The Unruly Immortals

Liu Huowang, head covered with a conical bamboo hat, led a horse in silence, standing by the roadside, gazing at the distant Niuxin Village.

Several months before, he had stood in this very place, contemplating how he would explain to Bai Lingmiao that he had killed her entire family.

Today, still in this very place, he stood there, pondering how he would explain to the other villagers what he had experienced during his time away.

He had achieved his objective, he no longer needed to suffer the disturbances of hallucinations, and although he was about to see them again, for some reason, he felt very uneasy in his heart.

Compared to the desolate cold of winter, the Niuxin Village of spring was noticeably livelier; in the fields surrounding the village, there were people and oxen hard at work.

These people were young, clumsy in appearance, yet they seemed to be laboring earnestly. Yet, for some reason, these people did not look quite right.

"Woof woof!" The barking of Mantou dragged Li Huowang's gaze from the far distance back to the large yellow dog behind him, arching its back and baring its teeth, growling lowly at Li Sui in the woods.

Even though Li Huowang had scolded it many times, Mantou seemed stubbornly fixated on this matter, always showing intense hostility towards Li Sui.

"Dad, why does it bark at me? I like to play with it, but it doesn't like to play with me."

Li Huowang looked over at Li Sui, whose wriggling tentacles were tightly wrapped in an oversized straw raincoat, and his head was covered with a large bamboo hat with a black veil.

If someone unaware of the truth were to judge from his appearance, Li Sui in his straw raincoat at that moment resembled a short and exceptionally bloated fat man.

"If it doesn't want to play with you, then find something else to play with and stop pestering it."

Before, Li Sui was needed to suppress the hallucinations, but now he was not needed for that, and Li Huowang suddenly could not find what to do with him.

Let it fend for itself? Li Huowang could not bring himself to say that. Since it had become sentient, he had taught it word by word; to say there were no feelings involved would be a lie, even if it was a terrifying-looking Evil Spirit.

Despite its fearsome appearance, it was very naive and too easily deceived. In this world, Black Taisui was considered a type of medicinal herb; were he to leave it unprotected, he was afraid it wouldn't be long before someone would kidnap it.

For now, the only solution was to keep it like he kept Mantou, and luckily, it was relatively easy to take care of and not much of a burden.

"Once we enter the village, you mustn't take off the raincoat, and you mustn't let your tentacles stretch out, lest you frighten the others."

"Dad, I understand," Li Sui obediently replied.

As its tentacles continually twisted and turned, it followed Li Huowang towards the village entrance, leaving a trail of shallow slime beneath its raincoat.

The two people, leading a horse and accompanied by a dog, did not look like peddlers visiting the village, and immediately attracted the attention of those in the fields.

"Senior Brother Li! Senior Brother Li, you've returned!!" A tiny youngster, Yang, came running excitedly from the fields, followed curiously by a round-faced woman.

As Mantou made its way eagerly towards the familiar face it hadn't seen for a long time, it shook its head broadly and pounced onto Yang.

Yang hugged Mantou and immediately inquired impatiently of Li Huowang, who was leading the horse: "Senior Brother Li, where have you been all this time? We've all missed you, are you alright?"

Amid his inquiries, more and more people gathered around Li Huowang, and by the time he reached the front door of the Bai Family Courtyard again, almost the entire village had shown up.

Gao Zhijian seemed to have grown a head taller, his presence among the crowd felt distinct. He opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to say something but stuttering, yet he was preempted by a boy named Gouwa.

"Brother Li! Look quickly! This is my wife, and look at her belly, she's about to give birth any moment now! I'm gonna be a dad!! Hahaha!"

Gouwa's joyful laughter didn't last long before Chun Xiaoman pushed him and he staggered. "Brother Li, you're finally back. During this time, Miaomiao often talked about you, worried about you."

Zhao Wu, leaning on a pair of wooden crutches, excitedly said, "Brother Li, while you were gone, I looked after the village's money for you. Not only did we not sit and eat our capital away, but we also made quite a profit!"

Everyone happily talked about various things, and as for the words Li Huowang had said before leaving, they had long since forgotten them completely.

In the midst of these people, Li Huowang felt an indescribable sense of relaxation; the string in his heart no longer needed to be constantly taut.

"Perhaps this is the feeling of home," mused Li Huowang to himself.

"Hehehe~ Hehehe~ Little Taoist Master, you've finally come back. Come on, step over the fire basin to purge the evil spirits after being away for so long," Top Scholar Lv said, chuckling as he placed a fire basin at the doorstep.

He was, of course, happy. With this master staying here to hold down the fort, his own heart was much more at ease, and since he was his own master, living in this village felt even more justified.

Once Li Huowang stepped over the fire basin and entered the Bai Family Courtyard, he saw Bai Lingmiao leaning against the wooden window on the second floor, smiling faintly at him, as if the person who left in anger back then was someone else.

"You're back? Kid, go get a sheep and a pig from the pen and pull them out for slaughter. We're having a running water feast tonight."

"Right on!" Yang's kid immediately replied with excitement, putting down the Mantou in his arms and dashing towards the kitchen.

Under the skillful rallying of Top Scholar Lv, everyone else hustled over to help. Some slaughtered the pig, others watched the process, and the vast Bai Family Courtyard quieted down considerably for a while.

"Is this the fair lady who is close to brother Li's heart? Should we withdraw for a moment?" Zhuge Yuan suggested understandingly as he watched Li Huowang going upstairs.

"Withdraw? You're new here and have no idea what's been going on between them. The fun part is about to begin, and I've been waiting for this moment," Hong Zhong said, excited to follow, but was stopped by Zhuge Yuan.

"Brother Oblivion Path, let's not, shall we? This isn't something a gentleman should do." Zhuge Yuan blocked his way.

"I was never a gentleman to begin with, I am Oblivion Path, I'm a swindler!"

But no matter what he said, Zhuge Yuan consistently refused to let him get close.

As Li Huowang ascended the stairs to the second floor, Bai Lingmiao graciously came up to him, and like a wife, she removed the weapons and the heavy Torture Tool Bag from his body.

However, just as she was about to say something, she frowned in distaste at the short fatty behind Li Huowang and thought to herself: "Who is this person? Why have they followed all the way to the bedroom? They have no tact at all."

"He's Li Sui, Li Sui, call her 'mom.'"

"Mom."

"Mom?"

All of Bai Lingmiao's prepared words were abruptly cut off by the title Li Sui used, and she looked up in shock at the strange person in front of her clad in a straw raincoat.

"Explain yourself! With such a big kid, where did you get him from! Is he the son of that Yang Na hussy?!"