Chapter 310
Chapter 310
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 310
>Chapter Title: Homecoming
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“Ahem.”
Li Huowang’s light cough drew the gazes of all his fellow disciples. Brimming with confidence, he looked at each of their faces and declared loudly, “Fellow brothers! We’re not leaving anymore. From now on, we’re staying right here in Niuxin Village. This is our new home!”
“Senior Brother Li, we’re still one short. We haven’t delivered that Yang kid yet.” Gouwa smacked the head of the Daoist boy beside him.
Yang Kid panicked instantly. He hadn’t expected the conversation to circle back to him like this.
“I—” As he stammered, trying to say something, Li Huowang cut in with clear disdain. “His address was made up. He has no home at all. The kid’s just a beggar.”
At that moment, Li Huowang felt his arm go soft. Turning his head, he saw Bai Lingmiao holding onto him.
Seeing the adoration and anticipation in her eyes, a warmth bloomed in Li Huowang’s heart. He turned back and continued, “Since we’re here, I’ll lay it all out. Everyone, you’ve seen it on this journey—this world is utter chaos.”
“If all we want is a plot of land to farm, we’re no different from the oxen in the fields!”
“So to protect ourselves, we can only rely on our own strength! Whatever I know, whatever I can teach, I’ll pass on to all of you.”
“I’ll find ways to get my hands on so-called divine abilities and cultivation techniques for you all to learn.”
Hearing this, everyone grew excited at once, chattering all at once with a jumble of voices.
Looking down at those faces, Li Huowang’s eyes hardened with resolve.
No other sects could be trusted. The Bureau of Surveillance couldn’t be trusted either. He could only rely on himself—and on this ragged bunch before him.
To survive in this bizarre place, they needed their own power! Only then could the pains he’d endured stay far away from him.
“Everyone! The first thing we’re doing next is learning to read!”
“Read?”
“Read!”
Li Huowang touched his abdomen. “That’s right. Everyone learns to read.”
“Once we’ve learned, we’ll found our own sect! That’s the only way we can truly stand in this world!”
“Others always see us as freaks, as trash! But we’ll pry their eyes open and show them—we can carve out our own piece of the heavens too!”
“We’re not freaks! No one can sell us off, despise us, or bully us anymore!! As long as we all work together, our days ahead will only get better and better!”
“Good!!”
“Good!!”
“Good!!”
The crowd’s cheers nearly lifted the roofs off Niuxin Village. Watching his united fellow disciples, Li Huowang smiled—a broad, joyful smile.
But just then, raindrops began to patter down from the sky, washing away Li Huowang’s smile and dampening everyone’s cheers.
The rain fell in a steady drum. Li Huowang held a paper umbrella aloft, standing silently at the head of Niuxin Village, watching the white cooking smoke rise from the chimneys.
There was no one else around. On the desolate, muddy yellow dirt road, Li Huowang stood alone. Everything from moments ago had been nothing more than a fantasy in his mind.
Li Huowang had been standing there since yesterday morning—a full day and night.
The damp weather had made the paper skin on his body soggy and moldy, but he paid it no mind.
When he spotted Yang Kid, wearing a conical hat and leading an old ox out from the village, he stiffly lifted his nearly frozen joints and walked toward Niuxin Village.
Seeing Li Huowang finally move, Red Zhong—half his body jammed into a tree trunk nearby—grinned with malicious glee and nudged the monk beside him with his elbow. “Monk, heh heh heh. Now the show’s about to start.”
As soon as Li Huowang reached the village entrance, Yang Kid spotted him and came rushing over excitedly. But he froze in shock at Li Huowang’s appearance.
“Whoa! Senior Brother Li! Why’s the skin on your face gone again? And why are you wearing paper clothes?”
“Where’s Miao Miao?” Li Huowang’s voice was hoarse, laced with the tang of blood.
“At this hour, Senior Sister Bai should be in her room. Senior Brother Li, what’s wrong? Any news on the missing Bai family?”
Li Huowang said nothing. With heavy steps, he trudged one foot after the other toward the Bai residence.
Word of Li Huowang’s return home soon caused a stir. Everyone poured out of their doors to greet him.
But soon, the joy on their faces cooled, influenced by Li Huowang’s mood.
Gouwa edged closer cautiously. “What’s up, Senior Brother Li? Looks like you didn’t find them, huh? Well, if you didn’t, you didn’t. It’s not your fault.”
Li Huowang clenched his teeth and shoved him aside. His pace quickened—and kept quickening behind him.
When Li Huowang tossed aside his umbrella and reached the Bai family courtyard gate, he collided head-on with a panicked-looking Bai Lingmiao.
Seeing him return alone, her heart sank with a thud.
But when she saw his flesh melting away under the rain, a sharp pain stabbed her chest. Forgetting everything else, she grabbed both his arms and pulled him toward her boudoir.
Bai Lingmiao held a soft towel in both hands, gently dabbing at Li Huowang’s body, soaking up the water droplets on his charred skin.
She didn’t dare rub. She was afraid that even a little force would wipe away the fragile bits of flesh and skin on him.
She’d seen wounds like these before. She knew Senior Brother Li must have faced some extraordinarily dangerous hallucination, forcing him to use that mutually devastating ultimate move.
Bai Lingmiao dipped the towel into a copper basin. “Senior Brother Li, I’m fine. Really, I am. Don’t worry about me.”
“It’s been so many days now. I’ve already come to terms with them being gone.”
“Since they’re gone, Senior Brother Li, let’s just wait here. They’ll come back someday.”
Li Huowang’s teeth ground together, his clenched fists trembling faintly.
Just as the words on the tip of his tongue were about to spill out, an ecstatic Red Zhong leaped into view. Faceless and eyeless, he flailed wildly in front of Li Huowang.
“Hurry, hurry! Lie to her—say you found nothing! The Bai family might really have gone to flee the chaos like Troupe Leader Lü said!”
Li Huowang’s eyes snapped wide, glaring murderously at Red Zhong before him.
“What’re you glaring at me for? I’m helping you! Think about it—the Bai family’s dead. Telling her now won’t do anything but break her heart. What good’s that?”
“Oh~! Right, there is one thing. It’ll make her hate you—hate you enough to kill you, the murderer of her father.”
“But if you do what I say, she won’t grieve. She’ll even hold onto a shred of hope.”
(End of chapter)