Chapter 455 - Problem
“Yeah. It’s annoying to stay somewhere crowded, so I found a quiet place to settle down,” Li Huowang said.
Liu Zongyuan replied, “No worries. Since you're living here, I will just report that this village is yours. I don't think anyone else will come and trouble you after that. To be fair, you did burn to death the entire White Lotus Sect that was occupying this area. Since you’ve killed them, their territory should belong to you too.”
Liu Zongyuan was trying to please Li Huowang, but those words were extremely painful for Li Huowang to hear.
Liu Zongyuan took a careful peek at the door before getting closer to Li Huowang and whispering, “Did you hear about Shangjing? Everyone in the bureau is treading lightly now.”
“Yeah. I’ve heard about it. It seems that the Sitting Oblivion Dao fooled us all.”
“That’s not all that happened! I’ve heard that they forced their way into the palace and fought for three days straight! Even the emperor was heavily wounded by them. I fear that we might not even have the time to finish building the tomb for the emperor. But the Sitting Oblivion Dao had many casualties too. Half of them are dead, and one of the Shai Zi is dead too!”
“Can this information be trusted?”
“Of course! Are you underestimating me? I’m from the Moongate, and our information is always the best!”
Li Huowang frowned. It seems that neither party stopped fighting even after I left Shangjing.
Seeing Li Huowang's expression, Liu Zongyuan tried to comfort him. “Don’t worry. It’s just the emperor that's dying. His sons are already waiting to get the throne. The moment he dies, one of the princes will ascend. We should just treat it as another day.”
“Brother Liu, you are mistaken. I’m not worried about them. I’m just thinking about how chaotic this world is,” Li Huowang said, pouring another cup of tea and drinking it.
“Yeah, the world is in chaos. Everything is due to humans too. Why can’t those in positions of power just think about living life peacefully? The moment they give orders we have to work like crazy. If it wasn’t because of the resources in the Surveillance Bureau, I would’ve quit! Er Jiu, I think you made the right choice by hiding in a rural area. You didn’t even take a mission nor did you even report yourself. The new Ji Xiang didn’t even know you existed.”
Li Huowang thought about it and decided that he still needed someone in the bureau to feed him information. It was good to have a friend.
“Brother Liu, I feel much happier knowing how many members of the Sitting Oblivion Dao have died. Don’t leave yet. We will have a toast to celebrate it! You cannot return until you are drunk!”
“Sure! My stomach is growling already. I was waiting for you to say that.”
After receiving Li Huowang's order, Yang Xiaohai used all of his culinary techniques to cook up a feast. He even brought out a good cask of wine so that Li Huowang could drink with Liu Zongyuan.
After their feast, Liu Zongyuan wrapped his arm around Li Huowang. He was drunk and almost made Li Huowang his sworn brother.
Nevertheless, Li Huowang was not fooled. He could see Liu Zongyuan’s Ten Emotions and Eight Sufferings clearly and knew Liu Zongyuan was not being sincere.
The Sitting Oblivion Dao believed that everyone had different masks that they wore at different times.
Despite that, Li Huowang was unbothered by Liu Zongyuan’s insincerity. After all, he was someone who hid his real emotions too.
Liu Zongyuan woke up early the next morning. He tried to give Li Huowang some advice just as he was leaving.
“Brother Er, it’s fine for you to just send me up to this point. Are you sure you won’t be accepting missions anymore? If you don’t take any missions for a long time, you will get demoted.”
Li Huowang shook his head. “Think about how many people have died recently. The outside world is still too chaotic. It’s best to hide and wait for things to pass. Brother Liu, don’t work too hard. Your life is your own, and there’s nothing after death.”
Liu Zongyuan heeded Li Huowang's advice seriously.
Before he left, Liu Zongyuan took out several bent bamboo strips with the different moon phases engraved onto them. They ranged from half-moon to full moon.
He said, “Brother Er, take these. If you need to find me, tie them onto the pigeon. They will be able to find me for sure. The fuller the moon, the faster it will take to get into contact with me.”
“Sure. I will be staying in the village for quite some time. You can come and find me if you want.”
Liu Zongyuan jumped into the forest and disappeared after bidding Li Huowang farewell.
Then Li Huowang took out the Surveillance Bureau identity token and looked at it.
It seems that I can’t throw this identity away yet, or today’s matters won’t be resolved easily. But the emperor is dying soon...? If he dies, doesn't that make him the second emperor to die? They sure go through the emperors fast.
Li Huowang recalled the emperor that hid his face behind the veil. He thought the emperor was overbearing and regal, but it was unexpected that he was going to die so soon.
Li Huowang stopped thinking about Shangjing and turned around to head towards Cowheart Mountain.
He didn’t care who died and who lived in this crazy world. All he wanted to do was live in a stable environment and protect the small village where everyone he cared for resided.
Li Huowang wasn’t even interested in Immortality. As a Strayed One, he could consume an unlimited amount of Lifespan Pills without any side effects. However, his life would be filled with pain and misery. It was no different than Hell.
It was scary to think that he would continue living while everyone he loved would die.
Li Huowang had just left the area when Bai Lingmiao and the Second Deity peeked out from their room.
“Luckily Li Huowang is here. Otherwise, it might not be that simple to fool the Surveillance Bureau. It seems that he's got a high position within the Surveillance Bureau. Should we tell him about how the Immortal families are threatening me? Maybe he could find out the way to deal with them from inside the Surveillance Bureau. What do you think?” Bai Lingmiao asked the Second Deity.
The Second Deity shook her head.
Bai Lingmiao said, “Why? Are you thinking that it would be troublesome for him? It would be even worse if the issue became more serious without telling him. There are things we shouldn’t hide from him.”
“What about your eyes?”
The Second Deity’s words shocked Bai Lingmiao.
Bai Lingmiao then raised her hand. Her white irises were dotted with white specks when she looked at her own hand. In her vision, she only saw three of her fingers. The rest of it was blocked by the white specks.
Bai Lingmiao replied in a calm voice, “My parents asked for me once. Those with my condition will lose their eyesight no matter what, and I'll have a relatively short life. They tried many things, but nothing worked. Maybe this is just how my life will be; there is nothing I can do about it. My life was doomed to be a sad one right from the start.”
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