Chapter 466: Resolution

Chapter 466: Resolution

Li Sui's appearance was largely as he had previously imagined, with the sole exception that she looked far more terrifying and gruesome than he had anticipated.

Her body was not tightly knit; in certain places, it was even hollowed out, to the extent that some of her internal organs were left completely exposed.

Mantou's body was clearly insufficient to support Li Sui, and the places where the bones had fractured were entirely bound together by black tentacles.

Though it felt wrong to think this way about his own daughter, she truly looked horrific right now.

Li Sui's chest rose and fell with a steady beat, and with every throb, one could glimpse through the ruptured fissures a book encased within the bloody flesh.

Li Huowang remembered that it was the Compendium of Talismans he had given her.

"Father, what is wrong?" Li Sui asked, somewhat bewildered as to why Li Huowang was staring at her so intently.

"It is nothing, I am just looking." Li Huowang extended his hand and patted her on the head.

"Go on. Go find Xiaohai and have some steamed egg custard, and while you are at it, call a few people over for me."

In Niuxin Village, the time after dinner was meant for rest, so no one wandered about aimlessly, and the people Li Huowang sought were quickly assembled.

The towering Gao Zhijian, the heavily furred Chun Xiaoman, Zhao Wu who leaned on a crutch with one shoulder higher than the other, and Gouwa with his face bruised black and blue—these were the brothers who had gone through life and death alongside him.

Aside from the four of them, there was also Yang Xiaohai, whose height was noticeably shorter than the rest.

Li Huowang looked toward the cook of Niuxin Village, "I did not call for you, what are you doing here?"

"Heheh, I saw them all coming, so I thought I would take a look. How about I leave now, Senior Brother Li?" The embarrassed Yang Xiaohai scratched the back of his head with a wide grin.

Having spent so much time together, they had clearly grown close. In the past, he would never have dared to do such a thing.

Li Huowang did not care to deal with him and turned his gaze to Gao Zhijian, "How is the recruitment of the village militia going? How long will it take before they have combat capability?"

Gao Zhijian twitched his nose, shaking his head with some dissatisfaction. "Long time."

Li Huowang soon learned from Gao Zhijian that there were barely any people in the village fit for martial arts training; they were either disabled or lacked the foundational constitution, and after a long time of selective sorting, only two were barely satisfactory.

Yet this seemed entirely within reason, as these people were all damaged goods that Bai Lingmiao had gathered from human traffickers.

However, this did not meet Li Huowang's expectations; he needed to accelerate this process.

"Zhao Wu, the gold that Sun Baolu's mother gave me back in Qingqiu, split it up. Take the money and help Gao Zhijian buy more qualified domestic slaves, even if it costs more, you must choose loyal ones."

"We must form a militia group as quickly as possible. Even if I am not around and you encounter some other natural disaster again, you will be able to protect yourselves."

"Yes, Senior Brother Li." Zhao Wu, who managed the finances, nodded in response. "Senior Brother Li, are you going out again?"

"Yes, I have a matter to attend to that requires me to journey out once more. If all goes well, it should not take too long this time."

He then turned his gaze to Chun Xiaoman, "Beneath the ancestral hall, the cultivation methods of the White Lotus Sect—I heard you are practicing them?"

"Yes, I am practicing them."

"This sort of thing must be done quietly. It is fine to teach others, but you must find our own people to teach."

"Unlike the military sects, although that spirit-possession ritual seems somewhat interesting, the White Lotus Sect is a notorious group, and their techniques and supernatural powers are likely very recognizable. Being too ostentatious makes it easy to be targeted by the Bureau of Heaven's Monitoring."

Upon hearing Li Huowang's detailed explanation of the Bureau of Heaven's Monitoring, as well as the prior fate of the Bai family, Xiaoman nodded with a solemn expression, suddenly feeling the heavy burden on her shoulders.

Next, Li Huowang looked at the last one, Gouwa, who used to be loud and clamorous but had become much quieter since the birth of his daughter.

"Gouwa, are you alright?" Hearing Li Huowang's inquiry, Gouwa instantly wore his trademark playful grin.

"Ah, I am fine, I am fine. What could possibly be wrong with me? I eat and drink as usual. Senior Brother Li, you can leave with peace of mind; I am holding down the fort here at Niuxin Village, it will not fall into chaos."

Li Huowang nodded, then pointed his finger at the decayed wooden Ruyi scepter on the table, "Take this magical artifact. It can disrupt a person's mind and will complement your white-furred needles well."

This was a gift given to him back then by the eunuch Jixiang, a unique magical artifact refined from a Heart-Sovereign's tongue, capable of filling a person's heart with bewilderment.

Li Huowang had never used this item since he obtained it, so he might as well give it to Gouwa.

"Oh my, this, this, this is a divine magical artifact! Senior Brother Li, you are far too generous, to just give it to me for free." An ecstatic Gouwa held it in his hands, inspecting it up and down, clicking his tongue in wonder.

"Also, this elixir recipe, I copied a version of it. It contains the Blood-Moistening Pill and the Foundation-Nurturing Pill, along with some elixir refining methods. This was taught to me back then in the Qingfeng Convent by that scabby-headed master."

"Interspersed within are also some talisman drawings used for medical practice. There is no doctor in the village, so find someone who can read to make do as a half-doctor."

"Me, me, me! I can read! The master praises my comprehension every day! I already know thirty characters now!"

Yang Xiaohai stepped forward to volunteer himself, taking the elixir recipe booklet and turning it over and over to inspect it.

Li Huowang looked at him with a slight frown, "You are holding it upside down."

"Oh, oh, oh..."

Li Huowang re-examined the five people before him, "We have all gone through life and death together. I always feel that this world is unstable. If something truly happens, depending on mountains, they crumble; depending on water, it flows away. Only ourselves can be relied upon."

"Ha, it is fine, do we not still have you, Senior Brother Li? You possess vast supernatural powers, who would dare deny our Senior Brother Li some face?"

Gouwa's flattery, however, only drew a cold glare from Li Huowang.

"What if I die one day? What if I go mad again one day? What will you do then?"

The moment Li Huowang spoke these words, the atmosphere inside the room suddenly became somewhat oppressive.

Gouwa opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to liven up the atmosphere, but ultimately said nothing.

"Very well, except for Gao Zhijian, the rest of you may leave first."

The other four simultaneously cast a glance at the towering Gao Zhijian, and carrying the items given by Li Huowang, they departed.

Li Huowang looked at the towering Gao Zhijian before him, and after pondering for a moment, he spoke, "Zhijian, your past was certainly not simple, was it? Although they always say you are foolish, I feel you possess the wisdom of a hidden sage."

Gao Zhijian nodded in silence.

"Do you want to go back?" Gao Zhijian shook his head.

"Fine, since you are not going back, I will not ask. From now on, this is your home. Aside from myself and Miaomiao, your strength is the greatest. When I am not around, help me guard this home."

Li Huowang used his blade to slice open his stomach, reached inside to rummage around, and pulled out a bloody skin-man.

"Take this, this thing can serve as a substitute life for you at a critical moment."

Seeming to recognize the immense value of this object, Gao Zhijian suddenly gasped, waving his hands repeatedly in refusal.

"I told you to take it, so take it!" Li Huowang forced it directly into his hand. The words 'my skin is almost healed' hovered in his mouth for a moment before he swallowed them back down.

Li Huowang patted him on the shoulder. "We are brothers who have walked through life and death together; being this polite makes you an outsider."

Gao Zhijian looked at the human skin in his palm and solemnly put it away.

Following that, he reached out into the tool bag beneath Li Huowang's lower garment, pulled out a dagger, sliced open his own palm, and then sliced open Li Huowang's palm.

Immediately after, he firmly clasped their two bleeding palms together.

Li Huowang looked at the gradually coagulating cut on his hand and chuckled softly. "What kind of custom is this supposed to be?"

After Gao Zhijian left, he pulled a sheet of Xuan paper from his breast pocket. It was something he had written back when he was blind, and the four lines upon it detailed his current troubles.

"This trouble does not exist!"

As Li Huowang pressed his trembling finger against the second line and slowly dragged it across, the words upon it swiftly vanished.

Two: The anomaly of the natural disasters. Since the plan of the Bureau of Heaven's Monitoring was ruined by the Sitting-Forget Dao, it is highly possible that such natural disasters will occur again in the future. He himself was not afraid, but how could he ensure that Niuxin Village would survive amidst—

(End of Chapter)

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