Chapter 62: Night Talk

"Is anyone there?" Li Huowang's shouts continuously echoed in the incredibly vast environment.

Utterly perplexed, he looked left and right, finding himself standing on a wooden bridge. All around him, there was only pitch darkness; nothing else was visible.

Li Huowang took a deep breath, lifted his foot, and continued walking forward. The wooden bridge beneath him creaked loudly with each step.

After an unknown duration of walking, he sensed something moving in the distance. Li Huowang's body stiffened, and he quickly rushed towards it.

But as he got closer and finally discerned what it was, his body jolted, and he stopped abruptly. It was Li Zhi's household deity.

The previously palm-sized clay figurine had grown to be three times larger than Li Huowang's body. With a sound like stones grinding together, it slowly turned its head to look at Li Huowang. Its pupils were completely white, devoid of any black, making it terrifyingly eerie.

"This isn't a wooden bridge! I'm standing on someone's roof beam!" Li Huowang immediately realized.

A creaking sound arose, and the several layers of red head-ropes on the household deity's body split open. Countless clay hands extended from within, continuously shedding dust as they reached out towards Li Huowang.

As Li Huowang turned to retreat, a gigantic red veil instantly covered him, completely enveloping his entire body.

"Don't look..." an extremely delicate and ethereal female voice echoed.

He gasped. Li Huowang, drenched in cold sweat, suddenly awoke. He quickly looked around, realizing there was no household deity or red veil. It had only been a dream.

He looked down at Bai Lingmiao beside him, pulled the blanket up to cover her shoulders, turned, got out of bed, and opened the window to look outside.

The moon was still in the sky, indicating he hadn't slept for too long.

Gazing at the black roof tiles outside, Li Huowang recalled what had happened yesterday.

The Second Deity, covered by the red veil, clearly seemed to want to tell him something, but Li Zhi had unintentionally interrupted her.

"What exactly did she want to say? Why didn't she want me to look at the household deity?" Li Huowang, his brows furrowed, pondered this question.

This Second Deity had always been silent, neither eating nor drinking. Compared to the unusually easygoing Li Zhi, she appeared very mysterious.

For such a person to suddenly speak to him, it must have some special meaning.

"What could she possibly need to tell me secretly, something Li Zhi shouldn't know? Does Li Zhi want to harm me?"

He had originally planned to ask Li Zhi to try the god-invoking ritual, but with this sudden development, Li Huowang now hesitated. After all, they weren't very close.

He considered finding other shamans, but even if he did, there was no guarantee they would be more trustworthy.

If he had to find one, it might as well be someone he was somewhat familiar with.

"I need to ask the Second Deity about this privately," Li Huowang secretly made up his mind.

Li Huowang glanced at the dark sky again, then turned, put on his blood-red Taoist robe, and walked outside. The few bungalows of Li Zhi's fellow villagers weren't far apart, and Li Zhi and his family lived nearby.

In the pitch-dark room, Li Huowang walked silently, making his way towards Li Zhi's dwelling.

"Creak~" The door, adorned with an inverted "Fu" character, slowly opened. A small, glowing stone was gently flicked inside.

The faint glow illuminated the room, revealing the Great Shaman Li Zhi sprawled out on the bed, snoring loudly. Meanwhile, the Second Deity, still covered by the red veil, stood rigidly beside the bed like a piece of clothing.

Hearing the movement, the Second Deity silently turned her red veil towards Li Huowang. She stood there, seemingly waiting for something.

Seeing this scene late at night, to be honest, it was genuinely creepy.

"Do I really want to go outside alone with this thing right now?" Li Huowang hesitated at that moment.

But thinking of what she had said to him, Li Huowang finally made up his mind. He gently beckoned with his hand.

The Second Deity actually moved. She slowly floated towards the doorway like a phantom.

She moved out, and Li Huowang retreated outwards, one advancing, one retreating, until they finally reached the outside of the courtyard and stopped.

The hazy moonlight cast by the crescent moon in the sky slightly calmed Li Huowang's extremely tense emotions.

The red-veiled Second Deity slowly approached again, coming very, very close. So close that Li Huowang's words made the red veil slightly sway. "What did you want to say yesterday?"

Her extremely long black fingernails slowly lifted, and to Li Huowang's astonishment, gently pricked the fingertip of her other hand.

Immediately after, using the dark red blood that flowed out, she slowly began to write on her red veil.

"Be... care... ful... you... are... a... Heart... Element... Immortal..."

"What are you two doing?!" As a sharp rebuke suddenly burst forth, the dark blood on the red veil rapidly absorbed back into it.

Li Huowang had just taken two steps back when he saw the grim-faced Li Zhi padding barefoot to the Second Deity's side, firmly wrapping his arms around her waist. "What are you doing? This is my wife!!"

Li Huowang heard movement from inside the house. After a quick thought, he said, "Nothing. I was just curious about your wife's face."

Li Zhi, his face full of wariness, scrutinized Li Huowang up and down. As if to assert his ownership, he lifted a corner of the red veil with his hand, stuck his head underneath, and noisily kissed her.

As the red veil swayed, aided by the moonlight, Li Huowang vaguely saw something.

"Were those... scales?"

Immediately after, Li Zhi pulled his head back from under the red veil, and noisily licked the yellowish-green mucus from the corners of his mouth.

"Remember this! This is my wife, and whose fault is it that you're a bachelor? It's your own fault for being a Taoist priest! If you're so capable, then renounce your vows!"

With that, without waiting for Li Huowang to retort, he took the Second Deity's pale hand, adorned with long black fingernails, and turned to walk back inside.

Scales, yellowish-green mucus—these two images repeatedly flashed through his mind. What exactly was this Second Deity?

When a thoroughly perplexed Li Huowang returned to the room, he found Bai Lingmiao awake. She was kneeling on the bed, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Li Huowang said nothing, re-extinguished the lit oil lamp, and said, "Nothing. Go back to sleep."

"Be careful? I am a Heart Element Immortal?"

Lying in bed, Li Huowang pondered the few words the Second Deity had just written. "What is a Heart Element Immortal? And what did she want me to be careful of?"

The next day, when Li Huowang awoke and went to the main hall, he saw Li Zhi drinking porridge.

With his right hand firmly holding the Second Deity, he was saying something to his fellow villager.

"My friend, thank you for your care. How about this: I'll help you invite a household deity. I'll give you a discount; how about thirty copper coins?"

Li Zhi stopped speaking at this point because he saw Li Huowang. His expression was no longer as easygoing as before.