Chapter 239
Chapter 239
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 239
>Chapter Title: Seeing Someone Off
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Chapter 239: Seeing Someone Off
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> Looking at the hanged ghost right in front of him, Li Huowang almost instinctively reached for his sword.
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> Just as he was about to exert force, he abruptly stopped himself.
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> Because Li Huowang realized that this thing wasn't looking at him at all. It was a dead object! The Rope Son wasn't it!
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> Li Huowang's gaze shifted slightly upward, toward the extremely blurry mass overhead that only had a vague outline.
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> Connecting it to the previous earth-trembling sounds, he thought to himself: “This hanged ghost is just a part of it! Maybe merely one of its fingers! That massive thing in the darkness is the real Rope Son!”
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> The fact that it hadn't attacked them right away showed that the Daoist's spell had clearly taken effect.
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> Once he figured it out, Li Huowang held his breath and carefully examined the female corpse in front of him once more.
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> The clothes on the female corpse in front of him were red, but in the pitch-black environment, they had turned into a eerie blackish-red.
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> From the wrinkles that nearly covered her features and her graying hair, it was clear this was an elderly woman.
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> The old woman hung there in midair, staring motionless at Li Huowang with her waxy, shriveled yellow eyes.
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> Soon, half a stick of incense passed. Li Huowang had guessed right—once he stopped moving, the female corpse made no further moves either, hanging there like a puppet.
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> In the darkness, everyone present froze in place. If not for the faint wisps of white breath proving they were alive, they might as well have been stone statues.
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> In that moment, Li Huowang experienced for the first time what it meant to feel like a year dragging on for a single day. His limbs ached and went numb.
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> In this state, who knows how much time passed. Accompanied by the creaking of rope digging into flesh, the hanged ghost slowly rose, gradually leaving Li Huowang's line of sight.
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> Li Huowang's eyes followed it as it departed, watching as it finally merged with the extremely blurry colossal shape in the darkness.
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> Li Huowang still didn't know what this female corpse meant to the Rope Son—was it part of its body or some kind of ornament? “Rope Son? Why would that thing be called Rope Son?”
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> The trembling sounds from before resumed, but this time, they weren't approaching—they were gradually receding.
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> Time ticked by slowly. As the trembling sounds faded into the distance, that oppressive feeling finally lifted.
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> “Whoosh~” Firelight illuminated the ashen faces of Li Huowang and the others. It was a yellow talisman set ablaze, its bottom end pinched between two fingers of the previous Daoist.
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> He first glanced at the exposed ribs protruding from Li Huowang's chest, then chuckled and said: “Fellow cultivator, the Rope Son's gone. We're safe now.”
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> As the glow of the fluorescent stone lit up the others' faces, everyone let out a collective sigh of relief.
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> The others looked toward the Daoist, their expressions much softer than before. Their shared ordeal had brought them closer.
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> Seeing the man's surprise at their bizarre appearances, Li Huowang moved to explain.
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> “Heh, no need, no need. Luo Sect disciple Han Fu, at your service, fellow cultivator.” The gaunt Daoist gave Li Huowang a Daoist salute, revealing once more his mouth full of rotten teeth.
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> The yellow-black rotten teeth sprouted in all directions, their roots encased in thick tartar. The overwhelming stench wafting from the gaps made the others quietly step back a few paces.
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> This man's breath was foul—not just ordinarily so, but worse than an outhouse.
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> Though he clearly lacked personal hygiene, after the incident at Anci Nunnery, Li Huowang felt no revulsion toward the man's rotten teeth.
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> Whether his teeth smelled foul or sweet mattered less to Li Huowang right now than the identity the man had just revealed.
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> “Luo Sect? What's that? A branch of Daoism?”
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> Rather than asking this question that might expose his ignorance, Li Huowang returned the salute. “Clear Wind Temple's Xuanyang. Pleased to meet you.”
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> Since the man could communicate and showed no malice, Li Huowang figured he might be able to learn the way out from him.
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> “Oh? You're a Xuanmen disciple too? Rare sight. With your skin peeled like that, I thought you were a Saojing Sect cultivator.” Han Fu seemed unusually chatty.
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> “I used to be a Saojing Sect disciple, but I left recently for certain reasons.” After tossing out a casual excuse, Li Huowang eyed Han Fu and thought to himself.
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> “Where's the person he was talking to earlier? Did the Rope Son take them? But why doesn't he seem upset at all? No, I can't ask directly, or he'll know I was eavesdropping on them.”
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> Li Huowang didn't bother worrying about some stranger. He pointed toward the Black Tai Sui behind him, wrapped in his own skin.
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> “Master sent us fellow disciples here to find some medicine primer. We got lost and happened to run into you, fellow Daoist. Our good fortune. I hope Brother Han can kindly lead us out of this place.”
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> Li Huowang's words not only revealed his purpose but also subtly indicated he had backing, warning the man not to get any ideas.
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> As Li Huowang sized up Han Fu, Han Fu was doing the same to him, from head to toe and back again.
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> Finally pausing on the copper coin mask over Li Huowang's face, he grinned and said: “Sure thing. No need to stand on ceremony—we're all cultivators. Let's go. I'll lead you out. You can't wander around here carelessly, or you might lose your fleshly body before you know it.”
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> Lifting his feet to follow Han Fu into the darkness, Li Huowang pondered for a moment before asking: “Brother Han, what sort of evil was that thing just now? I've never seen anything like it before.”
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> Having finally encountered someone knowledgeable, Li Huowang naturally seized the chance to learn as much as possible. Without a master to teach him, this was the way.
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> Han Fu seemed quite open and straightforward. When Li Huowang asked, he answered right away.
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> “That was the Rope Son. For some old folks with no children to care for them, or whose kids are unfilial, they say you can find it to help nurse you in old age and see you off at the end.”
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> Hearing this, Li Huowang immediately thought of the female corpse from before and said in surprise: “Does that thing really help people in their old age and see them off?”
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> “Pfft, you think people are fools? It's all self-deception. Anyone with eyes can see that thing couldn't possibly nurse anyone.”
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> “But old folks, well~ they're useless anyway. Can't work, can't farm, just wasting food. So when the time comes, the neighbors pick an auspicious day, beat gongs and drums, carry the old person off in a sedan, and hand them over to the Rope Son.”
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> “As for the old person's house and property? Heh, everyone splits it, of course.”
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> At this point, Gouwa chimed in from the side. “I know this. In our village, we call it eating out a household.”
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> “Right, right! That's eating out a household, but doesn't that sound awful? 'Handed to the Rope Son for nursing and a proper send-off'—now that's much nicer.”
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> Han Fu's mocking words ignited a fire in Li Huowang's chest, leaving him with a stifled breath he didn't know how to vent.
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> (End of chapter)