The Clan Head’s Evasion

“Ha. Li Huowang, watch yourself. This kid’s trying to fool you.”

Li Huowang looked up at the speaker—Hongzhong.

The skinless, eyeless Hongzhong sat perched atop Peng Longteng’s skull, baring a row of gleaming white teeth as Li Huowang turned to face him.

Li Huowang’s lips twitched slightly. He said nothing as he glanced at the crowd around him.

Still not enough composure. Even against the words of a hallucination, I can’t keep my face neutral.

As for what Hongzhong had actually said—Li Huowang let it go in one ear and out the other. To put it in his old way of speaking, he wouldn’t trust a single word from Hongzhong, not even a punctuation mark.

Li Huowang shifted his gaze from Hongzhong to Bai Sai beside him. One detail in the man’s words had caught his attention.

“Clan head Bai. You said they came looking for trouble because your son picked up a stone. Would you mind telling me—what kind of stone was it?”

Bai Sai’s brow furrowed as he thought for a moment, then his hands gestured a shape in the air.

“An orange stone. About this big. Felt warm to the touch. The kid found it in the fields, brought it home, and was going to use it to warm his grandmother’s knees.”

“Is the stone still here? Could I have a look at it?”

Bai Sai let out a dejected sigh. “With the whole family being driven like cattle, what do you think? The thing wearing the wooden mask grabbed it long ago.”

A fist-sized stone that gives off its own heat? If that stone was some kind of natural treasure, then this was a simple case of some evil entity disguised as the Supervisory Heavenly Office stealing a precious object.

But something about it felt wrong. Putting himself in the thief’s shoes, Li Huowang figured if he wanted to steal something, he’d either do it quietly or, failing that, rob them openly and eliminate everyone to cover his tracks.

Driving these people in cangues all this way toward the capital, straggling for hundreds of li—it didn’t make sense. The perpetrator must have his own purpose.

Li Huowang stopped and faced Bai Sai again. “Clan head, the person you mentioned with the wooden mask, how tall was he?”

It sounded like the white Wuchang hallucination he’d seen earlier had been that man’s doing.

“Hm… about your height. Young voice. On the road, whenever someone didn’t obey, the bastard would make people see things in their heads—terrifying things ordinary folk couldn’t normally see.”

As Bai Sai spoke, a clear trace of fear flickered in the eyes of many in the crowd. They had apparently been tormented by that masked man’s ability.

Li Huowang nodded silently. So the enormous white Wuchang I saw before was probably fake—a trick concocted by that person.

It didn’t feel quite like an illusionary spell, either. Normally, ordinary illusions shouldn’t fool someone like him now.

He had too little information to work with. He was completely in the dark about what was really going on.

“Hey, benefactor. Since we’ve escaped, let’s not dwell on that. The sooner we leave, the better. If that person bears a grudge and comes back, we’ll be in real trouble.” Bai Sai was clearly worried—worried for his entire Niuxin Village.

Li Huowang wanted to ask more, but hearing that, he stopped pushing.

Regardless, these people are Bai Lingmiao’s family. I have to save them.

With the cangues gone, everyone walked noticeably lighter. Each face bore the look of having narrowly escaped death.

They walked until noon. The elderly and children in the group could no longer hold out, and they were forced to stop and rest.

“Mother, I’m hungry,” a child tugged at his mother’s hem.

It wasn’t just the children who were hungry. The adults felt it too—they just didn’t say it.

Though Li Huowang had some dried rations on his horse, they wouldn’t be enough to fill anyone’s teeth if shared among so many.

Seeing that everyone was empty-handed and had no food, Li Huowang thought for a moment. “We should reach a village by tomorrow. We can buy grain there. As for today…”

He patted the horse’s long neck. “Let’s slaughter the horse first.”

A horse had plenty of meat—enough to feed a good number of people.

Bai Sai immediately shook his head at this. “Benefactor, what are you saying? For something as simple as a bite to eat, how could we possibly make you kill your own mount?”

With that, he turned and shouted into the crowd. “Hey… Liangzi! Take the third and fourth branches into the woods and find some food. Make it quick!”

“On it!” A sturdy young man led a group into the forest.

Li Huowang was about to help when others stopped him. “Benefactor, sit, sit! Leave this small matter to the younger generation. Hey, Feng—the benefactor is sweating. Cut some big leaves and fan him!”

Unable to refuse, Li Huowang sat down and let a plump young woman fan him with leaves.

He had assumed they’d go looking for wild fruit or vegetables. But an hour later, with the rustling of leaves, they emerged carrying two deer and several river deer in their hands.

Seeing the surprise on Li Huowang’s face, Bai Sai explained with evident pride, “Living off the mountain means living off the mountain. Since we rely on Cowhorn Mountain, the Bai family has always been good at hunting. Catching a few beasts is nothing special.”

With that, he immediately called for the clansmen to start a fire and had the choicest deer meat delivered to Li Huowang on flat river stones.

Facing those faces—eager, ingratiating, expectant—Li Huowang felt deeply uncomfortable. He had never been treated like this before.

Only when Li Huowang picked up the deer meat, lifted his copper-coin mask, and stuffed it into his mouth did the others begin to eat the rest.

That night, during the watch, Li Huowang once again received privileged treatment.

“Benefactor, go to sleep. Let the younger ones keep watch. Their yang energy is strong—ordinary ghosts and goblins won’t dare come near.”

“Strong yang energy in the young?” Li Huowang glanced at the youths by the fire. “Clan head Bai, is there some principle behind that?”

“Principle? What principle? That’s just what my father taught me.”

Li Huowang let out a disappointed sigh. Just more hearsay again. How superstitious are these people?

As Li Huowang slowly closed his eyes, the surroundings gradually fell silent. All that remained was the crackling of burning wood and the slow, even breathing.

He didn’t know how long had passed when, in his drowsiness, he felt something approaching him.

He snapped his eyes open and found himself in a hazy mist. Seeing no sign of Hongzhong or the monk around him, he immediately realized—this wasn’t a real place.

“Who’s there?” “Who’s there?” “Who’s there?” His echo traveled farther and farther into the mist.

From within the haze, the enormous white Wuchang emerged indistinctly. It didn’t walk out—it was dragged out, suspended by a rope around its neck.

“Who are you?” “Who are you?” “Who are you?” A sinister, echoing voice circled Li Huowang.

“Why did you ruin my business?” “Why did you ruin my business?” “Why did you ruin my business?”