The Spoils of War

Chapter 350: Arrival

Gouwa shouldered his hoe and strode briskly down the mountain. They had just buried a lot of bodies, but he didn’t know any of those dead people, so it didn’t dampen his cheerful mood at all.

He had a house now, and fields. More importantly, his wife was about to give birth. Everything he had dreamed about during those nights was finally coming true.

“Ah, I, Cao Cao, am simply brilliant,” he muttered to himself. “Every step I took was the right one. If it weren’t for my smarts, none of this would be mine!”

If the road weren’t so long, he really would have gone back to his hometown to show off his success, to let everyone know he’d made it big.

He snuck a glance at the people behind him. Gouwa quickened his pace to put some distance between them, then carefully pulled a book from his bosom.

Just as he was joyfully tracing the incomprehensible characters with his finger, a hand covered in black hair suddenly reached out and snatched it away.

“Hey! What’s your problem!” Gouwa anxiously reached out to grab it back, but Chun Xiaoman’s glare stopped him cold.

Fuming, he withdrew his hand. “When the cat’s away, the mice will play. Look at you, acting all high and mighty. Anyone would think you were the one who saved us from Qingfeng Temple.”

“Where did you get this book?”

“I… I bought it from a peddler! I’m going to use it to teach my son his first characters!”

“Stop lying. We’ve only had two peddlers come by, and neither of them sold books!” Xiaoman flipped through the pages, staring at the words she couldn’t read.

With Gao Zhijian translating from beside her, Chun Xiaoman quickly learned the book’s title: Hymns of Enlightenment from Bitter Effort.

Even though she couldn’t read, she could tell the title was wrong. It felt like some kind of cultivation manual.

“Spit it out. Where did you really get this? I’ve been watching you sneaking around.”

Sensing something was wrong, Gao Zhijian gripped his shovel and took a step forward.

“What’s this? What’s this? Did I commit some crime? All this fuss over nothing. I found it!” Gouwa snatched the book back from Xiaoman’s hands indignantly.

“Found it? You just happen to ‘find’ a book like this?”

“Of course I found it!” His voice dropped a little. “I just found it in the cellar under the Bai family ancestral shrine.”

“You—!” Chun Xiaoman started, but a frantic Gouwa immediately pressed a finger to his lips.

He snuck a glance at the dejected Bai Lingmiao behind them, then leaned in close to Chun Xiaoman. “Sister, think about it. The Bai family went to all that trouble—you think they did it just for fun?”

“And think about it. The state Senior Brother Li was in when he came back. We all know how amazing his powers are. If the Bai family didn’t have some real tricks up their sleeves, could they have pushed him that far? No way! They must have had a source!”

“And think about this! Who cares what they used to do or what they knew? They’re all dead now, so all their stuff is ours!” Gouwa’s face lit up with glee.

Chun Xiaoman’s expression was cold. “And what’s the use of learning that kind of thing? So you can learn to use living people as foundation fillings, just like they did? If you dare to learn that kind of stuff, don’t blame me for forgetting we’re family!”

“Aiyo! You’re just not flexible enough. We only learn the stuff that doesn’t weigh on our conscience, right? We just don’t learn the murder-y parts.”

“I’m telling you, there’s all kinds of stuff in those rooms! And plenty of books. There’s got to be some immortal techniques in there!”

“Once we learn the easy stuff, the stuff that doesn’t require killing, who would dare to push us around?”

Xiaoman looked down at the long sword at her waist, a flicker of hesitation in her eyes.

Senior Brother Li was really gone now. If they ever ran into a real crisis, could this sword really protect them?

She reached out and snatched the book from Gouwa’s hands again. After a long, hard look, she spoke. “Don’t tell Miaomiao about this yet. She’s not in a good state right now. Let the three of us figure out what’s going on before we make any plans.”

“Fine, I’m with you. This score is big enough for the three of us.”

Inside the city of Yinling, a travel-worn Li Huowang dismounted and tied his horse to the stable of the inn. He was a little surprised not to see Mantou’s bobbing head.

He circled his cart a few times before finding the dog with its front paws up on the feed trough, stealing the feed from another horse’s stall.

“You’re this fat and you’re still eating?” Li Huowang picked him up by the scruff. “I brought you along to watch the cart, not to pig out.”

“Woof woof woof!” Seeing its long-absent master return, Mantou was ecstatic. It wagged its tail furiously, its whole body wriggling like a worm.

Just as Mantou was about to lick Li Huowang’s boot, he stopped it with a hand on its head.

“What happened? You’re hurt? Who did this?” Li Huowang frowned as he looked at the notch in Mantou’s upright ear.

Mantou clearly didn’t understand what Li Huowang was saying. It just wagged its tail and tried to burrow into his arms.

“Come here!” He grabbed the loose skin behind its neck and carried it into the main hall.

“Manager, didn’t I pay you well enough? How come you can’t even keep a dog safe?”

Facing Li Huowang’s accusation, the fat manager’s face was full of helplessness.

“Ah, sir, this really isn’t my fault. Your dog ran off on its own.”

“You see, your dog is a bitch. She ran out into the street, got into a fight with another bitch over a male dog, lost, and got bitten by the other one.”

Mantou had no idea what the two people were talking about. It just sat there with an innocent look, staring at Li Huowang.

This situation left Li Huowang speechless. He couldn’t even find a way to get angry. “What about the dog that bit her?”

“Gone long ago. They were stray dogs. Once they’d mated, they just ran off.”

Li Huowang gave Mantou a gentle pat on the head, then turned and headed for the guest rooms upstairs.

He had been traveling hard the whole way, barely stopping to eat or sleep. Exhausted, Li Huowang collapsed onto the bed and slept for a full day and night.

When he woke up, he ordered some seasonal dishes from the kitchen. After washing up, he began to eat in large mouthfuls.

As he ate, he mulled over what excuse he could use to subtly probe the Chief Recorder about Zhuge Yuan.

Walking straight up to the Chief Recorder and asking, “Who is Zhuge Yuan?”—Li Huowang wasn’t that stupid yet.

Better contact Tuoba Danqing first. I need to figure out the Chief Recorder’s situation now. Given how he looked last time, that failed mission must have been pretty serious.

Just as he had that thought, the sound of cooing pigeons echoed from the roof beams.