Chapter 297: Go Home

Chapter 297 Returning Home

Just as the two were conversing, new movement came from beside the table.

With a "clatter," Li Huowang immediately propped up his head, looking toward the direction of the sound.

Immediately following that, he saw Gouwa, clutching a food box, tiptoeing towards the exit.

"Senior Brother Li, didn't you bring this back for us to eat?" Gouwa asked, his voice cautious.

Li Huowang lay down again, a bitter smile appearing on his face. "Yes, only you lot remain."

Speaking of this world, the only ones truly trustworthy were probably those fellow disciples around him, even if they were truly useless.

Li Huowang braced his hands against the bedclothes, sat up, and the despondency vanished from his face.

"Gouwa, put down the food box, call Gao Zhijian over, let's eat together, and once we're done, we leave."

"Where to?"

"Home!"

A few days later, Li Huowang, Gouwa, Gao Zhijian, and Bai Lingmiao sat in a carriage, swaying left and right with the bumps of the wheels.

Bai Lingmiao pulled back the curtain and spoke warmly to the horse driver: "This elder brother, thank you for letting us hitch a ride; if we walked on two legs, it would take many days."

The old driver opened his mouth, lacking most of its teeth, and replied with a grin: "No trouble, just happened to be on the same road, but little girl, your home is quite remote; if you hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known there was another village at the foot of that mountain."

Hearing this, Gouwa was instantly displeased, "Remote? We already paid the silver! What's wrong? Do you want to raise the price last minute?"

Chun Xiaoman opposite Gouwa glared at him, "Shut up! Why so much nonsense? If you don't speak, no one thinks you're mute!"

Meanwhile, Gao Zhijian nearby shrank his limbs and stuttered as he tried to mediate.

Sitting deepest inside, Li Huowang silently watched the lively carriage interior; compared to before, the atmosphere was obviously much more relaxed now.

Since crossing over, Li Huowang had rarely seen such a scene.

A pair of soft arms wrapped around Li Huowang's hand, and Bai Lingmiao, unable to hide the smile on her face, asked Li Huowang: "Senior Brother Li, what are you thinking about now?"

Seeing that they were almost home, Bai Lingmiao radiated joy from the inside out.

"Thinking... about what place Niu Xin Mountain is, not knowing if we'll get used to staying here next, you know I'm hard to get along with."

Li Huowang rolled up the bamboo window curtain with his hand, looking at everything green and lush outside; the forest here was very dense.

"Definitely get used to it! Everyone in our village is good! Take my grandfather, for instance; the roasted melons he grows, if passersby get thirsty, they can eat freely for free; you're so nice, you'll definitely get along with him."

"And my parents; if others in the village encounter trouble, they will contribute money and effort to help, and living with the villagers for so long, their faces haven't turned red even once!"

"Right, and my younger brothers' generation; rest assured, they dare not act recklessly; if they make things difficult for you, just tell me and I'll make them pay!"

Bai Lingmiao eagerly waved her fair fists in the air repeatedly.

Seeing her cute expression, Li Huowang smiled knowingly; it seemed she showed completely different faces before him and before her family.

Li Huowang hugged her shoulder and shook his head slightly, "I'm not worried; they could teach you well, so they certainly aren't that bad. By the way, Miaomiao, I remember you wore gold bracelets before; your family must be wealthy, right?"

Bai Lingmiao gave a restrained smile, "Not really wealthy, just slightly better off than ordinary people."

Li Huowang chuckled; the woman's family had money, and after finishing with her, he would live in her family afterwards; he was truly becoming a son-in-law living in the wife's house now.

"Be a son-in-law then, regardless of how that place is, after drifting for so long, finally able to take root." Li Huowang thought inwardly.

Suddenly, Bai Lingmiao became excited, pointing fingers white as scallion whites out the carriage window. "Look over there! That is Niu Xin Mountain!"

Li Huowang narrowed his eyes, focusing on that distant peak covered in green, "It is indeed big enough, but where does it look like a cow's heart?"

This boring question, Li Huowang probably cast aside, and he began to worry about those from the Lu Family troupe.

"They left early; logically they should have reached the foot of Niu Xin Mountain by now, just hope nothing unexpected happens."

Carrying this share of worry, Li Huowang slowly approached the foot of Niu Xin Mountain.

However, the worry did not last long; when seeing Yang Xiaohai barefoot leading a round-faced woman, standing in the rice paddy catching loaches, it instantly vanished.

"Senior Brother Li is back!! Senior Brother Li is back!"

Following Yang Xiaohai's excited loud shouting, others appeared one by one from the tiled, layered village.

Coming and going, nearly half a month without seeing each other, meeting again, Lu Zhuangyuan was very excited, grabbing his hands firmly.

"Little Daoist Master, you've finally returned, this kept me waiting until my heart twisted."

"Master Lu worked hard; along this journey, did nothing go wrong?"

"No, no, however many people before, that many now! Not one person missing!"

Subsequently, he showered Li Huowang's single eye with care and warmth, feeling very close to each other.

"Let's go, don't stand here, whatever words there are, say them inside first." Li Huowang was just about to lift his foot to walk inside, but was stopped by Lu Zhuangyuan.

He first secretly glanced at Bai Lingmiao, a hint of difficulty appearing on his face.

"That, Little Daoist Master, don't rush inside yet, there is a matter, I need to chat with you alone."

Li Huowang clearly didn't understand what the other meant. "Just say whatever it is, why say it alone?"

He truly couldn't guess what matter between himself and Lu Zhuangyuan required avoiding others.

"Sigh... Little Daoist Master, look... some matters are better discussed alone."

Lu Zhuangyuan approached Li Huowang, secretly making faces towards Bai Lingmiao's direction.

Seeing this expression, Li Huowang's heart skipped a beat, glancing sideways at Bai Lingmiao.

"Master Lu insists on talking alone with me, could it be because something major happened in Miaomiao's hometown?"

Li Huowang understood what Master Lu wanted to express, but unfortunately, Bai Lingmiao understood too.

"Master Lu, my family... what happened to my family?"

When seeing Lu Zhuangyuan guiltily avoid her gaze, tiny tears rolled onto Bai Lingmiao's eyelashes.

"Father! Mother!" Tearful Bai Lingmiao pushed away the others, rushing down that goat-intestine path towards the village, and the worried Li Huowang hurriedly lifted his feet to follow.

"Father! Mother! Grandfather!! Little one is back! Where are you!" Bai Lingmiao's crying shouts echoed continuously above the village.

Bai Lingmiao pushed open every door in the village searching for her family, but behind every door there was only disappointment.

(End of Chapter)