Chapter 536: 大齐

"Brother Li, head east first," Zhuge Yuan said to Li Huowang, looking up at the surrounding mountains and rivers with his hands behind his back.

"Okay," Li Huowang nodded and walked forward with Li Sui, crossing mountains and wading through rivers.

"The left is abundant, the right is like a bow; this path is blocked. Go two li west."

Li Huowang followed the instructions, but a slight doubt arose in his mind. "Brother Zhuge," he asked, "isn't the Upper Extreme Portal fixed in one place?"

"Of course not," Zhuge Yuan replied. "The Upper Extreme Portal is a living entity; it moves and is incredibly good at escaping. Fortunately, its movements cause changes in the surrounding terrain and water. We can use the Feng Shui technique of 'Dividing Gold and Fixing Water' to track its traces through the mountains and rivers." As Zhuge Yuan spoke, he gestured with his finger and looked up at the stars.

"Understood," Li Huowang nodded, said nothing more, and focused on traveling.

It must be said that having Zhuge Yuan as a guide made Li Huowang feel much more at ease, especially in the unfamiliar territory of Daqi.

Under Zhuge Yuan's guidance, they had been circling around until late at night. Li Huowang stopped in a cracked rice field, looking at a distant town dotted with lights. The town seemed quite large, so finding an inn for the night shouldn't be an issue.

After glancing at Li Sui, who was on all fours to his left, Li Huowang said to Zhuge Yuan, "Brother Zhuge, let's stop here for today and rest." With that, Li Huowang and Li Sui walked towards the town.

"Brother Li," Zhuge Yuan said, "restore your energy today. According to my estimation, we should be able to catch up to the Upper Extreme Portal tomorrow."

"That's good," Li Huowang replied. "I hope everything goes smoothly."

He had been in Daqi for some time now. While the surrounding environment wasn't particularly bad, Li Huowang consistently felt uneasy.

Li Huowang wondered if this was his sensitive perception warning him. Thus, even though he hadn't encountered anything, his guard remained up. As they drew closer to the town, Li Huowang's keen nose detected the smell of burning firewood.

There were guards at the city gate, but they didn't seem very diligent. They were all gathered around a bonfire, drinking soup from their bowls. When Li Huowang approached, they didn't even bother to lift their eyelids.

Li Huowang entered the city without incident. He had intended to find an inn, but there were no inns, and not a single shop was open. The place seemed unusually desolate.

Left with no choice, Li Huowang followed a light to a house, intending to ask for lodging. In the small courtyard, a stove had been set up, and a person with a white cloth wrapped around their head was cooking something in a large clay pot. Hearing Li Huowang's footsteps, the man adding firewood to the stove turned around. He was fair-skinned, and the scent emanating from him aroused Li Huowang's suspicion.

"Daoist priest, can I help you?" the man asked, standing up and looking somewhat uneasily at the tall, clothed Li Sui behind Li Huowang.

After quickly scrutinizing the man, Li Huowang's unease intensified. The man actually had bound feet! A grown man with feet only half the size of a normal person's, walking on "three-inch golden lotuses," made Li Huowang feel deeply uncomfortable.

Seeing the man about to reach for something behind him, with a "clang!" the blade flashed out of its sheath. Li Huowang had already pressed his sword against the man's throat. "What are you trying to do?"

"Brother Li, Brother Li, don't be so agitated. This is Daqi; you don't have as many enemies here as in Daliang. This person is merely an unregistered resident," Zhuge Yuan explained.

Hearing Zhuge Yuan's slow explanation, Li Huowang understood. It turned out that in Daqi, men who sold their bodies were divided into different professions, and men with bound feet were one such type.

When Li Huowang withdrew his sword, the man, who had already wet himself, immediately collapsed onto the ground, trembling uncontrollably and kowtowing repeatedly. "Good sir," he stammered, "all the silver is at the bottom of the chest! It's all for you, please spare my life!"

Li Huowang also noticed something behind the man: a red handkerchief tucked into his waistband.

"I'm not a robber; I'm here to ask for lodging! Get up!" Li Huowang declared, forcefully pulling the man to his feet. "I'll stay at your place tonight. Take this; anything extra is your tip!" Li Huowang slapped a few pieces of broken silver into the man's hand.

"Th-th-this..." the man stammered. While the man was still at a loss for words, Li Huowang had already pushed the door open and walked inside.

The room wasn't large, and the decor was simple. Despite the man's profession, the house was surprisingly clean. On the offering table to the left, there were two colorful clay figurines, which caught Li Huowang's attention. Noticing their long ears and split lips, Li Huowang turned to the man and asked, "What do you worship?"

The small-footed man smiled shyly. "To answer you, good sir, we worship the Rabbit God. Everyone in our line of work worships the Rabbit God."

"Heh, I thought so," Li Huowang mused.

The night was very deep. Li Huowang had no intention of wasting more time talking with the man and decided to get some much-needed rest. He went up the stairs to the second floor, blocked the staircase with a cabinet, and then lay down on the bed, closing his eyes.

Beside him, Li Sui curled into a round ball. Her eyes were closed, but her ears twitched left and right, monitoring everything around them.

Time passed slowly, and Li Huowang fell into a deep sleep. Outside the window, the crackling of burning firewood continued.

The sky gradually brightened. As soon as the sun hit the window, Li Huowang suddenly opened his eyes. There were footsteps outside. Li Sui, already a step ahead, was by the window, peeking through a crack. "Dad, a few people came outside," she whispered. "They're wearing white headbands, just like him, and they're talking secretly." She continued, "They finished talking. He added firewood to the stove, and then they all left together."

Li Huowang got out of bed and pulled out the weapon from under his pillow. "We should go," he said. "I suspect that man is going to report us to the authorities."

"Okay," Li Sui nodded and followed Li Huowang downstairs.

The small-footed man had already left, leaving only the stove still cooking something.

"This guy just cooked all night?" Li Huowang pondered as he walked out of the courtyard gate, preparing to leave the town. As Li Huowang walked through the town, he noticed that every household was cooking something. He couldn't help but frown. "Brother Zhuge," he asked, "is this some kind of custom in Daqi?"

"Daqi has never had such a custom," Zhuge Yuan replied. "Brother Li, what day is it today? Is it the Dragon Boat Festival? I remember zongzi need to be cooked for a day and a night."

Li Huowang took a deep breath and shook his head. "No."