The Unruly Immortals

Seeing Lian Zhibei's injuries, Li Huowang spoke, "I'm sorry. There were some mishaps, and the fault is mine. Don't move, I'll heal you. After that, I'll compensate you with extra Yangshou Pills."

As he said this, Li Huowang helped Lian Zhibei to sit on the meditation chair, then turned around to fetch the "Fire Coat Canon."

"No, no, no, I can't handle it," Lian Zhibei, pressing a talisman against the hilt of Li Huowang's sword, slowly drew the longsword out.

"We had an agreement. Since the fault is yours, just give me that jade token quickly, and we'll be even," Lian Zhibei said through gritted teeth, enduring the pain from her wounds, but her concern for the Yangshou was greater.

When Li Huowang handed her the jade token that could be exchanged for unblemished Yangshou, despite the pain she still felt, Lian Zhibei's face broke into a beaming smile.

Caring about nothing else, she gave Bai Lingmiao a glance, covered her wound, and stumbled out unsteadily.

Li Huowang looked up to see someone standing in front of him—Bai Lingmiao—her expression filled with sorrow as she looked at him.

Then, she silently walked to his side and gently wrapped her arms around him in an embrace.

Li Huowang looked up, trembling, to the ground but found only a pair of blood-red embroidered shoes and the blood-stained red bridal veil left behind.

"Li Shixiong, the Immortal Sects have left me.... The Second God is gone..... I still said it too late...." Bai Lingmiao, embracing Li Huowang, said tearfully.

Late at night, Li Huowang lay in bed, staring fixedly at the ceiling beams overhead.

He had achieved his goal. Those Immortal Sects could no longer control Bai Lingmiao; the hidden danger was gone. This should have been good news, yet he inexplicably felt a sense of suffocation in his heart.

"Li Shixiong, are you asleep?" the soft voice of Bai Lingmiao arose.

Li Huowang took a deep breath and then let out a slow sigh.

"Li Shixiong, I find myself missing the Second God.... In the past, no matter what painful situations occurred, she always shared some of the burden...." She was like my sister…

"Did I do something wrong? But if we didn't deal with the Immortal Sects, what would have become of Bai Lingmiao?"

Li Huowang kept reflecting—if he had known in advance that escaping the Immortal Sects would cause the Second God to disappear, what should he have done?

But as it neared dawn, Li Huowang suddenly understood—in matters of great right and wrong, there are clear rights and wrongs,

for instance, Oblivion Path taking the Eye of the Mountain Ghost and causing natural disasters that made life miserable for the living was wrong, and the Astrological Bureau sending people to eliminate Oblivion Path for the sake of all living beings was right,

but in matters of affection, it's not quite the same. Here there are only suitable choices, and not so much of right and wrong.

"Oh~ oh oh~~" The rooster crowed outside, and Li Huowang hadn't slept all night. Bai Lingmiao at his side hadn't either.

Rising from the bed and draping his Taoist robe over himself, he walked towards the hall. As soon as he stepped out of the house, he saw Li Sui squatting in the center of the hall, staring into the courtyard at the light drizzle falling outside.

"Dad."

Li Huowang walked to his side, sat down cross-legged, and softly asked the half-eviscerated wild dog in front of him, "What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for Second Mother. I caught this thing last night. I've already eaten half, and I was saving the other half for Second Mother," he said.

Li Sui's words pained Li Huowang, who placed his hand on him and gave a gentle pat. "Don't wait. She's gone."

"I know, mom told me Second Mother left, so I'm waiting for her to come back. Second Mother likes eating this the most." Li Sui nudged the bloody wild dog with his nose.

Li Huowang's lips quivered slightly, and he spoke again, "Didn't you see her disappear? She's... gone!"

"I saw it, but Second Mother used to disappear and reappear too. Dad, don't worry, she'll show up again soon."

Li Huowang didn't say anything else, opened his arms wide, and gave Li Sui a firm embrace. Then he stood back up and walked towards the house.

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Gao Zhijian, exuding rising steam all over his body, bare-chested and flipping the giant halberd in his hands up and down.

The muscles on his body were as tough as iron, glowing red and brimming with power.

As he swung the giant halberd with his move Sweeping Thousands of Troops, a row of village militia holding wooden halberds in front of him was blown back by the gust, squinting and leaning backwards, almost unable to stay on their feet.

When the heavy giant halberd smashed into the ground with a thud, Gao Zhijian took a moment to catch his breath and then said to them, "Train!"

Those dozen or so people looked at each other, one short and stocky man quietly asked another beside him, "How do we train this? Is this even meant for people to practice?"

"Just train. Just train. This fellow is stubborn. Let's just do it for the sake of the white flour at noon."

They began swinging the heavy wooden halberds in their hands in groups of three or two. These wooden halberds had just been freshly cut, the moisture inside still present, dead heavy.

After a short while, they could no longer lift the halberds in their hands, but Gao Zhijian didn't care about that. Anyone caught slacking would meet his calloused hands, which were certainly not soft.

In the seemingly endless time for these village soldiers, noon finally arrived, and the cry for lunch from the youngster Yang sounded like music to their ears.

But when they finally reached the kitchen, trembling, they stuffed the much longed-for white flour mantou into their mouths.

Although they could hardly hold their bowls steady, they ate ravenously without delay, gobbling down the food like pigs competing for feed.

Meanwhile, in the Bai Family Courtyard, the other brothers were contemplating the same issue.

"Zhao Wu Brother, it's time to buy grain. Brother Gao Zhijian said we need at least a hundred militia men. If we all eat like this, no matter how much grain we have, it won't last," one of them said.

"I know, but now is not the time to buy grain. Prices are high due to natural disasters. We will wait for the autumn harvest to buy grain when it's cheaper."

Yang, the youngster, muttered quietly, "But we have to last until the autumn harvest."

"Then how about... fewer men? So many of us have divine skills now, who would dare to provoke us?" said the lad holding a bowl, Dog Wa.

"No!" Gao Zhijian shook his head vigorously, "Li... Li... Li Brother...said...said...said that we...must...must..."

"Ok, ok, ok, I get it, don't bother finishing. It'll be dinner time by the time you're done," interrupted Dog Wa.

Gao Zhijian frowned and glared at Dog Wa, then buried his head in his bowl and continued eating.

"Let's not argue, for now, let's just do it this way. Brother Li has left some gold, I will pawn some of it for silver," said another.

Hearing Chun Xiaoman say this, everyone went back to eating, and the matter was put aside.

But one person noticed the worry on Chun Xiaoman's face. After they finished eating, as Chun Xiaoman was about to go to the Bai Family Ancestral Hall, Gao Zhijian stopped her. "I... I... I have money... if... if… the village... village… needs money in the future... come... come… to me!"

"You have money? Where did you get it?" Chun Xiaoman asked in surprise.

"I… I… I… from before!"

"Were you a wealthy man in your past?"

Gao Zhijian's face turned red with the effort of trying to explain. In the end, he squatted on the ground and began to sketch on the dirt with his finger.