Chapter 385
Chapter 385
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 385
>Chapter Title: Candy
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Chapter 385: Candy
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> After returning the horse, Li Huowang walked into an inn. The long journey by cart and boat had worn him out; he needed to recover his strength properly before boarding the ship.
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> “Sir, your dishes are ready.” Just as the waiter turned to leave after serving the food, Li Huowang grabbed him.
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> “Wait, this fish and shrimp are still alive? How am I supposed to eat this?”
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> “Heh, first time in Huating City, sir? They’re not alive. This is raw pickled. Look, the other guests are eating it the same way. Give it a try—if it’s not good, you don’t pay.”
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> Li Huowang glanced at the food on the other tables before waving his gauze-wrapped right hand to shoo the waiter away.
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> Perhaps because it was so close to the sea, the local dishes were quite different from elsewhere, featuring mostly seafood.
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> Though it took some getting used to at first, it really was fresh. The raw pickled meat was sweet and tender, with a unique flavor all its own.
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> Full and satisfied, Li Huowang collapsed into bed and slept straight through until the sun was high the next day. He shook his groggy head and rolled out of bed. “Let’s board the ship!”
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> The boat to Apricot Island was easy to find—a medium-sized flat-bottomed junk that could easily carry dozens of people.
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> Just as Li Huowang was about to board, the unkempt, stubble-faced captain called out to him. “Hold up! What’s your surname?”
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> “Er.”
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> “Don’t mess with me! No one’s surnamed Er. Tell the truth or get lost—I ain’t got time for games.”
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> “Bai.”
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> The captain looked him up and down again before waving him on. “That’s more like it. Next! What’s your surname?”
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> After a stick of incense had burned, Li Huowang watched as the distant port shrank smaller and smaller. He slowly exhaled. He was about to see Zhuge Yuan again, and his feelings were incredibly complicated.
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> Suspicion? Excitement? Joy? Curiosity? Maybe a bit of everything.
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> He touched his belly, and his heart steadied a little. He wasn’t the same Li Huowang who’d just left Clear Wind Temple anymore. Whatever happened next, he was prepared.
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> “Heh, not going into the cabin to sit? The sea breeze out here is freezing.” A voice came from behind him.
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> Li Huowang turned his head and saw a young man with a dog-skin plaster on his forehead grinning cheekily as he leaned against him.
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> Li Huowang frowned slightly and ignored the overly familiar stranger, shifting his body to the side.
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> “We’re on the same boat—that’s fate. It’s a six-day trip to Apricot Island. Come to the cabin and play leaf cards with us. Three of a kind, we’re just missing one.”
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> “No.” Li Huowang gave a curt reply and quickly walked to the other side of the deck.
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> Seeing his attitude, the plaster guy didn’t push it and turned toward the cabin.
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> At that moment, the sky suddenly darkened. Everyone looked up at once and saw a massive ship sailing past.
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> The vessel was enormous, like a small mountain, blocking out all the sunlight on the junk as it approached. Along its side hung row after row of copper lion heads the size of banquet tables.
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> The lions’ mouths gaped wide, revealing something inside that glinted coldly—like the sharp fangs of those copper lions.
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> This was clearly a warship, its hull scarred from a recent battle.
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> As soon as it appeared, everyone on deck dropped to the ground, trembling like chaff.
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> “A Great Liang ship? Who were they fighting?” As Li Huowang pondered this, the oppressive warship slowly sailed toward the port.
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> Once the sun shone back down on the junk’s deck, the others let out a collective sigh of relief.
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> “You’ve got guts, standing there instead of kneeling. If you’d pissed off the soldiers, you’d be dead!”
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> The plaster guy walked over to Li Huowang and gave him a thumbs-up.
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> “Where’d they come from?” Li Huowang asked him.
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> “How should I know? Word in the city is they went overseas looking for something.”
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> “They mobilized all this for just one thing?”
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> Li Huowang immediately thought of the heart turbidity that the Recorder of Phenomena had wanted. That was about finding something too.
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> “Could this heart turbidity be just one of many things they’re after? What are they planning with all these heavenly treasures and earthly rarities?”
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> Li Huowang had a nagging feeling that something huge was happening somewhere, but he had no clue what it was.
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> He shook his head slightly to clear away those irrelevant thoughts and headed toward the cabin.
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> The next few days passed uneventfully, with calm seas and smooth sailing. But for Li Huowang, sitting on this ship drawing ever closer to Apricot Island felt like an eternity.
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> “Jade Qilin.”
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> “Six Hundred Sons.”
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> “One hundred thousand strings. Baldy, can you play your cards faster? You dawdle every time like an old lady.”
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> “Hey! Wait, I win! Pay up, pay up!”
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> Li Huowang leaned against the hull, silently watching the group play leaf cards to pass the time. After a few days, he’d figured it out—it was basically mahjong, but the cards you held in hand.
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> Far fewer tiles than mahjong’s hundred-plus; leaf cards had only a few dozen, so games ended fast and losses piled up quick.
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> He hadn’t just learned the rules—he’d sized up the players too. The plaster guy loved to cheat, but the bald, bearded man had the best skill and won the most.
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> Li Huowang wasn’t the only spectator. Other idle passengers crowded around, enjoying the game for entertainment.
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> “You little shit! You’re cheating! No wonder I lost every damn hand!!” The game soon turned into a brawl, but it didn’t stop anyone from having their fun.
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> “Aaah.” A little girl not yet four, wearing crotchless pants, toddled over and tugged at Li Huowang’s trouser leg.
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> When Li Huowang looked down at her, she grinned and held out the half-gnawed malt candy in her hand.
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> Li Huowang looked into her eyes. The girl’s eyes were so pure, her thoughts so simple—just wanting to share her tasty candy with someone, like that fool of a senior sister back at Clear Wind Temple who’d shared hers with him.
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> “Woof woof.” Mantou poked his head out from the corner where he was squatting.
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> The little girl lit up at the sight of the big yellow dog and immediately offered her raised malt candy to him.
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> Just as Mantou cautiously opened his mouth to take it, a tentacle shot out and snatched the candy away.
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> As the slimy black tentacle retracted into Li Huowang’s red Daoist robe, the little girl burst into delighted giggles, oblivious to what had happened.
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> With her hands braced on Li Huowang, she gaped wide at where the tentacle had vanished, babbling excitedly—until a sallow-faced woman rushed over and scooped her up.
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> Holding her squirming daughter, the woman bowed repeatedly to Li Huowang before hurrying toward the women’s cabin.
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> Mantou glanced at his motionless master, then tilted his head against him, licking at the sticky handprint on the blood-colored robe. It carried a faint sweetness.
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> Happy Children’s Day to all you big kids!! No knives today—here’s some candy instead!
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> (End of chapter)