The Anklet

Chapter 448: The Anklet

Seeing Bai Lingmiao’s intense reaction, Li Huowang looked a bit speechless. “What are you talking about? I told you, it’s the Black Tai Sui inside me I used to suppress the hallucinations. I just don’t need it for that anymore, so it came out.”

Saying this, Li Huowang picked up Li Sui’s bamboo hat, revealing the thick, wriggling mass of black tentacles beneath.

Hearing this, Bai Lingmiao’s attention instantly zeroed in on the most crucial information. A look of ecstatic joy spread across her face. “Oh?! So you mean you won’t have to fall into those hallucinations ever again?”

“No, I still have to go. Things over there aren’t settled yet. But for now, I can barely control it.”

Bai Lingmiao was overjoyed, looking far happier than Li Huowang himself. “That’s wonderful! You’re the first one among us to fix your own defect!”

Looking at her joyful smile, a pang of guilt stirred in Li Huowang’s heart. Compared to how he felt for her, she undoubtedly cared for him far more.

After a moment’s thought, Li Huowang pulled a gold ring bound with red string from his bosom. He bent down and gently slipped the white shoe off Bai Lingmiao’s foot.

“I still remember when we first left the Qingfeng Temple, we didn’t have money for food. You melted down your gold anklet to buy me steamed buns.”

Gazing at the gold anklet now encircling Bai Lingmiao’s pale, jade-like ankle, Li Huowang’s expression was complex. “I said back then that when I had the money, I’d buy you a bigger one. Sorry… so much happened on the road. I only just now had the chance to get it back for you.”

Bai Lingmiao’s white lashes fluttered slightly. She didn’t say anything more, only gently bent down, nestling into Li Huowang’s embrace.

Li Huowang looked into her inner self. Among the ten emotions, joy and love now obscured desire and malice. In this moment, she was just as she had been before the Sha Qi ever invaded her—unchanged, untainted.

As he gently stroked her hair, breathing in her faint fragrance and savouring this rare moment of peace, Li Sui crept over to the table beside them, coiled up, and stared with both eyes fixed on them.

“Dad, what are you two doing?”

It was intensely curious. It had never seen this kind of thing before, and Li Huowang had never explained it.

“Is that son of yours a bit slow in the head?” Bai Lingmiao mumbled, her face buried in Li Huowang’s chest.

With a soft chuckle, Li Huowang let go of Bai Lingmiao and walked over to Li Sui. He whispered a few instructions. Soon, Li Sui scrambled with all its limbs—moving like an octopus—slipped out through the open wooden window, and went off to play with Mantou.

By the time he turned back after closing the window, he saw Bai Lingmiao, her face flushed with excitement, throwing herself at him.

Startled, Li Huowang caught her and was about to speak when her soft, warm lips stopped him. The desire within her now shone far brighter than all her other emotions.

A long time later, Li Huowang lay on the bed, holding Bai Lingmiao—clad only in a simple white bellyband—in his arms, enjoying the quiet after the storm. He softly recounted everything that had happened since they had been apart.

Snuggled against his chest, Bai Lingmiao curled up, listening while she played with the red-threaded gold anklet around her own ankle, unable to stop touching it.

But as he spoke, when he reached the part about cultivation methods being able to turn lies into reality, Li Huowang’s words abruptly stopped.

If both sides can become real… then with Bai Lingmiao and Yang Na… isn’t this unfair to both of them?

Li Huowang fell into troubled thought. He had never considered this question before, because he’d always believed one of the two sides had to be fake. Thinking about it had always seemed like a waste of time.

“Go on. Why’d you stop?” Bai Lingmiao gently burrowed her hair deeper into his chest.

“It’s nothing. There’s nothing worth saying about the hallucination side. How has Niuxin Village been while I was away?” Li Huowang smoothly changed the subject.

“Same as always, what else could it be? I hired a few people to help farm the land. There’s too much land around the village. Gouwa and Zhao Wu can’t farm it all themselves, and besides, they’re not cut out for farm work anyway.”

Li Huowang nodded in understanding, a picture of the unfamiliar faces in the fields forming in his mind.

“Oh, and by the way. Even though they’re servants privately, in public, they call you ‘Godfather’ now. You’ll have to answer to it.”

“Godfather? What kind of title is that?”

“It’s a Great Liang term. It’s because the Great Liang Emperor is so benevolent and virtuous—he won’t let anyone keep slaves or servants. So the slave traders had to come up with a new way of saying it. They just use ‘selling into service’ instead.”

“Heh, Li Huowang, don’t let your age fool you. You’re a godfather and a real father all at once. That’s quite a status you’ve got.” She laughed softly.

As they continued their quiet conversation, a knock came at the bedroom door. “Miaomiao, time for dinner.”

It was Xiaoman’s voice, carrying a hint of shyness. She only called out once and then fell silent, naturally knowing what the two had been doing inside.

“Oh, I’ll tell you something funny. Lately, Zhao Wu and Gao Zhijian have been butting heads over Xiaoman. They’re buzzing around her like flies. It’s been driving her crazy.”

Li Huowang got up and dressed, tugging at the skin in different places to feel how well his body was healing. “That’s good. Let her choose for herself. It’s her own path. This kind of private matter isn’t something we can help with.”

After they had changed into fresh clothes and taken their seats at the head of the table, Lü Zhuangyuan led the dozen or so tables in raising their cups.

“Come now! Let’s drink a toast to the young Daoist! May all your wishes come true!” As Li Huowang raised his cup and drank, the feast became lively.

Even from several tables away, Li Huowang could hear Gouwa’s boastful voice. “That’s my Senior Brother Li! My buddy! He’s like a living god! Flies through the sky, burrows into the earth, turns beans into soldiers—there’s nothing he can’t do! I remember one time when we were on the road and ran into a gang of river bandits…”

“How strong is this wine?” Li Huowang frowned, rubbing his throbbing head. With his heightened physical sensitivity, he was truly terrible at holding his liquor.

“Strong? Captain Lü specially bought some Zhuangyuan Red, so it must be good stuff. I should have swapped it for tea if I’d known. Just eat a little and go lie down in bed.” Bai Lingmiao answered.

Li Huowang shook his head forcefully, then left the table and walked out of the Bai family compound.

He bent over, stuck a finger down his throat beneath a tree, and vomited out all the wine he had just drunk. His head immediately cleared.

Just then, a hand reached beside him, offering a cloth. Li Huowang took it and wiped the saliva from his mouth.

But when he turned around, he saw it was the Second Spirit, her head still covered by the red bridal veil.

In the dim firelight from the courtyard in the distance, Li Huowang stared at her blood-red veil with a deeply complicated expression.

“Senior Brother Li…” As he watched the ten emotions and eight sufferings shifting within her, for a moment, it was as if the Bai Lingmiao of the past had returned.

After a long hesitation, Li Huowang finally reached into his bosom and pulled out another gold ring bound with red thread, offering it to her.