The Old Master You

"Bang!" The huge wooden stick slammed heavily onto the ground, kicking up a thick cloud of dust.

Immediately, the heavy stick was lifted high, and with a great swing, it came crashing down once more.

Li Huowang, who was being supported by Bai Lingmiao, looked on at the idiot swinging the wooden stick.

Although his neck wound had not fully healed, after several days of lying down, he could barely stand.

"Use more force! Hit harder!" Li Huowang called out from the side.

By the campfire, Lü Zhuangyuan walked over with two coarse steamed buns, grinning. "Young Daoist, what are you doing? The noise is quite loud."

The idiot swung the stick again, and the surrounding forest and bushes were being smashed apart.

"Heh, it's nothing much. With such a big guy here, it's a waste to only have him carry luggage. Let's put him to good use," Li Huowang replied.

"Ah, that's great! That's great!" Lü Zhuangyuan nodded enthusiastically, then backed off.

Li Huowang turned his attention back to the big, shirtless fool, sweat glistening on his strong body.

Although this guy's brain was not quite right, his physique was impressive. Li Huowang thought to himself, "With a body like that, he might not be useful for much else, but he should be enough to deal with ordinary bandits."

This was Li Huowang's plan—to strengthen his group. Relying solely on You Laoye and Dan Yangzi, two sources with significant drawbacks, was not enough. Even if he didn't understand the mystical arts of this world, he knew the most basic principle: brute force could be useful.

No matter how primitive, having strength was better than not having any.

Not to mention, when facing enemies in the future, or even when he had a seizure, this big guy could help protect him.

"Alright, that's enough! One hundred hits, you can rest now!" Li Huowang shouted.

The bald fool dropped the stick with a grunt, breathing heavily, and walked toward the campfire.

Without wasting a moment, the fool grabbed his large bowl and began slurping down soup.

After a short while, he had already consumed a pound of noodles, and his hunger was far from sated. He made his way back to the large pot, dipping his bowl for another helping.

Seeing him eat so much, Li Huowang couldn't help but feel a little stunned. "Indeed, it's true what they say—poor scholars, rich warriors. Thankfully, I still have some silver, or I might be bankrupted by this guy."

At that moment, Li Huowang suddenly remembered something. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the bell.

Looking at the bell in his hand, Li Huowang's mind wandered back to the smashed You Laoye.

"Can this thing still be used?" Li Huowang thought to himself, an unsettling question rising in his mind.

In this strange world, whether or not something like this was usable was a matter of great importance.

"Let's go. Help me over to the woods." Li Huowang said to Bai Lingmiao.

They moved far enough that the sounds of the campfire couldn't be heard. Only then did Li Huowang stop.

"Go back now." This time, Bai Lingmiao didn't listen.

"You can go, I won't watch," Li Huowang said helplessly.

Her words left Li Huowang almost speechless. "I'm not going to relieve myself. Just go back. Come back in fifteen minutes."

When Li Huowang was finally alone in the forest, he leaned against a white birch tree and pressed his forehead. Then, he began to shake the bell.

Everything around him began to warp as expected, but the lines darted around randomly, failing to form You Laoye.

Li Huowang felt frustrated and shook the bell harder. "Could this thing really be broken?"

Just as this thought crossed his mind, the lines around him began to mix together again, coalescing into a new You Laoye.

"備畠躾?" it said in a strange, emotionless tone.

Li Huowang, still dizzy, quickly tried to converse with the creature. To his surprise, he learned some unexpected things.

First, You Laoye had a name, but its name could not be pronounced by human mouths. It was unknown why the first person to encounter it had named it "You Laoye."

Secondly, You Laoye and similar entities did not understand the concept of death. In fact, they were not alive in the conventional sense.

Moreover, these entities had no concept of quantity.

"No concept of quantity?" Li Huowang thought hard, shaking his head, but his dizziness made everything spin.

He could see multiple images of You Laoye, as his mind struggled to process the information.

Determined, Li Huowang shook the bell even harder.

As his head spun more violently, You Laoye multiplied, and soon Li Huowang saw dozens of them.

"Ugh..." Unable to bear it any longer, Li Huowang bent over and began vomiting.

The bell's ringing stopped, and the world around him returned to normal. The numerous You Laoye disappeared.

After emptying his stomach, Li Huowang continued to cough up water until he could cough no more.

Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he looked at the bell once again. "If I had known about all this earlier, would I have still needed to harm myself to summon Dan Yangzi?"

After some thought, Li Huowang put the bell away. "No, summoning You Laoye requires draining vitality. Each summon takes three months of life. With so many You Laoye appearing at once, it's likely I'd lose ten years of life with just one summon."

Leaning against a tree, Li Huowang staggered back along the path.

When he reached the roadside, he saw his group and Lü Zhuangyuan's gang gathered around in a circle.

"Look, everyone, these are top-quality goods. If any of them are fake, I'll never be at peace!" a man leading a mule-drawn cart was shouting.

Li Huowang walked over and saw that the man, a peddler, was enthusiastically selling his wares.

Bai Lingmiao and the tall woman stood by, hesitating over some thread.

"You're still out selling goods in such a chaotic time? Aren't you afraid of being robbed by bandits?" Li Huowang asked.

The young man, who had a mole on his cheek, smiled but didn't explain.

"Young Daoist, do you need any cinnabar? I've got some!" Lü Zhuangyuan leaned in and whispered in Li Huowang's ear with a look of contempt. "How could a bandit rob him? This kind of peddler is just another kind of bandit. The real bandits steal, and he collects the goods to sell."

"I see." Li Huowang nodded in understanding. This type of peddler was closely connected with bandit groups, acting as a hidden channel for their goods.

"Daoist, don't need cinnabar? Maybe something else? I've got everything here," the peddler, Zhu Dexi, continued, showing no concern for the others' gaze.

Li Huowang thought for a moment and asked, "Do you have anything for killing people?"

Upon hearing this, the crowd all turned to look at him in shock.

Zhu Dexi eagerly clapped his hands and began rummaging through his cart. "Yes! Yes, I do!"