Chapter 313
Chapter 313
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 313
>Chapter Title: Li Huowang
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Chapter 313: Li Huowang
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> The deranged Li Huowang waved the food in his hand as he leaped onto a nearby car and started jumping up and down along with the blaring car alarm.
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> “I’m a lunatic!! I’m a nutcase!!!” Li Huowang’s voice carried far into the distance.
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> Li Huowang’s bizarre behavior drew the attention of others. As the car owner rushed over with a broom and began swinging it at him relentlessly, more and more onlookers gathered around.
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> Just as his laughter grew increasingly manic, Li Huowang spotted a cute little girl. Her mother was holding her hand and leading her far away in a wide arc. The red cherry hairpin in her hair looked strikingly familiar.
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> The moment he saw her, the extreme excitement on Li Huowang’s face gradually faded, replaced once more by agony.
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> He jumped down from the car, ignoring the car owner’s blows, and walked away hugging his food.
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> Once inside the bridge tunnel, Li Huowang refilled the milk tea with the somewhat murky river water and began drinking it numbly.
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> The buns had a strange smell—they must have gone off—but he didn’t care. Nor did he care what it was that he was eating on the other side.
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> He ate these meager scraps very slowly, very slowly, as if savoring every last bit of flavor.
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> “Uncle?” Li Huowang turned his head and saw a girl in a pure white dress standing at the mouth of the bridge tunnel.
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> In the dazzling sunlight, she seemed to glow all over.
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> Looking at her cute little face, Li Huowang blurted out instinctively, “Eighteenth of the Twelfth Lunar Month?”
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> The little girl spoke timidly and nervously, “I-I’m not called Eighteenth of the Twelfth Lunar Month. I... I’m Liu Yuhuan. My mom calls me Huan Huan.”
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> When she saw Li Huowang stand up, Liu Yuhuan was so frightened that she immediately backed away several steps.
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> She hurriedly took off her schoolbag, first laying a piece of paper on the ground, then pulling out a package and placing it on the paper.
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> After finishing this, the panicked girl glanced at Li Huowang once more before fleeing in a hurry.
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> Li Huowang walked over and looked down. It was three buns in a white plastic bag—pig-shaped buns, the kind only elementary school kids would buy.
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> Li Huowang smiled knowingly, bent down to pick them up, untied the plastic bag, and started eating.
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> The buns were still warm, fresh out of the steamer not long ago. These weren’t leftovers from her—they were specially bought.
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> Li Huowang sat there, eating them carefully bite by bite. They were meat-filled, and truly delicious.
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> As he ate, the surroundings shifted once more. He found himself sitting on a muddy road, gnawing on a lump of mud in his hands.
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> “Heh.” Li Huowang shook his head helplessly and continued gnawing away at the mud ball bite by bite until it was gone.
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> After finishing, Li Huowang returned to the temple. Under the gaze of the other hallucinations, he resolutely picked up the sword from the ground once more.
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> At that moment, Li Huowang heard footsteps and the sound of hooves. Those footsteps were so very familiar.
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> “Miaomiao?!” Li Huowang grabbed the sword and rushed out, only to see an unexpected figure—the Great God with the red veil over her head.
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> The rain outside had stopped by now, but the Great God’s red veil was wet, with two streaks of water trailing down from where her eye sockets would be.
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> Li Huowang stood in front of the temple with a complicated expression, looking at her by the distant carriage. “What are you doing here?”
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> “Woof woof!” Mantou poked its head out from behind the carriage, wagging its tail. It shook the rainwater from its fur vigorously and bounded excitedly toward Li Huowang.
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> The wriggling Mantou jumped up, pressing its front paws against Li Huowang and leaving muddy plum blossom prints all over him.
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> At this point, the Great God pulled back the carriage curtain beside her, revealing the Black Tai Sui bound tightly with ox-sinew ropes right before Li Huowang.
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> She led the carriage over and used her ice-cold hand—with its sharp black nails—to pull Li Huowang toward the broken temple.
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> Once they reached the only dry spot inside the temple, the Great God first took out a towel to wipe the rainwater and mud from Li Huowang’s body. Then she fetched brand-new clothes and shoes from the carriage.
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> She helped him dress, and then draped a red old Daoist robe over his shoulders.
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> As she bowed her head to tie his belt, Li Huowang reached out and lifted the Great God’s red veil.
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> Instantly, her face—like a man-eating flower—appeared before Li Huowang.
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> But this flower’s petals and bud were formed from snake scales, hedgehog spines, and various other similar things.
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> At the center of the flower, half of Bai Lingmiao’s face was streaming with tears, gazing sorrowfully at Li Huowang. Corresponding to this half-human face on the other side was a fox-like beast face.
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> Moreover, the features on her face weren’t fixed; they slowly shifted and changed over time.
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> Sometimes more human features, sometimes more beastly ones. The number of eyes varied too, now more, now fewer.
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> The Great God in this form spread her arms and gently embraced Li Huowang, hugging him tighter and tighter until he could scarcely breathe. “Husband...”
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> The hands reaching behind him pried open Li Huowang’s fingers one by one, letting the purple-tasseled sword fall to the ground.
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> The white strip around her wrist was untied and gently placed over Li Huowang’s eyeless sockets.
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> “Husband, we’re waiting for you. Waiting for the day you’re cured.”
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> Hearing this, Li Huowang hugged her in return, staring into those enormous, slender feline eyes as he held her tighter and tighter.
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> Even if life was wretched and the world utterly hopeless, even if every inch of Li Huowang’s existence was forged from suffering.
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> No one truly wants to die. Sometimes, just a slight pull back from someone is enough to avert a tragedy.
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> In the end, the Great God left, but she left Mantou and the carriage with the bound Black Tai Sui behind.
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> Sitting on the ground, Li Huowang stared blankly at the gaping hole in the temple roof. A long while later, he picked up the purple-tasseled sword again.
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> Gazing at the small section of himself reflected on the blade, Li Huowang’s expression twisted savagely. He raised the sword high toward the air, pointing straight at a black pigeon perched on the rafters.
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> “Pigeon?”
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> No sooner had Li Huowang thought this than the pigeon flew down and landed on his shoulder. “Coo~ coo coo~ coo~”
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> Only then did Li Huowang notice the thin strip of paper tied to the black pigeon’s leg.
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> On it was a single oracle bone script character: like the “heaven” radical with an eye added below.
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> Slowly unfolding the note, Li Huowang read the contents and jolted in shock. He grabbed the carriage and rushed out of the broken temple.
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> It was a message from Tuoba Danqing via homing pigeon, telling Li Huowang to go to Silver Mausoleum City and meet at the old spot.
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> This immediately reminded Li Huowang of his plan—his plan to find North Wind through the Surveillance Bureau.
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> A fierce unwillingness surged within him, suppressing the pain and suicidal urge in his eyes.
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> “Mantou, let’s go! This dump wants me dead? Not so easy!!”
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> “I’ve got nothing left now—what do I have to fear?! Even if I die, I’ll stab a hole right through it!”
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> “This Heart Spirit identity—I’ll shake it off one day! One day! And when that time comes, when that time...”
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> (End of chapter)