The Lü Family Troupe

Chapter 28 The Lü Family Troupe

“Ah! There’s nothing to be afraid of, really. As long as you travel in a big enough group, you’ll be fine,” Lü Zhuangyuan said to Li Huowang, sharing his experience.

“Oh? More people means stronger yang energy, so those things won’t dare to act?”

“Not at all!” Lü Zhuangyuan refilled his pipe and took another puff. “How many people can it eat, anyway? If you really run into one, isn’t it enough to just run faster than the next guy? You’d be better off worrying about bandits who’ll slit your throat for silver, or tigers in the woods that’ll eat you whole.”

Li Huowang wasn’t sure how to respond. It seemed the two of them had trouble finding common ground.

“Come, come, the buns are done. Eat them while they’re hot.” Luo Juan handed over a few skewers of white steamed buns, roasted until golden-brown.

Li Huowang took them and passed them to the youngsters beside him. They were the ones he’d picked up along the way.

The moment they realized they could leave Qingfeng Temple, these fools had charged out without a second thought for the future.

By the time Li Huowang had caught up with them on the road, they were nearly fainting from hunger.

Having been fellow disciples, he couldn’t just stand by and watch them starve, so he’d brought them along.

Seeing hot food, the others didn’t stand on ceremony. They were hungry, it was late, and they grabbed the buns, taking big bites.

Watching that big oaf down one bun after another, Lü Zhuangyuan’s eye twitched. These were fine white-flour buns, the kind he begrudged eating himself. He should have just kept his mouth shut instead of being so generous.

Just then, Li Huowang’s question made him forget his stinginess. “Old sir, do you have a map? To be honest, we’re not from around here. We’re a bit lost in these woods, and we don’t even know where we are.”

It was true. Li Huowang had been lost before. Everywhere he looked, it was the same forest. He couldn’t confirm their location, and asking the others got him nothing.

They came from all over the place. They could talk for hours about where home was, but ask them where they were now, and none of them could say.

To throw people off the scent, it seemed Danyangzi hadn’t been gathering his ‘medicine ingredients’ from nearby areas.

“What? A map? Don’t have one. But I know all these roads. Tell me where you’re going!”

“Alright. I have quite a few places. See which one’s the closest,” Li Huowang said, pulling a thick stack of paper slips from his sleeve.

“What’s this? What’s it say?” Lü Zhuangyuan held the slips at arm’s length, his wrinkled face bunching up as he squinted.

Though his name was ‘Zhuangyuan’—the top scholar—if he had really passed the imperial exams, he wouldn’t be out here singing opera for a living.

Lü Zhuangyuan could read, but not well. With Li Huowang’s help translating, he finally understood all the addresses on the slips.

He was an old troupe leader who’d traveled far and wide. Putting other matters aside, he knew his geography well.

But knowing where these places were didn’t mean Li Huowang could get there easily.

“Well, well. How come even Liang is on here? Weren’t they at war with our Qi a few years back?”

Lü Zhuangyuan crouched down and used the head of his pipe to scratch a crude map into the dirt before Li Huowang.

If he had to describe the map in one sentence, it was like a flatbread dropped on the ground, smashed into a hundred pieces.

Right now, their position was in the top-left corner of the flatbread. Moving from left to right, various kingdoms, large and small, were scattered and intertwined.

This looks a bit like the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, Li Huowang thought to himself, looking at the map in the dirt. There’s no unified empire.

He hadn’t been holding out any hope, but seeing this map confirmed it: he really hadn’t traveled back in time to some ancient dynasty. He was in something far stranger.

“Old-timer here, I only run my shows up in this northern part of the territory. I know this area well, but once you cross the border, I can’t tell one kingdom from another. I’ve heard their operas sound different from ours.”

Hearing this, Bai Lingmiao’s heart tightened. Her home was at Niuxin Mountain in Liang. It sounded like she was very, very far from home.

Li Huowang caught her unease and gave her a steadying look. “Don’t panic.”

Lü Zhuangyuan sized up the bizarre group of a dozen or so people before him. The fear that had been pressing down on his wits had faded, and his thoughts were beginning to stir again.

“Say, young Daoist sir, look. On one of your slips, there’s a Jianye Town. Our Lü family troupe is headed that way anyway!”

“Hehe, how about we travel together?”

“Jianye Town? Whose home is that?” Li Huowang rummaged through the slips.

“Senior Brother Li, my family is in Jianye Town,” Zhao Wu suddenly spoke up.

“There are escort agencies in town, too. If you pay them silver, they can deliver those letters for you down to Nanping.”

Hearing this, Li Huowang didn’t hesitate. He shoved the papers back into his chest. “Alright then, old sir. We’ll be relying on your guidance for the road. Let’s travel to Jianye together.”

Relying solely on this old troupe leader’s word—whether about the map or anything else—was hardly convincing.

But whether he was looking for the Black Tai Sui to suppress his hallucinations, or delivering letters for others, he needed to get to a place where information flowed, like a town. Besides, their food was almost gone.

And if he could, Li Huowang also wanted to find one of these so-called ‘Righteous and Orthodox Sects.’

In a place this dangerous, having no power just wouldn’t do. Anyone could trample over you. He didn’t want to be dragged off by another Danyangzi on a whim.

Lü Zhuangyuan grinned, waving his hand hastily. “No, no, you’re too kind. Think nothing of it, think nothing of it.”

On the surface, he was modest, but inside, Lü Zhuangyuan was overjoyed. Having such a powerful expert as a traveling companion was like having a free personal bodyguard!

This one trip alone would be enough to earn back the cost of those white-flour buns and those five salted duck eggs.

“Haah~” The fool let out a big yawn, his belly full, ready to sleep.

Seeing the glazed look in everyone else’s eyes, Lü Zhuangyuan tactfully stood up. “Well, look at the time. We’ve been chatting until the second watch. Young Daoist, you and your people get some rest. I’ll take the first watch.”

“No need. I’ll take the watch tonight,” Li Huowang said. It wasn’t just politeness. Trust, but verify.

After all the trouble, everyone was tired. The two groups, each with their own goals, drifted off to sleep around the warm campfire. Li Huowang and Lü Zhuangyuan sat alone in silence.

Early the next morning, Li Huowang was woken by Gouwa, who had taken the second watch. “Senior Brother Li, the opera troupe is packing up.”

“Let’s go, everyone. We’re moving out,” Li Huowang said, standing up with the longsword and the stone slab on his back. He led the others, falling in step with the troupe.

At first, both groups were somewhat awkward. No one spoke. They stole glances at each other, whispering to their own companions.

This didn’t include Li Huowang and Lü Zhuangyuan, who were leading the way. They chatted amiably the entire journey.

Li Huowang wanted to get as much information about this world as possible from Lü Zhuangyuan, and Lü Zhuangyuan wanted to get closer to the powerful expert. Flattery costs nothing, so a few more words wouldn’t hurt.

“Aiya, ah, young Daoist sir! To be so formidable at such a tender age… your future achievements will know no bounds! Hahaha!”

(End of this chapter)