The Unruly Immortals

Bai Lingmiao, suffocating, felt herself floating up, up to the rafters of the ancestral temple. When she looked down, she saw her own body with eyes rolled back and the red bridal veil of the great deity.

"Is this what dying feels like?" Bai Lingmiao looked down to see her body, but there was nothing there, just emptiness.

Suddenly, a thought crossed her mind and joy filled her heart, "Father and mother surely haven't gone far; I can still catch up with them!"

But just as she lifted her head, ready to search for her family, she saw indescribable shapes sealing off the entire starry sky.

Watching those constantly changing entities, Bai Lingmiao was certain they were from the Immortal Sects, and specifically of the Bei Clan, as the emotions they'd just soaked up had not yet faded.

"I'm already dead, what more do you want from me?"

As Bai Lingmiao spoke, she attempted to pass through them but was instead instantly bounced back, finding herself hanging upside down, face-to-face with her own body on the noose.

She saw how her appearance had drastically changed, her normally pink eyes completely replaced by a pair of long, red, ferocious beastly eyes.

More peculiarly, her face also cracked open revealing several slits, with beast eyes staring back at her.

Suddenly, Bai Lingmiao watched as the version of herself in front of her lifted her clawed hands and violently grabbed her own head, swallowing herself whole with her mouth.

The fluttering snake scales pierced Bai Lingmiao's skin, effortlessly cutting through the taut rope.

Bai Lingmiao hit the ground hard, and before she could gather her senses, a severe pain erupted in the depths of her mind, causing her to scream while clutching her head.

The pain was too intense, unlike anything she'd ever felt before.

Then, a number without any warmth, "two," appeared in her mind.

This was her task for the month; fail to complete it, and she could imagine what would come next.

And it was foreseeable that this number would only increase.

Bai Lingmiao, her neck bruised, lifted her head in despair toward the pitch-black rafters.

From the moment she became a spirit medium, her life was no longer her own; even in death, she had no control.

Her previous experiences had led her to feel a secret delight, thinking she now had the power to help Brother Li. But this time, the Immortal Sects had finally revealed their fangs.

Bai Lingmiao thought of Li Zhi's last words, "In the next life, I'll never become a medium again. It's too suffocating..."

In that moment, she finally understood the meaning of what her predecessor had said. As a spirit medium, she was nothing but a slave to the Immortal Sects, with no freedom to speak of.

"Wu wu wu..." Bai Lingmiao covered her face with her hands, squatting and crying bitterly in the pitch-dark ancestral temple, her sobs echoing endlessly.

The deity worshiped at the moonlit ceremony, upon hearing the cries, seemed to remember something and let out a sigh of lament from beneath the red veil's triple mouths, pulling out a jade pendant to look at it again and again.

"Daddy?"

"Not daddy, Master."

"Daddy?"

Li Huowang was past the point of annoyance with correcting. He deeply regretted his decision to eat at that food stall. Just eating a meal had brought him trouble.

"Ga ga ga~!" The ducks in the cage beside him quacked noisily, leaving Li Huowang feeling irritable. Today, for some reason, the roads to Yinling City were packed with people heading there to do business, completely blocking the once spacious pathway.

"...Daddy?"

"Enough, shut it." Li Huowang pulled out some cotton and stuffed it even tighter into his ears.

After sitting in the carriage for half the day, he finally arrived in Yinling. Once he showed the badge of the Astrological Bureau, he was immediately allowed to pass.

Back in the bustling Yinling City, Li Huowang breathed a sigh of relief, drove the carriage, and started for the inn—it had been a long journey, but he had finally arrived.

When Li Huowang saw the makeshift earth kiln at the crossroads, he was somewhat puzzled, "What is this?"

"Taoist, today is Mid-Autumn Festival, don't you know that you need to set up an earth kiln for Mid-Autumn?" the monk helped Li Huowang out of his confusion.

After flicking the reins, Li Huowang shook his head, "We don't have this custom where I'm from."

"Then what customs do you have there?"

"We don't have any customs, we just eat mooncakes."

After Li Huowang settled down in the inn, it gradually became dark outside. Yinling City, which should have been under curfew, was exceptionally open tonight.

The brightly lit streets and children carrying grapefruit lanterns turned Yinling City into a city that never slept.

Li Huowang waited in the inn, waiting for Tuoba Danqing to come over, but what he waited for was only a homing pigeon that came with a message.

"Tonight is Mid-Autumn Festival, and I must return home to reunite with my wife and children. We can talk about the matter in detail tomorrow evening."

Seeing the note, Li Huowang felt disheartened. Even the Astrological Bureau celebrated festivals?

In light of this massive organization, Li Huowang gained a new understanding.

He sat inside the room with a somewhat bewildered look in his eyes, what should he do next?

"What else can you do? Celebrate the festival, just like everyone else. Besides New Year's, my favorite is Mid-Autumn," the monk reminded him, running over.

"Celebrate Mid-Autumn? With whom?"

"Celebrate with us," Hong Zhong jumped out at this time.

Li Huowang glanced at the four illusions in front of him and walked to the window, whistling at Mantou who was guarding the cart in the stables.

Mantou immediately barked, wagging his tongue excitedly and rushed over.

Li Huowang called the waiter and ordered a table full of dishes to be specially brought to his room from the kitchen.

Because the silver was plentiful, the dishes were comprehensive, including chicken, duck, fish, and meat. Watching Mantou wolf down the food under the table, Li Huowang picked up his chopsticks, grabbed a piece of chicken, and chewed on it.

The chicken tasted good, but Li Huowang still felt it was flavorless. He picked up the ceramic jug and gulped down a big mouthful. Not being able to hold his liquor, he immediately became drunk.

Li Huowang, tipsy, raised his glass, swaying as he toasted to the moon in the sky. "Those days in the barren wilderness, eating dough drops from the iron pot, that was truly savory."

"Dad?"

"Ah! My son!" Li Huowang kicked at Mantou. "Let's, us brothers, celebrate Mid-Autumn together!"

Li Huowang did not know when he fell asleep. When he woke up again, he saw Mantou crouching, growling and baring its teeth at black tentacles emerging from his body, threatening with low growls.

Li Huowang flicked his finger at the tentacles, which instantly retracted back into the navel. "Black Taisui can come out on its own now?"

This might be bad news, but Li Huowang didn't care much about it right now.

"Get down, keep an eye on the cart." With a gesture from Li Huowang towards the door, Mantou skulked away with his tail between his legs.

Li Huowang sat up, picked up his chopsticks again, and began eating the now-cold feast on the table.

After eating his fill, Li Huowang sat by the window and pulled out a book. This time it was not the Three Character Classic, but a more advanced text, the Thousand Character Classic.

"...the sword named Huge Que, the pearls called Night Luminescent, the fruits valued as plums and pears, the vegetables weighted as mustard and ginger, the sea is briny, the river's fresh, the scales hidden, the plumes soar..."

As he read, Li Huowang began to hear a vague echo by his ear. At first it was chaotic, but gradually it became clearer.

"...singing of different tunes is prized, cheap customs distinguish the high and low, harmony above, accord below, husband leads, wife follows..."