Chapter 488: Past

Seeing Lian Zhibei's injuries, Li Huowang said, "I'm sorry, something went wrong. It's my fault. Don't move; I'll heal your wounds, and then I'll give you some extra Longevity Pills."

With that, Li Huowang helped Lian Zhibei to sit on a meditation chair and turned to retrieve the 'Fire Robe Sutra'.

"No, no, no, I can't take it." Lian Zhibei took a talisman and placed it over Li Huowang's sword hilt, slowly drawing the long sword out.

"We had an agreement. Since it's your mistake, please give me that jade token quickly so we can settle this." Despite grimacing in pain from her injuries, Lian Zhibei was more concerned about the longevity.

When Li Huowang handed her the jade token that could be exchanged for untainted longevity, Lian Zhibei's face immediately lit up with a smile, despite still being in pain.

She didn't care about anything else. After a glance at Bai Lingmiao, she stumbled out, clutching her wound.

Li Huowang looked up and saw someone standing in front of him: Bai Lingmiao. She was looking at him with a sorrowful expression.

Then, she quietly walked to his side, opened her arms, and gently embraced him.

Li Huowang looked up, then, trembling, glanced down at the ground, only to find a pair of blood-red embroidered shoes and a red bridal veil stained with blood.

"Senior Brother Li, the immortal clinging to me is gone too... Ershen is gone... I still spoke too late..." Bai Lingmiao, embracing Li Huowang, said, tears silently streaming down her face.

Late at night, Li Huowang lay in bed, staring wide-eyed at the ceiling beams.

His goal was achieved; the immortals could no longer control Bai Lingmiao. This hidden danger was gone, yet despite it being a good thing, he felt an inexplicable constriction in his heart.

"Senior Brother Li, are you asleep?" Bai Lingmiao's voice softly echoed.

Li Huowang took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled.

"Senior Brother Li, I miss Ershen... In the past, no matter how painful things were, she always shared a part of it with me... She was like an elder sister to me..."

"Did I do something wrong? But if I hadn't dealt with the immortals, what would have become of Bai Lingmiao?"

Li Huowang kept wondering what he would have done if he had known beforehand that getting rid of the immortals would make Ershen disappear.

It wasn't until nearly dawn that Li Huowang suddenly realized that while there are clear rights and wrongs in other significant matters,

for example, it was wrong for the Meditation-Forgetfulness Sect to steal the eye of the Ghost of God Mountain, causing natural disasters and widespread suffering, and it was right for the Bureau of Heavenly Supervision to send people to eliminate the Meditation-Forgetfulness Sect for the sake of the world's common people.

However, when it comes to emotions, it's not quite the same. Here, there are only suitable choices, not so many rights and wrongs.

"Cock-a-doodle-doo," a rooster crowed outside the window. Li Huowang hadn't slept all night, and neither had Bai Lingmiao beside him.

He sat up from the bed, put on his Taoist robe, and walked towards the main hall. As soon as he stepped out of the room, he saw Li Sui squatting in the center of the hall, staring out at the courtyard where a light drizzle was falling.

"Dad."

Li Huowang walked over to it, sat down cross-legged, and, looking at the half-mangled wild dog in front of it, asked softly, "What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for Second Mother. I caught this last night. I've already eaten half, and I'm saving the other half for her."

Li Sui's words brought a piercing pain to Li Huowang. He reached out and patted Li Sui. "Don't wait. She's gone."

"I know. Mother said Second Mother left, that's why I'm waiting for her to come back. Second Mother loves to eat this." Li Sui nudged the mangled wild dog with its nose.

Li Huowang's lips trembled slightly as he spoke again, "Didn't you see her disappear? She... is gone!"

"I did see her, but Second Mother used to disappear and reappear. Dad, don't worry, she'll show up again soon."

Li Huowang said no more. He opened his arms and hugged Li Sui tightly, then stood up again and walked back into the house.

Gao Zhijian, shirtless and radiating steam, brandished his massive halberd, twirling it up and down.

His sinewy muscles were like iron, red and full of power.

As he executed a sweeping move with his great halberd, a line of village militiamen holding wooden halberds were instantly blown back by the strong wind, their eyes squinting, nearly losing their footing.

When the heavy halberd struck the ground with a thud, Gao Zhijian, after catching his breath for a moment, told them, "Practice!"

The dozen or so men immediately looked at each other. One short, stocky man quietly asked the person next to him, "How are we supposed to practice this? Is this even for humans?"

"Just practice. Practice. This guy is stubborn. Just do it for the white flour for lunch."

In twos and threes, they began to swing the heavy wooden halberds in their hands. These halberds were freshly cut, still full of moisture, making them incredibly heavy.

After practicing for only a short while, the heavy halberds became too much to lift. However, Gao Zhijian paid no mind to this; anyone caught slacking would face his calloused hands.

For these village militiamen, who felt like each day lasted a year, noon finally arrived. Yang Xiaohai's call of "Time to eat!" sounded like heavenly music to their ears.

Upon reaching the mess hall, they tremblingly stuffed the long-desired white flour buns into their mouths.

Although they could barely hold their bowls steady, they ate without delay, clamoring like pigs fighting for food.

Meanwhile, inside the Bai family compound, the other disciples were also contemplating this issue.

"Senior Brother Zhao Wu, it's time to buy grain. Senior Brother Gao Zhijian says we need at least a hundred village militiamen, and if they all eat like this, no matter how much stored grain we have, it won't last."

"I know, but now is not the time to buy grain. With the natural disasters, grain prices are high. We'll buy after the autumn harvest; it'll be cheaper then."

Yang Xiaohai muttered quietly, "But we need enough to last until the autumn harvest."

"Then maybe... recruit fewer people? We have so many people with supernatural abilities now, who would dare mess with us?" said Gouwa, holding his bowl.

"No!" Gao Zhijian shook his head vigorously, "Senior... Senior... Senior Brother Li... said... said... said, we... we..."

"Alright, alright, I get it. Don't speak, you'll be done by dinner time."

Gao Zhijian frowned and glared at Gouwa, then buried his head in the food in the basin before him.

"Everyone, stop arguing. Let's proceed like this for now. Senior Brother Li left some gold; I'll pawn some of it for silver."

Hearing Chun Xiaoman say this, everyone continued eating, and the matter was dropped.

However, one person noticed the worry on Chun Xiaoman's face. After dinner, as Chun Xiaoman was about to head to the Bai family ancestral hall, Gao Zhijian stopped her. "I... I... I have money... If the... if the... if the village... village... village needs money in the future... come... come... come to me!"

"You have money? Where did you get money?" Chun Xiaoman asked, utterly surprised.

"I... I... I... was once!"

"You used to be a big rich man?"

Gao Zhijian's face turned beet red. Unable to explain, he simply squatted down and began drawing on the ground with his finger.