Chapter 377
Chapter 377
-----------------------------------------------------------------
>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 377
>Chapter Title: Supervising Heaven Bureau
>-----------------------------------------------------------------
Looking at the plea in Bai Lingmiao's eyes, Li Huowang struggled, but in the end, he still tremblingly let go of her hand.
Li Huowang stood there, watching helplessly as Bai Lingmiao gripped the purple-tasseled sword tightly once more, watching the pain in her eyes gradually give way to indifference and relief.
The previous Bai Lingmiao had returned once again.
In that moment, Li Huowang suddenly understood that baleful aura entering the body had never been any real trouble—not ever. The true trouble was the unchangeable reality that could never be undone: he had killed Bai Lingmiao's entire family.
"Heh." Bai Lingmiao laughed again, and this time her laughter was filled with ease and freedom.
She bent down, dipped the lead comb into the vinegar bowl, and continued combing her hair in front of the copper mirror, looking in high spirits.
Gazing at her back, Li Huowang finally stopped insisting. With his lips twitching slightly, he walked up behind Bai Lingmiao and gently embraced her.
"Don't worry, no matter what you become, you'll always be my Miao-miao."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Bai Lingmiao drove her elbow backward, shoving Li Huowang away hard with a fierce glare, her anger uncontainable.
"You're not disgusted by me? Well, I'm disgusted by you! Do you remember what I said to you before?! Do you actually like the person Bai Lingmiao, or do you like some obedient little concubine who bends to your every whim?"
With that, Bai Lingmiao stood up, flung the lead comb to the ground with a clatter, and stormed toward the door with menacing momentum.
"Where are you going?"
"What do you care where I'm going? I'm off to marry some other man! To tend to a husband and raise his children! You think I want to keep tangling with a lunatic like you?"
Bai Lingmiao had just left when a faint fragrance wafted in, and a soft body pressed against Li Huowang's back. It was the Second God.
"Don't worry, she won't."
Li Huowang took the hand from behind him and gently kissed the sharp black nails, speaking in a voice heavy with defeat: "Let's go. It's better if you leave. Wait for me in Niuxin Village. Once I sort out my troubles, I'll come back for you."
The Second God rubbed the soft fur on her face against the back of Li Huowang's neck before slowly withdrawing. By the time Li Huowang turned around again, he was the only one left in the room.
Li Huowang stood there stunned for a moment before rushing to the outer room and shouting down at the bustling hall below: "Waiter! Bring me a jar of strong liquor!!"
The liquor arrived in the room soon enough. Without a word, Li Huowang seized the jar and tilted his head back to gulp it down.
After several Cang Qiang ascensions, Li Huowang's senses had become extraordinarily acute. He had no idea when he passed out from the drinking.
All he knew was that when he woke again, the sound of a rooster crowing drifted in from outside.
Li Huowang clutched his pounding, splitting head and staggered to his feet. He had just made his way toward the window when...
His foot caught, and he pitched forward toward the floor.
Li Huowang pushed himself up steadily, and in that instant, he spotted some black tattoos appearing on the back of his hand.
Shaking his head hard, Li Huowang finally saw clearly that they weren't tattoos—they were Li Sui's wriggling tentacles.
"My time is running out." If he couldn't find a way to dispel the hallucinations from Bei Feng before Li Sui fully took over his body, he would plunge back into that state of utter disorientation.
Li Huowang would rather die than return to that state—the feeling of being trapped in the crevice between two worlds was far too agonizing, far too suffocating.
With a "creak," Li Huowang pushed open the window, just as the first rays of sunlight fell upon his face.
Gritting his teeth, Li Huowang clenched his fist viciously toward the sun.
"You just have to torment me, huh?! Well, I'll try defying the heavens and changing my fate! Come on!! Let's see whether you go mad or I do!"
Li Huowang vaulted out the window and headed straight for the prison.
By the time the sky had fully brightened, Li Huowang had paid off the coffin debt and arrived at the gates of the Supervising Heaven Bureau.
Between two stone lions at the entrance stood a towering six-paneled door, leading into a vast stone-paved plaza. Reeking of alcohol, Li Huowang flashed his badge to the guards and strode right in.
The Supervising Heaven Bureau's interior was cavernous and sparsely populated. At the center of the plaza loomed a massive stone armillary sphere, larger than a house.
Glancing left and right, Li Huowang headed toward the low building to the south.
As soon as Li Huowang stepped into the ink-scented room, a man hugging several scrolls hurried over to greet him.
"Hey, hey, who are you? This is where we compile the almanacs—no outsiders allowed."
When he saw Li Huowang's badge, the man jerked a thumb toward the opposite side. "Another one who got it wrong. Your office is over there."
"Wrong?" Li Huowang quickly scanned the room. His eyes caught on a line of text hanging on the wall.
"By imperial decree: the Bureau of Celestial Supervision holds exclusive rights to print almanacs. Private printing by the populace is forbidden; violators shall have their three clans exiled."
Li Huowang cupped his hands toward the man and turned toward the desolate building across the way. A massive metal mask on the wall immediately drew his gaze.
The mask was the size of two grown men. Weathered by wind and sun, it was covered in green rust.
Its features were nearly identical to the one worn by the decapitated prisoner before, save for the eyes, which had become two protruding pillars.
These pillars jutting from the eye sockets stared straight up at the cloudless sky.
Li Huowang averted his eyes and entered through a side door. The room inside wasn't large—about the size of a classroom.
Strangely, it was completely bare, just a perfect square chamber with nothing in it.
As Li Huowang puzzled over this, he immediately sensed various gazes sweeping over him. But eerily, there was nothing at the spots from which the gazes emanated.
Seeing this, Li Huowang knew he'd come to the right place and promptly displayed his badge.
With a distinctive "click" of wood striking wood, a hidden door rose in the nearby wall. Out stepped a gaunt middle-aged man with a blind black bird perched on his shoulder.
"First time?" the black bird spoke.
Li Huowang nodded. "I've been in Yiling City until now. Today is my first time in the capital. Greetings, senior."
"Come on, I'll show you around." The man with the bird turned and reentered the hidden door.
Li Huowang followed and found that the passage beyond was not dim at all.
Oil lamps on the walls lit the corridor brightly. A crisp "tap-tap" echoed continuously as they walked.
Eyeing the man's back, Li Huowang decided it was best to take the initiative in this situation. "Junior Erjiu of the Mantled Scenery Cult. Greetings, senior."
"Sima Lan of the Mohist School. No need to be so formal—we're half-brothers now that you're in the Supervising Heaven Bureau." The black bird continued.
"Mohist School?" Li Huowang's pupils contracted slightly. It was the only term group he'd ever heard of, filling him with a faint sense of familiarity.
But Sima Lan seemed to misinterpret his reaction. "Don't worry, I'm Qi Mo—not the Liang Mo of those evil cultivators."
(End of chapter)