Li Sui

In the darkness before dawn, a gray hare was bounding rapidly through the underbrush. The dim environment, combined with its muted coat, made it nearly invisible—if a person tried to spot it, they simply couldn’t.

But right now it was panicked. Once it nearly slammed into a tree trunk in its frantic flight. The tremors traveling through the ground confirmed that something was chasing it.

Not long after the hare had passed, the leaves behind it burst open as a massive bear charged out, foam dripping from its jaws as it gave chase.

Just when it seemed the hare would be caught, several barbed tentacles shot out from the nearby brush, snaring it like a net.

These writhing appendages emerging from the dim forest startled the pursuing bear. It immediately veered away in alarm and fled.

As the tentacles contracted and slowly reeled back in, the red-eyed gray hare was dragged to Li Sui’s feet.

Li Sui’s attention was entirely on the hare. She didn’t spare a single glance at the bear fleeing into the distance.

She reached down and grabbed the hare firmly. The tentacles on its body slowly retracted back beneath her skirt.

Gently stroking the hare’s furry head, Li Sui opened her small, cherry-like mouth and forcefully stuffed the entire upper half of the hare inside.

Her bulging cheeks worked as she chewed. Li Sui squinted with pleasure. She liked this kind of meat—lots of bones, juicy, flavorful.

The only flaw was that she had to spit out some of the fur before swallowing.

But after eating half the hare, she didn’t go for the rest. Happy, she hugged the carcass and ran toward the dirt path nearby.

“Mom, here, this is good.” Li Sui offered the half-eaten hare to Bai Lingmiao, who was using a fire striker to start a cooking fire.

“A hare? Did Suisui catch it? What a good girl.” Bai Lingmiao took it and quickly began skinning and bleeding it with her long, black fingernails.

She had grown quite comfortable with Li Sui. Li Sui was like a little child—if you praised her, she would be happy for a long time.

As long as she treated her with genuine kindness, Li Sui would truly see her as a mother.

“Mom, why aren’t you eating? This stuff is delicious. And hard to catch.”

A faint smile on her face, Bai Lingmiao shook her head gently, then began cutting the hare meat into small cubes to add to the rice porridge later. “It’ll be dawn soon. I’ll make it for your dad.”

“Oh.” Li Sui nodded, then turned and leaped back into the nearby forest. “I’m going to see if Dad is back yet. I’ll go meet him.”

“Wait.” Bai Lingmiao grabbed her, running a hand over the exposed white fabric at her waist. “Look, your clothes are torn. The threads are showing. If you keep wearing these, you’ll look like a beggar. Change into some of mine.”

She pulled Li Sui into the carriage for a moment. By the time the sky was hazy with the first light, Li Sui, now in a crescent-white outfit, leaped out and dashed toward the forest. “Suisui, don’t get too close! Your dad’s training is dangerous!”

“I know, I’ll just watch from far away.” Li Sui’s figure vanished into the trees in the blink of an eye.

Back in the forest, Li Sui no longer had to hold back. Tentacles emerged from her clothes, propelling her forward faster than any legs could.

As she neared her destination, she suddenly heard a noise in a nearby grove. She crept closer cautiously.

Soon she found the source—it was Lyu Xiucai. Staring at the red bamboo slips spread out on the ground, he raised his thumb, trembling slightly.

Gritting his teeth, Lyu Xiucai produced three long needles and drove them deep into the nail bed of his thumb. Then, raising his thumb high, he pressed it hard against the ground. “Aaaahh!!”

“What are you doing?” Li Sui stepped out curiously, tilting her head as she watched.

Lyu Xiucai, gripping a sword in one hand, lowered his guard when he saw who it was. He recognized this person—it was the wicked spirit his master had raised.

His finger screaming with pain, Lyu Xiucai let out a breath and forced himself to speak. “I wanted to try out how this thing works first. So I don’t panic when I need to use it for real.”

“Does it hurt?” Li Sui asked.

“It doesn’t hurt! Compared to my father going mad and my older brother dying, this little pain is nothing!” Lyu Xiucai ground his teeth, his voice fierce and determined.

“Oh. You go ahead, then. I’m leaving.” Li Sui, somewhat perplexed, turned and left Lyu Xiucai behind, disappearing back into the woods.

Li Huowang’s training spot was easy to find. After all, there weren’t many places in the world where trees were flying through the air.

Li Sui climbed to the crown of a large tree and watched from a distance. Li Huowang was sitting upside down in a cross-legged position, his head buried in a rock, while his body and everything floating around him moved in erratic, unpredictable patterns.

After a moment, Li Huowang’s head floated out of the rock, slamming head-on into an incoming tree. The tree burst apart like foam, pop. Every rule of the world seemed to cease to exist around him.

Li Sui watched his strange training in silence.

Although her father rarely said much to her, by quietly observing from the sidelines, Li Sui had gradually come to understand a few things.

Dad was trying to become stronger. If he became stronger, he could protect them all, keep them from dying.

Lyu Xiucai, just now, was the same. He also wanted to become stronger.

Images of the enemies Li Huowang had fought flashed through Li Sui’s mind. If Dad wasn’t strong, those enemies might kill him.

At this thought, a panic seized Li Sui. She didn’t want Dad to die. A plan began to form in her mind. “They all want to become stronger… How can I help Dad?”

Usually, she just crawled into Dad’s belly and served as an extra hand for him. She hadn’t really made a big difference. She wanted to help him more.

This question was a bit complicated. Li Sui thought for a long time but still couldn’t figure out what to do.

She hadn’t been born long—only a year and a half. In that time, she hadn’t seen anyone else become stronger.

Dad barely counted, but the way he did it was something she couldn’t understand.

Seeing Li Huowang’s shadow peeling away from the ground and floating up along with him, Li Sui quickly scrambled down from the treetop and ran back toward the carriage. She needed to find someone else to ask.

“You want to become stronger? Why?” Bai Lingmiao asked, surprised, as she tasted the porridge with her spoon.

“I want to help my dad. I want to protect my dad. I want to help him out.”

Bai Lingmiao tilted her head and thought hard, but finally shook her head gently. “Suisui, I don’t know either. You’re a wicked spirit, not a human. Maybe… you could try worshipping Wusheng Laomu with them? Wusheng Laomu is very merciful. If she takes a liking to you, maybe she’ll accept you.”

Hearing this, Li Sui turned to look at the White Lotus devotees among the wagons. They were kneeling in a cluster, surrounded by curling incense smoke, worshipping a softly glowing white jade twin lotus.