The Unruly Immortals

---

"What kind of person is he? Isn't Brother Li quite nice?" Seemingly feeling her own possessions were being disparaged, Bai Lingmiao appeared somewhat unhappy.

"He..." Xiaoman hesitated a bit, "Do you really think Brother Li has no issues? If he was fine, why would that leper have captured him as a Medicinal Guide before?"

The room fell silent. Honestly, having spent so much time together, everyone knew each other's secrets. Compared to the others' physical problems, Li Huowang's mental issues were much more troublesome.

It was just that everyone had deliberately avoided this topic.

Bai Lingmiao's expression darkened, "What does it matter? If he's like that, where does that put me? At home, people called me 'White Demon', everyone was afraid of me, but Brother Li never looked at me any differently, and he even saved me several times."

"For someone like me to find a Brother Li is something I couldn't even dream of. He doesn't scorn me, and that alone makes me very happy."

Seeing this, Xiaoman didn't try to persuade her further, just heaved a sigh and slowly closed her eyes. "Sleep."

The bedroom gradually became quiet, leaving only the faint sound of their breathing.

When the breathing sound behind her started to lighten, Xiaoman turned around, looking at the exquisite girl in front of her.

Gazing at those long eyelashes, Xiaoman reached out to tenderly stroke the other's cheek, the touch akin to that of a freshly peeled boiled egg, which she found deeply captivating.

"...I...know...don't rush..." Bai Lingmiao mumbled in her sleep, lost in a dream.

Xiaoman's brow, hidden beneath her thick hair, furrowed slightly, and she quietly leaned closer.

"Bang!" The sound of the door being kicked open startled Xiaoman into sitting up. She pulled out a dagger from under her pillow and held it in front of Bai Lingmiao.

"Brother Li? Have you come down from the mountain?" She exclaimed in surprise at the young man before her.

The one who had pushed the door open was Li Huowang, just down from Henghua Mountain.

"The gold?" Li Huowang asked succinctly.

"It's all with that fool... Gao Zhijian, he's guarding it."

Li Huowang glanced at Bai Lingmiao, who was still groggy from sleep, then turned and walked towards the other guest rooms.

"What's happened? Who's here?" Bai Lingmiao mumbled groggily as she sat up.

Xiaoman gently embraced her and laid her back down, whispering, "It's nothing, sleep. We'll talk about the rest tomorrow."

The next day, Xiaoman, holding Bai Lingmiao's hand, walked into another guest room and saw Li Huowang.

Her sharp eyes noticed the yellow clay at his feet, indicating that her Brother Li had spent the entire night outside yesterday, though she had no idea what he had been up to.

"You're here? Take a seat. I'll tell you about our next part of the journey." Xiaoman said as she saw Li Huowang unroll a map.

"This place is where we're heading next. I need to go there to get something first; once I have it, I'll escort you both home."

Having said this, Li Huowang didn't wait for anyone to give their opinion before folding up the map, turning, and heading for the door. "Get your stuff ready; we're setting off this afternoon."

"Brother Li! What happened on the mountain? Is the place we're going to dangerous?"

Seeing Bai Lingmiao quickly follow after him, Xiaoman asked the others, "What's going on? What is Brother Li doing? Why is he running back and forth again?"

"How would I know? Brother Li never discusses with us. The fact that he bothered to give us a heads-up today is already quite remarkable." Gouwa said with a gloomy voice and a sore face.

---

"If we have to go, let's go, but why that look on your face?"

No sooner had he spoken than Dog Wa's tears began to stream down his face.

"Brother Li gave away all the gold, leaving nothing behind! If I had known it would come to this, I wouldn't have gone to the brothel; I should have bought a wife first!"

"What?! Gave it all away? Why didn't any of you stop him? You all know Brother Li isn't right in the head!" Xiao Man shouted anxiously.

"I did try to stop him! I tried to stop him the whole way yesterday when he was giving away the gold! But I have to be able to stop him, don't I?"

Xiao Man turned around and hurried outside, but it was in vain; she had stayed up all night, and the gold had already been delivered to An Ci Nunnery.

"Don't worry, I left some of the travel funds." said Li Huowang reassuringly.

With heavy hearts, Xiao Man and the others once again set out on their journey, having no say in the matter.

It was Li Huowang who had killed the water bandits and seized the gold; it was his to give away, and no one else had the right to stop him.

But the sudden shift from extreme wealth to poverty was a discomfort too stark for their hearts to easily bear.

Xiao Man opened her eyes to see Li Huowang, who looked like a statue, sitting by the campfire, staring at the red bamboo slips. She quietly crawled out of her blanket and walked towards the misty forest.

Coming to a quiet meadow, Xiao Man took out a book, and, drawing her long knife from her waist, she assumed a stance and began to imitate the moves in the book.

Though her movements with the knife's edge through the air were clumsy, her eyes were resolute and she practiced with exceptional seriousness.

"Huff—" As the blade came to a stop, she was startled to find its point directed at Li Huowang.

Li Huowang was still the same, his neck full of scars under which his face seemed weary.

"Where did you get this book from?" Li Huowang walked over, picked up the book from the ground, flipped through it, and saw it was filled with little figures in sword-fighting poses but contained no text. It looked like a sword manual.

"Didn't you say before that we should get whatever we wished for? I went to the bodyguards in the courier station; that's why I exchanged the gold for this book," Xiao Man replied.

"In these times, anyone who can be a bodyguard has martial skills. I spent a lot of money on this, it's genuine," she added.

Then, a soft smile crossed Xiao Man's face as she softly said, "After they killed my dad, I kept thinking, if I'd had a knife back then, would he have dared to sell me and my sister?"

"So, I want to become stronger, to be able to protect myself and others too."

Hearing Xiao Man's words, Li Huowang quietly nodded and walked back toward the campfire.

Xiao Man hesitated as she looked at his retreating figure, then, with a clenched jaw, she called out, "Brother Li, Sister Bai is truly sincere towards you, please don't let her down!"

Li Huowang kept walking without pausing, heading out of the forest. "Show this book to the others too, maybe they can learn something from it."

They traveled at a slow pace, stopping frequently. Though they had a carriage, it still took many days to cover the two hundred miles.

When they were nearly at their destination, Li Huowang and the others took time to regroup in the nearest village.

In a modest farmhouse courtyard, where the others, bored, were clustered together playing a card game with leaves, Dog Wa yawned disinterestedly and turned to Sun Baolu with a question.

"Where's Brother Li gone to? Haven't seen him all day, and we're almost there. Why are we still waiting here? This isn't like him."