Chapter 889: Bandit

Chapter 889: Bandits

He did indeed find the county town, but to Li Huowang’s surprise, the town actually had no walls, with only a ragged white gauze lantern hanging over the gate, swaying in the wind.

“Stay alert; someone might be able to see me here.” Shifting his figure out of alignment into the soil, Li Huowang walked into the county town under the cover of stealth.

The only impression the town gave Li Huowang was one of utter desolation, filled with open, vacant houses, pitted and potholed ground, and refuse scattered everywhere.

Had it not been for the candle-flame flickering in the windows of a few houses, Li Huowang would have almost thought he had wandered into a mass grave.

Right at that moment, Li Sui suddenly spoke up, “Father, someone in the State of Tianchen is casting a divination to find where we are.”

Hearing this made Li Huowang’s scalp tingle; those people over there had indeed mobilized so quickly, and instead of sending men to search, they resorted directly to divination. “Did they find us?”

“They didn’t. I blocked them, but I won’t be able to hold them off for long.”

“Hold them off for as long as you can. We had best leave before they locate us.” Li Huowang walked straight toward the center of the county town.

The town center was barely a bit livelier, and though it was already late at night, the surrounding shops were still brightly lit.

There was no great variety of establishments: gambling dens, brothels, and theater houses. Just those few kinds.

Making a quick choice, Li Huowang stepped into the theater house, the place most likely to harbor literate men, but the moment he entered, he saw an obscene play being performed on the stage.

Moreover, unlike the obscene plays of the Lu Troupe from before, the actresses of the State of Tianchen wore only a layer of hazy, sheer gauze over their bodies.

The entire theater house was in a state of chaotic clamor; the spectators below the stage were drinking and playing drinking games, while the performance carried on above.

Suddenly, a heavily bearded man fiercely tore off his clothes, baring the thick patch of hair on his chest, and leapt onto the stage to the rhythm of the music, tackling the lead actress and beginning to violate her right then and there.

Utterly ignoring the clapping and cheering, Li Huowang focused all his attention on the malignant aura between the brows of these people; they were all of the same gang.

“The Military School? Is the Military School of Tianchen reduced to this?” Looking at the demonic revelry before him, Li Huowang noticed they were of every shape and size, and not only were they heavily bearded and disheveled, but they were also exceedingly filthy.

He knew the State of Tianchen possessed a Military School; those who had ambushed him the very first time belonged to it.

Those men had been highly formidable and perfectly coordinated with one another, nearly stripping him of his Spine Sword.

Sweeping his eyes around quickly, Li Huowang turned his gaze toward the absolute center of the second floor, where a reclining chair was placed, and a fat man with a massive scar on his crown sat with his arms around two bare-breasted women, playing Pai Gow with a few others.

The malignant aura on him was the heaviest; if nothing else, this fat man ought to be the leader here.

Li Huowang walked over, peeled a face off his own countenance, and prepared to slap it onto the back of the fat man’s head.

Just as the skin of the face was about to adhere, their conversation caused Li Huowang to pause.

“Second Chief, is the Faceless One really hiring us to hunt partridges?”

Hearing this, Li Huowang instantly realized it was underworld argot; these men were not soldiers, they were bandits or mountain outlaws.

Immediately following that, Li Huowang recalled that when those men had attacked him back then, their intent when moving against him was not phrased as killing him, but rather sticking him.

There could be no mistake about it; those people from before were likely bandits too. Soldiers were bandits, and bandits were soldiers. They all belonged to the Military School.

“Father, if this State of Tianchen has no emperor, then naturally there would be no soldiers or generals. It is only natural for the Military School to turn entirely into outlaws.”

Li Huowang nodded, continuing to listen to what these bandits were discussing.

“Don’t go thinking this is a choice assignment. The Faceless One didn’t just invite us; last time, the veteran hands who lived off floating coin and the Grand Chief of the Sea Greens went as well, and as it turns out, none of them have returned.”

Upon hearing this, how could Li Huowang not understand? The veteran hands living off floating coin and the Grand Chief of the Sea Greens were the very gang of bandits that had tried to steal his Spine Sword before.

As for why they had not returned, it was naturally because they had been reduced to ashes by his fire.

As for what the Faceless One they spoke of was, Li Huowang could not yet make sense of it for the time being; according to the underworld argot he had previously learned, the Faceless One generally referred to various demons and monsters.

“The Faceless One has certainly run into a hard nut to crack this time. The scouts said they lost quite a few men themselves, and since they’ve invited all Thirty-Six Caves this time, they must mean real business.”

If the Military School of the State of Tianchen consisted entirely of bandits, then the Faceless One inviting every single bandit group this time was by no means good news.

“Second Chief, since the target is so prickly this time, are we still going?”

“We go, of course we go. If we don’t even give face to the Faceless One, we’ll truly have no face left.”

Speaking to this point, the Second Chief’s voice suddenly dropped a fraction, and after casting a glance down at the chaotic mess on the stage below, he lowered his voice further and said, “I heard that this time, it has to do with the Line of the Moon. Let’s go see before deciding anything else.”

But right at this moment, a shout suddenly rang out from downstairs. “Second Chief! Cut it short! There are lawmen infiltrating the kiln!”

As a series of urgent whistles blew, the various doors of the theater house slammed shut with a bang.

Seeing that he had been discovered, Li Huowang no longer intended to hide; this fat man definitely knew something, and he had to squeeze the truth out of his mouth through interrogation.

The Second Chief tossed aside the Pai Gow tiles in his hand and looked toward Li Huowang, who bore the face of Yang Xiaohai. “Brother, care to drop your name?”

“I’ll drop your grandfather!!” With a flash of his body, Li Huowang arrived directly before the fat man; just as he was about to draw his sword, he remembered he needed to keep him alive, so he casually snatched a nearby hourglass and slammed it ruthlessly onto his head.

The entire hourglass was smashed out of shape, and the fat man’s head bled profusely from the impact as he reeled to the ground.

“Stick him!” Along with his furious roar, a soaring malignant aura instantly enveloped the entire theater house, and all the bandits roared in tandem, lunging toward Li Huowang.

“Let me handle it.” No sooner had Li Sui’s voice fallen than the entire theater house twisted instantly; whether it was the ground or the people, everything began to stretch long and snap short, turning large one moment and small the next.

The malignant aura that had just coalesced was swiftly torn apart like pulled noodles.

Witnessing the terrifying might of Li Huowang and Li Sui’s combined force, the fat man very pragmatically knelt on the ground and began to beg for mercy.

“Get up! We are changing locations!” Li Huowang kicked him over and dragged him along, preparing to leave.

“Father! Watch out!”

Right at the instant of Li Sui’s warning, a withered palm pierced straight through Li Huowang’s chest with a sickening squelch.

Li Huowang did not care about his own wound, but rather about what was clutched in that palm.

Brought out along with that palm were some dark yellowish substances; Li Huowang knew exactly what that stuff was—the Innate Primordial Qi within his body was actually being dragged out by someone!

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