The Unruly Immortals

When Li Huowang awoke again, it was already the afternoon of the next day, and the ample sleep made him feel more refreshed than he had in a long time.

After washing up, he walked towards the outside of the tent dressed neatly, "Senior Brother Li, where are you going?"

Li Huowang turned to look at Bai Lingmiao, who was sewing clothes, "I'm going to bid farewell to Sun Baolu. Since the business is finished, it's about time I left."

Black Taisui had been found, and Han Fu's Nascent Soul had been taken care of. There was no need to stay any longer; it was time to leave Qingqiu.

After asking around the nearby tents, Li Huowang finally found Sun Baolu on the outer grasslands, riding a horse and flying paper kites with his childhood friend from Qingqiu, with hearty laughter audible even from a distance.

Upon seeing Li Huowang approaching, Baolu hurriedly stuffed the kite string into the hands of his beloved and stepped on the stirrups, flipping off the galloping horse.

"Senior Brother Li, are you looking for me?" Baolu asked, panting, as he approached Li Huowang.

Li Huowang gave Sun Baolu in front of him a fresh look, "I've stayed long enough; I'm leaving tomorrow."

"So soon?" A strong sense of reluctance appeared on Sun Baolu's face.

After all, enduring hardships together for such a long time, to say there were no feelings would be false, especially when the other party had traveled so far to bring him home, and what's more admirable was that they hadn't shunned him because of his appearance.

"Senior Brother Li, stay for a few more days; we're all enjoying ourselves here."

"What difference does it make to stay a few more days or a few days late? Can one stay for a lifetime? Slaughtering sheep and cows every day, are you not getting by?"

"No problem! The sheep in Qingqiu are abundant and cheap! And they are easier to raise than those from other places! Once we finish eating these, we can buy some thin sheep and lambs from the Women's Mountain to raise, and before long, we'll have a large flock again!"

Li Huowang smiled slightly, "Alright, I don't have time to chat idly with you. Let's talk about something serious. The things we saw in the cave that night, don't spread the word."

"Especially about the Lion Dance Palace—treat them as you did before, as if you had never discovered they were a group of monsters."

If Lion Dance can exist in Qingqiu as a matter of course, then regardless of what the grand Khan of Qingqiu thinks, he must be tacitly allowing their ostentatious behavior.

Perhaps those creatures living under the rock caves are the reputable and upright sects of Qingqiu.

It was not wise to offend them; the best way to prevent Baolu from getting into trouble was to avoid provoking them.

Seeing how serious Li Huowang was, Baolu nodded solemnly. "Okay, Senior Brother Li, I understand."

After giving these instructions, Li Huowang took another good look at the young man before him. "Does your woman know about your condition?"

At the mention of this, Baolu's bright smile froze, and he nodded with a bitter expression, "She knows, it's fine, she doesn't mind."

"Okay, come with me," said Li Huowang before turning and walking back to the tent. Baolu was initially puzzled, but then something seemed to dawn on him, and his expression became extremely excited.

"Gouwa! Where the hell did you go? Get out here!" Li Huowang's shout echoed through the open space of the tent.

An hour later, inside a tent, Li Huowang was carefully maneuvering a white tassel over various organs of Sun Baolu.

Suddenly, the tent flap was flung open, and Sun Baolu's mother, followed by a big group of Qingqiu People, barged in.

Upon seeing Sun Baolu's naked and disheveled body on the bed, exclamations and intakes of breath occurred one after another.

Li Huowang gave them a glance and slowly pushed with both hands, moving Sun Baolu's buttocks from the front to the back.

By his side, the assistant Gouwa carefully moved Baolu's urinary apparatus from under his armpit to where it rightfully belonged.

Gradually, the tent became quiet, everyone's eyes were wide open as they watched everything unfold; many looked at Li Huowang with eyes filled with immense reverence.

Sun Baolu wasn't Li Huowang; he couldn't use a knife to forcefully mend himself. It was more or less a bit crooked.

But even so, he was so happy that he couldn't contain himself, excitedly jumping around.

Even if it was crooked, these things had finally returned to their rightful place—he wasn't a monster!

The flaw he had been incapable of mentioning for over a decade finally disappeared at that moment.

When he tried to kowtow to Li Huowang, who stopped him, an overjoyed Baolu, naked, spread his arms and continuously circled the tent. "I'm healed! I'm healed! I'm not a monster! I'm a person!!"

That evening inevitably came another grand feast, where a group of people ate mutton, drank alcohol, and honey, celebrating Sun Baolu's return to normalcy.

Sun Baolu's parents raised their glasses with both hands and toasted Li Huowang; any of the Qingqiu People who came near Li Huowang were extremely respectful and did not dare to slight him.

They had previously guessed that the man carrying two swords was no ordinary person, but witnessing his deeds firsthand was something else entirely. In no time, various rumors began to wildly spread among the Qingqiu People.

"Brother Li, this place is really nice. Why don't we just stay here? It's nowhere near as good in Liang State," Gouwa, munching on a lamb leg, moved to Li Huowang's side and whispered his suggestion.

"Eat your meat. Even the meat can't block your mouth. I'm not stopping you if you want to stay," Li Huowang picked up a piece of greasy lamb mixed with fat and lean and stuffed it into his mouth.

Upon hearing this, Gouwa seemed noticeably tempted and began pondering the idea.

Suddenly, a large hand landed on his shoulder; it was Gao Zhijian's hand. When Gouwa turned to look, he saw Gao Zhijian speaking very seriously, "Don't... don't... don't stay! There... there... there's something wrong with this place."

"What's wrong with it? Baolu was born and raised here, what could be wrong?"

Gao Zhijian's expression became grave as he watched his brothers and sisters eating beef and mutton with gusto, watching their Adam's apples move as they pushed the spiced meats down into their stomachs. "Don't... don't... don't know... just... just feels... just feels like there's something wrong!"

"You can't even make your point clear, yet you're trying to advise others. You'd be better off practicing your speech. Work on your stutter," retorted Gouwa.

When Gao Zhijian saw Li Huowang looking at him, he scratched the back of his head with his big hand and went back to his seat, downing the cup of ant honey in one gulp.

As it was the last night, there was a long ruckus. By the time Li Huowang and the others sobered up and loaded everything onto the ox carts, it was already midday.

Black Taisui, squirming, was tightly bound with thick oxhide and sinew to an ox cart.

"Brother Li, until we meet again!" said Sun Baolu, hugging Li Huowang deeply with a hint of redness in his eyes.

"It's probably better if we don't meet again. I always feel that running into me isn't a good sign for you," replied Li Huowang, patting him on the back before turning to leave with the others.