Chapter 186
Chapter 186
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 186
>Chapter Title: Toasting
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Chapter 186: Toasting
> “Worship the Joy God? No, at least not in our Liang Kingdom.”
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> “I still remember when my second brother got married. Normally, when the bride enters, they first pay respects to heaven and earth, then to the parents.”
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> “But for weddings, they also paste these round characters on the doors and windows, just like this.”
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> Gouwa pointed at the double happiness cut out of red cloth in the distant main hall with the lamb hoof in his hand.
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> Hearing this answer, Li Huowang’s expression didn’t improve much.
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> He stood in place for a good while. Only after seeing no abnormalities from that round red double happiness in the distance did he slowly sit down.
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> “Eat up quick. Once you’re done, find a place to sleep.”
At Li Huowang’s words, the others quickened their swallowing.
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> Li Huowang pried a dried jujube off the jujube flatbread beside him. As he slowly chewed, he vigilantly watched everything around him amid the laughter and chatter.
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> His heart wasn’t fully at ease.
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> It wasn’t his fault for being skittish. Once bitten, twice shy. In this deranged world, no amount of caution was too much.
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> Especially since he’d been bitten more than a few times already.
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> Li Huowang didn’t care to know why. He just wanted to keep the people around him safe and sound.
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> Night gradually fell. As blazing torches were lit and stuck into the walls, the wedding banquet grew ever more lively.
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> Seeing the hosts toasting at other tables, Li Huowang figured their table of outsiders wouldn’t be bothered. To his surprise, they actually sent someone over.
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> The square-faced young man who had beaten the gong to welcome the bride earlier approached Li Huowang’s table, one hand holding a wine cup and the other a wine pot, all smiles.
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> He came up to the table and without a word filled his cup to the brim. Holding it with both hands, he said to Li Huowang,
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> “Come, come! Thanks to all of you for attending our eldest brother’s wedding banquet. Allow me, Hou Wen, to toast you escort masters. May everything go your way and your journeys be smooth!”
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> With the man saying this, the others couldn’t just sit there. They all raised their cups in return. Even Li Huowang used tea in place of wine.
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> By rights, this was already generous treatment for outsiders.
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> But with one hand pinching the cup’s stem and the other supporting its base, after Hou Wen tossed it back, he immediately refilled it and toasted Li Huowang alone.
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> “Daoist, allow me to toast you alone. May you soon ride the crane to immortality and ascend to the heavens!”
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> These were fine words, but in the ears of Li Huowang, the fake Daoist, they sounded utterly off no matter how he heard them.
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> “No need to stand on ceremony.” Li Huowang raised his teacup and downed it. As the teapot briefly blocked his view,
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> he keenly noticed the man in front of him staring at him.
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> No, more precisely, not at him, but at the sword on his back that the nun had given him.
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> The moment Li Huowang set down his teacup, that gaze vanished swiftly, and the young man before him was all smiles again.
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> If Li Huowang’s senses weren’t far sharper than the others’, he might really have been fooled.
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> “Why’s this guy looking at my sword? Has he recognized its power?”
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> No matter what Li Huowang thought, after toasting, the young man did nothing else. He simply picked up his wine pot and headed to the other tables.
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> It was as if he’d truly come just to toast.
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> “Eat and drink your fill, everyone. Have a great time before you go!”
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> Watching his receding back, Li Huowang turned to the others with a complicated expression. “We’re about done. Let’s go.”
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> The others looked reluctantly at the uneaten dishes covering the table, but with Li Huowang speaking up, they eventually stood, loath to leave.
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> Eating this meal had another benefit besides filling their bellies: finding a place to stay was much easier.
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> Seeing they were the escort masters who’d eaten at the banquet, the homeowners readily agreed to put them up. They even pretended to refuse the room money Bai Lingmiao offered.
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> “Hey now, you ate at the banquet, so you’re guests. What’s all this about money? No need to be so polite.”
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> Saying these niceties, the loud-voiced old man still happily accepted the copper coins in the end.
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> Money really did come in handy. Soon, they had a two-story old earthen building all to themselves for Li Huowang and the others.
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> The earthen building was old, but being a standalone structure with its own courtyard suited Li Huowang perfectly.
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> Night deepened. The previously lively village gradually quieted.
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> Li Huowang stood by the second-floor window, gazing toward the red lanterns at the house holding the wedding in the distance.
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> Bai Lingmiao sat sideways on the bed. She moistened the thread in her mouth before carefully threading it through the needle’s eye by candlelight.
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> Then, bit by bit, she sewed some useless scraps of cloth onto the chains on the stool beside her.
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> She sewed until her eyes ached, then looked up toward the broad back by the window. “Senior Brother Li, maybe that guy just glanced at your sword casually. Not necessarily plotting to rob you.”
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> “There are two swords on my back. Why’d that kid fixate on this one? Better safe than sorry. When you head down later, tell the others in the house—we’re still posting night watch.”
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> Bai Lingmiao nodded obediently and began spreading out the bedding.
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> “Li... Li... Li.”
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> “Something up?” Li Huowang looked down toward Gao Zhijian in the courtyard below, craning his neck up at him.
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> “I... I really am... not... a village guardian.” Clearly, Gao Zhijian cared deeply about this.
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> “Alright, I know you’re not a village guardian. So where are you from? You can’t have popped out of a rock, right?”
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> Due to Gao Zhijian’s low intelligence and his stutter, Li Huowang and the others weren’t keen on chatting with him. Talking to him was just too drawn-out.
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> Thus, aside from knowing he could read, they knew next to nothing else about him.
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> Gao Zhijian stood there, face twisted in conflict as he thought for a bit. “Li... Li... Senior Brother Li!! Do you... believe me... I... I...”
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> “I believe you, I believe you. Spit it out already. Keep dawdling and the sun’ll be up before you finish.”
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> “You!! Don’t... don’t interrupt! Don’t interrupt... me talking!” For the first time, Gao Zhijian spoke to Li Huowang in this tone.
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> “I... hate... hate it most... when people... inter... interrupt... me talking!”
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> Seeing his flushed, anxious face and his tightly clenched fists, Li Huowang nodded. “Fine, go ahead.”
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> “Li... Li... Senior Brother Li!! Can you... trust me... no matter... how out... outrageous... my words are!”
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> “I trust you. Go on.”
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> At these words, Gao Zhijian gritted his teeth and stomped. “I’ll... come up!!”
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> Glancing at Bai Lingmiao behind him, Li Huowang blocked the restless Gao Zhijian. “Don’t come up. Just say it there. Then you can go sleep.”
>
> (End of chapter)