Chapter 224
Chapter 224
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 224
>Chapter Title: Leaving
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“Lion dance?” Li Huowang’s mind still couldn’t quite wrap around it. No matter how he looked, that thing slowly approaching from afar didn’t resemble the lion dance in his memory at all.
First off, in his memory, the celebratory lion dance wouldn’t be draped in a large, grimy sheet of thin white cloth. And this so-called lion dance didn’t even have a head!
Inside the taut white cloth shimmered a hazy white light source, illuminating everything below through the hem. That glow was what he’d spotted earlier.
If it were just a glowing white sheet, Li Huowang wouldn’t have thought it was something sinister. What was truly chilling were the shriveled handprints projected onto the cloth.
Under the light’s glow, the entire sheet took on a slight translucency, clearly displaying those handprints of varying sizes right in front of Li Huowang.
As the lion dance drew nearer, Li Huowang spotted more details on the cloth—numerous white tassels, like those on the spirit banners carried by mourners at a funeral procession.
Li Huowang’s gaze shifted downward toward the lion’s feet beneath the cloth, where he saw bare feet caked in mud.
If there was anything that linked it to a lion dance, it was the feet below and the hands holding up the cloth, moving in some rhythmic dance together. They really were dancing.
With every sway and shake, a clacking sound of wooden poles knocking together echoed from within the large cloth, as if providing accompaniment.
“Senior Brother Li, it’s fine. I’ve seen this sort of thing since I was little. I cried from fright back then, but after seeing it a few more times, I got used to it.” Sun Baolu was trying to ease Li Huowang’s concerns.
Li Huowang warily tugged at the bronze mask on his face, trying to cover as much of it as possible.
“Sometimes things you get used to aren’t necessarily safe. Also, why doesn’t this lion have a head?”
“Because they haven’t graduated yet—they’re all just apprentices. Only master dancers are allowed to attach the lion head. These kids are just practicing at night when no one’s around.”
After explaining to Li Huowang, Sun Baolu looked up and shouted at the passing lion dance. From the tone, it sounded like words of encouragement.
But the headless lion didn’t respond to Sun Baolu. Like a massive elephant lying dead on the ground, it moved past Li Huowang with a peculiar rhythm.
A moment later, the lion dance finally departed, leaving Li Huowang with a receding silhouette. It hadn’t reacted to him at all.
“See, Senior Brother Li? Qingqiu’s different from other places. With the Eternal Haven’s protection, those evils don’t dare act up.”
Li Huowang, still on guard, glanced up at him before turning and heading back into the inn.
“Is your Eternal Haven that stingy? Protecting only this one spot?”
“That’s just what my clansmen say, anyway.”
“Are these lion dancers taught generation after generation, master to apprentice?”
“Nah, they have a proper lineage. There’s a group in Qingqiu that specializes in teaching lion dance. I hear they’re called the Lion Dance Palace.”
“Lion Dance Palace?” Li Huowang murmured the words to himself. He felt like he’d heard them somewhere before, but now he couldn’t recall where, no matter how hard he tried.
Suddenly, as Li Huowang racked his brain over this, the monk beside him—who’d been counting on his fingers—stomped anxiously and blurted out, “Taoist, something’s off! Those lion heads ain’t right!”
“Hm?” Li Huowang stared in astonishment at the monk’s hallucination beside him. “What’s off about them?”
“You didn’t count just now? The numbers don’t add up! There are way more hands holding the cloth than feet below! More hands, fewer feet—they don’t match! Those folks definitely have something wrong with them!”
“Wait!” As Li Huowang recalled the scene, a chill ran through his body.
If the monk hadn’t pointed it out, he almost wouldn’t have noticed—why were there more hands than feet in that lion dance?!
“Senior Brother Li?” Seeing Li Huowang standing there muttering to himself, Sun Baolu backed away a few steps in unease.
Just as Sun Baolu thought that if Li Huowang kept spouting nonsense, he’d go fetch the others and some chains, he saw Senior Brother Li hobbling inside on his crutch.
“Baolu, no sleeping tonight. You and I are keeping watch!”
“Huh? Oh! Alright, alright!” Though he didn’t know why they needed to keep watch inside the inn, Sun Baolu complied.
That night at the third watch, Sun Baolu saw the wide-eyed Li Huowang suddenly stand and tell everyone to set off right then.
The others were puzzled about traveling at night but followed suit.
They’d traded some gold and silver for several sacks of highland barley and dozens of sheep on the carriage.
“I’m good at this! I’m good at this! When I was begging as a kid, I herded sheep for a wealthy family for two years!”
With Lv Zhuangyuan volunteering, he temporarily took over as the shepherd.
Under the moonlight, they left Woman Mountain. Li Huowang kept glancing back, his expression gravely tense. Paired with his sleepless fatigue, his face looked ghastly.
Seeing that face, everyone sensed something had happened. No one felt like chatting; the mood grew oppressive.
The puzzled Chun Xiaoman approached Sun Baolu with her sword in hand and whispered, “What’s wrong with Senior Brother Li? He was right by your side the whole time. He even went out to have fun with Junior Sister Bai earlier, perfectly fine. How’d he end up like this after just one night?”
Sun Baolu hesitated before whispering back to Chun Xiaoman, “I don’t know. Nothing happened at all. Maybe…”
His voice dropped even lower, barely louder than a mosquito’s buzz.
“Maybe Senior Brother Li’s having one of his episodes again… He used to say all the time that someone was out to get him, right?”
Chun Xiaoman glanced once more at the jittery Li Huowang before heading over to Bai Lingmiao to get the story.
But even after they stopped by the river to rest, Chun Xiaoman was still baffled, with no clue what had happened.
“Set up the pot! Light the collected sheep dung under it!”
A few people scattered to dig for wild vegetables.
Gouwa’s eyes lit up. He clapped his hands over two entangled grasshoppers and pinned them down. Carefully, he snapped off their legs and wings with his fingers before stashing them in the pouch at his waist.
“The soil in Qingqiu is so fertile. I’ve already caught enough for a full dish in no time.”
After tying off the pouch, he dropped back to the ground and resumed rummaging through the grass.
Soon, his attention turned to a small cluster of brambles. With nails crusted in grime, he neatly snapped off a tender shoot and peeled away the thorny outer skin, revealing the bright green core inside.
He popped the green core into his mouth and chewed. A satisfied look crossed Gouwa’s face—this wild vegetable he’d eaten before, and it tasted good, a bit like crisp celery.
Just as he was about to harvest the whole bunch, a basket suddenly appearing before him gave Gouwa a scare.
He looked up to see it was Chun Xiaoman’s basket. After setting it down, the woman turned and walked toward Li Huowang, who was sitting cross-legged in the distance.
“Take these back with you when you go.”