Chapter 150: Trouble

When Li Huowang heard Yang Xiaohai's voice, he came back to his senses and realized they were now at the edge of the small town.

Before him were several stone-built bungalows, in front of which stretched a vast, spacious horse ranch.

Camels, sheep, and horses were all separately confined in different corrals. The pungent smell of various livestock wafted towards him.

The people inside seemed to have noticed Li Huowang, and they all turned their gaze towards him simultaneously.

From their attire, it was clear that this family specialized in this kind of business.

This also indirectly showed that the young female Daoist nun was likely not sold; her family seemed to be well-off.

Taking the urn from Yang Xiaohai, Li Huowang took a deep breath, composed himself, and started walking towards them.

Seeing Li Huowang approach, a robust man pushed aside the horse next to him and came forward. "Buying livestock?"

"No, delivering something," Li Huowang replied, studying him. Estimating his age, he seemed to be the Daoist nun's father.

Faced with Li Huowang's sudden visit, the strong man clearly didn't trust him immediately. But when Yang Xiaohai mentioned the Daoist nun's name and some details about her, they finally believed.

The news of their daughter's death struck them like a bolt from the blue. The entire family gathered around the urn, sobbing uncontrollably.

Watching the sorrowful scene before him, Li Huowang initially thought he would be affected by their grief, but he wasn't.

He had seen too many dead people, to the point of feeling numb.

The monk, who was standing by, lost his smile upon seeing this scene. With a devout expression, he walked over, pressed his palms together, and began chanting prayers for the urn.

"Amitabha... Amitabha... Amitabha..."

Because the Daoist nun's father kept pressing for details, it was already very late when Li Huowang and his companions returned to the inn.

"Let's go. Our meeting is destiny. I'll get you a superior room so you don't have to secretly sleep in the outhouse like before."

"I have travel money," the monk said, shaking his robes, making the sound of copper coins clinking against each other.

"And you're talking nonsense; when have I ever used someone else's outhouse?"

Li Huowang finally sighed in relief upon hearing this.

"Where are you headed? If it's on the way, let's travel together from now on."

In this desolate place, it's not easy for someone like him to survive. It's best to look out for each other.

"As long as I can do good deeds, I can go anywhere; I'm not picky. Let's talk more tomorrow. I'll head off now, or else the dormitory will close."

Watching the monk's retreating figure, Li Huowang smiled and turned to enter the inn.

As soon as he stepped into the lobby, he saw a flushed Master Lu arguing with his son.

"Master Lu, what's going on?"

Master Lu pushed his son away, his fingers excitedly gesturing in the air.

"Those Nuo opera performers are so audacious! They dare to claim my opera originated from them, saying their opera is the ancestor of ours!"

"Father, please, let it go. Why argue with them about this? This is their territory."

"Let it go? Other things can be let go, but not this! If I don't stand my ground now, how can I face our patriarch? We're all performers of the lower trades; why would I be afraid of them? Let me go!"

After realizing it was just Master Lu arguing with the Nuo opera performers, Li Huowang didn't bother to interfere and turned to walk towards his bedroom.

"Miaomiao, do you remember that old monk? He—" Li Huowang's words, just after entering the room, abruptly stopped.

Bai Lingmiao was clearly exhausted. Having finished washing up, she was already lying in bed, fast asleep.

Li Huowang walked to the bedside and gently stroked her face.

Feeling Li Huowang's presence, a drowsy Bai Lingmiao instinctively wrapped her arms around him.

Seeing her like this, Li Huowang suppressed his desire to share what was on his mind.

Blowing out the oil lamp, Li Huowang lay down and stared blankly at the ceiling beams.

"Phew... It's rare to have a few days of peace and quiet at last."

Li Huowang wasn't that greedy; he only wished to quietly maintain this kind of life.

"Except for... the two of them." Li Huowang slightly turned his head, looking at Jiang Yingzi and Danyangzi beside him.

In the quiet bedroom, those two entities were still there in the distance, their faces bearing that enigmatic, half-smiling expression.

"Huh?" Li Huowang sat up in surprise, realizing that he could actually see things in the dark.

"In terms of perception, my abilities are getting stronger and stronger," Li Huowang murmured, unsure if this was good or bad news.

"Senior Brother Li...?" Seeing that Bai Lingmiao was about to be woken up, Li Huowang quickly patted her gently. "Sleep... sleep..."

As Li Huowang spoke, he slowly closed his own eyes.

Perhaps due to years of constant travel, Li Huowang fell asleep in an instant, and uncharacteristically, he didn't dream.

As Li Huowang rested in deep sleep, he suddenly tensed up, feeling something approaching.

The next moment, a sharp pain in his finger instantly brought him wide awake.

He instinctively raised his hand to look and saw that the flesh of his finger was turned inside out.

From the location and the beast-like appearance, Li Huowang immediately realized it was bitten by Bai Lingmiao's Second God!

He looked around, but he didn't find the woman whose head was covered with a red veil.

Li Huowang suddenly lowered his head and saw three pairs of shoes by the bed: his own, Bai Lingmiao's, and a pair of red embroidered shoes placed in between.

As Li Huowang saw them, the red embroidered shoes slowly receded under the bed.

Glancing at the sleeping Bai Lingmiao, Li Huowang, with a furrowed brow, lowered his voice and asked the space under the bed, "What do you want?!"

"Something's here..." A soft, tingling female voice suddenly whispered in Li Huowang's ear.

Li Huowang instantly gripped the hilt of the sword under his pillow with one hand, holding his breath to sense the environment outside the room.

Li Huowang's perception was extremely sharp at that moment. Logically, if someone had truly arrived, he should have detected them, but he felt no abnormality.

Just as Li Huowang thought the Second God was playing a trick on him, there was a movement outside the window—a crisp, metallic clinking sound.

"Thud!" Suddenly, a shadow puppet-like projection appeared on the wall.

It was hard to say what kind of shadow puppet it represented. It resembled a spider overall, with the face of an old man from a New Year's print. Six barbed arms and solid tentacles with intricate patterns like paper-cuts for windows extended and retracted from within it.

This unknown shadow creature rapidly scurried behind Li Huowang's window.

"Hmph, Xinsu? And from Zoroastrianism, truly rare."

The moment he heard this, Li Huowang, with a sword in one hand, flipped over and got up from the bed.