Chapter 63: Red Veil

Chapter 63: The Red Bridal Veil

Noticing the troubled look on Li Zhi's face, Li Huowang walked straight up to him and said, "Brother Li Zhi, I can explain what happened last night."

Li Zhi raised a hand to cut him off, speaking with a hint of impatience, "Hey, what's there to explain? I didn't do anything to you, so let it be."

With that, he stood up, took his wife by the hand, and turned to walk out of the room.

Li Huowang watched their retreating figures in silence.

"The Er Shen called me a Heart-Su Immortal; it sounds like some sort of special title, and she also warned me not to look at the Baojia Immortals. Perhaps she knows something about me. I must find a way to pry this information out of her."

Having finally uncovered a lead, Li Huowang had no intention of letting it slip away.

"Senior Brother Li, what's wrong? Do you have a grudge against that shaman?" Hearing Gouwa's words, Li Huowang shook his head.

"It's nothing, just a private matter of my own. Go eat breakfast. We're lucky to have beds to sleep in, so rest well these few days. Once we leave this village, we'll be sleeping by the roadside again."

Over the next few days, Li Huowang did not seek out Li Zhi again, nor did he pay any mind to what the man was doing.

He knew the other man was still likely harboring resentment; if he asked about the Er Shen now, it would probably go poorly, so it was best to let things cool down first.

This was Li Huowang's plan, but while he waited, a minor trouble came knocking: Bai Lingmiao fell ill.

This trouble could be considered big or small. It was big because in this wretched place, neglecting even a minor ailment could easily cost a life.

It was small because, with the pills refined at the Qingfeng Temple, he could barely pass as a country doctor; he couldn't cure grave diseases, but a trifling illness like this was no problem.

Li Huowang cradled Bai Lingmiao's feverish head against his chest and carefully placed a red pill into her mouth.

"Senior Brother Li, am I going to die? I don't want to die..." The exceedingly weak Bai Lingmiao clutched tightly at his sleeve.

"Don't be silly, it's just a slight chill. You've taken the medicine, so just get a good sleep and sweat it out under the covers, and you'll be fine."

A sudden knocking at the door interrupted their conversation. Li Huowang looked up to see Li Zhi standing at the threshold with his wife.

"How is she? I heard from the locals that your sister is sick. Need any help?"

"No, thank you." Li Huowang gently pulled the quilt over Bai Lingmiao and turned to walk toward him.

"Come on, no need to be polite. You treated me to noodles before, so I should return the favor. The Bai family's ancient immortals are unparalleled in healing the sick. As long as you don't covet my wife, we're still friends, and I must help."

Li Zhi spoke naturally, as if the previous incident had simply blown over.

"It's just a slight chill, no need to summon your great immortals. Besides, we can't afford the tea money they demand."

Li Zhi paused, then chuckled, "Yeah, that's true. I suppose I'm just adding to the fuss. You really can't just summon the ancient immortals at will."

"But Daoist Li, you can neither exorcise evil nor heal the sick. You're quite the Taoist priest, aren't you?"

Li Huowang reappraised the man before him, taking in the utterly natural smile on his face.

"I am already treating her. The pill is in her stomach; we just have to wait for it to take effect."

Li Zhi stood there with a straight face, shaking his head repeatedly. "That won't do. I've seen other Taoist priests who were incredibly powerful; they'd just draw a yellow talisman, burn it to ashes, mix it with water, and no matter the illness, it would be cured in a flash."

Li Huowang smiled faintly, savoring the relaxed atmosphere, feeling it was a good time to broach the subject.

"Brother Li Zhi, can we have a chat? About your wife, she doesn't seem to be an ordinary person. Are all the Er Shen of other shamans like her?"

The smile on Li Zhi's face stiffened. "Daoist Li, spelling it out like this ruins the fun. You are also a cultivator; surely you wouldn't tell me all the secrets you harbor, would you?"

"Did I ask you where you found this band of crippled and maimed folks? No, I didn't, did I?"

With that, the smiling Li Zhi patted Li Huowang's red Taoist robe, then turned and left with his wife.

It was obvious that although Li Zhi seemed usually very talkative, even secretly complaining about the immortals and acting as if he cared about nothing, it was clearly all an act.

Li Huowang pondered thoughtfully for a moment, then turned back into the room to tend to Bai Lingmiao once more.

That night, during the third watch, a light sleeper, he was jolted awake by a tapping at the window.

"Creak..." The wooden window opened soundlessly, and a pair of blood-red embroidered shoes hung there, swaying gently.

Li Huowang recognized those shoes; they belonged to the Er Shen. She had come for him.

Li Huowang thought for a moment, then whispered to the embroidered shoes, "The grove at the edge of the village. I'll be right there."

Watching the shoes slowly retract, Li Huowang took a deep breath, rolled out of bed, and began to dress.

Shortly after, bathed in the hazy moonlight, Li Huowang arrived in the pitch-black woods outside, where he soon spotted the motionless Er Shen beneath a tree.

Li Huowang glanced around warily, and seeing no sign of Li Zhi, he approached. "Lady Er Shen, what is it you wish to tell me?"

The Er Shen once again raised her bleeding finger and began writing on her red bridal veil.

The distance was too great for Li Huowang to see clearly, so he instinctively leaned closer to the red veil.

"You... must... be... careful..."

Halfway through the words, without any warning, the Er Shen suddenly raised both hands, her black nails extending as she thrust them viciously into Li Huowang's neck.

"Thud!" Every muscle in his body instantly tensed as Li Huowang fiercely grabbed the red veil before him, raised his right leg, and kicked her hard in the stomach.

Though he had temporarily escaped danger, four bloody puncture wounds had already appeared on either side of his neck.

Trembling, he pulled out a few blood-stanching pills and shoved them into his mouth, his gaze fixed on the Er Shen before him, clad in vivid red and purple.

Li Huowang had never imagined that the Er Shen, who had previously seemed to be warning him, would suddenly strike with lethal intent.

Yet when he saw the person's face, he was instantly stunned.

Though the figure's features were deformed, and the face bore the green scales of a snake, the back-spines of a hedgehog, fox ears, and various other animal traits.

Yet from the remaining human traces, he could still tell that this person was unmistakably Li Zhi.

No, it should be a female-version of Li Zhi; the little human skin left on her face was caked in powder.

There was nothing to be done about the beastly maw with its protruding fangs on one half, but the other half, with its cherry-red lips, was deliberately painted with red rouge.

Seeing that Li Huowang had seen her true face, "Li Zhi" covered her mouth with her hand and laughed shrilly, like a fox.

"After all that probing, it turns out your Heart-Su is just a sham. You're truly lucky no one snatched it away beforehand."

"After all that probing, it turns out your Heart-Su is just a sham. You're truly lucky no one snatched it away beforehand."

The voice was twofold: one layer right in front of him, the other echoing from the pitch-black woods all around.

"Boom, boom, boom!!" A long, dense rhythm of drumbeats drifted from the forest.

"Summoning... the... gods..."

(End of Chapter)