Chapter 31: Master You

Chapter 31: Lord You

"Singing opera for ghosts?" Li Huowang's heart skipped a beat; just by the name, he knew it boded no good.

"It's really nothing much, just going to the ancestral hall and singing to the memorial tablets of the forebears."

"If it's truly nothing, then why doesn't Troupe Master Lü take the job himself?" Li Huowang immediately shot back, knowing full well it couldn't be that simple.

"Oh, come now, look, this is my first time too, and I'm a bit nervous, you see. That's why I want an esteemed master like you to stand by and keep watch, so we can do this job with peace of mind, right?"

"Troupe Master Lü, I truly cannot help you with this." He usually couldn't avoid such things fast enough; how could he have the time to go out of his way to court trouble now?

Although it was possible that nothing would happen at all, he had no desire to gamble on it.

He and Lü Zhuangyuan were, at most, mere traveling companions; it certainly wasn't worth risking his life to help him.

If the man truly refused to continue as a guide over this, they could simply part ways. He would just ask around the village himself; with so many people there, surely someone knew the way.

"Hey, hey, hey, Little Daoist Master, don't be in such a rush, I haven't finished yet. How about we split the wine money for this performance right down the middle?"

At the mention of money, Lü Zhuangyuan waved his arms and gestured wildly. "I didn't want to take it at first either, but this is no small sum. That Master Hu is incredibly generous! He offered a full ten taels of fine silver!"

"One tael of silver is a thousand copper coins, and ten taels of fine silver is ten thousand copper coins! My little Daoist Master! Ten taels of silver! Even if you wish to cultivate the Dao and become an immortal, you still need to eat before you ascend, don't you?"

Li Huowang halted instantly, glancing at the two bags of dried sweet potatoes beside him; he truly needed silver right now.

And it wasn't just for food; once they reached Jianye Town, he could foresee spending a considerable amount there as well. In a world made of people, without money, one couldn't take a single step forward.

"Little Daoist Master, consider this old man begging you, alright? If that won't do, how about six parts for you and four for me? It's not easy to earn this much money these days!" Lü Zhuangyuan pleaded with a woeful face, circling Li Huowang as he continued to persuade him.

If the great master wouldn't come, he truly wouldn't dare take the job; after all, no amount of money was worth it if you didn't have the life to spend it.

Li Huowang suddenly turned his head to look at Lü Zhuangyuan. "Is there a blacksmith in this village?"

"What?"

Led by Lü Zhuangyuan, Li Huowang was brought to the only blacksmith's shop in Wuligang.

"What are you looking to forge?" The burly, bare-chested, bearded man sized up the Daoist robes on Li Huowang and asked gruffly.

"Not forging iron, just repairing something. It can't be hammered or melted. Can you restore this to its original shape?" Li Huowang asked, pulling out the copper bell.

If it could be fixed and he could summon Lord You, then perhaps this money could truly be taken; otherwise, it would burn his hands to hold it.

"Can't be hammered or melted? What kind of nonsense is that?" The blacksmith reached out, took the copper bell, gave it a few shakes, and then pulled out two pairs of iron tongs. "Come here, lend a hand."

The long tongs easily slipped into the dented sides of the copper bell. The two men gritted their teeth and pulled with all their might, yet the bell didn't budge an inch, a result that was unsurprising yet entirely expected.

"Huh! Now that's rare. What kind of copper is this thing made of? Why is it so hard?" The curious blacksmith bent his knuckles to tap it, but Li Huowang stopped him.

Looking at the two pairs of tongs clamping the walls of the copper bell, Li Huowang thought for a moment, then poured a pill from a palm-sized gourd at his waist and popped it into his mouth.

This was a pill bestowed upon him by Danyangzi back then. He had taken one to save Yang Na at the psychiatric hospital, another when killing Danyangzi, and now this one today, leaving him with only two.

With a deep hum, a surge of hot qi instantly exploded from his dantian, flooding every part of Li Huowang's body.

He took a deep breath, grabbed one of the tongs with a single hand, and pulled with all his strength.

"Two men couldn't pry it open, and you think one person can—" The blacksmith's words were cut short by a creaking sound; the dented copper bell had actually been steadily pried open.

By the time the blacksmith's jaw dropped to its widest, the copper bell had been restored to its original shape.

"Hey, what's so special about that? Let me tell you, the little Daoist Master has profound cultivation," Lü Zhuangyuan boasted proudly to the blacksmith, as if in his mind Li Huowang was omnipotent and nothing he did was surprising.

Li Huowang left the village and returned alone to the woods outside.

Looking at the copper bell in his hand, he shook it with a sense of anticipation.

As the bell chimed, that dizzying, darkening sensation immediately washed over him. This time, Li Huowang didn't stop; instead, he gritted his teeth and shook it vigorously.

He felt everything around him spinning. The lines of the surrounding branches began to twist, breaking away from their original positions and gradually coalescing into form.

"It's working!" Li Huowang's heart was beating wildly at this moment.

Accompanied by the piercing chime of the bell, the long-unseen Lord You reappeared before him, though this time there was only one.

Lord You looked like a mass of high-frequency tremors, pieced together from twisted, intersecting lines, its body completely amorphous.

Li Huowang couldn't stare at it for too long; he felt that if he fixed his gaze on it for too long, it would scatter apart.

Just as he was about to open his mouth to speak, he suddenly thought of something, bent down, scooped up a clump of wet mud from the ground, and stuffed it into his mouth.

The taste of the foul mud was unbearable, but he forced himself to endure it and spoke.

"Nang tao zhi rui mou xie?" He meant to ask if Lord You could understand him, but the sound, processed through this twisted environment, turned into a bizarre, eerie melody.

Regardless of what Li Huowang said, Lord You actually responded. "Die hu zhi."

This filled Li Huowang with wild joy; with Lord You's help, his strength would surge immensely!

"Rui neng lan yin bi qi qi shi?" Li Huowang leaned forward, asking the most crucial question.

Lord You remained in place, neither arrogant nor impatient, responding slowly but firmly: "Mian zhen, qi shou hu wo bang, jue."

Li Huowang's brow gradually furrowed. "Zhi rang, nie."

"Mian zhen, qi shou hu wo bang, jue."

Seeing Lord You repeat the previous sentence, Li Huowang sighed softly in his heart. Indeed, nothing falls from the sky for free; commanding Lord You came at a price.

And that price was nothing else but a person's lifespan, three months of life for a single summoning.

When Li Huowang asked again whether Danyangzi had made the same exchange back then, Lord You fell silent.

The chiming gradually ceased. Li Huowang clutched his splitting head, steadying himself in place for a good while before returning to Wuligang.

"Little Daoist Master, you are..." Lü Zhuangyuan looked at his mud-caked mouth, hesitating to speak.

"I accept the deal you just told me about," Li Huowang said, gripping the copper bell tightly in his hand.

"Oh my! That's wonderful! I'll go give Master Hu the good news right away!" Hearing this, Lü Zhuangyuan was instantly overjoyed.

(End of Chapter)