The Unruly Immortals

When Li Huowang heard the voice of the young Yang, he snapped back to reality and realized they had already reached the edge of the small town.

In front of him were several stone bungalows, with a vast horse corral extending out front.

Camels, sheep, and horses were segregated into different enclosures, and the pungent odor of the livestock hit him full in the face.

It seemed people inside had already noticed Li Huowang, as they uniformly turned their gazes toward him.

From their attire, it was not hard to tell that this family specialized in this line of business.

This also indirectly showed that the girl Taoist Boy was probably different from little Man, not sold; her family was well-off.

Receiving the urn containing the ashes from young Yang's hands, Li Huowang took a deep breath, adjusted his mindset, and stepped toward them.

Seeing Li Huowang approach, a burly man pushed aside a horse and came forward to greet him. "Buying livestock?"

"No, delivering something," Li Huowang observed him, guessing from his age that he must be Taoist Boy's father.

The strong man was clearly not immediately trusting faced with Li Huowang's sudden visit, but when young Yang mentioned the name of the Taoist Boy and some details about her, they finally believed.

The news of their own daughter's death was like a bolt from the blue, and a whole family gathered around the urn, breaking into loud sobs and cries.

Watching the sad scene unfold before him, Li Huowang thought he would be moved by their grief, but he wasn't.

He had seen too many dead, to the point of becoming somewhat numb to it.

The Monk to one side, losing his smile at the sight, walked over with devout sincerity, placed his palms together, and began to pray for the soul of the deceased before the urn.

"Amitabha Buddha... Amitabha Buddha... Amitabha Buddha..."

Because he was held up by the Taoist Boy's father asking for details, by the time Li Huowang and the rest made it back to the inn, it was already very late.

"Let's go, meeting is destiny. I'll get you a top room, so you don't have to sneak into the privy like before."

"I have travel funds," the Monk jingled his robe, and the sound of Copper Coins clinking together came from his person.

"Also, stop talking nonsense. When have I ever slept in someone else's privy?"

Only then did Li Huowang breathe a sigh of relief.

"Where are you headed to? If it's on the way, we might as well travel together in the future."

It wasn't easy for such a person to survive in this dilapidated place; it was best to look after one another if possible.

"As long as I can do good deeds, I can go anywhere. I'm not choosy. Let's talk more tomorrow; I need to leave now, or the common room will close."

Watching the Monk's retreating figure, Li Huowang smiled and turned to enter the inn.

As soon as he stepped into the lobby, he saw Top Scholar Lv with a face flushed red, arguing about something with his son.

"Band Leader Lv, what's this about?"

Top Scholar Lv pushed his own son away and agitatedly gesticulated with his fingers in the air.

"Those Nuoxi performers are so full of themselves! How dare they claim my opera originated from theirs—that their opera is the ancestor of mine!!"

"Dad, just drop it. Why are you arguing with them over this? This is their turf."

"Drop it? I can let go of other matters, but not this one! How could I live up to our ancestral teacher if I don't stand up for myself now? We're all low-class actors; do you think I'm afraid of them? Let me go!"

Understanding that it was an argument between Top Scholar Lv and those performing Nuoxi, Li Huowang didn't feel like getting involved and turned to head to his own bedroom.

"Miaomiao, do you remember that old Monk? He—" As soon as he walked into the room, Li Huowang's words abruptly stopped.

Bai Lingmiao was obviously quite exhausted, having already fallen into a deep sleep on the bed after cleaning up.

Li Huowang walked to the bedside and gently stroked her face with his hand.

Feeling Li Huowang's breath, the groggy Bai Lingmiao wrapped her arms around him instinctively.

Seeing her like this, Li Huowang suppressed the desire to share his thoughts.

After blowing out the oil lamp, Li Huowang lay down and stared blankly at the ceiling beam.

"Sigh... Finally, we've had a few peaceful days."

Li Huowang actually wasn't so greedy; he just wanted to quietly maintain this kind of life, and that would be enough.

"Except... for those two." Li Huowang slightly turned his head, glancing at Jiang Yingzi and Master Danyang beside him.

In the quiet bedroom, those two entities were still in the distance, their faces wearing that almost smiling expression.

"Huh?" Li Huowang sat up in surprise, realizing that he could actually see things in the dark.

"In terms of perception, my abilities are getting stronger," Li Huowang murmured to himself, unsure if this news was good or bad.

"Brother Li...?" Seeing Bai Lingmiao close to being woken up by the noise, Li Huowang hurriedly patted her gently. "Sleep... sleep..."

As Li Huowang spoke, he too slowly closed his eyes.

Perhaps because of long years spent traveling, Li Huowang fell asleep in an instant, and, unusually, without dreaming.

While Li Huowang was resting in deep sleep, suddenly his whole body tensed up, feeling something approaching.

The next moment, a severe pain in his fingertip jolted him awake.

Without thinking, he raised his hand to look and found his fingertip had been turned inside out, bloody and gory.

This location, and the savage manner of it, Li Huowang immediately realized, must have been bitten by Bai Lingmiao's Second God!

Looking around, Li Huowang did not find the woman with the red veil over her head.

Li Huowang then looked down and saw three pairs of shoes at the side of the bed. Aside from his and Bai Lingmiao's, there was a pair of red embroidered shoes placed in the middle.

As Li Huowang noticed them, the embroidered shoes slowly retracted underneath the bed.

Glancing at the sleeping Bai Lingmiao, with furrowed brows, he lowered his voice towards the bed's underside, "What are you doing!"

"There is something..." A soft and numbing female voice suddenly arose by Li Huowang's ear.

Li Huowang's hand immediately grasped the sword hilt under the pillow, holding his breath to sense the environment outside the room.

Li Huowang's perception at that moment was very sharp; logically, if someone really was approaching, he should have noticed, but he didn't detect anything unusual.

Just as Li Huowang thought Second God was playing tricks on him, a noise came from outside the window—a kind of crisp metallic clinking sound.

"Da~!" Suddenly, a shadow resembling a shadow puppet projection appeared on the wall.

It was hard to say exactly what the shadow depicted; it was overall spider-like, yet the face was like that of a New Year picture of an old man.

Six barbed arms and solid tentacles with complicated patterns like window lattice art extended and retracted from within.

This unidentifiable shadow puppet rapidly crawled behind Li Huowang's window.

"Hmph, Xinsu? And from the Ao Jing Sect, no less. Truly rare."

The moment he heard these words, Li Huowang, who was holding the sword with one hand, rolled out of bed and got up.