Chapter 536
Chapter 536
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 536
>Chapter Title: Natural Disaster
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“Fast on the drums, slow on the gongs~ Stop the gongs and drums to hear me sing~ Hear me sing the Eighteen Touches~”
A drawn-out, warbling operatic tune drifted out from the alley on the left. When Li Sui twisted her head to look toward the sound, Li Huowang couldn’t help but frown. He immediately cracked the reins to speed up the carriage, lest Li Sui pick up any of that filthy language.
“Reach out and touch sis’s sideburn silk, hey, black clouds fly across the sky~ Reach out and touch sis’s forehead, plump and oh so tempting.”
Lv Juren, his nose painted white with a pancake of stage makeup, stood on the high platform belting out the tune for all he was worth, his hands gesturing along with the lyrics.
The men of all ages down below watched with rapt attention, exchanging knowing winks and leers from time to time, chuckling with low “heh heh hehs.”
As the Eighteen Touches wrapped up, cheers and applause erupted. This wasn’t the new-style opera from Great Liang—folks in the capital hadn’t heard anything like it. Coppers rained down onto the stage with a clatter.
“One more! One more!”
“Don’t you have women in your troupe? I want a woman singing the erotic plays!!”
“Right on! A woman singing—I’ll throw even more reward money!!”
Just as Lv Zhuangyuan was bowing in thanks while holding his gong to catch the flying coins, a shout came from outside the crowd. “What’s this! What’s going on here!”
When they saw it was bailiffs in blue uniforms heading their way, the crowd scattered in panic. Lv Zhuangyuan’s expression grew tense in an instant.
“Who told you to put on plays here? And goddamn erotic ones at that! Corrupting public morals! You blind? Didn’t you see the huge notice by the city gate?”
Lv Zhuangyuan hunched low, smiling obsequiously at the lead bailiff. “Reporting to the officer, this humble one... this humble one’s illiterate. Please show some leniency.”
“I don’t care if you can read or not! Pick up every last one of those coppers on the ground! Confiscated!”
So much money—Lv Zhuangyuan truly hated to part with it. But officials were always right, so in the end, he had no choice but to comply.
Once the bailiffs had sauntered off, jingling with their haul, the rest of the troupe drooped like frostbitten eggplants, gloomily dismantling the stage.
Halfway through the teardown, Lv Xiucai came storming back, trading curses with Gouwa.
“Bullshit! You’re Gouwa, and that plan of yours is pure bullshit! We’ve been hunting beggars for ages and haven’t even caught a glimpse of Master!”
“Watch your damn mouth! Who’re you calling bullshit? At least I’m doing something—you? All you do is flap your gums. You really think you’re some scholar?”
The two bickering idiots arrived at the stage and immediately fell silent upon seeing it in pieces.
“Boss Lv, what the hell happened? We finally found a good spot for the big show, and now it’s torn down again?” Gouwa scratched at his painted face as he asked.
Once they heard the whole story, Lv Xiucai jumped up and down in rage, brandishing his bundled copper-coin sword. “These capital bastards bully people again! Which way did those two dogs-heads go? I’ll hack ’em!!”
Lv Zhuangyuan sighed and rubbed at his aching back. “Enough, enough. We’ve got troubles enough as it is. Don’t go making more. If we can’t make money, we can’t make money. It’s not like we’re missing this bit.”
“Grandpa, you can’t say that. Day in, day out, feeding people and horses—that’s all expense. And besides, money in the capital ain’t worth spit. A single steamed bun costs five coppers.” Luo Jinhua, cradling her copper mirror, spoke up with some dissatisfaction.
“Who asked you? I handle the money—think I don’t know?” After snapping at his daughter-in-law with his pipe in hand, he turned with a beaming smile toward Gouwa. “So, Young Master Cao... any luck finding the little Daoist?”
With the theater a bust and no money coming in, Lv Zhuangyuan actually wanted to leave too. But he knew they’d come to the capital for more than one reason—up and leaving now would be hard to explain back at Oxheart Village.
In this mood, what could Gouwa say? He just kept muttering that it was almost there, almost.
But the capital was massive, teeming with people. Searching was like fishing the ocean with a needle—how could it be quick?
“Screw it. I’ll just send a pigeon letter to Xiao Man and the others about this. I asked around with the beggars anyway—if we can’t find Senior Brother Li, it won’t be on me.”
With that thought, Gouwa headed for the City God Temple to find some down-on-his-luck scholar to write the letter.
Meanwhile, the Senior Brother Li he was hunting had just left the city. After another few dozen li, he found a remote spot, parked the carriage, and gave the horse water and feed. Then he prepared to head to Great Qi.
As he felt Li Sui’s tentacles sprouting from his skin on all sides, Li Huowang let out a long breath. He raised his right hand, and two tentacles delivered the Spine Bone Sword right into his palm.
“Let’s go!” Li Huowang swung hard, his feet and six tentacles slamming into the ground as he lunged toward the rift ahead.
With experience from before, it went much smoother this time. When Li Huowang emerged into Great Qi through the rift, not even his Daoist robes were torn.
But before he could feel any joy, a shocking sight ahead made his pupils contract. In the distance, a massive black cloud bore down like a collapsing Mount Tai.
“That’s...” Li Huowang squinted into the distance and instantly made out what they were. “Locusts!!”
In the next instant, a sky-darkening swarm blotted out the sun, crashing down like an inverted black ocean.
Li Huowang reacted on instinct, sheathing the Spine Bone Sword and drawing the Purple Tassel Sword instead. A surging murderous aura enveloped him instantly, startling away the locusts gnawing at his robes and hair.
The buzzing of wings droned on for a good half hour. When the sun finally reappeared overhead, all the trees and plants around Li Huowang were stripped to bare stalks.
“Brother Li, this is a natural disaster.” Zhuge Yuan’s face grew grim.
“This is a natural disaster too? Brother Zhuge, it’s just locusts.”
“To the people of the realm, nothing matters more than food. They don’t care if some celestial law goes missing—people can still live without it for now. But without grain, they starve. In their eyes, a locust plague is far more terrifying than any other calamity.”
“Worse still, locust plagues are often followed by drought, war, and pestilence. I fear all of Great Qi is in for slaughter and devastation.”
Watching the swarm head toward the capital of Great Qi, a fresh flicker of doubt stirred in Li Huowang’s heart. “Just what the hell is going on in this Great Qi?”
Seeing Zhuge Yuan’s expression, Li Huowang couldn’t help speaking up. “Brother Zhuge, here in Great Qi, if there’s anything you need me to do—”
Zhuge Yuan shook his head. “Brother Li, you’re not from Great Qi. This isn’t your karma—there’s no need to get involved. Besides, your own situation is precarious. Even if I ache for the suffering masses, I can’t spend another’s wealth.”
(End of chapter)