The Unruly Immortals

With a "whoosh," the startled Li Huowang abruptly stood up, retreating several steps.

The sound of the stool hitting the ground immediately caught the attention of the stall owner, who carefully approached with concern. "Esteemed guest? What's the matter? Is the noodle dish not to your liking, or is the soup off? Shall I get you another bowl?"

Li Huowang, whose face had turned extremely unsightly, glanced at the man and then at his pregnant wife. Without another word, he tossed down a piece of silver and hurriedly left in his horse-drawn cart.

"Esteemed guest, you've given too much, a bowl of noodles doesn't cost this much!" The stall owner's voice only made the horse cart speed up.

On the speeding horse cart, Li Huowang covered his stomach with a weird expression, "What's going on? Did Black Taishui just parrot that sentence, or does it really think I'm its dad?"

In the past, he always thought that Taishui, like Master Danyang before it, existed solely for the purpose of seizing someone else's body.

But what just happened seemed quite different from what he had previously thought.

"Dad?" A voice rang out again, immediately met with Li Huowang's retort, "Don't call me dad!"

"Why?"

Stopped in his tracks by Black Taishui's question, Li Huowang thought about it and then relaxed, right, why couldn't it call him that? Whether this was a bad or a good thing for him wasn't really certain.

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The crowing of the rooster made Taoist Boy slowly open his eyes. He rubbed them and looked around, still somewhat unaccustomed to living in a room alone.

In the first few days, he couldn't sleep well without smelling the stench of Senior Brother Cao Cao's smelly feet.

Stretching languorously, Taoist Boy got up and began to don his clothes.

At his age, he was growing taller every day, and his Taoist Boy uniform was obviously too short and no longer fit.

Facing the chill of early morning, Taoist Boy hunched his neck as he walked toward Bai Family's kitchen.

Living in Niuxin Village was much better than sleeping rough outdoors. Right across from the kitchen was a well, making it extremely convenient to wash clothes, dishes, and freshen up without having to fetch water early in the morning.

The water boiled, and the rice soaked overnight was ready. Taoist Boy skillfully began to cook porridge.

Porridge is simple, but it depends on how you cook it. If you simmer it slowly and draw out the rice oil, it has a unique taste.

Opening the pickled vegetable jar, Taoist Boy grabbed chopsticks, lifted some pickled vegetables and began chopping them on the cutting board.

Completely absorbed in his task, Taoist Boy was interrupted by the sound of footsteps. He looked up to see a plump-faced woman. "Little villager, you're up early today too."

She held a piece of new clothing in her arms, a man's outfit.

"Take out last night's leftover tofu, it's good with the porridge." As Taoist Boy said this, he couldn't help feeling a bit nostalgic. Life had improved to the point where there were actually leftovers now.

"Alright." The woman, receiving her instructions, did not get annoyed and obediently went to do as she was told.

When the porridge was ready and the vegetables were cut, the others gradually began to come to the hall for their meal.

It had been quite a while since Li Huowang left, and everyone had gradually become accustomed to his absence.

But there was an emptiness in everyone's hearts, as if they had lost their pillar. Without someone giving orders, they were at a loss about what to do.

No one held onto the hurtful words he had uttered before.

They were all hardened by life-and-death experiences, and their hearts were too tough for grudges. Even if Li Huowang scolded them for being useless, or stood there cursing them for a whole day and night, they would just laugh it off.

But at least no one is blind; they all saw who was most heartbroken by Li Huowang's departure.

Bai Lingmiao, since Li Huowang's departure, had never smiled again, and she no longer had that approachable air. She had become like a block of ice repelling others thousands of miles away.

Chun Xiaoman sighed softly and with chopsticks, picked up a piece of pickled vegetable and placed it into Bai Lingmiao's bowl beside her.

In recent times, I have been accompanying her to sleep, fearing my good friend might lose hope.

Bai Lingmiao picked up some pickled vegetables and put them in her mouth, chewing them meticulously, piece by piece.

"That Miss Bai,"

Top Scholar Lv's words made Bai Lingmiao lift her head to look at him. Her long white eyelashes fluttered as she asked calmly, "Band Leader Lv, is there something you need?"

"You see, we've been resting for quite a long time now. I think Lv's Troupe can start performing again. The harvest season is over, and the farmers don't have much to do. They're all at home getting ready for the winter and have free time to watch plays."

"Alright, but today is the night of the full moon. How about we wait until after the festival to leave? Band Leader Lv, what do you think?"

Band Leader Lv nodded awkwardly, "That works, that works."

He actually wanted to take his family out for the Mid-Autumn Festival to avoid feeling uncomfortable in the village, but since she suggested otherwise, he had no choice but to agree.

After such a long time, he had made inquiries and knew clearly that this girl had lost her entire family. The Mid-Autumn Festival would surely not be easy for her.

"I know how to make mooncakes!" Young Yang volunteered excitedly.

"That old leper head, every Mid-Autumn Festival, used to have us make mooncakes. I was the fastest and best among the Taoist Boys!"

Seeing Chun Xiaoman giving him a look, Young Yang was startled for a moment before quickly sitting down and burying his head to eat breakfast.

After breakfast, Young Yang took out the mooncake molds. It was fortunate that anything needed could be found in Bai Village, or it would have been difficult to manage.

Gouwa poked half his head out from the kitchen door insincerely, "Kid, need help?"

"No need, I can handle it myself."

"Alright then, I'll be waiting to eat them tonight. I'm off to help Gao Zhijian with the tile kiln!"

Busy with preparations throughout the day, when night fell, a bright moon hung high in the sky.

The pastries and fruits bought from the peddler, along with the stack of mooncakes, were brought to the table.

To admire the moon, of course, wine was necessary, and a jar from the cellar was also brought out.

Sitting at the head seat, Bai Lingmiao raised her cup towards the others, "May the full moon bring completeness to our lives. May our hearts be content and our endeavors smooth. I wish you all happiness and harmony in your households!"

The others glanced at each other uncertainly and eventually raised their cups in twos and threes, replying awkwardly with somewhat incoherent phrases.

After a cup of wine, Bai Lingmiao's eyes reddened slightly, "Come on, everyone. Don't just drink, eat the mooncakes. Apprentice Brother Yang made them beautifully; they must taste great."

With that, she picked up a mooncake and gently nibbled at it.

Seeing everyone behaving so cautiously, Bai Lingmiao sniffled and laughed.

"Look at me, forgetting to change the offerings in the ancestral temple on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival. You all eat; I'll be right back after a quick swap."

Said she, holding a stack of mooncakes and walking towards the Bai Family Ancestral Hall.

Once Bai Lingmiao left, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, feeling uneasy. Gouwa tugged on his collar, "Ah, such a Mid-Autumn Festival."

"You guys eat first. I'll go check on her," Chun Xiaoman said as she stood up to follow.

Gao Zhijian, however, caught her hand and shook his head slightly. "Let... let... let her... be... be... alone for a while!"

"Let's eat the mooncakes. Apprentice Brother Yang's mooncakes are really good," Bai Lingmiao said, holding the mooncakes in both hands and placing them in front of the densely packed spirit tablets at the ancestral temple.

All these spirit tablets were new, representing everyone from Bai Village. Neatly arranged here without distinction of age or gender.

The spirit tablets with black backgrounds and white letters formed a massive black wall with an overwhelming oppressive feeling, towering above and gazing down at the sole survivor of the Bai Family.