Chapter 502: Dreaming

"Oh, really? That's great!" Hearing Li Huowang say this, Bai Lingmiao carefully took it with both hands, curiously stroking the ink marks with her fingertips.

Just as Li Huowang was about to help her understand some of the more difficult parts, he saw Bai Lingmiao's eyes suddenly widen. "Senior Brother Li, I hear voices to the east. It sounds like something is coming."

Li Huowang glanced at her, pulled back the carriage curtain, and stepped out.

After he walked through a patch of woods, Li Huowang quickly spotted the source of the voices: two runaway carriages.

They seemed to be trying to drive the carriages into the forest, evading something.

But clearly, they were mistaken; after only a few movements, the carriages became stuck in vines and branches.

Immediately after, the pursuers arrived: a group of emaciated men in ragged clothes.

Li Huowang thought they didn't quite look like bandits, but rather more like refugees. "Wait... could these people all be from the Forsaken Way, putting on a show for me here?"

Invisible, Li Huowang stood silently, pondering the question. Even if they weren't from the Forsaken Way, anyone could be a pawn consumed by the Dice, and he had to be cautious.

When he saw those ragged individuals drag crying women and even young girls from the carriages and begin to grope them, he finally decided to act.

However, to avoid falling into a trap set by the Dice, Li Huowang decided not to go himself. "Li Sui!"

Li Sui, standing nearby, removed the straw hat from his head, revealing his skinned dog-like face.

He held the coin sword in his hand, and the tip of one of his tentacles quickly split open. With the black viscous liquid seeping out, he wildly drew a flowing script on a piece of turmeric paper.

"With penetrating insight, the five energies surge, golden light travels swiftly, covering and protecting this altar, by my command!"

Li Sui held the coin sword through the drawn talisman. His tentacle-covered body emerged from the wide straw cloak, and he lunged towards the people like a spider with countless legs.

Upon seeing Li Sui's current appearance, both the victims and the aggressors screamed in terror and scattered in all directions.

It was Li Sui's first time taking action, and he was clearly very excited, immediately giving chase. Li Huowang silently watched them from behind.

He observed every detail, every subtle change in their terrified expressions. "They shouldn't be from the Forsaken Way. If they were just ordinary people, I would have noticed something amiss."

Half an hour later, Li Sui returned, thoroughly satisfied. "Dad, they said they weren't bad people and asked me not to kill them."

"They also said they were forced by some Dharma Sect, that the Dharma Sect ruined their homes, and they don't believe in the Child God, so they came out to steal money for food."

Li Huowang handed him the straw cloak and hat. "Forced by a Dharma Sect? Has the Dharma Sect's influence grown so large that there are even displaced people now?"

Looking at Li Sui in front of him, Li Huowang spoke as if imparting a lesson: "You can't fully believe such words. Perhaps they were indeed forced to flee by a Dharma Sect, but looking at how they behaved just now, they weren't merely trying to steal money."

Taking this opportunity, Li Huowang thoroughly explained the treachery of human nature to Li Sui, to prevent him from being deceived by others in the future.

When Li Huowang and Li Sui returned to the carriage, they saw Bai Lingmiao sitting quietly, holding a book.

"Aren't you going to ask what happened over there?" Li Huowang said, sitting next to her.

"No need, I heard everything from here." Bai Lingmiao's words made Li Huowang nod understandingly. He hadn't realized that Bai Lingmiao's perception was now even stronger than his own. "Let's keep going. It was a minor incident. It wasn't the Forsaken Way; if the Dice truly intended to act, they wouldn't use such a small ploy."

The carriage continued slowly along the road, and gradually, the sky darkened.

They built a bonfire and quickly ate some soft dried rations. Li Huowang used this rare free time to cultivate his cultivation technique. By the time he finished, it was almost dawn.

Li Huowang slowly closed his eyes, resting his head on Bai Lingmiao's lap. He could only barely cultivate during the quiet nights; during the day, he usually lay in the carriage to catch up on sleep.

It wasn't that he couldn't cultivate in the carriage, but if he were to truly do so, the uncontrolled Innate Qi might twist the carriage, Li Sui, and Bai Lingmiao into unrecognizable forms, and he couldn't predict what they would become.

As the carriage began to gently bump, Li Huowang gradually fell into a deep sleep.

In his drowsy state, Li Huowang seemed to be back in elementary school, taking an exam, but his mind was completely blank; he couldn't recall anything.

"Huowang... Huowang!"

He saw Yang Na beside him winking and gesturing, subtly pushing her completed exam paper closer to him.

Li Huowang clasped his hands together in a silent gesture of gratitude, bowed slightly, picked up his pen, and prepared to copy.

As the pen tip touched the blank paper, ripples spread across its surface. Within these ripples, Li Huowang's own reflection appeared.

It was initially a blurry black and white, then gradually became clear and colored.

The sound of pouring rain began, and the torrential downpour shattered the reflection. Li Huowang, soaked to the bone, quickly lay on the ground, using his body to shield the small puddle containing his reflection.

As the ripples on the water's surface gradually faded, Li Huowang looked at his reflection and smiled contentedly.

"Li Huowang." Hearing his reflection call his name, Li Huowang nodded and answered.

"Yes, I'm here."

"Li Huowang."

"Yes, I'm here."

"Li Huowang."

"I'm here."

As Li Huowang spoke with increasing urgency, the entire world instantly grew agitated. Stacks of restless shadows moved rapidly.

They moved swiftly, constantly approaching him, yet never reaching. He, however, seemed destined to forever experience this intertwining of fear and agitation.

"Stop talking! I'm here!" A maddened Li Huowang clasped his hands together and slammed them hard onto the reflection.

With a shattering crash like breaking glass, the reflection, connected to the ground, completely fractured. Li Huowang plummeted downwards with the fragments.

The intense sensation of falling made Li Huowang instinctively curl up like an infant, quietly awaiting the moment of impact.

Suddenly, a large hand reached down from above and abruptly pulled Li Huowang up.

When Li Huowang opened his eyes, up and down instantly inverted. At that moment,

he found himself clinging to a cliff, desperately gripping someone's hand—it was Zhuge Yuan's hand.

"Brother Li! Help me!" Zhuge Yuan, his face contorted in extreme pain, shouted to Li Huowang.

"Don't let go! Whatever you do, don't let go! I'll pull you up right now!"

Li Huowang gripped tightly with both hands, straining with all his might. However, to his despair, Zhuge Yuan's body grew heavier and heavier.

Finally, under the immense force, Zhuge Yuan ultimately plunged into the endless abyss. "Brother Li! Help me! I'm in such pain!"

"Hah!" Li Huowang gasped, sitting up abruptly and breathing heavily, still shaken.

It was a while before he finally heard the sound of rain pattering outside the carriage window.