Jianye

"Fifth Brother, hurry inside. Where have you been these past few days? Sixth Sister and I were so worried about you—we thought something had happened to you."

Watching the bare-chested youth support Zhao Wu and head inside, Li Huowang followed after them. He had a feeling things were not that simple.

"You came back?" The moment the man working the abacus spoke in that flat, indifferent tone, Li Huowang knew he had guessed right.

Zhao Wu, who had been so excited just moments ago, gradually lost the expression on his face. His voice trembled as he explained, "Father, someone threw a sack over my head and took me away. They brought me somewhere far away. These friends of mine were the ones who sent me back."

Looking at the several black conical hats at the entrance, Zhao Wu's father impatiently waved them away. "Move along, move along! You're blocking the doorway—how are we supposed to do business?"

That attitude rubbed Li Huowang the wrong way. What did your father-son problems have to do with us outsiders?

He snatched the longsword from Zhao Wu's hand and raised it high. A flash of cold light cut through the air, and the sharp blade came down directly on the wooden counter, nearly cleaving it in two.

"What are you doing? The town constable is my relative!" Zhao Wu's father staggered backward in fright.

Li Huowang took out a tael of silver with his right hand. Right before the man's eyes, he slowly shaved off a small piece along the gleaming blade, then pushed the broken silver toward him. "Buying rice!"

In the rear courtyard of the rice shop, Zhao Wu poured tea for Li Huowang. "Senior Brother Li, please calm down. My father's just like that. Deep down, he's actually not a bad person."

Li Huowang picked up the teacup and drained it in one gulp. Good person or bad, he could not be bothered with someone else's family affairs. He had not come here just to send Zhao Wu home.

"These last-message notes are for the mainland. Since you know Jianye City well, find a reliable Escort Agency and have them deliver all of these." Li Huowang pushed seven or eight slips of paper before Zhao Wu.

Zhao Wu accepted them with both hands and nodded solemnly. "Rest assured, Senior Brother Li. I guarantee I'll get this done!"

"All right, that's it. Stay home and take care of yourself. We're leaving." Li Huowang stood up as he spoke.

"You're leaving so soon? Why not stay for lunch at my house? I only made it back alive because of everyone."

Zhao Wu was clearly reluctant to part. Once they separated, perhaps they would never see each other again.

"Forget it. No need to make a fuss." Li Huowang patted Zhao Wu's shoulder. Judging by his father's attitude just now, that meal would probably be far from peaceful.

"Remember the characters I taught you these past few days, especially your name. If you can write your own name, at least you're not completely illiterate."

Just as Li Huowang finished his last instruction, a female Medicinal Guide covered in black hair suddenly rushed forward. She leaned close to Zhao Wu's ear and whispered in an extremely low voice, "When you get home, look into it carefully. Maybe you weren't kidnapped at all—maybe your father sold you."

Her words left everyone silent as cicadas in winter. When Zhao Wu's Third Brother came over carrying the rice, Li Huowang waved his hand, had Fool take the rice, and led the others away.

Once they reached the bustling main road, Li Huowang and the others began looking for an inn to stay at.

"Why did you think Zhao Wu was sold by his father?" Li Huowang turned and asked the woman who had just spoken those final words to Zhao Wu.

This woman with hypertrichosis had been taciturn the whole way, barely speaking to anyone under normal circumstances. Her sudden outburst today truly surprised Li Huowang.

"Even a vicious tiger does not eat its cubs. He might not be that bad."

The moment Li Huowang said that, the woman's body began trembling for no apparent reason. Her voice was filled with sorrow as she said, "A vicious tiger may not eat its cubs, but people are far more vicious than tigers! Because my own parents sold me!"

At those words, everyone stopped and looked at her in shock.

"Two taels of silver—just two taels! He sold me like livestock, without even looking back once."

Sensing the pain in her heart, Bai Lingmiao walked over and gently embraced her, patting her back in comfort.

After thinking for a moment, Li Huowang spoke again. "He sold you. Are you still going back?"

"I'm going back!" the woman growled through gritted teeth.

Seeing her chest heaving rapidly with agitation and hearing the boundless hatred in her voice, Li Huowang immediately guessed that her purpose in returning was likely different from Bai Lingmiao's and the others'.

"Donglai Inn. We'll stay there tonight." Li Huowang pointed toward the signboard on the left side of the street and walked in first.

"Welcome, honored guests. Are you dining or staying the night?"

"Staying. How much is a room?"

"We have three grades: A, B, and C. An A-grade room is ninety copper coins and includes meals. A B-grade room is sixty copper coins without meals. A C-grade room is twenty copper coins, but you'll have to share with others."

"Honored guest, you have seven adults and five children, twelve people altogether. You could take four B-grade rooms. Our rooms are spacious—three people to a room is no problem. Two adults with one child would be safer as well."

"All right, we'll do as you say."

"Certainly! Twelve distinguished guests—four B-grade rooms! Upstairs, please! Watch your step!"

At night, Li Huowang leaned by the window, watching the ancient people walking along the street outside.

After traveling and toiling all this way, he finally had time to sit down and properly observe this world, so utterly different from the one he had known.

Burly men leading horses, scholars carrying fans, children holding flower lanterns, and hunchbacked peddlers carrying food on shoulder poles.

Everything here was so real, yet so utterly out of place with him.

Different faces flashed before his eyes one after another. As he watched, Li Huowang suddenly fell into a daze. In the next instant, every muscle in his body tightened—he had seen Yang Na on the street!

That delicate face was now streaked with tears like pear blossoms drenched in rain. She looked so heartbroken that she could barely catch her breath from crying. "Huowang, wake up! Hurry and wake up!"

"Ha!" Cold sweat broke out all over Li Huowang's body as he stumbled back a step. Then he immediately lunged forward again and looked down below.

But he discovered that it was not Yang Na, his childhood sweetheart. It was merely a young maiden who bore some resemblance to her.

"Right. I've already grown this old. If Yang Na truly existed, how could she still be a young girl..."

Li Huowang's back slid slowly down the wall. His vacant eyes stared at the wooden beams overhead. "Are the hallucinations starting again?"

A sudden knock sounded at the door.

"Come in. The door isn't locked." Li Huowang had thought Gouwa, who was sharing the room with him, would enter. Instead, it was Bai Lingmiao.

Smiling, she held out a lotus-leaf parcel with both hands. When the leaves were opened, several steaming hot buns were revealed inside. "Senior Brother Li, you must be hungry. Have some buns."

Li Huowang grabbed one and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing in huge mouthfuls.

Holding the buns, Bai Lingmiao squatted beside Li Huowang on his left and watched him quietly. The moment she saw him finish one, she thoughtfully handed him another.

"This place is pretty unusual. They sell buns even this late at night," Li Huowang said.

"Isn't it normal to sell buns at night? If anything's unusual, it's Fool. He actually dips his buns in vinegar!"

"Heh. Who knows where he's from, to eat them like that."

As Li Huowang chatted with Bai Lingmiao, something suddenly occurred to him. "I never gave you any money. Where did you get the money to buy buns?"

Bai Lingmiao shifted her gaze away evasively. She first set the remaining buns on her lap, then took several large pieces of silver from her waist and offered them to Li Huowang with both hands.

"Senior Brother Li, I pawned the Golden Anklet. You work too hard by yourself. I can't do anything else, so this is the only way I can help you."