Chapter 223: Leaving

"Lion dance?" Li Huowang couldn't wrap his head around it. The thing slowly approaching in the distance looked nothing like the lion dances he remembered.

First, in his memory, a festive lion dance wouldn't involve a large, dirty-looking thin white cloth. And this so-called lion dance had no head at all!

Inside the supported white cloth was a dim white light source. This light shone from the bottom of the cloth, illuminating everything around it. What he saw was the light beneath.

If it were just a glowing white cloth, Li Huowang wouldn't have considered it an evil spirit. What was more unsettling were the shriveled handprints projected onto the cloth.

Illuminated by the light source, the entire white cloth became somewhat transparent, clearly displaying the various handprints, some large, some small, to Li Huowang.

As the lion dance approached, Li Huowang noticed more details on the white cloth: white tassels. There were many white tassels on the cloth, similar to those on the funeral banners carried by mourners.

Li Huowang's gaze dropped to look at the "lion's feet" beneath the white cloth. What he saw were several bare feet, covered in mud.

The only things that resembled a lion dance were the feet beneath the white cloth and the hands supporting it, which seemed to move with a synchronized rhythm.

With each sway and tremor, a sound of wooden poles knocking against each other echoed from inside the large cloth, as if providing accompaniment.

"Senior Brother Li, it's alright. I've seen these since I was a child. I used to be scared and cried, but after seeing them a few times, I got used to it," Sun Baolu tried to reassure Li Huowang.

Li Huowang cautiously pulled down the brass mask on his face, trying to cover himself more.

"Things you get used to aren't necessarily safe. Also, why doesn't this lion have a head?"

"Because they haven't finished their training yet. They're just apprentices. Only master performers are qualified to attach the lion's head. These youngsters are just practicing at night when no one's around."

After explaining to Li Huowang, Sun Baolu looked up and shouted something at the passing lion dance. From his tone, it seemed to be words of encouragement.

However, no one inside the headless lion responded to Sun Baolu. They moved past Li Huowang slowly, like a long-dead elephant lying on the ground, accompanied by a peculiar rhythm.

After a while, the lion dance finally departed, leaving Li Huowang with a gradually receding back.

"Senior Brother Li, see? Nothing happened. Qingqiu is different from other places. It's blessed by Changsheng Tian, so evil spirits wouldn't dare cause trouble."

Still wary, Li Huowang glanced at him, then turned and walked into the inn. "Is your Changsheng Tian so stingy? Does it only bless this one area?"

"Well... that's what my people say, anyway."

"Are these lion dancers all taught by masters to apprentices, generation after generation?"

"No, they have a lineage. In Qingqiu, there's a group of people dedicated to teaching lion dancing. I hear they're called the Lion Dance Palace."

"Lion Dance Palace?" Li Huowang muttered the words to himself. He felt like he'd heard it somewhere before, but he couldn't recall it no matter how hard he tried.

Just as Li Huowang was deeply pondering the question, the monk beside him, who had been counting on his fingers, stomped his foot anxiously and exclaimed, "Daoist, something's wrong! Those lion dancers are off!"

"Huh?" Li Huowang looked at the hallucination of the monk beside him in surprise. "What's wrong?"

"Didn't you count just now? The numbers don't add up! The hands holding the cloth were far more numerous than the feet underneath! More hands than feet, the count is off! There's definitely something wrong with those people!"

"Wait!" As Li Huowang recalled the scene, a chill ran down his spine.

If the monk hadn't reminded him, he might not have realized: why were there more hands than feet among the lion dancers?!

"Senior Brother Li?" Seeing Li Huowang standing there muttering to himself, Sun Baolu took a few cautious steps back.

Just as Sun Baolu was considering going back for others and some chains if Li Huowang continued to talk nonsense, he saw Senior Brother Li leaning on his cane, limping back inside.

"Baolu, don't sleep tonight. We'll stand watch!"

"Huh? Oh! Alright, alright!" Although he didn't know why they needed to stand watch inside an inn, Sun Baolu complied.

Later that night, around midnight, Sun Baolu, who hadn't taken his eyes off Senior Brother Li, saw him suddenly stand up and tell their group to start moving.

Although the others were puzzled by the sudden nocturnal journey, they complied. They had less gold and silver, but their carriage now held several sacks of highland barley and dozens of sheep.

"I'm good at this, I'm good at this! When I was a beggar as a child, I herded sheep for a wealthy family for two years!" With Lu Zhuangyuan volunteering, he temporarily took on the role of shepherd.

Under the moonlight, they left Women's Mountain. Li Huowang's expression was grim as he occasionally looked behind him, his face looking terrible with the added fatigue from a sleepless night.

Seeing his face, everyone sensed that something had happened, and no one was in the mood for small talk. The atmosphere felt somewhat oppressive.

A perplexed Chun Xiaoman approached Sun Baolu with her sword, asking in a low voice, "What's wrong with Senior Brother Li? Wasn't he with you the whole time? He was just out with Junior Sister Bai, having fun. Why has he become like this after one night?"

Sun Baolu hesitated, then quietly told Chun Xiaoman, "I don't know either. Nothing happened, clearly. Maybe..."

At this point, his voice dropped even lower, becoming almost a whisper. "Perhaps Senior Brother Li is having another episode... Didn't he often say someone was trying to harm him before?"

Xiaoman glanced at the nervous Li Huowang again, then turned and walked over to Bai Lingmiao to understand the situation.

However, even by the time they rested by the river, Chun Xiaoman was still completely bewildered, unsure of what had truly transpired.

"Set up the pot, and light the collected sheep dung underneath it!"

A few people dispersed to dig for wild vegetables.

Gouwa's eyes suddenly lit up. He cupped his hands and caught two tangled grasshoppers. Carefully, he broke off their legs and wings with his fingers and placed them into his waist pouch.

"The land in Qingqiu is truly fertile. I've already caught enough for a hearty dish in this short time."

After tightening his cloth bag, he lay down again and continued rummaging through the grass.

Soon, his attention was drawn to a small patch of thorns. His fingernail, edged with black dirt, neatly snapped off a tender thorn. He then carefully peeled off the barbed outer skin along the edges, revealing the vibrant green core.

Chewing on the green core, Gouwa's face showed satisfaction. He had eaten this wild vegetable before, and it tasted good, somewhat like crunchy celery.

Just as he was about to collect all the tender thorns, a basket suddenly appeared in front of Gouwa, startling him.

He looked up and saw it was Chun Xiaoman's basket. After setting it down, the woman turned and walked towards Li Huowang, whose expression remained unchanged.

"When you go back, please take this with you."