The Unruly Immortals

On a muddy yellow dirt path, Li Huowang and his party, now back to their normal appearances, continued on their journey.

Several days had passed since they had escaped from the town.

At this moment, weariness was evident on everyone's face. With poor food and clothing, this outcome was inevitable.

When they reached a relatively flat area, Li Huowang wiped the sweat from his brow with his sleeve. "Let's take a break."

At his words, everyone immediately dropped to the ground in a disheveled heap, panting heavily.

Bai Lingmiao carefully took out the last piece of yellow cake from her embrace, broke it in half, put one half back, and then handed the other half to Li Huowang. "Brother Li, have something to eat."

Li Huowang glanced at her, reached out, and pinched her stomach, which was hollow.

This action made Bai Lingmiao feel ashamed, yet she found it hard to refuse.

"Don't hold back. I know you have a big appetite. Eat if you need to. Don't starve yourself. I'll figure something out for the rest," he said.

"I'm really not hungry. You eat," Bai Lingmiao insisted, pushing the cake back towards him again.

This time Li Huowang couldn't be bothered to accept it and reopened the map, looking for a way to replenish their supplies.

Food and other necessities were running low; they had to find more soon.

He had considered robbing bandits, but thinking about the bandits' relationship with the thieving soldiers, Li Huowang dismissed the idea.

It was hard to tell whether these bandits were part of that woman's network of lookouts.

They had barely managed to escape before; it wasn't worth risking an encounter with the thieving soldiers just for some food.

"Rob ordinary citizens?"

Li Huowang immediately rejected the thought. He would never stoop to do such bestial deeds like his Master,

He was Li Huowang, not Master Danyang.

Not robbing bandits, not oppressing the common folk, yet they desperately needed to find sufficient travel funds and food. This was indeed a difficult predicament.

At that moment, a boy with a doggish look came over with a grin, reaching for the cake in Bai Lingmiao's hand, but she slapped his hand away.

"Sister Bai, give it to me, Brother Li isn't hungry, but I am," the boy pleaded.

"No, we only have this little bit of food left. Eat your own!" Bai Lingmiao chastised.

"Mine's all gone."

"Then go hungry. A few days without food won't kill you."

With a dejected air, the boy stuffed his hands into his loose clothing, scratching at his ribs.

He turned his gaze toward the others nearby.

But this time, no one had any food to share, not even the usually sympathetic Chun Xiaoman.

Gradually, his eyes landed on the women they had rescued from the bandits' stronghold.

"If only we had ditched those women earlier. They don't do a thing but waste food, nothing but a burden," he muttered.

His words made the rescued women show expressions of panic on their faces, huddling together helplessly and without direction.

"Are you even a man? Why are you talking so much nonsense!" Chun Xiaoman couldn't stand it anymore.

"I'm just stating facts. Did I say anything wrong?" the boy retorted.

"Don't... don't leave us behind! We can be useful, we know where there's food. It's not far from here; we can lead you there," one woman interjected urgently.

At this, everyone's gaze turned toward the women.

The speaker was a woman with a big mouth. Evidently, she possessed assets other than just a big mouth that made her a target for kidnapping by bandits.

Feeling the eyes on her, she uneasily lowered her head.

"Is what you said true? Can you really get food?"

Li Huowang walked over and stood in front of her to ask.

He suddenly realized that he had been stubbornly fixated on a minor detail. With a group of locals from Huo Shu to guide them, who needed a map?

"Hmm...there's a village nearby...my great-aunt works the fields there...I could go and borrow some..."

Li Huowang took another look at the map in his hands and noticed it wasn't marked.

"Heh heh...there are too many of these small villages and hamlets for an old man to mark them all." Jin Shanzhao came over and explained awkwardly.

"Brother, if you don't know, just say so. What's with the act? You've delayed Taoist Master's business,"

Top Scholar Lv's teasing made Jin Shanzhao's old face turn red, "Big brother, I wasn't talking nonsense. In all of Huo Shu, do you know how many—"

"Enough, we don't have time to chat. Let's go over there and have a look. You lead us to your great-aunt's place."

Li Huowang's definitive statement got everyone who was still resting on their feet.

Following that, the group, led by the loud-mouthed woman, headed toward a distant stone mountain.

When they arrived at the base of the barren stone mountain, the loud-mouthed woman didn't stop; she led the others and began climbing the solitary mountain.

There was some path at first, but it disappeared later on, requiring all four limbs to climb.

Several times, Li Huowang thought the woman was deceiving him—this broken place looked nothing like a village could be here.

But after exerting the effort of nine bulls and two tigers to climb to the peak, a scene of Taoyuan, an outsider's haven, appeared before him.

It was a flat-top mountain, and incredibly, there really was a village atop this flat-top mountain.

What's more, he saw vast expanses of green fields, a rare sight in the barren lands of the Huo Shu Kingdom.

"Who's the crazy one... Who's so full they've got nothing better to do? To build a village up here; it nearly killed me." Gouwa complained, rubbing his aching legs.

"I guess, maybe to avoid excessive donations, miscellaneous taxes, and corvee labor, or maybe even conscription. It's one of these reasons, anyway."

"Alas, when you think about it like that, how bitter the lives of the common folk are, with so many burdens to bear."

"Are the officials in Huo Shu so ruthless? Driving people up into the mountains? The officials where we come from are not like this. During the autumn harvest, only half of the crop goes to the officials as a tax, and the farmers are exempt from corvee labor."

Comparing themselves with those worse off, Top Scholar Lv experienced a cheap sense of satisfaction.

As they were talking, Li Huowang had already inquired clearly about the great-aunt's location from the loud-mouthed woman and was heading inside.

It looked truly peaceful here, with every house clean and bright.

Nothing from the outside world seemed to have touched this place. It was as if it truly was a Taoyuan.

"Brother Li, our village is somewhat similar, although there are fewer people, they are all good folks."

Seeing all this, Bai Lingmiao was reminded of something, and a hint of joy appeared on her face.

"If we settle down, living in a place like this with others seems like a nice option too," Li Huowang thought to himself.

His keen senses allowed him to hear voices from within the houses.

A large group of outsiders entering the village was bound to attract the locals' attention.

However, as the loud-mouthed woman accurately stated her great-aunt's name, the hostility on their faces lessened considerably.

Just when they thought things were moving in a positive direction, upon hearing that a distant relative had come to borrow grain, the household wouldn't even open the door.

The loud-mouthed woman stood at the tightly shut door with guardian deities pasted on them, casting anxious glances at the others.

She couldn't stop her tears from flowing and said with a choked voice, "I...I really didn't know... don't abandon me... I have nowhere else to go..."

The others stood in place with agitation and unease written on their faces. If they ran out of food, they would have to resort to drinking the north wind.