Something Missing

Li Huowang let out a long sigh of relief at Lü Zhuangyuan’s superstitious words, his body collapsing heavily onto the stool. “The sun that disappeared has come back. Whatever the case, this Heavenly Calamity is finally over.”

The moment the taut string in his heart finally relaxed, Li Huowang, seated on the stool, lost consciousness.

When he came to again, he was roused by the greasy slickness of thick soup coating his mouth.

The softness behind his head and the familiar faint fragrance before his nose told Li Huowang whose arms he was lying in. “Miaomiao.”

Bai Lingmiao didn’t answer. She silently continued feeding him chicken soup.

“I’m not crippled, just tired.” Li Huowang struggled to sit up, took the bowl, and drank in large gulps.

Aside from being blind, Li Huowang’s body wasn’t too badly injured. What exhausted him was his mind.

Right now, Li Huowang felt as if his brain had completely rusted over. The moment he tried to think quickly, a piercing, screeching pain shot through the back of his head.

He understood perfectly well why this was. It was because of what he had seen—the essence of that sudden darkness. Beneath the Heavenly Calamity, an existence that could not even be thought of, could not even be spoken of.

This Heavenly Calamity had not come because something was missing. It had come because something had been added.

In seeing it, Li Huowang had also glimpsed something of its nature. There was no lie upon its body. Like a bronze cauldron recording great events, it inscribed everything upon itself.

“Each time it is recalled, it becomes meaningless. Each time it is forgotten, it changes. And each time it is spoken, it claims the year for its own, displacing the present one.”

Li Huowang had once known what that meant, but he had forgotten now. Forgotten completely.

That was definitely not a Siming. He hadn’t seen that thing in the White Jade Capital. As for what it was, and where it had come from—Li Huowang didn’t know, and didn’t want to know.

“Li-shixiong, what’s wrong?” Bai Lingmiao used her pale, slender fingers to gently stroke Li Huowang’s tightly furrowed brow, trying to smooth it out.

“Nothing. I’m fine. This isn’t something I should be worrying about; the Supervisory Heavenly Office will handle it.” Li Huowang, his face pale, repeated this sentence over and over.

To divert his attention as much as possible, Li Huowang forced himself to think about other things.

He gripped Bai Lingmiao’s jade-like hand, his voice carrying a trace of hope as he asked, “Miaomiao, are you alright? Are you really not using the killing intent anymore?”

With no eyes, Li Huowang couldn’t see Bai Lingmiao’s expression. All he could feel was her placing her other hand gently over his.

Hearing her wordless reply, Li Huowang’s expression dimmed. He silently savored the stillness.

Maybe he shouldn’t bring that up again. Maybe he should just pretend it had never happened, forget it completely. That seemed best for both of them.

“No one in the village is missing, are they?” Li Huowang asked again.

“No one else. But one is gone. I’m not sure if you’d count it as a person.”

“Hm?”

“Li Sui is gone. The one who came out of your belly, the one who called you ‘Dad.’”

“What!? Li Sui is missing?” Li Huowang’s heart tightened.

He fumbled his way to the window and shouted outside, “Li Sui!! Get over here!!”

He called out loudly several times, but got no response. That was very wrong.

Li Sui had a simple heart. She had grown dependent on him through their constant time together. There was absolutely no way she would ignore his call.

“Miaomiao, send everyone in the village out to search. Find Li Sui! This is very important!” Li Huowang issued the order with a grave expression.

“Mm.” Listening to Bai Lingmiao’s footsteps receding down the stairs, Li Huowang ran through various possibilities in his mind. He didn’t think Li Sui would leave his side for no reason.

“Li-xiong, I advise you to prepare yourself. The Black Tai Sui is also a kind of evil entity. What effect yesterday’s Heavenly Calamity would have on it—even I cannot calculate that.”

Hearing Zhuge Yuan’s words, Li Huowang’s expression grew even worse. When he thought back carefully, he hadn’t seen Li Sui at all since the Heavenly Calamity descended.

“Shifu! Shifu!” Lü Xiucai’s voice made Li Huowang stand up. He eagerly turned toward the direction of the sound. “Found her?”

“Uh, no. I just came to let you know—that dog called Mantou is missing too.”

Gritting his teeth, Li Huowang clenched his fist and slammed it onto the tabletop. Both the wooden surface and his fist split open at the same time.

Lü Xiucai was so startled by Li Huowang’s outburst that he flinched. Carefully, he edged toward the stairs, knowing the other man couldn’t see him.

“Keep looking! If you can’t find her in the village, turn over every square li within ten li of Niuxin Village!”

“Yes! I’ll go tell the others now!”

Time passed, hour by hour. As night fell, the hope of finding her seemed to grow dimmer and dimmer.

It wasn’t until the second watch of the night that Li Huowang, finally starting to calm down, ordered them all back to sleep. They would continue tomorrow.

Suddenly, a pair of soft hands placed a bowl of egg noodles on the cracked table, then pressed a pair of chopsticks into Li Huowang’s hand.

“You eat. I’m not hungry.” Li Huowang’s voice was dull with frustration.

Just two days ago, he had thought everything was moving in a good direction. In the blink of an eye, one bad thing after another had come crashing down on him.

“Tch. Look at you. Anyone would think you’d actually lost a real son. That was an evil entity. Just because it came out of your belly, that makes it your son? If you ask me, it’s a good thing. You’ve got one less burden.”

The faceless Zuowandao’s sneer made Li Huowang turn his head toward the voice. “Zhuge-xiong, could you do me a favor and slap him?”

“Slap!”

“Much obliged.”

Watching the man who was talking to himself, Bai Lingmiao, who was walking toward the bed, had a flicker of pity in her eyes.

She came back over, picked up a strand of noodles with her chopsticks, blew on it gently, and brought it to Li Huowang’s lips.

“I’m not hungry. You eat it.” Li Huowang pushed her hand away, but the noodles were pushed back to his mouth again.

After this went back and forth a few times, Li Huowang finally opened his mouth and swallowed the chilled noodles.

One fed, one ate. The room was utterly silent.

Just as the bowl was almost empty, a familiar voice came from the window. “Dad… did you call me?”

“Li Sui!?” Overjoyed, Li Huowang immediately stood up and fumbled toward the direction of the voice.

But soon, a figure blocked his path—the Second Spirit.

“Li-shixiong, that isn’t Li Sui. That’s a skinned dog’s face. It’s grinning at you right now.”