The Unruly Immortals

"I don't know what the five immortals from the Immortal Sects who perform exorcisms in red, yellow, and white represent; an old man in the village mentioned it briefly, and I just remembered it," Bai Lingmiao said.

"The time I encountered them was when someone in the village was possessed by an evil spirit, crawling on the ground and barking like a dog. Coincidentally, one of the exorcists happened to be passing by the village and came over to have a look."

"What happened after that, I'm not quite sure, I only remember that the person who was possessed was all right the next day and went back to work in the fields."

Listening to Xiaoman talk about the fragmented information regarding the exorcists, Li Huowang quietly pondered over it.

"So, it seems that the exorcists in Siqi do roughly the same work as the Taoists? They expel evil spirits and avert disasters, but do their powers also come from the same sources as Master You's?"

"Since the exorcists often have to interact with others, they should be easier to talk to than the monks from Zhengde Temple, right?"

He wasn't worried that these so-called exorcists were too powerful, but rather that they might be too weak to handle Master Danyang.

After all, one can't compare a lone fighter to a group.

The disappearance of the creaking noise from the donkey cart snapped Li Huowang back to reality, and he noticed that others had already gone into the forest to gather firewood and fetch water.

Looking up at the sky, Li Huowang realized that unconsciously the sun had started to set; it was time to rest.

He didn't just sit around; he drew his sword and started digging holes in the ground. The sword was remarkably sharp, and in no time, he had dug a hole the size of a head.

The fool who was prepared at his side picked up the black pot from the donkey cart, placed it on the hole,

Now they just had to create two openings on either side, one for adding firewood and the other for letting out smoke, and a simple earthen stove was ready.

Compared with rice, dry noodles were more practical, easier to store, and convenient to cook.

As the water in the pot came to a boil, a few bundles of longevity noodles purchased from the town at the checkpoint were steamed and put down into it.

Somewhat dandelions picked on the roadside served as vegetables, and one salted duck egg per person as meat, topped with a large bowl of noodles, completed the dinner.

Li Huowang used his chopsticks to crack open the floating salted duck egg in the noodle soup; the sizzling hot yolk immediately released a layer of golden oil on the surface, making the entire soup appetizing to look at.

With his chopsticks, he picked up the softened dandelion stems, placed them in his mouth and slowly chewed on them. They had a bitter taste, somewhat resembling spinach.

He didn't even know dandelions were edible until he saw the old monk eating them with such relish, and from that, he learned they were a type of wild vegetable.

Blowing away the steam, Li Huowang took a generous sip of the warm soup and felt instantly warm and comfortable in his stomach.

Seeing the wild greens made Li Huowang think about the old monk from Zhengde Temple.

"I wonder how he's doing. With him being so clueless and blind, he should be able to live well in that kind of environment, right?"

A pair of chopsticks placed the oil-laden duck egg yolk into Li Huowang's bowl, "I don't eat the yolk," Bai Lingmiao said softly, sitting next to him.

Li Huowang nodded silently, picked up the noodles with his chopsticks, and slurped them noisily into his mouth. "I have a Taoist Bell with me, do you remember? The one I brought from Qingfeng Taoist Temple."

"Yeah."

"I'll tell you how to use it now. In case something happens to me, you must remember to use it to save your life."

"Okay."

"First, you need to shake it. At that point, you will feel very dizzy. Endure it, and then quickly grab a handful of dirt from the ground and put it in your mouth..."

The sky gradually darkened, Li Huowang's bowl emptied, and his story came to an end.

Bai Lingmiao took the bowl and chopsticks from Li Huowang's hands and walked towards the small river in the forest.

Li Huowang watched her slender form, which, without him realizing, changed into the silhouette of a young girl wearing a high school's red uniform—that was Yang Na's silhouette.

He shook his head vigorously, and Bai Lingmiao returned to her previous form. A tad irritated, Li Huowang lay down on the ground and looked up at the increasingly clear starry sky.

As the night deepened, Li Huowang still kept watch for the first half of the night. His sleep had not been good lately, or rather, it had never been good.

Li Huowang prodded the campfire before him with his sword, adding another log to the fire.

After shaking it off, Li Huowang, by the light of the fire, glanced at his weapon.

This weapon, capable of slicing through iron as if it were mud, was really being wasted in his hands—he used it as a shovel to dig holes or as a poker for the fire, which had blackened its tip and made it extremely unsightly.

The only time it had seen blood was when he used it on his own neck.

"Brother Changming, if you saw the state of your treasured sword now, would you be so angry you'd come back to life?" Li Huowang muttered to himself as he sheathed the longsword behind his back.

"Shh—" A soft rustle came from behind, causing Li Huowang to abruptly stand up. He grabbed a burning stick from the fire and threw it in the direction of the sound.

The bright light of the fire passed beside a flickering shadow and finally landed in front of a pair of embroidered shoes.

Those embroidered shoes were very red, an intrusive and unsettling red.

"Who's there! Come out!!" Li Huowang shouted, waking the others who were asleep, causing them to sit up groggily.

When they caught sight of the feet wearing the embroidered shoes in the distance, they were startled awake and the sounds of drawing swords and knives filled the air.

"Hehehe, no need for violence. It's just a misunderstanding,"

With that, a white-haired man in his fifties came out of the pitch-black forest.

He was dressed simply, and the patches on his clothes indicated that he was probably not wealthy. Aside from a small bundle he carried on his back, his only other possession was a dirty drum, tied with many colored ribbons, slung around his waist.

Facing the weapons of Li Huowang and the others, he stood there and explained, "You see, I was traveling through the night, and when I saw a light up ahead, I came over to take a look. I didn't expect to run into you folks."

Noting that Li Huowang's gaze was fixed on the red embroidered shoes, he continued his explanation: "It's nothing. That's my daughter-in-law. She's shy. Hey, goose, come over here."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the pair of embroidered shoes casually walked out of the darkness, stopping next to the old man.

This was a woman with her face covered by a red bridal veil, wearing an extremely bright red and purple dress adorned with various colorful ribbons, just like the drums.

She stood there motionless, and the sight of this in the middle of the night truly sent chills down one's spine.

"This is your daughter-in-law?" Li Huowang, still brandishing his sword, sought confirmation again. Having someone like that by his side in the dead of night, it would be more believable if he said it was a zombie he was driving away.

At that moment, Xiao Man quietly came over and whispered, "Brother Li, he's a spirit medium."

This made Li Huowang's guard instantly rise to the highest level.

"Yes! Exactly, we are spirit mediums. I'm the main medium, and my daughter-in-law is the secondary medium,"

Seeing no reaction from the crowd in front of him, the man spoke up again, "What, don't believe me? Then, let me give you a performance, cough cough—"

Before Li Huowang could stop him, he bellowed, "Please—spirit—come forth—"

This forceful incantation echoed far into the dark forest.