Chapter 504
Chapter 504
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 504
>Chapter Title: Seeing a Dream
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“Senior Brother Li? Senior Brother Li?”
Bai Lingmiao called out softly, but the chopsticks in Li Huowang’s hand, hovering in mid-air before him, had been frozen there for quite a while as he stared blankly at the cooled noodle soup.
“Senior Brother Li, what’s wrong?” It wasn’t until Bai Lingmiao’s hand gently touched the back of his that Li Huowang snapped back to his senses with a jolt.
“Nothing, just thinking about that dream from yesterday.” Li Huowang handed her the bowl and chopsticks in his hand.
“That bad dream? It’s fine. My mom said dreams are the opposite of reality.” Bai Lingmiao took the bowl and chopsticks and walked toward the riverbank.
“The opposite, huh?” Li Huowang stared silently at Zhuge Yuan in the distance.
When he saw Bai Lingmiao return with the cleaned bowl and chopsticks, Li Huowang shook his head vigorously and stood up. “Forget it. It’s just a dream, after all. Maybe I have preoccupations during the day that haunt me at night.”
He was just about to continue on his way when Li Huowang suddenly realized someone was missing. “Miaomiao, where’s Li Sui?”
“She’s playing in the water about ten zhang ahead.”
Li Huowang shook his head helplessly. “No different from a little kid a few years old.” Lifting his foot, he followed the river upstream to look for her.
When he spotted Li Sui’s wide raincoat, he didn’t see her playing in the water.
At that moment, Li Sui was crouched by the riverbank like a dog, guarding several twitching carp.
“You caught fish—why not eat them? Why just stare?” Li Huowang walked up beside her and asked.
“I ate my share. This is Second Mother’s portion. I’m waiting for her.” Li Sui’s words made Li Huowang slowly withdraw the hand he had reached out to pat her head.
Li Huowang looked at Li Sui with a complicated expression. She still hadn’t realized Second God was gone?
Suddenly, there was a rustle from the bushes to the left. Li Sui abruptly propped up her gaunt body, but when a gray wild rabbit darted out, she drooped her head dejectedly and rested it on her crossed forelimbs.
“Li Sui, stop waiting. Second Mother’s gone. She’s never coming back.”
For the first time, Li Sui didn’t believe Li Huowang. “Second Mother will definitely come back. She told me she would.”
“Li Sui!”
Li Huowang’s sharp rebuke brought a hint of grievance to Li Sui’s face. “Why won’t you let me wait for Second Mother? She clearly said she’d come back.”
Li Huowang let out a deep sigh and reached down to scoop the prone girl into his arms, stroking the wriggling tentacles on her back one by one. “It’s all in the past. We need to look forward.”
And just as he said this, Li Huowang felt a familiar chewing sound coming from behind him.
“Second Mother!” Li Sui broke free from Li Huowang’s embrace and rushed forward excitedly. “I knew you’d come back!”
When Li Huowang whipped around, he was stunned to see Second God, red veil and all, picking up the twitching carp one by one and stuffing them under her veil.
“This... this is impossible! It can’t be!” Li Huowang lunged forward and yanked off Second God’s red veil.
“Gah!” Li Huowang jolted awake in terror at the sight within, drenched in cold sweat as he sat up in the carriage, gasping for breath.
Bai Lingmiao took out a white handkerchief and gently wiped the dense beads of cold sweat from Li Huowang’s forehead. “Senior Brother Li, you’ve been having bad dreams these past few days.”
Li Huowang didn’t answer right away. He first looked at her with unfamiliar eyes, then scanned their surroundings with the same estrangement.
He immediately pulled a dagger from his hem and plunged it viciously into his left forearm.
The searing pain made Li Huowang exhale shakily. That had been a dream. This was real.
“Ah! Senior Brother Li, what are you doing?!” Bai Lingmiao scrambled from sitting to kneeling, fumbling hurriedly for needle and thread to stitch the wound.
“It’s nothing. I’m fine. I just need... to stay awake!” As he spoke, Li Huowang slowly twisted the dagger’s hilt to the left.
“Senior Brother Li, maybe you shouldn’t keep up this day-sleeping, night-cultivating routine every day. It’s not like it’s urgent right this moment.”
“No! I only have two years! I have to seize every second! And I don’t think this has anything to do with cultivation! I keep feeling something’s off about these dreams!”
Li Huowang’s expression grew grave as he continued, “Could it be the dice? I haven’t seen outsiders, so maybe he sees no opening in reality and is trying to trick me through dreams instead?”
It was just a hunch, but Li Huowang couldn’t afford to ignore it. When it came to the dice, vigilance was never excessive.
“Miaomiao, Li Sui—have either of you had any dreams lately?” Li Huowang asked the two traveling with him.
“Senior Brother Li, I haven’t.”
“Dad, what’s dreaming?”
That eased Li Huowang’s mind a bit. At least this was only happening to him, not affecting them.
Li Huowang pulled back the curtain and shouted into the misty forest under the rain outside. “Dice! Cut the games! I can’t help you with this! Go find someone else!!”
His shout echoed through the woods, startling only a few birds into flight—no other response.
Li Huowang coldly drew the curtain shut and said to Bai Lingmiao, who was wiping blood from his arm, “We’re not traveling anymore. Find a place to settle down. We’ll wait out a year and a half, then head back. We’ll outlast him!”
The carriage stopped wandering aimlessly along the road and veered toward the distant mountains.
Upon reaching the mountainside, Li Huowang selected a sturdy rock face and took out his spine sword.
Chunks of Great Liang’s tough rock were neatly transported to Great Qi. Soon, a clean, tidy kiln cave appeared before Li Huowang.
As the carriage plugged the entrance like a gate, the cave fell silent.
A bonfire crackled to life, its orange-red glow flickering on the walls, warming the space considerably.
After roasted, fragrant flatbread served as dinner, Li Huowang’s cultivation time arrived once more.
He wasn’t worried the dice would try anything while he cultivated. Even he himself wouldn’t dare approach a Heart Elemental in that state.
Li Huowang sat cross-legged at the kiln cave’s entrance like a door god, eyes shut tight. With a deep breath, he used the so-called “divine light” from his eyes to drag the Innate One Qi within him toward the second wheel of the seven—the navel wheel.
Li Huowang gradually sank into oblivion. He forgot the rain, forgot the dice, forgot everything. In his mind, there were only two slowly approaching masses.
One was the indescribable, wrapped Innate One Qi. The other was his empty navel wheel.
Lost in cultivation, Li Huowang lost all track of time. Suddenly, the Innate One Qi seemed drawn by something, accelerating rapidly.
When the Innate One Qi slammed into the navel wheel, it swiftly passed over it, then began orbiting at a leisurely pace.
Faint yellow light gradually seeped from the Innate One Qi into the navel wheel. Six lotus petals of the same hue flickered in and out around it.
(End of chapter)