The Trouble

When all the funeral details were settled, Gouwa, who was quite satisfied with the price, emerged from the coffin shop. “All sorted. This one’s gonna be way better than last time, no contest.”

He squinted up at the blazing sun overhead and realized it was already noon, so he hurried back toward the inn.

“Right, the shopkeeper said he needs the deceased’s measurements for the burial clothes. Gotta get back and take them quick.”

When Gouwa reached his own room, he glanced through the window and saw that Gao Zhijian, who should have been badly injured, wasn’t lying in bed at all. His heart dropped. “Could it be…”

He rushed to Li Huowang’s room in three quick strides, and when he saw the other three all gathered around Li Huowang’s bed, he took a deep breath, fished a piece of turmeric from his pocket, wiped it under his eyes, and strode in with a face full of exaggerated grief.

“Brother Li! Oh, Brother Li!! Waaah…”

Still hamming it up, he shoved past Gao Zhijian and was about to throw himself at the bedside when he froze, startled, at the sight of Li Huowang lying there with his eyes open. “Oh… you’re not dead…”

Then his heart tightened. Trouble. Brother Li isn’t dead, so I can’t get my money back for the coffin.

“Gouwa, you’re hurt too?”

Li Huowang’s words snapped Gouwa back to reality. He quickly put on a nonchalant expression.

“Ah, this little scratch is nothing! You have no idea—back then, a bunch of those clay figures had me surrounded, and I didn’t even blink!”

“Don’t listen to his bullshit. If I hadn’t been watching his back, he’d have been chopped to pieces.”

Gouwa shot an unhappy look at Chun Xiaoman, who had just exposed him. But he didn’t dare say anything—he could never beat her, and now she was a whole head taller than him.

From his bed, Li Huowang turned his head to look at the transformed Chun Xiaoman beside him. The girl he remembered had fully grown into a woman. Even the thick black hair all over her body couldn’t hide her womanly charm.

But that wasn’t a good thing. It meant that during the fight with those clay邪祟, she had summoned the Wandering Lord many times, burning through years of her life.

“There was no need to summon that many Wandering Lords. Think before you act next time—four of them cost a year of your life,” Li Huowang advised her weakly.

“It’s fine. I’m young.” Chun Xiaoman didn’t seem at all upset about losing her lifespan. On the contrary, she seemed to like her new taller body.

“Cough, cough…” Li Huowang coughed up some bloody froth. After a pause, he said, “Miaomiao, pour out all the Lifespan Pills from my gourd and give them to her.”

Lifespan Pills could extend someone’s years, and they could restore Xiaoman’s youth.

“I really don’t need them!” Chun Xiaoman pressed a hand on Bai Lingmiao’s shoulder, a note of worry in her voice. “Brother Li, you should be worrying about yourself instead of me. What’s… what’s wrong with you?”

Hearing this, Li Huowang froze. He stared at the beam above his head, a bitter smile spreading across his haggard face. “What’s wrong with me?”

He thought about everything the double-pupiled Zuowandao had said. Of course, he didn’t believe that nonsense about being Red Center.

But if this was all a trick, then why had this person used the exact same method to deceive him as the previous six? That didn’t add up.

“Could it be… No. No, it can’t be! Everything that comes out of a Zuowandao’s mouth is a lie! They must have found some way to collude, the dead ones and the living ones! The dead and the living worked together to fool me!”

“Brother Li, stop thinking about other troublesome things. Your injuries are still serious. You need to rest.”

Bai Lingmiao picked up a rice-husk pillow and carefully placed it under Li Huowang’s neck to make him more comfortable.

The moment Li Huowang shook his head, a splitting pain shot through it. Gritting his teeth, he insisted, “I’m not tired. Tell me what happened after I passed out.”

The Zuowandao was dead, and those clay邪祟 were gone. There wasn’t really much to say about what happened after Li Huowang passed out—the others just cleaned up.

“Hey! What’s the point of all that useless talk? You’ve got no idea what Brother Li actually cares about.”

Gouwa, looking excited, hugged a bamboo basket and crouched by the bed, reporting to Li Huowang: “Brother Li, look! That liar’s everything is right here. I didn’t even leave the clothes on his back! It’s all ours now!”

When Gouwa lifted the lid, Li Huowang saw a Bagua mirror inside, along with bloodstained dominoes, mahjong tiles, and playing cards.

Seeing these things, Li Huowang relaxed a little. It wasn’t that he coveted them; it was that they reminded him of the Supervisory Heavenly Office’s test.

The Zuowandao was dead, and he was alive. He had passed the test. Now he could finally join the Supervisory Heavenly Office.

Once he was in, he’d have some backing. Whether it came to cultivation methods or anything else, he wouldn’t have to rely on blind guessing like Danyangzi.

And as long as he didn’t reveal his Heart-Element identity, no one would dare act against him rashly.

“Heh. So what if you take them? It’s not like you know how to use them.”

The contemptuous voice coming from behind Gouwa made Li Huowang’s eyes fly wide open.

Weak as he was, the sound of that voice seemed to summon strength from nowhere. He sat bolt upright, shoved Gouwa aside, and stared, trembling, at the hallucination in the distance.

Headless Peng Longteng gripping her halberd. Jin Shan Zhao, missing his lower half, mouth open in a voiceless cry. The helpless old monk. And finally, that faceless, eyeless Zuowandao!

The face, stripped of skin and flesh, stared back at him with two pitch-black hollows. Its lipless, bone-white teeth twisted into an exaggerated, hideous grin.

Seeing Li Huowang frozen in place, Chun Xiaoman exchanged a glance with Gao Zhijian. They both reached for Li Huowang’s arms.

But then, a tremendous force sent their arms flying away.

“Why are you here too?! Why?! What gives you the right to be one of my hallucinations?!” As Li Huowang screamed hysterically, blood began seeping from his stitched wounds.

Just as he was about to say something else, he suddenly staggered and fell, clutching his own throat.

“Cough! Hrk!” Li Huowang gagged. Wriggling black tentacles began to crawl up from his throat.

Panic spread through the others. “Quick! Pull them out!!”

But as they reached to help, Li Huowang, trembling, pushed their hands away.

Kneeling on the ground, he cupped the tentacles in his shaking hands as if they were precious treasures, and carefully shoved them back into his own mouth.

Under the stunned gazes of everyone around him, accompanied by the sound of retching, the Black Tai Sui was forced back down into his stomach.