Chapter 461: Li Sui

Chapter 461: Li Sui

"A face stripped of skin? It's smiling at me?"

Hearing Bai Lingmiao’s words, Li Huowang—who could not see with his eyes—began to sketch in his mind a scene that sent chills down his spine.

After swallowing hard, Li Huowang asked toward where the voice had come from, "Mantou?"

"Woof! Woof!" The familiar bark rang out.

Li Huowang had kept Mantou for over a year; he would never mistake that sound—it was definitely Mantou. And there was no trace of pain or fear in it; instead, it carried a hint of excitement and urgency.

Frowning, Li Huowang pressed his ear sideways, straining to listen, then asked again, “Li Sui?”

From the same direction as the identical barks came Li Sui’s voice, slightly overlapping. “Father, I’m here.”

As if trying to crawl through the window, Li Sui was interrupted by a sudden, urgent drumming on the door.

“Father, Mother won’t let me go,” Li Sui’s voice carried a note of grievance.

Hearing this, Li Huowang rubbed his temples painfully, unsure how to respond.

He didn’t even know how to refer to the thing before him now. What exactly had Li Sui done under the influence of the disaster last night?

“Father, don’t you want me anymore?” Li Sui’s voice cracked slightly, mixed with a low whimper from Mantou.

Li Huowang patted both shoulders gently. “It’s okay. He can’t hurt me—even if my eyes are gone.”

Then, with a solemn expression, Li Huowang walked past her and moved closer to the source of the sound.

Though he couldn’t see, his sense of vision remained intact. Soon, he reached a distance of about ten feet from the figure.

“Come inside. Don’t lie there outside the window.”

With two heavy footsteps, Li Huowang caught the scent of blood. She stood right before him—this wasn’t human blood; it was dog blood.

Li Huowang thought for a moment, then extended his hands toward her.

The first thing he touched was a coarse tongue among sharp fangs.

That tongue quickly licked away the dried blood on his hand. “Father, your hand is bleeding.”

Li Huowang followed the tongue upward until he felt a beastly face without skin, little muscle, and exposed bones in many places.

On top of that head was the straw hat Li Huowang had bought for Li Sui, but it was torn badly, reduced to just a frame, offering no protection whatsoever.

Next, Li Huowang withdrew his hands from the skull and began slowly tracing the body beneath the tattered cloak.

Underneath the beastly face lay a similarly blood-soaked dog body, though not in the usual four-legged stance. Instead, it hunched forward like a bent-back person.

Touching revealed clear differences from the old Mantou—something writhed underneath, lifting the whole body unnaturally large, joints dislocated, as if a strong man wore clothes far too small.

Li Huowang, having lived long enough, knew what that was: it were Li Sui’s tentacles.

When he brushed against her back, those tentacles emerged inside, gently wrapping around his fingers.

Some of them weren’t even fully embedded—they simply protruded outward in clumps.

Her limbs had also stretched and thickened, twisted and malformed by the tentacles, making her taller than Li Huowang.

Through careful touch, a grotesque creature—a dog-headed monster covered in writhing flesh and tentacles—emerged vividly in Li Huowang’s mind.

After a long silence, Li Huowang exhaled slowly and asked, “What are you now? Are you Mantou or Li Sui?”

“Father, I am Li Sui. Woof!” A breath of warm, bloody air blew across Li Huowang’s face.

“What happened last night? Where did you go?”

“I don’t know, Father. I was looking for Mantou to play with, and then I must have fallen asleep. When I woke up, Mantou was gone.”

“I heard you calling me, so I came right away.”

Listening to Li Sui’s rambling explanation, Li Huowang sighed deeply. “How could this happen…”

He indeed knew that Heitaizi possessed the ability to possess other bodies, but he hadn’t imagined things would reach such a point.

Was this really Li Sui—or Mantou? Or perhaps a hybrid of both? How should he treat her?

Seemingly sensing Li Huowang’s low spirits, the beastly face pressed close, its hard skull gently nudging against his chest, its tongue lightly licking his chin. The tattered straw hat atop her head rolled off onto the floor.

Feeling her affectionate closeness, Li Huowang embraced her tightly, thinking for a long while.

Finally, he patted her ragged cloak gently. “Alright, alright. As long as she’s still alive, that’s good enough. I won’t ask for more.”

Perhaps others might feel terror seeing such a blood-soaked monster.

But Li Huowang wouldn’t. In a world gone completely mad, who was truly better than anyone else? His current state wasn’t much better.

Turning toward Bai Lingmiao, Li Huowang said, “Miaomiao, she’ll be our daughter from now on.”

“Daughter? Her?”

“Yes. Heitaizi doesn’t distinguish gender, but Mantou does. She’s female, so she’ll be our daughter. Hope you won’t mind.”

Just as Bai Lingmiao hesitated, the two figures approached, gently stroking Li Sui’s terrifying head.

———

The disaster had passed. Though the brief time had brought events enough to haunt one for nights, life must go on.

After heated debates, the chaos gradually settled, and everyone returned to their duties.

“Hey, hey, wake up!”

Wu Fuzi, napping in the afternoon, was shaken awake. Opening his eyes, he saw his yellow-faced wife.

“What time is it?” He sat up slowly, stretching his legs expectantly, waiting for someone to help him put on his shoes.

“It’s dusk. If you sleep longer, you’ll need a lantern to travel. That costs silver.”

Teaching in Niu Xin Village, he chose morning and afternoon classes, but many people had to work in the fields, even Yang Xiaohai had to cook. Eventually, he adjusted his schedule to evening.

“Hmm~ Time to change clothes.” He stretched his arms.

“Oh, I left pickled radish on the roof. I’m too busy today to serve you. Dinner’s on the table. Eat and wash dishes before putting them in the kitchen.”

Wu Fuzi glared at her. “I am a scholar! How can I dirty myself with cooking!”

(End of Chapter)