Chapter 299
Chapter 299
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 299
>Chapter Title: Going Home
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Just as the two were talking, a new sound came from the table nearby.
“Plop.” Li Huowang immediately propped up his head and looked toward the source of the noise.
He then spotted Gouwa, who was tiptoeing toward the door with the food box in his arms.
“Senior Brother Li, isn’t this food you brought back for us to eat?” Gouwa asked cautiously.
Li Huowang lay back down, a wry smile on his face. “Yeah, you guys are the only ones.”
If there was anyone in this world he could truly trust, it had to be these fellow disciples by his side—even if they weren’t much use.
Li Huowang pushed himself up from the bed with both hands, the dejection vanishing from his face.
“Gouwa, put down the food box and call Gao Zhijian over. Let’s eat together, and once we’re done, we’re leaving.”
“Where to?”
“Home!”
A few days later, Li Huowang, Gouwa, Gao Zhijian, and Bai Lingmiao sat in a carriage, swaying left and right with the jolting wheels.
Bai Lingmiao pulled back the curtain and spoke enthusiastically to the coachman driving the horses. “Uncle, thank you so much for giving us a ride. If we had to go on foot, it would’ve taken days.”
The old coachman, with only a few teeth left, grinned and replied, “No trouble at all—it’s on the way. But girlie, your home’s in quite a remote spot. If you hadn’t told me, I wouldn’t have known there was a village at the foot of that mountain.”
Hearing this, Gouwa immediately bristled. “Remote? What do you mean remote? We already paid the silver! What, you trying to jack up the price now?”
Chun Xiaoman across from Gouwa shot him a glare. “Shut your mouth! Why are you yapping so much? Nobody’ll mistake you for a mute if you don’t talk!”
Meanwhile, Gao Zhijian huddled up his limbs and stammered an attempt to mediate.
Li Huowang, sitting at the very back, silently watched the lively scene inside the carriage. Compared to before, the atmosphere was clearly much lighter now.
Ever since he had crossed over, moments like this had been rare for Li Huowang.
A pair of soft arms wrapped around Li Huowang’s, and Bai Lingmiao, unable to hide her smile, asked, “Senior Brother Li, what are you thinking about right now?”
With home so close, Bai Lingmiao was radiating joy from head to toe.
“I’m thinking... what kind of place Cow Heart Mountain is. Not sure if we’ll be able to settle in there. You know how hard I am to get along with.”
Li Huowang lifted the bamboo curtain with his hand, gazing out at the lush greenery. The woods here were incredibly dense.
“You’ll definitely get used to it! Everyone in our village is good-hearted! Take my grandpa, for example—he grows these melons, and if any traveler passing by gets thirsty, they can eat as many as they want for free. You’re such a good person; you’ll surely get along with him.”
“And my mom and dad—if anyone in the village runs into trouble, they’ll pitch in with money or effort to help. And after living there with the villagers for so long, they’ve never once lost face!”
“Oh, right, and my little brother and the kids his age—you don’t need to worry. They won’t dare act up. If they give you any trouble, just tell me, and I’ll make them pay!”
Bai Lingmiao eagerly waved her fair little fists in the air.
Seeing her adorable expression, Li Huowang smiled knowingly. She seemed like a completely different person in front of him compared to her family.
Li Huowang put his arm around her shoulders and shook his head slightly. “I’m not worried. Anyone who could raise a girl like you can’t be all that bad. Oh, right, Lingmiao—I remember you used to wear gold bracelets. Your family must be pretty well-off, huh?”
Bai Lingmiao gave a shy smile. “It’s not like we’re rich or anything—just a bit better off than ordinary folks.”
Li Huowang chuckled. The bride’s family had money, and after this, he’d be living with them. He really was turning into a live-in son-in-law.
“Live-in son-in-law it is, then. No matter what that place is like, after all this drifting, at least they could finally put down roots.” Li Huowang thought to himself.
Suddenly, Bai Lingmiao got excited, pointing out the carriage window with her pale, scallion-like fingers. “Quick, look over there! That’s Cow Heart Mountain!”
Li Huowang narrowed his eyes, focusing on the distant peak covered in green. “It’s huge, alright. But seriously, how does it look anything like a cow’s heart?”
He quickly put the silly question out of his mind and started worrying about the Lv Family Troupe.
“They left earlier, so they should’ve reached the foot of Cow Heart Mountain by now. I hope nothing goes wrong.”
With that worry in mind, Li Huowang gradually drew closer to the base of Cow Heart Mountain.
But the concern didn’t last long. When he saw Little Yang barefoot in the paddy fields, groping for loaches with a round-faced woman, it instantly evaporated.
“Senior Brother Li’s back!! Senior Brother Li’s back!”
As Little Yang shouted excitedly, the others emerged one by one from the village’s overlapping tiled rooftops.
After half a month apart, Lv Zhuangyuan was thrilled to see him again and immediately grabbed both his hands.
“Young Daoist, you’re finally back. We’ve been waiting so anxiously.”
“Master Lv, you’ve had a tough journey. No mishaps along the way, I hope?”
“None at all! However many we had before is however many we have now! Not a single one missing!”
He then fussed over Li Huowang’s solitary eye, and the two chatted warmly.
“Come on, let’s not stand out here. Whatever you have to say, let’s go inside.” As Li Huowang started to step forward, Lv Zhuangyuan stopped him.
He stole a glance at Bai Lingmiao first, a troubled look on his face.
“Uh, Young Daoist, let’s not go in just yet. There’s something I need to talk to you about alone.”
Li Huowang didn’t quite get it. “What is it? Just say it—why alone?”
He really couldn’t imagine what he and Lv Zhuangyuan could have to discuss that needed excluding others.
“Sigh, Young Daoist, you see... some things are better discussed in private.”
Lv Zhuangyuan sidled up to Li Huowang and winked furtively toward Bai Lingmiao.
Seeing that expression, Li Huowang’s heart sank as he glanced at Bai Lingmiao beside him.
“Master Lv insists on talking alone—does that mean something big happened with Lingmiao’s family?”
Li Huowang figured out what Master Lv meant, but unfortunately, so did Bai Lingmiao.
“Master Lv, my family... what happened to my family?”
Seeing Lv Zhuangyuan avert his eyes guiltily, tears welled up and rolled down Bai Lingmiao’s lashes.
“Dad! Mom!” The weeping Bai Lingmiao shoved past the others and dashed along the narrow village path. The uneasy Li Huowang hurried after her.
“Dad! Mom! Grandpa!! Your little girl’s back! Where are you?!” Bai Lingmiao’s tearful cries echoed over the village.
Bai Lingmiao flung open every door in the village searching for her family, but behind each one lay only disappointment.