The Unruly Immortals

Watching the hanged ghost so close at hand, Li Huowang almost instinctively reached for his sword.

Just as he was about to exert his strength, he abruptly stopped himself.

That's because Li Huowang realized that the entity wasn't looking at him—it was a dead object! The rope child wasn't it!

Li Huowang's gaze shifted slightly upwards, focusing on something overhead that was very blurry and only vaguely outlined.

Connecting this to the previous trembling sounds, he thought to himself, "This hanged ghost is just a part of it! Perhaps it's merely one of its fingers! The big fellow in the darkness is the real rope child!"

Considering that it hadn't attacked them immediately, it was evident that the Taoist's spells had taken effect,

With this realization, Li Huowang held his breath and assessed the female corpse in front of him once more.

The clothes on the woman's corpse in front of him were red, which turned into a sinister black-red in the pitch-dark surroundings.

From the wrinkles covering her facial features and her patchy white hair, one could discern that she was an old person.

The old woman just hung there in mid-air, her waxen, withered eyes fixated on Li Huowang without moving.

Soon, half an incense stick's time passed. Li Huowang had guessed correctly; after he remained still, the female corpse didn't make any movements, hanging there like a puppet.

In the darkness, everyone present froze in place. If not for the faint white breath that proved they were alive, everyone would look indistinguishable from stone sculptures at that moment.

At this moment, Li Huowang experienced the sensation of time dragging on interminably for the first time. His limbs were sore and numb.

It was in this state that he didn't know how much time had passed. Accompanied by the creaking sound of the rope sinking into the flesh, the hanged ghost slowly floated upwards, gradually moving out of Li Huowang's line of sight.

Li Huowang's gaze followed it as it slowly drifted away and eventually merged with the gigantic, extremely blurred entity in the darkness.

Li Huowang still didn't know what the female corpse meant to the rope child, whether it was part of its body or merely a decorative item. "Rope child? Why would this thing be named 'rope child'?"

The trembling sound that had been heard earlier stirred again, only this time it wasn't approaching but gradually receding.

As time slowly passed, with the trembling sound growing fainter and fainter, that suffocating feeling finally dissipated.

"Whoosh~" The flames illuminated the pallid faces of Li Huowang and the others. It was a burning yellow talisman, with the bottom clamped between the fingers of the Taoist from before.

He first glanced at Li Huowang's exposed ribcage, then said with a chuckle, "Cultivator, the rope child has left, we are safe now."

The light from the fluorescent stones illuminated the faces of the others, and everyone heaved a sigh of relief in unison.

The others looked towards the Taoist, their expressions somewhat more relaxed than before, their recent ordeal having brought them significantly closer.

When they noticed his surprise at their bizarre appearance, Li Huowang was about to offer an explanation.

"Hehe, no trouble at all, Luo Sect disciple, Han Fu, has met the cultivator." The gaunt Taoist gave Li Huowang a formal Taoist bow, again revealing his mouthful of rotten teeth.

The yellow and black rotten teeth grew haphazardly, encrusted at the roots with tartar. The rich halitosis emanating from the gaps between his teeth made the others discreetly step back a few paces.

His breath was foul, not just ordinary foul, but fouler than a privy.

Although this man seemed to neglect his hygiene, after his previous encounter at An Ci Nunnery, Li Huowang wasn't repulsed by his rotten teeth.

Right now, Li Huowang was more concerned with the identity he had just claimed than whether his breath was foul or fragrant.

"Luo Sect? What is this sect? A branch of Taoism?"

Li Huowang didn't ask this question that could easily expose his ignorance, but instead greeted the man with a Taoist salute, "Qingfeng Taoist Temple's Xuan Yang, a pleasure to meet you."

Since the other party was able to communicate and didn't seem to have any ill intent, Li Huowang might find a way out through him.

"Oh? You are a disciple of Taoism too? That's rare, considering your appearance, I thought you were a cultivator of the Ao Jing Sect," Han Fu said, particularly talkative.

"I used to be a disciple of the Ao Jing Sect, but recently left due to some reasons," Li Huowang came up with an excuse on the fly and while looking at Han Fu, thought to himself.

"Where is the person he was talking to just now? Snatched away by a 'Rope Son'? But why doesn't he seem the least bit sad? No, I can't just ask him directly, otherwise he will definitely know I was eavesdropping."

Li Huowang couldn't care less about another stranger, so he pointed with his finger to the Black Taisui wrapped in his skin bag behind him.

"My master sent us brothers here to look for the Medicinal Guide, and we happened to get lost, fortuitously meeting you, Taoist brother. It's our good luck. May I trouble you, Brother Han, to lead us out of this area?"

In speaking thus, Li Huowang wasn't simply disclosing his purpose, but also subtly indicating that he had backup, as a warning to the other not to harbor any ill intentions toward them.

While Li Huowang sized up Han Fu, Han Fu was also scrutinizing Li Huowang, from head to toe, and then from toe to head.

After pausing briefly at the Copper Coin mask on Li Huowang's face, Han Fu said with a smile, "Sure thing, no need to be so formal, we are all cultivators of the Way. Let's go, I'll lead you out. You really can't just walk around here blindly; be careful, or you could lose more than the path—like your flesh and bones."

Taking steps to follow Han Fu into the darkness, Li Huowang pondered for a moment before asking, "Taoist brother Han, what kind of Evil Spirit was that thing just now? I've never seen it before."

Finding someone knowledgeable at last, Li Huowang naturally seized the opportunity to learn as much as he could. Without his master's teachings, he could only rely on this method.

Han Fu appeared quite blase, and when Li Huowang asked, he started to answer right away.

"That's a 'Rope Son.' Some people, when they grow old and have neither sons nor daughters to take care of them, or if their children are unfilial, say you can summon it to attend to you in your old age and death."

Hearing this, Li Huowang immediately thought of the previous female corpse and said with some surprise, "Does that thing truly attend to the old until their death?"

"Ha, do you think others are fools? If one's eyes aren't blind, one can clearly see that such a creature could never take care of the elderly."

"But as for the elderly, well, they're of no use anyway, unable to work or farm, just squandering food. So, when the time comes, the neighbors pick an auspicious day, beat drums and gongs, carry the old person in a sedan chair, and give them over to the 'Rope Son.'

"As for the houses and possessions left by the elderly? Well, of course, the community ends up dividing those among themselves."

At this point, Gouwa, the dog-child, interjected, "I know about this; in our village, it's called 'eating the family out of house and home.'

"Right, right, right! That's 'eating the family out of house and home,' but doesn't that term sound unpleasant? Saying you're giving the elderly to the 'Rope Son' to be taken care of until their death, that sounds much nicer."

The cynicism in Han Fu's words ignited a fire in Li Huowang's heart. He felt a lump of indignation that he wanted to vent but didn't know how.