Chapter 268
Chapter 268
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 268
>Chapter Title: On the Road
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“Plague?” Li Huowang, who had just been about to leave, was instantly drawn in by the two men’s casual chat. His instincts told him this might be exactly what he was looking for.
Completely ignoring the Lv Family Troupe on stage, Li Huowang hurried over to the tall man and the fat one, waiting for them to continue.
What frustrated Li Huowang, though, was that they’d been rambling endlessly when he’d overheard by chance, but now that he was listening intently, they’d clammed up.
Li Huowang simply walked right up to the fat man and nudged his shoulder lightly with his elbow.
“Friend, mind telling me what’s going on in Pi County? How come there’s talk of a plague? I hadn’t heard anything about it before.”
The fat man, who’d been engrossed in the powder opera on stage, looked annoyed at the interruption.
“What’s it to you? Who are you?”
When the fat man spotted the two pieces of broken silver Li Huowang held out, his eyes went wide. He swallowed his rude retort.
“Please, if you don’t mind—my mother’s brother lives in Pi County. The moment I heard about the plague there, I got worried sick. That’s why I was so forward.”
Whether he believed Li Huowang’s made-up story or not, the silver certainly made him eager to help.
“Hey, brother, you should’ve said so sooner! It’s no big deal.”
A chubby hand hidden in his sleeve reached out and snatched the two pieces of silver.
“Don’t worry, your mother’s brother is fine. There’s no plague in Pi County. Everyone’s still alive.”
The fat man in the watermelon hat paused slightly.
“But, brother, if he really is family, you’d best get him out of Pi County. The feng shui there is bad.”
His voice dropped unconsciously, as if afraid of being overheard by something.
“I’ll tell you what—last time I was there on business, I noticed the folks living there acting all twitchy, faces pale as ghosts. No idea what’s up with that. No wonder people are saying there’s a plague—their complexions look worse than anyone who actually has it.”
“The whole county acting twitchy with bad complexions?”
Li Huowang mulled it over where he stood before asking again,
“Anything else unusual about Pi County besides that?”
Strange things happened in this world all the time, but these two details alone weren’t enough to figure out what had happened to the people there.
“No idea, I was just passing through. Didn’t stick around long before heading back. If you’re that worried, go check it out yourself. It’s only about ten days’ journey. No big deal—I made it back fine, didn’t I?”
“Ten days’ journey?”
Li Huowang thought for a moment, then turned and headed for the inn.
When Bai Lingmiao spread her map out in front of him, Li Huowang quickly located Pi County. It was right on the way to Niuxin Mountain.
After pondering a bit longer, Li Huowang finally decided to go take a look.
A whole county’s worth of people acting strangely? That didn’t sound minor at all. His chances of running into the Surveillance Bureau there had to be high.
Besides, it was his only option right now. He didn’t even have a backup plan.
Just then, Lv Xiucai burst in from outside, beaming. Before he could speak, Li Huowang looked up at him.
“Go tell your dad—wrap up today’s show and that’s it. Tomorrow, we hit the road again.”
Lv Xiucai, clutching a copper coin, nodded vigorously and dashed back out.
The others were used to Li Huowang’s sudden decisions by now. They readied the ox cart and the new carriage, loading on whatever they’d need.
They didn’t bother asking where he was going or why—some didn’t care to, others didn’t dare. They’d just follow along.
If there was any difference this time, it was the Lv Family Troupe. Once listless and downcast, now they wore new faces.
Everyone’s cheeks glowed red, their old vigor restored after the rival troupe’s blows.
“Heh heh heh~ Daoist Li, Daoist Li~ As we agreed, here’s your share, and here’s mine.”
The beaming Lv Zhuangyuan held out a handful of copper coins mixed with bits of silver, offering it to Li Huowang.
Li Huowang eyed Lv Zhuangyuan, whose grin bloomed like a chrysanthemum.
“What? You collected all this in tips?”
He knew full well the old Lv Family Troupe’s tuneless yowling hadn’t earned tips like these.
“Heh heh heh, well, this is Daliang after all. Folks here have money to burn~”
Lv Zhuangyuan chuckled as he set the coins and silver on the ox cart.
Seeing Li Huowang didn’t object, Zhao Wu, at the reins, pulled out a thick string and threaded the loose coppers onto it one by one.
Li Huowang had no reason to refuse. The silver wasn’t much, but it was steady income—saved him the hassle of dealing with daily necessities all the time.
And with it, at least everyone else could eat better.
“Tonight, break out that cured pork. Make some pork-stewed rice.”
No sooner had he said it than a loud gulp echoed in his ears. They’d eaten plenty of meat on the Qingqiu grasslands—no one should be salivating like that.
“Whose stomach is that? Didn’t anyone eat today?”
Li Huowang whipped his head around, but the sound hadn’t come from his group. It was from a scrawny old reaper with graying hair, accompanied by a simple-minded-looking youth.
The pair seemed to be traveling the same road.
Sensing the gaze, the old reaper looked away, pretending nonchalance, toward the harvested rice fields on the other side.
“Gurgle~”
His stomach growled again. The old reaper lowered his shoulder pole, grabbed the hemp rope belt at his waist with both hands, and yanked it tighter.
Li Huowang glanced at their ragged, patched clothes before turning back to his own path.
Along the way, aside from Gouwa’s chatter, no one else spoke.
When the sun slanted west, the ox cart’s wheels slowed to a stop. As usual, everyone divided up to prepare dinner.
“Senior Brother Li, quick, look! There’s sow thistle by the roadside! We can make wild greens soup to cut the greasiness of the pork!”
Li Huowang, studying the map, didn’t register who’d said it.
His focus was entirely on the map in his hands. God only knew if the scale was accurate—if they took a wrong turn, it’d cost them days.
Dinner was ready soon enough: pork-stewed rice with wild greens soup.
Li Huowang stared at the glistening bowl of rice before him, studded with red-and-white chunks of cured pork, then glanced up at the two reapers squatting off in the distance.
They were choking down coarse grain flatbreads from their packs, washed down with icy stream water they’d just scooped up.
The young reaper’s eyes were glued to Li Huowang’s bowl, but the old one quickly forced his gaze down.
“Go dish out two bowls of rice and take it to them,”
Li Huowang said to Bai Lingmiao beside him.
“Mm.”
Bai Lingmiao nodded and headed to the pot.
(End of Chapter)