Chapter 28
Chapter 28
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 28
>Chapter Title: The Lv Family Troupe
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“Pah! No need to worry about that sort of thing. When heading out on a long trip, as long as you stick with a big group, you’re fine.” Lv Zhuangyuan shared his experience with Li Huowang.
“Oh? More people means stronger yang energy, so those things won’t dare make a move?”
“Not at all!” Lv Zhuangyuan packed fresh tobacco into his pipe and took another puff. “How many people can it eat? If you really run into one, just run faster than the others. You’d be better off worrying about bandits who rob silver and kill, or the man-eating tigers in the woods.”
Li Huowang didn’t know how to respond for a moment. It seemed he and this man just weren’t on the same wavelength.
“Here you go, the flatbreads are roasted. Eat them while they’re hot.” Several white steamed buns, skewered on sticks and roasted golden-brown, were handed over by Luo Jinhua.
Li Huowang took them and passed them to the child nearby. These kids were ones he’d picked up along the way.
The moment they saw they could leave Clear Wind Temple, these guys bolted without a care for what came next.
By the time Li Huowang ran into them on the road, they were on the verge of passing out from hunger.
They were fellow disciples, after all, so Li Huowang couldn’t just leave them to starve. He brought them along for the ride.
Seeing hot food, the others didn’t stand on ceremony either. It was late, and they were hungry. They grabbed the buns and started devouring them.
Watching that big lunkhead shove one down per bite, Lv Zhuangyuan’s eyes twitched. These were white flour buns—he didn’t even treat himself to them usually. He regretted being so generous earlier.
Just then, Li Huowang spoke up, making him forget his distress. “Old man, do you have a map? Truth be told, we’re not from around here. We’re a bit lost in these woods and don’t even know where we are.”
Yes, Li Huowang had gotten turned around earlier. Everywhere was the same forest; he couldn’t pinpoint his direction at all. Asking the others yielded nothing.
They hailed from all corners of the earth, rattling off their home villages with ease, but none could say where they were now.
To avoid drawing attention, it seemed Danyangzi hadn’t gone for nearby medicine leads.
“What? A map? Nah, but I know all the roads around here. Where are you headed? Ask me!”
“Hm, lots of places. See which one’s closest, old man.” Li Huowang pulled a thick wad of paper slips from his sleeve.
“What’s this? What’s it say?” Lv Zhuangyuan held the slips at arm’s length, his wrinkled face scrunching up as he strained to read.
His name might be Zhuangyuan, but if he’d truly been a top scholar, he wouldn’t be out here doing plays.
Lv Zhuangyuan could read, just not much. With Li Huowang translating, he finally grasped all the addresses.
He’d been a traveling troupe leader for years, so while he might not know everything, he was sharp on geography.
But knowing where those places were didn’t mean Li Huowang could get there easily.
“Well now, how’d you even get Liang Country in here? Weren’t they fighting our Qi Country just a few years back?”
Lv Zhuangyuan squatted down and scratched at the dirt with his pipe stem, sketching a rough map for Li Huowang.
If one phrase summed up his map, it was a big pancake smashed on the ground, splintered into bits.
Their current spot was in the upper left of the pancake. Moving rightward, countries large and small crisscrossed one another.
“Looks a bit like the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms era—no grand unification,” Li Huowang thought, staring at the dirt map.
He hadn’t held out much hope, but seeing this map confirmed it: he hadn’t crossed to some ancient dynasty. This was somewhere far more unusual.
“This old man sticks to the northern stretches of this area for gigs. I know my way around here, but cross the border? Couldn’t tell you which is which. Just heard they do plays different from ours.”
Bai Lingmiao, listening nearby, felt her heart tighten. Her family was in Niuxin Mountain, Liang Country. Sounded like home was a long, long way off.
Li Huowang caught her unease and shot her a steady glance. “Don’t panic.”
Lv Zhuangyuan eyed the bizarre group of over a dozen before him. Fears suppressed earlier bubbled back up with opportunity.
“Say, little Daoist priest, one of your slips has Jianye Town on it. Our Lv Family Troupe’s headed that way too!”
“Heh heh, how about we team up?”
“Jianye Town? Whose is that?” Li Huowang rummaged through the slips.
“Senior Brother Li, my family’s in Jianye Town,” Zhao Wu spoke up from the side.
“And there’s an escort agency in town. Give ’em some silver, and they can forward your letters to Nanping.”
Without hesitation, Li Huowang tucked the papers back into his robe. “Alright then, old man. We’ll rely on you to guide us. Let’s head to Jianye together.”
Whether it was map info or anything else, taking this old troupe leader’s word alone was hard to swallow.
Be it hunting Black Tai Sui to curb his hallucinations or sending letters for the others, a town with info flow made sense first—and their food was running low anyway.
Plus, if possible, Li Huowang wanted to track down those so-called righteous sects.
A place this dangerous without power was no good. Anyone could trample you, and he had no desire to get snatched by another Danyangzi.
The beaming Lv Zhuangyuan waved his hands. “No, no, no need to be so polite! Not at all!”
He said that, but inside, he was thrilled. Traveling with a master like this was a free bodyguard!
This trip had already paid back those white flour buns—and five salted duck eggs to boot.
“Ha~” The Fool nearby let out a massive yawn. Belly full, he wanted sleep.
Seeing the others’ eyes drooping, Lv Zhuangyuan stood tactfully. “Whoops, we’ve chatted till the second watch. Little Daoist priest, you all rest. I’ll take night watch.”
“No need. I’ll handle it tonight.” Li Huowang wasn’t just being polite; better safe than sorry.
After all the ordeal, everyone was beat. Two groups of strangers ringed the warm campfire and drifted off, leaving Li Huowang and Lv Zhuangyuan sitting alone in silence.
Early next morning, Gouwa woke Li Huowang from the latter half of the watch. “Senior Brother Li, the theater troupe’s packing up.”
“Let’s go. Us too.” Sword and stone tablet on his back, Li Huowang rose and led the others after the troupe.
Fresh on the road, both sides were awkward—no one spoke, just stealing glances now and then, murmuring to their own companions.
That didn’t include leaders Li Huowang and Lv Zhuangyuan. They chatted amiably the whole way.
Li Huowang wanted every scrap of info on this place from Lv Zhuangyuan, who in turn wanted to cozy up to the master. Sweet talk cost nothing—plenty to gain.
“Oh my, little Daoist priest, so skilled at your young age. Your future’s limitless! Hahaha.”
(End of chapter)