The Unruly Immortals

After hearing Xiaoman's words, Li Huowang snorted coldly, having understood the situation already on the eighteenth of the twelfth lunar month, he immediately guessed that these people must have had their identities stolen just like he had.

The entire village was clumsily put together by the eighteenth of the twelfth lunar month, and all the villagers had been unknowingly acting alongside it in this extended play.

Since the eighteenth of the twelfth lunar month was constantly controlling so many people, it was obvious that it was not doing this for fun but for its own benefit—perhaps this creature was some kind of ancient Evil Spirit that fed on the names and identities of others.

"There's no such thing as Wu Family Village, it's literally a 'No Family Village'!" Li Huowang said mockingly.

But at the mere mention of the eighteenth of the twelfth lunar month, Li Huowang's muscles tensed up instantly, and he looked at Xiaoman with a nervous expression. "Right! The eyes? Where are the eyes of the eighteenth of the twelfth lunar month?"

He had run all the way here just for this purpose.

"We found it beside you, is this what you want?"

Xiaoman seemed to have anticipated Li Huowang's question and turned to pull out a palm-sized black lacquered box.

The box was opened, and two red eyes the size of billiard balls stared intently at Li Huowang; these were the eyes of the eighteenth of the twelfth lunar month.

"Got them, Master Danyang can be dealt with now." Li Huowang couldn't help but get excited, he would no longer have to live in fear of becoming Master Danyang.

Once Master Danyang was dealt with, he could search for a solution to the illusion with peace of mind.

With a "click," the lacquered box closed, and Li Huowang placed it behind his pillow.

"Is everyone else alright? Tell me in detail everything that's happened since I left."

Through Xiaoman's account, Li Huowang learned about what had transpired after he had fallen into the illusion,

just as the eighteenth of the twelfth lunar month thought it had got rid of him, it immediately began to target the others.

However, just as it was about to succeed, a faceless man rushed in and disrupted its scheme.

The faceless man yelled that Li Huowang was an impostor and kept signaling to Bai Lingmiao and the others to attack him.

Of course, Li Huowang understood that it was himself, the self who had lost his name. But from his perspective at that moment, he was in the middle of a big road, screaming at a red car.

"After that, Brother Li Zhi's body quickly collapsed, leaving only a skin on the ground, while the faceless man seemed to be able to see the eighteenth of the twelfth lunar month as well and charged outside."

"We wanted to follow, but those bamboo plants suddenly started moving, blocking our way. So we lost track of that faceless man."

After Xiaoman finished explaining everything, Bai Lingmiao came in from outside carrying chicken soup, this time with more chicken meat sizzling in the oily broth.

Now that the news of Li Huowang waking up was heard, the others also came over one after another to visit. Seeing their brother awake, their faces beamed with excitement as they crowded around him to offer warm regards.

Seeing each and every one of them alive, Li Huowang's heart felt somewhat relieved; having no one dead was better than anything else.

After some casual conversation, Li Huowang, holding his bowl, said, "Now that I have awakened, let's not wait any longer, we'll go back tomorrow."

However, this suggestion was immediately met with unanimous opposition from everyone.

"Oh, Brother Li, your intestines are hanging out, why are you in such a hurry? Wait until you're healed before going back."

"Exactly, haven't you found everything you were looking for?"

"Take a few days off, Brother Li, we're not in a hurry, so why are you?"

Li Huowang gently pressed his wound with his hand and tried to sit up. "It's nothing, I can handle it—hiss."

A sudden, intense pain in his abdomen interrupted his words, with a hint of fresh blood seeping through the white bandage.

The pain was so severe, it nearly matched the moment when his abdomen was cut open.

Gouwa quickly leaned in, with Gao Zhijian on the other side, and they forcefully made Li Huowang lie down.

"My dear Senior Brother Li, you mustn't strain yourself anymore. Our carriage is very bumpy, and if your wound gets jostled, your intestines might just spill out."

Seeing this, Li Huowang had no choice but to give up.

"All right, you all go back to sleep. Everyone take this time to rest well. We've been rushing on the road since leaving Qingfeng Taoist Temple, and everyone must be tired."

After some more conversation, people left in twos and threes, leaving only Bai Lingmiao, who stood there, restless and torn between staying and leaving.

When Li Huowang reached out his right hand to her, her indecision vanished. She pulled over a stool and quietly sat by the bedside.

Li Huowang, who was resting with his eyes closed, gently squeezed with his right hand. "Is this the craftsmanship of the Bai Family's Granny? Healing someone only halfway?"

"That was the result after I discussed it with her. I just felt that we should allow for self-healing wherever possible, to avoid wasting rewards unnecessarily."

Bai Lingmiao continued as she looked at the large hand holding hers, "Actually, she could have healed you completely, but doing so would mean using up all the Yangshou inside the gourd to offset the debt, and she would also have to take something from your mind."

"From my mind? It wasn't by exchanging my lifespan?" Li Huowang raised his head in surprise and looked at Bai Lingmiao.

Understanding dawned upon Li Huowang only after he saw her shake her head. He himself had misunderstood the Yangshou Pills inside the gourd; they were different and even more greedy than Old Master You.

"Did she say what she was going to take?" Li Huowang couldn't guess what in his mind could be of value to them.

"I asked, but she wouldn't say. Matters concerning the master's family and the Immortal Sects are not for the likes of spirit mediums to meddle in. But I figured, since it's something in the mind, it must be important, so I didn't agree to it."

"Hmph, a bunch of lowlifes not fit to show their faces."

After encountering so many Evil Spirits, Li Huowang had some guesses. Compared with the God of Happiness and the "Great Buddha" of Zhengde Temple, the Immortal Sects were of a much lower class, only able to hire pitiful souls and feed on leftovers others discarded.

Li Huowang reopened his eyes and looked at Bai Lingmiao. "Did they threaten you with anything? Like having to find a certain number of masters each month?"

"No, they just nag from time to time, which is a bit annoying."

As the conversation turned to this topic, Li Huowang's expression grew serious, "Remember this, if you run into trouble negotiating with them, tell me immediately. I will deal with them. Remember, you are at most their assistant, not their slave."

Li Huowang wasn't necessarily afraid of them. If it came to a confrontation, he, now in possession of the Great Thousand Record, might not necessarily lose.

Since the incident had already happened and couldn't be altered, but Li Huowang would never let Bai Lingmiao suffer the same fate as Li Zhi. Because unlike Li Zhi, she had him.

Touched by the care in his words, Bai Lingmiao felt a warmth in her heart, "Okay."

"If you happen to encounter them on the way, you can perform as a spirit medium for them, but otherwise, there's no need to actively seek them out. We're not short of that fifty Wen Money."

"Mhm."

And so, one person kept giving instructions while the other listened quietly. Unnoticed, the wick in the oil lamp on the table started to flicker and dim.

"It's getting late, let's sleep," Li Huowang drew back the quilt on the bed.

Bai Lingmiao nodded obediently, gently blew out the oil lamp, and carefully slid into the warm quilt, taking care not to bump Li Huowang's wound.