Wild

Seeing the few ingots of silver in Bai Lingmiao's hands, Li Huowang reached into his robe and took out a piece of silver, stacking it on top.

Before Li Huowang could speak, Bai Lingmiao hurriedly cut in. "That Gold Bracelet has already been melted down. I saw it with my own eyes. It can't be redeemed anymore."

Seeing Li Huowang standing there with his mouth open in a daze, Bai Lingmiao smiled smugly, as though she had won. She gathered the silver in her hands and stuffed it into his robe.

"Don't worry. That bracelet was originally something my mother gave me to keep by my side. It wasn't some family heirloom treasure."

Since Bai Lingmiao had put it that way, Li Huowang no longer insisted. After carefully counting the silver, he put it away. "Once everything's settled, I'll buy you an even bigger one."

"Mhm! I'll wait for it!" Bai Lingmiao nodded with a smile.

Just then, the door abruptly opened, and Gouwa walked in from outside. Seeing the man and woman squatting in the corner, he froze, then immediately turned to leave. "Wrong guest room. I'm terribly sorry. I'll head out right away."

Blushing furiously, Bai Lingmiao lowered her head and rushed to the door. She shoved him aside and ran off.

Gouwa came in with a grin. "Senior Brother Li, although Bai Shimei's white all over, when it comes to taking a wife, looks aren't important. Temperament is what matters. Don't you go disliking her."

Li Huowang could not be bothered to trade nonsense with him. "Cut the crap. Wash up and get to sleep. It wasn't easy finding beds to sleep in."

In his haze, Li Huowang found himself in an old forest. A dim light glimmered ahead, and, puzzled, he slashed through the branches with his sword and hurried toward the firelight.

As he drew near, Li Huowang saw Bai Lingmiao and the others sitting with his mother and Yang Na around a bonfire, roasting dried sweet potatoes.

Seeing that warm scene, he immediately let out a breath of relief and was about to walk over.

Yet in an instant, heaven and earth changed beyond recognition. Li Huowang saw Danyangzi, hundreds of zhang tall, with three heads and a body covered in feathers, standing there like a great mountain.

"Hahaha, boy, well done. You brought the Medicinal Guides over."

After laughing those terrifying words, Danyangzi raised the stone pillar in his hand, longer even than his own height, and smashed it viciously toward the bonfire at his feet.

"Wait!!" Li Huowang shot upright, drenched in cold sweat. After taking several deep breaths, he finally realized, still shaken to the core, that it had all been a dream.

"Senior Brother Li, you're awake? I specially bought you some wontons. Eat them while they're hot." Gouwa, who had been watching the excitement, pulled his head back in through the window.

"What Double Hour is it now?" Li Huowang clutched his somewhat throbbing head and sat down at the table, discovering that the wontons were much like the dumplings he had called bian shi.

Chen Hour has just passed. It's fine to sleep a little longer. We don't need to travel today anyway.

He picked up a ceramic spoon and stuffed wontons into his mouth in great mouthfuls. In no time at all, he had finished them. "Who said there's nothing to do today? Come on. We're going to buy things we'll need on the road."

Then the dream from earlier flashed through his mind. Li Huowang spoke again. "I'll take the others to buy those things. Go ask Lu Zhuangyuan when we can leave. The sooner, the better. If he can't leave, then we'll leave ahead of them."

The silver Li Huowang had left after buying the Donkey Cart, along with the extra silver Bai Lingmiao had given him, would be enough to replenish some necessities.

At the very least, they needed quilts and sleeping mats, so they would not have to curl up beside the bonfire at night, with their backs scorching hot and their chests chilled.

They could also buy a pot, so they could have something hot to eat on the road instead of gnawing dry rations every day.

With all the odds and ends adding up, one Donkey Cart was no longer enough. By the time he met up with Lu Zhuangyuan at the city gate, they had acquired another Donkey Cart.

"Heh, Little Daoist Master, you're quite capable. As you travel along, your household goods just keep piling up. I reckon that if you keep traveling another half year or year, you'll be rolling in money." Lu Zhuangyuan did not forget to continue buttering him up even while traveling.

"Master Lu Ban, is Jianye far from West Capital City?" Li Huowang asked, looking at the broad dirt road ahead.

The road had widened, and there were more people on it. Besides Li Huowang's and Lu Zhuangyuan's two groups, quite a few others were traveling with bundles on their backs. They all appeared to be heading for West Capital City.

"Not far. Another dozen or so days of travel and we'll be there." Lu Zhuangyuan seemed to have thought of something pleasant, and his face blossomed into a smile.

Li Huowang nodded and continued, "About the Monk Temple you mentioned—other than being especially good at helping people conceive, what else do you know?"

"Ah, a monk temple is a monk temple. What's so different about it? Which monk temple isn't just a bunch of old monks leading a bunch of little monks, eating vegetarian food and chanting Buddha's name?"

Li Huowang sighed softly. It seemed he would have to go there and ask in person. Ordinary folk like Lu Zhuangyuan lived muddleheaded lives and had no notion whatsoever about such matters.

"Little Daoist Master, look, there's a monk up ahead. See? The one pissing beneath that tree. Rather than asking me, why not ask him? Maybe he's a monk from that Monk Temple."

"Oh?" Li Huowang looked up and saw that there really was a bald monk standing by the roadside.

As he approached, he saw the back of the man in tattered Monk Robes shudder before turning around.

But when Li Huowang saw the fellow's face, his brows immediately drew tight.

He was supposedly a monk, but he looked more like an old beggar who had shaved his head. He was as wretched-looking as could be, and his Monk Robes were covered in patches and tears.

"Amitabha, did you need something from me?" The filthy old man grinned, exposing yellow teeth with not a single front tooth among them as he chuckled foolishly.

"You're... a monk?"

"Yes, I'm a monk!" The old monk lifted the string of prayer beads around his neck, threaded together from Fruit Pits, with a touch of self-importance.

"May I ask, Master, which temple's eminent monk are you?" Li Huowang's voice now carried a trace of hesitation.

"I don't have a temple. I'm heading north to find one. I heard there are lots of Monk Temples there, and they even feed you. I'm planning to go there and become a monk."

Hearing that, Li Huowang immediately formed a suspicion. He gave the man a lukewarm nod, then turned and returned to his own group.

But just as Li Huowang decided to ignore this old beggar pretending to be a monk, the other man stuck to him like a plaster made of cowhide.

"You're going to find a Monk Temple too? Then let's go together. But aren't you a Daoist? Daoists shouldn't believe in the Buddha, should they?"

Could this fellow be playing the pig to eat the tiger with me? Growing wary, Li Huowang slapped the Donkey Cart's rear and led the others onward at a faster pace, treating the man as though he did not exist.

But though Li Huowang ignored him, someone else did not. The simple-minded Fool sensed nothing amiss.

"You didn't bring food. You'll starve to death!"

"How could I starve to death? Look, the forest has everything—wild fruit, wild mushrooms, wild vegetables."

"I also... I've also eaten wild fruit! I even, I even—"

"Fool, don't talk to him!"

"Oh."

Once nobody paid him any attention, the old beggar lost interest and left on his own. Li Huowang, who had been secretly gripping the Dao Bell, finally relaxed.

Whether the man was truly foolish or only pretending, in this strange place, one could never be without a guarded heart.

After traveling along the dirt road for one double hour, the sun hung directly in the middle of the sky. Seeing many people already squatting down to gnaw on dry rations, Li Huowang had the others do the same.

Though anxiety had begun to rise in his heart, there was safety in numbers.

The newly bought white steamed buns were handed to everyone, and they ate lunch with several jars of pickled vegetables.

Taking Bai Lingmiao's water Gourd, Li Huowang tipped back his head and drank. Then he looked behind them and suddenly noticed someone was missing. "Hm? Where's Fool?"

"He went into the woods to piss just now. Why isn't he back yet? Don't tell me he turned from pissing halfway through to taking a shit? Hey!! Fool!! Are you in there!!"

As Gouwa shouted into the woods beside the road, Fool's honest, thick head poked out from within. His cheeks were puffed up, as though he were chewing something.

"What are you eating?" Li Huowang asked doubtfully.

"Forest... wild... wild... wild white rice, no, no... no money!" After saying that, Fool ducked back into the forest.