"Ling, ling, ling!!" The piercing bells instantly cut off the shouting, and everyone present clutched their ears in pain.
By the time the ringing slowly faded, Li Huowang's sword was already resting against the man's neck.
"Heh heh, True Person, what are you doing?" Though the sharp longsword was pressed against his throat, the man showed no panic.
"You're asking what I'm doing? I should be asking you that! What god were you summoning?!"
The fire-blackened blade pressed down slightly, immediately drawing a thin line of blood.
Whatever god this man had been summoning, it was definitely no good thing. He had been in this godforsaken place for so long and had yet to encounter anything good.
Realizing he had been misunderstood, the man laughed awkwardly.
"True Person, you're not from around Siqi, are you? I wasn't summoning a god. I hadn't even beaten my drum, so there was no way I could summon one. I was only proving that I'm a Jumping God."
At that moment, Xiao Man came over and said softly, "Mm, that's right. A Jumping God really does need to beat a drum."
Glancing at the colorful drum hanging from the man's waist, Li Huowang finally slowly withdrew his sword, though his face remained full of vigilance.
"Friend, don't make jokes like that in the dead of night. Misunderstandings come easily. You should go."
The man sized up the wary Daoist before him for a while. After nodding sheepishly, he turned and left. "All right, then. I'm Li Zhi. Until we meet again. Wife, let's go."
Having said that, he said nothing else. Leading the woman beneath the Red Veil, he headed straight into the pitch-black forest path.
Only after they had vanished completely did Li Huowang turn back to the others. "No one sleeps tonight.