Chapter 264: County Town

Chapter 264 County Town

Gathering information was usually left to other fellow disciples, but this time was different, for Li Huowang's inquiry this time was directed toward the Heavenly Observation Bureau.

Facing such mysterious and unpredictable entities, sending other disciples to inquire carried too great a risk.

As for Li Huowang himself, he had no need to worry about these things; his newly acquired ability offered a unique advantage when gathering intelligence.

By placing his colored ethereal form underground, his physical body outside could remain completely invisible.

Even if someone happened to spot him in return, he feared nothing, for his increasingly acute perception would detect it beforehand.

Those who should have gathered together were scattered across the entire county town like white sesame seeds on a baked cake.

Everyone busied themselves with their own tasks until nightfall, when they finally reconvened at the inn.

"Senior Brother Li, the sheep are all sold! Once they heard the sheep came from Qingqiu, people went mad grabbing them! I even bought some fine grain; eating coarse food every day makes one's bowels refuse to move properly." Gouwa, slinging an arm around Zhao Wu, grinned as he handed the heavy silver taels to Li Huowang.

"Give it to Zhao Wu to keep; he handles the accounts usually."

Li Huowang, somewhat low-spirited, spoke thus before turning to walk into his room, flopping onto the bed, feeling the stinging pain radiating from his feet after walking all day.

If there was anything worse than being targeted by the Heavenly Observation Bureau, it was finding absolutely no information about them whatsoever.

He knew that finding the Heavenly Observation Bureau in just one day was likely impossible, yet he couldn't help but feel discouraged.

"Searching this way won't work; it's like looking for a needle in a haystack. I must change my method to connect with the Heavenly Observation Bureau as soon as possible."

Li Huowang rubbed his forehead, pondering the next course of action in the dark room.

A pair of pale hands covered in sharp black nails extended from under the bed, removing Li Huowang's shoes and socks, and soaking his weary feet in warm water.

For a moment, the pitch-black room fell silent, without a single sound.

This silence lasted half an hour before Li Huowang broke it himself.

Li Huowang sat up abruptly, excitedly addressing the monk before him, "Wait, think about the opportunity when that old lama appeared before! Yes, that's it!"

"Since the Heavenly Observation Bureau handles matters the yamen cannot deal with, then as long as I seek out those troublesome affairs as much as possible, I will contact the Heavenly Observation Bureau faster!"

"That's right!" The monk standing beside Peng Longteng nodded repeatedly in agreement.

Li Huowang realized he had been searching in the wrong direction previously; he shouldn't inquire about the Heavenly Observation Bureau itself, but rather where terrifying strange events or evil occurrences had arisen, for if such things existed, the Heavenly Observation Bureau would surely appear again.

Thinking of this, Li Huowang could no longer contain his excitement, lifting his feet from the basin, ignoring the water, putting his shoes and socks back on, and rushing out.

But the moment he pushed the door open, in his excitement, he collided face-to-face with Lu Zhuangyuan.

"Hehe, little Daoist Master, have you eaten?" Lu Zhuangyuan asked with a smile, "Is something the matter?" Li Huowang, his expression cooling, leaned against the doorframe and asked, "Um, how is the scholar learning? If he's disobedient, beat him hard! I know, learning a craft is like that; without beating, no vessel is formed. Don't be polite with me."

"He works very hard, but since he doesn't recognize characters, he learns very slowly." Li Huowang spoke honestly.

"Ai, little Daoist Master, why is my fate so bitter? I barely managed to gain a grandson, and now this kind of trouble arises."

"Just say what's on your mind directly; I have urgent matters to attend to," Li Huowang could see there was more to the other man's words.

This old man wouldn't come running to complain about his woes without cause; he wasn't that kind of person.

"There is! Daoist Master, did you forget? It's about borrowing money to reopen the stage. I looked all day today; everything is available here, costumes, bronze mirrors, instruments can all be bought! So..."

"You still haven't given up?" To tell the truth, Li Huowang felt that facing the Great Liang troupes, the Lu troupe, which only knew how to coo and hum, had no core competitiveness whatsoever.

"That... Old man wants to try. I thought of a method; perhaps I can pick up scraps left over from these troupes to make a living." Lu Zhuangyuan continued smiling heh-heh.

"Fine, go find Zhao Wu for the money; he happens to have enough cash on hand now." After speaking, Li Huowang pushed him aside directly and hurried toward the stairs of the inn.

Compared to the matter of the Heavenly Observation Bureau, Lu Zhuangyuan's grand revival project was directly forgotten by Li Huowang behind his head.

For a period afterwards, in order to find the Great Liang's Heavenly Observation Bureau, Li Huowang spared no effort, leaving early and returning late every day, gathering news from the residents of this county town.

Cases involving one or two deaths or possession, Li Huowang ignored directly, for he knew such minor matters would only attract shamans or rice wives, not the Heavenly Observation Bureau.

Having been in this place for so long, Li Huowang also knew what kind of existence the Heavenly Observation Bureau was, and what they cared about.

The Heavenly Observation Bureau always focused only on major events, those great disasters where tens of thousands might die, like the Ghost Town previously slaughtered clean by the Forgetting Self Sect. Or perhaps certain things that would overturn official rules.

However, although such matters could attract the Heavenly Observation Bureau, they were not that common; searching around, he found no strange or evil events, but instead heard a heap of rumors and family gossip.

Of course, if Li Huowang removed the copper coin mask from his face and directly revealed himself as a Heartless, that would certainly immediately attract the gaze of the Heavenly Observation Bureau, but that was naturally not what he wanted.

Lying on the bed, Bai Lingmiao opened her eyes dimly, looking at Li Huowang sleeping with his head covered beside her, a trace of worry rising in her heart.

"Senior Brother Li, for these past few days he wakes before dawn, and only returns after I fall asleep; I don't know what he is inquiring about."

"Bang bang bang!" Suddenly the door was knocked so hard it shook, an excited voice coming from outside. "Master! I made it! I have supernatural powers!"

The instant this sound rang out, Li Huowang snapped his eyes open, staring at the door with bloodshot eyes; that was the voice of Lu Scholar.

He sat up directly, threw off the quilt, and was about to walk toward the door.

Li Huowang had just put on his shoes when he suddenly thought of something, turning his head to look at Bai Lingmiao on the bed, "How is it? Did you find your home?"

Hearing this question, Bai Lingmiao nodded with a hint of a smile in her eyes; she reached under the pillow and took out a map, handing it over.

"Senior Brother Li, I found it, but you've been going out lately, so I never found a chance to tell you."

Li Huowang quickly unfolded the map, seeing among various curved lines one red line stood out exceptionally, and the end of the red line was Ox Heart Mountain.

"That merchant Jia who sold the map said, if using an ox cart, it moves slowly, taking nearly a month. If riding a horse it would be much faster, pity we don't know how to ride horses."

(End of Chapter)