036 The Donkey Cart

Eyeing the six taels of silver, Li Huowang didn't bother to decline. He simply reached out and stuffed it into his bosom. He truly needed the money at that moment.

"Then, little Taoist priest, take your time to savor the meal. We'll go and make some preparations. We'll resume our journey tomorrow."

After a hearty meal, the Lu family members were overcome with sleepiness and eager to go back and catch up on some rest. After all, they hadn't slept a wink the previous night.

Once the Lu family left, Li Huowang was the sole person remaining in the room. He stared at the roast chicken in front of him, which was even bigger than his head. After a moment of thought, he addressed the servant beside him, "Do you have something to carry things in?"

Not long afterward, Li Huowang led a donkey out of Wuligang. A flat - bed cart trailed behind the donkey, brimming with bags of grain.

Although six taels of silver wasn't a fortune and needed to be spent frugally, it was still sufficient to buy a donkey if not a horse. With this, at least they wouldn't have to lug the grain on their backs every day during the journey.

As Li Huowang emerged, he noticed that the others were still huddled in the rice straw piles in the fields. They refrained from entering the village, clearly worried that their strange appearances would frighten the villagers.

When Li Huowang approached, he saw that they were roasting dried sweet potatoes over a fire. He reached out and grabbed a fragrant roast chicken from the cart. "Dig in."

After subsisting on dry rations for days, the group couldn't resist the sight of the chicken. They immediately rushed over, excitement written all over their faces.

One chicken was to be shared among over a dozen people, so each person got only a meager portion. But everyone chewed with extreme care. They even painstakingly bit the chicken bones into tiny pieces and swallowed them.

"Brother Li, where on earth did you get this chicken? And this donkey cart? Where did you go last night?" Bai Lingmiao asked, clutching the chicken neck with both hands.

Li Huowang plopped down on the rice straw pile, closed his eyes, and briefly recounted the cause and the process.

Upon learning that Li Huowang had risked his life to obtain these things, Bai Lingmiao put down the chicken neck in her hand. She crawled over to Li Huowang's side, following the sound, and regarded him with a pained expression.

"Brother Li, I'm so sorry. We're such a burden to you. If it weren't for us, you wouldn't have to go through so much hardship."

Li Huowang opened his eyes and looked at the young girl in front of him, her eyes covered by a cyan cloth. "It's not your fault. Since that thing could track us down to Hu's Ancestral Hall, it must have set its sights on us long ago. Even without what happened last night, we would have crossed paths with it sooner or later."

"And..." Li Huowang paused for a moment as he said this, his mind flashing back to the time when he was completely lost in hallucinations in Qingfeng Taoist Temple. "And, in the future, it's really hard to say who will end up being the burden."

Li Huowang pondered for a while and then looked at the young girl again. He reached out and took her hand.

Bai Lingmiao shyly withdrew a bit but then clasped his hand back.

However, after a short while, Li Huowang had second thoughts. Lying on the rice straw pile, he closed his eyes, turned his head to the side, and released the tightly - held hand.

But the moment he let go, those soft hands reached out and grasped his once more.

After a good night's rest, the two groups of people with different agendas set off once again.

Their next destination was Jianye Town, which would also mark Li Huowang's first foray into a large - scale gathering place in this world.

"Little Taoist priest, Wuligang isn't far from Jianye Town. According to our schedule, we'll be there in about four or five days." Lu the Scholar reported to Li Huowang.

Li Huowang turned his head and glanced at Zhao Wu being carried on the back of the fool. "How are you feeling? You're almost home. Are you excited?"

Zhao Wu had mentioned before that his home was in Jianye. After spending some time with him, Li Huowang had formed a preliminary impression of Zhao Wu. He thought the other person was quite intelligent, but his potential had remained untapped due to his physical limitations and illiteracy.

"Zhao Wu, you're almost home. Well, you should treat us brothers to a meal at a restaurant, right?" Gouwa teased playfully.

However, Zhao Wu's reaction caught everyone off guard. A bitter smile spread across his face. "What's the point of me going home like this? I can't carry anything with my hands or shoulders. Staying at home, I'd just be a good - for - nothing."

As soon as he uttered these words, the atmosphere grew somber. His words struck a chord with all the medicine ingredients.

Except for Li Huowang, those who had been confined in the ingredient room all had some issues to varying degrees. Even if they returned to their hometowns, they would still be outcasts, feared or hated by others.

Escaping the shadow of death after leaving Qingfeng Taoist Temple was indeed a relief, but going back to an environment filled with contempt and hostility was hardly something to be happy about.

Sensing that the atmosphere was a bit gloomy, Li Huowang turned to look at Zhao Wu. "Who says you're useless? Since we have some free time during this period, I'll teach you how to make pills. Remember as much as you can. When you get home, you can be a bare - foot doctor and at least won't starve."

Zhao Wu was taken aback for a moment upon hearing this, and then his face lit up with excitement. His eyes were brimming with a strong desire. "Brother Li, I don't want to learn how to make pills. Can you teach me how to read?"

"Why do you want to learn how to read? Learning a few more pill formulas and practicing medicine when you get home would be a decent way to make a living, wouldn't it?" Li Huowang couldn't quite fathom the feelings of these locals.

It wasn't that reading wasn't valuable. Reading was, of course, very useful, but it took five years to complete primary school. Teaching an illiterate who didn't even know how to write his own name how to read was a colossal undertaking that would take several years.

"It doesn't matter! It's okay if I can't learn much. I'll learn as much as I can."

Although Li Huowang didn't understand Zhao Wu's intense thirst for knowledge, since he was eager to learn, of course, Li Huowang could teach him.

"Fool, put Zhao Wu on the donkey cart. I'll teach him how to read."

As Li Huowang began teaching, starting with simple character enlightenment like "木 (mù), 口 (kǒu), 人 (rén)", he noticed that it was unusually quiet around him. He looked up and found that everyone, including the Lu family, was listening intently.

Not only were they listening attentively, but there was also a look of reverence on their faces. It was as if Li Huowang was engaged in something solemn and sacred.

"Hehe, well, little Taoist priest."

With a beaming smile, Lu the Scholar walked over, holding two pieces of cured meat in one hand and forcefully dragging his young son along with the other.

Just as Li Huowang was waiting for him to speak, clouds of dust billowed up from behind the forest path.

Not long after, a horse came to a halt in front of them. A chubby young boy leaped off the horse.

Lu the Scholar clearly recognized this person from Wuligang and quickly bowed in salute. "Hey, Young Master Hu, take it easy. Where are you headed?"

"I'm not going anywhere! I'll go with you to perform opera! Then I can listen to the opera every day!" The excited Young Master Hu had a very childish voice. Although he looked hefty, his voice hadn't changed yet.

"Oh, come on, stop joking. Go back quickly. Don't let your grandfather worry."

"Don't worry. I'll pay for listening to the opera!" He thrust a gold longevity lock into Lu the Scholar's hand.

Lu the Scholar's expression was extremely conflicted at that moment. He held the gold in his hand, at a loss as to what to do.

But soon, someone rode a horse and caught up with them, resolving his dilemma.

"Dad! Don't pull me! I'm not going back! I want to perform opera!!"

"Pa~!" The resounding slap on Young Master Hu's face startled everyone around. The young boy's face quickly swelled up.

"How dare you aspire to be an opera actor! How lowly you are!! Opera actors are the lowest of the low - class people. If you dare to disgrace the Hu family by being an opera actor, I'll beat you to death!"

The man snatched the longevity lock that Lu the Scholar was holding up high, grabbed his son, and rode away on two horses in a cloud of dust.

After he left, Li Huowang turned his attention back to Lu the Scholar, waiting for him to finish what he had left unsaid.

Lu the Scholar stood there awkwardly, clutching two pieces of cured meat in his hand. He opened his mouth several times as if he wanted to say something but no sound came out.

This usually suave old man was, for the first time, as helpless as a child.

In the end, he still didn't say a word. He forced a smile and nodded at Li Huowang, then pulled his son towards the carriage beside him. The already - hunched old man seemed to hunch over even more.