Chapter 350
Chapter 350
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 350
>Chapter Title: Arrival
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Gouwa shouldered his hoe and walked briskly down the mountain. Though he had just buried a bunch of corpses, he wasn't close to any of those dead folks at all, so it didn't dampen his cheerful mood one bit.
He now had a house and fields, and most importantly, his wife was about to give birth. Everything he'd always dreamed of was finally coming true.
"Hey, I, Cao Cao, am a genius tactician—every step I took was spot on. If I weren't so clever, none of this would be mine!"
If the road back home weren't so damn far, he'd really want to return to his village in glory and tell everyone, pulling off a proper triumphant homecoming.
He sneaked a glance back at the others, then quickened his pace to put some distance between them before carefully pulling a book from his bosom.
Just as he was joyfully tracing the incomprehensible characters on the cover with his finger, a hand covered in black fur suddenly reached over and snatched it away.
"Hey! What the hell's your problem!" The anxious Gouwa reached out to grab it back, but a single glare from Chun Xiaoman sent him reeling.
Gouwa retracted his hand in indignation. "No tigers in the mountains, and the monkey proclaims himself king. Look at you acting all high and mighty—who knows, outsiders might think you were the one who saved us from Clear Wind Temple."
"Where'd this book come from?"
"I bought it from a peddler, to teach my future son how to write when he's old enough!"
"Yeah right, you expect me to buy that? We've only had two peddlers come by lately, and neither of them sold books!" Chun Xiaoman took the book, flipped through it, and eyed the text she couldn't read.
With Gao Zhijian's translation from the side, Chun Xiaoman instantly knew the book's title. *Chant of Enlightenment through Bitter Cultivation*.
Even though Chun Xiaoman was illiterate, she could tell the title was off—it felt like some kind of cultivation manual.
"Spill it, where'd this really come from? I've seen you acting all sneaky since earlier."
Sensing things were going south, Gao Zhijian raised his eyebrows, gripped his shovel, and stepped forward.
"What? What'd I do wrong? Is this a crime now, making such a big fuss? I picked it up!" Gouwa indignantly thrust out his hand and snatched the book back from Chun Xiaoman.
"Picked it up? You expect me to believe a book like this is just lying around?"
"Of course I picked it up!" At this point, Gouwa's voice dropped a bit. "Just... from the cellar under the Bai family ancestral hall."
"You—!" Chun Xiaoman started to speak, but the extremely nervous Gouwa immediately held a finger to his lips, shushing her.
He sneaked a glance at the distraught Bai Lingmiao behind them and leaned in close to Chun Xiaoman. "Sis, think about it—the Bai family went to all that trouble just for fun?"
"Think again—Senior Brother Li came back in that state before. We all know his divine abilities are otherworldly, so how could those Bai folks force him like that without some real backing? Impossible, right? They definitely had connections!"
"And finally, think about this—no matter what tricks or skills they had before, they're all dead now. So everything they left behind is ours~!" Gouwa's face lit up with excitement as he said this.
Chun Xiaoman's expression remained ice-cold. "What's the point of learning that stuff? So you can use living people as foundation sacrifices like they did? If you dare learn that kind of thing, don't blame me for not pulling punches, even if we're family!"
"Hey~!! You just don't know how to be flexible. We just learn the stuff that doesn't go against our conscience, right? Skip the killing techniques."
"I'm telling you, there were tons of things in those rooms! And tons of books too—definitely immortal cultivation techniques in there!"
"Once we master the easy ones that don't require killing, who'll dare mess with us then?"
Chun Xiaoman glanced down at the sword at her waist, a hint of hesitation crossing her face.
Senior Brother Li was really gone now. What if they ran into real danger down the line—could she really protect everyone with just this sword?
She reached out and snatched the book from Gouwa's hand again, examining it closely before speaking. "Don't tell Miao for now. She's not in a good state. We'll three figure out what's what first, then decide."
"Got it, we'll do it your way. This haul's big enough for the three of us."
In Yinling City, the travel-worn Li Huowang dismounted and tied his horse in the inn's stable. To his surprise, he didn't see Mantou wagging its head and tail.
Circling his carriage a few times, Li Huowang spotted the dog with its front paws on the trough, stealing another horse's feed.
"Fat as you are and still eating?" Li Huowang hoisted it up by the scruff. "I brought you along to watch the carriage, not to pig out."
"Woof woof woof!" Seeing its long-absent master return, Mantou got all excited, shaking its head and tail while wriggling like a maggot.
Just as Mantou tried to lick Li Huowang's boot, Li Huowang pinned its head down.
"What's this? You got hurt? Who did this?" Li Huowang frowned at the notch in Mantou's erect ear.
Mantou clearly had no idea what Li Huowang was saying and just wagged its tail, trying to burrow into his arms.
"Come here!" Li Huowang grabbed it by the scruff and hauled it into the main hall.
"Innkeeper, didn't I pay you plenty? How come you couldn't even watch a dog?"
Faced with Li Huowang's accusation, the chubby innkeeper looked utterly helpless.
"Sir, this really wasn't my fault—your dog ran off on its own."
"You know it's a bitch, right? She ran out into the street, got into a fight with another bitch over a male dog, lost, and got bitten like that."
Oblivious to the conversation, Mantou squatted innocently there, gazing up at Li Huowang.
Li Huowang was utterly speechless at the situation, not even knowing how to be mad. "What about the bitch that bit her?"
"Gone long ago. Those strays mate and run off."
Lost for words, Li Huowang lightly patted Mantou's head and headed up to his room.
After rushing non-stop, barely eating or sleeping properly, the exhausted Li Huowang crashed on the bed and slept for a full day and night.
When he woke, he had the kitchen send up some seasonal dishes. After washing up, he dug in heartily.
As he ate, Li Huowang pondered how to indirectly probe the Prime Minister about Zhuge Yuan.
He wasn't dumb enough to just walk up to the Prime Minister and straight-up ask who Zhuge Yuan was.
"Better contact Tuoba Danqing first. Wait and see the Prime Minister's current situation—this failure must've hit him hard, judging by last time."
No sooner had Li Huowang thought this than cooing pigeon sounds echoed from the rafters.
(End of chapter)