Chapter 542: Above the Door

Immersed in the bone-chilling pool water, Li Huowang’s heart felt even colder, for he was in extreme danger. The fan held the secrets of a Si Ming, and merely looking at it posed a threat.

The moment Li Huowang realized the white object before him was Zhuge Yuan's folding fan, he immediately shut his eyes. Yet, his vision still registered the first line of characters dissolving in the water on the fan: "Great Si Ming, no past and no future, those who follow the Si Ming’s favor, shall be as them."

"Great Si Ming... what is that? Forget it! Forget it!" Li Huowang frantically screamed in his mind, clenching his fists.

Long needles were pulled from a torture kit and inserted one by one into the gaps beneath Li Huowang's fingernails. As the saying goes, "ten fingers connected to the heart," the sharp pain made him forget everything else. He struggled to climb out of the water again, collapsing inside the cave, frantically gasping for air.

Taking a deep breath, Li Huowang lifted his head and looked at Zhuge Yuan. "Brother Zhuge, I just saw a line of characters written on the fan."

Zhuge Yuan's eyes widened. "Really?" But then he asked, puzzled, "That shouldn't be right. If you truly saw it, your body would be tainted by their karma. Yet, why is your body completely unchanged now?"

"It's not," Li Huowang's heart swelled with hope. "Perhaps... perhaps it's because I couldn't fully understand it. The way you wrote it was too classical for me; I couldn't quite grasp it."

Hearing this, the solemn expression on Zhuge Yuan's face immediately vanished. He let out a sigh of relief and chuckled easily, "No worries, no worries. I had even considered advising you, Brother Li, to read more sagely texts. I never imagined this... this... *cough*, would actually help you out. If you don't understand it, you naturally won't be tainted by its karma."

Upon hearing this, Li Huowang's anxious heart finally settled. He was fortunate that he couldn't fully understand the classical Chinese.

However, after his relief, Li Huowang recalled the first three characters: "Great Si Ming." Even if he couldn't understand the rest, he knew this was a name or a title. "If a Si Ming is already so powerful, does the 'Great Si Ming' mean it's even more formidable than beings like Ba Hui?"

"If Si Mings are so formidable, what kind of existence is a Great Si Ming?" Li Huowang tried to imagine it, but he couldn't. To be honest, with his five senses not yet integrated, he couldn't even visualize Ba Hui in his mind, let alone a Great Si Ming. Subconsciously, Li Huowang felt he had inadvertently learned something profound.

"Great Si Ming, no past and no future." Just as Li Huowang was about to ponder the next words, his mind immediately went on alert. "Don't think about it! I barely escaped this time, I can't willingly put myself back in danger!" Li Huowang immediately dug his fingernail into the long needle stuck under his nail and pulled it out forcefully. The intense stinging pain instantly diverted his attention.

Enduring the pain, Li Huowang said to Zhuge Yuan, "It seems for the rest of my life, I should avoid any knowledge related to classical Chinese."

"Brother Li, what is classical Chinese?"

Li Huowang shook his head, offering no further explanation, and re-entered the water with Li Sui.

He wouldn't make the same mistake twice. After confirming that the fan was completely gone, Li Huowang swam towards the surface. Once he had expended considerable effort to climb out of the sinkhole, he prepared to lift his Spine Sword and return to Daliang.

"Father, look! What's that?" Li Sui asked.

Hearing Li Sui's question, Li Huowang turned his head and looked in the direction Li Sui was pointing. He saw three plumes of black smoke slowly rising on the distant horizon.

Li Huowang didn't know what they were, but Qiu Chibao, who was tightly clutching her child nearby, did. Her eyes filled with terror as she said, "Those are wolf smoke signals. There's going to be war again. My husband, please don't go, okay? People die in war. I'm scared."

Li Huowang glanced at the distraught Qiu Chibao again, said nothing more, and immediately raised his Spine Sword, swinging it forcefully. By the time the dust-covered Li Huowang returned to Shangjing, several days had passed.

Although he had been busy traveling during this time, Li Huowang felt it was worthwhile. Compared to before, when he was at the mercy of others, he now held an additional card to play against fate. Just as Li Huowang's hand rested on his courtyard gate, he found it was ajar. His heart instantly sank. "Had it been robbed?" With a creak, Li Huowang pushed open the gate and led his horse inside. An unexpected person was waiting for him in the main hall: Hong Da, the Blade Borrower.

Li Huowang's expression changed, and he gripped the Spine Sword behind his back with one hand. Hong Da's unprovoked appearance in his home meant something, and he could easily guess what. Li Huowang understood that he couldn't act impulsively now; fighting in Shangjing would surely lead to a complete break with the Censorate. No, this was different from previous situations. He didn't have any unresolvable grudges with them. There was still a chance.

After a quick thought, an idea popped into Li Huowang's mind. He immediately put on a smile, cupped his hands, and walked towards Hong Da. "Oh, Brother Hong, I've missed you greatly since our last parting! I thought you had already left Daliang."

"The Censorate has some matters to discuss with you," Hong Da stood up and returned the greeting.

Li Huowang's eyes widened slightly in surprise. "Could it be about King Ren? Could it be that even with the Censorate's reach, he still managed to escape?"

Hong Da gave a wry smile and shook his head. "No, King Ren is long dead. This is about you stealing the Grand Void Sword from the Buddhist Jade Brazier."

The moment his words fell, the room darkened. The people from before blocked the main entrance behind Li Huowang. Buddha figures, no bigger than a finger, emerged from every crack and crevice around the main hall, completely surrounding Li Huowang.

The woman, the previous owner of the Spine Sword, glared at Li Huowang with venom in her eyes, pointing a finger with black-painted nails directly at him.

"You thief, how dare you deceive us with an illusion! I've already investigated; not even Lord Si Tianjian himself could revive a Heartworm!"

When Li Huowang saw that even Hong Da was revealing long blades tucked inside his clothes, he showed no panic. Instead, uncharacteristically, he aggressively challenged them, "Stop making excuses. I'm currently working for His Highness. Are you trying to weaken His Highness's influence by moving against me now, perhaps at someone else's behest?"

"Stop slandering us! You unjustly stole my weapon! Do you think you're justified?" The woman was nearly enraged. How could anyone be so shameless?

Li Huowang glanced to his left, pulled over a long bench, and sat down composedly. He pretended to be calm and collected as he said, "I don't know anything about slandering. All I know is that if you kill me, it will greatly benefit the other contenders for the throne. So tell me, whose orders are you truly following?"