Chapter 4600: Bai Lingmiao 4600-word Side Story

Bai Lingmiao 4600-word Extra Chapter

(Thanks again to Alliance Leader s-Zhu-Wen-s-Liu-Ning-chu-S for the Silver Alliance support.)

Under the golden sunset, Bai Lingmiao pressed her hands against the blood-stained Daoist robe soaking in the river water, shaking it vigorously a few times before lifting it out and plunging it back in.

She attempted to use the rushing river to wash away some of the bloodstains, but the color had long since seeped deep into the fabric, completely unyielding to the current.

Just then, two hands covered in thick black hair reached over and abruptly snatched the wooden club from Bai Lingmiao's grasp.

Glancing at Chun Xiaoman before her, Bai Lingmiao smiled faintly, working in tandem with her to wash the clothes.

"Senior Brother Li is having another fit." Chun Xiaoman’s words caused the smile on Bai Lingmiao's face to gradually fade; she set down her things, walked over to the carriage by the roadside, and watched as a frantic crowd scrambled to bind the madly thrashing Li Huowang with chains.

She was about to turn back, but after a moment's consideration, she spun around, pulled some cotton cloth from inside the carriage, meticulously padded the areas where the metal might chafe his flesh, and then returned to the riverbank to resume her washing.

"It's fine, he's tied up securely, and the others are keeping watch." In the beginning, Bai Lingmiao had been utterly terrified by such occurrences, but as time wore on, she had grown accustomed to them.

"You’d better think this through carefully; if you truly choose to stay with him, you'll be living this bitter life forever."

Hearing Chun Xiaoman's counsel, Bai Lingmiao's delicate brows knit slightly. "Sister Xiaoman, please don't say such things. If you keep this up, I'll be angry."

"I really don't know what kind of love potion you've been fed." Chun Xiaoman hauled a garment out of the water and slammed it heavily against a stone.

Bai Lingmiao's hands paused for a fraction of a second before she buried her head back into her work, saying in her soft, gentle voice, "To care for someone is to care for them. If I stop caring just because he fell ill, would that even be love?"

Chun Xiaoman heard this and said nothing more, burying her head alongside her to wash the clothes.

Right then, a figure walked down toward them; it was Luo Juanhua, carrying a wooden basin brimming with dirty laundry balanced on her head, with Xiu'er skipping along behind her, clutching a stalk of foxtail grass. "Miss Bai, Miss Hei, washing clothes too?"

"Sister Luo, good day. Why didn't Brother Lyu come to help you today?" Seeing her, the two girls quickened the pace of their hands.

"Sigh, men are truly useless at everything; he can even tear the clothes while washing them, a complete waste of space. I really don’t know why I married him in the first place."

At this, Luo Juanhua shifted her tone, tilting her head with a beaming smile. "But then again, you can't really do without a man when night falls, you know? My man is actually quite capable at that."

Seeing that Luo Juanhua was about to steer the conversation into crude territory again, the two girls hastily stuffed the washed garments into their basin and hurried toward the bank, leaving Luo Juanhua's loud, duck-like laughter echoing behind them.

The two of them used boards and ropes to hang the clothes along both sides of the carriage, so that once the carriage started moving, the garments would dry as quickly as possible.

Just at that moment, Lyu Zhuangyuan approached with a jovial smile, clutching his long tobacco pipe.

He first cast a couple of glances at the bound Li Huowang, and then turned his gaze toward Bai Lingmiao; whenever the young Daoist master was indisposed, this girl was the one who made the decisions.

"Miss Bai, I just asked for directions. There’s a small town ahead of us. How about we rush over there today to take a breather? While we're at it, we could set up a stage to perform an opera and earn some travel money."

Bai Lingmiao tucked a few stray strands of white hair behind her ear and nodded gently. "Very well, let us proceed as Troupe Leader Lyu suggests."

"Alright then, I'll go get ready right away." Troupe Leader Lyu walked back to his own carriage and promptly delivered a swift kick to Lyu Xiucai's backside.

Once Luo Juanhua finished washing her clothes and returned, the two groups set off on their journey once more.

Having left the desolate wilderness behind, everyone’s expression grew significantly lighter as they walked along the narrow paths bordering the fields, inhaling the sweet scent of blooming rice.

Since there were fields, and people working within them, judging by the tracks on the ground, the small town Troupe Leader Lyu mentioned would likely be reached before long.

"As expected, it feels much better to be around civilized places." Gouwa stretched his arms out wide with great effort, then shoved a hand, its fingernails caked with black grime, inside his shirt to scratch himself.

Suddenly his eyes lit up as if he had spotted something, and he dashed eagerly toward the roadside. Soon, a red envelope fashioned from red paper appeared before him.

Spotting the corner of a silver leaf peeking through the opening, Gouwa was instantly overcome by greed and reached down to pick it up.

"Don't touch it! Absolutely do not pick it up!!" A panicked Bai Lingmiao rushed over, hastily shoving Gouwa aside.

"My grandfather said you must never pick up red envelopes on the road! It brings terrible misfortune!" Staring at the red envelope on the ground, a flicker of dread surfaced within Bai Lingmiao's pink pupils.

Right at that moment, everyone gathered around, pointing and whispering at the red envelope on the ground.

Lyu Zhuangyuan took a few puffs from his pipe, making a smacking sound, before speaking up: "Miss Bai speaks the truth. Traveling far and wide, I’ve heard a tale that if someone in a household falls ill or gets possessed, they throw a red envelope onto the road."

"Whoever picks it up takes the illness and the evil spirit along with it; it's called a life-substitution."

Frowning, Bai Lingmiao shook her head. "That's not what my grandfather told me. It seemed to be something about a ghost marriage, but regardless, red envelopes on the road must never be picked up."

"Are we really leaving it? It’s a whole pouch of silver. How about we find someone else to pick it up, and then split it fifty-fifty?" Gouwa simply couldn't tear his eyes away from the money.

Yet, before anyone could react, a figure stepped past them from the side and picked up the red envelope directly.

"Thank you, no need to be so polite, buying this especially for me, though it really does look delicious." With that, he began stuffing the red envelope straight into his mouth.

By the time the others rushed forward to stop him, it was already far too late; the silver leaves, along with several long strands of black hair and some fingernails hidden inside the red envelope, had all been swallowed down by him.

"No, no, no, this much is enough, I won't eat anymore, just a little bit, otherwise over there... it's nothing."

"You fool! How do you handle things? Why didn't you bind Senior Brother Li properly!" Gouwa demanded in a furious tone.

Gao Zhijian looked thoroughly aggrieved; the chains had clearly been bound tight, yet Senior Brother Li's hands had somehow slipped right through the iron links, leaving him stammering and completely at a loss for how to explain.

By now, Bai Lingmiao was so frantic she was on the verge of tears, but no matter how hard she tried, she could only snatch back a few shreds of red paper from Li Huowang's hands.

"It's... it's fine, the young Daoist master isn't afraid of such things! With his vast supernatural powers, could he possibly fear this?" Lyu Zhuangyuan said, putting on a show of utter disdain.

Biting her lower lip, Bai Lingmiao unfastened the iron chains on Li Huowang and bound him securely once more. "Let us move, toward the county seat, to see if there are any Buddhist temples or City God temples where we can offer proper prayers."

As she spoke, Bai Lingmiao's hand had already pressed against her waist drum, not daring to leave it for a single moment.

Yet, as if the heavens themselves were conspiring against them, a torrential rain soon poured down, turning the dirt road into a muddy quagmire and making travel exceedingly difficult; even as darkness fell, the promised county seat remained nowhere in sight.

Though she desperately wished to forge ahead, upon spotting a ruined temple, the exhausted group finally heeded Lyu Zhuangyuan's advice and pulled the carriages inside to rest.

After all, in this downpour and pitch-black darkness, if they kept going, someone could go missing without anyone even noticing.

As Gao Zhijian braved the heavy rain to chop some wood from the forest outside, wrapping it with the dry firewood they had deliberately preserved, a bonfire slowly came to life; its crimson glow brought a flicker of warmth to the hearts of everyone present, and their eyelids began to grow heavy.

"Miao Miao, is everything alright over there? I'll be back soon." Li Huowang suddenly spoke in a soft voice, catching everyone completely off guard.

"Senior Brother Li, it's fine, you are..."

Before Bai Lingmiao could finish, Li Huowang interrupted her directly: "Shh, don't speak, someone is coming."

The ruined temple fell into an absolute hush; aside from the cascading sound of rain outside and the occasional crackle of burning timber, not another sound could be heard.

Everyone subconsciously recalled the red envelope Li Huowang had swallowed earlier and stared out into the dark curtain of rain beyond the temple, where hazy figures truly seemed to be lingering.

"This... this..." Feeling a chill run down his spine, Gouwa rubbed at the goosebumps bristling across his skin. "How can Senior Brother Li's mad ramblings sound so terrifying?"

"It’s nothing, it’s nothing." Lyu Zhuangyuan said, though whether he was comforting himself or the others remained unclear. "What does that red envelope even amount to? Once the young Daoist master regains his senses, whatever stealthy ghosts are out there, he'll dispatch them with a single stroke of his sword."

"But... Father... what if the young Daoist master never regains his senses?"

Flying into a rage, Lyu Zhuangyuan whirled around and delivered a sharp blow with his pipe straight to Lyu Xiucai's mouth. "Would it kill that wretched mouth of yours to stay shut? Would it kill you?!"

"Troupe Leader Lyu." Bai Lingmiao’s words caused Lyu Zhuangyuan, who was about to give his son another thrashing, to halt.

"Let us all refrain from sleeping tonight and wait until Senior Brother Li clears his head, shall we? He should regain his senses before long."

"Very well, let us do just that." Lyu Zhuangyuan grabbed a piece of wood and tossed it into the blazing fire before him.

Soon, everyone fell silent, keeping their eyes wide open as they waited for dawn.

Yet right at that moment, a loud crash echoed overhead as roof tiles dislodged, and the ceiling of the ruined temple suddenly caved in; the falling debris and torrential rain snuffed out the bonfire in an instant.

In the pitch blackness, everyone scrambled in a chaotic frenzy, grabbing their belongings and retreating toward the dry spots.

Bai Lingmiao immediately reached for the chains on Li Huowang, only to grasp empty air, sending a sharp jolt of terror through her.

Hastily pulling a luminescent stone from her shirt to light up the ruined temple, she spotted Ershen two chang away under the pale green glow, holding the chains bound to Li Huowang, and a sigh of relief finally escaped her chest.

Immediately after, she raised her head to look upward, "Quick! Everyone get out, we can't stay in this temple! If it keeps collapsing, people are going to get crushed."

Hearing Bai Lingmiao's words, everyone who was leading the horse-drawn carts and donkey carts left the dilapidated temple.

"Going out for some sunshine? Fine," Li Huowang was pulled along by the two spirits as he walked toward the nearby woods.

"What are you doing! Come back quickly!" Bai Lingmiao shouted at the two spirits through the rain.

But when another pair of spirits stepped in front of the two spirits, Bai Lingmiao stood stunned in place. Two women with red veils on their heads stood at a distance from her. "Two spirits?"

More accurately, one was a spirit, while the other was the bride being taken to her nuptial ceremony in the underworld!

In the next moment, the red veil beside Li Huowang suddenly quickened its pace, dragging him into the nearby forest.

"Wait!!" Bai Lingmiao rushed into the pitch-black woods alongside the spirits.

In the darkness, Bai Lingmiao could see nothing in the old forest, growing more anxious by the second, tears welling up in her eyes.

But soon, she wiped away her tears and threw her waist drum to the spirits, pulling the red veil over her head.

"Thump thump thump! The sun sets behind the mountains, night falls, families lock their doors—nine out of ten houses are locked, only one house remains open, beating drums and whips to summon gods..." As the spirits beat the drum and sang the battle invocation, Bai Lingmiao, now covered by the red veil, instantly felt a wave of heat surge from her crown into her body.

This powerful force shattered Bai Lingmiao's consciousness, yet her body began to feel foreign, her thoughts mixing with something else.

When the drumbeat echoed through the forest, a sorrowful and eerie woman's voice, broken and haunting, came from within the woods, trying to disrupt the drumming.

"Endured humiliation... my heart knows the moon... meeting is hard... separation is easy... now an abandoned wife... too late to regret..."

Bai Lingmiao crawled on all fours, her body uncontrollably rushing toward the direction of the sound.

After running for nearly half a stick of incense, the thick forest suddenly opened up, revealing a chaotic graveyard before her.

At that moment, Brother Li was being dragged by chains, staggering toward a large pit.

Beside the pit lay a paper figure, its cheeks painted with two large red circles, squatting on its knees, its head topped with a black ceramic jar adorned with a large red "double happiness" sticker and a wooden lid. The singing voice came from inside that jar!

As Bai Lingmiao rushed forward, the jar atop the paper figure suddenly moved, rolling toward her.

With sharp claws, she slashed upward, four deep cracks appearing on the red "double happiness" character, sending the black ceramic jar flying.

Bai Lingmiao opened her mouth wide to her ears, letting out a howl to the sky, then charged toward Li Huowang.

Just as she was about to grab the chain, the squatting paper figure suddenly moved, blocking Bai Lingmiao’s path.

The soulless eyes of the paper figure were pierced, revealing two pitch-black eyes—something was inside the paper figure.

"Thump thump thump! Red, yellow, white, bow your heads in sorrow; outer immortals mock inner ones. Thump thump thump! The old immortal brings three treasures, these three treasures, this one—"

However, just as the battle invocation reached halfway, a sudden tearing sound cut it off, and the strange sensation in Bai Lingmiao vanished rapidly.

When she removed the red veil and turned toward the source of the sound, she saw the lid of the black ceramic jar had opened.

A green, decayed hand emerged from within, piercing straight through the waist drum in the hands of the spirit.

In the next instant, Bai Lingmiao was shoved to the left, her head slamming into a stone slab, blood pouring down, dizziness overwhelming her.

She cried out helplessly, clutching her wound. The drum was broken. She wept not only from the pain on her head but also from her own helplessness.

Yet as she watched the paper figure push Brother Li from behind, sending him tumbling into the pit, and the jar rolled swiftly into the hole, a sudden surge of energy hit her head, making her entire skull buzz. She refused to give up!

Clutching her teeth, Bai Lingmiao reached for her abdomen, mimicking Li Zhi’s actions, pulling and lifting with all her might.

With intense agony, her tender skin stretched taut, and the drumbeat rang out again.

"Thump thump thump! Firmly standing on the campsite! Setting up the altar to summon gods! First, call the red, then the yellow, calling the long serpent, the spirit marten, and the sorrow king!"

Upon hearing the drumbeat, the paper figure lifted itself, the "double happiness" jar hurling toward Bai Lingmiao.

As the black ceramic jar drew closer, various scales and beast eyes rapidly appeared on Bai Lingmiao's half face.

With a fierce slash of her clawed hand, she sent the jar flying. "Get lost! That's my man!!"

Though her abdomen burned with unbearable pain, Bai Lingmiao did not cry. Standing firm with the spirits, she beat the drum while staring unflinchingly at the black ceramic jar. "Get lost! If you come one step closer, I'll kill you!!"

Seeing Bai Lingmiao's resolute and threatening gaze, the black ceramic jar finally stopped, slowly rolling into the dark forest.

As the jar departed, the paper figure vanished without a trace.

Bai Lingmiao remained vigilant, enduring the sharp pain in her abdomen, she moved slowly backward, side by side with the spirits, approaching the pit.

...

Half an hour later, in a dry spot in the ruined temple, Li Huowang slowly regained consciousness.

"I... am back again? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Seeing Li Huowang's consciousness return, Bai Lingmiao, who had been watching over him, reached out to remove his shackles.

"Nothing happened, Brother Li, nothing at all." Bai Lingmiao's voice and gaze remained as gentle as ever.

(End of Chapter)