Chapter 282: Voice

The Daoist Devil

"Senior Brother Li, look quickly! There are lights in the sky!"

Everyone who heard the voice looked up simultaneously, immediately spotting the points of light suspended in the air—round, bulging paper spheres drifting like jellyfish.

"They're just sky lanterns, nothing special," Li Huowang said, picking up his bowl and taking a sip of the incredibly delicious shrimp soup.

Sky lanterns bearing various family names like "Fu," "Miao," "Zhao," and "Li" slowly ascended into the heavens, blending in with the scattered stars.

Those releasing the lanterns wiped away tears, suggesting it was a form of memorial in Daliang.

"It's not just the sky, look! There are also lights on the distant river!"

A great river flowing through Yinling City also shimmered with points of light, swaying among the pleasure boats.

"Daliang certainly has many traditions," Li Huowang murmured to himself as he watched the sky lanterns.

He could feel a distinct difference between Daliang and other places; the sheer depth of its heritage was far superior.

"By the way, Miaomiao, we've had Sizhi, Hou Shu, Qingqiu, and Daliang. Which country comes after Daliang?" Li Huowang asked Bai Lingmiao, who was beside him.

"Beyond Daliang? There's nothing past Daliang, just ocean."

Hearing this, a hint of understanding dawned on Li Huowang. So Daliang was a coastal country. He wondered if there were other, different countries across the vast ocean.

"But even if there were, they probably..."

Just as Li Huowang was thinking this, an extremely faint sound suddenly reached his ears. The sound was very muddled, yet it contained scattered human phrases.

"Hungry... mouth... wood..."

The moment the sound appeared, the hairs on Li Huowang's body instantly stood on end. He abruptly stood up, his face grim as he scanned his surroundings.

Li Huowang's sudden movement was so forceful that some soup spilled from the table. The lively atmosphere instantly quieted.

Everyone at their table, and others at neighboring tables, turned to look at him in surprise.

"Senior Brother Li..." Noticing the worried gazes from his fellow disciples, Li Huowang slightly shook his head and sat back down, his expression quickly calming.

"It's nothing, you know me, old habits. Let's eat."

Hearing this, everyone set aside their worries and resumed eating.

However, Bai Lingmiao, sitting to Li Huowang's left, noticed that his hand gripping the bowl trembled slightly.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, they left the tavern and walked towards the inn. All the way, Scholar Lu, looking pained, was calculating how many pigs that meal's cost could buy.

It was comfortable while eating, but when it came time to pay, seeing his hard-earned silver slip away was more painful than being killed.

"Senior Brother Li, are you truly alright?" Bai Lingmiao clasped Li Huowang's right hand, calloused from years of gripping a sword.

"Don't worry, I've taken the Black Grand Duke now, and my condition is pretty stable," Li Huowang assured her with a calming look.

Upon returning to the inn, everyone dispersed to their own rooms, discussing the evening's sights while preparing to wash up.

Nothing unusual happened until the inn closed its doors for the night and the candles were extinguished.

In the middle of the night, Li Huowang's eyes suddenly snapped open in bed. He turned to glance at Bai Lingmiao, asleep beside him, then gently withdrew his wrist from beneath her neck, pushed back the covers, and walked towards the inn's backyard.

As he approached the carriage where the Black Grand Duke was kept, Mantou, the dog assigned to watch the carriage, crawled out from underneath and wagged its tail at him.

Li Huowang forcefully pulled back the carriage curtain, revealing the Black Grand Duke inside, tightly bound with ox tendons.

As Li Huowang gazed at the Black Grand Duke, his face grew grim, and he recalled the sound he had heard earlier.

For a while after consuming the Black Grand Duke, everything had been perfectly normal—so normal that Li Huowang had almost forgotten he was a 'Heart-Pure'. Yet today, he was experiencing auditory hallucinations once again.

Li Huowang looked at the Black Grand Duke before him, his voice trembling slightly as he asked, "Mom, can you call Dr. Wang over? I need to discuss something with him."

After a moment, Li Huowang, who had closed his eyes, opened them again and calmly looked at the Black Grand Duke. "Wang Wei, is that you? Did you give me some kind of medicine a few hours ago?"

The Black Grand Duke showed no reaction to Li Huowang's questions, merely sluggishly expelling and reabsorbing foul, viscous liquid through the slits on its body.

"If it really was you, I'm telling you the medicine worked. Try giving me a larger dose now."

Li Huowang waited quietly for the hallucination to reappear, but nothing happened.

Gazing at the writhing, tentacled monster before him, Li Huowang's breathing grew heavy. He lowered his voice, his expression contorted, and yelled, "Stop playing these tricks! If you want me to believe that side is real, then drag my entire self back there!"

Amidst Li Huowang's shouts, the Black Grand Duke writhed, straining to free its bound tentacles, but the tough ox tendons rendered its efforts futile.

"Hoo... hoo..." Li Huowang panted heavily, the sudden sound having unsettled his mind.

He stood there in the stable, as if waiting for the entire world to collapse.

After an unknown amount of time, the sound of bamboo clappers echoed from outside the wall: "Dong~ The weather is dry~ Dong~ Dong~ Be careful with fire!"

Hearing the night watchman's call from outside, Li Huowang knew it was the fourth watch. He had been standing there for several hours, yet there had been no changes in his surroundings. Only then did his somewhat panicked heart begin to calm slightly.

From the tool bag hanging from his lower garment, Li Huowang pulled out a dagger. He cut another piece of flesh from the Black Grand Duke's body, put it into his mouth, and began chewing forcefully.

As he chewed, Li Huowang suddenly stopped. An inexplicable feeling of sadness welled up within him.

He had always believed he had moved on, but when this elusive hope reappeared, Li Huowang realized he had been deceiving himself.

It was not easy to abandon the place where one was born and raised.

Especially since, without comparison, there was no pain.

If only it were possible, Li Huowang wished with all his might that *that* world was real, and *this* one was fake.

"Maybe... maybe it's not about that side, maybe I'm just sick. Don't be paranoid, it's just a hallucination, nothing serious. Yes, that's right, it must be."

As soon as Li Huowang thought this, an unfamiliar gaze instantly sobered his thoughts.

"Who's there?" Li Huowang quickly closed the carriage curtain, then spun around abruptly. In the dim stable, a lone figure stood, wearing a large doll's head as a mask.

"Someone sent me to check on you. They said you're interested in working for the Imperial Observatory?" a hoarse voice, similar to Li Huowang's own, emerged from beneath the mask.