Chapter 249: Success

Lü Xiucai, standing beside Gouwa, was utterly bewildered. Gouwa’s face was beet red from holding his breath while clutching his own neck. Wasn't this kid supposed to be demonstrating a supernatural ability? What kind of strange pose was this? Was this truly the supernatural ability he claimed to possess? Anyone could do that.

"Gag... Ugh!!" Gouwa arched his back with a violent retch, finally spitting out a short needle wrapped in white thread. It landed on the ground.

"Oh my god," Gouwa exclaimed, a look of lingering fear in his eyes as he stared at the needle on the ground. "I almost died right here." His mind must have short-circuited a moment ago. He had intended to inhale first and then blow, but instead, he had sucked the object into his throat.

Suddenly remembering something, Gouwa leaped up from the ground. Terrified, he opened his mouth wide to Lü Xiucai. "Quick, quick, quick! Please check my mouth, is anything wrong?"

"What? Nothing seems wrong," Lü Xiucai replied. "But why is your throat so narrow? It feels a bit sticky around the edges."

Hearing this, Gouwa was instantly scared out of his wits. He quickly stuck two fingers into his throat and groped around. Although he kept gagging, after checking, Gouwa found that there were no issues other than his throat having become narrower.

"That's good, that's good," he sighed in relief. "Fortunately, it got stuck in my throat; luckily, I didn't swallow it. If I had, I might have ended up like Senior Brother Li did before." Gouwa knew he didn't possess Senior Brother Li's ability to forcefully revert such a change; he would have truly become a monster.

Having recovered, Gouwa now heard faint laughter from the riverside. His face instantly flushed with embarrassment. He quickly bent down and, using his sleeve, picked up the needle from the grass. Gouwa felt he had lost face in front of the women, which was far worse than his previous mishap.

"That doesn't count! Let's start over!" Gouwa declared, undeterred, and placed the needle wrapped in white thread back into the small tube.

Having learned his lesson, Gouwa dared not be careless again. He took a deep breath from a distance, then brought his mouth to one end of the small tube and blew hard towards the grazing sheep.

"Whoosh!" The long needle instantly shot out of the small tube and pierced the base of the black sheep's horn. Immediately, everyone present saw the sheep's horn rapidly slide along its wool from its head all the way down to its chin. Hearing gasps and shrieks, Gouwa felt immensely satisfied. He almost couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Yet, at that moment, Gouwa deliberately put on a disdainful expression. "Well? Didn't I tell you I had a supernatural ability?" he boasted. "If it wasn't a supernatural ability, who could possibly do this?" With that, Gouwa pulled out another needle and blew it at the sheep again. This time, he hit the sheep's foreleg; its white leg twisted, and it immediately stumbled to the ground.

"Hey! This thing really works!" he exclaimed. "Next time I encounter bandits, I'll use this to deal with them! But I must remember to inhale deeply from a distance before blowing."

As Gouwa admired his handiwork, a pear-faced woman among those washing clothes by the river approached him. Her eyes, filled with curiosity, fixed on the small tube in his hand. "What is that, master?" she asked.

"Hehehe~" Gouwa chuckled, grinning so wide his mouth almost reached his ears at being called "master."

"This is the magical artifact I use to perform my supernatural abilities!" he declared. "If you want to see it, I'll show you. But you can't touch it; ordinary people mustn't touch it!" Using this as a topic, the two really started chatting. Lü Xiucai, watching from the side, was incredibly envious. But he could only watch, as he didn't possess such a thing himself.

Time passed quickly, and the women's clothes were soon washed. At this point, Gouwa was happily looking at a white stone in his hand. The woman had given it to him, saying she had picked it up by the roadside. The stone was very ordinary, perhaps just a bit round and white. But the object itself wasn't important; what mattered was the sentiment it represented. The flower that had been on Gouwa's ear was now gone; he had given it to the woman.

"Hehe! Xiucai, I'm going to get a wife!" Gouwa said, bringing the stone to his nose, sniffing it, and then carefully putting it into his bosom with a blissful expression.

Lü Xiucai, standing by, wore a sour face and was very unwilling. How could Gouwa, looking like this with yellow and white patches on his face, manage such a thing?

"No," Gouwa decided, "the flower was still too simple. I need to give her something more valuable. I'm going to find Junior Sister Bai and borrow some silver!" He said, enthusiastically turning to leave.

"Hey, Gouwa, wait a moment!" Lü Xiucai called out to him.

"What do you want?" Gouwa retorted. "To borrow it? No way! Do you know I risked my life to get this thing?!" He carefully walked to the strange sheep, pulled out the needle from its body, and put it away.

"Who wants to borrow your broken thing?" Lü Xiucai scoffed. "I wouldn't even care for it if you gave it to me. My father asked me to ask you something before I left."

Hearing Lü Xiucai's words, Gouwa, who was about to leave, turned his head to him in surprise. Lü Xiucai's father had never really asked him about anything before.

"Um, how's Daoist Master Li looking today?"

"How Senior Brother Li is looking, can't you go see for yourself?" Gouwa retorted. "He's not far away." Gouwa was about to leave when Lü Xiucai stopped him again.

"Hey, hey, hey, Gouwa, please, for my sake—and for all the women who ignore me—just help me this once. I really don't dare go."

"What? What did you just call me?" Gouwa glared at him.

"Cao Cao, Brother Cao!" Lü Xiucai pleaded. "I beg you, you're about to get a wife. Please be generous."

Seeing Lü Xiucai's distressed look, Gouwa's face showed a hint of pride. "What's there to be afraid of? Senior Brother Li isn't going to eat you, is he? Come on, I'll go with you to check it out."

The riverside wasn't far from the tents. Before long, leaning against one of them, they spotted Li Huowang in the distance.

"Is Daoist Master Li sharpening his blade?" Lü Xiucai, peering from behind the tent, asked cautiously.

"No, those are his special torture tools, custom-made by a blacksmith," Gouwa replied. "He probably thinks they've gotten a bit dull from long use and is sharpening them further."

"But I still can't see his expression," Lü Xiucai whispered. "Brother Cao, can you go closer and check for me?"

"Hey! Why should I go check?" Gouwa retorted. "It's your business, why don't you go yourself? Anyway, why does your father need to ask about Senior Brother Li's mood? Does he need to discuss something with him?"

"I don't know either," Lü Xiucai replied. "My father has just been very worried lately."

Just then, the two suddenly saw Li Huowang in the distance look directly towards them. Gouwa gave Lü Xiucai a sudden shove on the back, pushing him out from behind the tent's cover. Immediately after, Gouwa stepped out himself, flashing a wide smile at Li Huowang.

Immediately, Gouwa saw Senior Brother Li in the distance put away all his torture tools, hanging them on a cowhide bag at his waist. He then turned and walked towards two isolated tents in the distance.

"Huh? Senior Brother Li isn't going to Black Grand-Preceptor's tent," Gouwa murmured. "He's going to the other one."

"Gouwa, what's in that tent?" Lü Xiucai asked, squinting and gazing into the distance.

Gouwa gave him a disdainful look. "That's none of your business," he said. "Just go back and tell your father that Senior Brother Li has been in a bad mood these past few days, and if he has anything to discuss, he should wait a few days."