The Unruly Immortals

Watching the persimmon cake, dusted with white frost, held up before him, Li Huowang shook his head in refusal.

"Don't eat too much, when we get to the inn later and order some good dishes, you won't have room for more."

But Li Huowang's reminder did nothing to slow down their eating.

"No worries, I can eat my fill here and still have room for dinner."

"That's right, that's right, even if I have to burst, I'll eat! Being hungry really sucks, hey, Senior Brother Li, aren't you hungry?"

Li Huowang simply smiled without saying much and continued to lead his horse forward. The inn was not far ahead.

"Senior Brother Li, I've bought you some ready-made clothes, why don't you try them on?"

Li Huowang shook his head again, "No need, I'm used to wearing Taoist robes, just changing the inner layer will do. Besides, you should cover your eyes, or they'll start to hurt again."

The two horse-drawn carriages jostled through the dense crowd for a long time before finally arriving in front of the inn.

Excited, Doggie, holding his gold beans, rushed in first.

"Shop boy! Bring Lord Cao Cao the best upstairs room! And bring the braised pork!! The kind with only fat and no lean meat!! Four big bowls of it!!"

Li Huowang pushed him aside and walked in, looking around at the townspeople who were eating and chatting, and said to the approaching waiter, "There's no need for a private room upstairs, we'll eat here in the hall, I like the bustle."

"Senior Brother Li, we have money now. Why eat in this noisy hall and—"

With a glare from Li Huowang, the lively Doggie withered like a frost-bitten eggplant.

When they sat down at a wooden table, the buzz of conversation from around them began to fill Li Huowang's ears.

"Baowen's mother, you'd better watch out for trouble. Did your mother-in-law really say that behind your back?"

"I'm telling you, if someone is walking all over you, just hit them! We of Siqi have never been afraid of a fight. Although I've retired to civilian life, if the call to arms comes, I won't hesitate to return to the ranks!"

"Hehehe, Brother Zi Qi, my bad, my bad, my wife has been nagging a bit, so I'm a little slow. I'll go ahead and punish myself with three cups."

"Hey! Look at that Taoist over there, how strange, wearing a red Taoist robe..."

Li Huowang did not pick up any information he was after until the waiter brought the food.

He had thought that, this town being so close to a nunnery, good or bad, it should have had some impact on the locals.

Yet judging from the reaction of the people in the town, the presence of the nunnery was minimal.

But not to worry, if this method didn't work, Li Huowang had other ways.

"Double Dragons Playing with a Pearl — Three Yang Bringing Prosperity — Fish Leaping Over the Dragon's Gate — hehe! The dishes are all ready — please enjoy your meal, honored guests!"

Just as the waiter who announced the names of the dishes was about to leave, Li Huowang grabbed him.

"Ah, dear immortal, you see how busy this inn is, I really can't—"

Before the waiter could get the word "can't" out, Li Huowang stuffed a gold bean into his hand.

"Do you know about Henghua Mountain over there?"

"Yes, of course!"

"There's a nunnery up on the mountain. I've heard that it's quite popular with worshippers? Is their Bodhisattva very efficacious?"

At this, the waiter's face took on a puzzled look. "Popular with worshippers? Not really, An Ci Nunnery's following isn't even as good as the local god of the earth's."

"Hm?" Li Huowang looked over at Xiaoman eating her meal; this wasn't what she had told him.

"My neighbor said it was quite popular," Xiaoman put down her chopsticks, looking somewhat embarrassed.

"Eh, then your neighbor must have been blowing smoke. The Bodhisattva at An Ci Nunnery is covered in dust, if they had followers, I'd be a ghost."

"Immortal, you can't go wrong listening to me. The nephew of my second elder sister's neighbor is a widow who joined An Ci Nunnery to become a nun."

Upon hearing this, Li Huowang's interest was piqued. "Oh? Why did she become a nun there? Are there any requirements to join that nunnery?"

The waiter looked around hesitantly.

When Li Huowang stuffed the gold piece into his hand, the waiter leaned closer and deliberately lowered his voice.

"Her husband died, and her family is far away, then she proved barren, unable to bear a son, so the villagers abandoned her, driven to despair before becoming a nun. After all, who would choose to be a nun if they could make a living?"

"Oh… so that's the situation," Li Huowang nodded thoughtfully.

Based on the information collected so far, these nuns seemed relatively normal, not too far off from what Li Zhi had said before his death.

"Then do you know why those nuns wear black clothes?" Li Huowang took out another gold piece.

"Hey, that's not black, the nuns' clothes are blue. Who knows if there's no well on the mountain or what, they never bathe or change their clothes, so their clothes turn from blue to black over time."

At this point, the waiter's face was full of disgust.

"One day, a few nuns came down to sell pigs, and I saw one of them rub her neck, and hey! Guess what? She actually rubbed off a jujube-sized ball of black dirt!!"

As the waiter spoke, the people nearby couldn't help but put down their chopsticks with a disturbed look on their faces.

With a "smack," a hand slapped the back of the waiter's head.

"The honored guests are eating! What are you blabbering about? Do you want to ruin the reputation of Penglai Inn?"

"Shopkeeper, it really wasn't me! He asked, and I was just answering!"

Watching the fat shopkeeper scold the waiter and drag him away, Li Huowang picked up his chopsticks and started eating.

"Brother Li, if you want to ask something, we can help you," said Gouwa as he stuffed a greasy chunk of fat meat into his mouth.

"Enough. What can you possibly ask with that piebald face of yours? Don't scare people to death. Baolu, once you finish eating, help me inquire about An Ci Nunnery in town."

Among the medicinal guides, only this man was good with water and appeared completely normal.

Sun Baolu, always lacking presence, was startled, then silently nodded his head.

Li Huowang glanced at him and continued eating his food, knowing well that outward appearances don't necessarily mean normality.

This man never removed his clothes to sleep and always hid when going to the bathroom, avoiding both men and women.

There was definitely a reason under his clothes why Master Danyang had chosen him to be a medicinal guide.

But Li Huowang didn't want to pry; he wouldn't want others discussing his own mental state either.

In the following days, Li Huowang settled into the inn.

He sent both Taoist Boy and Baolu to gather information about An Ci Nunnery.

He did not want a repeat of what happened at Zhengde Temple.

After some time investigating, and even sending Baolu up the mountain for a survey, Li Huowang reluctantly confirmed that the nuns probably posed no significant threat.

The townspeople said the most about the nuns was that they were dirty, lazy, and fat.

"If I don't come back the next day, leave immediately. Do you hear me?"

Li Huowang stood at the base of the mountain trail, instructing the other medicinal guides.

"Brother Li, let us accompany you," they insisted.

"Accompany me for what, to be a burden? Do you think we're out on a spring outing?"

No sooner had Li Huowang spoken these harsh words than he realized their weight, yet he offered no explanation and instead turned to begin his solitary ascent of the mountain.

Looking at the receding figure, Bai Lingmiao, biting her lip with tears welling up in her eyes, seemed to want to say something.

But as he disappeared into the mountains, she remained silent.