Chapter 58: Li Zhi

Chapter 58: Li Zhi

"Ring, ring, ring!!" An ear-piercing clatter instantly shattered the shouts, forcing everyone present to clap their hands over their ears in agonized grimaces.

As the ringing slowly faded, Li Huowang's sword was already resting against the man's throat.

"Hehe, Daoist Master, what are you doing?" Though the razor-sharp blade pressed against his neck, the man's face betrayed not a hint of panic.

"You ask what I'm doing? I should be asking you! What god are you summoning?"

The soot-blackened blade pressed down just a fraction, instantly drawing a thin line of blood.

Whatever god this man was summoning, it was certainly nothing good; in all his time in this wretched place, he had never encountered anything benevolent.

Realizing he was misunderstood, the man let out an amused, speechless chuckle.

"Daoist Master, you're not from Siqi, are you? I wasn't summoning any gods. I didn't even beat my drum, so no gods would come. I was merely proving that I'm just a shamanic dancer."

Just then, Xiaoman stepped forward from the side and whispered, "Mm, that's right. Shamanic dancing does require a drum."

Casting a glance at the colorful drum tied to the man's waist, Li Huowang, his face still etched with vigilance, slowly withdrew his sword.

"My friend, don't play such jokes in the dead of night. It's all too easy to cause misunderstandings. You may go."

The man sized up the wary Daoist before him for a moment, then gave an awkward nod and turned to leave. "Very well then. I am Li Zhi. Until we meet again. Come, Goose, let us go."

With that, without another word, he led the woman veiled in a red bridal coverlet straight into the pitch-black forest path.

Watching until they vanished completely, Li Huowang turned back to the others and said, "No one sleeps tonight. Stay on guard. Be wary that this fellow hasn't truly left."

One can never be too careful; for such a character to suddenly appear in the dead of night, only the devil knew what his true motives were.

Amidst scattered murmurs of assent, the living medicines clutched their weapons and sat huddled together around the campfire. Li Huowang grabbed a piece of deadwood and tossed it tumbling into the flames, the blazing light illuminating the anxious unease on every face.

The long night passed in an agonizing wait where every minute felt like a year, and save for the haggard exhaustion etched upon everyone's faces, nothing happened at all.

"We rest this morning, then continue the journey. Gouwa, you take the first watch." Having spoken, Li Huowang slowly closed his eyes.

Li Huowang didn't know how long he had dozed before someone gently shook him awake. "Senior Brother Li, that man is back."

"Hm? What?" The news instantly snapped Li Huowang to full alertness. He turned his head to see Li Zhi from the previous night, standing not far away with a beaming smile, his veiled wife beside him.

"Last night, I tossed and turned for half the night and figured it out. I must have frightened the Daoist Master, didn't I? My apologies, my deepest apologies, which is why I've come specifically to make amends."

Sunlight filtered through the branches and fell upon Li Zhi's somewhat darkened face, making the mole on his cheek strikingly conspicuous.

If one were to remove the drum from his waist and judge solely by his appearance, he was no different from a farmer who toiled in the fields year-round.

Under the bright sun, he looked far less threatening now than he had the night before.

Thoughts racing through his mind, Li Huowang formed a hand seal and returned the greeting. "Brother Li Zhi is too polite. I was rather rash myself yesterday."

Regardless of the man's motives, with a shamanic dancer right before his eyes, it would be a waste not to pry some useful information out of him.

"I just heard this young lady say that the Daoist Master is also surnamed Li? What a remarkable coincidence, I am surnamed Li too. Perhaps we shared the same ancestors five hundred years ago."

Wearing an amiable smile, Li Zhi stepped forward with unabashed familiarity, stopping right in front of Li Huowang to speak.

"Brother Li Zhi, where are you headed?"

"Ah, my clansman, the Third Black Matriarch, is celebrating a grand birthday soon, so I'm heading over early to offer my congratulations."

A grand birthday? Li Huowang mused silently, "Shamanic dancing seems quite different from the ways of monks and Daoists; they haven't detached themselves from worldly customs."

"And where is the Daoist Master headed, bringing along such a large group?" Li Zhi asked, his eyes flickering slightly as he glanced at the blood-stained Daoist robes Li Huowang hadn't quite managed to wash clean.

"To the State of Liang," Li Huowang replied concisely.

"Good heavens, going that far? The Daoist Master must have a grueling journey ahead."

After a while of conversation, the tension between them eased considerably, at least no longer feeling like drawn bows and unsheathed swords.

The wheels of the donkey cart began to turn, rolling forward alongside a pair of red embroidered shoes.

"Not far ahead is Half-Moon Gully. There's a stockade there where the Daoist Master can rest and recuperate for a few days. You won't find another place to stay for at least another fifteen days. You know how it is out here on the border, always so sparsely populated and desolate," Li Zhi said, offering enthusiastic guidance like an old friend.

"Many thanks. May I ask, Brother Li Zhi, since you are a shamanic dancer, which immortal does your family worship?"

Hearing Li Huowang's blunt and direct question, the woman beneath the red veil tilted her head up slightly, along with Li Zhi.

"Hehe, I am a disciple of the Bei family. Since you've asked, I won't be coy. May I ask which mountain and which sect the Daoist Master hails from?"

"Qingfeng Temple of the Donghua Sect of the Western Mountain, Xuan Yang." Li Huowang immediately recited the same fabricated lineage Danyangzi had once used.

He had no idea what the Donghua Sect of the Western Mountain actually was, but at least saying so would make others believe he had a legitimate lineage rather than being a fake Daoist.

Li Zhi shook his head. "Hehe, never heard of it. But then again, the world is so vast, how could anyone know everything?"

Li Zhi was exceedingly talkative, and with a smile perpetually gracing his face, being in his company somehow lifted one's spirits.

As they walked, it was soon time for lunch. As always, they set up the stove and boiled noodles; the river by the road was growing wider, which made fetching water convenient.

Li Zhi didn't take any food from his small bundle, but simply squatted by the road with a grin, watching them eat, which made Li Huowang's group feel thoroughly uneasy.

"Brother Li Zhi, care for some?"

"Oh, oh, oh! That would be wonderful. I happened to go a whole day without eating yesterday." Li Zhi dashed over eagerly, grabbing a bowl to serve himself some noodles.

Slurping down bowl after bowl in rapid succession, he ate so much that Bai Lingmiao's brows knitted tightly in a frown.

"Senior Brother Li, that's nearly three catties already... How can this man eat so much? He's been cozying up to us for so long, could it be just for this meal?"

Everyone watched helplessly as Li Zhi fished out the very last noodle from the pot. Showing not a shred of shame, he squatted under a tree and continued to slurp away.

Li Huowang walked over to him, mimicking Li Zhi's posture, and squatted down as well. "Enough noodles? Want us to boil some more?"

"Oh my, that would be too much trouble, though I truly haven't eaten my fill," Li Zhi said, taking a large gulp of the noodle broth.

"Boil another two catties of noodles!!" Li Huowang shouted toward the iron pot.

"Why are you the only one eating? I don't see your wife eating. Isn't she hungry?" Li Huowang's gaze shifted to the woman under the red veil, noticing that her fingernails were somewhat blackened and exceedingly long.

"I am the primary shaman, and she is the secondary. It's enough for me to eat," Li Zhi stated as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Oh? And why is that?"

The slurping stopped. Li Zhi raised his right hand holding the chopsticks, wiped his mouth with his elbow, and turned his head with a beaming smile. "Hehe, with the Daoist Master asking so many questions, are you looking to become a shaman yourself?"

(End of Chapter)