Chapter 309: Returning Home

"Cough."

Li Huowang's light cough drew the attention of his fellow disciples. Full of confidence, he looked at their faces and announced loudly, "Fellow disciples! From now on, we won't be leaving. We'll settle down right here in Niuxin Village. From this day forward, this will be our new home!"

"Brother Li, we're still missing one," Gouwa said, patting the head of the boy beside him. "Yang Xiaohai hasn't been delivered yet." Yang Xiaohai immediately panicked. He never expected the conversation to circle back to him.

"I..." Just as he stammered, trying to say something, Li Huowang spoke with a look of disdain, "His address was made up. He doesn't have a home at all. This kid is just a beggar."

At that moment, Li Huowang felt his arm go limp. Turning his head, he saw Bai Lingmiao holding onto him. Seeing her eyes, full of both adoration and expectation, Li Huowang's heart warmed. He turned back and continued, "Since we're talking about it, I'll say everything I've been thinking. Everyone, you've all seen it on this journey: the world is in chaos."

"If all we want is to occupy a piece of land and farm it, then we'll be no different from the oxen in the fields!"

"So, if we want to protect ourselves, we can only rely on ourselves! From now on, I'll teach you everything I know and everything I can teach."

"I'll also find ways to get hold of so-called divine powers and cultivation methods for all of you to learn."

Hearing this, everyone immediately grew excited, all speaking at once.

Looking at the faces below him, Li Huowang's eyes hardened. Other sects were unreliable, and so was the Censorate. The only ones he could rely on were himself and this group of disabled individuals before him. To survive in this strange place, they had to establish their own power! Only then could the pain he had endured truly stay away from him.

"Everyone! First, let me tell you, the very first thing we're going to do is learn to read and write!"

"Learn to read and write?"

"Yes, learn to read and write!"

Li Huowang touched his abdomen. "Exactly, everyone must learn to read and write."

"Once we master it, we'll establish our own sect! Only then can we truly gain a foothold in this world!"

"People always think we're monsters, that we're useless! But we're going to pry open their eyes and make them see! People like us can also carve out a place in this world!"

"We are not monsters! No one will sell us, despise us, or bully us anymore! As long as we all work together, our lives will surely get better day by day!"

"Good!"

"Good!"

"Good!"

The cheers of the crowd almost blew the roof off Niuxin Village. Looking at his united fellow disciples, Li Huowang smiled, a very happy smile.

But at that very moment, specks of rain began to fall from the sky, washing away Li Huowang's smile and dampening everyone's cheers.

The rain pattered down. Li Huowang stood silently at the entrance of Niuxin Village, holding a paper umbrella, watching the white cooking smoke rise from the chimneys.

There was no one else here at all. Only Li Huowang stood on the desolate, muddy dirt road; everything that had just happened was merely a figment of his imagination.

Li Huowang had been standing there since yesterday morning. He had been standing for a full day and night.

The damp weather had made the paper skin on Li Huowang's body moist and moldy, but he had no time to pay attention to it.

When he saw Yang Xiaohai, wearing a straw hat, emerge from the village leading an old ox, he lifted his almost rigid joints and walked into Niuxin Village.

Seeing Li Huowang finally move, Hong Zhong, half of whose body was stuck in a tree trunk, elbowed the monk beside him with a schadenfreude-filled smile. "Monk, hehehe, now this is going to be good."

As Li Huowang entered the village, Yang Xiaohai spotted him and excitedly rushed over, but he was soon startled by Li Huowang's appearance.

"Oh! Brother Li! Why is the skin on your face gone again? And why are you wearing paper clothes?"

"Where's Miaomiao?" Li Huowang's voice was hoarse and tinged with a bloody smell.

"At this hour, Sister Bai should be in her room. Brother Li, what's wrong? Is there any news about the missing Bai family?"

Silent, Li Huowang lifted his heavy feet, walking step by step towards the Bai family residence.

Soon, Li Huowang's return caused a commotion, and everyone came out to greet him. However, their initial joy was quickly subdued by Li Huowang's mood, and they gradually calmed down.

Gouwa cautiously approached. "What's wrong, Brother Li? It looks like you didn't find them, did you? Well, if you didn't, you didn't. You can't be blamed for that, can you?"

Li Huowang clenched his jaw, pushed Gouwa away, and quickened his pace, moving faster and faster.

When Li Huowang dropped his umbrella and arrived at the entrance of the Bai family compound, he ran directly into a flustered Bai Lingmiao.

Seeing Li Huowang return alone, Bai Lingmiao's heart sank. But when she saw Li Huowang's wretched appearance, his skin and flesh melting under the rain, her heart ached. Forgetting everything else, she took both of Li Huowang's arms and led him towards her room.

Bai Lingmiao held a soft towel with both hands, gently pressing it against Li Huowang's body, absorbing the water droplets from his scorched skin. She dared not wipe, fearing that even a slight pressure might rub away the brittle skin and flesh from Li Huowang's body.

Bai Lingmiao had seen this type of injury before. She understood that Brother Li must have encountered an exceptionally dangerous hallucination to resort to such a devastating, mutually destructive move.

Bai Lingmiao washed the towel in a copper basin. "Brother Li, I'm fine, I really am. Please don't worry about me."

"So many days have passed; I've actually gotten used to the fact that they're gone."

"Since they're missing, then, Brother Li, let's just wait here. Someday they'll come back."

Li Huowang clenched his teeth, his fisted hands trembling slightly.

Just as the words were about to leave his lips, Hong Zhong, looking agitated, jumped out. Faceless and eyeless, he gesticulated wildly in front of Li Huowang.

"Quick, quick! Tell her you didn't find anything! The Bai family might really have gone to seek refuge, just as Manager Lu said!"

Li Huowang's eyes snapped open, and he stared intently at Hong Zhong with a predatory gaze.

"Why are you staring at me? I'm helping you! Think about it, the Bai family is already dead. If you tell her now, what good will it do, besides making her heartbroken?"

"Oh, right, there is one more thing. You'll make her hate you, make her want to kill you, the murderer of her family."

"On the other hand, if you do as I say, she won't be sad, and she'll still have hope in her heart."