The Heart-Element’s Price

“Hahaha!!” Hongzhong’s laughter echoed around Li Huowang. “A Heart-Element!! Li Huowang, hahaha!!”

Li Huowang sat there gripping his cup, stunned. He looked at the half-corpse in Tuoba Danqing’s hand, at the dead head and the organs still dangling beneath it.

After a long pause, Li Huowang’s eyes slowly widened as the expression of shock crept onto his face. “So this is what a Heart-Element really is…”

Beneath the table, his fists were clenched so tight they trembled, but nothing showed on his face.

Tuoba Danqing, already tipsy, was satisfied with Li Huowang’s reaction. “Well? Never seen one before, have you? Tell you the truth, little brother, even I’ve only ever laid eyes on a live one for the first time this trip!”

Li Huowang’s hand shook as he reached out, the tip of his finger brushing lightly against the Heart-Element’s face.

It was a middle-aged man with a square face, maybe forty years old, full beard.

By looks alone, it was an utterly ordinary face. But every feature on it was twisted into an extreme grimace, the bitterness and despair frozen in place alongside death.

Li Huowang was all too familiar with physical and mental agony. He knew that a face like that could only belong to someone who died in terrible pain. This man—whose identity was the same as Li Huowang’s own—had suffered horribly in the end.

“Alright, alright, that’s enough. A single touch is already pushing it. Technically someone at your level has no right to see a treasure like this. Allowing you a look is already an exception. This is a celestial treasure bound for the imperial treasury.”

Like a puppet, Li Huowang mechanically raised his arm, poured the wine into his mouth, and let his posture slowly relax. “Brother Tuoba, why is the Heart-Element only a head and internal organs?”

This question seemed to hit a sore spot. Tuoba Danqing slapped the table in frustration.

“Damn it! Originally I was aiming for a live capture. Live Heart-Elements are far more useful than dead ones. But guess what? Just as the Chief Recorder and I were nearing the border, someone else snatched it from under us! We fought tooth and nail and only managed to salvage this much. What a damn waste.”

Li Huowang nodded. The haze of drunkenness slowly masked the shock on his face. “A pity indeed, Brother Tuoba. If only the Heart-Element had been taken alive. I’ve heard the bewilderment inside a Heart-Element’s mind is quite useful.”

Tuoba Danqing continued showing off. “That’s not even the half of it! The flesh of a Heart-Element is also a fine treasure! Little Brother Er, the bones and meat, the heart and liver—every part is a rare ingredient!”

“Let me tell you, the Chief Recorder has a powerful magical tool forged from a Heart-Element’s ‘fortune.’ It can plunge another’s divine sense into confusion before they can react. I heard someone offered two hundred years of yang-life for it, and he still wouldn’t sell!”

“Fortune?”

“Fortune is the tongue. The tongue is fortune. Can’t even understand these refined euphemisms? Little Brother Er, you still have a lot to learn.”

“I’ve only ever heard of Heart-Elements before, never seen one. I had no idea there were so many intricacies involved. Brother Tuoba truly has broadened my horizons.” Li Huowang raised his cup to toast him.

“See? Keep following me out on trips, and you’ll broaden them a lot more. Come on, drink up!” With that, Tuoba Danqing casually stuffed the Heart-Element back into his cloth sack and continued drinking.

They drank from the second watch straight through until dawn, until Tuoba Danqing finally dozed off, and the feast ended.

Li Huowang helped the mumbling Official Tuoba to the guest room and eased him onto the bed. Then he picked up the yellow cloth sack containing the Heart-Element, weighed it in his hand, and placed it beside the ceramic pillow on the left.

A creaking sound marked the door closing. The moment it shut, Tuoba Danqing—who had been snoring with his mouth hanging open—abruptly opened his eyes. The drowsiness was gone from them entirely.

Propping his head up, he glanced once toward the door, then reached over and patted the yellow cloth sack beside the pillow. A look of approval spread across his face. “Not bad. This kid saw a Heart-Element and didn’t show a shred of greed in his eyes. The person Hong Da brought in this time is far more reliable than the last batch.”

Li Huowang stumbled through the streets, swaying with the weight of wine, a large bundle in one hand and the two swords on his back.

Under the light of the morning sun, his face revealed nothing—neither sorrow nor joy. He simply walked in silence.

The passersby wrinkled their noses at the pungent smell of alcohol wafting from him. One look at his odd clothes and the swords on his back, and they stepped aside.

“Where’s this drunkard come from? Hitting the bottle this early in the morning?”

“Exactly. Young people these days, they get worse and worse.”

Accompanied by these murmurs, Li Huowang made his way back to his inn. As soon as he pushed the door open, Bai Lingmiao, who had been pacing the room anxiously, rushed up to him.

“Senior Brother Li! Why didn’t you say a word before leaving? You scared me to death! Have you been drinking?”

Li Huowang opened the bundle in his hands, revealing a stack of bamboo food containers inside. “Went out for dinner with someone last night. Have everyone try some. I packed them up. This stuff is expensive—a real treat.”

He flopped straight onto the bed and let out a long, deep sigh.

Seeing that Li Huowang was in low spirits, Bai Lingmiao forgot all about the food. She sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at his back. “Senior Brother Li, what’s wrong?”

Li Huowang sighed again, even heavier than before. “Nothing. Just that things aren’t turning out the way I thought. Miao Miao, I’ve suddenly realized that in this hellish place, nothing is reliable. Lean on a mountain, the mountain crumbles. Lean on the water, the water dries up. Everything comes down to yourself.”

As he said this, the image of that twisted face came back to him. Besides Abbess Jingxin’s son, this was the third Heart-Element Li Huowang had ever seen. One that had been torn and ripped apart by people fighting over it.

Seeing that face, Li Huowang understood in an instant. This powerful and populous organization called the Supervisory Heavenly Office was not his ally. It never could be. On the contrary, at any moment, they could become his enemy.

Thinking he could fully pledge himself to the Office and eventually carve out a foothold in this dangerous world was nothing but wishful thinking.

These dangerous people could only be exploited from a distance—never approached with goodwill.

The moment he lifted his mask, a drinking buddy from one second ago could tie him up and sell him the next.

He was a Heart-Element. That was his original sin. As long as this identity clung to him, he would always be that piece of Tang Monk’s flesh that everyone wanted a bite of.

Bai Lingmiao seemed to sense the heavy gloom pressing down on Li Huowang. She leaned over, reached out, and gently stroked his back, over and over, wanting to ease his burden.

“Senior Brother Li, don’t worry. No matter what, you still have us.”