Chapter 254: Lamb Meat

The ox cart wheels, which had been stationary for a long time, began to roll again, carrying them towards the border between Liang and Qingqiu.

On the road, Gouwa, shielding his forehead with his hand, repeatedly fanned his sweating face. "It's so hot today, Senior Brother Li," he said, "why don't we just leave tomorrow?"

"It'll be hot tomorrow too. Should we leave the day after? If it's hot the day after, should we wait until autumn? If it's so good there, why did you come along? Wouldn't it be better to stay and herd sheep with Baolu?"

Hearing Li Huowang's sarcasm, Gouwa glanced at the remaining women, chuckled, and said nothing more.

He wasn't that foolish. With a wife practically secured, why would he stay behind? No matter how delicious the meat, could it compare to having a wife? Besides, following Senior Brother Li, he wouldn't have to worry about a lack of meat.

Noticing Gouwa's gaze, the pear-faced woman first glanced at Li Huowang, then coyly rolled her eyes at Gouwa.

"Hmph," Li Huowang slowly unrolled the parchment in his hand. Looking at the so-called "Immortal Capital Sealing Imprint" on it, this was one of the few unexpected gains from their journey beneath Qingqiu, apart from the Black Grand-Preceptor.

"Senior Brother Li, what is this?" asked Zhao Wu, who was driving the ox cart.

"A cultivation method for divine abilities."

Li Huowang's words immediately drew eager gazes from the others. "Did you practice it, Senior Brother Li?"

"No, I haven't, and I wouldn't dare," Li Huowang replied. "After all, it was forcibly pried from its mouth. It's better to be safe than sorry; heaven knows if there's a problem with it."

Li Huowang was all too familiar with the trick of tampering with cultivation methods. He had used it himself to escape from Qingfeng Temple and certainly didn't want to end up like Dan Yangzi.

Li Huowang took out the copper coin sword from behind him, played with it for a moment, then put it back. "Hmm... I need to find someone to test it on."

"Senior Brother Li! Me! Let me do it!" Li Huowang looked up and saw that the speaker was Yang Xiaohai, the only surviving young Daoist, his eyes burning with eagerness.

"Mind your own business," Li Huowang said. "Don't meddle in adult affairs."

This thing could easily be a trap. It definitely couldn't be tested by one of their own. He needed to find someone whose identity was just right, someone whose well-being wouldn't be an issue if something went wrong.

"Senior Brother Li, look what this is!" Chun Xiaoman reached into the tent and pulled out a golden box inlaid with agate and gemstones. The gold ingots inside looked remarkably familiar.

Li Huowang was momentarily stunned. He remembered this item; it was Sun Baolu's mother's dowry. She must have secretly slipped it in the previous night.

He understood her intention in doing so. Undoubtedly, she had given him the gold as a reward, in gratitude for restoring Sun Baolu's body to its original state.

He looked back behind them. The tents were long gone, replaced by vast stretches of green.

"Forget it," he thought. "Since it's her good intention, I won't refuse. Keep it as travel money. It'll be useful for setting up a household once we reach Liang."

For the next period of time, perhaps because Qingqiu was vast and sparsely populated, or perhaps their long streak of bad luck was finally turning, the journey was calm and uneventful, with no incidents whatsoever.

They traveled for over a month. Although the dog days of summer had passed, the weather grew progressively hotter.

A harsh bird cry erupted from the sky. Li Huowang, who was looking at the parchment map in his hand, glanced up at the blurry speck in the sky, then refocused on his map.

He held the map out to Bai Lingmiao, who was beside him. "Can you understand this?" he asked her. "Do you remember where your Niu Xin Mountain is?"

Although the map of Liang collected in Qingqiu wasn't very detailed, its general outline was marked.

They were about to enter Liang, and it was time to confirm the exact location of their destination.

"This... no... this isn't right either..." Faced with the swirling lines on the map, Bai Lingmiao's expression was hesitant.

It was clearly very difficult for her to find her hometown from memory among these simple lines. But she couldn't be blamed; even Li Huowang sometimes got confused by the map, as it was drawn too crudely.

Li Huowang took the map back. He thought to himself, "It seems for Niu Xin Mountain, I'll need to buy a new map and ask locals once we enter Liang."

"Oh right, I remember, aren't you from Liang? Where exactly are you from?" Li Huowang turned to look at Gouwa.

"It's fine, I don't need to go back," Gouwa said. "I grew up relying on the kindness of many. If I don't go back, I'll save the folks back home some food."

Gouwa chuckled as he spoke, showing no anticipation of returning home. His eyes were entirely fixed on the pear-faced woman by the carriage ahead.

Li Huowang saw through him but didn't say anything. He looked up at the sun in the sky and said, "It's about time for lunch. We're almost out of Qingqiu, so let's slaughter a sheep."

At his words, everyone's faces brightened, and they were overcome with joy. Although there was no shortage of meat in Qingqiu, they had all been poor their entire lives and still hadn't had their fill.

Li Huowang wasn't suddenly being extravagant. It was just that Liang clearly didn't have as much grass for feeding sheep as Qingqiu. If they didn't eat them now, the sheep would starve and grow thin by the time they reached Liang.

"Baa!" An old sheep was dragged by its horns out of the flock by Gouwa and driven towards the distant river.

Having eaten sheep so many times on this journey, everyone was already proficient. The steps—bleeding, skinning, and gutting—were simple and clear.

The pale, bare sheep carcass was evenly coated with salt and spices. It was then impaled on a twelve-foot halberd and roasted between two carriages.

If Peng Longteng were to see his weapon being desecrated in such a manner, he would probably be so enraged he'd rise from the dead.

Looking at the dry sheep dung burning beneath and at the whole roasted sheep sizzling with oil above, Gouwa licked his lips and chuckled. "Heheh, you could say this is truly making the most of everything. So satisfying!"

After Chun Xiaoman smacked him on the back of the head, Gouwa recoiled his neck and turned to walk towards the group of women who were gathering wild vegetables.

When the roasted whole sheep was ready, the wild vegetable and offal soup was also prepared. The greasy roasted meat perfectly complemented the light vegetable soup.

Everyone gathered in small groups on the grass, enjoying the feast.

Gouwa chuckled as he broke open his share of the sheep's head. He pulled out the long sheep's tongue and placed it in the pear-faced woman's bowl of wild vegetables. "Hong'er~ Here, I saved this special treat just for you, the sheep's tongue."

The woman named Hong'er shyly cradled the bowl in her arms. She picked up the long tongue with her hand and ate it in small bites.

She offered no objection as Gouwa's lean body drew closer to her.

Meanwhile, Yang Xiaohai, who was nearby, angrily refused the round-faced woman who was asking for his sheep's tail.

At this moment, Zhao Wu, sitting on the ox cart, saw this scene, and a hint of envy appeared deep in his eyes.

But after glancing at his own weak limbs, Zhao Wu sighed softly and focused all his attention on the wild vegetable and offal soup in his hands.