The Unruly Immortals

Gathering information was usually a task for other disciples, but this time was different because what Li Huowang was inquiring about this time was the Astrological Bureau.

Given the enigmatic nature of these beings, letting other disciples gather information posed far too great a risk.

As for Li Huowang himself, he didn't have to worry about these things, his newly acquired ability held distinct advantages in information gathering.

As long as he placed his colorful ethereal body underground, his physical body on the surface could be completely invisible.

Even if someone were to track him, his increasingly sensitive perception could detect it in advance.

People who should have been gathered together were now scattered like sesame seeds on a pancake, spread throughout the entire county town.

Each person busied themselves with their own tasks until dusk, when they finally reconvened at the inn.

"Brother Li, the sheep have been sold off, and once they heard the sheep were brought in from Qingqiu, they went crazy! I also topped up some fine grains because eating coarse grains every day just doesn't sit well with the stomach." DogWa, walking arm-in-arm with Zhao Wu, chuckled as he handed a heavy purse of silver to Li Huowang.

"Give it to Zhao Wu to keep; he's the one who usually manages the accounts."

Li Huowang, appearing somewhat downcast, turned and entered his own room, lying on the bed and feeling the stabbing pain in his feet from walking all day.

If there was anything worse than being watched by the Astrological Bureau, it was being completely unable to find any information about them at all.

He knew that finding the Astrological Bureau in just one day was unlikely, but he couldn't help feeling discouraged.

"This method of searching isn't working, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack. I must find a different approach to connect with the Astrological Bureau as soon as possible."

Li Huowang rubbed his forehead, pondering his next move in the darkness of his room.

A pair of white hands with sharp black nails reached out from beneath the bed, removing Li Huowang's shoes and socks, and soaked his tired feet in warm water.

For a while, the pitch-black room fell silent without any sound.

This tranquility lasted for half an hour before Li Huowang himself broke it.

Li Huowang sat up abruptly, excitedly speaking to the monk in front of him, "Wait, think about the opportunity when that old lama appeared! That's it!"

"Since the Astrological Bureau handles some matters that the government office can't, all I need to do is get involved with as many of those complicated issues as possible to make contact with the Astrological Bureau sooner!"

"You're right!" The monk standing beside Peng Longteng nodded in agreement repeatedly.

Li Huowang realized he had been looking in the wrong direction before. He shouldn't have been inquiring about the Astrological Bureau itself but should be listening for any hair-raising strange events or anomalies. The Astrological Bureau would certainly show up again with such incidents.

With this realization, Li Huowang could no longer contain his excitement. He lifted his feet out of the basin, didn't bother to dry them, put on his shoes and socks, and rushed outside.

But as soon as he pushed the door open, his excitement led him to crash face-first into Top Scholar Lv.

"Hehe, Taoist Master, have you had your meal?" Top Scholar Lv asked with a beaming smile,

"Is there something you need?" Li Huowang asked coldly, leaning on the door frame,

"That, how is Scholar learning? If he doesn't obey, you should hit him hard! I know, that's how learning a skill works, spare the rod and spoil the child, so don't be polite with me."

"He is very diligent, but because he can't read, he learns very slowly," Li Huowang said frankly.

"Ah, little Daoist Master, tell me, why is my fate so hard? I finally get a grandson, and then this kind of thing happens."

"Just say what it is. I have urgent matters to attend to right now," Li Huowang could tell there was more to what the other party was saying.

This old man wouldn't come to him to complain for no reason; he was not that kind of person.

"There is! Daoist Master, have you forgotten? It's about borrowing money, restarting performance. I've been looking all day today, you can buy everything in this place! Costumes, copper mirrors, musical instruments, you name it! So, well..."

"Are you still not giving up?" To be honest, Li Huowang felt that Lv's Troupe, who could only produce primitive sounds, stood no chance against the troupes of Da Liang in terms of core competitiveness.

"That... Old man, I want to try something. I've thought of a way, maybe we can scrape by living off the scraps from those troupes," Top Scholar Lv continued to chuckle.

"Fine, go to Zhao Wu to get the money. He just happens to have enough cash silver," Li Huowang said and then directly brushed past him, hurriedly walking toward the inn's staircase.

Compared to the matters of the Astrological Bureau, Top Scholar Lv's revival venture was immediately forgotten by Li Huowang.

In the following period, Li Huowang went to great lengths searching for the Astrological Bureau in Da Liang, leaving early and returning late every day, gathering information from the mouths of the town's residents.

Li Huowang ignored the deaths of one or two people or those who were bewitched. He knew that such minor incidents would only attract spirit mediums or grannies rather than the Astrological Bureau.

Having been in this place for quite a while, Li Huowang also understood what the Astrological Bureau was and what they were concerned with.

The Astrological Bureau always focused on major events, like disasters that could easily claim tens of thousands of lives, such as the Ghost Town previously slaughtered by the Oblivion Path, or something that could overturn the official rules.

Although such events could attract the Astrological Bureau, they were not common. Having searched everywhere without finding anything strange or abnormal, he did hear plenty of rumors and trivial chatter.

Of course, if Li Huowang were to remove the copper coin mask from his face and reveal himself as Xinsu, he would definitely immediately attract the attention of the Astrological Bureau, but this was naturally not what he wanted.

Bai Lingmiao, lying in bed, slowly opened her eyes and looked at Li Huowang, who was sound asleep with his head covered, a trace of worry surfacing in her heart.

"Brother Li," she thought, "has been waking up before dawn these past few days, and only returns after I've fallen asleep. I don't know what he's been inquiring about."

"Bang, bang, bang!" Suddenly, the door shook continuously from being knocked, and an excited voice came from outside. "Master! I've succeeded! I've developed divine skills!"

The moment that voice sounded, Li Huowang's eyes snapped open, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the door—it was Scholar Lv's voice.

He immediately sat up, threw off the blanket, and headed toward the door.

As Li Huowang was putting on his shoes, something suddenly occurred to him. He twisted his head to look at Bai Lingmiao on the bed, "How is it now? Did your family find anything?"

Hearing this question, Bai Lingmiao nodded with a smile in her eyes. She reached under her pillow to grab a map and handed it over.

"Brother Li, I found it. It's just that you're always out recently, and I never had the chance to tell you," she said.

Li Huowang quickly unfolded the map and saw a particularly conspicuous red line amidst various twisting routes. The red line led straight to Niuxin Mountain.

"The merchant who sold me the map said that if it's a bullock cart, it's slow; it would take about a month. It's much faster on horseback, but alas, we don't know how to ride," she explained.