The Unruly Immortals

The "swoosh" sound of the Copper Coin mask hitting something resonated as it was placed over Li Huowang's face.

Inhaling the unique smoky scent from the Copper Coin mask, Li Huowang felt an unprecedented sense of safety.

"Once we get to An Ci Nunnery, let the abbess and the others have a look. If we can even deceive them, then this thing is very valuable," he said.

With the mask on, Li Huowang stood up and excitedly called to the others behind him, "Let's go! Hurry to Henghua Mountain!"

The wheels of Bao Tie's horse-drawn carriage started rolling again, heading towards Siqi.

As they gradually approached Siqi, known for its many lakes and rivers, life seemed to return to the roadside vegetation, and even the air became more humid.

However, the journey back was not without its difficulties as the military vigilance at the Siqi Border Pass intensified.

Fortunately, the border between Siqi and Huo Shu was long, and with some of the border soldiers redeployed, their defenses proved insufficient.

Seizing the moment when the border soldiers were changing shifts, Li and his companions made their way back into Siqi from Huo Shu.

One early morning, Li Huowang was bound to a tree with chains as thick as the rim of a bowl, rambling incoherently while his fellow disciples watched in silence.

Having witnessed this many times before, they had grown accustomed to it and were no longer as shocked, for they had come to understand Huowang's affliction quite well.

After a moment, Huowang's eyes gradually cleared. He lifted his head to behold the bright sun above and glanced at the verdant trees beside the road, then slowly sighed in relief.

No matter what had happened on the road, they were finally almost there.

"Let's have lunch. After we're done, we'll head out. If we move quickly, we should reach Henghua Mountain before dark," Huowang said to Bai Lingmiao as she untied him.

Looking at Huowang's left sleeve, which hadn't changed in many days, Lingmiao's eyes flashed with sadness.

She turned away and picked up a bucket to fetch water from the nearby river.

The clear river water was pristine, and the wooden bucket, along with Lingmiao's tears, fell into the stream.

"Are you heartbroken over Elder Brother Li?" Chun Xiaoman asked softly as she followed.

"He is disabled now! His hand will never grow back!" Lingmiao choked out.

Xiaoman seemed to want to say something comforting but realized she didn't know where to begin.

The depth of Lingmiao's sorrow showed she had utterly accepted Elder Brother Li as her man.

"This time it's just an arm, but what if there's a next time? Why is it so hard just to go home? Why? Why?"

Seeing her closest friend Lingmiao in such distress made Xiaoman feel a deep empathy.

Although Li Huowang hadn't explained anything to them, Xiaoman could tell that the red bamboo slip at his waist was used to exchange sacrifices from his body for Divine Skills.

As long as that slip remained with Huowang, the things he would have to part with were sure to become increasingly numerous.

Xiaoman, looking at the increasingly distressed Lingmiao before her, softened her heart and hugged her tightly.

Ultimately, it was their lack of strength that had led to the situation they were in; if they were powerful enough to easily resolve such situations, this wouldn't be happening.

But to suggest that Elder Brother Li throw away the bamboo slip was nearly impossible; despite its great cost, its power was immense.

She steeled herself and quietly vowed, "If it comes to that, I'll have Elder Brother Li teach me how to use that bamboo slip."

Since the slip could be used by anyone, she thought it might as well be used by her.

Whether it was Lingmiao or Elder Brother Li, they were cherished by each other; injuries to either would cause pain to someone.

And as for herself, having already decided not to marry, it hardly mattered.

"If it were my hand that had been severed..." Chun Xiaoman lowered her head to glance at the distressed Bai Lingmiao, then looked at her own hand covered in black fur, "that would be fine too!"

After quietly comforting her for a while, the two of them started to fetch water again. The others were still waiting to eat, and they dared not delay the journey.

The bucket was once again submerged in the cool water, beginning to fill.

"Wait a second." Chun Xiaoman dipped her furry hand in the water, gently wiping by Bai Lingmiao's eyes. "There's a bit of dirt here, let me wipe it off for you."

"Thank you, Sister Xiaoman."

"What's there to thank for, we're sisters. In the future, I'm going to be your child's godmother."

No sooner had Chun Xiaoman finished speaking than she saw Bai Lingmiao's expression turn even more terrified. "Sister Xiaoman! Quick, look behind you!"

Xiaoman quickly pressed her hand on the hilt of the sword at her waist, whirled around, and saw in the clear river water, bodies were slowly drifting past, all akimbo.

Soon all the people had gathered by the riverbank, silently observing the corpses floating on the water.

From the clothing of these bodies, they were soldiers from Siqi, there must have been a battle upstream.

Amidst the chaos of war, the lives of civilians naturally couldn't be good. Among the bodies of soldiers, there were also many ordinary people, their eyes filled with despair.

"So many water drifters, how many people must have died upstream," lamented Gouwa, leaning against the trunk of a tree.

"We probably can't drink the water from the river in the future; we'll have to drink well water."

Compared with what the other brothers were worried about, Li Huowang was considering other things.

"We've all seen plenty of dead bodies, don't you think these corpses look too fresh?"

Li Huowang's words made everyone pay attention to the details of the corpses.

If they hadn't died on the same day, under normal circumstances, the bodies in the water would generally look extremely horrifying, definitely not the way they appeared now.

"Yeah, look, there's still color on these dead men's faces!"

"If they weren't so still, they'd be almost indistinguishable from living people."

Li Huowang, with slightly narrowed eyes, surveyed everything before him, feeling a strong sense of unease from these bodies.

"Could they have been killed by some special ability to end up like this? Has some other faction gotten involved in the secular war?"

"Or perhaps I'm just thinking too much. In this world, wars involving those eccentric sects are actually the normal ones?"

After pondering by the river for a while, Li Huowang led the others away.

Perhaps because of the sheer number of dead, everyone's mood was heavy, and no one spoke until they reached the small town at the foot of Henghua Mountain.

It was only after seeing the familiar scenery of the small town they had visited several times before did everyone finally breathe a sigh of relief.

"Brother Li, it's getting late, are you still going up the mountain? Or shall we have breakfast tomorrow before going?"

"No rush." Li Huowang walked into a cake shop wafting with a delicious aroma.

When he came out, he was carrying a large stack of cake boxes behind him—virtually emptying the store of its stock.

"I'm off. You guys stay at the same inn as before, right? It'll be easier to find you later. By the way, where's Gouwa? I just saw him."

"He went to the latrine."

No sooner had these words fallen than a contented-looking Gouwa came out from an alley nearby.

"Hey, this place has a really clean latrine, not even half a fly or a maggot to be seen."