Chapter 555
Chapter 555
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 555
>Chapter Title: Great Qi
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In the completely transformed territory of Great Qi, Li Huowang followed Zhuge Yuan's guidance, swiftly traversing the rugged mountains in search of the second Supreme Pole Pouring Mouth.
This place appeared to have once been a mountain, but now it had split in two, transforming from a single peak into a valley.
Earthen spikes of varying sizes jutted chaotically from the sheer cliffs on both sides, resembling the fangs of giants.
Li Huowang had thought he'd find it right away, but because of the previous upheaval between heaven and earth, the feng shui flows throughout Great Qi had completely changed. Thus, Zhuge Yuan needed to re-divide gold, fix water, observe the mountains, and gaze at the seas.
The one thing Li Huowang felt grateful for was that, without heavenly disasters, the journey so far had been relatively easy, with no dangers encountered.
“Brother Li, let's rest for a bit first. The Supreme Pole Pouring Mouth requires alignment with the hour, so we need to wait one out.”
Upon hearing this, Li Huowang sat down with Li Sui in the shade of a nearby tree. He pulled out his dry rations and gulped them down with big swigs from his water gourd.
“Dad, I don't like eating this. I want to eat meat.”
“Stop being picky. Eat whatever's available. Still acting spoiled at a time like this?”
Just as he said this, Li Huowang's brows furrowed slightly. He turned toward the woods on the left. There was movement there.
As his hand gripped the sword hilt, a dirt-streaked little girl in tattered clothes crawled out from the woods.
She looked to be only four or five years old. Her dust-covered face was smeared with snot and two deep tear tracks. Her flowery jacket was torn to shreds.
The little girl wobbled over to Li Huowang. She grabbed the hem of his robe and the bundle of torture tools, trying to drag him into the woods.
She didn't hold on tight and stumbled, falling flat on the ground.
Lying there, her mouth opened and closed. Paired with her expression, it looked like she was crying, but she made no sound at all—clearly, she had long since cried herself hoarse.
Li Huowang walked over and helped her up. Under her tugging, he headed into the woods.
The woods weren't large, with scarcely any leaves. Soon, led by her, Li Huowang reached the foot of the mountain.
He saw the little girl pounce over and desperately yank at the arm—adorned with a silver bracelet—that was pinned under the mountain. Li Huowang immediately understood why she had dragged him here.
This wasn't just one household. Traces all around indicated there had been a village here before.
When the mountain had fully split in two, it had crushed the entire village beneath it. And this little girl was the village's sole survivor.
The little girl ran back to Li Huowang's side. She pointed at the lone arm trapped under the mountain and shook his red Daoist robe vigorously with both hands.
A lump formed in Li Huowang's chest. He, who had never feared anything, felt a bit afraid to face the anxiety and longing in the little girl's eyes.
Li Huowang had always deliberately avoided it—avoided thinking about these things, avoided contemplating the immense suffering the people of Great Qi had endured under this heavenly disaster.
But when this scene appeared right in front of him, Li Huowang suddenly realized the kind of human tragedy that had unfolded in the world of Great Qi.
This was merely a snapshot of Great Qi. Far worse and larger horrors were likely everywhere else.
Li Huowang bent down to pick up the little girl. In his mind, he asked Zhuge Yuan, “Brother Zhuge, does your previous method still work? Can Great Qi still be saved in its current state?”
Zhuge Yuan, carried on Li Huowang's back, let out a deep sigh. He said nothing.
Li Huowang looked down once more at the little girl in his arms. He set her down on the ground. He didn't care about the others—this one, he wanted to save.
Just as she ran toward that severed arm again, Li Huowang gripped his Spinebone Sword and swung hard. A wide fissure instantly swallowed her up.
“Brother Li, it's no use. She's from Great Qi in the end. She can't go to Great Liang.”
Zhuge Yuan's words doused Li Huowang's head like a bucket of cold water.
“Why? I can come here, so why can't she go to Great Liang?”
Li Huowang was unwilling to abandon a living person to this hell on earth.
“I've told you before: Great Qi is ultimately the real one, while Great Liang is the fake. So those from Great Liang can come to Great Qi, but those from Great Qi can't go to Great Liang.”
Li Huowang clenched the Spinebone Sword tightly. He slashed forward forcefully, instantly returning to Great Liang and bringing the little girl back with him.
But once he had brought her back, Li Huowang froze in place, uncertain what to do next.
Find her a good family? In Great Qi as it was now, who knew how many living people remained—who would take in such a burden?
Have her follow him? But once he found the Supreme Pole Pouring Mouth, he would return to Great Liang.
“It's no use, Red Bigshot. You can't save her. Just ditch her. There must be who knows how many girls like this in Great Qi. You can't save them all.”
The Sitting Oblivion Daoist offered his advice from the side.
The moment he spoke, the monk and Jin Shan closed in on him with hostile expressions.
“What if... I turn her into an illusion and keep her with me?”
Li Huowang startled even himself with the thought.
“No! That's way too unstable. Why would I even think that? What if she doesn't become an illusion? She'd die for nothing!”
In the end, Zhuge Yuan provided a solution.
“Brother Li, draw a talisman as I instruct. Notify my friend to come pick her up. She might survive.”
“In a situation like this, are you sure your friend is still alive?”
Li Huowang asked.
“He's alive.”
Zhuge Yuan stated it plainly.
“Alright, then. As you say.”
Li Huowang followed the instructions immediately. As the golden-glowing talisman was pasted onto the little girl, she stopped crying and fussing, becoming as still as a wooden doll.
Li Huowang raised his Spinebone Sword and sliced a gap in the mountain, stuffing her inside.
He placed the remaining dry rations and fresh water in as well. With a sigh at the girl in the stone crevice, Li Huowang turned and hurried away to continue his task.
This Supreme Pole Pouring Mouth was found inside a split-open land temple. It should have housed the Earth God and his wife. But now, the two had fused into a bizarre clay statue with enormous eyes.
Though he had located his objective, Li Huowang couldn't muster any joy.
“Foot secret changes to ear secret.”
Hearing that familiar voice, Li Huowang turned toward Shangguan Yuting, who had been following him all along.
“Senior Ear, as expected, you're formidable. You can even find it in a place this hidden. If it were just me, I definitely wouldn't have.”
The beaming Shangguan Yuting curtsied to Li Huowang. She glided gracefully toward the Supreme Pole Pouring Mouth, descending into its shadow step by step, as if walking down stairs.
Just as Li Huowang thought it was all over, the clay statue suddenly cracked. This was clearly different from last time.
And from the shadow on the ground that Shangguan Yuting had just entered, some obscure, incomprehensible sound emanated from within.