Chapter 334
Chapter 334
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 334
>Chapter Title: Meeting an Old Acquaintance in a Foreign Land
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Li Huowang turned toward the bed, closed his eyes, and lay down.
As the one in red nearby pondered something with a smile on his face, the monk walked over from the side and said, “What crooked thoughts are you having again? I’m telling you, don’t think about harming the Taoist. He’s a good man.”
“Good man, heh, good man.”
That night, perhaps because he’d drunk some wine, Li Huowang slept very soundly. When he woke again, the sun was already high in the sky.
Li Huowang yawned and began to dress and wash up.
Since Tuoba Danqing had told him to stay here for now, he would remain in Yiling City temporarily.
Besides, he had nowhere else to go right now.
How long he’d stay would depend on Tuoba Danqing, but judging from before, it shouldn’t take too long.
“Scallion pancakes~ Delicious scallion pancakes~”
“Candy gourds, hey~ Sugar-coated hawthorns~~”
“Sharpening scissors~ Grinding knives~~”
“That General Jiang stood eight feet tall, four feet around the waist. He planted himself there and roared at the enemy camp, ‘Hey~!!’ Instantly, a thousand Qi troops were so terrified their gallbladders burst and they dropped dead! And then—”
Li Huowang walked slowly along Yiling City’s streets, listening to the voices coming from all directions.
“How much for the scallion pancakes? One each?”
“One copper wen each, sir. Look how big they are—cheap and filling at my place~”
He bought four scallion pancakes that resembled bloated steamed buns and ate them as he walked, holding them in his hand.
He wasn’t walking fast. His purpose in coming to the street was to let Li Sui learn the speech of the people around them.
Before, after hearing just a couple of casual “dads,” she’d remembered them so clearly. That proved she could not only imitate his voice but also others’.
Today, he wanted to test if exposing her to more people would make her learn faster.
When he heard sporadic imitations in his ear, Li Huowang knew he was right.
The difference was that Li Sui’s imitation was all-encompassing—even a shrew’s cursing and filthy words got learned.
Hearing those grating sounds, Li Huowang frowned slightly and quickened his pace to leave the area.
Standing in the middle of the street, Li Huowang looked at the bustling surroundings. He had to admit, Great Liang was Great Liang—its prosperity was real. Everything could be found here.
Yet the ones in power amid all this prosperity used things like beauty paper skin cups. The contrast couldn’t be starker.
Then again, perhaps it was precisely this prosperity that gave rise to such things.
As Li Huowang stood amid the crowd, filled with emotion, he suddenly spotted something. His expression darkened, and he dashed forward.
To move faster through the crowd, Li Huowang even used his dislocation ability.
After a few twists and turns, he came up behind a man staring blankly at a wonton stall and slapped his shoulder hard. “Why are you here?”
The man turned, looking somewhat dazed, but when he saw Li Huowang, he cried out excitedly, “Master!”
Lv Xiucai was overjoyed to see Li Huowang and nearly pounced on him.
“I’m asking why you’re here. Where’s Master Lv?”
Hearing Li Huowang mention his father, Lv Xiucai showed utter disdain. “I’m sick of him. Damn it, if it weren’t for me—”
Seeing Li Huowang’s cold gaze, Lv Xiucai shut his mouth at once. “Master, I’ve got real supernatural powers now! How could I keep following him to sing operas? Of course I came out to make my own way!”
Li Huowang looked around and pulled him to sit at the wonton stall nearby.
“Make your own way? Where are your spare clothes? Your traveling money? Your weapon for protection? You’re wandering around empty-handed like this?”
Hearing this, Lv Xiucai gnashed his teeth, eyes flashing with venomous resentment. “I did bring them! But yesterday, some damn beast stole them! If I catch it, damn it, if I catch it!”
“Alright, alright.” A trace of impatience showed on Li Huowang’s face. Lv Xiucai now reminded him of the neighbor’s Teddy back then—pathetically weak yet insanely arrogant.
The Purple-Spiked Sword had drastically changed his personality, but no matter how much his temperament shifted, it couldn’t change that Lv Xiucai was still a tender seventeen-year-old boy.
“Your traveling money stolen yesterday? You probably haven’t eaten all day then? Boss, two bowls of wontons.”
When the wontons sprinkled with sesame and tiny shrimp arrived before Lv Xiucai, he forgot everything else and nearly grabbed them with his hands.
Watching Lv Xiucai hiss from the heat but refuse to spit them out, Li Huowang frowned slightly and asked in a low voice, “How’s the village been since I left?”
“Same~ Hiss~ Hiss~ as always.”
After forcing down the wontons in his mouth, Lv Xiucai said, “Everyone’s doing well. The old geezer bought a few more oxen, planning to plant all the fields around the village come spring. He says we’re short-handed and is worrying about finding tenants.”
“And Miaomiao?”
“Miss Bai’s alright. She eats and sleeps well, just seems a bit distracted at times.”
Li Huowang let out a long breath, rested his elbows on his knees, closed his eyes, and cupped his face in his hands, rubbing hard. “As long as she’s fine, that’s good. As long as she’s fine.”
In that short time, Lv Xiucai had eaten half a bowl, easing his hunger. His wilted spirits lifted.
“Master! Let me follow you from now on!”
Li Huowang shook his head firmly. “After this meal, I’ll give you fare back to Oxheart Mountain. Don’t go anywhere else—just head straight back.”
He couldn’t possibly keep a burden around, especially one unrelated by blood. Giving him fare was already more than generous.
“I’m not going back! If I do, my big brother will punch me and force me to work the fields!”
Li Huowang grabbed his collar with one hand and glared at him severely. “Only your father puts up with you—I’m not your father!”
“I’ve got enough troubles of my own! No time to deal with you! Say one more word of nonsense, and I swear I’ll break your legs and dump you on the street to beg!”
Lv Xiucai’s lips trembled. Facing Li Huowang’s stern gaze, he ultimately didn’t dare say another word.
“Don’t mention you saw me when you get back.” Li Huowang slapped a thumb-sized piece of broken silver on Lv Xiucai’s table and turned to leave.
Watching Li Huowang’s receding back, Lv Xiucai’s face was full of reluctance.
Just as he was about to vanish into the crowd, Lv Xiucai shouted excitedly at his back, “You’re the one who said you’d teach me supernatural powers! But you only taught me swordplay—you didn’t even leave me a sword! What kind of master are you? You don’t keep your word!!”
Seeing Li Huowang turn back, Lv Xiucai snatched up the silver and stuffed it into his robes, ready to bolt at any moment.
Li Huowang flicked his hand, sending five blackened copper coins shooting like money darts, nailing straight into the wooden table before Lv Xiucai.
They came from the copper coin sword in Li Huowang’s hand. Though only five, they were still formidable when controlled with the Xian Du Zi She Yin.
“We’re even now! Don’t call me master again!”
Meeting an old acquaintance in a foreign land had disrupted things, so Li Huowang lost interest in strolling. He turned and headed back to the inn.
“Miaomiao?” Black Tai Sui’s voice rang in Li Huowang’s ear.
“Since Li Huowang is your dad, you should call this Miaomiao ‘Mom.’” The one in red, back to his grinning self, hopped over beside Li Huowang to remind him.
“Mom?”
At Black Tai Sui’s words, Li Huowang froze for a moment. “Li Sui can hear the hallucinations talking?”