Chapter 302: The Bai Family

Chapter 302 The Bai Family

"Heh, Li Huowang, be careful, this kid is lying to you." Li Huowang looked up, his gaze fixing on the Hongzhong who spoke.

Seeing Li Huowang look at him, the faceless, eyeless Hongzhong sat atop Peng Longteng's head, splitting open to reveal a row of bone-white teeth.

Li Huowang's lips twitched slightly; when he looked around at the crowd, he said nothing.

His mental fortitude was still insufficient; facing the words of this hallucination, he could not remain unmoved.

As for what came out of his mouth, Li Huowang let it enter one ear and exit the other; regarding Hongzhong, using past terms, he didn't believe even the punctuation marks.

Li Huowang shifted his gaze from Hongzhong to Bai Sai beside him, paying close attention to a detail in the man's previous words.

"Elder Bai, you said they came looking for trouble because your son found a stone; may I ask, what kind of stone was it?"

Bai Sai furrowed his brows, recalled for a moment, then used both hands in the air to gesture the size for Li Huowang.

"An orange stone block. About this big, warm to the touch. This lad picked it up from the field, carried it home, intending to warm his grandmother's knees."

"Is that stone still there? May I borrow it for a view?"

Bai Sai sighed dejectedly. "Our whole family was being marched away; do you think that thing had anywhere to run? It was long ago snatched by the boy wearing the wooden mask."

"A fist-sized stone that emits its own heat?" If that stone were some heavenly treasure, then this would be a matter of evil spirits disguised as the Sky Monitoring Bureau snatching a treasure.

But something about this seemed off; putting himself in their shoes, Li Huowang realized if he were the one snatching the treasure, he would either steal it, or if stealing failed, rob it openly and exterminate everyone involved.

Marching all these people with wooden shackles towards the Upper Capital over such a long distance made no logical sense; the other party must have had their own purpose for doing so.

Li Huowang stood firm and asked Bai Sai again: "Elder Bai, how tall was that person with the wooden mask you mentioned?"

It sounded like the White Impermanence hallucination he saw earlier was conjured by this person.

"Hmm, about your height, voice youthful. On the road, when someone disobeyed, this dog-thing could make people see terrifying things inside their heads that are normally unseen."

Hearing Bai Sai say this, fear clearly flickered in the eyes of many in the crowd; it seemed they had been tortured by that masked man using such abilities.

Li Huowang nodded silently; judging by this, the giant White Impermanence he saw before must have been fake, created by that man through some method.

Calling it an optical illusion didn't quite fit; logically speaking, now, ordinary illusions shouldn't be able to fool him.

There was too little information available now; regarding what exactly happened, Li Huowang was completely in the dark.

"Sigh, Benefactor, since we've escaped, don't worry about so much, let's hurry and go; if that person holds a grudge and comes back, it will be big trouble." Bai Sai was very worried, obviously considering the entire Ox Heart Village.

Li Huowang actually wanted to continue asking, but hearing the other say this, he stopped speaking.

Regardless, these people were always Bai Lingmiao's family; he definitely had to save them.

Without the wooden shackles, everyone walked much more lightly, each face displaying an expression of survival after calamity.

Walking like this, they reached noon; the elderly and children in the crowd could no longer hold on, forced to stop and rest.

"Mother, I'm hungry." A child pulled at their mother's hem with their hand.

It wasn't just the children who were hungry; the adults were too, they just didn't say it.

Although Li Huowang brought some dried food on his horseback, with so many people, dividing it would barely fill the gaps between teeth.

Seeing their empty-handed appearance, naturally having no food, Li Huowang thought and said: "Tomorrow we should reach a village; there, we can buy grain. As for today..."

Speaking thus, Li Huowang patted the slender neck of the horse with his hand. "Let's slaughter the horse first."

One horse has so much meat; enough for many people to eat.

Hearing this, Bai Sai immediately shook his head repeatedly. "Benefactor, what are you saying? For merely filling our bellies, why does the Benefactor need to kill his own mount?"

Finishing, he turned his head and shouted into the crowd. "That... Liangzi! Take the Third and Fourth Branches into the woods to find some food! Hurry!"

"Hey!" A sturdy youth led some people walking towards the woods.

Li Huowang was about to help, but others hurriedly blocked him. "Benefactor, sit, sit, such small matters, let the younger generation handle it; that Feng, ah, Benefactor is sweating, break off some big leaves and fan the Benefactor!"

Unable to resist them, Li Huowang was forced to sit down, enjoying the fanning of a plump young girl.

Li Huowang originally thought they went into the woods to find wild fruits or vegetables, but after two hours, accompanied by rustling leaves, they returned carrying two spotted deer and holding several muntjacs.

Seeing Li Huowang's surprised expression, Bai Sai explained proudly: "Rely on the mountain to eat from the mountain; since we rely on Ox Heart Mountain, our Bai family hunting is naturally skilled, catching beasts is nothing strange."

Finishing, he hurriedly called the clan members to start a fire, and sent the best tasting venison to Li Huowang's front, supported by flat pebbles.

Looking at the faces before him filled with flattery and expectation, Li Huowang truly felt awkward; he had never been treated like this by others.

When seeing Li Huowang grab the venison with his hand and stuff it into his mouth from beneath the copper coin mask, only then did the others begin eating the remainder.

That night during watch duty, Li Huowang enjoyed high treatment once again.

"Benefactor, go sleep; tonight let the younger generation keep watch, their fire qi is strong, ordinary ghosts dare not approach."

"Young people have strong fire qi?" Li Huowang glanced at the youths beside the fire pit. "Elder Bai, is there any explanation for this?"

"Uh... explanation? Where is there any explanation or not, my father taught me this way."

Hearing this, Li Huowang sighed disappointedly; after all that, it was hearsay again; why were the people here so superstitious.

When Li Huowang slowly closed his eyes, the surroundings gradually quieted down; besides the crackling of burning wood, there was only the slowing breathing sounds.

Not knowing how long passed, in a daze, Li Huowang felt something approaching him.

When he suddenly opened his eyes, he found himself amidst a hazy mist; seeing no figures of Hongzhong the monk and the others around, Li Huowang immediately reacted, this was not a real place.

"Who?" "Who?" "Who?" Li Huowang's echo traveled farther and farther in this hazy world.

Hazy and indistinct, that giant White Impermanence appeared and disappeared within the thin fog; he did not walk out, but was lowered out by a rope around his neck.

"Who are you?" "Who are you?" "Who are you?" A sinister echo circled around Li Huowang continuously.

"Why ruin my affairs?" "Why ruin my affairs?" "Why ruin my affairs?"

(End of Chapter)