Chapter 199: Changes

His body moved. This statement was easy to understand, but when it happened to Li Huowang, it became exceptionally perplexing.

Li Huowang straightened his back, looking at the red silhouette in front of him, which also stood upright.

He then raised his right hand over his head, and saw the red silhouette in front of him perform the same action.

This was undoubtedly his body.

Li Huowang looked down at his own body again; it was completely empty, yet he could distinctly feel himself.

He touched his arm and the copper coin mask on his face; the illusory Li Huowang in front of him mimicked his every move.

Li Huowang was now like a shadow puppeteer, with the distant figure being his puppet.

More than what this thing was, Li Huowang now wanted to understand how it came about and how to resolve it.

“That’s right, I remember now! Just before, when my hand was pinned to the ground and that woman was striking at me with her halberd, my body became dislocated!”

Li Huowang also recalled that when she had faced his attacks earlier, the woman had always targeted a different spot, which explained her obvious vulnerabilities.

He hadn't had time to think much about it then, but now it seemed she was attacking his illusion.

“What is going on? How can I possess such an ability? It’s as if there’s a bug in this world. Could this world be fake?!”

This thought caused a hint of fear to appear on Li Huowang’s face, a fear that deepened with each passing moment.

The more he looked at his own body beside him, the more excessively fake it appeared.

Breathing rapidly, he quickly clutched his head, constantly talking to himself to provide psychological reassurance and steady his wavering mind.

“No, this world is definitely real, it can’t be a figment of my imagination! I must have awakened a special ability of the Xinsu!”

“Yes, that’s right! It must be! I’ve been so unlucky for so long, it’s about time I had some good fortune! This is normal, Li Huowang! Don’t be paranoid! That other world is fake, this world is real!”

Seeing Li Huowang’s pained expression, Bai Lingmiao walked over, reaching out to embrace him.

However, her hand passed through the empty air, straight through the illusion.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Li Huowang said, taking a step back as his breathing steadied.

Lu Zhuangyuan timidly remarked, “And you call this ‘fine’? You can’t even touch your own body; this is a ghost! Young Daoist, when did you forget you died?”

In this situation, no one could help Li Huowang; he could only process it slowly himself.

After about two incense sticks had burned, Li Huowang gradually regained his composure.

“I’m not dead,” he stated. “My body just has some extra abilities.”

While everyone rested, Li Huowang briefly explained what had happened to them.

“Oh, I see, so this is Young Daoist’s divine ability,” Lu Zhuangyuan said, a look of understanding appearing on his face as he nodded involuntarily.

Bai Lingmiao reached out, exploring until she touched Li Huowang’s invisible body. A hint of worry appeared on her face.

“Brother Li, will you be like this for the rest of your life?”

“I… wait. Let me try.” Li Huowang focused, trying to recall the sensation from earlier. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

“Shift back, hurry and shift back into place! Overlap again!”

After racking his brains for a while, Li Huowang suddenly opened his eyes, surprised to find his body had returned!

But his joy was short-lived as Li Huowang discovered another problem.

His senses and body had indeed overlapped this time, but the position wasn’t quite right: his lower body was stuck in the soil.

Although his body was trapped in the soil, Li Huowang felt as if he were standing on solid ground.

His body was also misaligned with this space-time.

“I know this, I know this divine ability, Brother Li, this is the Earth Evasion Technique, right!” Gouwa exclaimed, overjoyed with his discovery.

Li Huowang, too annoyed to respond, simply closed his eyes and continued his attempts.

When he opened his eyes again, his body had indeed emerged from the soil, but his perspective was now in the air, suddenly shifting from first-person to third-person.

Watching the red Daoist below move and look up under his control, Li Huowang felt as though he was playing a game.

“No, again! I refuse to believe I can’t get back!”

Li Huowang began a new round of attempts, trying to control his body’s position.

Movement wasn’t simply a matter of thought; it required a strong sensation of shifting. That feeling was elusive, like trying to see flowers through a thick fog.

After struggling in place for two hours, Li Huowang finally managed to return to his original position, albeit barely.

It was 'barely' because his visual perception was slightly elevated, as if his eyes were on his forehead.

A slight imperfection was acceptable. Li Huowang didn’t want to try anymore; their group was still in the middle of an escape.

“We’ve rested enough,” he announced. “Let’s go. We need to leave Houshu as soon as possible; the longer we stay here, the more dangerous it becomes.”

Hearing this, everyone nodded and picked up their meager remaining luggage.

“Master… I can’t run anymore, I’m pregnant,” Luo Juanhua whispered, her words clearly audible to Li Huowang.

Li Huowang looked up and saw Scholar Lu, without a word, bend down and pick up his wife.

Indeed, some houses were on fire, and no one paid them any mind.

Stripped naked like white pigs, dead bodies were casually piled into small mountains.

Meanwhile, the bandit soldiers sat in groups of three or five around bonfires fueled by burning main beams, drinking wine and eating meat.

A plump, pink-faced man in a hat, holding a handkerchief to his nose, scurried and dodged through the chaos, shrinking his body.

Suddenly, he felt his foot slip. Looking down, he discovered it was a piece of intestine! “Oh, my goodness!” he shrieked.

Seeing his exaggerated reaction, the surrounding bandit soldiers burst into laughter.

“Supervisor Cao, want a taste? It’s freshly roasted,” a charred, bloody thigh appeared before him without warning.

“Ugh~” Cao Hai could no longer hold back. He leaned on a nearby broken wall and began to vomit.

“Look at you, what a coward. Don’t worry, it’s pork, not human flesh. Didn’t you see the hoof?”

Hearing this, Cao Hai felt a little better. He cautiously extended two fingers and pushed the pig leg slightly away.

“I, this humble eunuch, need to discuss urgent matters with General Peng. Do you know where she is? I just checked the main camp, and she wasn’t there.”

“If you, a supervisor, don’t know, how would I? I was just busy snatching money and women with those brutes.”

Just as Cao Hai looked troubled, a hairy hand suddenly reached out from the side and groped towards his lower body.

A panicked Cao Hai quickly retreated several steps, only then realizing the hand belonged to a young man with sharp eyebrows, who was now feigning surprise as he looked at his own hand.

“Oh dear~ I think I just touched something, Eunuch Cao. Not cut cleanly, eh~ Did you leave something behind for the Cao family to continue the lineage?”

Seeing the man, Cao Hai ignored his teasing and quickly asked, “Hou Wen, you’re General Peng’s personal guard; you must know where she is now, right?”

“Hehehe~ You want to know?”

Hou Wen leaned in with a mischievous smile, gently patting Cao Hai on the backside. When Cao Hai clutched his rear, Hou Wen quickly slapped him on the front.

“Oh dear, oh dear, stop teasing me! I truly have something urgent to discuss with General Peng! This concerns the General’s future!”

“The General is injured and recovering over there,” Hou Wen finally said. “Be careful; her temper isn’t very good right now.”

Cao Hai, disregarding all else, hurried towards the few intact houses Hou Wen had pointed to.