Chapter 87 - Forest
Sun Baolu listened to Puppy as he took out a playing card from his hand and played it. “I saw Senior Li go to the village blacksmith. It seemed like he was preparing something. Right, Puppy, didn’t Senior Li ask you to gather some information? And you’re out here playing cards? Aren’t you afraid that he’ll scold you when he returns?”
“What ‘Puppy’?! Call me Cao Cao!” said Puppy as he played a card. “This small village isn’t all that big, so there’s no need to go through so much trouble. Moreover, I brought back those two kids to question them, and finished it quickly. The village elders all told us that there are man-eating worms in the woods to the west and advised us not to go there.”
“You guys want to go there? You shouldn’t... You really shouldn’t... Ten years ago, my mom saw flying worms circling the skies in that area!” The host, who had been observing their card game, interjected.
“Ah, don’t worry! Senior Li is very powerful. With him around, those worms or whatnot won’t even be able to approach us. Ah, hold on, who just played this card? Hahaha, I won. Alright, all the eggs in your noodles will belong to me,” said Puppy.
“Come take a look; Senior Li is back,” said one of the guiding drug ingredients.
As soon as they heard those words, the others turned around to see Li Huowang carrying a large leather bag while walking into the courtyard.
Surrounded by the group of curious guiding drug ingredients, Li Huowang placed the leather bag on the table and opened it in front of them. Inside, there were rows of neatly arranged items. These were brand-new weapons custom-made for him.
There was a pair of large black pliers, sharp awls, small fingernail-sized shovels, and long barbed needles. These strange-looking objects were unsettling to even look at.
At that moment, Puppy picked up a spoon with very sharp edges and played with it. “Senior Li, what are these items for? Rather than weapons, they seem more like torture tools. For example, this. It can’t kill people, but it would definitely be able to gouge out someone’s eyes-”
Puppy abruptly stopped, scared by his own words. He immediately thought of the events that occurred on the island made of reeds. That person had used pliers to pull out his own teeth and burst his own eyes.
At that moment, Li Huowang reached out to retrieve the object in Puppy’s hand as he asked, “How’s the information gathering?”
“It... it’s done. There are said to be man-eating worms there. The people around here avoid going there. The worms are also very quiet and never come out.” Fear was clearly visible in Puppy’s eyes as he looked at the objects on the table.
Meanwhile, Li Huowang picked up a small shovel and gestured a few times with it toward his fingernail. Then, he placed the items on his back and said, “Let’s go.”
“It’s already noon. Why don’t we rest the night before going?” suggested Sun Baolu.
However, this suggestion was met with an ice glare from Li Huowang. “I said let’s go!”
Soon, the wheels of the carriage started to turn and roll toward the forests infested with man-eating creatures.
As the moon rose up, Li Huowang and his group finally arrived at their destination.
There was an extremely dense bamboo forest before them, and fireflies could be seen twinkling in and out of sight. A small path winded through, making it look like a snake that had burrowed into the bamboo forest. The weeds on the path suggested that it hadn’t been used in a long time.
Li Huowang didn’t rush in recklessly. According to Abbess Jingxin, the Eighteenth Lunar was an evil being that had multiple forms. Nobody knew what form it had right now or what kind of threat it would pose to them.
He stood at the edge of the forest and spent some time observing in silence.
Time passed slowly, and everything appeared to be normal inside the forest—all the creatures within remained unchanged, and Li Huowang even saw some rats gnawing on the bamboo.
It was only at dawn that Li Huowang ceased his observation.
As he ate the noodles in his bowl, Li Huowang told the others, "From the looks of it, the periphery is fine. We will enter the forest after this meal. Once we are inside, don’t do anything else. There's only one thing all of you need to do: if... and I mean, if..."
His expression turned serious as he paused. “If my behavior turns abnormal, then keep an eye on me, and don't let me wander around."
Yes, the reason Li Huowang had brought them along this time was this.
As the effects of the Black Taisui were gradually wearing off, Li Huowang felt his surroundings becoming more and more unreal, and he felt like he might be engulfed in hallucinations at any moment.
He needed them to accompany him inside, just in case.
Upon hearing this unusual request, the others exchanged glances and nodded.
“Even if my behavior turns abnormal, it shouldn’t be for a long period of time. It’ll be fine once I’m back to normal,” continued Li Huowang.
Once he finished speaking, he drank a mouthful of soup. At that moment, a delicate white hand reached over and plucked at his hair, causing him to feel pain in his scalp.
“What are you doing?” Li Huowang was displeased with the owner of the hand, Bai Lingmiao.
"My mother once said that white hair has to be plucked. If you leave them be, more white hair will grow on your head," replied Bai Lingmiao.
Hearing this, Li Huowang hastened the pace at which he devoured his noodles.
Meanwhile, Bai Lingmiao sat down cross-legged beside him and reached out toward the red bamboo slip on Li Huowang’s back. "Senior Li, you’ve been carrying this thing all this time—"
However, Li Huowang suddenly stood up before she could touch it. He finished the soup in one gulp and tossed the bowl into the empty pot. "Let's go into the forest."
Everyone was well-fed, and they followed Li Huowang down the small path. Despite it being early morning, once they stepped into the forest, the surroundings turned dark. The dense bamboo thicket acted as a barrier that tightly blocked out the sunlight coming from above.
Thus, they took out the dark-green glowing stones, using them to brighten their surroundings.
However, when this green-colored light illuminated the bamboo forest, it caused the green bamboo around them to take on a sickly hue, making the onlookers feel unsettled.
Amidst the swaying of the bamboo trees, there seemed to be something hiding in the depths of the dense bamboo forest, watching them.
Li Huowang strained his eyes to make out what it was but could not see anything. Right as he was about to turn around, he felt a prickling sensation on his back.
Is this the power of the Eighteenth Lunar? Is it watching me from within the forest? What form has it taken??
The others could also feel that strange sensation.
The only sounds that could be heard around them were that of shoes stepping on the weeds. Nobody said anything, the atmosphere growing tense.
“Senior Li... do you... feel like the bamboo above is growing closer to us?” said one of the guiding drug ingredients.
Hearing this, everyone slowly looked up. The surrounding bamboo trees were completely bent, with their sickly-colored tips pointing directly at them.
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