Impermanence

A long, massive face, several chi in length, with a blood-red tongue dangling a full two or three chi from its mouth.

Below that horrifying visage was a hunched body over three zhang tall. It was a twisted, colossal White Wuchang!

The wooden head that had been bobbing and swaying in the air before was merely a pendant hanging from its chest!

With a strange, creaking sound, this White Wuchang half-squatted, peering and sniffing in Li Huowang's direction, grunting and snorting as if searching for something.

Li Huowang was currently invisible, yet clearly, this thing could sense something. It was only a matter of time before he was discovered.

“This thing is definitely not easy to deal with!” Without a moment's hesitation, Li Huowang unleashed his trump card.

Raising his right hand toward the White Wuchang, he spread his five fingers.

With a swing of his blade, a puchi sound rang out, and his left arm was severed clean off, flying at incredible speed to embed itself in the White Wuchang's eye.

As the White Wuchang opened its maw and let out an ear-shattering roar, Li Huowang leaped without hesitation, charging sword-first into its mouth.

Sharp claws whistled through the air toward him, but with its eye injured, the creature's aim seemed off; it only left a deep gash across Li Huowang's neck.

The next moment, accompanied by the continuous sound of tearing flesh, Li Huowang slid all the way down its throat.

Just as he was about to hit the bottom, a wooden mask, seemingly from nowhere, slammed directly onto his face.

In an instant, Li Huowang's vision spun, the world went dark, and he couldn't breathe.

He thrashed his head violently, struggling to shake the thing off his face. But no matter what he did, the mask remained clamped on, immovable.

Without a second thought, Li Huowang drew a thin willow-leaf blade and thrust it into the edge of his own jaw.

He ripped open a large flap of his own face. Nearly suffocating, he gasped for air, but drew nothing in.

“What the hell is going on?!” In desperation, Li Huowang quickly swept his gaze around.

The moment he realized he couldn't see Hongzhong or the monk, alarm bells clamored in his mind, and he suddenly snapped awake.

The next instant, there was no giant White Wuchang around him. The mist-filled forest was now brightly lit.

But one thing remained the same as before: he still couldn't breathe.

His face turning purple, he reached for his neck. His fingers found a rope, already buried deep into his own flesh.

Gripping his sword hilt, he pressed his thumb and sliced at the rope with all his might.

A bone-chilling scream rang out as the rope suspending Li Huowang by the neck spurted foul, bloody water.

The rope shot back into the forest, and Li Huowang fell from midair like a corpse.

“Fellow Daoist, are you alright?” The monk hurried over, his face full of concern.

Li Huowang, clutching his neck, shook his head and staggered to his feet. “I'm fine.”

After answering the monk, Li Huowang immediately scanned his surroundings.

Pale sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, spilling over the forest. Everything looked so normal, as if everything before had been just an illusion.

“An illusion?” Li Huowang glanced at his fully intact left arm, a flicker of confusion in his eyes.

But quickly, he reached up and touched the wound on his neck—the one the White Wuchang's claws had left. His gaze hardened.

“That was no illusion. I just don't know what trick that thing used to mess with me.”

At least he had wounded it. It shouldn't be back anytime soon.

“Shit!” A sudden thought struck Li Huowang, and he dashed toward the left.

He burst out of the treeline and saw the Bai family members, still huddled together in their wooden cangues. He let out a sigh of relief.

“Good. At least everyone's still here.”

As Li Huowang walked over, he clearly startled the Bai family.

A Daoist with a copper-coin mask and blood streaming from his neck, sword in hand—anyone would have been afraid.

With a crack, a thick wooden cangue was split open.

As Li Huowang freed them, one by one, with his sword, the Bai family finally realized this man had come to save them. More than a few women began to sob.

In any clan, the weight of authority always belonged to the elders, and the Niuxin Village was no exception.

An old man, with only a single lower front tooth left, led the others as they trembled and began to kneel before Li Huowang. “Kind sir, our thanks for saving our entire village.”

Li Huowang quickly reached out to stop him. “Elder, you'll be shortening my lifespan. I was sent by Miss Bai Lingmiao to rescue you all.”

The moment these words left his mouth, several people in the crowd became intensely agitated. A beautiful woman, whose features were a seven or eight out of ten match for Bai Lingmiao, wept with joy and said to the sturdy man beside her, “Husband! Our girl is safe! She's alive! Our girl is alive!”

In a buzzing swarm, Li Huowang was instantly surrounded by Bai Lingmiao's relatives, all firing questions at him so fast he couldn't decide which one to answer.

“Enough!” A loud, sharp rebuke silenced everyone.

The speaker was a robust man with a thick beard, who was supporting the old man with the single tooth. The moment you laid eyes on him, he gave off an aura of innate authority.

“Can't you see that our benefactor is injured? And is this the place to be talking?”

With that, he clasped his fists toward Li Huowang. “I am Bai Sai, the clan head of the Bai family. Benefactor, what do you say we get out of here first?”

Li Huowang touched the wound on his neck and nodded. “Alright. Let's get out of here first.”

Whatever that thing was, he'd driven it off, but there was no guarantee it wouldn't bring its kin back for revenge.

All those who had been released from their cangues crowded around Li Huowang, ushering him away from the place.

On the road, it was clear the others were eager to talk to him, but they kept silent, intimidated by the man's authority.

Still, someone couldn't hold back. Bai Lingmiao's mother, holding a handkerchief in both hands, stepped forward and offered it to Li Huowang.

“Benefactor, your neck is still bleeding. Please use this to staunch it.”

Seeing Li Huowang take the handkerchief and thank her, the woman couldn't help but ask, “Is my—is my daughter Bai Lingmiao alright? Has she grown taller? Has she lost weight? Has she been bullied out there?” Her words were thick with worry.

Looking at her, Li Huowang was reminded of his own mother—always worrying, always concerned.

“Auntie, she's fine. She hasn't suffered. She just talks about you all the time.”

Hearing Li Huowang's reply, the beautiful woman couldn't help but cry again.

Li Huowang pulled himself together. He knew that if he didn't get to the bottom of this, the trouble wouldn't end.

He turned his attention to the man supporting the old man with the single tooth. “Clan Head Bai, can you tell me what exactly is going on here? Why were you all taken? And what was that thing I was just fighting?”

As Li Huowang asked this, the murmuring around them died down considerably. All eyes turned to him.

Bai Sai let out a long sigh before speaking. “Benefactor, to be perfectly honest, I don't know why this happened either. Ever since my son found that stone, all sorts of strange things have been happening.”

“And now, out of the blue, we were all put in cangues and forced along by those people in wooden masks.”

“Thank goodness you showed up to save us. Who knows where they would have taken us.”

Li Huowang's brow furrowed. The man had said a lot, but it felt like he'd said nothing at all.

“Heh, Li Huowang, watch out. This kid is lying to you.”

Li Huowang looked up at the speaker. It was Hongzhong.