Wild Food

Looking at the silver ingots in Bai Lingmiao's hands, Li Huowang reached into his robe and took out a piece of silver to add to the pile.

Before Li Huowang could say anything, Bai Lingmiao quickly interrupted, "That golden bangle is already melted. I saw it with my own eyes—it's impossible to get it back now."

Seeing Li Huowang standing there with his mouth open, stunned, Bai Lingmiao smiled triumphantly, as if she had won something. She pressed the silver back into his hands.

"Don't worry. That bracelet was just something my mother gave me for emergencies. It wasn't some kind of family heirloom or treasure."

Since Bai Lingmiao had already explained this much, Li Huowang didn't argue further. Carefully counting the silver, he said, "When everything settles down, I'll buy you an even better one."

"Okay! I'll wait!" Bai Lingmiao nodded with a radiant smile.

Just then, the door suddenly opened, and Gouwa walked in. Seeing the two sitting together in the corner of the room, he froze and immediately turned to leave.

"Sorry, wrong room. My mistake—I'll leave now."

Bai Lingmiao's face turned red as she quickly shoved Gouwa out the door and fled down the hallway.

Gouwa chuckled as he stepped inside, "Li Shixiong, Bai Shimei may look pale and frail, but when it comes to finding a wife, looks don't matter as much as personality. Don't let that scare you off."

Li Huowang couldn't be bothered with his nonsense. "Stop talking nonsense. Go wash up and get some sleep. It's rare to have a proper bed."

In his half-asleep state, Li Huowang suddenly found himself standing in a dense forest. In the distance, a faint light glimmered through the trees. Curious, he used his sword to push aside the branches and walked toward the light.

As he approached, Li Huowang saw Bai Lingmiao and the others sitting around a campfire with his mother and Yang Na. They were happily roasting sweet potatoes.

Seeing this warm and comforting scene, Li Huowang sighed in relief and began to walk toward them.

However, in an instant, the entire scene changed. The towering figure of Dan Yangzi appeared, now over a hundred meters tall, with three heads and feathers covering his body like a monstrous mountain.

"Ha ha ha! Good job, boy! You've brought me the bait!"

The terrifying Dan Yangzi laughed uproariously, raising a stone pillar taller than Li Huowang himself and smashing it down toward the campfire.

"Wait!!"

Drenched in cold sweat, Li Huowang jolted awake, sitting up abruptly. His chest heaved as he gasped for air, slowly realizing it had all been just a dream.

"Li Shixiong, you're awake? I got you some dumplings—eat them while they're hot." Gouwa's voice came from the window as he pulled his head back in from watching the street.

"What time is it?" Li Huowang rubbed his temples, which were pounding with pain, as he moved toward the table and noticed the dumplings resembled wontons.

"Just past the hour of Chen. It's fine if you sleep a little more—there's no rush to leave today."

Scooping up the dumplings with a porcelain spoon, Li Huowang devoured them quickly. After just a few bites, he had already finished.

"Who says there's nothing to do today? Let's go. We need to buy supplies for the road."

The dream he had just woken from flashed in his mind again. Li Huowang continued, "I'll take the others to buy what we need. You go ask Lü Zhuangyuan when they'll be ready to leave. If they're not ready soon, we'll go ahead on our own."

Li Huowang still had some silver left after buying the donkey cart, and with Bai Lingmiao's additional silver, he could now stock up on essentials.

At the very least, they needed blankets and mats, so they wouldn't have to sleep near a fire with their backs hot and their chests cold.

He also planned to buy a pot, which would allow them to cook hot meals on the road instead of surviving solely on dry rations.

After running errands, Li Huowang reunited with Lü Zhuangyuan at the town gate, now with an additional donkey cart loaded with supplies.

"Wow, Xiaodaoye! You've got quite the talent for making money. The further we travel, the more wealth you seem to accumulate. At this rate, give it another year, and you'll be rolling in riches!" Lü Zhuangyuan complimented him with his usual flattery.

"Lü Zhuangyuan, how far is it to Xijing City from here?" Li Huowang asked as he observed the wide dirt road ahead.

The road had widened, and there were now many more travelers—merchants with carts, farmers carrying goods, and others clearly heading in the same direction.

"Not far. With our current pace, we'll get there in about ten days," Lü Zhuangyuan replied, his face lighting up at some happy thought.

Li Huowang nodded and asked again, "Besides their reputation for granting fertility, do you know anything else about the monastery there?"

"Eh, what's there to know? It's just a monastery. Aren't they all the same? A bunch of old monks leading young monks, eating vegetarian meals, and chanting scriptures."

Li Huowang sighed softly. Clearly, he would have to investigate on his own—Lü Zhuangyuan, as an ordinary civilian, had no deeper understanding of such places.

"Xiaodaoye, look over there—under that tree, the one taking a leak. That's a monk, isn't it? Why not ask him instead?"

"Oh?"

Looking in the direction Lü Zhuangyuan indicated, Li Huowang indeed saw a bald-headed monk by the roadside.

He approached and found the monk shaking off before turning around.

But upon seeing the man's face, Li Huowang frowned deeply.

This so-called monk looked more like an old beggar who had shaved his head. His tattered robe was covered in patches and holes, and he exuded an air of extreme poverty.

"Amitabha. Can I help you with something?" The filthy old man grinned, revealing yellowed gums devoid of teeth.

"You're a monk?"

"Yes, I'm a monk!" The old man lifted a string of wooden prayer beads from around his neck, proudly displaying them.

"Which temple do you belong to?" Li Huowang asked, his voice tinged with suspicion.

"I don't have a temple yet. I'm heading north to find one. I hear they've got plenty of monasteries up there, and they even provide food. I figured I'd go up there and become a proper monk."

Hearing this, Li Huowang's suspicions deepened. He gave a curt nod and turned back toward his group without saying another word.

But as Li Huowang tried to ignore him, the old beggar-monk clung to them like a leech.

"You're going to a monastery too? Let's travel together! But wait, aren't you a Daoist? Daoists don't worship the Buddha, do they?"

"Is he playing dumb to fool me?" Li Huowang tightened his grip on the bell at his waist and spurred his donkey onward, urging the group to pick up the pace and leave the man behind.

Eventually, the strange monk lost interest and wandered off. Li Huowang finally breathed a sigh of relief, but he couldn't shake the lingering unease in his heart.

Later, as they stopped to eat along the road, Li Huowang noticed someone missing.

"Where's Shazi?" he asked.

"He went into the woods to relieve himself. Maybe he got sidetracked."

"Shazi! You in there?" Gouwa called into the trees.

Shazi emerged moments later, his mouth stuffed with something.

"What are you eating?" Li Huowang asked, frowning.

"Wild...wild white rice...don't cost...no money!" Shazi mumbled, retreating back into the forest.

Background Explanations and Annotations:

扁食 (Biǎn Shí): Translated as "dumplings," they are similar to wontons, commonly eaten in northern China.Wild White Rice (野白米饭): Likely a misidentification by Shazi. This could be a reference to edible wild plants or seeds mistaken for actual rice.