Chapter 246
Chapter 246
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 246
>Chapter Title: Black Tai Sui
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> “For now, let’s leave it like this. Once the wounds heal, we can fix them one by one, bit by bit.”
Li Huowang’s words brought a wave of relief to everyone.
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> Looking at Li Huowang’s flesh-and-blood mess of a face, Chun Xiaoman couldn’t hold back any longer. She whipped her head away, slumped to the ground, and started vomiting violently once more.
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> But her stomach had already been emptied by the previous two rounds, so all she could bring up now was clear water.
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> Bai Lingmiao’s trembling hands stroked Li Huowang’s black hair over and over, her eyes brimming with tears, words stuck in her throat but refusing to come out.
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> “What are you crying for? Smile! None of us died—we not only got the Black Tai Sui, but we captured a prisoner too! This is great news!”
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> “And Lingmiao, look at my face. Isn’t it great? Whenever you get tired of it, you can swap it out.”
The chuckling Li Huowang tried his best to wink and make faces at her.
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> Li Huowang knew he looked hideous right now, and it hurt—a lot. The kind of hurt that made him want to die.
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> But he had to pretend it didn’t faze him. If he kept whining and screaming, it wouldn’t solve anything and would only drag everyone else’s spirits down.
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> This was a trick he’d picked up from Luo Jinhua, Lv Juren’s wife. When something unavoidable happens, sometimes pretending like you don’t care at all can keep the people around you from getting too upset.
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> But clearly, Li Huowang hadn’t mastered the art. The louder he laughed, the harder Bai Lingmiao cried.
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> Finally, Li Huowang grew exhausted—exhausted in the literal sense. His single eye slowly drifted shut.
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> “I’ll rest for a bit. Wake me when it’s time... When I wake up, we’ll find the way back.”
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> With those words, Li Huowang instantly lost consciousness.
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> In his hazy state, something extremely familiar bobbed up and down in Li Huowang’s mind. He wanted to figure out what it was, but he never quite could.
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> Drifting in and out of sleep, Li Huowang’s thoughts were disjointed, often forgetting what he’d been thinking just moments before.
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> Suddenly, a brilliant starry sky filled Li Huowang’s mind. In that instant, he remembered—this was the school rooftop, where he and Yang Na had watched the sky all night. What he was seeing now was a memory from his past.
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> “Naona, I’m sorry. I’m sick. I need to take a leave of absence to get treatment.”
The boy said softly, hugging the girl.
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> “How long will it take to get better? Will it be a while?”
The girl gently shook their intertwined fingers.
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> “I don’t know, but don’t worry. For you, I’ll do everything the doctors say and get better as fast as I can.”
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> “Like I promised, we’ll get into the same university. And once I’m out, I’ll marry you.”
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> Hearing this suddenly, the girl flushed with shyness, but in the end, she nodded faintly.
“Okay, I’ll wait for you.”
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> In that moment, the two incredibly awkward teens drew closer and closer until their lips finally met.
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> “Huowang? How are you feeling?”
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> “Senior Brother Li, are you okay?”
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> “Li Huowang! Get up here, right now!”
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> “Little Li, do you think that side seems real, or does this side?”
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> Various voices relentlessly tore at the one beautiful memory deep in Li Huowang’s heart.
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> Li Huowang didn’t want to go back. He wanted to stay frozen in this perfect moment forever. But that was impossible—everything around him began to crumble, the beautiful memory fragmenting into pieces.
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> “Ha!”
Drenched in cold sweat, Li Huowang’s eyes snapped open. He saw Bai Lingmiao cradling his head, leaning down gently to pass warm goat’s milk from her mouth to his.
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> As he swallowed the warm goat’s milk, Li Huowang’s scattered thoughts began to pull together. Right now, his mind felt like a rusty machine—everything stuttering and jerking along.
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> “Where are we?”
Li Huowang asked, staring up at the cowhide tent overhead.
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> Seeing Li Huowang finally awake, Bai Lingmiao let out a huge sigh of relief.
“This is Sun Baolu’s home. He grazes sheep around here and knows the local paths. He’s the one who brought us back.”
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> “Also, Senior Brother Li, you’ve been out for over ten days. Thank goodness you’re awake.”
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> Hearing this, Li Huowang flung off the covers and quickly looked down at his body.
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> The huge gashes he’d carved into himself had mostly healed, but he still looked bizarrely off—profoundly mismatched in places. At least no normal person had a belly button on their waist.
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> Still, compared to how he’d looked crawling out of that cave, this was a huge improvement. At least he looked human now.
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> Most importantly, his left foot had fully grown half a sole. No more limping when he walked.
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> After checking his body, Li Huowang didn’t even pause to rest. He immediately pressed Bai Lingmiao for news on Han Fu and the Black Tai Sui.
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> “It’s all fine. Everything’s prepared. But we really owe Sun Baolu’s family big time—if they hadn’t shown up, we couldn’t have hauled all that stuff back.”
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> “We borrowed two cowhide tents and set them up a ways off. The other fellow disciples are watching them. Senior Brother Li, lie back down—you’re hurt way too badly.”
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> “Let’s go! Black Tai Sui first!”
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> Unable to wait a second longer, Li Huowang threw on his clothes and headed out of the tent.
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> As he emerged, he drew stares from everyone. The Qingqiu people’s gazes no longer held mere curiosity—they carried wariness and unease now.
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> That was only natural. If they saw what he looked like now and still acted warmly welcoming, that would make Li Huowang suspicious of them.
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> He cupped his hands in a fist toward the others, then strode out of the tent cluster toward the two lonely tents on the distant grassland.
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> As he approached, Li Huowang came face-to-face with the Lv Family Troupe returning from grazing sheep. Lv Zhuangyuan fought back his shock and said to the unrecognizable Li Huowang:
“Daoist priest? Just over ten days, and you’re already up and about?”
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> “See, what’d I say? My Daoist priest is peerlessly powerful—how could some ordinary evil spirit stand a chance against you!”
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> But the deeply worried Li Huowang had no time for his flattery.
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> After confirming that Han Fu’s little head was still alive, Li Huowang ducked straight into the Black Tai Sui’s tent. Right now, that thing mattered more than anything else to him.
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> The moment he entered, he saw spears pinning the Black Tai Sui’s tentacles to the ground, keeping it utterly immobile.
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> Li Huowang circled it carefully, confirming once more that this was identical to the Black Tai Sui from Clear Wind Temple. He splayed his fingers and plunged them into its body, yanking out a chunk of oily Tai Sui flesh.
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> As the dagger’s blade slowly sliced along the edge of the flesh lump, shrill whistles emanated from the Black Tai Sui’s slits, black viscous liquid oozing out nonstop.
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> At the cut on the lump in his hand, bits of shredded meat rapidly turned into tentacles. Li Huowang slowly opened his mouth, lifted it up, and stuffed the Black Tai Sui toward his mouth.
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> But just as his teeth were about to bite down, Li Huowang suddenly stopped.
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> (End of chapter)