The Unruly Immortals

Cao Hai pushed the door open with caution and saw Peng Longteng lying on the bed, allowing two physicians to dress the wound on his neck.

"Oh~!" Cao Hai walked in, came to Peng Longteng's side, and stomped furiously.

"Have you gone mad? You actually killed thousands of people!"

Peng Longteng, who had been resting with closed eyes, spoke up, "How do you fight a war without pay? Who will fight for them without a reward?"

"Asking them for money is harder than killing them. Fine, if they have their difficulties, I might as well demand my own reward!"

"After battling for so long on the battlefield, I can't let down my soldiers!"

"You, you, you—" Cao Hai was so furious he was at a loss for words.

"It's just a small town of a few thousand people. Look how frantic you are. I didn't target a city, and that's already being very considerate to those big turbans."

"Easy for you to say! Those were all citizens of Huo Shu!" Cao Hai, overwhelmed with anger, wiped away tears as he paced back and forth inside the room.

"Right now, the court is in utter chaos because of natural disasters, and you just had to add to their troubles! You've completely offended them now!"

Peng Longteng pushed the physician stitching up his neck away and sat up straight.

"What do natural disasters have to do with me? Even if the sky falls, soldiers still need their pay! And what are you so afraid of? It's not the first time we've had natural disasters."

"Dear me, if you want your pay, just take your pay, but why kill people?"

Cao Hai, complaining, cocked his dainty finger and wiped the bloodstains from Peng Longteng's armor with a handkerchief.

"Just coming off the battlefield, so many have died, and without reward or pay, our lads are all pent up with anger. If it's not released, it'll turn into a mutiny."

Cao Hai's voice dropped considerably. "Regardless of what you say, you can't cover up the truth. If the court finds out what you've done..."

"So what if they find out? You think those cunning folks don't already know?"

"They withheld the military pay meant for the soldiers fighting the thieves. Did they think I wouldn't react at all?"

"They won't make a big fuss about it. The big turbans up there will help cover it up; otherwise, if it becomes a big issue, no one will look good."

"Now everything is perfect. They don't have to pay more, and we got our pay. No one loses."

"Besides, I wasn't acting blindly, this is a just cause. Haven't you seen that I've already rooted out several Siqi spies?"

At this, Peng Longteng thought of something and his face suddenly darkened, his hand reaching for his left cheek.

The blue tattoo on his face had been severely burned, with the twisted characters for 'fierce loyalty' looking particularly horrifying.

The left eye, especially, Peng Longteng's handsome phoenix-like eye, was now covered with a film of white film and was obviously blinded.

"Clever boy, to escape from my hands and even injure me. You've got guts!"

"Military Supervisor, go and send a message to the Astrological Bureau, and let me know their location when they're found. I must be the one to kill him."

"Ah, General, just let it go. Since that kid is from the Ao Jing Sect, it's not your concern anymore. Let's return to camp."

"No! I, Peng Longteng, do not let things wait overnight! Whoever provokes me, damn them, they have to die!"

"That doesn't make sense at all. Oh, you lead your troops around Huo Shu creating chaos; do you really think you're the emperor himself?"

"A general disobeys orders when abroad. Zhuo Mountain bandits raise their banners and rebel, exploiting the common folk. I, as general, went to suppress them."

Cao Hai's face showed utter helplessness. "Where have they rebelled? Didn't you just subdue them?"

"If I say they've rebelled, then they've rebelled!"

Enveloped in iron armor, Peng Longteng forcefully smashed his hand down, punching a hole into the sturdy wooden bed.

—————————————

With a heavily toothed Wolf Fang Club, he smashed down on the head of a two-meter-long snake, crushing its head into a pulp.

Gao Zhijian scooped it up, gave a simple-minded smile, then threw it over his shoulder and headed back to his residence.

This was a stone forest. Although it was filled with stones everywhere, at least it wasn't as barren as before—green plants brought a bit of vitality to the place.

Not long after walking, Gao Zhijian spotted other people at a cave.

"Do... do... do..." he held up the big snake and approached them.

"What's there to do? Elder Brother Li forbade lighting fires. Just munch on the dry food," someone said.

But Jin Shanzhao didn't think so. He grinned and reached out to take the snake.

"Without fire, one can still make snake sashimi," he said.

He then took out a small knife to slit the snake open, carefully sliced the fresh meat into pieces, and meticulously arranged them.

Jin Shanzhao picked up a pair of bamboo chopsticks, grabbed two slices, dipped them in chili powder, and placed them in his mouth.

"Mmm~! Absolutely delicious, everyone come and try," he exclaimed.

The others gathered around, and they ate with relish, taking turns biting into it.

Midway through the feast, Doggy stopped his chopsticks and called out to Li Huowang in the distance, "Elder Brother Li, come eat some snake meat. This raw snake flesh, once you put it in your mouth, it's like chewing on fat."

At the moment, Li Huowang paid no attention to him, hugging his head and continuing to explore his new ability.

"Whoosh~!" When Li Huowang opened his eyes once more, he found his perspective had flipped over, hanging on the cliff with his own head below him.

"Closer... a bit closer... don't panic, take it slow..."

As Li Huowang reassured himself in his mind, his perspective slowly shifted, gradually moving closer until it merged with his body.

This time there were no discrepancies. After so many days of training, Li Huowang could now align them with utmost precision.

Looking around, Li Huowang's phantom suddenly rushed in front of the squatting Mantou.

The sudden appearance startled it, and it tumbled backwards to the ground.

Mantou got up, its ears drooping down, wagging its tail at the phantom of Li Huowang.

Seeing this, Li Huowang thought to himself, "Never mind how it appeared; this ability is very useful."

"It could serve as an unexpected tactic during a fight."

"However, I must practice more. I have to become as proficient with it as I am with my limbs."

Li Huowang could now make his phantom appear at will around one zhang away from his body.

He could also leave the phantom in its original place and bring his invisible true form within a zhang in other locations.

If an enemy attacked Li Huowang's phantom, Li Huowang himself would not suffer any harm, just like during his fight with that female general before.

But such ability shouldn't be used recklessly. Others aren't fools; having been fooled once, they would surely be cautious if used again.

"Elder Brother Li, how well have you mastered the Divine Skills?" Bai Lingmiao walked over holding a bowl of snake sashimi.

"Not bad," Li Huowang said, picking up the chopsticks and starting to eat, as if it were noodles.

Raw snake meat wasn't tasty, but to Li Huowang, who was tired of dry rations, it was still quite good.

"Elder Brother Li, how much longer until we get out of Huo Shu?"

Li Huowang paused his chopsticks and took out the detailed map drawn by Jin Shanzhao to look at it again.

"We can't take the main roads anymore. From here on, we'll have to take smaller paths, or even avoid paths entirely. They don't know our destination, so I have the advantage in that regard."

"In two days, we can reach this point. After another seven days or so of traveling north, we should arrive at Border Pass. We won't go through the pass but will bypass it from the side. Once we leave Huo Shu, we'll be safe."

"But... we won't last that long. Even if we ration the dry food, at most, it'll only last another two days," Bai Lingmiao said.