025 The Forest Path

"Clang!" The long sword crashed down on the heavenly book, unleashing a shriek so ear - splitting that everyone in the room instinctively clapped their hands over their ears and staggered back a couple of steps.

"The sword can't even leave a scratch. Changming is a sword cultivator, yet his sword is so useless. It should be a remarkable weapon," Li Huowang muttered, gripping the sword tightly as he sank into deep thought. A few seconds later, he seized the hilt with both hands, swung the sword in a wide, sweeping arc, and brought it down with all his might once more.

He gritted his teeth and struck repeatedly. Finally, something changed, but not to the so - called heavenly book. Instead, it was the long sword in Li Huowang's hand that met its end.

"Clang!" With a sharp, crisp sound, the blade split cleanly in two at the point of impact. The once - magnificent long sword was now nothing more than a broken hunk of metal.

Staring at the shattered sword in his hand, Li Huowang was left in a daze. The weapon he'd just acquired had vanished in the blink of an eye.

He glanced around, then rushed over and snatched the sword from the dead Changren. "Thank goodness there's a spare," he thought.

"Whoosh!" The long sword slid smoothly back into its scabbard. Li Huowang paced around the heavenly book, his mind racing as he tried to figure out what to do next.

He'd initially planned to destroy this so - called heavenly book, but now it was clear that this book was truly extraordinary. It was most likely a precious treasure.

Since he'd already decided not to give up on himself, he couldn't just toss such a valuable item away. "Anyway, I'll take it first. At least I can pawn it for some cash," he mused.

As for the far - fetched idea of attaining immortality with this thing, Li Huowang had completely dismissed it. He'd witnessed the fates of those who'd tried before, and he had no desire to follow in their footsteps.

Li Huowang strained to pick up the stone slab and hefted it. It was much heavier than he'd anticipated, but still within his strength to carry.

After wrapping the slab in a cloth, he slung it on his back and turned to the others waiting nearby. "Let's go. We're getting out of here," he declared.

He flung lamp oil into the stinky cave where Danyangzi had been. Flames shot up along the trail of lamp oil on the ground, engulfing everything in the room that could burn, including Changming, Changren, and Xuan Yuan lying on the floor.

The fire raged out of control. Watching the scene before him, Li Huowang realized that human bodies were like kindling, easily set ablaze.

As they retraced their steps, they set fire to every room they passed. The searing flames danced and merged, devouring everything combustible in Qingfeng Temple and charring what couldn't burn.

"Cough, cough..." The thick smoke made the others start hacking, and everyone quickened their pace.

After about the time it takes to burn three incense sticks, they emerged into the sunlight, standing silently as they watched thick smoke billowing from the entrance of Qingfeng Temple.

The smoke rolled and rose straight up, like a dark cloud swallowing all the darkness and evil within the temple, vanishing into the bright sky.

Li Huowang looked up and let out a soft chuckle. With the long sword and the slab on his back, he turned and strode towards the distant forest path. "Let's go," he said.

The others, carrying food, followed behind him one by one. Before they knew it, Li Huowang had become their leader.

Gazing at the approaching forest path in the distance, Li Huowang's mood lightened.

"Ah, this place is so unique. I wonder what kind of people and things I'll encounter in the future. Suddenly, I'm really looking forward to it," he thought to himself.

The sun bathed his face, and as he inhaled the fresh air, his spirits soared.

"Brother Li, slow down. My eyes hurt," a voice called out.

Li Huowang turned his head and saw Bai Lingmiao shielding her eyes from the sunlight.

He walked over, gently cupping her face, and examined her eyes closely. To his shock, he could see the blood vessels behind her eyeball through the center of her pupil. The pink hue was the result of the dark - red blood vessels being illuminated by the light.

"This... should be some kind of defect," Li Huowang guessed.

He wasn't a doctor and didn't understand these things, but he could make an educated guess. He remembered that most elderly albino fortune - tellers and masseurs were blind.

It seemed that Bai Lingmiao's illness had caused eye defects, making her eyes far more sensitive than ordinary people's.

This wouldn't do. Li Huowang tore a strip of cloth from the hem of his cyan Taoist robe and gently covered Bai Lingmiao's eyes. "From now on, whenever the sun is out, you should cover your eyes," he said.

"But... then I won't be able to see."

"It's okay. I'll hold your hand," Li Huowang said, grasping Bai Lingmiao's soft right hand and leading the others towards the forest at a brisk pace.

After stumbling a few times, Bai Lingmiao started trotting after Li Huowang.

——————————

"Tap, tap, tap!" The wrinkled Lu Zhuangyuan rapped his long - stemmed tobacco pipe forcefully on the theater trunk.

After knocking out the stubborn black tobacco shreds inside, he took out fresh tobacco from his tobacco pouch, lit it with a firebox, and took a long, contented puff. Then he shouted towards the forest in the direction of the horse's head, "Kid, are you done?"

"Almost! Almost!" came a young boy's reply from within.

"You're as lazy as a donkey pulling a mill, always making excuses. Taking so long to take a dump. People might think I'm abusing you and making you eat dirt," Lu Zhuangyuan grumbled as he puffed on his tobacco, complaining about his youngest son.

His gaze shifted to the back of the carriage, where he surveyed his entire theater troupe on the forest path. Apart from a carriage loaded with trunks of costumes and musical instruments,

there were also his eldest son's family of three and two distant nephews from the village. Although the troupe was small, it was the fruit of his years of hard work.

Thanks to this small theater troupe, his whole family could put food on the table during these difficult times.

"Father, have some water and a bun," Lu Juren said, offering food and a water gourd to his father.

"What to eat? It's not mealtime yet. Do you think food grows on trees? Do you know how expensive food is these days? Your daughter is already two years old. You're not a child anymore. Why are you so irresponsible?"

After being scolded harshly, Lu Juren wasn't angry. He just gave a simple smile and stepped back, asking his wife to put away the things in his hand.

"See? You got scolded again. You're just asking for it," Luo Juanhua said as she put the food back on the carriage and then tickled her precious daughter sitting on the trunk with her finger.

"A scolding won't kill me. It's okay. Since mother passed away, father has been like this," Lu Juren replied.

"Hey, dear, did you talk to father about what I told you last night?"

"Let's wait a while. We haven't had any performances recently, and father is short on cash," Lu Juren said, his face turning sour at the mention of this topic.

"Tsk! Is he so broke that he can't even buy cloth to make clothes for his granddaughter? She's wearing theater costumes now."

"Theater costumes... actually, they're fine..."

"Ahhh! Ghost! Ghost!!!" A terrified scream cut through the couple's conversation, instantly tensing the atmosphere of the entire theater troupe.

Not long after, the others saw a naked young boy running out of the forest, sobbing and shouting for his parents, and throwing himself into Lu Zhuangyuan's arms.

"What ghost? There are no ghosts in broad daylight! Put your pants on quickly!"

Although Lu Zhuangyuan was scolding his youngest son, he still shielded Lu Xiucai behind him, tightened his grip on the tobacco pipe, and eyed the forest warily.

There were figures moving inside, and it seemed that someone was approaching.