Chapter 508: Alive

Chapter 508: Survival

With terror lingering in his eyes, the Daoist in the yellow robe cast another glance at Scholar Lu, who remained kneeling upon the ground, as a flicker of doubt rippled through his mind—could this brat be tricking me?

Yet, in the end, he dared not risk the wager, thrusting his hands directly into the Vajra Mudra and chanting an incantation as he passed straight through the wall, vanishing from the courtyard.

Now that the Daoist had fled, how could the malevolent entity he reared dare to stay? The empty black robe floated through the air, hastily trailing after him.

It was only after a long while had passed that Gouwa finally snapped out of his daze, realizing that he had truly escaped with his life from the clutches of that Daoist!

His face etched with utter disbelief, Gouwa cradled his injured hand and strode up to the stupefied Scholar Lu, delivering a forceful kick to his side. "Hey! What did you just do? How did you scare him off?"

Scholar Lu’s senses returned to him a beat too late; he stared blankly at the white lotus canvas on the ground, muttering to himself, "I... I don't know either."

"How can you still not know? You must have done something to make his sword explode outright like that."

"The sword?" Those words jolted Scholar Lu awake instantly, and he scrambled onto the ground, frantically gathering the copper coins in the pitch blackness.

"Get the hell away from me, you coward! These are all mine! Damn your mother, you actually ran away just now! Ptui!"

"Are you blind or what? Didn't you see me commanding the strategy from afar just now?" Gouwa bent down to wipe the rotten wooden ruyi clean before tucking it into his tunic.

"Bullshit! You just blindly show off words wherever you pick them up! What do you even know about commanding strategy? You're just a coward who clings to life!"

"So what if I'm afraid of dying? No matter how much you blabber on, my daughter can't be left without a father! Hiss~ Damn it, my hand!"

Amidst their bickering, Scholar Lu had gathered most of the copper coins from the ground. Just as he stuck his backside in the air, crawling about to search for any missed pieces, the sound of footsteps echoed from the front courtyard.

"Quick, quick, quick! Hide, fast! Don't let them think we did this!" The two of them hurriedly crouched behind the rockery, huddled together under the cover of the night.

"Father! Father! What happened to you, Father!" Hearing the footsteps all rush into the house, the two of them crept back along the path they had come.

Though terrified throughout the journey, fortunately, the night was deep and quiet; they encountered no one else and returned safely to the Lu Family Troupe.

Having been busy the entire day, the members of the Lu Family Troupe were exhausted to the bone; without even removing their makeup, they gathered around a table pre-arranged by the host family and began to gorge themselves.

Seeing the disheveled state of the pair, everyone looked up in sheer astonishment.

"Did you two go into the woods and pick a fight with a blind bear?" Luo Juanhua asked, her mouth stuffed full.

Before Scholar Lu and Gouwa could catch their breath to explain, the clamor from the Zhang Family Mansion began to erupt once more.

Lu Zhuangyuan, who was gnawing on a chicken head, tilted his ear to listen, and his face instantly lit up with joy.

He put his greasy fingers into his mouth to suck them clean a few times, then wiped them forcefully against his trousers. "Hey! A double blessing knocks at the door! We've got another job!!"

———————

The capital city remained as prosperous as ever, so much so that a long queue had formed just to enter the city gates.

Seated upon the horse carriage, Li Huowang looked up at the overwhelmingly oppressive gate tower.

When he left back then, he had thought he would never return to the capital for the rest of his life; he had not expected to be back so soon.

"Show your travel permits!! What are you coming to the capital for? Everyone, get off the carriage for inspection!" The gate guards questioned Li Huowang with overbearing arrogance.

Yet the moment they saw Li Huowang pull out the waist token of the Jian Tian Directorate, the guards instantly shrank their necks in unison and stood up straight. "Welcome, My Lord!"

Li Huowang did not cast them so much as a glance, guiding the carriage toward the imperial city at the very center of the capital.

"Father, why is First Mother gone too? Was First Mother really kidnapped by that bad person? But that person was very nice, he even helped you up and healed your wounds,"

"Li Sui, remember this: no matter what others say in the future, you must believe me. If I have a conflict with someone else, then what I say is absolutely the truth, do you hear me?"

"Mm, I hear you. Father, I will definitely help you kill that bad person and rescue First Mother."

"Just be obedient. As long as you listen to me, I will bring First Mother back."

"And Second Mother."

"..."

The carriage rolled slowly down the wide avenue, making its unhurried way toward the gates of the imperial city.

Just as Li Huowang cleared his throat, preparing to say something to the imperial guards, the heavy palace gates slowly swung open with a deep, rumbling groan.

And the very instant the gates opened, Li Huowang could feel all manner of gazes piercing into his back from behind.

"It seems that before I've even set foot in the palace, I've already been branded as a member of Ji Lin's faction."

Li Huowang mocked himself silently, giving the reins a gentle shake to drive the carriage into the imperial city.

Within the vast and grand imperial palace, the maids, eunuchs, and guards each attended to their duties, seemingly ignoring this abrupt horse carriage entirely.

When the carriage wheels came to a halt before the white marble steps, Li Huowang dismounted, leaving a footprint with every step as he walked up the stairs toward the magnificent palace above.

When his feet finally finished scaling all the steps, an expression of gravity settled over Li Huowang's face as he slipped his hand into his tunic, touching the faintly throbbing scar.

Reasonably speaking, Li Huowang's physical regeneration was astonishing; even if his intestines were pierced and his stomach ruptured, he could heal rapidly. Yet now, the situation had shifted.

The body would still heal, but the scars remained fixed in place, no longer fading away.

Such a thing had never happened in the past; this phenomenon had only manifested ever since his failed attempt to ascend the steps against the Dice last time.

It seemed to be related to Ba Hui, but to the current Li Huowang, this matter was nowhere near as important as breaking free from the Dice's blackmail.

If it only meant leaving scars, then as long as he could kill the Dice and find Miaomiao back, it wouldn't matter how many scars he had to bear.

"Summoning Er Jiu, of the Geng Banner of the Jian Tian Directorate—"

"Summoning Er Jiu, of the Geng Banner of the Jian Tian Directorate—!"

"Summoning Er Jiu, of the Geng Banner of the Jian Tian Directorate—!!"

Hearing the eunuchs call out his title from afar drawing near, Li Huowang withdrew his hand from his clothes and strode forward with long steps.

The interior of the hall was immense, appearing to be the place where the Emperor held his morning court; yet to Li Huowang's surprise, the entire hall was shrouded in profound darkness.

The dragon throne, forged of pure gold, was half-submerged in the gloom, and only a pair of feet could be seen belonging to the Emperor of Great Liang who sat upon it.

"Er Jiu, you have finally seen the light? Good! Hahaha!!"

"Adding flowers to a brocade is nothing compared to providing charcoal in a snowstorm! That you could return to aid Us in Our hour of peril, We shall remember this!"

Hearing these words, Li Huowang’s brow gradually furrowed. This was indeed Ji Lin's voice from before, yet the tone and the emotion carried within it felt entirely wrong.

Li Huowang took a step forward, and a sharp, shrill scolding from a eunuch immediately erupted from the darkness, "Audacious! How dare you not bow when meeting the Emperor!"

"Ah! No need for so many rules! Er Jiu is exempted from kneeling henceforth!"

Listening to this, Li Huowang took another step forward, followed immediately by yet another.

When the distance was close enough, Li Huowang caught sight of the face hidden behind the swinging strings of pearl tassels—a face belonging to Ji Lin, yet completely different from the past.