Chapter 304
Chapter 304
-----------------------------------------------------------------
>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 304
>Chapter Title: The Bai Family
>-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Heh, Li Huowang, be careful. This kid is deceiving you.”
Li Huowang looked up and glanced toward the red-robed one who had spoken.
Seeing that Li Huowang was looking at him, the red-robed figure without skin or eyeballs sat atop Peng Longteng’s head, baring a row of gleaming white teeth.
Li Huowang’s lips twitched slightly. When he looked toward the surrounding crowd, he said nothing.
His mental fortitude still wasn’t enough. In the face of the hallucination’s words, he still couldn’t remain completely impassive.
As for what it said, Li Huowang let it go in one ear and out the other. When it came to the red-robed one, to put it bluntly, he wouldn’t even trust its punctuation.
Li Huowang shifted his gaze from the red-robed one to Bai Sai beside him. He was very concerned about a certain detail in what the other man had just said.
“Bai Clan Leader, you said they came looking for trouble with you because your son picked up a stone. Could you tell me, what kind of stone was it?”
Bai Sai furrowed his brows as he recalled for a moment, then gestured in the air with his hands to show Li Huowang the size.
“An orange-colored stone. About this big. It felt nice and warm to the touch. The kid picked it up in the fields, brought it home, and planned to use it to warm his grandma’s knees.”
“Is that stone still around? Could I borrow it to take a look?”
Bai Sai sighed in frustration. “With our whole family being marched away in shackles, how could that thing possibly stick around? It was snatched by those wooden-masked bastards long ago.”
“A fist-sized stone that gives off its own heat?” If that stone was some kind of heavenly treasure of the earth, then this was a case of evil beings disguised as the Supervising Heaven Bureau seizing a treasure.
But no matter how he looked at it, something felt off. Putting himself in the thief’s shoes, Li Huowang realized that if he were after the treasure, he’d either steal it quietly or brazenly rob it if stealth failed—then eliminate everyone involved, roots and all.
Shackling all these people and marching them such a long way toward the capital made no logical sense. The enemy clearly had their own motives for doing this.
Li Huowang stopped and asked Bai Sai again, “Bai Clan Leader, about the wooden-masked man you mentioned—how tall was he?”
It sounded like the White Impermanence hallucination he’d seen before had been created by this person.
“Hmm, about as tall as you. Young voice. On the road, if anyone didn’t obey, that dog of a thing could make people see terrifying things in their heads that they normally couldn’t.”
Hearing Bai Sai say this, clear fear flashed in the eyes of many in the crowd. It seemed they had been tormented by that masked man’s ability before.
Li Huowang nodded silently. So, the massive White Impermanence he’d seen earlier must have been fake—something that man had conjured up somehow.
It didn’t quite seem like an illusion spell, though. Logically speaking, with his current abilities, ordinary illusion spells shouldn’t fool him.
There was still too little information to go on. As for what had actually happened, Li Huowang was utterly in the dark.
“Hey, benefactor, since we’ve escaped, let’s not worry about all that. Let’s get moving quick. If that guy holds a grudge and comes after us again, we’ll be in real trouble.” Bai Sai looked deeply worried. Clearly, he was thinking about the entire Oxheart Village.
Li Huowang actually wanted to keep asking, but hearing this, he held his tongue.
No matter what, these people were Bai Lingmiao’s family. He definitely had to save them.
Without the wooden shackles, everyone walked much more lightly. Each face showed the relief of having survived a disaster.
They kept walking like this until noon, when the elderly and children in the group could no longer keep up, forcing them to stop and rest.
“Mom, I’m hungry.” A child tugged at his mother’s clothes with his hand.
It wasn’t just the children who were hungry—the adults were too, though the adults just didn’t say it.
Li Huowang had some dry rations on his horse, but divided among so many people, it wouldn’t even be enough to pick their teeth with.
Seeing their empty hands, it was obvious they had no food. Li Huowang thought for a moment and said, “We should reach a village tomorrow. We can buy grain there. As for today...”
At this point, Li Huowang patted the sleek neck of his horse. “Let’s slaughter the horse first.”
One horse had enough meat to feed plenty of people.
Hearing this, Bai Sai immediately shook his head repeatedly. “Benefactor, what are you saying? For something like filling our bellies a bit, how could we trouble you to kill your own mount?”
With that, he turned and shouted into the crowd. “Hey, Liangzi! Take Third and Fourth House into the woods to find some food! Be quick about it!”
“Right!” A burly young man led some others into the woods.
Li Huowang started to get up to help, but the others quickly stopped him. “Benefactor, you sit, you sit. Leave this little thing to the youngsters. Oh, and Feng, benefactor’s sweating—go pick some big leaves to fan him!”
Unable to refuse, Li Huowang sat back down and enjoyed being fanned by a plump young girl.
Li Huowang had thought they were just going into the woods for some wild fruits or vegetables. But after an hour, amid the rustling of leaves, they came back carrying two spotted deer on their shoulders and several roe deer in their hands.
Seeing Li Huowang’s surprised expression, Bai Sai explained proudly, “We live by the mountain, so we eat from the mountain. Since we Bais are from Oxheart Mountain, we’re naturally good at hunting. Catching a few beasts is nothing special.”
With that, he hurriedly directed his clansmen to build a fire and had the best cuts of venison roasted on flat goose-egg stones and brought before Li Huowang.
Looking at the faces around him—full of flattery mixed with expectation—Li Huowang felt deeply uncomfortable. He had never been treated like this before.
Only when Li Huowang grabbed a piece of venison with his hand and shoved it under his copper coin mask into his mouth did the others finally start eating the rest.
That night, while keeping watch, Li Huowang once again enjoyed VIP treatment.
“Benefactor, you go sleep. Leave the night watch to the youngsters. They’ve got strong vital energy—ordinary evil spirits won’t dare come near.”
“Youngsters have strong vital energy?” Li Huowang glanced at the youths by the fire. “Bai Clan Leader, is there some reasoning behind that?”
“Er, reasoning? What reasoning is there to talk about? That’s just how my dad taught me.”
Hearing this, Li Huowang sighed in disappointment. After all that, it was just hearsay. Why were the people here all so superstitious?
As Li Huowang slowly closed his eyes, the surroundings gradually quieted. Aside from the crackling of burning wood, there was only the increasingly slow sound of breathing.
He didn’t know how much time passed when, in a daze, Li Huowang sensed something approaching him.
He snapped his eyes open to find himself in a hazy fog. Seeing no sign of the red-robed one or the monk around him, Li Huowang immediately realized this wasn’t the real world.
“Who?” “Who?” “Who?” Li Huowang’s echoes carried farther and farther into the misty realm.
In the dim haze, the massive White Impermanence gradually emerged from the mist. He did not walk out—he was suspended there, a rope tight around his neck.
“Who are you?” “Who are you?” “Who are you?” A sinister echo circled endlessly around Li Huowang.
“Why did you ruin my plans?” “Why did you ruin my plans?” “Why did you ruin my plans?”
(End of chapter)