Chapter 74: Death

Chapter 74: Death

"Senior Brother Li! What are you doing!" Seeing Li Huowang mutilating himself, Bai Lingmiao rushed over in heartache, grasping his endlessly bleeding left hand.

With an agonized expression, Li Huowang shoved her away, his eyes bloodshot as he roared hysterically.

"Why can't everything just be quiet!! Why does this damn place always have to have this or that happening!!"

The dagger embedded in his palm was yanked out, only to be viciously thrust back in, this time piercing straight through.

Bai Lingmiao was stunned in place by the sight; after a few seconds of shock, she lunged forward, snatched the dagger from Li Huowang's hand, and hurled it far away.

Immediately after, she threw her arms wide and firmly embraced the man before her. "Huowang, don't be like this! I'm begging you."

The instant he heard her voice, Li Huowang fell completely silent; he closed his trembling eyes and slowly buried his face into her soft embrace.

Gradually, Li Huowang calmed down once more.

He slowly released her and looked back at Bai Lingmiao, taking a deep breath before saying, "Alright, I'm fine now. Where are the others? Did you see anyone else?"

Hearing this, Bai Lingmiao silently nodded, her eyes slightly reddened as she pulled Li Huowang toward the island's shore.

Soon, at the water's edge, he saw the remaining medicinal lures.

There had originally been seven adults and five Daoist acolytes, but now only six adults and three acolytes remained, and not all of those left were in any condition to move.

A grieving Bai Lingmiao spoke, her lips trembling and purpled from the cold. "Junior Brother Sun is a better swimmer than I am. We risked our lives dredging the lake, but we only managed to find these few, and the Fool... he drowned too."

Li Huowang stood before the group, gazing at the Fool's suffocated, purpled face. Another medicinal lure shared his exact complexion, as did a Daoist acolyte.

Two were missing, and three had drowned. In this single excursion, five out of the twelve had been effortlessly lost.

Li Huowang wasn't particularly close to these people, but regardless, they were comrades who had faced life and death together at the Qingfeng Temple.

During their moments of rest, he had listened to their yearning for home, their longing for the days of reuniting with their families upon returning.

But now, it had all been abruptly cut short; they had died for absolutely nothing.

With a darkened expression, Li Huowang paced along the shore, looking at the drowned, and the negative emotions that had just plagued his heart vanished without a trace.

"Smash!" Li Huowang fiercely kicked a mangled, bloody head, sending it flying. "Damn it!"

He had practically lost his mind just now! To actually feel guilty for a bunch of murderers!

Li Huowang even wished he could bring this human scum back to life, just so he could slaughter them all over again, one by one!

"These people deserved to die!! They deserved to have their entire families wiped out!!"

Just as Li Huowang's emotions began to destabilize once more, a man who had previously blended into the background stepped forward, his voice laced with guilt as he spoke to Li Huowang: "Senior Brother Li, I tried to hold onto the Fool, but he was too heavy; I simply couldn't pull him up."

Li Huowang knew him; he was the Senior Brother Sun whom Bai Lingmiao had mentioned as a good swimmer, named Sun Baolu.

Looking at the man before him, shivering and soaked like a drowned rat, Li Huowang frowned slightly and said, "Don't stay here any longer. Let's head into the village to find the kitchen and get a fire going."

Things had come to this pass, and there was no use saying anything more; with so few survivors left, he couldn't let the cold claim any more lives.

The group carried and bore the corpses of their companions, moving slowly toward the village.

The entire Reed Village was strewn with blood, flesh, and corpses; dark crimson blood flowed everywhere, making the ground sticky beneath their feet.

The others exchanged glances. They seemed to have questions, but Li Huowang had no desire to explain anything.

Taking another turn through the various buildings, Bai Lingmiao was instantly frightened and darted behind Li Huowang.

The once imposing Patriarch of the Yuan family, his mouth agape, was impaled on a bamboo pole with eyes wide open in death, his gaze filled with utter reluctance to die.

"Did I impale him here? When did I kill him?"

A puzzled Li Huowang recalled for a moment, only to find he had no memory of it at all. Far too many people had died.

After wandering around for a while, they finally found the kitchen. The iron pot on the stove was overturned, and nearby firewood was tossed in to form a bonfire.

The group gathered around to warm themselves, hoping the heat of the flames would drive the chill from their bodies.

Li Huowang did not join them by the fire; instead, he stood in the corner of the kitchen, silently gazing at the stiff, purpled faces before him.

His gaze finally settled on the Fool's round face; Li Huowang hadn't expected even him to die, this loyal and devoted fool.

His nature was simple, and truth be told, even the acolytes were more mature than the Fool.

"I shouldn't have kept calling you the Fool; I should have at least given you a proper name, so it would be easier to carve on your tombstone," Li Huowang murmured to himself, looking at the corpse.

The very instant he spoke these words, he suddenly saw the stiff, purpled body of the Fool snap its eyes wide open.

"He's risen from the dead!!" Startled, Li Huowang leaped back a step and immediately drew his sword once more.

Just as the others saw this and scrambled in a panic to find weapons, the Fool, his face blank, opened his mouth wide. "Urp~"

Foul-smelling black lake mud mixed with lake water was vomited out in great mouthfuls.

After emptying the contents of his stomach, the Fool lay on his side, gasping for air, and soon after, the color rapidly returned to his face.

"Good heavens, Senior Brother Li, you can bring the dead back to life! How did you do it?" Gouwa ran over in delight, helping the Fool up.

Li Huowang had no time to answer him; he swiftly ran to the other drowned bodies to attempt resuscitation. Perhaps someone, like the Fool, wasn't truly dead, but had merely fainted from choking.

Regrettably, the Fool's case was a singular exception; after Li Huowang busied himself for a while, the other drowned showed no signs of returning to the living.

Regardless, having one person miraculously survive was a blessing in itself, and the group crowded around the Fool warming by the fire, asking after his well-being. The atmosphere in the kitchen was no longer as oppressive as before.

Faced with the others' concern, the Fool held it in for a long while before finally managing to squeeze out a sentence. "I... I... I'm hungry!"

"Hungry? Alright then! We'll eat meat! When I just came in, I saw they kept pigs here!! I'll go slaughter one right now."

Gouwa grabbed a cleaver from the nearby chopping block and hurriedly rushed outside.

Before long, the removed iron pot was placed back on the wood stove; once the water boiled, large chunks of fatty pork were tossed in to cook.

Shortly after, as Xiaoman sprinkled in some salt, the rich aroma of meat instantly filled the air.

Having been busy all night, the Fool wasn't the only one hungry; Li Huowang drew his long sword, speared a large chunk of mostly fat pork from the pot, and began to gnaw on it as if it were a piece of fruit.

While gnawing on the pork, Li Huowang's mind was still occupied with other thoughts. "A water bandit village this large can't possibly yield only pork as its spoils."