The Unruly Immortals

"Brother Li, look! There are lanterns in the sky!"

All those who heard the voice immediately looked up and saw the small lights floating in mid-air, round paper globes undulating like jellyfish.

"Just Kongming Lanterns, nothing to fuss over," Li Huowang said as he lifted his bowl and took a sip of the extraordinarily delicious shrimp soup.

Kongming Lanterns, bearing various surnames like "Fu," "Miao," "Zhao," and "Li," slowly ascended towards the sky, blending with the speckled stars.

Those releasing the Kongming Lanterns wiped away their tears, which seemed to be a way of commemoration in Da Liang.

"Not just in the sky, look, there are some over that distant river too!"

On the great river running through Yinling City, sparkles of light also appeared, flickering among the flower boats.

"Da Liang really has a variety of customs," Li Huowang mumbled to himself as he looked at the Kongming Lanterns.

He could feel a marked difference between Da Liang and other places; the heritage alone was much more profound.

"Oh right, Miaomiao, as we've traveled through Siqi, Huo Shu, Qingqiu, and Da Liang, what country lies beyond Da Liang?" Li Huowang asked Bai Lingmiao beside him.

"Beyond Da Liang? Past Da Liang there's nothing but the sea."

Hearing this, a sense of clarity dawned on Li Huowang. So, the Da Liang Kingdom was also coastal. He wondered whether there might be different countries across the sea.

"But even if there are, I'm afraid they probably..."

Just as Li Huowang thought this, suddenly a very faint voice sounded in his ear. The voice was extremely soft, and although it was sporadic, it was mixed with some phrases used by people.

"Hungry... mouth... wood..."

The moment this voice emerged, Li Huowang felt every hair on his body stand on end. He abruptly stood up, his face looking very pale as he glanced nervously around him.

Li Huowang's movements were so abrupt that some soup spilled from the table. The lively atmosphere instantly fell silent.

Everyone seated with him, as well as others at neighboring tables, turned to look at him in astonishment.

"Brother Li...?" Sensing the worried glances of his fellow disciples, Li Huowang shook his head slightly and sat down again, quickly regaining a calm expression.

"It's nothing, you know me, just an old habit of mine, let's eat, let's eat."

Hearing this, everyone relaxed and resumed eating.

However, Bai Lingmiao, sitting to Li Huowang's left, noticed that his hand, clenched around his bowl, was trembling ever so slightly.

After a satisfying meal, they left the tavern and headed towards the inn. Along the way, Top Scholar Lv looked pained as he calculated how many pigs the cost of the meal could exchange for.

It was comfortable while eating, but when it came time to pay, seeing his hard-earned silver being spent felt more agonizing than being killed.

"Brother Li, are you really all right?" Bai Lingmiao placed both hands on Li Huowang's right hand, which was covered with calluses from long-term sword practice.

"Don't worry, now that I've eaten Black Taisui, my condition has stabilized quite a bit," Li Huowang reassured her with a steady gaze.

After returning to the inn, everyone went back to their respective rooms, discussing the evening's events and getting ready to wash up.

Not until the inn had closed its door planks and extinguished the candles did anything happen.

In the dead of night, Li Huowang suddenly opened his eyes as he lay in bed. He turned his head to glance at Bai Lingmiao, who was sleeping beside him, withdrew his wrist from under her neck, and lifted the covers to walk toward the back courtyard of the inn.

Just as he reached the carriage that harbored Black Taisui, Mantou, who was assigned to guard the carriage, crawled out from underneath and wagged its tail at him.

Li Huowang abruptly lifted the carriage curtain and saw Black Taisui inside, tightly bound by ox sinews.

Gazing at Black Taisui, Li Huowang's complexion turned very unsightly as he recalled the voice he had heard before.

For a while, after consuming Black Taisui, everything seemed normal, so normal that Li Huowang had forgotten he was Xinsu. However, that day, he experienced auditory hallucinations once again.

Li Huowang, with a voice trembling slightly, asked the figure in front of him, "Mom, can you call Dr. Wang over? I have something to discuss with him."

After a while, Li Huowang calmly looked at Black Taisui again. "Wang Wei, is that you? A few hours ago, did you administer some sort of drug to me?"

In response to Li Huowang's inquiry, Black Taisui showed no reaction, slowly expelling filthy and viscous fluid through the wounds in its body.

"If it really was you, I'll tell you the medicine worked. Now increase the dose and let me try it."

Li Huowang quietly waited for the auditory hallucinations to reappear, but nothing happened.

Watching the mass of tentacles before him writhing, Li Huowang's breathing grew heavy. He shouted in a fierce whisper, "Stop playing these tricks; if you want me to think that side is real, then pull me back entirely if you can!"

Amid Li Huowang's shouts, Black Taisui's body writhed, struggling to free its tentacles, but the tough ox sinews rendered its efforts futile.

"Huff... Huff..." Li Huowang gasped for air, the sudden voice had thrown his mind into disarray.

He just stood there in the stable, as if waiting for the whole world to collapse.

He did not know how much time had passed when the sound of bamboo striking came from beyond the wall, "Duō~ the weather is dry~ Duō~ Duō~ be careful with candles~~"

Hearing the night watchman's call outside, Li Huowang knew it was the fourth watch of the night; he had stood there for several hours, yet everything around remained unchanged, and his somewhat panicked heart finally began to calm down a bit.

Li Huowang took a dagger from his Torture Tool Bag at the hem and cut another piece of flesh from Black Taisui's body, stuffing it into his mouth to chew vigorously.

As he chewed, Li Huowang suddenly stopped, overwhelmed by a profound, indescribable sorrow.

He had thought he had let go long ago, but when that elusive hope reemerged, Li Huowang realized he had been deceiving himself.

It wasn't so easy to abandon the place where one was born and raised.

Especially when without comparison, there was no pain.

If possible, Li Huowang wished dearly that the other side was real, and this one was fake.

"Maybe... maybe it's not an issue with that side, maybe I'm sick, don't be paranoid, it was just auditory hallucinations, nothing serious, right, that must be it."

Just as Li Huowang thought this, a sudden unfamiliar gaze made his thoughts snap to clarity.

"Who's there?" Li Huowang quickly closed the carriage curtain and spun around, only to see a lone figure with an oversized doll's head standing in the dim stable.

"Someone asked me to check on you, said you wanted to do some work for the Astrological Bureau?" A hoarse voice, much like Li Huowang's, came from beneath the head covering.