Good Intentions

Chapter 644: Good Intentions

“Why is it so hot?”

Just as Yang Xiaohai thought this, a familiar smell suddenly hit his nose. It was the smell of burning wood. As a cook, he smelled it every day while preparing meals, and he knew it intimately.

When the smell of firewood grew stronger, and the scent of roasting meat mixed in with it, his heart lurched.

Stepping on his wife's feet, Yang Xiaohai pressed himself against the wall and cautiously poked his head out from behind it.

The moment his head emerged, his face felt a wave of heat. His pupils contracted sharply.

He saw that the inns and shops in the distance were on fire! The entire building collapsed in the flames, igniting everything around it. They were using fire attacks!

No matter which side had started the fire, for Yang Xiaohai, who was trapped inside, it was a catastrophe.

If he didn't run, he would only be burned to death. But if he did run, he would be thrown into the middle of their battle.

Yang Xiaohai, who had scrambled back down, paced frantically. “Brother Li, what do we do! Brother Li!”

The words had barely left his mouth when he realized that his seemingly invincible Brother Li wasn't here at all. This time, he had to figure it out himself.

He looked back at the high wall that was impossible to climb, the Rotten-Wood Ruyi in his hand clenching and unclenching.

He pulled out the few pills he had painstakingly refined, counted them carefully, and finally took out a few talismans.

This was everything he had to rely on now. If he ran into an enemy, this was all he would have to survive on.

Watching the flames creep closer, Yang Xiaohai steeled himself and said to Zhao Xiumei beside him, “We're going out. If I get pinned down, you make sure you run for the county edge.”

The path they had come from was completely blocked by fire. They could only keep climbing walls and jumping over gates, moving along the sides.

The only saving grace was that the three monkey-children were a huge help. Their small, lean bodies could easily slip through dog holes and open any courtyard they wanted.

They climbed and crawled until the five of them were covered in dust and grime. But when Yang Xiaohai noticed the scent of smoke fading slightly, his frantic heart eased a little. It seemed they were moving away from the heart of the battle.

“They must be busy killing each other. They don't have time for us. Let's push harder!” Yang Xiaohai encouraged them as they continued their scramble.

After climbing over the third courtyard and reaching the edge of a field, Yang Xiaohai suddenly felt a shadow fall over him.

He turned his head and saw a man with a mat of yellow chest hair and fish-scale tattoos on his neck, holding a blood-stained hook-sword, staring at him.

In that moment, Yang Xiaohai froze solid. His mind went blank. He completely forgot to pick up a weapon and fight back.

The man quickly glanced at the white headband on the monkey-children's heads, a flicker of contempt on his face as he raised the hook-sword.

“More Fa Sect remnants. You heartless bastards, why are you always set on burning and killing?”

Seeing the cold gleam of the hook-sword in the firelight, Yang Xiaohai shuddered back to his senses. “We're not with them!! My… my senior brother is the Emperor of Liang!”

“Hahaha! The emperor's junior brother dresses this shabbily? Then I must be the fucking Jade Emperor!” The hook-sword swung down toward Yang Xiaohai's neck.

“My other senior brother is Li—!” Before Yang Xiaohai could finish, a streak of light cut toward his throat.

Instinctively, Yang Xiaohai squeezed his eyes shut and curled into a ball. Just as he thought he was about to die, he felt no pain.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw a gaunt, withered back standing in front of him. The man who had been about to kill him was now forced back three zhang.

“Niang Niang!” the monkey-children cried out excitedly, staring at the back before them.

The old woman was still the same old woman as before, unchanged. Yet, standing there, she gave Yang Xiaohai a completely different feeling.

“Little ones, hurry and go. I'll hold this lad here.” The old woman stared at the man in front of her, her voice flat.

Hearing this, Yang Xiaohai came to his senses. He took one last look at the old woman, then quickly pulled the others toward the rice paddy beside them.

“Little ones, may Lord Shidu bless you. You all live well, alright? Don't you dare die.” The old woman's final words came from behind him.

Yang Xiaohai led the others in a desperate run, not daring to stop for a moment, terrified someone might be following.

They ran for an entire shichen. When the moon was high in the sky, they finally collapsed by the side of a dirt road, gasping for air.

Just as Yang Xiaohai lay completely sprawled out, trying to sort his thoughts, he heard the clatter of hooves.

He lifted his neck to look in the direction of the sound and saw that it was his own carriage.

Two men were driving it. One of them, with a hook-sword on his back, was the man who had just tried to kill him. The other, he had also seen before. They were both from the Supervisory Heavenly Office. They had caught up after all.

Just then, Yang Xiaohai saw a plump, well-dressed man in his mid-thirties, wearing a black headwrap and a purple robe, looking like a prosperous merchant, jump down from the carriage and walk toward him.

Yang Xiaohai mustered all his courage, pulled out the Rotten-Wood Ruyi, and pointed it at them, shouting, “Xiumei! Run! Get as far away as you can!”

“I'm not leaving! If you don't go, I'm not going either!” Zhao Xiumei said, her eyes red.

“Stop being so stubborn! They'll kill you! I'm a man now. I have to protect my wife!” But even as he said it, Yang Xiaohai himself was already breaking down, tears streaming uncontrollably from his eyes.

As the man approached, Yang Xiaohai roared and swung the Ruyi in his hand at him with all his might.

But the man dodged it easily, his body bending like paper. In two quick steps, he was beside Yang Xiaohai, a wide smile on his face. He firmly grasped both of Yang Xiaohai's hands and shook them vigorously.

“Hehehe, my young friend, my sincere apologies for just now. My good brother is a rough fellow. I heard your senior brother is the Emperor of Liang? And I also heard you have another senior brother?”

The man's reaction left Yang Xiaohai momentarily stunned, unsure how to respond.

“I also heard that other senior brother of yours has the surname Li? May I ask which sect and school? What does he wear?”

As he said this, Yang Xiaohai saw the man's smiling eyes open just a crack, revealing the cold, serpentine pupils hidden within.

The sight made Yang Xiaohai shudder violently. He nodded frantically. “Yes! My senior brother is the Emperor of Liang. His name is Gao Zhijian. I have another senior brother named Li Huowang. He… he's incredibly powerful! He usually wears a red Daoist robe and carries three swords on his back! Do you know him?”

Hearing this, the plump man paused for a moment. The smile on his face piled up, and the cold serpentine pupils retreated back behind the slits of his squinting eyes.

“Ah… so it’s Brother Li. Hehehe. Of course I know him, of course. When we were kids, his father would bring him to my house every New Year's and holiday.”