Chapter 447 - Anklet
Li Huowang was slightly speechless when he saw how big of a reaction Bai Lingmiao had. “What are you talking about? I’ve told you before that it's the Black Taisui I ate previously to suppress my hallucination. I don’t need it anymore, so it came out of my body.”
Li Huowang lifted the veil and revealed Li Sui’s tentacles.
Catching onto the most important point, Bai Lingmiao beamed in happiness. “Oh! Does that mean you won’t get trapped in the hallucination anymore?”
“No, I still need to go. There are still things to do there, but I can more or less control it now.”
Bai Lingmiao was much happier than Li Huowang was. “That’s good! You are the first person I know who has treated their own disability!”
Li Huowang was ashamed when he looked at her radiant smile. It was clear that she cared for him more than he did for her.
Li Huowang took out a golden anklet wrapped with red thread from his robes. He bent down and carefully removed Bai Lingmiao’s shoes.
“I remember that you gave me the gold anklet when we first came out from Zephyr Temple and we didn’t have money to buy food. You melted it down and used the money to buy me a bun,” Li Huowang said.
Bai Lingmiao looked at the gold on her white leg in astonishment.
Li Huowang continued bitterly, “I said before that I would buy you a bigger one once I had the money to do so. I’m sorry. So many things happened during our journey before I finally had the time to buy you one.”
Bai Lingmiao’s white lashes fluttered, and she said nothing before she sank into Li Huowang’s embrace.
Li Huowang could now see the emotions of others thanks to Hong Zhong's memories. He saw Bai Lingmiao's feelings of happiness and love grow larger and cover her feelings of desire and disgust. Bai Lingmiao was now similar to how she had been before the murderous aura entered her body.
Li Huowang caressed Bai Lingmiao’s hair and took in her scent, enjoying a rare moment of peace.
Right then, Li Sui climbed onto a table and stared at them with his two eyeballs.
He asked, “Father, what are you doing?”
Li Sui was curious. He had never seen people do that, and Li Huowang never told him about it before.
“Is your son stupid?” Bai Lingmiao’s muffled voice reverberated against Li Huowang's chest.
Li Huowang chuckled and gently pushed Bai Lingmiao away. He whispered to Li Sui, who then crawled out of the window like an octopus to find Bun.
Once Li Huowang closed the window, Bai Lingmiao excitedly pounced into him. Li Huowang hugged her and was about to say something when she shut his mouth with something soft. He saw the emotion of desire flaring up in Bai Lingmiao.
Some time later, Li Huowang was lying on the bed and hugging Bai Lingmiao, who was in her inner wear[1] that had a lotus motif. He was enjoying the peace after the storm and telling Bai Lingmiao about what had happened during the past few months.
Bai Lingmiao snuggled against him, listening to his story while playing with her new golden anklet.
When Li Huowang reached the part when he could cultivate "Truth," he paused and thought, If I can turn both sides into reality, doesn’t that mean both Bai Lingmiao and Yang Na are real? How should I treat them both? Am I disloyal?
Li Huowang sank into a state of distress. He had never thought about it before. He'd always thought that one side was fake, so he'd never had to think about it.
“Keep talking. Why did you stop?” Bai Lingmiao asked, snuggling deeper and pressing her hair into his face.
“It’s nothing. The hallucination is not a special place. How's Cowheart Village doing? Was everything fine while I was gone?”
“It’s the same as usual. But I’ve recruited more people to work in the fields. There is too much land in the village, and we don’t have enough manpower to deal with all of it. You think Puppy and Zhao Wu could work the fields?”
Li Huowang nodded and recalled the strangers working in the field.
“Even though they are technically slaves, they are officially known as our adopted children. They will call you Father, so I hope you don’t mind.”
“Father? Why call me that?”
“Apparently it's what people do in the Liang Kingdom. The emperor banned anyone from owning slaves, so the slave vendors just changed their official line of business but continued selling anyway. Li Huowang, even though you are still young, you are already an adoptive father and even a father. You are quite the elder now, hehe.”
While the couple were whispering to each other, there was a knock at the door. “Miaomiao, it’s time to eat dinner.”
It was Chun Xiaoman, and she sounded embarrassed. She only gave them one reminder before running away. Naturally, she could tell what Li Huowang and Bai Lingmiao were doing inside.
Bai Lingmiao said, “Let me tell you something funny. Recently both Zhao Wu and Gao Zhijian are awkward with each other because both of them wanted to marry Xiaoman. Chun Xiaoman, however, is feeling irritated because they keep swarming around her like flies.”
Li Huowang put on his clothes and pinched various parts of his body to feel his healing skin.
“Oh, let her just choose then. It’s their path after all and we shouldn’t interfere,” he replied.
After putting on their clothes, the couple left the room and sat at the table placed in the center of many tables. Lu Zhuangyuan had led the rest of the villagers over for dinner to celebrate Li Huowang’s return. There were now enough villagers to use ten tables for dinner.
Lu Zhuangyuan said loudly, “Come, let us toast to the young Daoist! We pray that the young Daoist will have smooth beginnings!”
Everyone cheered when Li Huowang downed his cup.
Li Huowang could even hear Puppy’s excited voice from several tables away, babbling on about him. “That’s my Senior Li! He’s like an Immortal! He can fly, burrow into the ground, and even summon soldiers out of nowhere! He’s capable of doing everything! That day, we met some water bandits...”
“How strong is this alcohol?” Li Huowang asked, frowning and scratching his head. His body was very sensitive, so he couldn’t drink strong alcohol.
“How strong is it? Troupe Leader Lu went ahead and bought some Scholar’s Red, so it should be a good wine. I should’ve changed your drink to tea. Just eat something and go to rest,” Bai Lingmiao said.
Li Huowang shook his head and left the Bai Family estate. He hunched over a tree and poked his finger into his mouth. He vomited all of the wine and food and felt much better.
Someone passed him a napkin, and Li Huowang took it to wipe his saliva away. He turned around and saw it was the Second Deity in her red veil.
Under the dim light from the estate, Li Huowang looked at the Second Deity with a complicated expression.
“Senior Li," the Second Deity said.
Li Huowang saw the Second Deity’s Ten Emotions and Eight Sufferings. The Second Deity looked just like Bai Lingmiao of the past.
Li Huowang hesitated before taking out a brand new gold anklet with red thread from his robes.
1. This is a dudou, ancient Chinese inner wear that was usually worn by women and children. It's a diamond-shaped piece of cloth that covers the torso, with strings tied around the neck and the back. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dudou ☜
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