The Unruly Immortals

"Swim in?" Li Huowang immediately vetoed that option. In the water, he knew he couldn't maneuver freely, which would be like offering himself up as meat to someone else's mouth.

Li Huowang went through all his abilities in his mind, but he didn't find anything that would be of help in this situation.

"Go back and ask the County Magistrate to send a boat over?"

Just as Li Huowang was reluctantly considering this idea, his sharp hearing picked up the sound of an extremely piercing musical instrument. "A suona?"

Li Huowang concealed himself in the bushes and looked towards the source of the sound.

In a short while, he saw a group of musicians playing various instruments.

Following the suona and the sounds of gongs and drums was a small wooden boat, carried by dozens of people, with an old woman sitting on it. Despite her white hair and having lost all her teeth, her spirits seemed high.

The elderly lady wore a smile as she observed the lively scene around her. Red and white cloths wrapped the little boat, making it look like a flower.

This strange assembly left Li Huowang somewhat puzzled as to what exactly they were up to.

They did not pass in front of Li Huowang but stopped right there instead.

Accompanied by the sounds of gongs and drums, they gently set the boat carrying the old woman on the riverside and let it drift into the cave with the flow of the river.

The people on the shore continued to look joyful, constantly congratulating the old woman on the boat.

"Madam Liu, you're so fortunate, truly fortunate. I don't have the same good luck as you."

"Yes, Madam Liu, you're fortunate. Though you have no children, the 'water son' will take care of you until your last days."

"Aunt Liu, have a good journey. I'll often bring things to visit you."

Watching this seemingly amiable scene, Li Huowang felt a chill run through his body.

No matter how nicely these people spoke, they could not cover up their despicable intent of completely ridding themselves of the old lady.

What nonsense about a 'water son'; it was just a matter of sending an old person without support away and dividing up her possessions.

As Li Huowang watched the little wooden boat gradually drift away from the shore, he suddenly had an idea. His eyes widened slightly as he rushed forward, took a few strides, kicked off the ground and leaped towards the old woman's boat.

Li Huowang's action caused the boat to rock, but the old woman at the bow turned her head to look back and saw nothing. She gripped her walking stick tightly and continued to bid farewell to her neighbors on the shore.

Li Huowang, invisible at the stern of the boat, watched the cave ahead getting gradually larger and thought to himself, "The 'water son', huh? I'll see what you really are!"

Gradually, the music from the shore faded away, and the two people on the boat turned their gaze towards the distant cave.

As the boat entered the cave, the surroundings instantly grew quiet; apart from the soft sound of water lapping against the wooden boat, there were no other noises.

And as the light from outside the cave continued to diminish, the inside became very dim.

The old woman, surnamed Liu, at the bow was clearly frightened, but she still clutched her walking stick and tried to reassure herself.

"It's alright, it's all good. That sister wouldn't deceive me. The 'water son' will come to pick me up soon. He will take care of me until my last days; I'm like a person who has a son now."

Li Huowang glanced at her stooped figure and felt a pang of pity; obviously, the old lady was completely senile and took the nonsense others told her as the truth.

"Whoosh!" Suddenly, a small light appeared on the distant water, startling Li Huowang.

Li Huowang's eyes narrowed as he scrutinized and discovered that it was actually a white candle.

"Shui'er-zi? Is that you, Shui'er-zi? Your mother's surname is Liu, your deceased father's surname was Hu, and you should take his surname, okay?"

The old woman kept babbling to the distant white candle, in a manner that suggested she was trying to convey kindness without being overly enthusiastic.

There was no response from the distant candle. Instead, the boat underneath Li Huowang began to undergo a new change; it stopped drifting with the current and slowly started to float towards the candle.

Watching that candle, Li Huowang's hand unconsciously gripped the hilt of the sword behind him tighter, and his muscles began to tense up.

Whatever this "Shui'er-zi" was, since they had stolen infants for alchemy purposes, they certainly were not good people.

As the boat drew closer, the white candle slowly retreated. Shortly after, the candle suddenly stopped moving.

The next moment, Li Huowang staggered forward and almost fell. When he steadied himself, he realized that the boat had run aground.

In front of him was an uneven terrain; it appeared they had reached the shore.

Looking at the old woman who had fallen to the ground and couldn't get up for a long time, Li Huowang stepped over her and approached the distant candle.

Three zhang, two zhang, one zhang! Li Huowang finally saw clearly what was holding the candle.

It was a creature with deformed limbs that resembled a human, barely.

This "human's" hair was terrifyingly long, draped on its back like a turtle shell. Its nails, longer than fingers, were twisted into dirty, wax-yellow spirals.

The teeth in its mouth grew haphazardly, and Li Huowang could hardly imagine seeing both underbite and overbite on the same face.

Moreover, Li Huowang saw that strands of green hair fell from its head and grew into the creature's eyes, which meant it had no eyes—it was blind.

"Li Huowang, be careful, that's an evil spirit," Hong Zhong, who had been silent for a while, suddenly spoke up.

When Li Huowang looked at him with doubt, Hong Zhong continued to explain, "If a person is unlucky and keeps living without dying, then their white hair would turn green, teeth would grow out of their mouth, they could no longer speak human language, but only gibberish, eventually becoming half-human and half-ghost evil spirits."

At that moment, the evil spirit holding the candle with its nails moved; it slightly shook the candle, luring the old woman to follow it into the dark depths.

With a solemn expression, Li Huowang subconsciously wanted to pursue, but suddenly stopped. Standing still until the candle disappeared, he then questioned Hong Zhong in a hushed tone, "Is this real, or did you make it up?"

A trace of disdain appeared on Hong Zhong's face. "Do you think that's all I aspire to? To deceive people just for a laugh? I'm one of the Sanyuan, Hong Zhong, after all. If I truly wanted to deceive you, I would certainly make sure you have no place to be buried!"

"Hey, I just said it casually. Since you don't believe me, I can't be bothered to tell you about the peculiarities of the evil spirit," he added.

Li Huowang stood in place, carefully scrutinizing Hong Zhong before him.

Seeing his unusual behavior, Hong Zhong was quite surprised. "Do I have flowers on my face? What are you staring at? That person is gone. Aren't you going to follow? Did you come to this haunted place for a spring outing?"

Li Huowang, with a slight frown, shook his head a bit, "I just feel that something about this is strange. If you are just an illusion, then how could you know things that I don't?"

He then turned his gaze toward the other four, "If you're not illusions, then what are you exactly?"

Hong Zhong returned the gaze, scrutinizing Li Huowang from head to toe, his face that lacked skin revealing a smile that was neither a smile.

"How should I know? That is something you need to ask yourself," he said.