Donkey Cart

Looking at the six taels of silver, Li Huowang could not be bothered to refuse. He slipped them into his robe; he truly needed the money now.

"Little Daoist Master, eat slowly. We'll go make preparations. We'll continue our journey tomorrow."

After eating and drinking their fill, the Lu family was tired as well and went back to catch up on sleep. After all, none of them had slept a wink the previous night.

After the Lu family left, Li Huowang was the only one in the room. He looked at the roast chicken before him, larger than his own head, thought for a moment, then said to a servant beside him, "Do you have anything to pack things in?"

Before long, Li Huowang led a donkey out of Wu Li Gang. A flatbed cart trailed behind the donkey, piled high with sacks of grain.

Six taels of silver was not much, so he had to spend it carefully. He could not afford a horse, but an old donkey was still within reach.

With this, at least they would not have to carry their food on their backs along the way.

When Li Huowang came out, he saw that the others were still huddled amid piles of rice straw in the fields.

They had not entered the village, clearly afraid their unusual appearances would frighten the villagers.

When he walked over, Li Huowang found them roasting dried sweet potatoes over a fire.

Li Huowang reached into the cart and pulled out a fragrant roast chicken. "Eat this."

After eating dry rations for so many days, how could the group hold themselves back at the sight of it? They immediately rushed over in excitement.

More than a dozen people shared one chicken. No one got much, but every one of them gnawed at their portion with exceptional care. They even carefully crushed the chicken bones between their teeth and swallowed them.

"Senior Brother Li, where did this chicken come from? And this donkey cart—where did you go last night?" Bai Lingmiao asked, holding a chicken neck in both hands.

Sitting atop the pile of rice straw with his eyes closed, Li Huowang briefly described the cause and course of events.

When Bai Lingmiao learned that Li Huowang had risked his life to obtain these things, she put down the chicken neck in her hands. Following his voice, she crawled to his side and looked at him with heartache in her eyes.

"Senior Brother Li, I'm sorry. We burdens have dragged you down. If it weren't for us, you would never have needed to risk your life like this."

Li Huowang opened his eyes and looked at the girl with her eyes covered by strips of blue cloth. "It has nothing to do with you. Since that thing could come to the Hu Family Ancestral Hall, it must have had its eyes on us already. Even without what happened last night, we would have run into it sooner or later."

"And besides..." Li Huowang paused, recalling the time in Qingfeng Temple when he had completely fallen into an illusion. "And besides, who will be the burden in the future is still anyone's guess."

Li Huowang thought for a moment, then looked again at the girl before him. He reached out and took her hand.

Bai Lingmiao shyly shrank back, but immediately stopped.

Yet after a while, Li Huowang thought again. Lying atop the rice straw pile, he closed his eyes, turned his gaze aside, and slowly loosened his grip.

But the instant he let go, those soft hands swiftly chased after his and clasped them tightly.

After a good night's rest, the two groups with different purposes set out once more.

Their next destination was Jianye Town. It would also be Li Huowang's first time entering a major settlement in this world.

"Little Daoist Master, Wu Li Gang isn't far from Jianye Town. At our pace, we should arrive in four or five days," Lu Zhuangyuan reported to Li Huowang.

Li Huowang turned to Zhao Wu, who was being carried on Fool's back. "How is it? You're about to return home. Are you happy?"

Zhao Wu had previously said that his home was in Jianye. After spending these days together, Li Huowang had formed an initial understanding of him.

He felt Zhao Wu had a very sharp mind. It was only because he had difficulty moving and could not read that his potential had never been brought out.

"Zhao Wu, we're practically at your doorstep. What's this? Shouldn't you treat us brothers to a trip to a tavern?" Gouwa teased from the side.

Yet Zhao Wu's reaction took everyone by surprise. A bitter smile appeared on his face. "What good is it for a useless person like me to go home? I can't lift with my hands or carry on my shoulders. Even if I stay at home, I'll only be a mouth to feed."

As soon as he said this, the atmosphere fell silent. His words struck every Medicinal Guide in the heart.

Aside from Li Huowang, everyone who could remain in the Material Room had some sort of problem, more or less. Even if they returned to where they had come from, they would still be freaks feared or disliked by others.

Escaping Qingfeng Temple and the terror of death was certainly good, but returning to an environment filled with scorn and hostility was not something worth celebrating either.

Sensing the heavy mood, Li Huowang turned to Zhao Wu. "Who says you're useless? Since there's nothing much to do during this time, I'll teach you pill refining. Learn as much as you can. When you go home, you can become a barefoot doctor and at least avoid starving to death."

Zhao Wu froze upon hearing this. Then his expression turned excited, his eyes filling with intense longing. "Senior Brother Li, I don't want to learn pill refining. Could you teach me to read?"

"Why learn to read? Wouldn't it be better to learn a few more Pill Formulas, so you'd have a way to make a living practicing medicine when you go home?" Li Huowang had some difficulty understanding the feelings of these locals.

It was not that literacy was useless. Of course literacy was very useful. But even elementary school took five years. Teaching an illiterate person who could not even write his own name how to read was a massive undertaking; it could not be done in just a few years.

"It's fine! It doesn't matter if I can't learn much. I'll learn whatever I can."

Although Li Huowang did not understand Zhao Wu's thirst for knowledge, since Zhao Wu wanted to learn, he could naturally teach him.

"Fool, put Zhao Wu from your back onto the donkey cart. I'll teach him to read."

Zhao Wu knew nothing, so Li Huowang could only begin with simple characters like "wood," "mouth," and "person."

As he taught, Li Huowang noticed that the surroundings had grown quiet. He looked up and found that everyone, including the Lu family, was listening with rapt attention.

Not only were they listening intently, reverence was written across their faces, as though Li Huowang were doing something solemn and sacred.

"Hehehe, um, Little Daoist Master..."

With a grin, Lu Zhuangyuan approached, carrying two strips of cured meat in one hand and forcibly dragging his youngest son along with the other.

Just as Li Huowang waited for him to speak, clouds of dust rose from behind them on the Forest Path.

Before long, a horse stopped in front of them. Leaping down from its back was a young, fat boy.

Lu Zhuangyuan clearly knew the boy from Wu Li Gang and hurriedly clasped his hands in greeting. "Oh, oh, oh, Young Master Hu, slow down. Where are you headed?"

"I'm not going anywhere! I'm going with you to perform opera! Then I can listen to opera every day!"

Young Master Hu's voice was filled with excitement and still very childish. Though he looked sturdy, his voice had not yet changed.

"Oh, please don't joke like that. Hurry back, or your grandfather will worry."

"Don't worry, I'll pay to listen to opera!" He forcibly stuffed a gold longevity lock into Lu Zhuangyuan's hand.

Lu Zhuangyuan's expression was deeply conflicted as he held the gold, caught between a rock and a hard place.

But someone soon rode up from behind and relieved him of the predicament.

"Dad! Stop pulling me! I'm not going back! I want to perform opera!!"

Slap! The resounding slap across Young Master Hu's face made everyone around them jump. The boy's face quickly swelled.

"You want to be an actor! You dare become an actor—just how cheap are you?! That's the lowest of the low, one of the nine base professions! If you dare become an actor and bring shame upon the Hu family, I'll beat you to death!"

Snatching the longevity lock from Lu Zhuangyuan's raised hand, the man hoisted his son over his shoulder and rode off into the distance with both horses.

After he left, Li Huowang looked back at Lu Zhuangyuan, waiting for him to finish what he had been about to say.

Lu Zhuangyuan stood there awkwardly, holding the two strips of cured meat. Several times, he opened his mouth as if to say something, yet not a sound came out.

For the first time, the old man who had always been so smooth and worldly was at a complete loss, like a child.

In the end, he said nothing. Forcing a smile, he nodded at Li Huowang, then led his son toward the carriage beside them. His already hunched back bent even lower.