Li Huowang stared at the figure in the red robes. "Xuan Pin? Why are you here?"
Xuan Pin's robes fluttered as he walked towards the two. "With the world in chaos, we need the combined strength of the Surveillance Bureau to get through these difficult times. As the Chief, why shouldn't I be in the palace?"
Li Huowang scrutinized him for a moment and then turned back to Gao Zhijian. "The Dharma Sect is likely to make a move soon. I'm worried, so I came to check things out."
Li Huowang suggested, "How about this? I'll stay in the palace to protect you more closely."
Before Gao Zhijian could respond, Xuan Pin interjected. "No."
"I wasn't asking you."
"We've received your information. Rest assured. The Imperial Preceptor, the military, and the Surveillance Bureau protect the emperor's safety. You can leave."
Li Huowang slapped his knees and stood up. He angrily said to Xuan Pin, "What are you worried about? I'm Ji Zai's Twisted One. You learned your illusion techniques from him. Who exactly are you guarding against?"
The gazes he received when he entered the palace, the attention from the Imperial Preceptor, and the Chief's sudden appearance all made Li Huowang realize they didn't trust him.
Li Huowang exclaimed, "If it weren't for me, Shai Zi would have seized the Dragon Vein long ago! If I had ulterior motives, why would I have saved it? I could have just watched it all happen!
"And now you're guarding against me? What does this mean? Aren't you Ji Zai's follower? Didn't he say he's hunting down the Dharma Sect? Doesn't that include you?"
"First," Xuan Pin said, pausing briefly. Then he continued, "I've confirmed that if it weren't for you, Shai Zi wouldn't have nearly seized the Dragon Vein. Saving it was the least you could do to offset your demerits.
"Secondly, my knowledge comes from enlightenment. I know someone named Ji Zai, and that person is you."
Li Huowang almost laughed. "Xuan Pin, are you pretending to be confused, or do you genuinely not understand?
"In front of you, I used my 'Truth' cultivation method to conjure the Siming that controls bewilderment. Don't tell me you didn't see that!"
Xuan Pin said nothing. Instead, a strange gaze shot out at Li Huowang from beneath his robe.
What's going on? Does he really not know? Is he deceiving me, or has the past changed again?ย Li Huowang thought.
Li Huowang was taken aback, and he looked up at the sky.
The Chief began to drift away, but Li Huowang grabbed him.
Li Huowang called out, "Wait, I need to confront Ji Zai with you! We need to clear this up."
Both Li Huowang and Xuan Pin looked up at the sky beyond the layers of roof tiles.
As though startled, a flock of birds suddenly soared from the imperial gardens and circled in the air.
"Something seems wrong," Li Huowang muttered.
His heart sank. He didn't know what was happening, but he instinctively felt that the world was changing.
Xuan Pin's six slender fingers emerged from his red robe as he pinched them together and began to calculate.
After a few breaths, he lowered his hand.
A deep voice then emanated from within Xuan Pin's robe. "A Natural Disaster."
"Natural Disaster? The sky is clear. What Natural Disaster?" Li Huowang said.
His eyes widened. He knew disasters weren't limited to just Sun-Devouring Heavenly Dogs.
At that moment, three black smoke columns rose swiftly in the sky to the east.
"What does that mean?" Li Huowang shouted as he pointed at the smoke.
"Enemy at the gates."
"What enemies?"
Three more black smoke columns rose from the south, west, and north.
Xuan Pin answered, "That's not from outside the city; it's inside. Someone has infiltrated the city."
Li Huowang forgot about questioning Xuan Pin and sprang into action. "I'll check it out. You and the Imperial Preceptor protect Gao Zhijian! Li Sui, let's go!"
Li Huowang widened his mouth and swallowed Li Sui. Two of her tentacles emerged from Li Huowang. Li Sui quickly drew talismans on yellow paper with his blood and slapped them onto Li Huowang's knees.
The moment the talismans were plastered to Li Huowang's knees, he became a blur as he dashed towards the palace gates like the wind.
Meanwhile, in Shangjing, Lu Juren held his daughter Xiu'er and walked into the inner courtyard through the back of the theater house. He carried a box of pastries wrapped in oil paper.
He entered the second door and saw his wife lounging on a chair. She was listening to the show being performed on the stage as she gently tapped her long nails.
Two young maids massaged her legs and shoulders beside her. Few people in Shangjing could enjoy such luxury.
Lu Juren said, "Juan'er, you should move around. You've gained weight since coming to Shangjing."
"So what if I'm fat? Only the wealthy can afford to be fat," Luo Juanhua retorted as she opened her eyes.
When she saw the pastries in Lu Juren's hands, she asked with surprise, "Juren, what's that?"
Embarrassed, Lu Juren dismissed the maids and sheepishly placed the pastries on Luo Juanhua's slightly bulging belly.
Luo Juanghua was a little confused. Nevertheless, she opened the box and found the long, white cakes within.
Her face lit up with joy. "Wick cakes[1]!"
Luo Juanhua picked up two of them and placed them in her mouth, savoring their flavor.
She said, "Delicious, I haven't seen these since we left Si Qi! You specially bought these for me?"
Lu Juren scratched his head. "I didn't plan to. A new pastry shop run by a refugee from Si Qi opened in the market. I just saw them and bought some."
Sweetness permeated Luo Juanhua's mouth and heart. She knew that these things were not easily found in the Great Liang.
Back then, they couldn't afford such treats, except for their wedding when they had scraped together six taels for them. She had eaten them all then.
Luo Juanhua had not expected her husband to remember that after all these years.
Lu Juren told his wife, "About the harsh words I said on the road, don't take them to heart."
Luo Juanhua tried to cover her laughter when she saw her husband's embarrassed expression and recalled the young man who would blush as red as a monkey's bottom.
Lu Juren blushed. "What's so funny?"
He set his daughter down and headed towards the theater house.
1. a traditional Chinese snack of steamed rice cakes, typically filled with red bean paste โ
Chapter 651 - Theatre
"Alright, alright. I won't laugh at you anymore. Don't leave me, my dear."
Lu Juren sat back down with Luo Juanhua pulling onto his sleeves.
It was a bit cramped with two people lying in a single chair, but they didn't mind it.
"Husband, I never regretted marrying you. You might be a wimp at times, but you are very kind."
Lu Juren said nothing as his wife opened up to him.
"If anyone else got rich, they would've immediately gone and gotten themselves a mistress, but you are different. When I first gave birth to Xiu'er, I remember how your father had been very upset since she was a girl, but I also remember how happy you looked. You looked just like a monkey dancing in joy."
She suddenly remembered something when she said that. She lifted her head and revealed a sly expression.
"Hey, did he say that he would hand down the theater to you after his death? Maybe there's some paper or document that details that."
Lu Juren coughed out of surprise and turned around. "Why are you bringing my father into the equation?"
"Tsk. You have to be very careful with matters like these. Your brother might look careless and stupid on the outside, but he's actually quite calculative. I just don't want others to take advantage of your kindness."
Lu Juren sat up and was confused.
Luo Juanhua thought he didn't understand her and explained, "Wait, stop running away every time I'm trying to talk to you about these things. Do you expect us to go beg for food when we are old if we don't have the theater?"
Lu Juren replied, "No, it's not about that. Listen, why did they stop performing?"
Luo Juanhua craned her neck and was confused by what she heard too. Rather than hearing the sound of a performance, she heard what seemed to be a commotion instead.
She asked, "What's going on? Is there trouble with the performers?"
"Take Xiu'er and don't leave this place. Let me go and take a look," Lu Juren said.
Lu Juren walked towards the door. Just as he placed his hand on the wooden door, someone kicked the entire door open. A group of people charged into the room. Some of them had a white cloth wrapped around their head, while others had black cloth wrapped over their shoulders.
The first person to enter the room was a beggar with sores on his face. Lu Zhuangyuan had seen him at the entrance of the market.
The beggar swung the cleaver and slashed at Lu Juren's chest, laughing happily when he heard Lu Juren's painful cries.
"To think that you know how to feel pain! You, who were born in opulence?! Do you know how painful being hungry was? Do you know what true suffering is? Do you know how it feels to be humiliated by others? If the Heavens were unjust towards us, then we shall change the Heavens today! I shall let you feel what being poor feels like!"
Lu Juren endured the pain and pushed the old beggar away. His usual cowardly self was gone.
He looked at the group of people and immediately shouted at Luo Juanhua, "Juan'er! Run!"
Lu Juren tried to block the people but was hit in the head by a hammer.
Iron was harder than bone. Lu Juren didn't stand a chance.
His head immediately caved in, and he slumped onto the ground.
"Junren!" Luo Juanhua shouted in despair and rushed over to Lu Juren's corpse. She completely ignored the people from the Dharma Sect.
One of the old ladies ran out from the group and stabbed Luo Juanhua's neck with a pair of scissors.
The old lady's eyes were filled with hatred as she spat, "How dare you enjoy your wealth while others suffer?! We are all women, so why are you in bliss while I have to suffer?!"
Luo Juanhua's eyes glazed over as she died. The old lady then carried her bloodied scissors as she walked towards the crying Xiu'er.
She almost killed Xiu'er, but the old beggar pushed her away. He carried Xiu'er in his arms.
The old beggar exclaimed, "What are you doing?! The child is still young! Are you crazy?! How could you try to kill such a young child?!"
"Get lost!"
"No!"
As they were bickering, the others started rummaging around the rooms.
The two of them saw what the others were doing and immediately stopped. They quickly rummaged around too for fear that the others would take all of the valuables.
But it wasn't long before the group left the place with frustration. There weren't a lot of valuables in the theater.
"I know where their house is! Follow me!" someone shouted.
Hearing this, everyone followed the person who had spoken. ๐ป๐โฏโฏ๐ค๐๐๐๐ฐ๐๐๐.๐ธ๐๐ฎ
One of the gangsters with tattoos on his arms even threw a torch and burned down the theater.
The old beggar was carrying Xiu'er as he tailed the group. He wasn't physically fit to begin with, and he was even slower now since he was carrying Xiu'er.
He wanted to place Xiu'er down, but he decided against it when he saw how chaotic everything around him was.
Just then, he heard someone shouting from the front.
"Monster!"
"He's a monster!"
"Don't be scared! God Yu'er is strong! We are not afraid of monsters! Go!! Kill him!"
Before the beggar could figure out what was happening, he saw the people in front exploding into a mist of blood.
All of them were cut down like grass in a field.
He finally saw what the monster was.
It was a Daoist wearing red robes with black tentacles sprouting out of his body. He wore a bronze coin veil and had only one remaining eye, which, curiously, had two pupils. Each of the tentacles was holding a weapon. It was no wonder others called him a monster.
The old beggar couldn't do anything but raise his cleaver. He put the child down so that he could kill the monster, but just as he placed Xiu'er onto the ground, the old beggar split apart.
Li Huowang suddenly realized the crying child in the pool of blood was Xiu'er. He never thought this was how he would meet the Lu family again.
Xiu'er was crying as she pulled on Li Huowang's sleeve and pointed at the theater. Li Huowang held her with one tentacle and immediately rushed towards the theater.
Soon, he saw the signage of the theater belonging to the Lu family.
The sign that had been wrapped in gold and silver was now enveloped by flames.
Staring at the collapsing building, Li Huowang steeled himself and ran into the burning theater.
The stage itself was burning too. An old man was standing on the collapsing stage. He was crying and laughing hysterically as he loudly sang lines from the show.
Beside him were the corpses of his son and daughter-in-law.
"The bright moon rises early to the east as I think of my mother back at home! Accompanying you, I feel like a sheep accompanying a tiger! While I have fulfilled my loyalty to you, I have failed to be filial to my family! As the star shifts and the Big Dipper soars through the Heavens, I sit restlessly without being able to sleep as the second section of the night passes.
"I have never let the people of Gu County down, so why am I being summoned with the gold medallion? I listen to the bell tolling on the tower signaling the third section of the night, while my eyes dared not shift from the sight of the moon illuminating the hall."[1]
The deaths of his son and daughter-in-law had driven Lu Zhuangyuan mad.
1. A song that expresses the conflict of trying to balance being loyal to one's superior and being filial to their family. Gold medallion refers to the message of the highest urgency, meaning that any message with the gold medallion would be delivered the fastest. A famous story involving it is how General Yue Fei was recalled by the emperor with twelve golden medallions. โ
Chapter 652 - Death
The Lu family's theater was made of wood, so it burned down easily.
The red flames burned everything inside the theater. The smell of charred wood continued to assault Li Huowang's nose.
But the crazed Lu Zhuangyuan ignored everything around him as he stood on the stage and sang as loud as he could. He was performing one last time with his son and daughter-in-law.
Li Huowang burned the scene into his mind as his heart felt a pang of pain.
"Hahaha! Good! They died a good death!" Qiu Chibao laughed from Li Huowang's left.
She was holding the decaying corpse of her child. As if triggered by something, she stared at the corpses in the fire as she danced around happily.
"Uuuuuu..."
Someone was crying on Li Huowang's left. He turned and saw it was Jin Shanzhao[1] groveling on the ground and crying.
Just as the old monk started to chant, Li Huowang walked over and saved Lu Zhuangyuan.
He barely made it out of the building with Lu Zhuangyuan just before the entire theater collapsed. Li Huowang watched as Lu Juren's and Luo Juanhua's corpses were engulfed by the fire.
He wasn't close with the Lu family, and even though he knew they were using him as an escort throughout their journey, he chose not to reveal their plan and played along with it.
Still, he felt his heart hurt when he saw what had happened.
"Troupe Leader Lu! Snap out of it! Your granddaughter is alive! Don't give up!"
Li Huowang brought Lu Zhuangyuan and Xiu'er towards where the palace was. The entire Liang Kingdom was in chaos, and the only safe place was the palace.
The palace also came to life due to the invasion of the Dharma Sect.
The red palace walls were surrounded by six layers of soldiers, three on the outside and three on the inside. The security in the palace had increased substantially.
"Look after them!" Li Huowang pushed Lu Zhuangyuan and Xiu'er to the soldiers. "I will kill you if they are harmed when I come back!"
Peng Longteng appeared behind Li Huowang after he warned the soldiers. She grabbed one of Li Huowang's tentacles and threw him high up into the air.
As the wind soared past his head, he looked at the Liang Kingdom from above and saw the entire city was in chaos.
The Dharma Sect surged in from the outside like ants.
There were various battlefields forming inside the city as the Dharma Sect poured into the city.
The Dharma Sect people were chanting incomprehensible words as they released all of their resentment towards the people of the Liang Kingdom.
Thankfully, the city guards and the Surveillance Bureau were already moving in full force. They fought at different corners of the city as explosions and flames engulfed the city.
Li Huowang knew about how dangerous the Dharma Sect was. If they were given free rein, the entire world would be destroyed.
In his heart, he had always thought of defeating the Dharma Sect as an act to defend himself and his family. He didn't have a grudge against themโit was just something he had to do to protect himself and the people he cared about.
But now everything has changed. Hatred and anger filled his heart when he looked at the Dharma Sect.
The Dharma Sect would not only destroy the world, but it would also cause suffering to the innocent!
Whatever god Yu'er was, it was spreading suffering and pain to everyone!
Li Huowang hated it. He knew what it felt like to go through such suffering. He would rather bear the brunt of it all alone if it meant the others would be at peace.
"Ji Zai! Do something! The Dharma Sect is attacking the city! Are you fucking blind?! So many people are dead!"
Li Huowang was soaring in the air as he shouted towards the sun. Upon getting no response, he gritted his teeth with resentment.
He could only rely on himself now.
Peng Longteng appeared beside him and threw him towards the most chaotic battlefield in the city.
Li Huowang sank into the earth as if it was water, then he swam upwards. He wielded all sorts of weapons as he charged into the mass of the Dharma Sect.
Li Huowang unleashed all of his rage on them. He feared that he would go crazy if he did not do so.
An explosion of blood happened everywhere he went. The usual Dharma Sect fodders were not his match, nor were the witches hidden in the darkness.
Li Huowang was undefeatable as he killed everything in his path, leaving nothing but blood and gore in his wake.
He had a single thought in his mind: killing the members of the Dharma Sect.
The more surviving Dharma Sect members there were, the more tragedies like the Lu family would occur.
When Li Huowang's body was completely coated in blood, the murderous aura on his baleful purple-tassel sword solidified and released a dragon's roar. The sword came alive and started pulsing waves of hot energy into Li Huowang's body. He suddenly felt invigorated.
Li Huowang swung the sword and a blood-red sword energy flew forward before bisecting both people and houses.
He realized that he had been suppressing the true potential of the purple-tassel sword. He killed too little in the past!
Li Huowang held onto the sword as he killed the Dharma Sect fodders. He slaughtered from morning to midnight until even his eyes were covered in a dense veil of blood.
He finally stopped when all of the Dharma Sect members around him were dead. By then, Li Sui was already dragging her tentacles on the ground out of exhaustion.
The city became quiet. The people from the Surveillance Bureau stood on the roof like vultures as they looked around.
Each of them was enveloped in bloodlust and a murderous aura as they searched for the next Dharma Sect member to kill.
Li Huowang looked at his own body. He saw his robes were drenched in blood and gore.
Staring at the corpses lying around him, Li Huowang knew his side had won, but he felt no joy. Only exhaustion awaited him.
"Father, I'm hungry. Can I eat some of your flesh?"
Li Huowang nodded and sat on a stool. "Sure, eat some."
"Thank you, Father."
"Ji Zai," Li Huowang called towards his shadow, but there was no reply.
He then looked at the palace. Xuan Pin, Zheng Boqiao, and the Imperial Preceptor didn't appear.
It seems that they are protecting the Emperor. Gao Zhijian should be safe.
Why are they doing this?
Li Huowang stared at the corpses of the Dharma Sect members.
Even though the battle was intense, the only casualties on Li Huowang's side were the civilians. No one from the royal family, military, or the Surveillance Bureau was killed.
It was as if the Dharma Sect was committing suicide instead.
1. Jin Shanzhao was a character that briefly traveled with Li Huowang and his companions. He was introduced in chapter 189 and was killed by Peng Longteng in chapter 208, becoming one of Li Huowang's illusions โ
Chapter 653 - Disappearance
The imperial family was not the only faction in Shangjing; the Surveillance Bureau was a significant force too.
The city was in ruins. Even though it appeared that many had died, the majority of the casualties were from the Dharma Sect.
The hidden danger within Shangjing had been completely removed thanks to today's incident. As horrific as it was, at least the Dharma Sect from the Liang Kingdom wouldn't be able to make any major moves in the near future.
Still, no matter how much he thought, Li Huowang couldn't figure out what the Dharma Sect's end goal was.
Wait, I thought there was a Natural Disaster? What happened to it? Which Heavenly Dao changed owners? I don't feel anything strange, Li Huowang remarked inwardly.
While thinking about that, he suddenly heard a faint rumbling. He looked up and saw a piece of green brick fall from the top of the wall. Then, more and more started falling down.
Before he could react, the city wall exploded. A massive stone statue with a tiger's head squeezed in from the hole in the wall. As it did, it smashed the ground with its paws. Yellow smoke erupted outwards from the impact.
Everything that came into contact with the yellow smoke turned into stone. Living humans, burning fire, and even black smoke all turned into stone without exception.
Just as the yellow smoke was about to engulf the entirety of Shangjing, a mysterious sound came from the palace. As the sound spread outwards, the yellow smoke suddenly stopped its advance. It was as if a barrier had contained it, but the yellow smoke continued to build up inside.
When Li Huowang thought that the Surveillance Bureau's method was containing the threat, he suddenly heard a different sound. This time, it came from inside the yellow smoke. The sound of footsteps marching in unison filled the air as rows of stone soldiers emerged from within the smoke.
The soldiers held stone spears and wore stone armor. The yellow smoke and the stone soldiers reminded Li Huowang of something familiar.
Hm?! Isn't that the Terracotta Army?!
A war chariot emerged from the smoke, and one of the stone soldiers standing on it raised its right arm. The stone soldiers charged forward in unison the moment the command was given.
You Zixiong was the first one to attack the stone army. He leaped up in the air and threw four modaos[1] towards the stone soldiers. The four modaos pierced the stone soldiers without any difficulties. You Zixiong then swung his chain around and a large swathe of the stone soldiers were cut in half.
But no matter how many he cut down, an endless tide of stone soldiers kept marching out from the yellow smoke.
The primary threat was the tiger-like stone statue. If it was not taken down, the stone army would never stop marching out!
Li Huowang stood up and shook his throbbing head. Peng Longteng appeared and threw him towards the statue.
Once Li Huowang got close, he swung his spine sword.
A crack to the Qi Kingdom flew towards the statue, but something unexpected happened just as Li Huowang thought the statue's head would be cut in half.
A metallic fluid sprayed out from the crack!
What's happening?! What's happening to the Qi Kingdom?
Li Huowang had never seen this happen before. Something had happened to the Qi Kingdom again!
However, Li Huowang was too busy dealing with the current situation and couldn't afford to think about it.
The black metallic liquid sprayed onto the stone statue. Flowers sprouted at every spot the liquid touched.
But the flowers looked wrong. Rather than having a single color, their color shifted like a rainbow on an oil slick. And as the color was changing, the flowers were rotting. The sight of the rotting flowers and their shimmering colors nauseated everyone who witnessed it.
Now that the statue was covered in those flowers, it looked even more horrifying.
"Retreat!" Li Huowang shouted.
Peng Longteng reappeared and threw Li Huowang backwards.
But Li Huowang refused to give up. He swung his purple-tassel sword, sending a beam of sword energy towards the stone statue. The murderous sword Qi crashed into the stone statue without any incident.
The shimmering flowers were cut and the liquid flowed down their stems.
The statue suddenly moved. As it did, more flowers continued to grow on its surface.
Just then, Si Qi's Chief Zheng Boqiao flew down from the sky.
He hovered midair and made a seal, then spat towards the statue. White smoke spilled forth from his mouth and covered the statue's head.
The Imperial Preceptor was also rushing over with his sword. Li Huowang knew this was a good chance so he quickly rushed towards the statue too.
"The Supreme Pure Jade King rules over the Thirty-Six Heavens and Universe. He manifests from all ten directions with his hair unbound as he rides the Qilin! He threads on a layer of ice with his bare feet as he commands the winds and thunder with his Nine Heavens Whip!"
Purple lightning struck the statue again and again.
Despite this, the statue was still moving. It was as if the attacks barely did any damage to it.
As they distracted the statue, Li Huowang took advantage of the chaos and got near its body. But the statue could somehow sense Li Huowang. Every time he got close, the statue would always shift just enough to remain out of reach. ๐ป๐๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ธโฏ๐ท๐๐ฐ๐โฏ๐ญ.๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ
"Closer! I need to be closer!"
Li Huowang tiptoed as he tried to grab the balloon on the tree. When he saw his fingertips were close to the balloon's string, he jumped up and grabbed it in his hands. Just as he held the balloon in his arms, the balloon suddenly popped.
Li Huowang scratched his head in embarrassment and looked at the students in front of him. "Erm... I'm sorry. I think I used too much strength. How much does the balloon cost? Let me pay you back."
The students walked away in disappointment, and Li Huowang shook his head in shame. He picked up his portable game console to continue his game but saw that the game was over.
Back in Shangjing, everyone saw the statue's head shattering to pieces and didn't know what to say.
Li Huowang looked at the statue and asked tentatively, "Ji Zai?"
"Yes," replied a familiar voice.
Li Huowang immediately got angry when he heard that.
"You still dare to show yourself here?! Where were you just now?!"
"I vanished."
"Vanish?! What do you mean? The Dharma Sect invaded Shangjing and you disappeared? Do you know how many people died because of you disappearing? The Lu family is gone!" Li Huowang shouted angrily.
Ji Zai replied, "I didn't want to harm them. It's all because of you."
"Bullshit!"
"Think carefully. What did you tell the Chief of the Surveillance Bureau?"
"I saidโ"
Li Huowang stopped. He knew why Ji Zai disappeared. The Natural Disaster that occurred just now happened due to the disappearance of the Heavenly Dao of Bewilderment.
Ji Zai vanished because Li Huowang said that Ji Zai was born from his imagination.
1. A modao is a unique weapon that looks like a combination between a large sword and a spear โ
Chapter 654 - Star
Li Huowang lowered his head and looked at his own shadow without knowing what to do after everything that had happened to Shangjing.
Ji Zai's existence depended entirely on Li Huowang. His presence was unstable, and he would disappear every time Li Huowang thought that he wasn't real.
Ji Zai controlled bewilderment, or perhaps it would be more accurate that he himself was an embodiment of bewilderment. He would appear and disappear from time to time. His existence all depended on the whims of a single person.
No wonder he kept telling me to carry on and not think about anything else.
"Are my thoughts right?" Li Huowang shouted to his shadow.
This time, Ji Zai did not answer him. His shadow remained as a shadow.
Li Huowang thought Ji Zai was off doing something else again, but this time he knew why. As Li Huowang was about to leave, he saw Shangguan Yuting floating out from the walls.
It was one of Xuan Pin's illusions. The ruckus caused by Li Huowang had compelled her to come over and check what was happening.
Li Huowang looked at her and said, "I now know what you were talking about. You were actually trying to ensure that his existence wouldn't get erased by me. No wonder you called him Unspeakable."
"What?" Shangguan Yuting uttered puzzledly.
"You were right. He really is Unspeakable."
Li Huowang left after that.
He walked past the corpse-littered street and found a well. Looking down the well, he saw two corpses beside his reflection. He also saw half of the moon peeking out from the clouds through the reflection.
Li Huowang stared at his reflection before he closed his eyes and murmured a chant.
Everything around him twisted and changed. Stones became soft, strings became oil, even the grass beside his feet uprooted and ran away.
After chanting, Li Huowang opened his eyes and saw that the grass had grown on a brick somewhere else.
Li Huowang asked, "Are you the only Siming that's so fragile, or are the others the same?"
"I don't know. Maybe. Sometimes I remember certain things, but I cannot tell you about them. You just need to remember what I told you last time. I am you, and you are me. Without you, there is no me. Now tell me, who am I?"
"You are Ji Zai," Li Huowang answered coldly.
Ji Zai replied, "How did I come into existence?"
"I don't know how you came into existence, but I only know you are useless! You can't be relied on when the situation calls for it! I would rather rely on myself! I won't look for you anymore, and I will figure everything out myself!"
"Good. Carry on. You will protect yourself well, and you will always have help."
Li Huowang glared at Ji Zai and turned to leave. Suddenly, Li Huowang felt something was staring at him.
He looked up into the night sky and extended his hand. He held onto the corner of the starry night and pulled it aside to reveal the scenery outside the window.
A short old lady with white hair and a ribbon on her sleeve was staring at him from the corner outside of his house. She tried to peek into Li Huowang's room.
"What are you staring at?"
"Mom, there's someone staring at our home," Li Huowang said indignantly.
Sun Xiaoqin walked over and pulled on the dark blue curtain adorned with little stars. The room instantly lit up.
"Oh, it's Madam Qi. She's the president of the Neighborhood Office. She even held you when you were a baby."
"Why is she staring at our house? Does she have nothing to do?"
Li Huowang's tone was filled with a hint of hostility because Madam Qi kept staring at him.
He had always felt that someone had been staring at him for the past few days.
To think it was her.
"Oh, it's probably nothing. I think the hospital informed her about your discharge. Look at how many people worried about you!"
"Is she really? I fear that she actually thinks I'm a crazy serial murderer."
Li Huowang grabbed the curtains and pulled them shut.
He'd thought he would be free once he was discharged, but that was not the case. Everyone in the neighborhood avoided him like the plague, regardless of whether they were his neighbors or acquaintances.
There was also surveillance coming from Madam Qi. Even though Li Huowang was discharged, the others didn't trust him and looked at him with apprehensiveness. Being in the neighborhood was worse than being in the mental hospital.
Li Huowang turned on his table lamp and started studying. He needed to learn fast because being accepted to Yang Na's university would be extremely difficult. After going through so many harrowing experiences, he had forgotten almost everything in the book.
But Sun Xiaoqin was horrified when she saw that Li Huowang was studying. She immediately grabbed the book out of his hands.
She asked, "Why are you studying? I thought you were having a good time playing games?"
"Mom, since I'm cured, I need to continue studying so that I can enter university."
Li Huowang tried to take the book back but Sun Xiaoqin stepped out of his reach with the book in her clutches. "No, you cannot have any stress right now. Going into university is the least of your worries."
"Mom, but I've been held back for two years in my final year of high school. What should I be worried about other than getting into university?"
"You don't need to do anything. You just need to play and enjoy yourself. Here, this is some pocket money for you." Sun Xiaoqin stuffed several hundred yuan into Li Huowang's pocket. "Play as much as you want. Buy whatever you want. Eat whatever you want! You still have some friends in school, right? Ask them to come and play with you! Go and eat barbecue, or visit the anime street, or maybe even stay overnight in a cyber cafe!"
Sun Xiaoqin stopped momentarily and then said, "If you do want to stay overnight in a cyber cafe, you need to let me know which one it is so that I can bring your medicine over."
She had researched a lot for Li Huowang's recovery. She learned that most teenagers suffered from mental illnesses due to how strict their households were, as well as having a lot of stress from their studies.
Her son finally came back after suffering through a lot. She was adamant about making sure he didn't get hospitalized again.
"Mom, mom. Let me think about it. I need some time alone," Li Huowang said, pushing her out of the room.
Even while being pushed, Sun Xiaoqin scrambled and grabbed all of Li Huowang's textbooks from his room. She didn't even leave a pen in there.
"Remember to play. Don't study! Do you want to buy those VR... or 3D glasses? I don't know what they are, but I think you would like them!"
Chapter 655 - Gaze
After chasing out his mom, Li Huowang sighed and sat on his chair. He stared at his messy room, then he checked his calendar and noticed that Yang Na's birthday was coming up.
Li Huowang silently thought about what to do for her birthday.ย What gift should I prepare other than the fact that I've been discharged?
"Wait, how much do I need to score in my final exams to get admitted into her university?"
Li Huowang checked his phone and hissed in surprise when he saw the astronomical number of points he had to achieve to even apply for that university. Still, he quickly recovered and grew resolute.
"I need to fight for this! I promised her that I would do it. I've gone through so much. I won't get intimidated by this!"
Li Huowang decided to study immediately, so he started studying on his phone.
The door of his room creaked, opening slowly.
It was Sun Xiaoqin, already in her pajamas. When she saw Li Huowang was on his phone,ย Good. Young people like him should play on their phones more often.
Sun Xiaoqin nodded in satisfaction and left.
Time slowly passed, and his neighborhood gradually grew silent. In the darkness of the night, Li Huowang massaged his temples as he stared at the phone.
It was close to one o'clock at night when he closed his eyes in despair and lay down on his bed. His head was buzzing.
"I was wrong. I'm really worried now. Why is it so complicated? I remember learning this in school, so why can't I understand it now?"
Sometimes things in life couldn't be done with just hard work. There was nothing he could do if it was too hard to comprehend. It was definitely not something he could learn on his own.
Li Huowang understood that he needed a systematic approach. He would never be able to enter Yang Na's university if he continued to study by himself in his room.
"What should I do? I need to find a way to keep up with her. Even if I can't catch up to her in the second year of university, I still need to find a way to catch up to her in the final year so we can graduate together."
Li Huowang closed his eyes and suddenly felt the money in his pocket. He had a great idea.
"Should I use the money to register for some courses online? The money from my mom and Yi Donglai should be enough."
Li Huowang perked up and started searching through his phone again. He ignored his fatigue even though it was already late at night.
While he was trying to come up with a plan to enter the university, he felt like someone was staring at him. He frowned at this familiar sensation.
"Seriously? Is Madam Qi still trying to keep an eye on me even though it's this late? Isn't she taking her job too seriously?"
Li Huowang lifted a small corner of his curtain and peeked outside, but he saw no one.
Am I too tired?
Li Huowang returned to his bed and lay down. He closed his eyes and tried forcing himself to sleep. He tried to ignore the sensation, but no matter how hard he tried, it was so intense that he couldn't sleep.
Li Huowang was now certain that someone was still watching him!
Fuck! Let's see who's the bastard that keeps looking at me!
He jumped out of his bed in anger. Then, he peeked through his window and slowly looked around outside. However, it was too dark, making it hard for him to find the person who was staring at his room.
After half an hour, Li Huowang finally found them. The person stood motionlessly on the corner of the street, where it was extremely dark.
Li Huowang thought that the person seemed very tall and skinny. It was too dark to make out their face though.
Li Huowang closed his eyes and shook his head. When he opened his eyes again, he saw the person's appearance had somehow changed a little. He thought his eyes were playing tricks on him due to how dark it was.
"Unless..."
Li Huowang recalled what Qian Fu had told him last time.
"Impossible! Why am I thinking of him? Am I crazy?"
Li Huowang needed to go and confirm who the person was, no matter who it was. Nevertheless, he was certain that the person was not Madam Qi.
Li Huowang quickly placed a pillow on the stool and stacked several things on top of it to make the figure at the window look like him.
He wanted to make sure that his disappearance did not alert the person. Li Huowang got on the floor and slowly crawled out of his room.
To prevent himself from making any sounds, Li Huowang made his way downstairs barefoot. Using the greenery and foliage for cover, he slowly approached the spot where the person was.
Li Huowang got close and could finally see the silhouette of the person.
"Huowang!"
Someone suddenly shouted his name, and Li Huowang raised his head instinctively.
He looked at his room and saw Sun Xiaoqin peeking out of the window and looking around.
Li Huowang looked back at the corner where the person had been and realized they had disappeared. There was nothing in the darkness.
"They are gone? Where are they?"
Li Huowang quickly searched around the place.
"Huowang! Where are you? Don't scare me!" Sun Xiaoqin yelled, pushing herself halfway out the window and looking around the neighborhood.
When Li Huowang saw how worried his mother was and how the lights of other homes were lighting up in response to her cries, he begrudgingly stood up."Mom! I'm here! Don't worry! Something fell, and I came here to pick it up!"
"Why are you picking it at night? You can do it tomorrow! Come up, quick!"
Li Huowang took one last look at the darkness before returning to his room. He couldn't sleep a wink throughout the night afterward.
The next morning, he was still trying to figure out who that person was even as he ate his breakfast.
Firstly, no matter what their goal is, I am certain that they exist.
He felt that while Madam Qi had also been keeping an eye on him, the sensation of being watched had mostly been due to the mysterious person.
But why?
Li Huowang could not figure it out. He was not rich, nor did he have any valuables on him. Moreover, it would be expensive to hire someone to monitor him.
"What's wrong? Do you like daydreaming now?" Sun Xiaoqin said as she washed the plates and wiped the table clean. "Why aren't you playing your games? I've turned on your computer."
"Mom, I don't want to play."
Li Huowang held his forehead in pain. He couldn't tell his mother about the mysterious person. If he did, she would think that he had gone crazy again.
"Nonsense! You are still young, so there's no way you don't want to play! Hurry up and go! Don't live like an old man. I will slice some fruits for you later, so what fruit do you want?"
Li Huowang sighed and went back to his room.
Chapter 657 - Surveillance
"Don't forget to take your medicine!" Sun Xiaoqin yelled.
Once Li Huowang was back in his room and could not hear his mother's nagging anymore, he sighed and tried to remember what happened last night.
He couldn't come to any conclusions yet because what he had seen yesterday was very unclear. He even thought that it could've been nothing but an illusion.
He needed proof that someone was following him. Otherwise, the others would think that he was going crazy again. What he saw was not what the others perceived.
More importantly, even Li Huowang himself could not fully believe what he had seen.
Li Huowang hesitated before typing on his phone.
Why do I feel like someone is constantly staring at me with ill intentions and trying to harm me?
He searched for his symptoms and quickly found something that might explain it: delusional disorder, persecutory type.[1]
Patients with this disorder always believe that someone, or an organization, is trying to harm them by committing acts of crime against them, such as assault, framing, murder, destruction, defamation, insults, poisoning, stalking, or other acts of oppression.
The illness warps the patient's rationality and beliefs. They have assumptions that are not in line with either the situation they are in or their level of education. Their assumptions are usually very illogical, but they always firmly believe in them. It is impossible to convince them otherwise, as they are unwilling to accept the truth even when they are confronted with irrefutable facts from their own personal experience.
Li Huowang's fingers trembled when he read the symptoms.
Am I mentally ill again?
He opened his contacts and scrolled to Yi Donglai's name. Li Huowang hesitated for a moment before closing the app.
He had finally gotten discharged. He refused to go back.
Li Huowang didn't want to worry the people around him. He knew his mother would be devastated if she learned that he was mentally ill again.
He continued to look up more information on the internet. Li Huowang checked different keywords such as stalking, surveillance, mental illness, and being harmed just to see if there was another possibility.
He found an interesting article.
Hai Mingwei's mental health deteriorated when he became older and complained to others about how he was being stalked by someone. He told others that his conversations were being wiretapped and that his mail was being intercepted. While eating his lunch one day, he pointed at two people across his table and told the others that the two were stalking him. Everyone thought he had persecutory-type delusional disorder.
Hai Mingwei's mental health soon deteriorated further, and everyone firmly believed that he was mentally ill. He got admitted into a mental hospital and accepted the electroconvulsive therapy that was popular back then.
He committed suicide one day, as everyone had expected. He was written off as being unable to endure the pressure and committed suicide. His case was recorded in books and journals.
However, fifty years later, someone managed to prove that Hai Mingwei had indeed been stalked. An organization had placed under him surveillance and had been tracking him all the time.
"Hah!"
Li Huowang closed his eyes and threw his phone onto the bed. Being in a difficult position was not scary, but not knowing what to do was. Whatever he decided to do might be wrong!
"What should I do? Is it real? Do I need to go and find out the truth?"
Li Huowang wasn't sure what he could do, but then he sensed the gaze again. This time, he didn't act because his window was open and it was daytime.
Li Huowang moved slowly and took out a handheld mirror from his drawer. He lowered his head and used the mirror's reflection to see outside the window.
He slowly moved the mirror and finally saw a pair of women's shoes. His heart started racing.
Li Huowang moved the mirror again, then he saw Madam Qi's face in the mirror.
"Fuck!"
Li Huowang turned around and looked out the window. "Madam Qi, aren't you tired from doing this all day? Is there no one to take over from your shift? Why don't you come to my house for a drink so you can stare at me all you want!"
Madam Qi left as if nothing happened.
At the same time, a phone rang inside Li Huowang's home. Li Huowang recalled that it was the ringtone of his mother's phone.
He walked out and found the phone on a cabinet. It had a cracked screen.
Li Huowang picked up the phone and held it next to his ear.
"Hello? Who is it?"
There was no response from the other end of the line.
"Who is it? Sun Xiaoqin is not here. I'm her son. Who are you looking for?"
โLi Huowang?
The caller's voice seemed weird, as if it had been altered digitally.
Li Huowang frowned and suspicion arose in his heart. "I'm Li Huowang. Who are you?"However, there was no response, again. He adjusted the phone's position, trying to hear more clearly.
He could faintly hear the sound of someone wailing in the background. Li Huowang took out his own phone and slowly dialed the police's number.
Sun Xiaoqin walked into the house with a bag of fruit when she saw Li Huowang was using her phone.
She asked, "Huowang, what are you doing?"
"Someone called you. I think they had the wrong number," Li Huowang answered as he placed the phone down on the cabinet.
"What? But my phone is broken."
"What?"
Li Huowang quickly checked the phone and saw nothing on the cracked screen except for his shocked face reflected on it.
"What's wrong? Don't frighten me," Sun Xiaoqin said.
She walked over and hugged Li Huowang while stroking his head.
Li Huowang suddenly laughed. "Haha, how was my act? I fooled you, didn't I?"
Sun Xiaoqin released him and pushed him slightly. "You rascal. Don't make jokes like that! They scare me!"
"Haha, I thought you were worrying about something, so I thought I would lighten up the mood."
Li Huowang walked back towards his room.
When he entered his room, he snarled and howled quietly. "What the fuck is going on? Is someone surveilling me!?"
1. Sounds like a cool technique name. โ
Chapter 657 - Answer
Li Huowang sat on the floor with a blank expression as he recalled what happened.
He picked up his mother's phone and the other party even told him his name, but then his mother told him that her phone was broken. The phone was clearly dead. Who was he talking to, then?
If this was his hallucination, then was the sensation of someone staring at him fake too? Was he actually mentally ill? Was he not cured?
Li Huowang closed his eyes in pain as he scratched his head forcefully.
He didn't want to deal with this problem, but he had no choice but to face it. He didn't even trust himself.
"I..."
Li Huowang hesitated a little before he called Yi Donglai. The phone rang for a long time before Yi Donglai picked up.
โHello? Little Li? Why are you calling me? Is something wrong?
Li Huowang clenched his fist before he spoke in a trembling voice, "Doctor Yi, do you think that I have a delusional disorder?"
โWhat do you mean? Do you have a new symptom?
Yi Donglai's tone turned serious.
"I don't know, but I have the feeling that someone is constantly looking at me. I suspect they are planning something because this is not the first time I've felt their gaze."
โDid you have the feeling when you were in the hospital, or did you first notice it after you were discharged?"
"I never had it in the hospital. Wait, it's back again. Someone's staring at me."
Li Huowang used the mirror's reflection to see who was staring at him. This time it wasn't Madam Qi. Instead, it was a lady using an umbrella to hide her face.
It was spring, so seeing someone dressed like that was weird.
Is she real? Or is she an illusion?ย Li Huowang questioned himself.
Yi Donglai was still talking to him when Li Huowang hung up.
I'm willing to get admitted if it's an illusion, but first, I need to confirm whether it's an illusion or not!
Li Huowang placed his phone down and retrieved several items from his drawer. He then quickly went down and exited his unit. When he walked out of the fire exit, he saw that the woman was still there.
He stealthily went out through the left entrance and circled around to slowly approach the woman from behind.
The closer he got, the more he noticed about the woman. She wore high heels and very skimpy clothes, which seemed inappropriate for the season. This made Li Huowang even more suspicious. Li Huowang gradually grew fearful as he got closer to the woman.
When he was just a few steps away from the woman, a black car suddenly stopped beside him, and two people ran out of it.
One of the assailants covered Li Huowang's nose and mouth with a wet cloth while the second assailant restrained him and started dragging him into the car.
When Li Huowang smelled chemicals on the cloth, he felt excited rather than fearful. He finally got his answer.
I'm not crazy! Someone really is trying to harm me!
Li Huowang started losing consciousness due to the chemical on the cloth. He instinctively opened his mouth and bit his tongue. Intense pain and blood filled Li Huowang's mouth, waking him up.
Li Huowang then opened his mouth as wide as he could. The cloth and fingers of the first assailant were forced into his mouth. He then bit down hard and tried to sever the first assailant's fingers.
"Yikes!" the assailant wailed,
They smacked Li Huowang's head in an attempt to get their fingers out of Li Huowang's mouth, but it was useless.
During the struggle, the assailants shoved Li Huowang into the car. Once they were all inside, Li Huowang released the first assailant's finger, and the first assailant, propelled by their own momentum, crashed against the window.
Li Huowang opened his bloody mouth and looked at the assailants.
"Want to know why I let you move me into the car? Because once I'm inside here, I can tell others that I was defending myself even if I kill or cripple you!" ๐ณ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐.๐ฐ๐ ๐ฆ
Li Huowang took out a box cutter from his sleeves and stabbed it into the second assailant's legs.
In pain, the second assailant released Li Huowang. Li Huowang grabbed the box cutter firmly and started stabbing the first assailant, who was in front of him.
The black car started shaking wildly before the doors opened, and Li Huowang fell out. He was covered in blood by then.
Li Huowang saw the car speeding away and threw the bloody box cutter onto the ground before he took his phone and dialed the police.
"Hello? Police? Two people just tried to kidnap me. I killed one of the kidnappers and the other is probably going to die soon too. They were driving a black car when they departed from Wuyi Road."
Kidnapping was a serious crime, especially when the victim killed the kidnapper. Li Huowang was soon taken from the police station to record his statement.
As Li Huowang gave his statement, Sun Jianye felt a headache coming on. He looked at Li Huowang's information on the terminal and then at Sun Xiaoqin, who was crying.
"Don't worry, your son is fine. Wait here. Let me go find out what's going on."
Sun Jianye then brought his junior into the interrogation room to listen in on the questioning.
"Li Huowang, you've said that you were kidnapped? Do you know why? Have you angered anyone recently?"
Li Huowang was clutching onto the paper cup as he pondered. "I killed a few people in a previous incident. I think that the kidnappers could be their accomplices trying to take revenge on me. Maybe you can approach the case from that angle."
The room was silent, and no one spoke.
Just then, another officer entered the room. "We've checked the security cameras. There's no kidnappers on the video."
Sun Jianye and his colleagues checked the footage too and then looked at Li Huowang with suspicion.
"What do you mean? That's impossible! I have evidence here!" Li Huowang took out two dismembered fingers from his pocket and placed them on the table.
Chapter 658 - New
The fingers on the table had turned pale due to the loss of blood. Everyone, except for Li Huowang, was stunned and surprised.
Li Huowang was naturally handcuffed.
"Wait, I'm the victim here! Are you kidding me?! Why am I being handcuffed?!" Li Huowang shouted, but everyone ignored him.
Two officers stood guard while the others went outside.
Sun Jianye listened to Li Huowang shout as he read the information they had about the unusual youth.
He hated people with mental illnesses. Their statements could be false, and their way of thinking diverged so much from the norm that Sun Jianye's interrogation techniques were useless.
If the suspect didn't provide any leads, he could only investigate the case from another angle.
Sun Jianye picked up Li Huowang's phone and checked the call log. He saw that Li Huowang had called a person today and dialed the number.
โHello? Li Huowang? Why did you hang up on me just now? Oh, I'm sorry. How is he? Yes, I'm his doctor. Was there anything strange about him? He did call me to ask if he had a delusional disorder.
Sun Jianye nodded. He had gained a small lead.
He obtained more details from Yi Donglai before he returned to the interrogation room. He sat across from Li Huowang. "Can you tell me where you got the two fingers?"
"How many times must I say that the fingers came from the kidnappers inside the car?" Li Huowang explained as he tried to remain patient.
Sun Jianye took out his phone and showed it to Li Huowang. "Is that so? There's no car in the video footage, and no kidnappers either."
"What? That's impossible!" Li Huowang shouted and looked at the video.
He looked at the date and time on the top before confirming that the video was from today.
Li Huowang saw himself in the video. The footage was from when he tried to get close to the woman with the umbrella. But there was no woman in the video. Li Huowang was the only one in the video.
In the video, Li Huowang suddenly stopped and struggled in an empty place as if someone invisible had been pulling him. Then, he stumbled away from the camera's surveillance range.
"Wait! That's impossible! I really saw and felt them! I know I did!"
Sun Jianye sat in his chair with a headache. "Have you considered it could all be due to your hallucinations?"
"What are you talking about? You have my medical records, right? I'm cured and was discharged from the hospital! Also, there are many kinds of mental illnesses, and this is clearly different from the one I had!" Li Huowang stood up from his chair.
The two officers standing guard gently pressed Li Huowang's shoulders, pushing him back down onto the seat.
Sun Jianye said, "Li Huowang, you are not crazy, and we know that, but we need evidence. There are no kidnappers in the video, and that's the truth.
"Wait, is there a possibility they tampered with the footage?" Li Huowang asked. He then recalled something and froze from the realization.
"The time from your call to our inspection of the footage was too short for that. It's impossible to tamper with the footage in such a short amount of time. How about you stay here for a few days so that we can protect you from the kidnappers?"
"Wait, don't you need evidence? What about the two fingers? They are evidence, and also"โhe took off his bloodied shirtโ"this is their blood. You can check their DNA and find them!"
Li Huowang was certain that the kidnappers were real. Someone really was trying to harm him! No matter what organization they came from, he knew he was in danger.
Since there was a first time, there would most certainly be a second time. The organization spent a lot of resources just to monitor him, so Li Huowang was certain that they would not stop if their goals weren't achieved. He was worried not because of the sudden threat, but rather because he realized that Qian Fu's warnings were coming true.
Who are you talking about?
The Leotians! They have very advanced technology and could easily place someone to observe you! I didn't place the needle in your food, they did! They are trying to separate us!
***
The carriage wheels slowly rolled across the yellow grass of Qing Qiu. Yang Xiaohai spurred the horses onward as he gazed at the large grass meadow.
He checked his map and hesitated. "It should be here, shouldn't it? I hope we're not going in the wrong direction."
Even though he had a map, there was nothing in the empty grassfield for him to get his bearings. He wasn't sure if he was going the right way.
Zhao Xiumei and Yang Xiaohai continued their journey, then Yang Xiaohai saw a small hill in the distance.
The small hill was covered in yellow grass and looked like a steamed bun from a distance. Yang Xiaohai had seen many of these hills over the past few days. He remembered them because their shape was very special.
"I remember seeing something like this when I traveled with Senior Li last time. We should be close to Sun Baolu's house."
Just as he said that, he saw tents on the horizon, which got him excited.
"Go! Go! Run faster!" Yang Xiaohai shouted, using a horse whip to urge the horses to run.
Various Qing Qiu natives with tanned skin were walking in and out of the tents, but some of them had visibly lighter skin. Sun Baolu was one of them.
Sun Baolu was excited when he saw Yang Xiaohai. He never thought they would meet again.
"Sun Baolu! Gao Zhijian became the Emperor! Puppy got married and had a child! Senior Li's sickness is cured too!" Yang Xiaohai reported all of the joyful news that happened recently. ๐๐โฏ๐ฆ๐๐ฆ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐.๐โด๐
Sun Baolu listened to Yang Xiaohai and asked what happened to the group after they left Qing Qiu.
"Is that so? It's a blessing for everyone to live so happily now." Sun Baolu was very happy for them. They were once comrades who braved against death just to reach home.
"Wait, Xiaohai, why are you here in Qing Qiu?"
"Gao Zhijian helped me find my parents. They are boat people from Hou Shu. I want to go find them." Yang Xiaohai told him his goals.
"Hou Shu?" Sun Baolu panicked and held Yang Xiaohai's hands.
"No, you can't go! Hou Shu is now in a war with the new Yu'er Kingdom. The war is terrible and I don't want you to die there!"
Chapter 659 - Sun Baolu
"Yu'er Kingdom?" Yang Xiaohai was confused. He had never heard of the place when he was traveling with Senior Li.
Sun Baolu was confused too. "You never heard of it before? The Dharma Sect destroyed Si Qi. The Dharma Sect attacked different nations and absorbed them into their own land. They called it the Yu'er Kingdom, and their official religion is, naturally, the Dharma Sect's. I've heard that the war was very intense, to the point that even Immortals descended from the Heavens. You will die if you go to Hou Shu right now."
Yang Xiaohai frowned when he heard the news. He had finally made it to Qing Qiu and was about to reach Hou Shu, then something unfortunate like this happened.
He could've waited a few years if he had caught wind of these events while he was in Cowheart Village, but now he was already halfway through his journey. It was too dangerous to continue, but it would be a waste of time if he returned now. He didn't know what to do.
"Also, I've heard from the refugees from Hou Shu that Hou Shu could not win against the Yu'er Kingdom. Hou Shu forcefully conscripted any male taller than a carriage wheel. Xiaohai, you can't go there now."
Yang Xiaohai was worried, "They'll be forced to fight in the war as long as they're male...?? Then doesn't that mean my father and brother will have to fight?"
"Are they from Hou Shu? If so, then I'm afraid they won't be able to avoid being sent to war."
Yang Xiaohai became even more anxious.ย I finally received news about my family, and now they are going to be gone?
He hesitated and looked at Zhao Xiumei for reassurance. He then looked at Sun Baolu. "Baolu, can you help me? Let my wife stay here for the moment. I want to go and check out Hou Shu myself."
"No!"
"No!"
Both Sun Baolu and Zhao Xiumei refused at the same time.
"I will follow you wherever you go. I'm your wife, so don't you dare try to leave me!"
"Xiaohai, I'm not trying to scare you, but you really can't go to Hou Shu. Even merchants with escorts were done in!"
"Listen to me!" Yang Xiaohai's eyes were red when he shouted over them. "Do you know how much I envied other children with caring parents back when I was a beggar?
"Their parents would buy them candy and goods from peddlers while I was stuck scrounging for rainwater to drink with the other beggars! Their parents would buy them new clothes while I could only go to unmarked graves and take the clothes of the dead just to have something to wear!"
Yang Xiaohai sobbed, "Do you know just how much I wanted to see my parents at least once? I just want to let those who insulted me and called me a mongrel know that I still have my parents!"
Sun Baolu's mother walked in and heard their conversation.
Yang Xiaohai slowly calmed down and tried to reason with them. "Since my family is in danger, I must go and rescue them. Even if my brother and father have gone to war, I could go save my mother. She could live at Cowheart Village so she won't have to go hungry anymore. I was once a beggar. I know that the easiest targets to bully among the beggars are the old ladies."
Zhao Xiumei looked at Yang Xiaohai with a pained expression. Even though her husband had grown a little, he was still young, and he still missed his parents.
"Xiaohai, I know you are worried about your parents, butโ" Sun Baolu was trying to persuade him when his mother whispered to him. "Alright, let me go and start the fire then."
Sun Baolu got up.
His mother consoled Yang Xiaohai by hugging him. "Don't worry. We'll think of a way to solve this."
Yang Xiaohai soon saw a bizarre scene. Sun Baolu lit a bonfire, and his fellow tribe members gathered around them. Sun Baolu pointed at Yang Xiaohai while explaining the situation in Qing Qiu's native language. Everyone discussed and talked in the same native language. Yang Xiaohai didn't understand what they were talking about.
"This is a tradition of Qing Qiu. The gist is that if someone has a problem, they can start a fire to signal the others to come to help figure out a solution using the wisdom from the Immortal Heaven," Sun Baolu explained to Yang Xiaohai.
"Will it work?" Yang Xiaohai asked.
He was anxious. He didn't want to risk his life by going to Hou Shu, but if there was a way for him to meet his parents, he wasn't going to give up so easily. ๐๐๐๐๐ฌ๐๐๐ท๐๐ฟ๐๐ก.๐๐ธ๐
"We have many elders in the group. As they say, an elder is a treasure to the family. They have a lot of experience, so this method usually works well."
The smoke from the bonfire slowly floated upwards. Since there wasn't any wind, some of the smoke enveloped them.
"Cough, cough!" Yang Xiaohai coughed from inhaling the smoke, feeling dizzy.
He felt weird. He had never had this feeling when he inhaled smoke before. Borrowing the wisdom of the Heavenly Immortal seemed to be a unique experience.
The tribe members carried on with their discussion, their voices slowly quieting down as Yang Xiaohai listened to them.
"Hei!" They shouted in unison and clapped.
The smoke dispersed instantly.
Sun Baolu listened to some elders talking before explaining to Yang Xiaohai. "They have a method. You said your parents are boat people living on the sea, right?"
"Yes."
"Then the elders have a plan for that. Rather than traveling on land, travel through the sea instead. The elderly remembered there was a boatman who operated on the border between Hou Shu and Qing Qiu. If you pay him money, he can send you to where your parents are. That way, you won't encounter the soldiers."
"Really?!" Yang Xiaohai said excitedly.
"Yeah. Their memory is probably accurate since they rode it ten years ago. Wait here. I will ask them to draw a map and write a letter. Make sure to give it to the captain so that he doesn't try to rob you."
Sun Baolu set to work.
Yang Xiaohai had finally found a way to return home. He looked at the map that showed the border between Qing Qiu and Hou Shu.
He looked at how close they were and he got excited. Soon, he could finally see his family.
"Thank you Sun Baolu. You've helped me greatly!" Yang Xiaohai gave him a dense gold bar.
"What are you trying to do? Are you looking down at me?" Sun Baolu refused the gold bar but then whispered to Yang Xiaohai, "Xiaohai, do you have empty rooms at Cowheart Village?"