The Shadow at the Window

Chapter 151 — Trouble

When he heard Yang Xiaohai’s voice, Li Huowang snapped back to the present. They were already on the edge of the small town.

Before him stood several stone bungalows. In front of them stretched a wide, open horse yard.

Camels, sheep, and horses were penned in separate enclosures. The pungent stench of livestock hit him in the face.

The people inside had apparently already noticed Li Huowang. As one, they turned to look at him.

From their clothing, it wasn’t hard to guess that this family made their living from this trade.

This also suggested, indirectly, that the young Daoist girl was different from Xiaoman—she hadn’t been sold. Her family was well-off.

Taking the cremation urn from Yang Xiaohai, Li Huowang drew a deep breath, adjusted his mindset, and walked toward them.

Seeing Li Huowang approach, a powerfully built man pushed past the horse beside him and stepped forward. “Buying livestock?”

“No. Delivering something.” Li Huowang sized him up. By age, he guessed this was the girl’s father.

The burly man clearly didn’t trust Li Huowang on sight, but when Yang Xiaohai spoke the Daoist girl’s name and gave some details about her, they finally believed him.

The news of their daughter’s death hit them like a thunderbolt. The whole family gathered around the cremation urn and wept openly.

Watching the heartbreaking scene, Li Huowang thought he would be infected by their grief. He wasn’t.

He had seen too many dead people. He was almost numb to it.

The old monk watching from the side had lost his smile. With a solemn expression, he walked over, pressed his palms together, and began to chant over the cremation urn.

“Amituofo… Amituofo… Amituofo…”

Because the girl’s father kept pressing him for details, by the time Li Huowang and the others returned to the inn, it was already very late.

“Come on. Meeting is fate. I’ll get you a private room, so you don’t have to sneak off and sleep in someone’s outhouse like before.”

“I have travel money.” The monk shook his robe, producing the jingle of copper coins knocking together. “And you’re lying. When did I ever sleep in someone else’s outhouse?”

Hearing this, Li Huowang relaxed a little. “Where are you headed? If we’re going the same way, you can travel with us from now on.”

In this wretched place, it wasn’t easy for a man like this to survive. If he could look out for him a bit, he would.

“As long as I can do good deeds, I can go anywhere. I’m not picky. I’ll talk about it tomorrow—I need to go now, or the communal dorm will close for the night.”

Li Huowang watched the monk’s retreating figure and smiled. Then he turned and walked into the inn.

The moment he stepped into the main hall, he saw Lü Zhuangyuan, his face red, arguing with one of his sons.

“Troupe Leader Lü, what’s going on?”

Lü Zhuangyuan shoved his son aside and gestured wildly in the air.

“Those Nuo opera dancers have no shame! They dared to say that my opera evolved from theirs—that their opera is the ancestor of our tradition!”

“Dad, drop it. Why are you arguing with them about this? This isn’t our turf.”

“Drop it? Drop other things, sure! But not this! If I don’t stand up for this, how can I face the Ancestor? We’re both lowly performers in the Ninth Class—did you think I’m afraid of them? Let go of me!”

Once Li Huowang understood that it was a quarrel between Lü Zhuangyuan and the Nuo opera group, he couldn’t be bothered to get involved. He turned and headed for his room.

“Miaomiao. Do you remember that old monk? He—” Li Huowang’s words died in his throat the moment he entered.

Bai Lingmiao was clearly exhausted. She had washed up and was lying on the bed, already fast asleep.

He walked to the bedside and gently touched her face.

Feeling his presence, a half-asleep Bai Lingmiao instinctively wrapped her arms around him.

Seeing her like this, he held back what he wanted to share.

He blew out the oil lamp, lay down, and stared blankly at the ceiling beam.

“Phew… finally had a few peaceful days.”

Li Huowang wasn’t all that greedy. He just wanted to keep this kind of life going quietly.

“Except… for those two.” He tilted his head slightly to look at Jiang Yingzi and Danyangzi.

In the quiet bedroom, the two masses of something were still in the corner, their faces wearing that same half-smile.

“Hm?” Li Huowang sat up in surprise. He suddenly realized he could see in the dark.

“My perception… it’s getting stronger.” He murmured the words, uncertain whether this was good news or bad.

“Brother Li…?” Seeing that Bai Lingmiao was about to wake, Li Huowang quickly patted her gently. “Sleep… sleep…”

He closed his own eyes.

Maybe because of years of constant travel, Li Huowang fell asleep almost immediately. For once, he didn’t dream.

But in the middle of his slumber, his whole body tensed. He sensed something approaching.

The next moment, a sharp pain in his finger jolted him fully awake.

He raised his hand instinctively and saw that the skin was split open, the flesh ragged and bloody.

The location, the animal-like shape of the wound—he understood at once. Bai Lingmiao’s Second Spirit had bitten him!

He looked left and right, but couldn’t find the woman in the red bridal veil anywhere.

Then he dropped his gaze. Three pairs of shoes were placed by the bed. His, Bai Lingmiao’s… and between them, a pair of red embroidered shoes.

Even as Li Huowang watched, the embroidered shoes slowly slid back under the bed.

He glanced at Bai Lingmiao, still asleep. Frowning, he lowered his voice toward the under-bed shadows. “What are you doing?”

“Something’s here…” A faint, numbing woman’s voice whispered directly into his ear.

Li Huowang’s hand shot under the pillow and gripped his sword. He held his breath, reaching out with his senses to the space outside the room.

His perception was very sharp now. In theory, if someone had actually come, he should have noticed. But he sensed nothing unusual.

Just as he was starting to think the Second Spirit was messing with him, a sound came from outside the window. Clear, metallic clicks.

Tap!

A shadow-puppet silhouette suddenly pressed itself against the wall.

It was hard to say what kind of thing that puppet was supposed to represent. It looked like a spider overall, but with the face of an old man from a New Year painting.

Six hooked arms and solid, tentacle-like appendages covered in intricate patterns slid in and out of its body.

Whatever this thing was, it skittered rapidly across the window behind Li Huowang.

“Heh. A Heart-Element? And one from the Ao-Jing Sect. That’s rare.”

The moment he heard those words, Li Huowang gripped his sword, rolled off the bed, and scrambled to his feet.