Chapter 151: Shadow Puppetry

In the dead of night, a terrifying, grotesque shadow puppet monster was sprawled on the dim paper window.

This scene was utterly unsettling, no matter how one looked at it. However, in Li Huowang's eyes, what was even more unnerving was that it called him "Xin Su."

After everything he had been through, Li Huowang naturally understood what it meant for others to call him by that title.

"Who exactly are you?" Li Huowang asked the strange shadow puppet, his face grim.

"Heh heh," it responded. "You've come to my territory, and you don't know who I am?"

As soon as it finished speaking, Li Huowang saw the shadow puppet on the paper window begin to seep into the room.

"Clang!" The sword was drawn, and the entire room instantly filled with killing intent.

A dark red longsword instantly appeared before Li Huowang. This was his first official sword draw.

The next moment, something from the monstrous hilt of the sword swiftly surged through Li Huowang's entire body, making his blood rush, his veins bulge, and everything appear red before his eyes.

Watching as the black tentacles, patterned like window grilles, were about to rise from the paper, Li Huowang stomped his right foot forward, executing a direct lunge thrust. He pressed his tongue against his lower jaw and involuntarily roared, "Kill!"

Seeing the blood-red sword tip, enveloped in malevolent aura, coming towards it, the shadow puppet dared not meet it head-on and quickly shifted to the right. A rustling metallic sound rang out, and it instantly moved to the wooden door beside it.

"Hm? This sword... what's your connection to the Righteous Clan of Si Qi?"

Seeing the sword in Li Huowang's hand, the creature's voice carried a hint of hesitation, and its movements became somewhat wary. Ordinarily, Li Huowang might have stopped to listen carefully to what it had to say, but with his mind enveloped by that surge of heat, he was utterly incapable of doing so. Before it could finish speaking, Li Huowang's sword had already arrived. The red blade, glinting coldly, struck the wooden door with full force. A "crack" sound echoed, and the wooden door instantly shattered into splinters. Along with the wooden frame, the shadow puppet also turned into fragments.

Rushing out of the room, Li Huowang's gaze swept through the corridor before him, and he saw behind a distant window a person holding several wooden sticks, manipulating a shadow puppet in the air. What he had just fought was merely the reflection of the shadow puppet frame in that person's hand!

Seeing Li Huowang pursuing him, the person decisively threw away the shadow puppet in their hand and quickly retreated into the room. When Li Huowang aggressively chased after him, he found the room empty, with only the shadow puppet on the ground gradually turning into black ash. He had only glimpsed it in a hurry and hadn't paid much attention, but what Li Huowang remembered most clearly was that the person wore a worn brass mask on their face.

"Clang." The sword returned to its scabbard. Li Huowang took several deep breaths and calmed down.

"What exactly was that person's goal? Did he really just see Xin Su and get greedy?" Although the person had been driven away, Li Huowang felt it wasn't that simple.

"Wait, Bai Lingmiao!" A vigilant Li Huowang rushed back to his room at top speed. When he saw Bai Lingmiao sleeping peacefully on the bed, Li Huowang immediately breathed a sigh of relief. His concern had clouded his judgment. Bai Lingmiao was not a defenseless weak woman; he didn't need to worry about the opponent luring him away.

Walking to the bedside, Li Huowang carefully examined the longsword in his hand. It wasn't strange for someone to come looking for trouble, but this time was different from others. He was no longer simply fleeing; the one fleeing had become the enemy. This made Li Huowang somewhat excited. It meant that he finally had a foothold in this chaotic and bizarre world. And this was all thanks to the sword given by the abbess. The person had lost the will to fight just by seeing this sword. Li Huowang naturally understood that it wasn't him they were wary of, but the sword. Compared to powerful strength, this sword also carried other values.

"Righteous Clan of Si Qi?" "Is that the name of its previous owner? It doesn't sound like the name of a sect." Li Huowang had no answer to this question. The only thing he knew was that this sword had an extraordinary origin, and his debt to the abbess had grown even heavier.

Li Huowang, who was gently stroking the scabbard with his hand, suddenly felt something abnormal. He looked down and saw a pair of pale white hands with long black fingernails gripping his calf. Li Huowang thought for a moment and did not pull away. He looked down and said to the Ershen under the bed: "Thank you for the reminder today. If you hadn't warned me, I really might have been ambushed by him."

Regardless of what had happened before, one thing was clear: today, Bai Lingmiao's Ershen had indeed helped him. However, this was also a point of confusion for Li Huowang. His current perception was so keen; he had detected bandits from far away before. Yet this time, someone had approached his door, and he still needed a warning.

"Does that person have something on them that can block detection? I wonder if it would help my Xin Su identity. If I could use it too, it would be great if I could seize it. Then so many people wouldn't come looking for trouble with me."

Just as Li Huowang was deeply engrossed in this thought, he felt the sensation on his calf was a little different. He looked down again and saw that the pale hands had disappeared. Several cold, slithering things were continually pushing up his trousers and extending upwards. From the sensation against his skin, it felt somewhat like soft snakeskin. Immediately after, a tingling female voice softly whispered in Li Huowang's ear. "My dear husband~"

Li Huowang's scalp instantly prickled, and goosebumps erupted all over his body. "Stop! I said stop!"

When Li Huowang's hand gripped the sword hilt, just as he was about to draw it, the thing inside his trouser leg finally slowly receded. Turning his head to glance at Bai Lingmiao, who was deep in sleep, Li Huowang said, "What happened before ends now. I don't want to bring it up again! Sleep!"

After speaking, Li Huowang lay back down on the bed. In response to Li Huowang's words, the Ershen under the bed said nothing more, and the room instantly fell silent.

After such an incident, how could Li Huowang possibly sleep? He essentially stayed awake until dawn. It wasn't until he heard the cries of street vendors outside the window that Li Huowang finally drifted off to sleep.

When he woke up again, he found he had slept until the afternoon. Dressed, he sat in the inn's main hall, eating lunch while pondering the events of the previous night.

From the methods used, that person was clearly incomparable to those of Zhengde Temple and An'ci Nunnery. Perhaps he was a rogue cultivator like Dan Yangzi. If that was all it was, then it wouldn't be a big problem. He said this was "his" territory, not "theirs" or "their sect's." This meant that, most likely, he was alone. Li Huowang had no intention of fleeing. If he were to act, sparsely inhabited wilderness would make it easier to be ambushed, compared to bustling, populated towns.

Just as he picked up a peanut with his chopsticks and put it into his mouth, Li Huowang saw the imposing Scholar Lü walk in with his two sons. Recalling yesterday's events, Li Huowang could easily guess what had happened.

"Troupe Master Lü, did you go arguing with those Nuo opera performers again?" Li Huowang asked. "Judging by your vigor, did you win the argument?"