Chapter 162: Unexpected Gain

Li Huowang slowly chewed a slice of toasted, golden-brown steamed bun, stuffing it into his mouth with one hand.

He stared blankly at the bonfire, his mind calculating where potential remnants might be.

They were en route to Sǐ Qí, now accompanied by three old second-hand carriages, which they had acquired by selling their camels and adding some silver. They couldn't continue their long journey without carriages.

A pair of chopsticks, holding steaming noodles with a few slices of cured meat, was offered to Li Huowang's mouth, waiting for him to open it.

Li Huowang frowned slightly and turned his head away. "I can eat by myself, no need to feed me."

"Senior Brother Li, you only have one hand now, how will you eat? Let me feed you until your hand grows back. Oh, how much longer until it grows back?"

Hearing Bai Lingmiao's worried words, Li Huowang raised his right arm and looked at the empty sleeve. A bitter smile appeared in his eyes as he murmured, "It's growing back soon, it'll be back very soon."

"But it's been three days since it was severed, and there's no sign of anything yet," Bai Lingmiao said, pulling up Li Huowang's sleeve to look at the healed incision.

"It's been three days already?" Li Huowang's pupils contracted. As if remembering something, he immediately stood up and looked around the barren Gobi, seemingly searching for something.

Soon, he found his target and walked towards a large rock in the distance.

"Senior Brother Li, where are you going? If you don't eat now, the noodles will get clumpy!"

"I'm going to relieve myself, don't follow!"

Reaching the boulder, which resembled a small hill, Li Huowang gazed at the distant carriages that had become tiny black dots, then stepped into the boulder's shadow.

Behind the stone, there was nothing but barren ground, which was exactly what Li Huowang wanted.

He sat cross-legged facing the massive rock. His expression showed a hint of hesitation, but he ultimately drew the sword from his hand and drew a human-shaped mural on the rock face.

"Mom, you've worked hard during this time," Li Huowang said softly to the human figure.

"Mom, I'm lucid now. Could you please bring me my phone? It's her birthday today, and I want to call her."

"Don't unbind me, just help me dial. Her number is the second one in the contacts."

Taking out a sharp small trowel, Li Huowang carefully etched details onto the human face. In a short while, a crude but somewhat familiar face appeared before him.

Li Huowang was not a painter, and his drawing was unsightly, yet in his eyes, the mural was more beautiful than anything. "Happy birthday, Nana."

"Happy birthday to you~ Happy birthday to you~ Happy birthday to you~"

Alone, Li Huowang smiled at the mural he had drawn on the boulder and sang softly, tenderly.

His voice didn't travel far before it was mercilessly torn apart by the fierce wind of the Gobi.

"I'm sorry, Nana. I can't be with you for your birthday this year. I can only wish you well this way. I'll make up for the gift when I have time." Li Huowang, still smiling, reached out his hand and gently caressed the mural's face.

After speaking, Li Huowang leaned in gently, kissed the mural, then propped himself up with one hand and stood.

As soon as he turned around, Li Huowang came face-to-face with a red-veiled figure – Bai Lingmiao's Ershen. She had witnessed the entire scene, both heartwarming and eerie.

"Shut up," Li Huowang told her, dropping these two words before turning and walking towards the carriages in the distance.

When he returned, he found that everyone else had finished eating and was chatting.

Li Huowang took the bowl of noodles from Bai Lingmiao's arms, placed it directly on the ground, and began slurping them down with one hand.

After Li Huowang had wolfed down most of the noodles, a clear metallic clang made his body instinctively tighten. He had heard that sound somewhere before.

He looked up in the direction of the sound and saw that it came from Gouwa. He was sitting on the ground, using his knife as if prying something loose from the ground.

Li Huowang stood up and walked behind him. "What are you doing?"

Li Huowang's words startled Gouwa. He looked at Li Huowang, a sheepish smile on his face, and picked up the object from the ground.

"Nothing. It's just that we're spending so much, I thought I'd try to get some extra for everyone."

It was a string of old, blackened copper coins. They looked recently burned. Li Huowang recognized them; they were the brass mask from the dwarf with the shadow puppet show.

He remembered Erbing had even taken it and worn it on his face before.

The blackened copper coin mask had many scratches, indicating that Gouwa had apparently been trying to pry the coins loose for use.

"I just thought it was a waste to throw them away in the ashes. These are hundreds of copper coins, after all. It's too wasteful, so I picked them up."

"I wasn't planning on keeping them for myself. I was just thinking of prying them loose and giving them to Junior Sister Bai to hold onto. But I didn't expect the thin chain connecting the coins to be so hard; I can't pry it open."

Li Huowang took the object and ran his hand over the coins, easily wiping off the black ash.

The great fire had not damaged the item in the slightest. A thin, old chain passed through the holes of each coin, forming a peculiar copper coin mask.

These coins were like ordinary copper coins, round on the outside and square on the inside, with four large characters Li Huowang didn't recognize inscribed around the inner square.

"Dào... dào... Dàoguāng... Tōng... ah, Tōng... ah, Tōngbǎo!" Gao Zhijian translated for Li Huowang.

"Daoguang Tongbao?" Li Huowang didn't know which country's currency this was, nor did he care. He was now considering the intrinsic value of the object itself.

After careful thought, Li Huowang called for Mantou and placed the mask on its head to check for any hidden dangers.

What happened next surprised him. Although Mantou was shaking its head and pawing at its face right in front of him, Li Huowang felt as if there was no dog in front of him.

That night, the dwarf had worn this mask to sneak attack him without a sound. If Ershen hadn't warned him beforehand, he might have fallen victim to his trick.

Later, Ershen also wore this item and hid among the crowd, and he found he couldn't quickly locate her then.

From these two points, it seemed this item might be some kind of magic artifact that could obscure one's presence.

"This thing... it seems useful to me."

Li Huowang's eyes brightened as he looked at the object. "This thing isn't just useful; it's extremely useful to me!"

Although he didn't know why, anyone with even a little ability in this world could easily tell he was a Xinsu.

Perhaps this item could prevent that from happening. He might no longer be "Tang Monk's flesh" in the future!