Chapter 406
Chapter 406
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 406
>Chapter Title: Discrepancy
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“Clop clop clop.”
Seeing the broken silver Zhuge Yuan tossed onto the vegetable plate, the waiter held it up proudly and shouted, “Thank you, Number One Scholar, for the three qian of silver!”
Once the steamed buns under the table had finished gorging themselves, Li Huowang and Zhuge Yuan began eating as well. He quietly voiced his concerns to the other man.
“Brother Li, since you’re the one looking for them, the more critical the moment, the less you can afford to rush. Otherwise, they’ll guess what’s up.”
“As long as I’m here, the Sitting Oblivion Dao will definitely show. Relax.”
“Brother Zhuge, here’s how I see it—there’s such a thing as being a thief for a thousand days, but who can guard against thieves for a thousand days? Don’t you think that since they’re not coming out, maybe we should—”
Li Huowang’s words cut off abruptly. His expression turned grave as he picked up a piece of stir-fried lamb from the plate and shoved it into his mouth, chewing hard.
With a sharp “snap,” Li Huowang slammed his chopsticks onto the table. “Stop eating! This is fucking human flesh!!”
As Li Huowang rushed over and pressed his sword to the neck of the abacus-wielding shopkeeper, the steamed buns under the table began to wobble unsteadily.
A hilt smashed into the man’s head. Li Huowang immediately drew his blade, sliced open his stomach, and emptied out everything he’d just swallowed.
Fearing any remnants of the knockout drug, Li Huowang quickly dunked his stomach into a nearby jar of wine to rinse it.
As Li Huowang acted, the others reacted just as swiftly—some swallowed pills, some chanted sutras. That Xia Dongsheng even reached into his clothes, grabbed hooks at certain acupoints on his body, and yanked hard.
Li Huowang’s actions didn’t just alert the others; they alerted the black inn’s staff too.
The once-friendly waiter now shouldered a ghost-headed broadsword, charging out with a gang of men.
But the last thing the waiter saw was the red-robed Daoist, furious, dragging his sword along as he leaped onto the table and bounded straight toward him.
What followed held no suspense—it was a one-sided slaughter. Before long, the entire inn lay in chaotic ruin, thick with the stench of blood.
Li Huowang stood amid the mountain of corpses like a god of slaughter, while seven or eight black tentacles sprouted from his body, each gripping different weapons.
The sight deeply shocked the Great Qi Celestial Surveillance Bureau agents. As agents, they’d handled all sorts of cases in their line of duty, but they’d never seen anything like this.
Any prior doubts they’d harbored vanished instantly. No wonder he was Lord Zhuge’s friend—truly extraordinary.
Panting heavily, Li Huowang approached Zhuge Yuan and asked incredulously, “You didn’t spot the knockout drug in the food?”
Zhuge Yuan dabbed at the vomit dribbling from his mouth with a handkerchief, his face ashen. “Of course I spotted it, but I thought it was just the drug. Tossing the food would’ve been a waste, so I planned to eat first and detox later. Who’d have thought the lamb was human flesh! Disgusting!”
Li Huowang glanced down at the gaping slit in his abdomen and sighed deeply. His mood had been decent for once, and then this happened.
Though he was beyond such things now, it was like a toad on your foot—not harmful, but nauseating.
“Isn’t Great Liang supposed to be peaceful? How could there be black inns drugging people here?”
Long-absent Red One poked his head out from a nearby table. “Heh heh heh, Li Huowang, you’ve got it all wrong. Didn’t you hear Heart Pan? This is Great Qi now, not Great Liang~!”
Li Huowang blinked. “It really turned into Great Qi? What the hell is Heart Pan’s ability?”
A thousand thoughts raced through his mind. He opened his mouth to question Red One, but seeing that smug “ask me” look on his face, he swallowed his words and pulled out the Fiery Robe Canon to heal himself.
But this time, Red One wouldn’t let it go. “Wow, Senior Li, you really know your stuff—tasting that it’s human flesh and all. Impressive~ Impressive~!”
Just as Red One opened his mouth to say more, Li Sui’s voice cut in. “Dad, can you give me a few swords?”
“A few swords? What for?” Li Huowang paused his incantation.
“I want to help Dad! Next time we run into bad guys, I can jump in like I just did!”
“There’s barely room for you in me as it is—where would swords go? Be good and stop fooling around.”
This time, though, Li Sui wouldn’t relent. “Nooo! I want swords! I want swords!”
As Li Sui thrashed, her black tentacles slithered out from Li Huowang’s pant legs, wriggling on the floor like children on the street begging their parents for candied hawthorns.
“Damn it, where’d Li Sui pick this up from?”
Li Huowang coaxed her for a bit before finally placating her with his torture kit.
“See? It’s got everything—knives, saws, awls, shears, tongs, shovels. All yours now. Next time you see bad guys, use these on them.”
Li Sui’s tentacles emerged from his navel, fiddling gleefully with the tools. Her joyful laughter echoed in Li Huowang’s ears.
Shaking his head slightly, Li Huowang caught up to the Great Qi Celestial Surveillance Bureau agents emerging from the black inn.
With all the staff dead by Li Huowang’s hand, the mounts in the back naturally became theirs. Soon, a new horse stood beside Li Huowang’s carriage.
As Li Huowang exited the inn, Zhuge Yuan stepped forward. “Don’t worry—our people in Youdu already know Old Qin ran into enemies. Reinforcements will arrive soon, and we’ll reach Youdu before long.”
Glancing at Old Qin, who needed help just to mount and dismount, Li Huowang wasn’t so optimistic.
He climbed into his carriage and pulled out the map, locating their position. “At this pace, I doubt it.”
His bloodstained finger traced along the coast toward the heart of Jiangnan Circuit. “Hm?! Youdu?”
Staring at the familiar yet strange characters, Li Huowang almost thought he’d misread it. But no—after careful inspection, it was indeed Youdu, not the previous Shangjing.
Li Huowang stared at Zhuge Yuan in utter shock. “This your map?”
Zhuge Yuan’s face darkened. “Brother Li, that’s a poor joke. I’m well-read and never need maps.”
“Then this...” As Li Huowang hesitated, Red One popped out again.
“Isn’t that normal? You’re in Great Qi now—what map would you use if not Great Qi’s?”
Li Huowang frowned at the map before him, eyes locked on a red oil stain in the upper left corner.
That was from when he’d searched for Apricot Island, absentmindedly dripping it while eating spicy noodles. This was unquestionably the map he’d brought from before.
Yet this map, bought in Shangjing, had no Shangjing marked on it?! Instead, it showed Great Qi’s capital, Youdu?
(End of chapter)