The Unruly Immortals

Hearing these words, Sun Baolu's face showed a hint of confusion, but he quickly returned to normal, "I don't know whether those Luo Sect lamas count, but both my dad and grandpa respect them a lot, saying they can communicate with gods and capture ghosts."

"That's what I've heard, but I haven't seen much of it. From childhood to adulthood, I've only seen them twice, when they came for alms, and my dad treated them very well."

Based on Sun Baolu's explanation, Li Huowang knew the basic appearance of those so-called Luo Sect lamas.

From his description, it seemed all of Qingqiu's weddings and funerals needed them to preside, and they were very worldly, eating meat and drinking with no taboos.

Moreover, these lamas even claimed that because of their protection from "Eternal Heaven," Qingqiu was free of evil spirits.

"No evil spirits? Truly nothing at all?" Li Huowang looked around in surprise; this place was so different from other areas.

"Hmm... at least I've never seen any, and neither have others I know," Sun Baolu said, not with the certainty Li Huowang had expected.

"No evil spirits... Should I try to contact these lamas to ask about Xinsu?"

However, after thoroughly considering it, Li Huowang eventually dismissed the idea. It was too dangerous to rashly make contact with other powers now, even with the Copper Coin mask on his face, just in case they recognized him as Xinsu, which would be a big problem.

After all he had been through, aside from An Ci Nunnery, no other people or powers were good.

Once past Qingqiu, it was Liang State. Arriving there safely was more important than anything else.

"I can't take this group with me. After sending them off, maybe I can go find out myself," Li Huowang quickly decided.

"Come on, continue talking. Tell me everything about these so-called Luo Sect lamas, how is their reputation around here?"

"It's all right, I guess; the few times I've seen them, they seemed decent enough."

Following that, Li Huowang carefully extracted all the information Sun Baolu knew about the Luo Sect lamas from his head.

"Brother Li, here, it's time for dinner."

A bowl of clear soup noodles was placed in front of Li Huowang, with some small, white, round tubers the size of pinky fingers floating on top.

"What are these?" Li Huowang picked up one with his chopsticks, "I don't know, Brother Sun said these wild vegetables are edible. He said that when he was a kid, he used to dig them up from the grass and eat them as snacks, calling them 'wild jelly heads.'

Li Huowang popped a 'wild jelly head' into his mouth and gently bit down, discovering it was a bit like a bitter potato, but the taste wasn't bad.

Mantou, who was lying on Li Huowang, suddenly pricked up its ears and, with a bound, dashed toward the distant grassland.

"Mantou ran off? Shall we follow and see?"

"Let it play. We're always on the move, it seldom gets to relax. Mantou is smart and knows when to come back," Li Huowang said, then began to eat, while Bai Lingmiao squatted silently beside him.

Li Huowang's bowl of 'wild jelly head' noodles quickly disappeared into his belly, after which he asked Bai Lingmiao to serve him another bowl.

Whether it was his skin regrowing or not, Li Huowang's appetite was now no less than that of Gao Zhijian or Bai Lingmiao.

Bai Lingmiao gently patted the dust from Li Huowang's body and said with some expectation, "Brother Li, once we pass Qingqiu, it won't be long until we reach Liang State."

"When we reach the foot of Ox-Head Mountain and return to our village, we can finally settle down."

"We could use silver to buy some acres of farmland, use the ox that pulls the cart to plough the fields, and I'll stay home to buy silkworms and weave fabric. Once we've saved enough money to build a house, we could split off from my father and mother."

"Men plowing and women weaving, huh? Do you really want to live like that for the rest of your life?" Li Huowang slurped up the noodles from his mouth.

Hearing him ask that, Bai Lingmiao's voice carried a hint of caution, "Brother Li, don't you want to farm? It's fine, you don't have to farm if you don't want to, we have an ox."

"I'm willing to do anything, but on one condition, I want to cure my illness."

No sooner had Li Huowang finished speaking than Bai Lingmiao grabbed his hand. "Brother Li, it's okay, really, I don't mind. When you're sick, I can take care of you by your side."

Li Huowang thought of the swollen face Bai Lingmiao used to have, which he himself had caused, and he shook his head firmly, "No, it must be cured."

Otherwise, he simply dared not let himself stay by Bai Lingmiao's side. Such a person was a ticking time bomb, prone to do something regretful at any moment.

Although there were Yang Na and mother at Huan Jue's place, what's fake is fake, it can never become real, and I should have given up long ago,

"Brother Li, I'm begging you, it's really okay this way, don't go looking for anything. Didn't you tell me before that even the powerful abbess couldn't find a cure?"

Li Huowang put down his noodle bowl and looked at Bai Lingmiao somewhat surprised, "How will we know without trying? Don't you want me to cure this disease?"

Bai Lingmiao hesitated, finally remaining silent with her eyelashes drooping, staying by Li Huowang's side.

On one hand, she was worried about Li Huowang being in danger; on the other hand, she was actually more worried that one day, if Li Huowang truly cured his illness and no longer needed her, he would abandon her.

A Li Huowang without an illness was too good, so good that someone like her was completely unworthy of him.

Li Huowang continued to eat the noodles in his bowl, his eyes fixed on Peng Longteng, the Monk, and that half of Jin Shanzhao ahead.

Thinking back to his initial speculations about the Oblivion Path, his gaze grew even more resolute.

"No, I must resolve the trouble with Xinsu once and for all. If Oblivion Path's Bei Feng really is Xinsu, then there must be a way."

"Even if there isn't, I still have to search. Otherwise, I will never be content!"

At that moment, Mantou came back from afar, holding something in its mouth—as it approached, it turned out to be a dead rabbit.

Mantou placed the rabbit in front of Li Huowang, panting, its tail wagging excitedly.

Mantou's arrival broke the tense atmosphere between the two, and Bai Lingmiao reached out to pet its head, "Good boy, you know Brother Li needs nourishment for his body right now."

With that, she picked up the rabbit with both hands and walked towards the pot.

Li Huowang watched Bai Lingmiao's retreating figure and said to Mantou, still panting with its tongue out: "I know she means well for me, but I really don't dare to spend my life with her as things are now, to be honest. I'm really afraid that one day, if I accidentally kill her..."

"Woof woof!!" Mantou barked at Li Huowang, who was speaking to it, and then started sniffing the ground incessantly.

Li Huowang reached into his clothing to pluck out another piece of dead skin and threw it towards Peng Longteng in the distance; Mantou instantly charged under Peng Longteng's crotch.

The rabbit was roasted by Sun Baolu; he seemed to be quite skilled at it, and it tasted very good.