The Unruly Immortals

Hearing Li Huowang's question, Bai Lingmiao nodded and said softly, "That female general had a token. Dog Wa thought it was made of gold at first, but it turned out to be copper. He said it wasn't worth much."

"A token? Bring it here for me to see."

Soon, the object appeared before Li Huowang. It was a kind of square copper badge, which, from the name and military position on it, could be seen as something that proved Peng Longteng's identity.

"There's a tiger head embossed on the badge. This thing should be a military waist token." Li Huowang pressed his hand on the tiger head pattern of the badge, then had Bai Lingmiao put it away.

It's better to be safe than sorry. Maybe this thing would indeed come in handy in the future, even if it turned out to be useless, after all, it was just a token. It wouldn't be too heavy to carry.

That so-called Heavenly Book from Master Danyang was much heavier than this object, and it had always been useless, yet he carried it with him all the time.

"By the way, Brother Li, she also had a book on her. None of us recognize the characters, so Gao Zhijian took it to read," Bai Lingmiao added.

"A book?" Li Huowang, who had just relaxed his guard, became alert instantaneously, "Bring that book to me."

Bai Lingmiao immediately lifted the curtain and walked away, but after a moment, she came back hesitantly.

"Zhijian said that it's just a book of tactics, nothing interesting."

"He refused to give it? Call him here, I'll speak to him personally," Li Huowang's suspicions grew. If it was just a common book of tactics, what was he hiding?

When Gao Zhijian, wrapped in bandages, his face pale from his wounds, appeared before him, Li Huowang looked at him seriously and spoke.

"I know about Peng Longteng's incredible strength, and some Divine Skills she was capable of. You might really desire those, but some things come with risks, and if handled improperly, they could cost you your life. Do you understand what I mean?"

Li Huowang suspected that the book recorded Peng Longteng's Cultivation Method, and that Gao Zhijian was secretly cultivating it.

Having been through so much, he had long realized that without giving anything up, expecting to gain some power just through cultivation, in this mad world, simply did not exist.

To gain something, you must give something. Every Cultivation Technique is extremely dangerous, and he did not want to see a day when Gao Zhijian would become another Peng Longteng.

"This... it's... just... tactics." Gao Zhijian said with a hint of grievance.

"Since it's tactics, then why hide it? Let me see it!"

After hesitating for a moment, Gao Zhijian eventually handed the book over to him.

"General's Garden" was the name of the book.

Li Huowang turned the coarse pages with his charred fingers, and the content was revealed before his eyes. "In employing troops, when receiving orders from the sovereign, gathering the army and masses. No lodging in a deadlock, conjunction at a crossroads, no dwelling in a desperate place, planning when surrounded, fighting to the death in mortal ground, there are paths not to take, enemies not to strike, cities not to assault, grounds not to contest, sovereign orders not to obey..."

"Really tactics?" Li Huowang was very surprised. He looked up at Gao Zhijian and then carefully flipped through the book again.

Although the content was obscure and difficult to understand, toward the end, Li Huowang struggled to comprehend it, but after going through it, he found that it was indeed just a book of tactics.

"Snap!" He closed the book, looking at Gao Zhijian with perplexity, "If it's just an ordinary old book, why do you care so much about it?"

"Good... looks... good to read..." Gao Zhijian stretched out his burly hands, reaching out and taking the book back from Li Huowang.

It was then that Li Huowang noticed his wounds were bleeding again and hastily said, "Hurry back and lie down. You can read after your wound has healed."

With a simple smile, Gao Zhijian nodded, holding the book as he turned and left.

After he was gone, Bai Lingmiao quickly picked up a thin blanket from the side and covered Li Huowang with it. "Brother Li, with such severe wounds, stop worrying about these things. Your health is the priority, rest first."

Li Huowang wanted to sleep, but the excruciating pain from the Great Thousand Record on his back left him utterly sleepless.

He stared blankly at the ceiling above, his mind in a void, unsure what to think.

After a while, he spoke, "Miaomiao, help me up, I want to see what's outside."

Bai Lingmiao obviously didn't want to do this, but under Li Huowang's urging, she eventually complied.

The curtain of the carriage was lifted, revealing an expansive green meadow that soothed Li Huowang's soul like a long, cool drink of water on a summer day, with the breeze rippling through the grass like waves of silk.

"Is this Qingqiu? The scenery is much better than before."

Hearing Li Huowang's words, Bai Lingmiao next to him nodded, "I heard my father say that to the left of Liang State is Qingqiu. I've also heard that the horses here are good, and so are the sheep."

Li Huowang nodded, "I see the green, but where are the hills?"

This question was clearly beyond Bai Lingmiao who had never traveled far from home.

"Which of our people here are from Qingqiu?" Li Huowang asked.

"Sun Baolu is, and there's... a junior brother and two Taoist Boys, but they're all dead."

Li Huowang sighed, "Find their addresses; we'll send their leaves back to their roots."

Too many had died or been injured on this journey.

"Hmm, but I've heard that the people here in Qingqiu don't bury the deceased in the ground. We can ask Sun Baolu later."

After speaking for a while, Bai Lingmiao realized that Li Huowang hadn't responded to her. Confused, she looked over and saw him standing rigidly, his eyes wide open.

It seemed as if he had seen something shocking, but apart from the grass, there was clearly nothing outside!

"Brother Li, what's wrong with you—" Halfway through her question, she saw the injured Li Huowang suddenly grab his Longsword and jump out of the window, tumbling to the ground.

The impact caused his charred left leg to snap off like a withered branch, and cracks appeared all over his body.

But Li Huowang didn't care about any of that, he raised his sword with one hand, aiming at his own left arm, ready to chop it off at any moment.

The nearest, Gouwa, rushed up and grabbed Li Huowang's sword arm. Anxiously calling out to his companions, "Quick, bring the chains! Brother Li is having an attack again!!"

Li Huowang's neck stiffly turned towards Gouwa, "Can't you see it?"

"Huh?" Gouwa was utterly confused. "See what?"

Hearing this response, Li Huowang's body went limp, and he collapsed powerlessly onto the soft grass.

With his head against the ground, Li Huowang's solitary eye moved upwards, seeing what only he could see—a headless Peng Longteng standing like a statue, his immense shadow engulfing Huowang completely.

Peng Longteng's Battle Armor seemed dark red as if scorched by fire, and blood flowed from the joints of the armor, exactly as if he had just come down from the battlefield where he had fought with Li Huowang.

"Why has she become my hallucination? Why?" Li Huowang kept pondering this question.

Just then, he noticed something moving behind Peng Longteng.

It was Jin Shanzhao, but only his upper body. His rotting organs spilled out from his abdominal cavity, leaving a long trail behind on the ground.

As Li Huowang was being bound with chains by other brothers, carried towards the ox cart, he saw Jin Shanzhao open his mouth as if wanting to say something to him.

"What do you want to say?"

Jin Shanzhao's expression was stiff, and his lower jaw moved up and down. Still, no sound came from his mouth.