Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 26
>Chapter Title: Scary
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“Th-there... there’s... there’s shit!”
“My eyes aren’t blind. Don’t get any closer. What, you wanna eat it? I said you’re dumb, but not *that* dumb.”
“Gouwa, shut up. There are people on the road.”
“Heh heh, got it, Senior Brother Li.”
Before long, Lv Zhuangyuan spotted those people emerging from the woods.
The moment he saw what they looked like, Lv Zhuangyuan sucked in a gasp of cold air. No wonder his youngest son had said there were ghosts—these folks were downright terrifying.
A skinny guy with black and white patches all over his face, a woman with white hair, a freak with bowed legs slung over someone’s back, and even one whose entire face was covered in hair.
Lv Zhuangyuan had traveled far and wide, seen plenty in his day, but this sight still chilled him to the bone.
“Dad, I’m scared.” Lv Xiucai kept shrinking back, trying to huddle as far behind his father as possible.
“You think I’m not scared? You little shit.” Lv Zhuangyuan cursed his youngest son inwardly. If it weren’t for that handsome Daoist and a few normal-looking Daoist boys in the group, he’d have turned tail and run by now.
Lv Zhuangyuan trembled as he clasped his hands toward Li Huowang. “Dare I ask, Daoist priest... are, uh, these the demons you’ve subdued?”
The words had barely left his mouth when he drew a barrage of hostile glares.
“You old fart, what’d you say? You looking for a beating? Who’re you calling demons?”
Lv Zhuangyuan watched as the handsome Daoist waved a hand to silence the aggressive black-and-white-faced freak, which only confirmed his suspicions.
“Excuse me, old timer, could you tell us where this road leads?”
“Wuli Gang! Wuli Gang’s just ahead. Not far at all. Heh heh heh.”
With that, Lv Zhuangyuan secretly singed the horse’s rump with his pipe. The horse neighed and bolted, dragging the cart down the woodland path.
“Hey! My horse! My horse! Quick, chase after it!” Lv Zhuangyuan led the others in a feigned frantic pursuit.
They ran like the wind and soon left those things far behind.
They kept running for a full hour until Lv Zhuangyuan’s youngest son had puked from exhaustion. Only then did he whistle for the horse to stop.
Once they halted, he ignored his son and first checked on the cart-pulling horse. In this acting troupe, horses were worth more than people.
By now, the sky had darkened—it was nearly nightfall.
“My dear mother, what *were* those things? Scared the life outta me.” Lv Juren panted heavily, sweat pouring down his face.
Lv Zhuangyuan kicked him. “Can’t you see it’s getting dark? Go into the woods and gather some firewood!”
Beside the woodland path, a warm bonfire crackled to life. Softened multigrain steamed buns were passed around, their sweet aroma soothing their frightened hearts.
“Look at you lot, scared like a bunch of bears. When you’re out in the world, running into something spooky is nothing. Times like these, you can’t panic. I’m telling you.” Lv Zhuangyuan addressed the others.
“Dad, maybe they weren’t demons. They looked kinda human to me. And that little Daoist called you ‘old timer.’”
At his daughter-in-law’s words, Lv Zhuangyuan shook his water gourd.
“Whatever they are, we steer clear. Mark my words: out in the world, to live a long life, dodge what you can and don’t mess with the rest.”
That was Lv Zhuangyuan’s life philosophy. No matter what, it had kept him alive this long.
He planned to pass it on to his sons too. Once he got old, the troupe would be theirs to take on the road.
He handed the water gourd to his nephew nearby and turned to his granddaughter cradled in his daughter-in-law’s arms.
Watching her gnaw at a small piece of bun with her brand-new milk teeth, Lv Zhuangyuan’s heart melted more with every second.
He reached into a round jar on the cart and pulled out a salted duck egg. Carefully cracking it open, he held the oily yolk to her mouth. “Here, little one, suck on this. It’s yummy.”
As she suckled away eagerly, Lv Zhuangyuan’s eyes crinkled into slits with joy.
Sure, it was a shame she wasn’t a boy, but grandchildren were different. He doted on this little granddaughter endlessly.
Sensing her chance, Luo Jinhua spoke up. “Dad, look, Cuier’s getting so big. Don’t you think it’s time for some proper clothes? Dressing her in costume scraps all day isn’t right.”
The mention of money wiped the smile from Lv Zhuangyuan’s face, his features scrunching up.
He started to refuse, but seeing the baggy costume hanging off his granddaughter softened him again.
He puffed his pipe a few times, the wrinkles on his face deepening, then walked to the cart and unlocked the trunk with a long copper key.
After rummaging inside for a while, he counted out fifty copper coins.
“Don’t buy cloth in town—too pricey. In a couple days when we hit Wuli Gang, ask around which women weave their own. Buy a few feet from them. Check several houses, get the cheapest.”
“And get cotton, not hemp. Xiu’er’s skin is delicate—hemp’ll chafe.”
“Got it.” Luo Jinhua beamed as she took the coins. She’d figured hemp money would be a win; she hadn’t expected the iron rooster to crow this time.
Kids were small, clothes didn’t take much cloth. She might even skim some off.
Once his granddaughter had polished off the yolk, Lv Zhuangyuan divided the whites among the adults.
It wasn’t much per person, but that salty taste had them thrilled. Meat was a rare treat.
Night had fallen, and with dinner done, there wasn’t much to do. After Lv Zhuangyuan spun a few old tales he’d picked up somewhere, it was bedtime.
Lv Juren was on first watch tonight. They’d walked all day, and he was exhausted, but he forced himself to stay alert, tending the fire so it wouldn’t die.
“Son, go sleep. I’ve got it.” Lv Zhuangyuan sat beside his son, puffing his pipe again.
Lv Juren yawned. “Dad, I’m not tired. You sleep.”
“Quit arguing and go to bed. Us old folks don’t need much shut-eye.”
As father and son bickered by the fire, Lv Zhuangyuan suddenly clamped a hand over his son’s mouth and pointed toward the dark woods beyond.
“Hee hee~” A shrill, piercing woman’s giggle echoed suddenly from their right.
Lv Zhuangyuan and his son instinctively looked but saw only darkness.
“Hee hee hee~ Am I more like a person... or more like a god?” The black woods began to sway rhythmically, rustling eerily, as if something inside were about to emerge.
Lv Zhuangyuan broke into a cold sweat. Well-traveled as he was, he knew this: something was demanding a sealing fee.
He couldn’t answer wrong, or it could mean ruin for his whole family.
But what *was* in those woods demanding it?
The nighttime woods swayed rhythmically, emitting an eerie rustling.
(End of Chapter)