Baolu’s Fix

When Li Huowang woke again, it was already the afternoon of the next day. The long, uninterrupted sleep had left him feeling strangely full of energy for the first time in a while.

After washing up and dressing neatly, he walked toward the tent flap. “Senior Li, where are you going?”

Li Huowang turned to look at Bai Lingmiao, who was mending clothes. “I’m going to say goodbye to Sun Baolu. Since things are finished, it’s about time we left.”

The Black Tai Sui had been found. Han Fu’s Nascent Soul had been dealt with. There was no reason to stay any longer. It was time to leave Qingqiu.

After asking around the nearby tents, Li Huowang finally found Sun Baolu on the grasslands at the edge of the camp. He was riding a horse, flying a kite with his childhood sweetheart from Qingqiu. His bright, carefree laughter carried across the distance.

When he saw Li Huowang approaching, he quickly stuffed the kite string into his beloved’s hands, stepped onto the stirrup, and swung himself down from the galloping horse.

“Senior Li, you were looking for me?” Baolu panted as he walked up to Li Huowang.

Li Huowang took a fresh look at the young man before him. “I’ve lingered long enough. I’m leaving tomorrow.”

“So soon?” A strong reluctance filled Sun Baolu’s face.

They had shared so many hardships together over such a long time. To claim there was no feeling between them would be a lie. Especially since the other had traveled so far to bring him home. And even more precious — he had never been shunned for what he had become.

“Senior Li, stay a few more days,” Baolu said. “Everyone’s been happy.”

“What difference does a few more days make? Can I stay here forever? Slaughtering sheep and cattle every day — don’t you have a household to run?”

“It’s fine! Sheep are cheap in Qingqiu! Easier to raise than anywhere else! When we run out, I’ll just buy some lean ones and lambs from Woman Mountain. Before long, we’ll have a big flock again!”

A faint smile touched Li Huowang’s lips. “Alright, no time for idle chat. Let’s talk business. What we saw in that cave that night — don’t spread it around.”

“Especially about the Lion-Masks. Treat them exactly as you did before. Act as if you never discovered they were a bunch of monsters.”

If the Lion-Masks could exist so openly in Qingqiu, then no matter what the Great Khan of Qingqiu thought, he had to be tacitly permitting their presence on the streets.

Perhaps this group of monsters living in the underground caverns were the orthodox sect of Qingqiu.

Offending them would be unwise. If he didn’t want Sun Baolu to bring trouble on himself, the best course was to simply not provoke them.

Seeing how serious Li Huowang was, Baolu nodded earnestly. “Alright, Senior Li. I understand.”

Having said his piece, Li Huowang sized up the young man again. “Does your woman know about your condition?”

At that, the bright smile on Sun Baolu’s face froze. He nodded with some bitterness. “She knows. It’s fine. She doesn’t mind.”

“Alright. Come with me.” Li Huowang turned and walked back toward the tents. Baolu was momentarily puzzled, but then something seemed to dawn on him, and his expression became intensely excited.

“Gouwa! Where the hell are you? Get out here!” Li Huowang’s shout echoed across the tents.

Half an hour later, inside a tent, Li Huowang held the white tassel tool, carefully shifting Sun Baolu’s various organs.

Suddenly, the tent flap was thrown open. Sun Baolu’s mother burst in, followed by a crowd of Qingqiu people.

When they saw Sun Baolu’s naked, grotesquely rearranged body on the bed, gasps and sharp intakes of breath rippled through the crowd.

Li Huowang glanced at them, then slowly pushed with both hands, moving Baolu’s buttocks from the front back to where they belonged.

Beside him, the assistant Gouwa carefully moved Baolu’s urinating organ from under his armpit to its proper place.

Gradually, the tent fell silent. Everyone stared wide-eyed at what was happening. Several began to look at Li Huowang with something approaching awe.

Sun Baolu was not Li Huowang. He couldn’t just cut himself back into shape with a knife. The result was inevitably a bit crooked.

But even so, his joy was uncontrollable. He jumped around in sheer ecstasy.

Even crooked, these things had finally returned to where they were supposed to be. He was not a monster!

The shameful defect that had plagued him for over a decade had finally, at this moment, disappeared.

When he tried to kowtow to Li Huowang, the man stopped him. Still naked, Baolu ran around the tent, arms outstretched. “I’m fixed! I’m fixed! I’m not a monster! I’m a human!!”

That night, another great feast was inevitably thrown. The crowd feasted on lamb and drank wine and mead, celebrating Sun Baolu’s return to normalcy.

Sun Baolu’s parents raised their cups together and toasted Li Huowang. Every other Qingqiu person who approached him did so with utmost respect, not daring to be the slightest bit negligent.

They had speculated before that this man carrying two swords was no ordinary person. But seeing it with their own eyes was another thing entirely. For a time, all sorts of rumors spread wildly among the Qingqiu people.

“Senior Li, this place is great. Why don’t we just stay?” Gouwa, gnawing on a lamb leg, scooted over and whispered his suggestion.

“Just eat your meat. If food can’t shut your mouth, I’m not stopping you if you want to stay.” Li Huowang picked up a piece of fatty, sizzling mutton and stuffed it into his own mouth.

Hearing this, Gouwa seemed genuinely tempted. He began to mull it over.

A large hand suddenly landed on his shoulder — it was Gao Zhijian. Gouwa turned to see a very serious expression on his face. “Don’t… don’t… don’t stay. Th-this place… has… has a problem…”

“What problem? Baolu was born and raised here. What problem could there be?”

Gao Zhijian stared grimly at his fellow disciples, who were eating beef and mutton with gusto, watching their throats bob as they pushed the heavily spiced meat down. “I-I don’t… don’t know. It’s just… it just feels… wrong!”

“You can’t even finish a sentence and you’re worried about convincing others? If you have that much energy, practice your speech and fix your stutter first.”

When he saw Li Huowang looking his way, Gao Zhijian scratched the back of his head with his big hand, returned to his seat, picked up his cup of ant-honey mead, and downed it in one gulp.

Since it was their last night, they made a racket until late. By the time Li Huowang and the others had sobered up and loaded everything onto the oxcarts, it was already noon.

The writhing Black Tai Sui was tightly bound to one cart with thick cowhide and ox sinew.

“Senior Li, until we meet again!” Sun Baolu, his eyes a little red, gave Li Huowang a heavy embrace.

“Better if we never do. I always get the feeling meeting me wasn’t a good omen for you.”

Li Huowang patted him on the back, then turned and led the others away.