Chapter 216: Thinking

The Cursed Immortal's Dao

Ox carts are slower than horse-drawn carriages, but they can carry more. And in Qingqiu, there’s no need to worry about feeding the oxen; food is abundant everywhere.

After leaving Hou Shu, Li Huowang and his companions had a smooth journey, encountering neither evil spirits nor bandits.

With Li Huowang’s injuries steadily improving, smiles appeared more frequently on everyone’s faces.

Beside the rolling cartwheels, Li Huowang walked with a limp, leaning on his crutch, while Mantou wagged its tail, running back and forth around him.

“Senior Brother Li, perhaps you should go back and lie down in the cart. Your injury hasn’t fully healed yet,” Bai Lingmiao said worriedly from beside him.

The newly grown hair on Li Huowang’s head swayed slightly as he shook it.

“Lying in the cart makes my limbs go numb. Walking is good. Besides, I’m recovering quite well now; at least Mantou recognizes me.”

Li Huowang still remembered how Mantou barked furiously at him right after he got out of the cart.

But he couldn’t blame it; after all, he looked truly terrifying at the time.

Fortunately, it could recognize him now. Leaving other things aside, at least the skin all over his body had completely healed, and "The Great Thousand Record" was finally embedded in his back as he wished.

“Senior Brother Li, we can rest for a while now. After noon, if we travel for another two hours, we’ll reach Woman Mountain.”

Sun Baolu, a local, said to Li Huowang. A smile was always on his face, and the usually taciturn man had become more talkative since arriving in Qingqiu.

“Old Sun, are you really going back? Why not just come with us, to avoid getting kidnapped again?” Hearing Zhao Wu’s words, Sun Baolu just smiled and shook his head.

“No, someone is waiting for me. I need to go home.” As he spoke, his eyes seemed to light up.

Li Huowang raised his crutch, pointing towards a distant stream. “Let’s go, we’ll make a fire over there.”

It was hard to find firewood in Qingqiu due to the scarcity of trees, but after digging up some dead bushes, a fire was finally kindled.

Some fetched water, others dug for wild vegetables, and the rest made various sounds. However, Li Huowang, sitting cross-legged on one leg, completely shut out these noises from his world.

He looked up at Peng Longteng, who was blocking his sunlight. After all this time, the figure was still there.

The only comfort was that she merely stood there, doing nothing.

Peng Longteng, imposing in her full heavy armor, was indeed very tall. Even without her head, she was significantly taller than Li Huowang.

Li Huowang estimated that she must have been at least two meters tall when she was alive.

Some peculiar noises reached his ears. Li Huowang didn’t turn to look, knowing it was the sound of Jin Shanzhao’s internal organs dragging across the grass.

“Why do these two appear as hallucinations following me?” This question had replayed in Li Huowang’s mind countless times, but it was destined to remain unanswered.

It wasn’t just them; there was no answer for Jiang Yingzi or the monk either.

“Is this also a power of the Heart Purity? Can the Heart Purity control those it kills?” A new hypothesis resurfaced in Li Huowang’s mind.

“How can I make them disappear? But that’s not right; I didn’t kill the monk. He might still be perfectly fine at Zhengde Temple, not dead at all.”

“But if their appearance isn’t due to the Heart Purity’s power, then what could be the reason? Could it be... am I really suffering from a mental illness?”

Feeling a bit lost, Li Huowang noticed his body was itching. He lifted his right hand, mottled with red and white patches, and scratched inside his new clothes.

Mantou, noticing his action, quickly ran over and crouched down in front of him, wagging its tail incessantly.

With a “rip,” large pieces of blackened dead skin were peeled off and thrown towards Peng Longteng from a distance.

“Woof woof woof!” Mantou excitedly dashed into Peng Longteng’s body, used its tongue to roll up the dead skin, and happily began to chew on it.

After finishing, Mantou wagged its tail and passed under Peng Longteng’s crotch, then dutifully crouched down in front of Li Huowang once more.

Li Huowang knew Mantou liked to eat these; all his previous dead skin had gone into its stomach, including the severed leg.

He reached out and continuously patted its head, which resembled a bicycle seat, while his gaze remained fixed on Peng Longteng in the distance.

After a long time, he sighed deeply and muttered to himself, “It’s alright. At least these two don’t talk, so they’re not as annoying as the monk.”

“Daoist, am I annoying? I’m not annoying, am I? I clearly haven’t done anything.”

Li Huowang gave a self-deprecating smile and remained silent. Self-consolation was just that; compared to these three hallucinations, what he feared more was what might come next.

What if such hallucinations increased later? What if he eventually ended up like Dan Yangzi?

Recalling all the terrifying things Dan Yangzi had experienced, those dozens or hundreds of hallucinations, Li Huowang suddenly shivered.

“I need to figure out what’s going on and get rid of them. If I truly end up like Dan Yangzi, I’ll definitely go mad.”

This thought made Li Huowang even more desperate to resolve his Heart Purity identity.

“Baolu!” Li Huowang’s voice made Mantou’s drooping ears stand up. It turned its head to see Sun Baolu running from a distance, then shifted a few steps forward on its paws, rested its head on Li Huowang’s leg, and nudged him with its black nose.

“Senior Brother Li, did you call me?”

Li Huowang once again scrutinized the young man before him. He was still the same as when he left Qingfeng Monastery, with no changes, and remained heavily bundled.

In fact, he had always been low-key throughout their journey, so much so that Li Huowang sometimes forgot he was even there.

“Are you familiar with this place, Qingqiu?”

Hearing Li Huowang’s question, Sun Baolu nodded. “I generally know my way around.”

“You know your way around everywhere?” Li Huowang was quite surprised; he had never heard any of his other martial brothers say that. Most people in this world, unless under special circumstances, lived and died within a twenty-li radius. For Sun Baolu to claim such knowledge made him doubt whether he was exaggerating.

“Senior Brother Li, people here in Qingqiu are different from elsewhere. We basically follow the grass; wherever the grass is fertile, that’s where we go. From my grandfather to my father, we’ve basically spent our entire lives circling Qingqiu repeatedly.”

Hearing this, Li Huowang suddenly understood. “Oh, so you’re nomads.”

Seeing the vast grasslands, Li Huowang could have guessed that much. Those who live by the mountains live off the mountains, those by the water live off the water, and those by the grass naturally live off the grass.

“The sun is so strong today; aren’t you going to take something off?”

Seeing the other person merely stand there smiling, Li Huowang stopped pressing the matter. “Alright, let’s talk business. Are there any highly skilled individuals in this area, in your opinion? Someone like Dan Yangzi, for instance?”