The Unruly Immortals

"Ahhh!!!" Oblivion Path knelt on the ground, trembling as he covered his skinless face with his hands, letting out violent screams.

The screams were not only due to the pain but also because he had been outsmarted by his opponent.

Accompanied by the sound of mucus sliding over skin, the writhing tentacles of Black Taisui wrapped around the face skin with eyeballs and slowly retracted back into Li Huowang's mouth.

"Gulp," Li Huowang struggled to swallow the stinking sticky substance in his mouth.

He watched Oblivion Path, who was struggling to stand up, stagger and reach back to draw the Copper Coin Sword, which appeared instantly in his hand.

"Swoosh!" As Li Huowang's body lost balance due to the sword swing and he fell to the ground without getting up again, Oblivion Path, who had a dozen copper coins embedded in his body, also fell down.

With a bizarre smile on his dying face, Oblivion Path said, "Indeed, you are the more formidable one… Hong Zhong 'boss'...Sanyuan truly lives up to its name."

Li Huowang, who lay unable to rise, silently stared at the sky and silently endured the severe pain on his body. "I never thought… I would actually fall here... I'm so unwilling..."

Looking at Gao Zhijian, who was covered in mud sculptures, and the god trying to draw closer, Li Huowang made an effort to turn over.

"This... It would truly be a waste not to make use of this pain, right?"

He attempted several times without success, but on the last try, he finally managed to insert his hand into his own abdominal cavity. "Rending flesh and pulling bones!"

The sounds of collisions and fighting around him disappeared, replaced by continuous screams and moans.

At that moment, everything in Gan Yuan Village, whether it was the creatures hiding in the mud sculptures or the people and dogs of Gan Yuan Village, empathized with Li Huowang.

The mud sculptures were the first to give in, trembling and fleeing into the ground, and the crisis just moments before was instantly resolved by Li Huowang.

Feeling their departure, Li Huowang relaxed his hand, his consciousness gradually dissipating.

"Li Huowang!" In his groggy state, Li Huowang subconsciously propped up his head and responded, "Who? Here."

The last thing he saw was Bai Lingmiao running towards him. "I can't die, I can't die..."

Li Huowang's head tilted, and his consciousness plunged into darkness.

At the fifth watch of the night, hearing the crowing of chickens outside, the scruffy Dog Wa carrying a night pot walked out of his room. His face was pale, the white cloth at his collar indicating he too was injured,

The reason he had to come out to empty the night pot despite his injuries was that Gao Zhijian was much worse off; the mud figures had nearly dismembered his arm.

After emptying the night pot in the outhouse and hunching his shoulders while yawning on his way back,

Passing room number two with the character for "heaven," Dog Wa carefully opened the window and peeked inside.

Seeing Li Huowang lying on the bed looking lifeless, with no signs of waking up, Dog Wa helplessly shook his head.

Upon returning to his own room and sliding the night pot under the bed, Gao Zhijian's thunderous snoring stopped. "How... how... how..."

"Nothing new, still the same, move over a bit; I want to catch some more sleep," Dog Wa replied as he got into bed, curling his bony body under the blanket. "Alas, this time Brother Li probably won't make it, huh? It's time to split the inheritance, ah. Silly, how much of that golden box do you think I can get?"

After hearing a dissatisfied movement beside him, Dog Wa continued, "I'm not cursing Brother Li. You saw it yourself, this time his organs were all emptied out. No matter how powerful the god channeling is, he's not a real immortal, right? Can he regenerate flesh and bones?"

"Thump!" Dog Wa was pushed off the bed.

"Oh, come on!" Grumbling, Dog Wa got up from the floor, his drowsiness gone, and turned to pick up the copper basin from the wooden rack to fetch water from the well in the backyard.

After washing up, he walked out onto the street and sat down at a small stall by the roadside, "Boss, a bowl of sweet tofu pudding, also two fried dough sticks, please."

"All right! Just a moment, it'll be right up,"

The steaming bowl of Doufu Nao sprinkled with a smattering of sesame seeds and sweetened with red crystal sugar made Doggie's stomach, which was howling with hunger, salivate profusely.

Picking up a Youtiao with his chopsticks and soaking it in the Doufu Nao until soft, Doggie shoved it into his mouth, instantly filling it with a rich sweet oily flavor that was truly comfortable.

"Da Liang is really different, you don't need to cut seedlings to have breakfast here, and there are so many breakfast varieties."

After Doggie wolfed down his breakfast with relish, the street beside them began to bustle with more people.

Licking the bowl clean with his tongue, Doggie stood up and took out a dozen or so Wen Money from around his waist and tossed it over.

"Oh my, so generous, thank you for the tip, Master!"

"Who's tipping you? I want three more servings sent up to the second floor of the hostel next door, and don't you go skimping on me when I'm not watching."

After speaking, Doggie turned and merged into the nearby crowd. He had become very familiar with the town during this time.

After wandering around for a bit, he finally stopped in front of a secluded coffin shop.

Spitting some saliva into his palm and smoothing down his sideburns, Doggie stepped inside.

Upon seeing Doggie's sharp and monkeyish face, the man tallying accounts inside wore a helpless wry smile.

"Master Cao, you're here again? Please, come inside."

"What's the matter? Thought about it all night, have you? Can you drop the price a bit more?" Doggie tapped a large coffin expertly with his hand.

"Master Cao, this is top-quality red pine wood we're talking about. Oh, please don't keep tapping; you're going to chip the paint off with all that tapping every day."

"Are you buying or not? You come to ask about the price every day. Don't tell me you're planning to get into this business, are you?"

"Hmph." Doggie scoffed disdainfully, "Of course I'm serious about buying—just take off half a tael, take off another half a tael and I'll put down a deposit today."

Upon hearing this, the coffin shop shopkeeper's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly softened his tone, asking cautiously, "Is our Brother Li... doing badly?"

Seeing Doggie purse his lips and nod with closed eyes, the shopkeeper steeled his heart, "Fine! Half a tael less it is! That's the lowest I can go, no more haggling."

"No rush." Doggie circled the coffin carefully a few times before addressing the shopkeeper again, "Since we're already taking off half a tael, why not throw in a shroud as well?"

An hour passed swiftly, and after a mouth-drying negotiation, the coffin shop shopkeeper finally agreed to Doggie's offer.

He really did not want to drag this on any longer. If the dragging continued, regardless of whether Brother Li actually died, he himself would be worn to death by Cao's harping.

After paying the deposit, Doggie asked again, "Shopkeeper, you're familiar with the people who handle funerals, right?"

The coffin shop shopkeeper nodded repeatedly, "Don't worry. The chefs for the feast, the opera troupes, and the Eight Immortals who carry the coffin, I know them all well."

"It's got to be top-notch, a grand funeral it must be! He's my brother in arms, in life and death!"

"Alright! I'll connect you with them when the time comes and ensure everything is handled beautifully. Just leave it to me."

"Right, and order a few more paper servant girls for the paper effigy maker. I don't want Brother Li getting bored all alone down there."

"Master Cao, how righteous of you!"

"Ah, there's no helping it. Once Brother Li dies, they'll all be wailing and tearing their hair out, not caring about anything else. Someone's got to do it, right? Just like last time, I did it then too."

"Last... last time?"