Chapter 185 - Toast
“Worship... the God of Prosperity? No, at least not in our Liang Kingdom. I remember that when my second brother got married, they had to first pay their respects to Heaven and Earth, and then to her parents. But in marriages, we also have the same circular character pasted on the doors and windows,” said Puppy while holding onto a lamb hoof and pointing toward the red-colored double happiness character in the banquet hall.
However, this reply didn’t manage to improve Li Huowang’s expression by much.
He just stood in place for a while, and only sat down after seeing that there were no peculiarities with the red-colored round character for double happiness.
“Let’s eat quickly and find a place to rest afterwards,” said Li Huowang, prompting the others to speed up their pace.
Meanwhile, Li Huowang took a dried date from the date cake and began to slowly munch on it, all while looking around warily. He couldn’t let his guard down completely.
However, he couldn’t be blamed for being overly cautious. Being too careful was never a bad thing in this crazy world.
Moreover, he had accumulated many bitter experiences.
Li Huowang did not want to know the reason behind these things. The only thing he wanted was to live on safely with the people around him.
As the evening grew darker, the torches on the walls were lit up, and the entire banquet hall grew even more lively.
The host family had been busy toasting with those seated at the other tables, and Li Huowang had assumed that they would not come and raise a toast with their group of outsiders. Who knew that one of them would actually be dispatched to their table.
The youth who had been striking the gong to welcome the bride now walked toward Li Huowang with a smile. He held a cup of wine in one hand, and a wine jug in the other.
He came to their table and filled up his wine cup first, and then held it up to Li Huowang. “Thank you everyone for rushing here for my brother’s wedding! I am Hou Wen, and I would like to raise a toast to you escort masters. May everything go smoothly for you!”
Given the situation, the others could not remain seated, and raised their cups in return. Even Li Huowang did the same, using tea as a replacement for wine. After all, it was very good for them to receive such treatment as outsiders.
Hou Wen held his cup with both hands and emptied it down his throat, and then immediately filled it up once again before facing Li Huowang. “Daoist, I offer a separate toast to you. Here’s to hoping that you attain the Dao and ascend to Immortality soon!”
These were kind words, but to Li Huowang, a fake Daoist, they sounded quite uncomfortable.
“You’re too courteous,” said Li Huowang as he raised his cup of tea and drank it, the cup obscuring his view.
Li Huowang could acutely sense that the man before him was staring at himself.
No, more accurately, it was not at himself, but at the sword on his back, the one gifted to him by the Abbess.
When Li Huowang put down the cup of tea, that gaze quickly vanished, and he was once again faced with the young man’s smile. If not for his heightened senses, it was likely that he too would have missed it.
Why is this person staring at my sword? Does he recognize its power?
No matter what Li Huowang thought, the youth didn’t do much after the toast. He just picked up his pot of wine and turned toward the other tables.
From the looks of it, the purpose of his visit had just been to raise a toast.
“Enjoy your meal, and leave only after you are happy!” said the departing young man.
Li Huowang had a complex look on his face as he watched the youth depart. He turned to the others and said, “We should be done. Let’s go.”
Hearing this, the others looked reluctantly at the unfinished dishes. But since Li Huowang had spoken, they could only stand up and follow him.
After the feast, not only had they had their fill, it was also easier for them to find a place to rest. A landlord saw that they were the escorts who had eaten at the same feast as him, and agreed to shelter them temporarily. He even had to pretend to decline Bai Lingmiao’s offer to pay rent.
“Since you came to dine at the banquet, you are our guests. There’s no need for any money here,” said the old man. But in the end, the elderly man with the loud voice still accepted their coins happily.
Money was indeed quite handy, and he quickly cleared out an old two-story clay building for Li Huowang’s group to stay in. Even though it was old, it was a standalone structure with its own courtyard, which suited Li Huowang’s preferences quite a bit.
As the night grew darker, the lively village also gradually grew quiet.
At this moment, Li Huowang stood at the window by the second floor as he gazed at the red lanterns of the house where the wedding had taken place.
Bai Lingmiao was sitting on the side of the bed as she wet a thread with her mouth. Then, under the illumination of the candlelight, she carefully threaded it through the eye of a needle before starting to sew some useless cloth onto the chains on a nearby stool.
She continued sewing until her eyes grew tired, and then looked up toward Li Huowang’s broad figure. “Senior Li, perhaps he was just casually glancing at your sword. He may not necessarily be scheming against you.”
“I have two swords on my back, so why did he focus on this one? It’s better to be safe than sorry. When you go down later, inform the others in the house to take turns keeping watch throughout the night,” said Li Huowang.
Bai Lingmiao obediently nodded before spreading open her blanket.
“Li... Li...”
“What’s the matter?” Li Huowang looked down at the courtyard, to see Gao Zhijian looking up toward himself.
“I... I’m really not... a village protector,” said Gao Zhijian, clearly concerned about this matter.
“Alright, I know that you’re not a village protector. But then, where are you from? You couldn’t have popped out from a rock, right?” asked Li Huowang.
Due to Gao Zhijian’s limited intelligence and stutter, Li Huowang and the others were not keen about engaging in a conversation with him, since he often tended to be long-winded.
Due to this, aside from knowing that he was literate, Li Huowang did not know much else about Gao Zhijian.
Gao Zhijian appeared conflicted as he paused for a while, and then said, “Senior... Senior Li! Trust... trust me...”
“I trust you. Now hurry up and speak. If you keep dawdling, it’s going to be dawn soon.”
“You! Don’t... Don’t interrupt! Don’t interrupt... me!” shouted Gao Zhijian. This was the first time he had used this tone to speak to Li Huowang. “I... I hate... hate it the most! When... others... Interrupt... me!”
Li Huowang looked at Gao Zhijian, whose face was turning red from agitation, and also at his tightly clenched fists, and nodded. “Alright, you can speak.”
“Senior... Senior Li! Will... you be... able to believe me? No matter... how... shocking... my words are?!”
“I will believe you. Say it.”
Hearing this, Gao Zhijian stomped his feet angrily and said, “I... I... I’ll come up to tell you!”
Hearing this, Li Huowang glanced at Bai Lingmiao behind him, and then stopped the agitated Gao Zhijian, “Don’t come up, just speak from there, and then go to bed.”
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