The Unruly Immortals

In the peach wood forest filled with the scent of charred wood, Li Huowang dared not walk too fast; the flesh and bone at his waist still felt alive, as if they could break at any moment.

Seeing Li Huowang getting farther and farther away, the fat woman's expression became anxious.

"Hey, young man, I don't want anything else! I just want the five untainted years of Yangshou from the reward! Name your price, let me buy it!!"

"Not selling!" Li Huowang rejected without hesitation. Such side-effect-free Yangshou was something he planned to save for Bai Lingmiao, who had a short lifespan, to extend her life.

The fat woman seemed to be unwilling to give up and kept following at a distance. However, when Li Sui appeared, crawling on all fours on the ground, baring his white teeth and growling threateningly at her, she finally stopped in her tracks.

"Li... Brother Li?" Bai Lingmiao stared at a dark blur in the distance, her soft voice tinged with hesitation. It was red just a moment ago, now it turned black?

Li Huowang immediately mounted the horse, enduring the intense pain throughout his body, and spurred the horse pulling the cart into motion.

"We'll explain later! Someone is after us, we need to leave here quickly."

The carriage sprinted down the earthen road in the deep of night, and the run lasted for several hours, until the following noon, when the horses started foaming at the mouth, then Li Huowang finally stopped.

Seeing that no one had followed, Li Huowang breathed a sigh of relief. Whether that woman was wary of him or something else, at least she hadn't persistently followed them.

Struggling to endure a body covered with wounds after holding on for a night, Li Huowang finally couldn't take it anymore and lay back behind the carriage curtains.

"Miaomiao, I'm going to sleep for a bit. Don't touch anything on the Copper Coin Sword."

As soon as the back of his head touched the soft clothing, Li Huowang instantly lost consciousness.

This time, Li Huowang slept for a very long time. When he next opened his eyes, he saw Bai Lingmiao holding a brush and applying something to his charred body.

With a gentle sniff, the distinctive scent told Li Huowang it was badger oil for treating burns.

"How long have I slept?" Li Huowang's words let Bai Lingmiao know he was awake.

"Brother Li, you've been asleep for three days. I sewed up the wound on your chest and the one on your waist with thread."

"Oh...." Suddenly remembering something, Li Huowang sat up abruptly with a jolt.

Ignoring the pain of his skin splitting open, Li Huowang reached immediately for the Copper Coin Sword beside him. Seeing no more black smoke emanating from it, his heart sank.

"Brother Li, are you looking for the invisible thing? I bought a wooden box from the peddler and placed it inside for you."

Carefully opening the wooden box, Li Huowang used the other end of a chopstick, the one he used for eating, and gently poked into the empty box.

Feeling that strange resistance, Li Huowang finally relaxed, the evil spirit was still there.

"Brother Li, are you hungry? I've cooked some soup." Bai Lingmiao lifted the curtains, intending to go out, but Li Huowang held her back.

"I'll serve it myself. Don't touch the fire now, looking like that, in case you get burnt again."

As Li Huowang descended from the carriage, his newly-healed scabs cracked open, and blood seeped continuously from them.

Although it was very painful, having gone through so much, Li Huowang was starting to get used to it.

After he came out of the carriage, he realized the sky outside was dark. Li Sui was squatting beside the campfire, holding a book, with his ferocious claws drawing something in the air.

"Dad? You're awake?" Li Sui looked up at Li Huowang.

"Learning to draw talismans? Good, keep it up."

Li Huowang patted his head lightly, then picked up a bowl with one hand and reached into the pot to scoop up some soup.

Just as he ladled up a bowl of the hot soup, Li Sui leaned over and quickly licked it with his tongue.

"What are you doing?" Li Huowang's charred fingers curled and flicked hard on the tough skull.

"Dad, can't I eat? I always ate first in the past."

This remark made Li Huowang size up Li Sui in front of him, it seemed that Mantou's memories and thoughts had also merged into Li Sui's brain.

"It's fine, eat, eat," Li Huowang placed the bowl in front of him.

Watching Li Sui quickly lapping up the hot soup, Li Huowang softly said, "Li Sui, I've been injured badly, and your mother is almost blind. On the road ahead, it would be best if you could take care of things a bit."

"Okay, so what should I do?"

"Things like washing clothes, doing dishes, stoking fires... If push comes to shove, just gather some firewood," Li Huowang said.

"But the second mother is doing these tasks. If I did them, wouldn't she have nothing to do?"

"Second mother?"

"Um, the one who likes to wear a red hat, I like second mother, sometimes we chat quietly."

"We also go outside to catch meat to eat, one time we caught a really big piece of meat, so we split it, each taking half."

"Second God, huh... When did she and Li Sui become so close?" After thinking it over carefully, Li Huowang realized it wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

"Alright then, when your second mother is working, help her out," he said.

"Mm, I got it."

Looking at Li Sui, with his maw agape and the black tendrils of his tongue hanging out to the side, Li Huowang cracked a knowing smile, extended his left arm, and pulled the head closer into his embrace, gently patting it.

"Thanks for back then in the peach forest, if you hadn't helped, that would have been touch and go."

At the moment, Li Sui was too busy to answer, smelling the familiar scent, his tongue reached out, continuously licking the charred flesh on Li Huowang.

"Suisui, is there anything you want to do?" Li Huowang softly asked.

"I want to be by father's side forever."

"You can't be by my side forever, after all, you're my daughter, not a pet."

"It's fine now, but you'll find something to do in the future, just take your time to think about it. Once you have an idea, tell your father and I'll see if I can help you out."

"Father, I don't understand."

"You'll understand later. Now, serve a bowl of soup for your mother and bring it to her. After we've eaten, we should sleep. We have to keep moving tomorrow."

That night was uneventful. However, when Li Huowang woke up, he found the carriage moving beneath him; it seemed he had overslept yet again.

Pushing aside Li Sui, who was half lying on top of him, Li Huowang lifted the carriage curtain and poked his head out to find the carriage amid a bustling market.

"It looks like we've entered a city, but which one is this?"

Li Huowang took out a map to check and found that this place was called Linzhang. Although it didn't compare to the Capital City or Yinling, it was still a sizable city.

"At our current pace, we can reach the Capital City in ten days at the soonest." Li Huowang used his charred finger to trace a faint black line on the map.

"Brother Li, you're awake? You seemed exhausted; how about we rest here for a few days?" Bai Lingmiao suggested.

Looking at her eyes, which had almost completely turned white, Li Huowang shook his head slightly. "No, let's get your eyes fixed, and then we can take our time to rest back in Niuxin Village, without inviting any trouble."

That's what Li Huowang said, and he was prepared to do so. Yet, though he didn't look for trouble, trouble found him.

It was hard not to notice that candid stare.

With just a glance, he saw the fat woman he had met in the peach forest before, standing on the third floor of a grand tavern, smiling and bowing pleasantly to him.

"It seems we haven't shaken them off..."