On the Road

Chapter 113: On the Road

“Heavenly Scripture, Daoist bell, gourd.” Inside the Anci Nunnery, Li Huowang inventoried the items he had left with the nuns for safekeeping.

Since he was going to seek out the Ao-Jing Sect, he couldn’t leave these things—or the suicide letter—behind anymore. He might need them on the road.

At this very moment, it felt like a dream to Li Huowang. There was actually a way to deal with Danyangzi, even if that way was likely very slim.

Just as he was about to gather his things and leave, Li Huowang noticed some changes to his possessions.

“These… are these teeth marks?” Li Huowang rubbed a corner of the Heavenly Scripture, looking at Miao Xin beside him with confusion.

The fat nun, who had been wolfing down food, immediately looked up at the roof beams with a guilty expression.

“Master Miao Xin, you even left teeth marks in it. Did you figure out what this Heavenly Scripture is? Honestly, if you helped me understand it, I’d thank you.”

“No, I didn’t bite it. Those marks were already there. Our Anci Nunnery has helped you so much, don’t go falsely accusing good people.”

Looking at her clumsy attempt at lying, Li Huowang shook his head helplessly.

He then picked up the gourd and shook it. It was empty. The Yang life pellet inside was gone. Li Huowang glanced over at the fat nun again.

She was now burying her face in the food, eating ravenously.

For some reason, even though he’d been robbed, Li Huowang wasn’t surprised at all.

He should have known better than to leave things in the care of these greedy nuns. He should have seen this outcome coming.

Li Huowang slung the three items over his shoulder, a trace of resignation on his face as he patted the fat nun’s greasy flesh.

“Master Miao Xin, I hope we meet again someday.”

With that, he turned and walked toward the entrance. Just as he reached the door, he suddenly stopped and looked back at the nun behind him.

The moment he turned, he saw the nun, who had been peeking at him, shove her head back into the food.

As Li Huowang slowly walked back to her and was about to speak, Miao Gu spoke first, her tone utterly frank.

“I ate it. It didn’t taste good. If you’ve got a problem, go tell the Venerable Abbess on me!”

Seeing the nun’s defiant attitude—a dead pig not fearing scalding water—Li Huowang smiled.

“Don’t think I’m so petty. I came back to ask you something. Do you know about the Ao-Jing Sect?”

Chewing the food residue in her mouth, Miao Xin’s expression turned a bit puzzled.

“Didn’t I already tell you the Ao-Jing Sect’s Nestorian temples are all in the western mountains? I told you exactly which area they’re in. Just go find them yourself, won’t you?”

Li Huowang shook his head. “I’m not asking about the location. I’m asking you what kind of sect the Ao-Jing Sect is. What’s their background? What kind of people are they?”

Upon hearing this, the round-faced Miao Yin scrunched up her features, looking like a steamed bun.

“You have the Thousand Greats Record, and you don’t even know what those guys are? Put simply, they’re a bunch of freaks.”

“Freaks? Freakier than you? Hahaha.” Li Huowang couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Miao Xin looked a bit displeased. “I’m not joking with you! Those guys are really strange. You’ve used the Thousand Greats Record, so you should know a thing or two about their cultivation method.”

“These guys don’t meditate or chant sutras. They don’t train in techniques like other people. They like to torture themselves, saying it pleases their Gu God.”

“Gu God? Not Bashe? Or does that thing have two names?” Li Huowang was surprised by the name she used for their deity.

“Whatever they call it, those guys like to wear tall hats and big robes. It’s all to hide the wounds on their bodies. Last time I saw a guy who didn’t even have any skin left.”

“Even if the Venerable Abbess gave you a letter of safe-conduct, they might not respect her authority. Be careful. There’s bad blood between us.”

Li Huowang had just been asking casually, but he didn’t expect to actually get some details.

“What bad blood?”

“It’s all because of the Venerable Abbess’ son. They like to capture Heart-Elements too—for what, nobody knows. Anyway, after the Venerable Abbess’ son was snatched back, he went completely insane.”

After saying this, Miao Xin looked Li Huowang up and down, shaking her head and clucking her tongue with pity.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. I almost forgot for a second. You’re a Heart-Element, aren’t you? Going there will be dangerous for you.”

“Senior Sister, do you think I want this? The problem is, do I have a choice?”

Li Huowang said this with a hint of feeling, then turned and walked toward the nunnery’s main gate.

After Li Huowang left, Miao Yin sat there, continuing to eat ravenously, muttering to herself as she ate.

“When he was writing that suicide letter, I could see his heart was full of the will to die. So how did he change so quickly, now rushing off to find the Ao-Jing Sect? Did one of you pluck his heartstrings?”

“I can’t be bothered to pluck a Heart-Element’s strings. I’d drive myself crazy. I bet it was Venerable Abbess Jingxin who did something.”

“Oh~ I see.” Various different voices rose and fell inside Miao Xin’s head.

His swollen cheeks puffing out, Lü Zhuangyuan led the Lü Family Troupe along the road. ‘Disheveled and dirty’ wasn’t enough to describe their current state; ‘tattered’ was more like it. Everyone’s face was grim.

Lü Zhuangyuan’s wife, on the ox cart, was sobbing loudly as she clung to her daughter, bent over a wooden trunk.

A polished, glistening tobacco pipe cut a sharp arc through the air.

“Cry! That’s all you know how to do! How many days have you been crying? I told you to wipe soot on your face, but you didn’t! Those soldiers took all my silver! Did I cry? Huh? Does my silver mean less to me than your purity?”

“Father, I beg you, please stop!” Lü Juren’s eyes were red, his face full of suppressed anger, looking like he had nowhere to vent his frustration.

Seeing his son’s appearance, Lü Zhuangyuan let out a deep sigh.

“Relax, they didn’t get all the money. Your old man here might not know much, but I know how to hide money. Those soldiers only managed to find two of my stashes. They missed the other three.”

As he spoke, Lü Zhuangyuan took out a copper key from his waist and opened the large wooden chest on the cart.

His calloused hands fumbled around for a moment before pulling out several silver pieces of various sizes from a hidden compartment.

He picked out a piece of broken silver about the size of a soybean, and with a look of reluctance, threw it onto his daughter-in-law’s body.

“Our Lü family has treated you unfairly. Take this. When we get to the market town, buy whatever you want.”

Luo Juan, who had been crying from grievance just a moment ago, immediately beamed when she touched the silver. She carefully tucked it into her small embroidered purse.

“It’s not for me to use. I’m saving it for Xiu’er’s dowry.”

Lü Zhuangyuan saw this but said nothing. His daughter-in-law always put on this act whenever she felt wronged, refusing to let it go until she had gotten something out of it. He was already used to it by now.