Chapter 480: Retreat

In the peach wood forest, reeking of charcoal, Li Huowang didn't dare to walk too fast. The flesh and bone around his waist were still unstable, as if they could snap at any moment.

As Li Huowang walked further and further away, the plump woman's expression grew anxious.

"Hey, young man," she called out, "I don't want anything else! I just want five years of pure Yang longevity from your reward! Name your price, I'll buy it!"

"Not for sale!" Li Huowang refused without hesitation. He intended to save this kind of longevity, which had no side effects, to extend the life of Bai Lingmiao, who had a short lifespan.

The plump woman seemed unwilling to give up and continued to follow from a distance. However, when Li Sui appeared, crawling on all fours and letting out a threatening growl while baring her stark white teeth, the woman finally stopped.

"Brother Li?" Bai Lingmiao asked, her gentle voice tinged with hesitation, as she stared at a black blur in the distance. "It was red just now; why did it suddenly turn black?"

Li Huowang immediately got onto the horse, enduring intense pain throughout his body, and urged the horse pulling the cart forward.

"I'll explain later! Someone is after us; we need to leave here quickly."

The carriage galloped wildly on the dirt road in the dead of night. They rode for several hours, until noon the next day. Only when the horses started frothing at the mouth did Li Huowang finally stop.

Seeing that no one had followed them, Li Huowang breathed a sigh of relief. Whether the woman was wary of him or something else, at least she wasn't relentlessly pursuing them.

Having endured the night with his heavily wounded body, Li Huowang finally couldn't hold on any longer and lay down behind the carriage curtain.

"Miaomiao, I'm going to sleep for a bit," he said. "Whatever is on the copper coin sword, don't touch it."

The moment his head touched the soft fabric, Li Huowang instantly lost consciousness.

This time, Li Huowang slept for a long time. When he opened his eyes again, he saw Bai Lingmiao using a brush to apply something to his charred body.

He took a light sniff, and the unique scent told Li Huowang it was badger oil for treating burns.

"How long have I been asleep?" Li Huowang's words let Bai Lingmiao know he was awake.

"Brother Li, you've slept for three days," she replied. "I stitched up the wounds on your chest and waist for you."

"Oh." Li Huowang suddenly remembered something and, startled, sat bolt upright.

Ignoring the pain of his torn flesh, Li Huowang immediately reached for the copper coin sword nearby. When he saw that no more black smoke was coming from it, his heart sank instantly.

"Brother Li, are you looking for that invisible thing?" she asked. "I bought a wooden box from the peddler and put it inside for you."

Carefully opening the wooden box, Li Huowang used the blunt end of a chopstick to gently poke the seemingly empty box.

When he felt that strange resistance, Li Huowang finally breathed a sigh of relief. The spiritual anomaly was still there.

"Brother Li, are you hungry? I cooked some gruel." Bai Lingmiao lifted the curtain, about to go out, but Li Huowang stopped her.

"I'll serve it myself," he said. "In your current state, don't touch fire. You might get burned again."

As Li Huowang climbed down from the carriage, the recently healed scabs on his body cracked open, and blood began to seep out continuously.

Although it still hurt a lot, having endured so much, Li Huowang had started to adapt.

After he got out of the carriage, he realized it was dark outside. Li Sui was squatting by the bonfire, holding a book, her gruesome claws drawing something in the air.

"Dad? You're awake?" Li Sui looked up at Li Huowang.

"Learning to draw talismans? Good, study hard."

After gently patting her head, Li Huowang picked up a bowl with one hand and reached into the pot to scoop out some gruel.

But just as he scooped up a bowl of hot gruel, Li Sui stretched her head over and quickly began licking it with her tongue.

"What are you doing?" Li Huowang's charred fingers curled, and he flicked her hard on her tough head.

"Dad, can't I eat it?" Li Sui asked. "I've always eaten first before."

Her words made Li Huowang study Li Sui. It seemed that Mantou's memories and thoughts had also merged into Li Sui's mind.

"It's fine, eat, eat." Li Huowang placed the bowl in front of her.

Watching Li Sui quickly lick the hot gruel, Li Huowang said softly, "Li Sui, I'm so heavily injured, and your mother is almost blind. On the road ahead, you'd best take care of things."

"Okay, how should I do that?"

"Things like washing clothes, washing dishes, starting fires," Li Huowang said, "or at the very least, gathering firewood."

"Stepmother is doing all these things," Li Sui replied. "If I do them, won't Stepmother have nothing to do?"

"Stepmother?"

"Yes, the Stepmother who likes to wear a red hat," Li Sui confirmed. "I like Stepmother; sometimes we chat quietly. We also go outside to hunt for meat. Once we caught a very big piece of meat, and we split it, half for each of us."

*When did Stepmother's relationship with Li Sui become so good?* After Li Huowang thought about it carefully, he realized it wasn't a bad thing.

"Alright then," Li Huowang said, "when your Stepmother is working, you can help her out."

"Okay, I understand."

Looking at Li Sui, who had her gaping, bloody maw open, her black-tentacled tongue hanging out on the left, Li Huowang smiled knowingly. He extended his left arm, pulled her head into his embrace, and gently patted her.

"Thanks for earlier in the peach forest," he said. "If you hadn't helped, that moment would have been quite precarious."

Li Sui, at that moment, had no time to respond. Smelling a familiar scent, she extended her tongue and continuously licked the charred parts of Li Huowang's body.

"Sui Sui, is there anything you want to do?" Li Huowang asked softly.

"I want to stay by your side forever, Dad."

"You can't stay by my side forever," Li Huowang replied. "After all, you're my daughter, not a pet. It's fine if you don't have anything now; you'll have one later. Think about it slowly and carefully. When you've decided, tell Dad, and Dad will see if he can help you."

"Dad, I don't understand."

"You'll understand someday," Li Huowang said gently. "For now, scoop a bowl of gruel for your mother and take it to her. Once we've eaten, we should sleep. We still have to continue our journey tomorrow."

That night passed without incident. However, when Li Huowang woke up, he realized the carriage beneath him was moving, and he seemed to have overslept again.

Pushing Li Sui, who was half-lying on him, aside, Li Huowang lifted the carriage curtain and peered out. He found the carriage was currently in a bustling market.

It seemed they had entered a city. "What city was this?" he wondered.

Li Huowang pulled out a map and looked at it. He found the place was called Linzhang. Its size couldn't compare to Shangjing or Yinling, but it could still be considered a large city.

"At our current speed, we can reach Shangjing in ten days at the fastest." Li Huowang used his charred finger to draw a faint black line on the map.

"Brother Li, you're awake?" Bai Lingmiao suggested. "You look very tired; why don't we rest here for a few days?"

Looking at her eyes, which were almost completely white, Li Huowang shook his head slightly. "Forget it," he said. "Once your eyes are properly replaced, we'll go back to Niuxin Village and rest slowly, to avoid further complications."

Li Huowang said this, and he intended to do it. But even though he wasn't looking for trouble, trouble found him.

That bold, open stare was hard for Li Huowang to ignore.

He looked up and saw the plump woman he had met earlier in the peach forest, standing on the third floor of an impressive restaurant, smiling and cupping her hands in greeting towards him.

"It seems we still haven't shaken her off..."