
>Chapter Title: Village Guardian
>-----------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 184: Village Guardian
>
>>
> Since the chief escort had agreed, the rest was straightforward—opening the contract, taking the deposit, and pressing handprints.
>
>>
> Watching those items being loaded one by one into his carriage, Li Huowang turned his head toward the chief escort nearby.
>
>>
> “Right, Chief Escort, if I may ask—weren’t there wars recently? Did it affect business?”
>
>>
> “Of course it did. In this line of escorting, sure, the more chaotic the world, the more money there is to be made. But if the world truly falls into total chaos, no money’s coming in at all.”
>
>>
> “You know how soldiers pass through like a razor—those grunts don’t follow any rules. But thank the ancestors, the war’s stopped.”
>
>>
> Hearing this, Li Huowang was stunned. “Escort, do you know what happened? Why did it stop so suddenly?”
>
>>
> He remembered the battles back then had claimed plenty of lives—it wasn’t just some minor skirmish.
>
>>
> By normal progression, win or lose, things shouldn’t have ended up like this.
>
>>
> Some reason must have forced both sides to stand down. No, not just both—far more than two nations had been involved.
>
>>
> Yet they’d all stopped as if by prior agreement. That was downright bizarre.
>
>>
> “How should I know? If I did, I’d be sitting on Si Qi’s throne myself.”
>
>>
> “But I heard from some folks conscripted into the army who came back—they said it started off fine, then suddenly, the corpses on the battlefield stopped rotting. Not even flies came near.”
>
>>
> Li Huowang’s expression froze at those words. After all the twists and turns, it circled back to the nun. This abrupt ceasefire was tied to the vanishing rot too.
>
>>
> “Is it because, to those in power, the disappearance of rot matters far more than capturing cities and land? So the emperors called off the war to join forces and tackle it?”
>
>>
> “Could the rot’s disappearance bring some cataclysm to the world?”
>
>>
> Lost in wild speculation, Li Huowang glanced toward the street on the other side. The border town bustled with carriages, ox carts, and camels streaming through—untouched by the rot’s absence.
>
>>
> This world seemed gripped by something huge, but it had nothing to do with him. He was just another ordinary soul amid the masses.
>
>>
> If the sky fell, taller folks would hold it up.
>
>>
> Maybe the rot’s disappearance mattered greatly here, but ever since the nun died, it had zero connection to Li Huowang.
>
>>
> Unnoticed, his entire load was packed. The two carriages were stuffed full; tonight, they’d sleep underneath.
>
>>
> “Young friend, just deliver these goods to the Fengteng Escort Agency in Ji City of Rear Shu, and you’ll get seventy taels as payment.”
>
>>
> Seventy taels! Li Huowang couldn’t hide his shock. Back then, the Lv family troupe only got ten taels for a ghost play. Sure enough, escorting in chaotic times paid big.
>
>>
> “Don’t think it’s too little—it’s your first time. Show good skills, and future business will only grow. Here’s the escort manifest—keep it on you.”
>
>>
> Li Huowang took the escort manifest proving the agency’s legitimacy and gave a formal salute. “Chief Escort, until we meet again.”
>
>>
> “Take care. Safe travels.”
>
>>
> Stepping out of the escort agency, Li Huowang gave the town—a place he’d come and gone several times—a wistful glance and sighed. He had no more ties in Si Qi. This was likely his last visit.
>
>>
> “With the world so vast, where is my home?”
>
>>
> Once everything was ready, the wheels began turning again. He led everyone toward the increasingly barren lands of Rear Shu.
>
>>
> The one difference as an escort was the slower pace—more cargo meant tired horses.
>
>>
> To dodge revenge from the families of those Nuo opera performers, Li Huowang skipped the previous town and took a detour.
>
>>
> Like that, after nearly half a month on the road, when they spotted another village, the dusty, cracked-lip Li Huowang and crew had no choice but to stop and rest.
>
>>
> Going without washing was tolerable, but days of dry rations had them burning up inside.
>
>>
> A glistening canker hung at the corner of Li Huowang’s mouth right now.
>
>>
> “Awoo~” Li Huowang patted Mantou’s soft yellow head as it howled. “This is someone else’s turf. Quiet down.”
>
>>
> Feeling the dog’s tongue lapping at him, Li Huowang sized up the small Gobi village before them.
>
>>
> As if defying the bleak, desolate wilderness outside, every house was slathered in eye-catching red. Nothing else remarkable.
>
>>
> Spotting a man in tattered sheepskin emerging from the village, Li Huowang immediately went to meet him.
>
>>
> “Sir—” Li Huowang started, but words failed him. A string of dried green snot trailed from the man’s nose down to his chest.
>
>>
> The thickness showed it had built up from constant wind-drying.
>
>>
> “Huh? Outsiders?” The man stood pigeon-toed, head cocked, grinning foolishly at Li Huowang.
>
>>
> Li Huowang tugged at his copper coin mask, unsure if this guy was truly dim or playing it. He stood warily, watching.
>
>>
> “Simpleton! Simpleton! The Wu family’s having a celebration! Hurry over and help! Good work gets you roast buns!”
>
>>
> At the distant elder’s shout, the man’s eyes lit up. He bolted that way.
>
>>
> “What’s his deal?” As Li Huowang puzzled over it, Gao Zhijian spoke up beside him. “Guar... guar... Village Guardian!”
>
>>
> “What?” Li Huowang turned to him, learning from his stuttered words what it meant.
>
>>
> Some villages had a fool like this, called a Village Guardian. They said such a person was born dim-witted for life to ward off disasters for the village.
>
>>
> Nice words, but most Village Guardians had it rough—feast one day, starve the next, as long as they didn’t die.
>
>>
> Only at village weddings or funerals did they help out and snag leftovers for a rare full belly.
>
>>
> Li Huowang nodded in understanding. “Got it. Never ran into one before—first I’ve heard of it.”
>
>>
> Then a jolt hit him. He looked up at Gao Zhijian’s honest face.
>
>>
> “You know nothing about anything else, but this you know crystal clear? Were you... a Village Guardian before?”
>
>>
> Gao Zhijian shook his head like a rattle. “N-no... no! I-I-I-I’m not!”
>
>>
> Seeing his panic, Li Huowang nodded. “Alright, no need to explain. I get you’re not.”
>
>>
> Just then, Gouwa chimed in from the side. “Yeah, yeah, you’re not, you’re not.”
>
>>
> “I-I really... really am not!” Gao Zhijian flushed beet red in urgency.
>
>>
> (End of chapter)