The Unruly Immortals

The rustling noise was incessant. The others kept shoveling the porridge into their mouths with their chopsticks.

Today was a day for traveling, needed to eat more, otherwise would get hungry before noon, and that would be quite uncomfortable.

However, this was obviously not the issue that Li Huowang was considering at the moment; he turned his head and glanced at Bai Lingmiao next to him.

The girl's face looked somewhat sullen, because last night he had not allowed Bai Lingmiao to enter his room, still making her go to sleep with Chun Xiaoman.

Seizing this brief moment, he had cleaned up all the red in the room so that she wouldn't discover that she had married him without knowing.

Although the aftermath was resolved, he now had only one question on his mind, "What was that? What exactly did I sleep with last night?"

From the bite marks on his own fingers, it was clear that it was definitely not an ordinary person.

Now, thinking back, Li Huowang belatedly noticed many suspicious points.

Why did he have to extinguish the candle before lifting the red bridal veil? Why was "she" so different from Bai Lingmiao on the bed?

And in the dark, the hairpin on her head, maybe that was not a hairpin at all! But something that was naturally part of her head.

"Why did she do this? What benefit does this bring her?" Li Huowang was baffled.

He had hardly slept the previous night, all the while on guard against her reappearing, but she did not show up again.

As for who that person was, when Li Huowang remembered the red bridal veil, he had a vague answer in his mind, but he wanted to verify it.

Li Huowang quietly watched as Bai Lingmiao accompanied her thin porridge with five pieces of flatbread.

He had always been aware that her petite body never used to have such a big appetite.

Seeing that she had almost finished eating, Li Huowang kicked her gently with the tip of his foot and turned to walk towards the bedroom.

Bai Lingmiao wiped her mouth, put down her bowl, and followed.

When she entered the room, she saw her senior brother Li looking very serious, standing there watching her.

"Senior brother Li, what's the matter? Is there something wrong?" She lowered her voice a bit, sensing that the atmosphere was somewhat amiss.

"Sit down, I have some questions I want to ask you." Li Huowang gestured her to sit on the stool with his hand.

After some consideration, Li Huowang spoke.

"I heard from Li Zhi that to perform the spirit-possession ritual, two people are required— one, the main shaman to invite the spirits and the other, the Second God to impersonate them. Since you were able to cure me by performing the ritual, there must be a Second God besides you, right?"

Both wearing red bridal veils, Li Huowang couldn't possibly not be suspicious of Bai Lingmiao's Second God.

"Hmm," Bai Lingmiao nodded.

"So, is she a living person? From the Immortal Sects? Or something else?"

"She's a living person. She's not from the Immortal Sects; Immortal Sect members need to be summoned to come out."

"When did this wife of Li Zhi climb out? Wasn't her head rotted by Gao Zhijian, and she was buried together with Li Zhi?"

On hearing this, Bai Lingmiao was startled, "Senior Brother Li, the Second God—it wasn't Li Zhi's wife."

"What? Not his wife? Are there different Second Gods?" Li Huowang was quite surprised by this question.

"Hmm, they told me that the Second God is connected to the main shaman and other people's Second Gods cannot be used casually."

Li Huowang recalled the Second God of Li Zhi from the beginning; apart from the heavy makeup smeared across her face and some terrifying growths, that Second God was exactly like Li Zhi.

"Could it be..." Upon associating with the familiar voice of Bai Lingmiao from last night, Li Huowang suddenly realized something.

"Is it possible that if she were to remove those things that grew on her face, your Second God would actually look just like you?"

After hearing Li Huowang's words, Bai Lingmiao hesitated for a moment before nodding her head at last.

"Yes, she looks like me, and the other Second Gods look just like the Great Gods too."

"Then how did she come into existence? How did the Immortal Sects create such a living, breathing person?" Li Huowang asked the critical question.

This time, Bai Lingmiao did not answer immediately but appeared to struggle greatly, her hands continuously twisting the hem of her shirt.

"Brother Li, I truly want to tell you, I really want to make things clear. But I genuinely don't know how to say it, it was just that night when I went into labor, the Second God appeared in my dream, and then… and then…"

Seeing Bai Lingmiao's almost crying expression out of urgency, Li Huowang did not press further. He understood that in this eerie place, some things can't be explained too clearly.

"Alright, stop thinking about it. Call her out, I have something to ask her." At this moment, a hint of malice filled Li Huowang's eyes.

After casting a cautious glance at Li Huowang, Bai Lingmiao turned and walked to the door, pulling it open, and a woman with a red bridal veil on her head, wearing bright red embroidered shoes, stood there.

Li Huowang forcibly suppressed his anger and approached her. He looked at the Second God through the red veil.

He could clearly feel that whatever was inside was watching him, as his own perception of others' gaze had also grown much stronger.

Observing the folds in her clothes and her figure carefully, Li Huowang confirmed once more that it was her on the bed last night!

"Brother Li, what happened to her? What exactly happened?" Bai Lingmiao asked with a worried look on her face.

The rage burning inside Li Huowang was about to burst forth, but upon looking at Bai Lingmiao's face, he stopped abruptly.

He really wanted to ask the Second God why she did what she did last night, but in front of Bai Lingmiao, he could only hold it back.

After all, he couldn't just say that he had spent the night with this strange thing before him, unsure if it even had a soul, could he?

"Brother Li, what's wrong? Talk to me, what exactly did she do to you?"

Bai Lingmiao's repeated questioning finally made Li Huowang suppress his anger. After pointing at the face of the Second God and giving a threatening look,

he pushed open another door and left directly. "Forget it, let's set out."

By that point, Li Huowang had made up his mind, whether the Second God acted on her own volition or it was the command of the Immortal Sects, if there was a next time, he definitely would not let her off easily!

At that moment, however, Bai Lingmiao looked completely confused. She turned to the Second God standing beside her and asked again, "What happened, exactly?"

But the Second God stood there like a statue, not moving at all.

"Strange, what on earth is going on?" Bai Lingmiao was clearly baffled.

Two carriages were led out from the rear yard, carrying everyone, leaving behind the Wu Family village that was about to become a den of beggars. They took the same path back, passing the withered bamboo forest.

The journey of over two hundred li was long in some ways, yet short in others. Hastening along at a slow pace, they quickly returned to the foot of Henghua Mountain.

Compared to before, the little town at the base of the mountain was noticeably more "lively," with a few more beggars along the road.

Li Huowang opened the lacquered box, took another look at the blood-red eyes staring back at him, and then walked down the mountain.

This time, however, Bai Lingmiao stopped him. "Brother Li, I'll accompany you this time. I can perform the Great God ritual now; I'm no longer a burden."