Chapter 489
Chapter 489
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 489
>Chapter Title: Past
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Chapter 489: Past
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> Seeing Lian Zhibei's injuries, Li Huowang spoke up. “Sorry, some things went awry. It’s my fault. Don’t move. I’ll heal you, and afterward, I’ll compensate you with some extra Lifespan Pills.”
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> With that, Li Huowang helped Lian Zhubei sit on the Zen chair and turned to fetch the Robe of the Fire Oath Scripture.
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> “No, no, no. I can’t accept that.” Lian Zhubei pressed a talisman onto the hilt of Li Huowang’s sword and slowly drew the long sword out.
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> “We agreed before. Since it’s your fault, just hand over that jade plaque quick. We’ll call it even.” Though the wound on her body made her grit her teeth in pain, she cared more about that lifespan.
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> When Li Huowang handed her the jade plaque that could be exchanged for pure lifespan, even though her body still hurt, Lian Zhubei immediately broke into a beaming smile.
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> Ignoring everything else, she glanced at Bai Lingmiao before clutching her wound and staggering out.
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> Li Huowang looked up to see someone standing before him. It was Bai Lingmiao, her expression filled with sorrow as she gazed at him.
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> Without a word, she walked to his side and gently wrapped her arms around him.
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> Li Huowang looked down with a trembling gaze, only to see a pair of blood-red embroidered shoes left on the ground, along with the red veil stained crimson with blood.
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> “Senior Brother Li, the immortal family that possessed me is gone now. Ershen’s gone too. Am I too late in saying this?” As she embraced Li Huowang, Bai Lingmiao silently shed tears.
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> Late at night, Li Huowang lay in bed, eyes wide open as he stared at the beam overhead.
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> He had achieved his goal. Those immortal families could no longer control Bai Lingmiao. The hidden danger was gone. Yet even though this was clearly good news, his heart felt inexplicably stuffy and blocked.
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> “Senior Brother Li, are you asleep?” Bai Lingmiao’s voice echoed faintly.
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> Li Huowang took a deep breath in and slowly let it out.
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> “Senior Brother Li, I kind of miss Ershen. No matter what painful things happened in the past, she could always share some of the burden for me. She was just like a sister to me…”
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> “Did I do something wrong? But if we didn’t deal with the immortal families, what was to become of Bai Lingmiao?”
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> Li Huowang kept pondering. If he had known beforehand that freeing her from the immortal families would make Ershen vanish, what would he have done?
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> It wasn’t until nearly dawn that Li Huowang suddenly realized something. In matters of great right and wrong, there was indeed right and wrong.
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> For instance, the Sitting Oblivion Dao stealing the God-Mountain Ghost’s Eye, bringing disaster upon the world and coating the land in blood—that was wrong. But for the sake of all the world’s people, the Surveillance Bureau sending men to eliminate the Sitting Oblivion Dao was right.
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> But when it came to emotions, it wasn’t like that at all. Here, there were only fitting choices, not so much right and wrong.
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> “Oh~ Ooh ooh~~” The rooster crowed outside the window. Li Huowang hadn’t slept a wink all night, nor had Bai Lingmiao beside him.
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> He sat up from the bed, threw on his Daoist robes, and headed to the main hall. As soon as he stepped out of the room, he saw Li Sui squatting in the center of the hall, staring out at the courtyard where a fine drizzle was falling.
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> “Daddy.”
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> Li Huowang walked over to her side and sat cross-legged. Looking at the half-eaten, mangled wild dog before her, he softly asked, “What are you doing here?”
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> “Waiting for Second Mom. I caught this last night. I’ve eaten half, and I’m saving the other half for Second Mom.”
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> Li Sui’s words pierced Li Huowang’s heart like a drill. He patted her on the body. “Don’t wait anymore. She’s gone.”
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> “I know. Mom said Second Mom left, so I’m waiting for her to come back. Second Mom loves eating this the most.” Li Sui nudged the mangled wild dog with her nose.
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> Li Huowang’s lips trembled slightly. He spoke again. “Didn’t you see her disappear? She’s gone!”
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> “I saw. But Second Mom used to disappear and reappear all the time. Don’t worry, Daddy. She’ll show up in a bit.”
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> Li Huowang said nothing more. He spread his arms and hugged Li Sui tightly before standing up and heading back inside.
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> —————————
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> Gao Zhijian, bare-chested and steaming with heat, leaped and flipped about as he swung his giant halberd.
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> The slabs of muscle on his body looked iron-forged, flushed red and brimming with power.
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> With a sweeping arc of his halberd—Sweeping a Thousand Armies—the row of village soldiers gripping wooden halberds before him were blown back by the gust, squinting and nearly toppled over.
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> When the heavy halberd slammed into the ground, Gao Zhijian steadied his breath for a moment before saying to them, “Train!”
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> The dozen or so men looked at each other in bewilderment. One squat fellow whispered to the man beside him, “How do we even train like this? Is this something a person can do?”
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> “Just train. Train. This guy’s stubborn as hell. Think of it as for the white steamed buns at noon.”
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> They began swinging their heavy wooden halberds in groups of twos and threes. The wood was freshly cut, still full of moisture, dead heavy.
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> Before long, they couldn’t lift their halberds anymore, but Gao Zhijian didn’t care. Anyone slacking got a taste of those callused hands.
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> In the village soldiers’ endless torment, noon finally arrived. Yang Xiaohai’s call to eat sounded like heavenly music to their ears.
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> At the kitchen, they clutched their long-dreamed-of white steamed buns and shoved them trembling into their mouths.
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> Though their bowls shook in their hands, they devoured their food without pause, snorting and grunting like pigs at a trough.
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> Meanwhile, in the Bai family compound, the other fellow disciples were grappling with the same issue.
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> “Senior Brother Zhao Wu, we need to buy grain. Senior Brother Gao Zhijian says we need at least a hundred village soldiers. If they all eat like this, no amount of old grain will hold out.”
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> “I know, but now’s not the time to buy. With the disasters, grain prices are sky-high. Wait for the autumn harvest—that’s when it’ll be cheap.”
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> Yang Xiaohai muttered softly, “But we have to make it to the autumn harvest first.”
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> “Don’t we have enough people already? So many of us know supernatural arts now—who’d dare mess with us?” Gouwa said, bowl in hand.
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> “No!” Gao Zhijian shook his head vigorously. “Li… Li… Senior Brother Li said… said… we need to…”
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> “Alright, alright, you win. Don’t talk. We’ll be eating dinner by the time you finish.”
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> Gao Zhijian shot Gouwa a frowning glare and buried his head in the food in his basin.
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> “Everyone, quiet down. We’ll stick with this for now. Senior Brother Li left some gold. I’ll pawn some of it for silver first.”
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> Hearing Chun Xiaoman say that, the group resumed eating, and the matter was dropped.
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> But one person noticed the worry on Chun Xiaoman’s face. After the meal, as she headed to the Bai family ancestral hall, Gao Zhijian blocked her path. “I… I… I have money. If… if… if the village… village… needs money later… come… come… find me!”
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> “You have money? Where’d you get it?” Chun Xiaoman looked astonished.
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> “From… from my past!”
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> “You were a big landowner back then?”
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> Gao Zhijian’s face turned beet red, unsure how to explain. In the end, he simply squatted down and began drawing on the ground with his finger.
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> (End of chapter)