The Unruly Immortals

"A grandmaster from Da Qi Kingdom?" Li Huowang stared at the masked man before him in shock.

From the strands of black and white hair on the side of his face, one could tell that this man was not young. But even if he was old, he couldn't possibly be a grandmaster from Da Qi!

If he had lived from the previous Da Qi until the present Da Liang, that would be over a thousand years!!

Li Huowang took a few steps back slowly, looking around at everything with a sense of illusion that he had somehow crossed over to some other place.

Seeing Li Huowang's actions, the others were obviously very surprised. "Lord Zhuge, who is this..."

"Oh, it's fine. This is a good friend of mine, Brother Li, who always stands out in his thinking."

Zhuge Yuan then turned to ask the masked elderly man before him, "Mr. Qin, who were those people just now? Why were they chasing you?"

Hearing this, the man known as Mr. Qin immediately forgot about the Taoist priest with the Copper Coin mask, saying indignantly, "Those people are all lapdogs of the eunuchs! We were originally going to the Three Kings' Mansion for a secret meeting, but to our surprise, we were blocked. There's no such coincidence; someone inside must have betrayed us!"

Zhuge Yuan heard this and showed a face full of surprise. "Oh? There are spies from the eunuch party even within the Astrological Bureau? I didn't expect the court to be in such turmoil."

"Indeed! As the ancestral teachings say, 'Imperial power should not extend into the Astrological Bureau,' but with the increasing power of those eunuchs, who would care about that? The propriety has collapsed, and everything is out of order!"

As they talked, Li Huowang had unknowingly retreated back to the noodle stall he had been at before, looking at the patrons who were still eating and the couple cooking the noodles. He immediately breathed a sigh of relief that he hadn't gone anywhere.

With a very stern expression, Li Huowang said to the old man cooking noodles, "Elder, I need to ask you something. Is this Da Qi or Da Liang?"

The old man looked confused as he opened his mouth, which had only a few teeth left. "What? Da Qi? Where is that? This has always been Da Liang Kingdom."

The old man's words reaffirmed Li Huowang's thought; he had traveled all the way from the borders of Qingqiu to Apricot Island at sea, crossing the entire Da Liang Kingdom, and apart from Zhuge Yuan's mouth, he had never heard of any 'Da Qi' anywhere else.

"Exactly, isn't this Da Liang? Then where did that 'grandmaster from Da Qi Kingdom' that Zhuge Yuan mentioned just come from?"

"I need to get to the bottom of this," said Li Huowang, as he prepared to walk into the forest but, unexpectedly, the group of people came out from inside.

Zhuge Yuan was aiding the so-called grandmaster from Da Qi, walking at the front, seeming to be of the highest status among those who were still alive. The Miaojiang girl from Oblivion Path was also among them.

"Brother Li, so you're here. I've been looking for you. Mr. Qin is quite injured, so we'll borrow your carriage for him to use for now."

"Brother Zhuge, can you come over here for a moment? I have something I want to ask you."

Carefully helping the masked old man onto the carriage, Zhuge Yuan came to Li Huowang's side and asked, "What would you like to discuss?"

Looking at the other's fair face, Li Huowang, recalling everything he had been through, still didn't think the other was deceiving him. If it was a true deception, it wouldn't have been for such a ludicrous reason.

"Brother Zhuge, tell me the truth, what in the world is going on?"

"Oh? Brother Li, I really don't understand what you mean. I, Zhuge Yuan, have lived an upright and honest life, never having deceived anyone."

"Fine! Come with me." Li Huowang took Zhuge Yuan over to the noodle stall and asked the old man the same question again.

Just as Li Huowang was about to question Zhuge Yuan again, the old man spoke, completely contradicting his previous words. "What? Da Liang? Where's that? This place has always been the Da Qi Kingdom."

"Huh?!" Li Huowang stared at the old man in shock. If this person weren't just an ordinary citizen, he would have thought it was someone from Oblivion Path in disguise, trying to deceive him.

"Old man, that's not what you said just now."

"Just now? Dear guest, please don't wrong me, we didn't have a chat just now."

"You...!" Just as Li Huowang was about to say something, Zhuge Yuan's folding fan extended toward him, blocking the finger Li Huowang had pointed.

"Alright, alright, Brother Li, let's talk about these trivial matters later, shall we? Old Qin's injuries are severe; we should find a place to treat him."

Having said that, Zhuge Yuan turned and walked toward the carriage, repeatedly shouting, "Don't panic, Old Qin! The Black Taishui inside the carriage is tied up tightly, it won't hurt you!"

Li Huowang watched Zhuge Yuan's retreating figure with a very complicated expression, his doubts growing heavier. There was something bizarre about all this.

After pondering seriously for a while, Li Huowang turned his head again to look at the old man beside him and asked, "Is this Da Qi or Da Liang now?"

"Da Liang, of course. Didn't I just say so? Why ask again?"

Hearing the old man's words change for the third time, Li Huowang was no longer surprised. He figured this must be the work of the Heart Pan's ability, but he couldn't yet understand how it was being done.

"Woof woof!" The Mantou poked its head out from under the carriage and kept barking at Li Huowang, seemingly anxious that its owner's carriage was being pushed away by a group of strangers.

Li Huowang quickly followed after, his footfalls swift. This matter was not over; he needed to find an opportune moment to properly ask Zhuge Yuan what was going on.

In the following period, nothing else happened, and those following the Da Qi expert had a chance to catch their breath and began to heal.

On the road, Li Huowang silently observed these people. Apart from the Da Qi expert and the Oblivion Path girl from Miaojiang, the others were dressed differently--typical of the Astrological Bureau, as most were from all over the place.

While Li Huowang was observing them, these people were also watching Li Huowang. If not for Lord Zhuge's word that this man was his good friend, they'd truly rather not lower their guard and stay with such a person.

His head was covered with a black hat, his body clad in a red Taoist robe reeking of blood, and on the carriage, a Black Taishui was tied up, his appearance very mysterious, giving off a vibe of aloofness.

It was evident that there was a distance between the two parties. Zhuge Yuan tried to bridge the gap between them, but to little effect.

The Da Qi Astrological Bureau was wary of Li Huowang, and naturally, Li Huowang was equally distrustful of these so-called Da Qi people. Amidst this strange atmosphere, they continued heading toward Capital City.

Additionally, Li Huowang hadn't forgotten about the Oblivion Path person among the Astrological Bureau crowd.

Though he did not know why that woman had infiltrated their group or her purpose.

But now that he knew she was from Oblivion Path, there was no need to expose her.

Perhaps she could lead to drawing out Bei Feng.