Chapter 254: Owner

Chapter 254 The Master

While others were savoring the delicacies, Li Huowang was not surprised either.

Sitting alone in the distance, he gnawed on the fattest lamb leg while pondering his own affairs, completely shutting out everything outside.

"Although that Nascent Soul said the Sky Monitoring Bureau is tight externally but loose internally, and joining isn't difficult, I still need to find a way."

"First, how should I contact them? I can't just ask randomly on the street. I don't know if relying solely on the mask can fully hide my identity as a Heart Pure."

"Although the mask can hide my identity before Han Fu, it might not work in front of everyone."

"But now I know nothing about the situation in the Liang Kingdom; mere speculation here is useless. I must adapt according to the actual circumstances."

"As the saying goes, the beginning of anything is hard; as long as I take this first step, the rest will be much easier."

Just as Li Huowang was lost in thought, his keen hearing caught the sound of cloth shoes crushing the grass.

Looking up, Li Huowang saw Lu Zhuangyuan's wrinkled old face and his signature ingratiating smile. "Little Daoist Lord, do you have time? Hehe, this old man wants to discuss a small matter with you."

"Oh? Speak." Li Huowang put down the bone in his hand and looked at the troupe leader Lu before him.

He had been dealing with the Black Tai Sui affair for some time and almost forgot that an opera troupe was following him.

"Little Daoist Lord, you know, previously in Later Shu, because we had to flee the military disaster, we left behind our trunks, costumes, and all the musical instruments for singing and playing."

"But we are an opera troupe after all; without tools to earn a living, it won't do. So... I wanted to borrow some silver from you to buy those things back and set up the stage again. What do you think?"

Hearing that the other party sought him for this matter, Li Huowang seemed indifferent; the golden box given to him by Sun Baolu's mother was worth quite a bit, so he wasn't going to haggle over such a small thing.

"Alright then, go get the money from Bai Lingmiao."

"Ai~ Ai~ Hehehe, Little Daoist Lord, wait a moment, this old man hasn't finished speaking yet. Take this." Lu Zhuangyuan said, pulling out a crumpled paper stamped with a red fingerprint from his chest and handing it to Li Huowang.

Li Huowang took the crumpled note, looking at the crooked writing on it; he struggled to read the characters.

"What is written here? Ghost scribbles?"

Troupe Leader Lu's old face turned red. "This is an IOU. Please bear with me; this old man doesn't know many characters, but it doesn't matter, having the fingerprint is enough!"

"Little Daoist Lord, you have done us a favor; we cannot owe you freely. These days, we eat your food and use your supplies. How about this?"

"Until the money is repaid, you shall be the master of our Lu Family Troupe! In the future, whatever silver our Lu Family Troupe earns, half belongs to us and half belongs to you."

"Half to me? Then you probably won't pay off this debt forever. There's no need for such trouble; it's fine if you don't repay the silver." Saying this, Li Huowang stood up to hand the paper back.

"Ai ai~!" Lu Zhuangyuan hunched his back and blocked Li Huowang with his tobacco pipe. "Things must be settled properly. If you say that, we truly dare not borrow your silver."

Hearing the other party say this, Li Huowang did not insist and simply tucked away the paper stamped with the red fingerprint in his hand.

Seeing this scene, Troupe Leader Lu's face lit up immediately, and he hurriedly called the Lu Family Troupe who had been waiting. They stood together nervously, bowing their fists to Li Huowang simultaneously. "Greetings, Master!"

Regarding Troupe Leader Lu's little schemes, Li Huowang was too lazy to guess. Looking at these people before him, Li Huowang only knew he had gained an egg-laying hen; although this hen was skinny and didn't lay eggs often, at least it would provide a steady stream.

"That's enough, go back and eat. After eating, rest a while and continue on the road; leave Qingqiu as soon as possible."

"Yes, Master!"

Seeing them walk away happily, Li Huowang shook his head speechlessly and lifted the wild vegetable and sheep offal soup, still warm, to drink.

"Others always talk about Great Liang, Great Liang. I never thought this old man would have the ability to witness it himself." A rare sense of pride appeared on Lu Zhuangyuan's face as he led the others back cheerfully.

He was happy, naturally making someone else unhappy. Lu Juren, looking somewhat gloomy, leaned close to his father. "Father, you sold us, yet you are still so happy."

"Ai, you kid." Lu Zhuangyuan sighed as he looked at his eldest son, took out his tobacco pipe, borrowed fire from the nearby bonfire, and puffed away.

"Then what do you suggest?"

"I want to go back. I don't want to go to Great Liang anymore. I... I don't want to sing opera anymore." Lu Juren, with furrowed brows, looked up at the distant, pregnant Luo Juanhua and spoke.

"You!" Anxious, Lu Zhuangyuan instantly raised the tobacco pipe in his hand, but seeing his son stick his neck out without dodging, he withdrew it awkwardly.

"You don't want to sing opera, said lightly! If you don't sing opera, what will you do? Our family doesn't even have a patch of field; will you go back to be beggars?"

"Besides, can you even make it back? Right now, behind us, those soldiers are fighting wars, beating dog heads out of each other. Are you going back to mourn the dead?"

Lu Juren suddenly stopped walking, speaking with a hint of longing in his eyes. "Father, perhaps they aren't fighting anymore! We haven't seen any fighting along the way."

"Hmph! Not fighting? You aren't dead yet. There hasn't been a single military disaster that started and then stopped halfway!"

Seeing Lu Juren still looked conflicted, Lu Zhuangyuan let out a light sigh. "Son, trust me. My many years of age haven't been lived on a dog."

"Do you think once the military disaster passes, everything is fine? It's not that easy. Disasters always come in pairs."

"After the military disaster, many die and are unburied; nine times out of ten, a plague follows. Once the plague passes, the remaining living have no money in their pockets and no grain in their fields. One ounce of grain equals one ounce of gold; to survive, they sell sons and daughters. Who comes to listen to opera? Without listeners, what do we eat and drink? Crawl on the ground and chew yellow earth?"

Speaking of this, Lu Zhuangyuan lowered his tone slightly. "Son, don't despise singing grand opera. If not for it, I would have starved to death long ago. Where would you be? We cannot forget our roots."

Lu Juren knew his father spoke reasonably, but in his heart, he still felt the choice made was a bit outrageous.

"But Father, no matter what, it shouldn't come to selling ourselves entirely to the Little Daoist Lord. We become his slaves then!"

Lu Zhuangyuan glared at his eldest son, turned his head to glance far away at Li Huowang eating, grabbed the scholar's sleeve, and walked quickly a few steps.

Moving slightly farther away, he lowered his voice again. "Slaves? Have you ever seen a slave in any household who eats meat every day?"

(End of Chapter)