Chapter 375: Coffin

Li Huowang slowly walked back from the execution ground, his mind still preoccupied with the scene he had just witnessed.

He found it hard to imagine how a normal person's belly could be so unnaturally distended by pills, like the one he had just seen. Given the man's former identity, it was clear why he had consumed such a large quantity of pills. Li Huowang knew that many emperors sought immortality through elixirs, and he suspected the same was true in this world.

"If even an illiterate like Danyangzi yearns for immortality, then the most powerful ruler of Daliang must be even more obsessed," Li Huowang mused to himself. "Still, it's only human nature to cling to life and fear death, but..."

Li Huowang recalled how Xu Fu had taken five hundred boys and girls in search of an elixir of immortality. In this utterly deranged world, he could scarcely imagine the lengths the Daliang Emperor might go to.

Gradually, Li Huowang found himself back outside the towering palace walls. He craned his neck, peering inside and wondering what kind of scenes unfolded within the imperial palace. Noticing the palace guards casting wary glances his way, Li Huowang shook his head, turned, and headed towards the prison. Whatever horrifying events were unfolding inside, they had nothing to do with him. His task was complete, and it was time for Commander Cao to heal Bai Lingmiao.

It was the same confined, oppressive underground prison. When Commander Cao saw Li Huowang return, he beamed. "Oh? Brother Erjiu, you're back? Tell me all about what happened on your journey."

There was no reason to conceal anything, so Li Huowang quickly recounted everything he had experienced. "Commander Cao, my task is complete. Please lend your assistance now."

"Mhm, mhm, that's easily arranged," Commander Cao said with a smile. He reached into his robes and slid a small, black lacquered coffin, about the size of a forearm, across the table to Li Huowang. Perhaps Li Huowang was overly sensitive, but as he looked at the large red character for 'longevity' on the coffin, he couldn't shake the feeling of death emanating from it, as if a corpse truly lay within. The coffin instantly brought to Li Huowang's mind the countless dead sheep beneath Qingqiu; they had exuded the very same oppressive aura.

"This thing is definitely not from the Military Sect," Li Huowang decided without hesitation. "It belongs to some other school." Its nature was fundamentally different from anything related to the Military Sect—it was its complete antithesis.

"Tap, tap," Commander Cao tapped the table with his thick, calloused fingers. "Take this coffin and open it in front of the person for precisely three breaths of time. It will dispel the malevolent energy within them. Remember, exactly three breaths—not a single breath more."

"It's that simple?" Li Huowang reached out and took the black lacquered coffin. It felt surprisingly light, not like wood at all, but more like paper-mâché.

"Haha, how difficult can it be to expel a bit of malevolent energy from the body?" Commander Cao scoffed, taking a sip from his bowl of wine. "Otherwise, I would have handled it myself with a mere flick of the wrist, but I'm truly tied up here."

Just then, the ground suddenly trembled slightly, and an inexplicable aura surged up from deep below, causing goosebumps to erupt all over Li Huowang's skin. Clearly, the disturbance was caused by something imprisoned beneath the ground.

"Damn it! You son of a bitch!" The agitated Commander Cao slammed his bowl onto the table, grabbed a nearby straight blade, and strode towards the distant prison door. "I have urgent business, so I won't detain you further. Just send this coffin back when you're done using it. I'd rather not make a special trip to collect it."

As Li Huowang emerged from the prison, an inexplicable sense of unreality washed over him. He looked at the coffin in his hand and thought, "Is it really that simple? This is all it takes to turn Bai Lingmiao back?"

"Are these people deceiving me? Are they all in on it together? Do they already know I'm a 'Heart-Soul'?" This wild thought flashed through Li Huowang's mind, sending a chill through him. His expression suddenly turned unnervingly grim, his pupils constricting. He scanned his surroundings, and for a moment, everything—the rooftops, stone lions, floor tiles—seemed imbued with malice.

After a long pause, Li Huowang, still clutching the coffin, finally composed himself. He stood there, meticulously re-examining the entire sequence of events in his mind several times over.

After a long while, Li Huowang let out a deep breath. "No, they shouldn't know my identity, at least not yet. Otherwise, they wouldn't let someone as potentially destabilizing as me so close to the imperial palace."

Li Huowang realized he might be overthinking things. If the Military Sect could conjure malevolent energy, they could just as easily dispel it. Perhaps it was truly just a minor matter.

"I have the item now... next..." Li Huowang tucked the coffin into his robes and, with a grim expression, headed towards the inn.

When Li Huowang opened the door to his room, he found Bai Lingmiao sitting before a bronze mirror, using an iron comb dipped in black liquid to style her hair.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm using a lead comb steeped in vinegar to make my hair black. This stark white is hideously ugly."

Gazing at Bai Lingmiao's back, Li Huowang took a deep breath and retrieved the small coffin from his robes. He had already paid someone to test it; the item truly possessed the ability to remove malevolent energy from a person.

Through the bronze mirror, Bai Lingmiao also spotted the object in his hand. "What's that? A coffin?"

With a hardened resolve, Li Huowang hooked his fingernail under the coffin lid and forcefully opened it, pointing it towards Bai Lingmiao. An extraordinarily peculiar suction emanated from within the coffin, swiftly drawing away Li Huowang's internal conflict, guilt, and worry. Li Huowang even felt that the method for dispelling illusions from Beifeng's body had become insignificant. This coffin was draining away his very will to live.

"One... two... three...!" He snapped the coffin lid shut, then quickly looked up at Bai Lingmiao.

The vinegar-soaked lead comb slowly dropped to the floor with a crisp sound. Li Huowang watched as Bai Lingmiao slowly turned, staring at him in astonishment, silent tears streaming down her face. Seeing the familiar Bai Lingmiao restored, Li Huowang trembled as he rushed forward, embracing her tightly, tears of overwhelming emotion welling in his eyes.

After a moment of intense emotion, Li Huowang finally released her and re-examined Bai Lingmiao. "How do you feel now? Is anything uncomfortable? Tell me right away if it is!"

With tears still blurring her vision, Bai Lingmiao said nothing. Instead, she reached out, her hand moving toward the Purple Tassel Sword on Li Huowang's back. When Li Huowang quickly pressed her hand down, Bai Lingmiao's eyes filled with deep pain and a profound sense of grievance.

"Senior Brother Li," she pleaded, "I beg you... I truly can't live without it..."