Chapter 148: Old Acquaintance

Chapter 148: Old Acquaintance

Swaying limbs and trembling, retracting white fangs writhed in unison with the rhythmic beats of the ceremonial music.

The three figures dancing the Nuo opera in the distance gave Li Huowang the distinct impression, in that very moment, that they were no longer human, but trees.

After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, a high-pitched aria drifted out from behind their wooden masks.

"Wo shen qu gu~~"

It was a vocal style incomprehensible to Li Huowang and his companions, the pitch rising and falling with the instruments, carrying a peculiar, haunting charm.

Li Huowang and the others could not understand it, yet the locals seemed to grasp the meaning; their eyes half-closed, fingers tapping rhythms on their thighs, their lips humming along.

"Zhuan~ Wu zhi you! San zi jiang~! Wu er wei, yi!! Gui yu shi yi sui..."

After listening for a while and failing to make any sense of it, Li Huowang stepped forward.

Let it be as strange as it may, he was no opera singer himself, so it was none of his concern.

Yet after only a few steps, Li Huowang saw Lu Zhuangyuan standing still, not moving at all.

"No rush, you all go ahead. Hmph! I want to see what sort of tricks are hidden in this local opera."

Perhaps it was a case of rivals in the same trade being natural enemies; he sounded deeply hostile toward those performing the Nuo dance.

"Father, perhaps another day would be better. We are in an unfamiliar place with strange faces. It feels unsettled."

Lu Zhuangyuan immediately widened his eyes and raised his smoking pipe at his eldest son.

"Oh, so now you're telling your father what to do? The streets are bustling with people, what is there to be unsettled about?"

Taking advantage of their bickering, Li Huowang led the others onward.

After another half-incense's worth of time, they finally secured rooms at an inn with the character for wine hanging above its door.

In a dilapidated bedchamber, Li Huowang set his belongings on the table and let out a sigh of relief.

Two swords, the Record of the Great Thousand, the stone tablet heavenly book, and torture instruments; all these miscellaneous items added up to a considerable weight.

Picking up the teapot, he poured a cup and took a sip, only for his brows to instantly furrow.

Bai Lingmiao, who was tidying the quilts, noticed this and walked over. "What's wrong?"

"Taste this, doesn't the water have a strange flavor?" Li Huowang handed the cup to her.

Cradling it in both hands, she took a sip and nodded in surprise. "It really does, there's a muddy, earthy taste to it."

"I thought I was just being overly sensitive, but it seems that's not the case. The water quality in Later Shu is truly poor."

Li Huowang walked to the window, propping up the paper lattice with a wooden stick to air out the stale room.

"Tomorrow, have the others scatter out to gather news about Later Shu. It would be best to find a detailed map, lest we lose our way."

"Mm, alright, I'll listen to you." Bai Lingmiao smoothed the bedsheets and reached out to untie Li Huowang's Daoist robe.

"While leading the horses, I just spotted a well nearby. Since we have time now, I'll go wash the clothes."

"By the way, Senior Brother Li, I remember a deceased Daoist child whose home seemed to be in this town. Should we deliver the ashes?"

Li Huowang's mind stirred; only then did he recall that he had indeed heard about this matter before.

"Who is keeping the ashes? I will deliver them."

"Right now? It's already so late, why not rest first and go tomorrow?"

In the end, Li Huowang still carried the ashes and led Mantou and Yang Xiaohai out of the inn, too lazy to delay such a minor errand.

The reason he brought Yang Xiaohai was that the boy had been close to the deceased Daoist child and knew where the family lived.

Of course, there was another unspoken reason: fearing that Li Huowang might go mad on the way with no one to look after him.

Li Huowang could not be left alone these days; having the boy there meant someone could return in time to alert the others.

Cradling the urn of ashes, Yang Xiaohai told Li Huowang the story of the deceased Daoist child.

"Back at the Qingfeng Temple, we all called her Mao the Braggart, because she loved to boast, claiming her home was bigger than the entire temple and that her family raised over a hundred sheep."

"She also said she was the only girl in her family, the most doted upon, and that whenever she wanted mutton, her father would slaughter a sheep just for her."

Li Huowang cast a surprised glance at the urn in his hands. "This Daoist child was a girl?"

"Yes, Senior Brother Li, don't you remember?"

Li Huowang shook his head; these Daoist children hardly occupied any space in his mind, and he paid little attention to such diligent youngsters.

"Sigh... she was a pitiful soul too. We watched her escape from the Qingfeng Temple, only for her to end up drowning." Li Huowang felt a surge of regret.

"Doesn't it disgust you to hear such words coming from your own mouth? What right do you have to say that? Do you know how many you've strangled to death with your own hands?"

Hearing Jiang Yingzi's voice, Li Huowang felt an extreme surge of irritation. "Shut up!"

The words startled Yang Xiaohai beside him; he and the others had long grown accustomed to Senior Brother Li's occasional self-talk, yet it still felt somewhat unsettling.

His expression turning rather grim, Li Huowang stopped speaking and trudged forward with his head bowed.

Although Li Huowang tried his utmost to ignore these hallucinations, it was no easy task.

They walked further and further off the beaten path, gradually heading toward the edge of this Gobi town.

The sky had darkened considerably, and the people on the road had dwindled, most of them hurrying along.

Just as Li Huowang was about to ask Yang Xiaohai if they had arrived, a joyful shout rang out from behind.

"Daoist! Daoist!! It's me!"

Li Huowang instinctively turned his head, and upon seeing the caller, he was instantly filled with pleasant surprise.

The man was none other than the old monk they had left behind at the Zhengde Temple.

Compared to his clean appearance inside the temple earlier, he had now reverted to his old, slovenly self.

"Monk, how did you get here? Weren't you staying at the Zhengde Temple?"

Hearing this, the monk couldn't help but complain. "Don't even mention it. I was suffocating in that temple; not only could I do no good deeds, but they also made me memorize sutras."

"How could I endure that? So I just decided to leave directly. By the way, where are you heading?"

"To... deliver something. You might as well come along. Since you left the temple, didn't the monks at Zhengde give you any trouble?"

"Why would they trouble me? Not only did they not trouble me, but they also gave me quite a bit of money. Monks are all good people, no bad ones among them."

"Heh." Li Huowang chuckled, too lazy to argue.

Meeting an old acquaintance in a foreign land lifted Li Huowang's spirits for a rare moment; dealing with simple people was always so easy, and he chatted quite agreeably with the monk along the way.

Li Huowang deliberately brought up some past experiences, and the other man kept up perfectly.

Just as he was engrossed in the conversation, Yang Xiaohai's voice brought him back to his senses. "Senior Brother Li... we're here."

(End of Chapter)