The Unruly Immortals

Dog Boy, carrying a hoe over his shoulder, walked briskly down the mountain. Although he had just buried many bodies, he didn't know those dead folks, and it didn't affect his joyous mood one bit.

He now owned a house and had fields, and most importantly, his wife was about to give birth. Everything he had dreamed of had come true at this moment.

"Hey, I, Cao Cao, am just brilliant with my ingenious strategies—every step I took was the right one. Without my cleverness, none of this would belong to me!"

If it weren't for the fact that his hometown was so far away, he really wanted to return and tell everyone about his success and make a triumphant homecoming.

Stealing glances at the people behind him, Dog Boy quickly walked a few steps further to create some distance, and then carefully pulled out a book from his bosom.

Just as he was happily touching the incomprehensible characters with his fingers, a hand covered in black hair suddenly reached out and snatched the book away.

"Hey! What are you doing?" An anxious Dog Boy was about to grab it back when Chun Xiaoman stared him down with a look.

Resenting, Dog Boy withdrew his hand, "Without the tiger in the mountains, the monkey becomes king. Look at you acting all high and mighty—as if people don't know you're not the one who saved us from Qingfeng Taoist Temple."

"Where did you get this book from?"

"I... I bought it from a peddler, to teach my future son how to write and enlighten him!"

"Stop lying. There've only been two peddlers in all this time, none of whom ever sold books!" Xiaoman took the book and flipped through it, looking at the characters she couldn't understand.

After being translated by the onlooking Gao Zhijian, Chun Xiaoman quickly learned the book's name. "Suffering Work to Comprehend the Way Chants"

Even though Chun Xiaoman was illiterate, she could tell something was off about the title; it felt like some kind of cultivation technique.

"Spit it out, where did this thing really come from? I've seen you acting sneaky since earlier."

Sensing that things were not quite right, Zhijian, holding a shovel, raised his eyebrows and stepped forward.

"What's all this about? Am I breaking the king's law or what? Such a fuss over this. I found the book!" Dog Boy, full of indignation, reached out and finally snatched the book back from Xiaoman's hands.

"Found it? You can just find this kind of book anywhere?"

"Of course, I found it!" Dog Boy's voice dropped a bit. "It's just that... I found it in a cellar underneath the Bai Family Ancestral Hall..."

"You—!" Chun Xiaoman was about to speak up when an extremely nervous Dog Boy suddenly put his finger to his lips and shushed her.

He sneakily glanced at Bai Lingmiao, who was in a state of shock, and moved closer to Chun Xiaoman, whispering, "Sis, think about it. Did the Bai Family go to such lengths just for fun?"

"And think about it, the way Brother Li returned last time, his divine skills were something we all know about. Could anyone from the Bai Family pressure him to that extent without some sort of capability? Impossible, right? They must have had some backing!"

"And then, think about this! No matter what abilities they had used before, they're all dead now, so all their possessions now belong to us~!" Dog Boy said this, his expression animated and jubilant.

Upon hearing this, Xiaoman's expression turned quite cold. "What's the use of learning all that? To bury living people as foundation like they did? If you dare to learn such things, don't blame me for being ruthless toward family!"

"Ah~! You just don't know how to adapt. Can't we just learn the kind that doesn't lose us our conscience? We just won't learn the kinds that require killing," Dog Boy retorted.

"Let me tell you, there are so many things in those rooms! And there are lots more books; surely they contain Immortal Kungfu!"

"Once we learn the easy stuff, the kind that doesn't involve killing, who would dare to bully us once we've mastered it?"

Chun Xiaoman bowed her head to look at the longsword at her waist, a hint of hesitation appearing on her face.

Now that Brother Li had truly left, in the future, if she really encountered a crisis, could she really protect herself with this longsword?

She reached out to snatch the book from the hands of the puppy again, and after carefully examining it, she said, "Don't tell Miaomiao just yet. She's not in a good state right now. Let's the three of us first get a clear picture of the situation before making plans."

"Alright, I'll listen to you. This time the opportunity is big enough for the three of us to share."

In Yinling City, a dust-covered Li Huowang dismounted and tied his horse at the inn's stable, but was somewhat surprised not to see the nodding and shaking Mantou.

Circling around his carriage several times, Li Huowang saw the dog pawing at the manger, stealing another horse's feed.

"You're so fat and you're still eating?" Li Huowang picked it up. "I brought you along to watch the carriage, not for you to come and eat."

"Woof woof woof!" Mantou was very excited to see his long-lost master, shaking his head and tail, his body twisting like a maggot.

Just as Mantou's tongue was reaching for Li Huowang's boots, he was pressed down by the head by Li Huowang.

"What happened? Are you hurt? Who did this?" Li Huowang scrutinized the notched ear of Mantou, his brows slightly furrowing.

Mantou clearly didn't understand what Li Huowang was saying, wagging his tail trying to burrow into Li Huowang's arms.

"Come here!" Li Huowang, holding the patch of fur on its neck, carried it towards the lobby.

"Shopkeeper, didn't I give you enough silver? How could you let even a dog get out of sight?"

Faced with Li Huowang's interrogation, the fat shopkeeper had a look of helplessness.

"Ah, esteemed guest, this really wasn't my fault. Your dog ran out on its own."

"You know, your dog is a bitch, and it ran into the street to fight with another bitch over a male dog. After the fight, it didn't win, and that's how it got bitten like this."

Mantou, oblivious to the conversation between the two, sat crouching innocently, looking at Li Huowang.

This situation left Li Huowang somewhat speechless, not even knowing how to express his anger. "And the bitch that bit it?"

"She ran away a long time ago. Those are stray dogs. After mating, they just run off."

A speechless Li Huowang gently patted Mantou on the head and turned to go up to his room.

Rushing all the way, barely managing sleep and food, the exhausted Li Huowang lay on the bed, and he slept through a whole day and night.

After waking up, he ordered some seasonal dishes from the kitchen. After washing up, Li Huowang began to eat heartily.

While eating, Li Huowang pondered over what pretext he could use to approach the Record of Appearance and indirectly probe Zhuge Yuan's matters.

It hadn't occurred to Li Huowang to walk up to the Record of Appearance and directly ask who Zhuge Yuan was.

"I should contact Tuoba Danqing first, wait to confirm the current situation of the Record of Appearance. Considering his demeanor last time, this failed mission must be pretty severe," he thought.

Just as Li Huowang was thinking this, the cooing of pigeons resounded from the roof beams.