Chapter 92 - The Eighteenth Lunar
Hearing Li Huowang’s words, Wu Qing grunted; his face was still half swollen from the previous night. Then, he pulled out a stool and took his bowl before sitting with his back facing the youth that just exited the room.
“Hoh. He makes it look like I’m the one who holds grudges instead. Senior Li, you must’ve used a lot of silver just to convince him right?” he asked mockingly before walking into the hall and picking up a yellow steamed cornbread from the bowl and munching on it.
“Hey! You brat, how can you be so disrespectful? Did your mother not teach you to be polite?” demanded Wu Qing. Since he had Li Huowang supporting him, he was not as cowardly as yesterday when he was tied to the pillar.
Hearing the old man disrespecting his mother, the anger in his heart exploded.
Jiang!~
He instantly unsheathed his sharp sword and pointed it at Wu Qing’s goatee. “I dare you to say that one more time!”
“What are you doing?!” shouted Wu Qing’s six sons and eight grandsons as they placed their bowls down. Then, they stood up, rolled their sleeves, and circled him.
“Fuck! Do you think I’m afraid of you guys? I dare you to take one more step! I’ve already killed hundreds of people and I don’t mind adding a few more to that list. Come closer and try me!” he shouted. Seeing the hostility of the Wu family made him feel extremely irritated as his heart beat faster.
“Put down your sword and stand outside!” A loud voice interjected.
At that moment, when he saw Li Huowang’s hardened face, he knew that Senior Li was really angry. He stared daggers at the Wu family as he sheathed the sword and walked toward the door.
Senior Li’s voice sounded behind him. “Old man, you know how young people are. They don’t even have a mustache but still love to boast. He’s just lying. He has never killed a single person.”
“Hmph! You think I couldn’t see what kind of boy he is? All bark but no bite. Who does he think he is? Nothing but an inexperienced chick. Heck, the amount of salt I’ve eaten throughout my life is probably more than the amount of rice he has eaten in his life,” said Wu Qing.
Hearing the old man say that, he angrily turned around.
So what if I’m young? Just because I’m fourteen, am I not a man? That old man is nothing but hot air either!
At that moment, he saw Li Huowang’s cold gaze trained on him, causing his heart to skip a beat as he hurriedly ran out.
The village was covered in a faint white fog early in the morning. As he stretched, he felt the crisp air around him. Then, he rolled up his sleeves and squatted down to look at the ants on the ground.
“You there. Monk, what are you squatting down there for?” a voice rang out behind him.
He stood up and straightened his yellow monk robes before politely placing his palms together as he talked to the white-haired girl in front of him. “Amitabha. I am doing Vipassana.”
“Hoho, what an interesting monk, just like a child. You are only looking at the ants moving their nest and yet you are still able to say that you are doing Vipassana.”
When he saw the girl’s white eyelashes fluttering, the monk slipped into confusion, as if he was reminded of something. But just as he did, he lowered his head and chanted some sutra, while vowing to never again set his eyes on the girl in front of him who had shaken his heart so easily.
“Then continue on with your Vipassana, goodbye.” said the white haired girl.
Looking at the girl entering into the Wu Family courtyard, he saw that there were many other unfamiliar faces inside. “Did the village head have guests? Why do I not remember him saying anything about that?”
The monk stood there silently as he stared at the weird looking guests. Then, he suddenly slapped his head.
“What am I doing? Why am I acting like the aunties in the village who likes to gossip? I’ve already become a monk and should not be doing this sort of thing. I should just continue chanting my sutras.” The monk swiftly turned around as he thumbed his prayer beads and slowly walked back to his temple.
He walked on and on before encountering a pile of dung on the ground. However, even before he even got close to it, a child with a bamboo basket on his back ran over, picked up the cow dung, and threw it into the bamboo basket. “This dung was made by my family’s cow! It’s mine!”
He panicked when he heard that. “What do you mean it’s your family’s cow?! I can say the same as well! This is my cow dung!”
Hearing this, the child in front of him made a funny face toward him. “Shameless~ You are already so old but you still want to fight with a child over cow dung.”
Hearing this, his old face turned red as he raised his walking stick; he wanted to give that impolite child a good beating.
Looking at the child running away while still making funny faces at him, he chuckled. “Hah! I’m already so old; why am I still fighting with a child?”
With his walking stick, he slowly walked into the small courtyard that he had lived in for his entire life. There, he sat on the rocking chair and watched as the leaves slowly fell from the trees while he reminisced his entire life.
Just then, his old neighbor’s voice came from his door. “Old man~ You are already eighty-four this year. The King of Hell might not have called you over just yet, but shouldn’t it already be your time? Hahaha~”
“Hey! You silly old thing! All you know how to do is to curse me. It's almost as if you think I can’t curse you back too,” he shouted.
Just as he was about to stand up from his rocking chair, he felt a strange feeling in his heart.
It was his time.
He had always heard other old folks saying that everyone would know the exact moment their death was approaching. To think that it was true.
He felt everything around him becoming smaller and smaller while he slowly floated up. His body was light and he felt cozy. “Is this what death feels like?”
But then, everything changed. His surroundings became twisted, and even his wrinkled face became twisted as well.
His face continued changing; from a youth, to a monk with a scar on his head, to an old lady.
Finally, after changing a few times, his face returned back to that of a young man.
At that moment, he was stunned by the familiar yet unfamiliar white walls in front of him. Three questions popped up in his mind.
Where am I? Where is this? What am I doing?
Just then, two patients walked past his window as they talked.
“I’m not the same as you guys. I’m not mental, I just have a neurological disorder. This means that my brain and neurons were slightly altered. To be called mental due to just that is downright derogatory! There, look at him. Little Li is a true mental patient. He talks to himself and inflicts self-harm every single day.”
“No need to talk about him. What a poor lad, to be afflicted by such an ailment even though he’s still so young.”
“As if Li Huowang that brat would hop out of his bed and scold me. Wait... that’s actually not bad. I would rather get scolded.”
“Li Huowang?” In an instant, Li Huowang recalled everything. He pieced everything together and immediately realized what had happened.
Instantly, Li Huowang’s confused face was filled with hostility as he bellowed in rage. “I’m not some fucking monk nor am I an old man! I’m Li Huowang! That fucking Eighteenth Lunar stole my identity!”
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