Chapter 151: Suspicion

Chapter 151: Suspicion

Seeing Li Huowang eating in the main hall, Lü Zhuangyuan, who had been standing with his hands on his hips, instantly shrank a head shorter, a naturally ingratiating smile spreading across his face.

"This little Daoist master makes me laugh; that wasn't an argument, just the opera troupe discussing their craft, hehe, one is never too old to learn."

The corners of Li Huowang's mouth twitched upward slightly. "How did it go? You argued with the locals, they didn't give you a hard time, did they?"

Lü Zhuangyuan happened to be brimming with joy and looking for someone to share it with; seeing Li Huowang strike up a conversation, he immediately rolled up his sleeves, propped his right foot on a stool, and began to boast eloquently.

"Little Daoist master, you know, when it comes to singing opera, this old man has been at it for over thirty years. How could I be intimidated by three lads in their twenties?"

"The moment I arrived, they tried to give me a taste of their authority. We're all in the opera business, how could this old man fear that? Slap, slap, slap! I plopped my backside right onto their prop box and hollered, 'Your tune is completely off!' Hehe, guess what happened?"

"What happened?" Li Huowang played along, prompting Lü Zhuangyuan to continue his gushing tale.

"Ha! Those three young lads were completely awestruck on the spot, and the youngest one even asked, 'Where exactly is the tune off?'"

"He even wanted this old man to teach him. How could I just casually teach someone something like that? I just sat there and gave him the cold shoulder. They didn't even offer me a cup of tea. Dream on."

"Ah, you should have seen the looks on their faces! So respectful and deferential! They were calling me their senior!"

"But one is one, and two is two, I wasn't making it up. Their pitch was indeed too high. As a senior, one must help and guide the juniors, don't you agree?"

Listening to Lü Zhuangyuan's vivid and animated boasting, Li Huowang realized the man's silver tongue would be wasted if he didn't become a storyteller.

Li Huowang finished his meal just as Lü Zhuangyuan concluded his story.

His face glowing with ruddy health, Lü Zhuangyuan picked up his teacup, let out a comfortable sigh, and looked thoroughly satisfied.

"Master Lü, what opera were they performing? It felt incredibly strange," Li Huowang said, sweeping the last bite of rice into his mouth.

"Oh, they were performing 'The Great Nuo Driving Away the Twelve Ghosts.' It's an ancient play, said to have been passed down for thousands of years. Because it's from the ancients, the singing style is just so peculiar."

"Who is the Great Nuo?" Li Huowang asked, slipping his chopsticks into his mouth to pick his teeth.

"I don't know either. Judging by the lyrics those three lads sang, it felt like some kind of immortal."

"They say that right here in the territory of Later Shu, many years ago, it was a ghost realm. People were treated like livestock, born only to be eaten."

"Later, the Great Nuo arrived, drove away the twelve most powerful ghosts in the ghost realm, and taught the ancients to stand and walk, to speak and write, and even taught them to use fire."

"So it's just a myth..." Li Huowang's eyes narrowed slightly as the image of the three masked figures performing the Nuo opera flashed through his mind.

"Could the person from last night be connected to these Nuo opera performers?"

It was no wonder Li Huowang suspected them; the moment he entered this town, he had seen them performing that bizarre Nuo opera, complete with that eerie teeth-displaying trick.

"Wait, the teeth-displaying trick?" Li Huowang recalled the copper coin mask the person had worn last night; if the mask was used to cover the teeth, it would fit perfectly.

Thinking of this, he glanced at Lü Zhuangyuan beside him. "Master Lü, when those three lads performing the Nuo opera were talking to you, did they take off the masks on their faces?"

"No, the moment they saw me, they were so busy they hadn't even taken off their makeup, and they served me tea with the utmost respect!" Lü Zhuangyuan's face beamed with pride.

"Could it really be them? But there are clearly only three of them. Was the person from last night deliberately misleading me?" Li Huowang's brow gradually furrowed.

"Daoist! Daoist!" A loud voice interrupted Li Huowang's train of thought.

He looked up and saw the scruffy monk standing at the door, looking at him with a beaming smile.

"Where have you been? Why are you only coming out now? I couldn't find you this morning."

Li Huowang put down his chopsticks, walked over to him, and examined him carefully. "Looking for me? What's the matter?"

"Of course there's a matter. Come on, I've found a fun place!"

The monk's words stirred some unpleasant memories for Li Huowang; last time the monk had said the exact same thing, only to lead him to the Flesh and Blood Great Buddha.

Yet it was precisely because of that incident that Li Huowang had seen through the disguise of Zhengde Temple. Thinking about it, the monk could be considered his half-savior.

Glancing at the blazing sun outside, Li Huowang stepped out. "Alright, let's go."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a sudden commotion arose behind him.

"Hehehe..."

"Hehehe..."

Li Huowang instantly whipped his head around, looking toward the source of the two low chuckles.

It was Danyangzi and Jiangyingzi, standing together by the wall, their four faces bearing eerie smiles as they sneered mockingly.

"Daoist! Hurry up!" The monk, already out on the street, squinted against the sunlight and kept urging Li Huowang on.

"The monk? Could it be him?" Li Huowang gazed into the distance, lost in thought.

Although he had tested him several times yesterday, the monk's sudden appearance here was indeed somewhat abrupt.

"Could it be an illusion? But those things have never been very effective on me, and with my perception greatly enhanced now, if he were fake, I should have discovered it long ago."

"Wait, why am I letting those two hallucinations affect me? They are both fake." Li Huowang's mind was inexplicably chaotic at this moment, plunging into self-doubt.

"Daoist! Hurry up, what are you dawdling for?"

Seeing that the monk's voice was growing hoarse from shouting, Li Huowang took a deep breath and walked over.

Regardless of whether he was real or not, he needed to probe him further.

If he was the real monk, that would be for the best, but if he was fake, it would be the perfect opportunity to make a move, to figure out what this person's true motives were and whether there was someone pulling the strings behind him.

Last night, the person's act of fleeing had made Li Huowang bolder in how he handled things.

The afternoon streets were still crowded, likely because the small town was a border settlement; mules, horses, and camels constantly brushed past Li Huowang.

"Monk, where are we going?" Li Huowang asked, his hand secretly resting on the Great Thousand Records.

"Not far, we're almost there. Look, right there."

Li Huowang followed the monk's pointing finger and saw three people wearing wooden masks, singing opera.

"Hehe, what do you think? Never seen it before, have you?" the monk asked enthusiastically.

"Nuo opera. Is this the beautiful thing you were talking about?" Li Huowang's face showed a hint of speechlessness.

"If you've seen it, just watch it again. You can only see this kind of opera here, nowhere else! You won't be able to see it in the future. Ah, look, they're packing up."

The monk looked full of regret, but Li Huowang's spirits lifted, for he saw the three of them taking off their masks.

(End of Chapter)