Chapter 38
Chapter 38
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 38
>Chapter Title: Jianye
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“Brother Five, come in quickly. Where have you been these days? Sixth Sister and I were so worried about you. We thought something terrible had happened to you.”
Seeing the bare-chested boy supporting Zhao Wu as they headed inside, Li Huowang followed on foot. He could sense things weren’t that simple.
“You how came back?”
The moment the person clicking away on the abacus spoke in that flat tone, Li Huowang knew he’d guessed right.
The excitement that had filled Zhao Wu’s face moments ago gradually faded away. In a trembling voice, he stated,
“Dad, someone put a sack over my head and kidnapped me. They took me far away. It was these friends of mine who brought me back.”
Eyeing the several black conical hats at the door, Zhao Wu’s father waved his hands impatiently over and over.
“Scatter! Scatter! With you lot blocking the doorway like this, how are we supposed to do business?”
Their attitude rubbed Li Huowang the wrong way. What business was it of outsiders if their father and son didn’t get along?
He snatched the longsword from Zhao Wu’s hands and raised it high. With a flash of cold steel, the sharp blade cleaved straight down onto the man’s wooden counter, nearly slicing it in two.
“What are you doing? The town constable is my relative!”
Zhao Wu’s father retreated again and again in fright.
Li Huowang drew out a single tael of silver with his right hand. Right in front of the man’s eyes, he slowly shaved off a small piece along the blade’s frosty edge before flicking the fragment of silver toward him with his finger.
“Buying rice!”
In the small backyard of the rice shop, Zhao Wu was pouring tea for Li Huowang.
“Brother Li, simmer down. That’s just how my dad is. Deep down, he’s actually a pretty good guy.”
Li Huowang drained his teacup in one gulp. He didn’t care whether the man was good or not. Other people’s family drama was none of his business. And he hadn’t come here solely to deliver Zhao Wu, either.
“These strips with their last words are headed for the capital. Since you know Jianye well, find a reliable escort service and have them delivered.”
Li Huowang slid seven or eight paper strips across to Zhao Wu.
Zhao Wu took them with both hands and nodded solemnly.
“Don’t worry, Brother Li. I guarantee I’ll get it done!”
“Alright, then. Stay home and take care. We’re off.”
Li Huowang stood up as he spoke.
“You’re leaving already? Why not stay for lunch at my place? I owe you all my life for making it back alive.”
Zhao Wu clearly hated to see them go. Who knew if they’d ever meet again after parting like this.
“Forget it. No need to trouble yourself.”
Li Huowang patted Zhao Wu on the shoulder. Judging from his father’s attitude earlier, that meal wouldn’t exactly be a peaceful one.
“Remember the characters I taught you these past few days. Especially your name. At least that way, you won’t be a complete illiterate.”
Just as Li Huowang was giving his final instructions, the female drug primer covered in black body hair suddenly rushed up beside him. She pressed her mouth to his ear and whispered at the lowest possible volume,
“Once you’re home, look into it properly. Maybe you weren’t kidnapped. Maybe your dad sold you off!”
Her words plunged everyone into silence. Moments later, when Zhao Wu’s third brother came over carrying the rice, Li Huowang waved a hand, signaling the Fool to grab the rice. Then he led the others away.
Out on the bustling street, Li Huowang and the rest were searching for an inn to stay at.
“Why do you think Zhao Wu was sold off by his father?”
Li Huowang turned back to the woman who’d whispered those parting words to Zhao Wu.
This woman afflicted with hypertrichosis had been utterly tight-lipped the entire journey. She hardly ever spoke to anyone. For her to suddenly open her mouth today truly caught Li Huowang off guard.
“Even a tiger won’t devour its own cubs. He probably isn’t that bad.”
No sooner had Li Huowang said this than the woman’s body began shuddering for no apparent reason. Her voice carried a note of sorrow as she replied,
“Tigers won’t devour their cubs, but humans are far more vicious than tigers! I know because my own father and mother sold me off!”
Her words brought everyone to a halt. Shocked gazes turned toward her.
“For a mere two taels of silver! Just two taels! He sold me off like I was livestock. Didn’t even look back once.”
Sensing the pain in her heart, Bai Lingmiao stepped over and gently wrapped her arms around the woman, patting her back in comfort.
After thinking it over, Li Huowang spoke up again.
“He sold you off. So why go back?”
“I’m going back!”
The woman growled the words through gritted teeth.
Taking in her heaving chest from her agitated breathing and the sheer venom in her voice, Li Huowang could instantly guess that her reason for going back was nothing like Bai Lingmiao and the others’.
“East Come Inn. That’s where we’re staying tonight.”
Li Huowang pointed toward a signboard on the left side of the street and led the way inside.
“Welcome, honored guest. Eating or staying the night?”
“Staying. How much for a room?”
“We’ve got three classes here: Class A at ninety wen including meals, Class B at sixty wen without meals, and Class C at twenty wen but you’ll share with others.”
“Honored guest, that’s seven adults and five children with you, twelve in total. You could take four Class B rooms. Our inn’s rooms are spacious—no problem fitting three per room. Two adults with one child is safer, too.”
“Fine. We’ll do that.”
“Right away! Twelve honored guests—four Class B rooms—upstairs please—mind the steps.”
That night, Li Huowang leaned by the window, gazing out at the ancient folk passing along the street below.
After the long journey, he finally had time to sit down and properly take in this world so utterly different from the one he’d known before.
Burly men leading horses, scholars fanning themselves, children carrying flower lanterns, and hunchbacked peddlers shouldering their food wares on carrying poles.
Everything here felt so real, yet so utterly out of place with him.
One unfamiliar face after another flashed before his eyes. As he watched, his mind suddenly blurred for a moment. The next instant, every muscle in his body went rigid—he’d spotted Yang Na out on the street!
That delicate face was streaked with tears right now. Her expression was one of utter heartbreak. She was sobbing so hard she could scarcely catch her breath.
“Huowang, wake up! Please!”
“Hah!”
Drenched in cold sweat from the scare, Li Huowang staggered back a step before lunging forward again to peer down below.
But it wasn’t his childhood sweetheart Yang Na at all—just some young maiden whose looks bore a passing resemblance to hers.
“I’ve grown up now, after all. If Yang Na were real... there’s no way she’d still be a girl....”
Li Huowang slid slowly down the wall with his back pressed to it, staring vacantly up at the wooden beams overhead.
“Are the hallucinations starting up again?”
*Knock knock knock*
A knock came suddenly at the door.
“Come in. Door’s not locked.”
Li Huowang had figured it would be Gouwa, his roommate, coming in. Instead, it was Bai Lingmiao.
A smile on her face, she held out a lotus leaf package with both hands toward Li Huowang. When she unwrapped it, steaming-hot large steamed buns were revealed inside.
“Brother Li, hungry, right? Have some buns.”
Li Huowang reached out, grabbed one, and shoved it into his mouth, chewing away vigorously.
Bai Lingmiao knelt there holding the buns, squatting to Li Huowang’s left and watching him quietly. The instant he finished one, she considerately handed over a fresh one.
“This place is pretty unique, huh? Steamed buns for sale in the dead of night.”
Li Huowang remarked as he spoke.
“Isn’t it normal to have steamed buns for sale late at night? If anything’s special, it’s gotta be the Fool. He dips his buns in vinegar!”
“Heh. Who knows where that guy’s from, eating them like that.”
In the midst of his idle chat with Bai Lingmiao, something suddenly occurred to Li Huowang.
“I didn’t give you any money. Where’d you get the cash for these buns?”
Bai Lingmiao’s gaze darted away evasively, but she first set down the remaining buns on her lap. Then she drew out several hefty chunks of silver from around her waist and held them out to Li Huowang with both hands.
“Brother Li, I pawned that gold anklet. You’re shouldering everything alone—it’s too hard on you. I can’t do much else, so this is how I’m helping.”
(End of chapter)