Chapter 458: Sudden Appearance

Upon hearing this, Li Huowang's last trace of worry vanished instantly. As long as someone else was responsible for this huge problem, that was fine. If the Supervisor Division of Daliang wasn't reliable, there were still the Supervisor Divisions of Houshu and Siqi. When the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up. It had nothing to do with him anyway.

Time ticked by. As moments passed, everyone realized that apart from the sky being somewhat dark, there was no other danger. Their attention was completely drawn to the aroma of beef, and they surrounded the Bai family's kitchen in a dense crowd.

"Are we really eating beef? That's against the law. I'm a bit scared."

"Yeah, and it's such a waste to kill a cow. Think of how many acres it could plow in its lifetime."

"The cow's already dead, why complain? Hey, I've actually never eaten beef in my life."

Soon, bowls of rice topped with large pieces of braised beef were handed to everyone. They happily compared who had bigger or smaller pieces of meat in their bowls, thoroughly enjoying the meal.

"Eat up, don't overthink it. Do you think you're an immortal? It's not your job to worry about natural disasters." A large ox heart, stewed with rock sugar, was placed in front of Li Huowang.

"This is too big," Li Huowang said, staring at the ox heart, which weighed at least two kilograms. It was a good thing it was stewed; other cooking methods might not have cooked the center thoroughly.

"You eat first. If you can't finish it, give it to me. I have a huge appetite."

Bailingsen picked up two chopsticks, poked the ox heart, pulled out a gold ring embedded inside, and then offered the ox heart back to Li Huowang.

"Why do you bury gold when stewing an ox heart?"

"My mother taught me. She said it's good for the body."

After all the commotion since morning, Li Huowang actually felt a bit hungry. He directly stuck two chopsticks into it, picked it up like a zongzi, and took a bite. Immediately, his mouth was filled with a fragrant, smooth, and chewy taste.

But just as Li Huowang was filling his stomach, Gouwa, looking dejected, walked over carrying his daughter. He, who used to be unusually obsessed with food, now had no desire to eat. With a thud, the grief-stricken Gouwa suddenly knelt down and heavily kowtowed three times to Li Huowang, who was eating heartily.

Li Huowang stopped chewing and looked at Gouwa and the infant in his arms. Before Gouwa could even speak, Li Huowang directly said, "I can't help you with this. Your daughter isn't sick or afflicted; this is how she was born. Even if she shed her skin and grew a new one, it would be the same."

As for trying to use the Xiantian Yiqi (primordial qi) within him, that was completely out of Li Huowang's consideration. With his current cultivation, which had just reached the Root Chakra, forcibly using it could lead to unknown and irreversible consequences. The Zuo Wang Dao Hong Zhong had some illusionary tricks, but those were useless except for self-deception.

Upon hearing this, Gouwa's face turned ashen. He turned and left, holding his daughter. After only a couple of steps, tears streaming down his face, he raised his hand and slapped himself hard several times.

"Ah, Gouwa is truly pathetic. When his daughter grows up, I wonder if she'll resent him."

Bailingsen's words made Li Huowang look up at her, asking in a heavy voice, "He's pathetic, but what about you?"

"What?" Bailingsen's pupils contracted slightly, clearly startled.

"Did you think you could fool me? How long were you planning to hide this from me?" Li Huowang put the ox heart back into his bowl.

"Who told you?!" Bailingsen initially appeared extremely angry, but as she saw Li Huowang's gaze fixed on her, her emotions gradually subsided.

"Don't worry, I'm not blind yet. As for my lifespan being shorter than ordinary people, there's no need to talk about that. I'm not even twenty yet, even if it's short, I still have over a decade to live. It's too early to discuss this."

"That's not all, is it? What else?" Li Huowang's tone was flat, his gaze intently fixed on every slight expression on her face.

A hint of irritation appeared on Bailingsen's face. "You really don't need to get involved in immortal matters. You're so manic yourself, just take care of yourself."

"Whose mouth is so loose? How did they tell you everything? Barely anyone knows about this! Was it Ershen?"

"It wasn't her. It was you. You just told me," Li Huowang said, picking up the ox heart and resuming his meal.

Bailingsen was momentarily stunned, but she quickly understood what he meant. She slammed her right hand down, knocking the ox heart directly out of Li Huowang's hand and onto the ground. "You tricked me! How dare you trick me!!" Her expression suddenly turned ferocious, as if she wanted to tear Li Huowang apart.

"If I didn't trick you, would you have told me yourself? Were you really going to wait until your eyes were completely blind before telling me?" Li Huowang said, staring at Bailingsen's pink eyes. He had long noted Ershen's troubled expression and understood that Bailingsen was definitely hiding something from him. He hadn't expected such a trick to uncover so much.

Hearing Li Huowang's words, Bailingsen's voice sharply rose. "Since we're speaking openly, fine! I hide things from you, but don't you hide things from me? Your illness isn't cured at all! You run off to Niuxin Mountain every day to have an episode! Do you think I'm actually blind?!"

Li Huowang took a deep breath. Just as he was about to explain, a series of urgent barks interrupted their argument. He recognized it as Mantou's barking. The sound was off; Mantou had been with him for so long and had never barked so fiercely before.

When Li Huowang led Bailingsen to the courtyard, he saw Mantou's fur standing on end, its fangs bared, barking urgently towards the main gate. The half-open main gate swayed back and forth, slowly creaking.

"Huh! What's going on? I clearly locked the gate. How did it open?" Zhao Wu, limping, rushed up and asked. He inexplicably felt a chill run down his spine. After all, everyone in Niuxin Village was supposed to be in the courtyard.

Li Huowang lunged towards the nearby courtyard wall on one foot, stomped his right foot firmly on the wall, quickly shifted his position, and stood steadily on top of it, looking out at the surrounding tiled houses. As he surveyed the surroundings, his gaze suddenly fixed on a dark corner of a wall. A man stood there, dressed in a silk burial shroud, with his back to Li Huowang and wearing a watermelon hat. From behind, his pear-shaped head accounted for half of his body, and it was enormous even with the hat on. His legs were remarkably short, while his arms were unusually long. His proportions were extremely disproportionate.

In this world, Li Huowang had only seen such strangeness and disproportions in one type of entity before: the small-footed, two-faced women who could summon the Joy God—the evil entities.