Chapter 38: Jianye

Chapter 38 Jianye

"Fifth Brother, hurry in! Where have you been all these days? Sixth Sister and I were worried sick, thinking something terrible had happened to you."

Watching the bare-chested lad support Zhao Wu as they headed inside, Li Huowang followed close behind, sensing that matters were not so simple.

"Why are you back?" As the man with the abacus spoke in a flat, indifferent tone, Li Huowang knew his suspicions were confirmed.

The agitation that had just animated Zhao Wu's face gradually faded, and he recounted in a trembling voice, "Father, I was snatched away with a sack over my head. They took me far away, and it was these friends of mine who brought me back."

Eyeing the several black bamboo hats at the doorway, Zhao Wu's father waved his hands impatiently. "Scatter, scatter! How can we do business with you blocking the entrance like this?"

The man's attitude thoroughly irritated Li Huowang. What did their strained father-son relationship have to do with outsiders like them?

Snatching the longsword from Zhao Wu's hand, he raised it high; a flash of cold light gleamed as the razor-sharp blade cleaved straight into the wooden counter, nearly splitting it in two.

"What are you doing? The town's constable is my relative!" Zhao Wu's father stammered, stumbling backward in terror.

With his right hand, Li Huowang produced a tael of silver, and right before the man's eyes, he slowly shaved off a small piece along the gleaming edge of the blade, then pushed the silver fragment toward him. "Buy rice!"

In the small rear courtyard of the rice shop, Zhao Wu was pouring tea for Li Huowang. "Senior Brother Li, please calm your anger. My father is just like that, but his heart is truly in the right place."

Li Huowang raised the teacup and drained it in one gulp. Whether his heart was good or not, he had no desire to meddle in another family's affairs; he hadn't come merely to escort Zhao Wu home.

"These farewell notes are destined for the capital. Since you know Jianye well, find a reliable escort agency and have them all delivered." Li Huowang pushed seven or eight slips of paper toward Zhao Wu.

Zhao Wu received them with both hands and nodded solemnly. "Rest assured, Senior Brother Li. I guarantee these tasks will be done!"

"Alright, that settles it. Stay home and take care. We're leaving." With those words, Li Huowang stood up.

"Must you leave so soon? Why not stay for lunch? I owe my safe return entirely to all of you."

Zhao Wu was clearly reluctant to part, knowing that this farewell might mean they would never meet again.

"Forget it, don't go to the trouble." Li Huowang patted Zhao Wu's shoulder; given his father's attitude just now, this meal would hardly be a peaceful one.

"Remember the characters I taught you these past few days, especially your own name. Knowing how to write your name at least keeps you from being completely illiterate."

Just as Li Huowang was giving this final piece of advice, a female medicine ingredient covered in black hair suddenly rushed forward, pressing her lips to his ear and whispering, "When you get home, investigate carefully. You might not have been kidnapped, but sold by your own father!"

Her words plunged everyone into a stunned silence. When Zhao Wu's third brother arrived carrying the rice, Li Huowang waved his hand, signaling the fool to take the grain, and led the others away.

Stepping onto the bustling thoroughfare, Li Huowang and his companions began searching for an inn to rest.

"Why do you think Zhao Wu was sold by his father?" Li Huowang turned back to ask the woman who had spoken those final words to Zhao Wu.

This woman, afflicted with hypertrichosis, had been exceedingly taciturn throughout the journey, rarely speaking to anyone. Her sudden outburst had genuinely surprised Li Huowang.

"Even a tiger does not eat its own cubs. He might not be that wicked."

At Li Huowang's words, the woman's body began to tremble inexplicably, and she spoke with profound sorrow, "A tiger may not eat its cubs, but humans are far more vicious than tigers! Because I was sold by my own parents!"

Upon hearing this, everyone stopped in their tracks, casting shocked gazes in her direction.

"Two taels of silver, a mere two taels! He sold me off like livestock, without even looking back!"

Sensing the agony in the woman's heart, Bai Lingmiao walked over, gently embracing her and patting her back in comfort.

Li Huowang pondered for a moment before speaking again. "Since he sold you, are you still going back?"

"I'm going back!" the woman snarled through gritted teeth.

Seeing her chest heave with agitation and hearing the intense hatred in her voice, Li Huowang immediately guessed that her purpose for returning was likely very different from Bai Lingmiao and the others.

"The Donglai Inn. Let's stay there tonight." Li Huowang pointed to the signboard on the left side of the street and took the lead inside.

"Welcome, guests. Will you be dining or lodging?"

"Lodging. How much is a room?"

"We have three grades: A, B, and C. Grade A is ninety coins with meals included, Grade B is sixty coins without meals, and Grade C is twenty coins but requires sharing with others."

"Sir, your party consists of seven adults and five children, twelve in total. You could take four Grade B rooms. Our inn is spacious, and three can easily sleep in one room. It's also safer for two adults to share a bed with a child."

"Fine, let's do it your way."

"Yes, sir! Twelve honored guests, four Grade B rooms. This way upstairs, please. Mind the steps."

At night, Li Huowang leaned against the window, watching the ancient people walking the streets outside.

After traveling tirelessly, he finally had the time to sit down and properly observe this world, so entirely different from his past.

Brawny men leading horses, scholars holding folding fans, children carrying lanterns, and hunchbacked vendors bearing food on shoulder poles.

Everything here was so vividly real, yet he felt so profoundly out of place.

Countless different faces flashed before his eyes. As he watched, Li Huowang's mind suddenly blurred; the next second, his muscles tensed instantly. He saw Yang Na on the street!

That delicate face was now bathed in tears, her expression so heartbroken she could barely catch her breath between sobs. "Huowang, please wake up!"

"Hah!" Drenched in a cold sweat from the fright, Li Huowang stumbled back a step, then quickly rushed back to the window to look down.

Only to find it was not his childhood sweetheart Yang Na, but merely a young maiden who bore a slight resemblance to her.

"Right, I've grown so much. If Yang Na truly existed, how could she still be a young girl..."

Li Huowang slid slowly down the wall, his back scraping against it, and stared blankly at the wooden beams above. "Are the hallucinations starting again?"

A sudden knocking sound echoed at the door.

"Come in, the door isn't locked." Li Huowang had assumed it would be Gou Wa, who was sharing the room with him, but it turned out to be Bai Lingmiao.

Smiling, she held a lotus leaf parcel in both hands and offered it to Li Huowang. Unwrapping the leaf revealed several steaming hot buns. "Senior Brother Li, you must be hungry. Eat some buns."

Li Huowang reached out, grabbed one, stuffed it into his mouth, and began chewing in large bites.

Holding the buns, Bai Lingmiao squatted to Li Huowang's left, watching him quietly. As soon as he finished one, she thoughtfully handed him another.

"This place is quite unique, selling buns so late at night," Li Huowang remarked.

"Isn't it common to sell buns late at night? If anything's unique, it's the fool. He actually dips his buns in vinegar!"

"Heh, I wonder where he's from to have such a strange way of eating."

Chatting idly with Bai Lingmiao, Li Huowang suddenly remembered something. "I didn't give you any money. Where did you get the money to buy these buns?"

Bai Lingmiao averted her gaze evasively, but first she placed the remaining buns on her lap, then pulled several large pieces of silver from her waist and offered them to Li Huowang with both hands.

"Senior Brother Li, I pawned that golden anklet. You bear too much burden alone, and since I can't do anything else, this is the only way I can help you."

(End of Chapter)