Chapter 219: Two Gods

"A horse bone? Where did you dig that up? Don't just pick up random things anymore. I've almost peeled off all the dead skin from my body; there's nothing left for you to eat." Mantou clearly didn't understand Li Huowang. It lowered its head and used its black nose to nudge the horse's hoof closer to Li Huowang's feet. "Woof?"

Li Huowang patted its head, then turned to Sun Baolu across from him. "Alright, you've eaten enough. Go ahead. I know different places have different grains, so just pick some local, long-lasting ones from Qingqiu."

As Li Huowang nodded towards Bai Lingmiao, the white-haired girl took out her coin purse, stitched together from scraps of cloth, and handed it over.

Sun Baolu weighed the purse in his hand, then stood up, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and walked out. "Alright, leave it to me!"

"It's getting late. Let's get a private room at an inn and rest. Staying outdoors every day is quite tiring," Li Huowang said, rising with the help of his crutch. However, he soon encountered a new difficulty: without Sun Baolu, they couldn't understand anything the Qingqiu people said.

After much gesturing from Gouwa, they finally managed to check in.

Mantou followed Li Huowang into the tent-like guest room. After circling a few times, it sat down and contentedly gnawed on the horse bone held firmly in its mouth with its front paws.

Lying on the straw mat, Li Huowang sighed deeply. His eyes closed, and his body instinctively leaned back, the tension in his muscles finally easing.

A pair of delicate hands gently lifted Li Huowang's head, resting it on soft laps. Equally soft fingers rhythmically massaged Li Huowang's newly grown hair.

Inhaling the familiar faint fragrance, Li Huowang felt himself drifting off to sleep.

"Wait, these nails seem a bit long," Li Huowang said, holding the hands and slowly opening his eyes. He then realized it wasn't the real Bai Lingmiao, but Ershen.

Li Huowang found that from his current lying position, he could just barely glimpse inside the red veil.

It was very dark under the red veil. Even with Li Huowang's excellent eyesight, he could only make out three glowing, fox-like eyes.

The number wasn't right; instead of two symmetrical eyes, there were three—one large and two small.

Immediately after, something under the red veil gently tugged, blocking Li Huowang's view.

"What exactly do you want?" Li Huowang asked, looking at her calmly.

In the past, Ershen's troubles would have been a cause for extreme vigilance for him. But after everything he had recently experienced, her issues no longer seemed as significant in comparison.

"Hehe..." Ershen chuckled, then took Li Huowang's hand, which had no fingernails, and slowly guided it under her red veil.

Li Huowang felt snake scales, animal fur, and something like a sharp, painful hairpin.

Suddenly, she pulled Li Huowang's hand down quickly, stuffing it into her baggy clothes.

She then slowly bent down, bringing the red veil closer and closer to Li Huowang's face.

Through the veil, faint, indistinct shapes began to appear before Li Huowang.

There were skulls, animal heads, and other indescribable things.

Li Huowang looked at these things and said calmly, "I don't know where you came from, or if there's some immortal's conspiracy behind you, but I only need to say one thing: if you dare to harm Bai Lingmiao, I will never let you go!"

"Since you've watched from the sidelines so many times, you must understand that I now possess this ability, even if using it comes at a tremendous cost."

Li Huowang delivered his threat, then waited for her reaction.

To his surprise, Ershen showed neither anger nor fear in response to his threat. Instead, she suddenly started crying.

It was a chilling wail, like that of a female ghost, truly terrifying, yet Ershen was genuinely crying.

She leaned down and nestled against Li Huowang, continuing to sob.

Li Huowang looked at the red veil and instinctively put his arms around her. He didn't know why he did it; it was as if the one crying in his arms wasn't Ershen, but the albino girl with whom he shared life and death.

Li Huowang hesitantly extended his hand, and after a moment's thought, he finally stroked her head gently, slowly.

Amidst the faint weeping, a weary Li Huowang drifted into a deep sleep.

After days of traveling and sleeping rough, his body was truly exhausted and needed rest.

"Brother Li, wake up! Niuxin Mountain is here; we're finally home!"

"Home?" Li Huowang opened his eyes to see a massive mountain before him, a small village nestled at its base, and vast golden rice fields nearby.

The scene was incredibly harmonious, reminiscent of a true utopia.

His gaze moved upwards, studying the appearance of the tall mountain. In a good mood, he asked in surprise, "This doesn't look like an ox heart at all. Why do you all name things so randomly?"

As he spoke, he turned and saw the profile of Bai Lingmiao, standing beside him.

"I don't know either. My grandfather taught me, and he was taught by his great-grandfather," Bai Lingmiao said, smiling as she turned, revealing the unusually horrifying half of her face to Li Huowang.

Green snake scales, like centipedes, crawled over her pristine white fox fur. The individual black spines amidst her hair did nothing to hinder their movement.

However, the snake scales eventually reached the center of her face and could climb no further, blocked by two glowing, eerie green beast eyes, crowded together.

"Brother Li, what's wrong?" Bai Lingmiao took a step forward, and Li Huowang took a step back.

With his heightened senses, Li Huowang suddenly felt something behind him. He spun around sharply, and two even more terrifying and distorted beast faces piled up before him again. "Husband, do you dislike me looking like this?"

"Ha!" Li Huowang, drenched in cold sweat, abruptly opened his eyes. The dusty leather tent ceiling appeared before him.

Seeing Bai Lingmiao sleeping beside him with her hands tucked to her chest, and then noticing Jin Shanzhao and Peng Longteng standing in the corner, Li Huowang finally realized he must have been dreaming.

"That was so real. I haven't had a nightmare in ages." Li Huowang turned, pulled Bai Lingmiao closer into his embrace, and closed his eyes again.

"If that was a nightmare, is this a new one now?" Li Huowang then shook his head. "No, this isn't a nightmare, because Peng Longteng and Jin Shanzhao are here."

He had barely closed his eyes when Li Huowang suddenly opened them again, sensing someone lying behind him.

A forked red tongue snaked out from behind him, gently licking Li Huowang's blotchy, red and white neck. "Husband, do you dislike me looking like this?"

Li Huowang tightened his embrace around Bai Lingmiao, burying his face in her white hair, and slowly said with his eyes closed, "I don't dislike you, but you are not Bai Lingmiao."