The Unruly Immortals

Hearing Top Scholar Lv's superstitious statement, Li Huowang immediately breathed a huge sigh of relief, heavily sitting down on the chair. "The disappeared sun has returned, anyhow, this natural disaster has finally passed."

Only when the taut string in his heart had completely relaxed did Li Huowang suddenly lose consciousness while sitting on the chair.

When he woke up again, it was the thick and slick taste of soup in his mouth that startled him awake.

The softness at the back of his head, as well as the familiar delicate fragrance before his nose, made Li Huowang realize he was lying in someone's arms. "Miaomiao."

Bai Lingmiao didn't answer anything, just quietly continued to feed Li Huowang the chicken soup.

"I'm not disabled, just a bit tired," Li Huowang said with effort, sitting up and drinking deeply from the bowl.

Apart from being blind, Li Huowang's body had not sustained much injury, but what made him feel so exhausted was his spirit.

At this moment, Li Huowang felt as if his brain had completely rusted, any attempt to think quickly resulted in sharp, drilling pain at the back of his head.

Li Huowang of course knew the reason for this; it was because he had seen something, that sudden darkness that appeared, the existence under the natural disaster that could neither be contemplated nor spoken of.

This time's natural disaster wasn't because something was missing, but rather because something extra was present.

At the same time he saw it, Li Huowang had also seen something on it. It bore no lies, just like a Bronze Cauldron that records significant events, inscribing everything upon itself.

"Every recall of it, renders it vain, every oblivion of it, causes a change, and with every mention of it, corresponds to its yearly cycle in place of the current year."

Li Huowang had known what this meant, but now he had completely forgotten, very thoroughly forgotten indeed.

It definitely wasn't the Fate Commander, he hadn't seen that thing in the White Jade Capital; as for what it was and where it came from, Li Huowang neither knew nor wanted to know.

"Brother Li, what's wrong?" Bai Lingmiao's jade-like fingers tenderly smoothed Li Huowang's furrowed brows, trying to soften his frown.

"Nothing's wrong, I'm fine; this isn't something I should worry about, the Astrological Bureau is there for that." Li Huowang repeated this phrase over and over with a pale face.

In an attempt to divert his attention as much as possible, Li Huowang tried hard to think about other things.

Gripping Bai Lingmiao's jade hand tightly, his voice carried a hint of hope as he asked her, "Miaomiao, are you alright now? Do you really no longer require the evil Qi?"

Without eyes, Li Huowang couldn't see Bai Lingmiao's expression; all he could feel was Bai Lingmiao gently caressing the back of his own hand with her other hand.

Hearing the silent response, Li Huowang's expression grew dimmer, silently enjoying the quiet.

Perhaps he shouldn't bring up that matter again, should treat it as if it had never happened, thoroughly forget it—this seemed better for them both.

"Everyone in the village is accounted for, right?" Li Huowang asked again.

"Everyone else is, but indeed one person is missing, though I'm not sure if it counts as a person."

"Hmm?"

"Li Sui is gone, the one who came out of your belly, the one who called you dad."

"What!? Li Sui is missing?" Li Huowang's heart couldn't help but rise with alarm.

Groping his way to the window, he shouted outside, "Li Sui!! Come here quickly!!"

After shouting loudly several times, Li Huowang received no response, which was very wrong.

Li Sui was simple-minded and very dependent on Li Huowang after being together day and night; he definitely wouldn't fail to respond to his call.

"Miaomiao, have the villagers spread out and find Li Sui! This matter is very important!" Li Huowang ordered with a grave expression.

"Um." Hearing Bai Lingmiao's footsteps descending the stairs, Li Huowang pondered various possibilities in his mind, for he didn't believe Li Sui would leave his side for no reason.

"Brother Li, I advise you to prepare yourself. Black Taishui is also one of the Evil Spirits. What effect the disaster from yesterday could have on it, even I cannot predict."

Upon hearing Zhuge Yuan's words, Li Huowang's countenance grew even worse. Now that he thought about it, ever since the disaster struck, he had not seen Li Sui at all.

"Master! Master!" The voice of Scholar Lv made Li Huowang stand up, and he asked eagerly toward the direction of the sound, "Have you found him?"

"Uh... no, I just came to inform you, the dog named Mantou is also missing."

Clenching his teeth, Li Huowang smashed the wooden table with a single fist, both the tabletop and his fist cracking at the same time.

Scholar Lv shivered from Li Huowang's action. Taking advantage of the fact that the other party couldn't see him, he cautiously made his way towards the stairs.

"Keep searching! If we can't find him in the village, turn over every inch of the land ten miles around Ox Heart Village!"

"Alright! I'll go and tell them right now!"

Hours slowly passed by, and as night fell, hope seemed to become even more distant.

Not until the second watch of the night did a gradually calming Li Huowang tell everyone to come back to sleep and wait until tomorrow.

Suddenly, a pair of soft hands placed a bowl of egg noodles on the cracked table, followed by a pair of chopsticks being thrust into Li Huowang's hands.

"You eat, I'm not hungry," said a dispirited Li Huowang, his voice heavy with dejection.

Just two days ago, he thought everything was moving in a good direction. In the blink of an eye, one bad thing after another crashed upon him.

"Psh, look at you, anyone would think you've lost a real son. But that's an Evil Spirit; since when is anything born from your stomach your son? If you ask me, this is for the best. You're rid of a burden."

The mockery of the faceless Oblivion Path infuriated Li Huowang, who looked up towards the direction of the voice. "Brother Zhuge, could you do me a favor and slap him for me?"

"Smack!"

"Thanks."

Watching Li Huowang talk to himself, Bai Lingmiao, who was walking toward the bed, flashed a glint of pity in her eyes.

She came back, picked up a chopstickful of egg noodles, gently blew on them, and brought them to Li Huowang's mouth.

"I'm not hungry, you eat," Li Huowang said, pushing her hand away, but the noodles were brought to his mouth again.

After a few back and forths, Li Huowang finally opened his mouth and swallowed the now-cold egg noodles.

One fed while the other ate; the room was extremely quiet.

Just as the bowl of noodles was about to be finished, a familiar voice came from the window. "Dad, did you call me?"

"Li Sui?!" An overjoyed Li Huowang immediately stood and groped towards the direction of the voice.

However, Li Huowang was quickly blocked by a figure; it was the Second God.

"Brother Li, that's not Li Sui, that's a peeled dog's face, and it's grinning at you right now."