033 Keep Singing
Sensing something awry, Li Huowang backstage tightened his expression. Swiftly, he stashed the Heavenly Book in his hand, yanked aside the backstage curtain, and peeked outside.
To his utter horror, the actors on stage and the musicians playing wind and percussion instruments beside them stood rigid, trembling in fear.
His gaze shifted to the front of the stage, and his pupils shrank to pinpoints. There, on a stool below the stage, sat the double - faced bound - footed woman he'd encountered in the forest that day. Cross - legged, she watched the play alongside those black memorial tablets, as eerie as a shadow from a nightmare.
"This thing actually followed us here. Could it have latched onto us?"
"Don't stop! Keep singing!" Li Huowang fetched a wooden bench from the back and plunked it right under the stage. He sat down, arms folded across his chest, glaring fixedly at the bound - footed woman.
Li Huowang's resolute back gave the Lu family members a shot of courage. They swallowed hard, exchanged a nervous glance, and the sound of the suona and the singing resumed.
The bound - footed woman kept her eyes glued to the stage, completely ignoring Li Huowang's hostility, as if her sole purpose for coming was to listen to the opera.
"As long as the enemy doesn't move, I won't either. I don't believe this thing can stay here when daylight comes."
That's what Li Huowang thought and did. He was desperate to avoid using his three - month lifespan if he could.
A thin mist began to rise from the ancestral hall's floor, and the atmosphere grew increasingly oppressive, like a heavy blanket smothering the air.
Suddenly, the bound - footed woman stirred. She slowly stretched out her chubby right hand, grabbed two red candles from the plate, and stuffed them into her mouth, munching noisily.
She gobbled them up fast. In the blink of an eye, the precious candles on the Eight - Immortals table beside her were all gone.
Then, the singing halted again. Lu Xiucai, playing the young scholar on stage, was so terrified that he burst into tears.
The paper figurines placed between the Eight - Immortals tables by the Hu family started moving out of the blue. Wearing black skullcaps and with bright red blush on their faces, they reached out their hands, picked up the plates filled with red precious candles from other tables, and floated towards the bound - footed woman.
"Xi xi xi～" The bound - footed woman let out an ear - splitting, terrifying laugh that made everyone in the Lu Opera Troupe tremble violently.
"Don't stop! Keep singing!" Li Huowang's roar thundered through the silent ancestral hall, banishing the fear in everyone's hearts.
"Sing～ah~~!" Lu Zhuangyuan, dressed as an old actor, let out a shout, and the music blared louder than before.
Everyone sang their hearts out, as if trying to roar away all the fear within. Their forehead veins popped out, and they sweated profusely.
This time, the bound - footed woman stopped laughing. Instead, she stared at Li Huowang with a gloomy face. And so did all the paper figurines, like a horde of malevolent eyes.
Li Huowang didn't care. He stared back defiantly, like a fearless warrior facing a demon.
The third watch of the night passed in this strange atmosphere, and the fourth watch began. The Lu Opera Troupe, who had been singing their lungs out on stage, were almost hoarse, but they didn't dare stop for a second.
"Is it still going to drag this out with me? When on earth will this thing stop?" Li Huowang wondered to himself.
Just as he hesitated whether to spend three months of his lifespan to invite Taoist You to get rid of this woman once and for all, the situation took another turn. All the memorial tablets under the stage began to tremble inexplicably.
"Da da da da～" The sound of the memorial tablets knocking on the Eight - Immortals tables in unison was like a relentless drumbeat of doom.
This time, the Lu family members couldn't hold it together anymore. One person's fear was now compounded by all these terrifying things!
Seeing this, the bound - footed woman started laughing, and she laughed maniacally. The shrill laughter made Li Huowang's ears ache.
However, looking at the bound - footed woman in front of him, Li Huowang curled his lips and smiled faintly. "I seem to understand what's going on. Your actions these times seem aimed at scaring them."
"If you don't have such a perverse interest like a human being, then I can only guess that your food isn't those candles, but the fear in their hearts, right?"
When the bound - footed woman suddenly stood up and glared at him venomously, Li Huowang knew he'd hit the nail on the head.
"Master Lu, don't stop. Keep singing. Didn't Master Hu say that his ancestors want to listen to something lively? If you're afraid the wind will make your eyes water, just close them and keep singing."
"Xi xi xi. Tell me, do I look like a human or a god?" Seeing her plan had completely failed, the bound - footed woman stood up with a hideous grin and started swaying towards Li Huowang.
"Humph! I think you're a demon spawned from a testicle!" With a "clang", Li Huowang drew his sword from behind in one swift motion and charged towards the woman.
After figuring out this thing's purpose, Li Huowang's concerns vanished like smoke. This ghostly thing was far less powerful than he'd thought.
It was like using a hemp pole to beat a wolf—being afraid on both ends before.
In just a few steps, they clashed. Li Huowang swung his sword and chopped.
A cold light flashed, and the woman was split in two. The cut red precious candles tumbled out of her belly.
The upper - half of the woman's body in the air quickly darted behind Li Huowang and reached for his back.
But when the pale fingers were still some distance away from Li Huowang's back, they retracted as if burned.
"Oh?" When Li Huowang keenly noticed this, he was overjoyed. This thing was afraid of the Heavenly Book!
Li Huowang flung the long sword in his hand away, took out the Heavenly Book directly, and swung it round to slap the bound - footed woman in the face.
Facing the approaching Heavenly Book, the bound - footed woman showed fear on her face and turned to run.
At that moment, the situation reversed. It was now Li Huowang with the Heavenly Book who made the other side cower.
In the Hu family ancestral hall, Li Huowang chased the bound - footed woman around for a long time.
Although the woman had bound feet, she ran like the wind. After chasing for ages, Li Huowang still couldn't lay a hand on her.
Li Huowang gasped for breath and looked at the bound - footed woman across the table. This couldn't go on. He wondered if he could drive her away.
"Get out of here! Do you hear me? Don't let me see you again!"
The bound - footed woman stared at him venomously for a moment, then swayed her body and shrank into the darkness of the corner.
When Li Huowang carried the lantern and approached the corner, he found nothing there.
Lu Zhuangyuan picked up the sword that Li Huowang had thrown on the ground, trotted over, and presented it to Li Huowang with both hands.
Li Huowang grabbed the hilt of the sword and inserted it back behind him. Then he saw Lu Zhuangyuan smiling obsequiously at him and saying, "Xi xi xi. Tell me, do I look like a human or a god?"
Li Huowang was shocked. Something was off! The singing hadn't stopped yet! This Lu Zhuangyuan was fake!
The moment he realized this, the Lu Zhuangyuan in front of him pounced on him. His pale hands passed directly through Li Huowang's body.
In an instant, Li Huowang felt a bone - chilling cold all over his body. His mood plummeted, and everything around him seemed to be swallowed by darkness.