The Unruly Immortals

"Lion dance?" Li Huowang's mind still couldn't wrap itself around what he was seeing; the thing approaching slowly from the distance looked nothing like the lion dance he remembered.

First of all, in his memory, a celebratory lion dance should not be covered in a large, seemingly dirty white cloth, and this so-called lion dance didn't even have a head!

The white cloth, supported from within, held a hazy white light source that illuminated everything below through the lower end of the cloth, the light he had seen earlier.

If it were just a glowing white cloth, Li Huowang wouldn't regard it as an evil spirit. More unsettling were the withered palm prints cast upon the cloth.

Under the illumination of the light source, the cloth became slightly transparent, displaying the variously sized handprints clearly to Li Huowang.

As the lion dance drew closer, Li Huowang saw more details on the white cloth, which bore many white tassels much like the ones found on funeral banners carried by mourners.

Li Huowang's gaze gradually shifted downward, toward the lion's feet below the white cloth, and what met his eyes were muddy, bare feet.

If anything might remotely associate with a lion dance, it would be the feet beneath the cloth and the hands holding it, moving simultaneously in some kind of rhythm; indeed, they were dancing.

With each movement and shake, the large cloth emitted sounds akin to wooden poles knocking against each other, as if for accompaniment.

"Big Brother Li, don't worry, I've been seeing this since I was little. I got scared and cried the first time, but after seeing it a few more times, you get used to it," said Sun Baolu, attempting to ease Li Huowang's concerns.

Li Huowang cautiously adjusted the brass mask on his face, trying to cover as much of his face as possible.

"Sometimes, getting used to things doesn't necessarily mean they're safe, and why doesn't this lion have a head?"

"Because they haven't completed their training, they're all apprentices. Only the master of the lion dance is qualified to wear the lion head; these kids are just practicing under cover of night."

After explaining to Li Huowang, Sun Baolu looked up and started to shout towards the nearby lion dancers. From his tone, it seemed he was offering some sort of encouragement.

However, these headless lions did not respond to Sun Baolu, passing silently by Li Huowang like a dead elephant lying on the ground, moving slowly with a certain special melody.

After a while, the lion dance finally left, leaving behind a gradually receding figure that didn't provoke any reaction from Li Huowang.

"Look, Big Brother Li, Qingqiu is different from other places. With the protection of Changsheng Heaven, those evil spirits do not dare to act rashly."

With lingering caution, Li Huowang glanced at him and turned to walk towards the inn.

"So Changsheng Heaven is that stingy? They only protect this place?"

"This... well, that's what my people say."

"Are these lion dancers all taught by their masters in succession, passed down from generation to generation?"

"No, there's a tradition. In Qingqiu, there's a group of people who specialize in teaching lion dance, it's said to be called the Lion Dance Palace."

"Lion Dance Palace?" Li Huowang muttered the term to himself, feeling he had heard it somewhere, but he couldn't recall it no matter how hard he tried.

Just as Li Huowang was earnestly pondering this issue, the monk beside him, who was anxiously counting on his fingers, suddenly stamped his foot and urgently said, "Taoist, something's not right! There's something off about those lion dancers!"

"Hmm?" Li Huowang looked at the Monk's illusion beside him in bewilderment, "What's wrong?"

"Didn't you count just now? The numbers don't add up! There were far more hands holding up the cloth than feet beneath! More hands than feet, the count is wrong! There must be something wrong with those people!"

"Wait!" As Li Huowang recalled the scene just now, he felt a chill in his body.

Had it not been for the monk's reminder, he almost failed to notice—why were there more hands than feet among the lion dancers?!

"Brother Li?" Watching Li Huowang talk to himself, Sun Baolu took a few steps back with a hint of apprehension.

Just when Sun Baolu decided that if the other continued to spout nonsense, he would immediately go back to get others to bring over chains, he saw Brother Li leaning on a crutch, limping towards the inside.

"Baolu, don't sleep tonight. The two of us will keep watch!"

"Ah? Oh! Alright, alright!" Although he didn't understand why they needed to keep watch inside an inn, Sun Baolu still complied.

In the dead of the night, Sun Baolu, who hadn't blinked once, suddenly saw Brother Li stand up, actually telling others to start traveling at this hour.

Although the others were puzzled about why they had to travel at night, they still followed suit.

They lacked some gold and silver, but the carriage was laden with a few bags of highland barley. And several dozen sheep.

"This is my specialty, my specialty! When I was begging as a child, I helped a wealthy family herd sheep for two years!"

With Top Scholar Lv volunteering, the temporary position of shepherd was taken up by him.

Under the moonlight, they left Woman Mountain, and Li Huowang, looking back from time to time, had an extra serious expression on his face, combined with the exhaustion of not sleeping all night, his complexion was very unsightly.

Seeing his face, everyone felt that something must have happened, with none in the mood to chat idly, the atmosphere became somewhat oppressive.

Confused, Chun Xiaoman, carrying a sword, came to Sun Baolu's side and asked in a low voice, "What's wrong with Brother Li? Wasn't he always by your side? He was happily accompanying Sister Bai earlier, wasn't he? How did he become like this overnight?"

Sun Baolu hesitated and finally told Chun Xiaoman in a lowered voice. "I don't know either, apparently nothing happened. Maybe..."

At that, he lowered his voice even more, until it was barely more than a mosquito buzz.

"Perhaps Brother Li's illness flared up again... Didn't he often say that someone was out to harm him before?"

Xiaoman glanced at the agitated Li Huowang again and turned to head over to Bai Lingmiao to understand the situation.

However, even by the riverside where they rested, Chun Xiaoman still had no clue what had happened.

"Set up the pot, and light up the gathered sheep dung underneath!"

A few scattered to forage for wild vegetables,

Gouwa's eyes suddenly lit up, and with a sweep of his hands, he grabbed two grasshoppers tangled together, breaking off their legs and wings carefully with his fingers, tucking them into his waist pouch.

"The land of Qingqiu is so fertile, I've already caught a dish of solid vegetables in no time."

After tightening his pouch, he lay back down on the ground and continued to search through the grass.

Soon his attention was drawn to a small clump of thorns. With nails covered in black grime, he carefully pinched off a tender thorn, peeled off the barbed skin along one side, revealing the green core inside.

Chewing the green core in his mouth, Gouwa showed a satisfied expression. He had eaten this wild vegetable before, and it tasted good, somewhat like crispy celery.

Just as he was about to take all the tender thorns back in one go, a basket that suddenly appeared in front of him gave Gouwa a big scare.

He looked up and found it was Chun Xiaoman's basket. After the woman put down her basket, she turned and walked toward Li Huowang, who was sitting cross-legged in the distance.

"Take them back with you on your way back," she said.