Chapter 201: Zhuangzi

Li Huowang and his group, having returned to their normal appearance, continued their journey along a muddy, loess path. Several days had passed since they escaped from the town. Exhaustion was etched on everyone's face. There was no way around it; going without proper food and clothing inevitably led to such a state.

When they reached a slightly flatter area, Li Huowang wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. "Let's all rest for a bit." As soon as he spoke, everyone immediately collapsed, lying haphazardly on the ground, breathing heavily.

Bai Lingmiao carefully took out the last piece of yellow flatbread from her embrace. She broke off half, put the other half back, and then handed the remaining piece to Li Huowang. "Senior Brother Li, here, please eat." Li Huowang glanced at her, then reached out and gently pinched her stomach. It was empty. This action made Bai Lingmiao feel deeply embarrassed, but she couldn't bring herself to refuse him.

"Don't save it," Li Huowang said. "I know you eat a lot. Eat when you need to, and don't go hungry. I'll figure out other things."

"I'm really not hungry, you eat it," Bai Lingmiao pushed the flatbread back to him.

This time, Li Huowang didn't bother to take it. He reopened his map, looking for ways to replenish their food supply. They were running low on both food and provisions and needed to replenish them as soon as possible. He had considered robbing bandits, but the thought of the bandits' connection to the Rebel Army made Li Huowang abandon the idea. It was hard to say whether these bandits were truly outposts for that woman. They had only just managed to escape successfully; it wasn't worth provoking the Rebel Army again just for some food.

"Robbing ordinary commoners?" Li Huowang immediately rejected this idea. He would never do something as monstrous as his master. He was Li Huowang; he was not Dan Yangzi. Not robbing bandits and not oppressing commoners, yet needing to acquire enough provisions and travel expenses – this was indeed quite difficult.

Just then, Gouwa, smiling, walked over. He reached for the flatbread in Bai Lingmiao's hand but was slapped away by her.

"Senior Sister Bai, give it to me. Senior Brother Li isn't hungry, but I am!"

"No, we only have this much food left. Go eat your own!"

"Mine's long gone."

"Then go hungry. You won't die from a few days of hunger."

Dejected, Gouwa stuck his hand into his loose clothing and scratched his ribs. He turned and looked at the others nearby. But this time, no one had any food, not even the most empathetic Young Yang. Gradually, his eyes fell upon the women they had rescued from the bandit stronghold. "I wish we'd just abandoned these women earlier. They don't do anything and just waste food; they're nothing but burdens."

Gouwa's words made the women's faces fill with panic. Helplessly, they huddled together, at a loss.

"Are you even a man? Why are you spewing so much nonsense!" Chun Xiaoman couldn't stand it.

"It's true, isn't it? Am I wrong?"

"Don't... don't abandon me!" one of the women pleaded. "I'm useful, I know where there's food not far from here. I can take you all to borrow some."

These words made the others' gaze turn to the group of women. The speaker was a woman with a prominent mouth; to have been worth kidnapping by bandits, she clearly wasn't just relying on her talkativeness. Seeing everyone looking at her, the woman anxiously lowered her head.

"Is what you're saying true? Can you really get food?" Li Huowang walked over and stood in front of her, asking. He suddenly realized he had been overthinking things. With a group of locals from Later Shu to guide them, who needed a map?

"Mm... there's a village nearby... my fourth aunt farms there... I can go borrow..." she stammered.

Li Huowang looked at the map in his hand again and found that it wasn't marked.

"Heh heh... there are too many small villages and hamlets; how could an old man like me mark them all?" Jin Shanzhao walked over and explained awkwardly.

"Brother, if you don't know, you don't know. Why pretend? You've delayed Young Daoist so much," Lu Zhuangyuan's teasing made Jin Shanzhao's old face flush.

"My old brother, I'm not talking nonsense; do you know how many such places there are in all of Later Shu—"

"Alright, no time for chatting," Li Huowang interjected, settling the matter. "Let's go take a look first. You lead us to your fourth aunt's place."

Everyone who was still resting stood up. Immediately after, the group followed the woman with the prominent mouth towards a distant rocky mountain.

When they reached the foot of the barren rocky mountain, the woman didn't stop but led the others in climbing the isolated peak. At first, there was some semblance of a path, but further up, there was none, requiring all four limbs to climb. Several times, Li Huowang thought the woman was deceiving them; this desolate place looked nothing like somewhere a village would exist. But after exerting immense effort and finally reaching the mountaintop, a scene like a hidden paradise appeared before him. The mountain was flat-topped, and astonishingly, there was indeed a village on its summit. Even more importantly, he saw vast stretches of green fields, a rare sight in the barren state of Later Shu.

"Who's crazy enough... who's so full they had nothing better to do? Building a village here, I'm exhausted!" Gouwa complained, rubbing his aching legs.

"I'd guess, perhaps it's to escape harsh taxes and forced labor, or to avoid conscription," Jin Shanzhao mused. "In any case, it's usually one of those reasons."

"Sigh, thinking about it, the common people of this world truly suffer. They have so many worries and burdens."

"Are the officials in Later Shu really so ruthless?" Lu Zhuangyuan exclaimed. "Forcing people up into the mountains? Our officials aren't like that; during the autumn harvest, they only collect fifty percent of the official grain, and farmers are exempt from forced labor." Comparing themselves to those worse off gave Lu Zhuangyuan a cheap sense of satisfaction.

While they were talking, Li Huowang had already ascertained the location of the woman's fourth aunt and was walking towards it. It truly seemed peaceful here; every house was clean and bright. Nothing from the outside world seemed to affect this place in the slightest. It truly felt like a hidden paradise.

"Senior Brother Li, our village was quite similar, though with fewer people, but all good folk," Bai Lingmiao remarked, a hint of joy on her face as she looked at the scene.

"Once we settle down, being able to live with others in a place like this might be a good option for the future," Li Huowang mused inwardly.

His keen senses allowed him to hear sounds coming from inside the house. A large group of outsiders entering the village would certainly attract attention from the villagers. However, as the woman with the prominent mouth accurately stated her fourth aunt's name, much of the hostility on their faces diminished. Just when they thought things were starting to improve, upon hearing that their distant relative had come to borrow food, the family didn't even open their door.

The woman with the prominent mouth stood at the tightly closed main entrance, adorned with two door gods, looking anxiously at the others. Tears streamed uncontrollably down her face. She choked out, "I... I truly... don't know... Please don't abandon me... I have nowhere to go..."

The others who remained standing showed signs of growing frustration and anxiety on their faces. Without more food, they would truly be left with nothing but thin air.