The Market

Hearing Li Huowang’s answer, the forked tongue slowly retracted into the gaping maw beneath the red bridal veil. The sharp-fanged mouth curled up slightly into a faint smile.

The Second Spirit, still lying on the bed, leaned a little closer toward Li Huowang, who was holding Bai Lingmiao.

The three of them on the bed said nothing more. The room finally fell silent.

Li Huowang overslept again the next day, predictably. At least no one was chasing them now.

“Senior Brother Li, here.” A bowl of milky-white liquid was placed in front of the incapacitated Li Huowang.

“What’s this?” He noticed some white chunks floating inside.

“Goat milk soaked in curd. Baolu said that in Qingqiu, drinking goat milk helps the injured heal faster.”

Li Huowang took a large gulp. It wasn’t good or bad—just unfamiliar. He wasn’t picky about food and drink, as long as it wasn’t too salty or spicy.

After he finished, Bai Lingmiao picked up a cloth and gently wiped the milky mustache from his lips.

“Is Sun Baolu’s food preparation done?”

“He went out early this morning. He said the sheep at that stall looked sickly, so he wanted to check a few others.”

“What? Sheep? I told him to buy grain. What does he need sheep for?”

Bai Lingmiao laughed. “I asked him the same thing. He said that in Qingqiu, live sheep are grain. You can drink the milk and eat the meat, dried sheep dung can be used as fuel, and the sheep can walk on its own—it’s much more convenient than carrying dry rations.”

“Ah… alright then.” For matters like this, Li Huowang decided to trust the local.

Putting the bowl down, Bai Lingmiao gently cradled his calf in her arms, pulled up his pant leg, and carefully examined the healing of his severed limb.

“Senior Brother Li, look—it’s already grown to the ankle. In a few more days, it’ll be fully healed.” Seeing his body improve, joy radiated from her, inside and out.

Staring at her delicate face, Li Huowang froze. He couldn’t help but recall everything that had happened the previous night.

“Miaomiao… is there anything you’re keeping from me lately?”

“Hm? What’s wrong? No, nothing.” She tilted her head, puzzled.

Whether she knew or not, Li Huowang decided to be direct. “I mean about the Second Spirit.”

“Has she influenced you? Or have those immortals threatened you?”

“No, why would she threaten me? Our lives are linked. If I die, she dies too.”

“Is that so?” Li Huowang studied her thoughtfully. “Remember, I’m right here. If anything happens, come to me. You understand?”

Bai Lingmiao nodded. Then, with a hint of hesitation, she asked, “Senior Brother Li… since there’s nothing urgent today… could we go out for a walk?”

“A walk? Why?”

“Just to have some fun. I’ve never been to Qingqiu before. When we came in yesterday, it looked so lively outside.” A rare flicker of slyness crossed her face.

Li Huowang looked at her anew. For a moment, her image overlapped with Yang Na, back when they had gone to the movies together.

He suddenly realized that the girl before him wasn’t very old. She wanted to relax, too.

She had always been so understanding that he had almost forgotten she was still just a young woman.

A pang of guilt hit him. He had never considered this.

“Alright, let’s go. We’ll have fun all day today.” He grabbed his crutch, and with her support, limped out of the shabby inn.

The moment they stepped outside, the sun hit Bai Lingmiao’s face. She squinted, her pink eyes narrowing. “The sun is so strong today.”

Li Huowang quickly untied the white silk ribbon from around her wrist and covered her eyes. “No, you have to keep it on. Otherwise, it’ll hurt your eyes too much.”

“But… then I can’t see.” Her mood sank. Today was supposed to be special.

“Then hold onto me. I’ll tell you what I see. How about that?”

“Hmm… okay!” A smile bloomed on her face as she grabbed the hem of his clothes with both hands.

“Miaomiao, there’s someone up ahead selling lamb cubs. Here, reach out and feel one.”

Bai Lingmiao stretched out her hand and touched a fuzzy little head. A sheep’s tongue licked her palm, startling her so much she yanked her hand back.

After a moment, she tentatively reached out again.

“Come on, let’s keep walking.”

One-eyed, one-legged, Li Huowang hobbled along with his crutch, slowly leading the blindfolded Bai Lingmiao through the market.

Through his descriptions, she gradually pieced together a picture of the bustling market. She was genuinely happy.

Even though she couldn’t see anything, she could still feel that Senior Brother Li cared about her, that he was accompanying her.

Suddenly, Li Huowang stopped. Bai Lingmiao bumped into his back. “Senior Brother Li? Why did you stop? What do you see?”

“Oh, there’s a group of street performers up ahead. They’re spewing fire. The flames shooting up so high they set one guy’s hair on fire. He’s hopping around like crazy.”

The scene he described made Bai Lingmiao giggle uncontrollably. She almost lifted the ribbon to sneak a peek, but Li Huowang stopped her.

“And that one—he’s amazing too. He swallows swords. Three of them, straight down his throat, without even blinking.”

Li Huowang’s face wore a smile as broad as Bai Lingmiao’s as he continued translating the scene before them: row after row of people chained together.

Those ragged slaves stared with hollow, utterly numb eyes.

Clearly, Qingqiu’s specialties weren’t just green noodles and tent-inns. Its dark side was different, too—they were selling people.

“Beside the performers, there’s a monkey show. That monkey is so clever—it’s whipping its owner with a whip.” Li Huowang looked at a headless corpse and continued his narration.

“Quick—the monkey’s running toward us. We need to go.”

Hobbling, he led the blind Bai Lingmiao away from the spot.

He kept walking with her. He thought he’d already seen enough, but soon, on a raised platform in the market, he spotted a dead man—one being disemboweled with a dagger.

“Senior Brother Li, what’s over here?”

“Over here… some people are wrestling. The fat guy is huge. He must weigh twice as much as you.”

“Senior Brother Li, I’m not that fat!” She shyly tapped his arm.

“My mistake. Let me rephrase. That wrestler weighs four times as much as you.”

Li Huowang suddenly looked up. Something had blotted out the sky.

Vultures. Dozens of pitch-black vultures dove down, blanketing the corpse. They tore at it ferociously.

The vultures were many, but the meat was scarce. Their fight was violent. When they had eaten their fill and scattered like flies, only scattered bones and hair remained on the ground.

Someone who had been waiting nearby walked over with a small hammer and began gently tapping the leftover bones.

When they were shaped to his liking, he decorated his hair and clothes with them.

Li Huowang suddenly understood where the bone ornaments on these Qingqiu locals came from.

“Senior Brother Li? What do you see? Tell me!” Bai Lingmiao tugged at his clothes, pressing him.

“Tap tap tap—” At that moment, Mantou trotted through the crowd on its little hooves, stopping in front of Li Huowang.

It dropped half a human skull at his feet, wagged its tail, and sat there panting.