Found

Bai Lingmiao was just about to move closer to the Second Spirit when Xiaoman grabbed her arm.

"Careful. Don't go."

Bai Lingmiao glanced at the Second Spirit at the edge of the forest, then pulled her hand free. "It's fine. I don't think there's any danger now."

Seeing her go over alone, the others grew uneasy and followed, raising their torches high.

When they reached the Second Spirit, they finally understood where the sounds had been coming from.

By the light of the flames, they saw a man thrashing and dancing like a madman in the woods.

"Mom, I'll eat it, really. You don't need to feed me. It's fine even with the IV in my hand."

Li Huowang, covered head to toe in dust, sat on the ground among the withered leaves, smiling at a spiderweb hanging from a tree branch.

In his hand, he held a long strip of stone, which he was chewing on. A constant crunch, crunch, crunch rang out. Blood filled his mouth, but he didn't stop.

"Mom, I swallowed it. I really did. I'm not a kid anymore. It's not like you need to worry about me being a picky eater. Heh heh."

"Whimper…" Mantou circled Li Huowang, its tail wagging nonstop. The whining sounds had been coming from the dog.

"Senior Brother Li!" Bai Lingmiao cried out, tears streaming down her face at the sight of his pitiful state.

She instinctively took a few steps forward, then forced herself to stop.

"Quick! Get some rope! Tie Senior Brother Li up! He'll be fine in a little while!"

When Li Huowang opened his eyes again, he didn't know how much time had passed. The first thing he saw was a familiar face streaked with tears.

He smiled a smile of utter exhaustion. "You came? How did you find me?"

Bai Lingmiao choked back a sob and pressed his head tightly against her chest with both hands, holding him there with all her strength.

She didn't say a word, but her deep emotion transmitted through the contact of their bodies.

A warmth spread through Li Huowang's chest. A feeling—almost foreign now—surged up inside him. Is this… joy? I haven't felt it in so long…

He patted her on the back, thought for a moment, then spoke vaguely. "I… I went to figure some things out. Took care of some problems. How did you all get here?"

Li Huowang didn't want the others to know what he had been through. He didn't want them to know what he had done before.

After a warm exchange, everyone gradually quieted down.

By the campfire on the dark forest path, Li Huowang gently sipped a bowl of hot soup. It warmed his stomach and cleared the taste of blood from his mouth.

The flesh inside his mouth was badly torn, but Li Huowang knew that kind of injury would heal quickly.

He gave Bai Lingmiao's smooth right hand a light squeeze, offering her comfort. "It's over. The trouble's done. We can keep going and head home."

Li Huowang looked at everyone gathered around him, saw the concern in their eyes.

He knew that in this world, there were still people who truly cared about him.

He clasped his hands in a salute to the others. "I've put you all through a lot. I, Li, thank you here."

He didn't bother specifying what for. Some things just needed to be remembered. Not everything had to be said out loud.

At that moment, Lü Zhuangyuan, who was sitting to the right of Danyangzi, spoke up, a fawning smile on his face. "Aiya, aiya, what kind of talk is that? It's only right, only right."

"Little Daoist, what happened just now? Did you run into some evil spirit? Why were you eating rocks? What kind of foul entity is that powerful?"

Li Huowang already knew from the others why the Lü troupe had come. Such small matters didn't bother him at all.

He shook his head, then pointed to his own head with a wry smile. "I've got a little problem upstairs. Don't worry, it's nothing serious."

At that moment, Gouwa, who was squatting beside Jiang Yingzi, chimed in, his eyes wide. "Senior Brother Li, are you really okay now? You're not going to crawl into someone else's belly and eat your way out again, are you?"

The moment the words left his mouth, Lü Zhuangyuan and his men looked like they'd seen a ghost. Zhao Wu jabbed Gouwa hard in the ribs and quickly tried to smooth things over.

"What kind of talk is that in front of outsiders? When has our Senior Brother Li ever eaten anyone? He was having an episode! He just imagined he was eating people!"

"Ah, right, right, right! Aiya, my pig brain. I keep mixing things up." Realizing his mistake, Gouwa quickly nodded and agreed.

It didn't do much to calm Lü Zhuangyuan, though. The smile on his face was frozen stiff. His youngest son looked even worse—he had started trembling.

"Enough. Stop acting. Some things, if you do them, you do them. No point in hiding it." Li Huowang cut through the pretense.

"Troupe Master Lü, an honest man doesn't beat around the bush. I've done plenty of rotten things in the past. I'm not going to make excuses. All I can say is that I wasn't in control."

"If you're worried it'll bring harm to your family, then we'll part on good terms. If you don't mind, you're welcome to stay as long as you like. We're friends. I, Li, will see to your safety."

"Aiya, aiya, what are you saying, Little Daoist? Do I look like that kind of fair-weather man? I trust your character. You must have had your reasons." Lü Zhuangyuan, his face creased with a smile, quickly picked up a bowl of hot soup.

"I'll take tea for wine and offer my apologies to the Little Daoist. Who said we're leaving? Anyone who says that is a bastard son of a turtle!"

Li Huowang raised his bowl, gave Lü Zhuangyuan a nod, and drank.

Whether the man left or stayed was a small concern to Li Huowang. What mattered now was what to do next.

He thought it over, then addressed everyone before him. "We've been delayed by all this too long. Fortunately, the problems are solved. Tomorrow, we'll set out again and leave Siqi."

As long as he got these people home safely, that would lift a great weight from his shoulders. Everything else would be much easier afterward.

"Senior Brother Li, we can't leave just yet," Bai Lingmiao said, passing along an unexpected piece of information. "The nun said if we found you, we should tell you to go back and report that you're safe."

"There's no need to make a special trip just to report that. I can write a letter and have the post station deliver it."

Since the problem was solved, there was no point in going back. Anci Nunnery wasn't far, but it wasn't close either.

"No, that's not it. The nun said you need to go back in person. It sounds like she has something to tell you face to face."

"Face to face?" Li Huowang frowned, thinking. "That doesn't sound like it's just about reporting in. Does the nun have some business?"

After considering it for a moment, Li Huowang handed his bowl to Bai Lingmiao.

"Alright, then I'll go back to Mount Heng Hua. It's a good chance to get a clearer picture of how things are in this world."

Ever since he'd ended up in this godforsaken place, he'd been chased the whole time. He'd never had a moment to sit down and figure out how this world actually worked.

How many factions were there? How far did their influence reach? What taboos should he be aware of when dealing with them?

If he was going to keep moving forward, he needed to understand all of this.