Li Huowang glanced at the pieces of silver in Bai Lingmiao’s hand and pulled out a piece of silver from his pocket, placing it on top of them.
Before Li Huowang could say anything, Bai Lingmiao quickly spoke up, “The golden foot ring has already been melted down. I saw it with my own eyes. It cannot be redeemed anymore.”
Seeing Li Huowang stunned, Bai Lingmiao smirked as if she had won. Then she held the pieces of silver in her hands and stuffed them into Li Huowang’s pockets.
“Don’t worry, that ring was originally given by my mother for emergency use, not a family heirloom.”
Seeing Bai Lingmiao say this, Li Huowang no longer insisted. He carefully counted the silvers and put it away. “When everything is settled, I will buy a bigger one for you.”
“Ok! I’ll wait! “Bai Lingmiao smiled and nodded.
Just then, the door opened, and Doggie walked in. Seeing the two of them squatting in the corner, he was taken aback and quickly said, “I’m sorry, I went to the wrong room. I’ll leave right away.”
Bai Lingmiao blushed and ran to the door, pushing him aside then running away.
Then Doggie walked in with a grin on his face. “Senior Brother Li, although Junior Sister Bai is pale all over, when it comes to marrying someone, looks are not important, personality is. You shouldn’t reject her because of her appearance.”
Li Huowang didn’t want to waste time on his nonsense, “Stop talking and go wash up. We finally have a bed to sleep on.”
……
In a daze, Li Huowang found himself in a woods with a blurry light source ahead. Perplexed, he used his sword to chop through the branches and headed towards the light.
As he approached, he saw that Bai Lingmiao and the others were gathered around a bonfire roasting sweet potatoes with his mother and Yang Na.
Watching this heartwarming scene, he breathed a sigh of relief and walked towards them.
Suddenly, the world changed. Li Huowang looked up and saw a towering Dan Yang Tzu with three heads and feathers covering his body standing before him like a mountain.
“Hahaha, my son, well done! You’ve brought all the medicinal herbs for me!” the terrifying Dan Yang Tzu laughed as he lifted a stone pillar taller than himself and smashed it down fiercely on the bonfire below his feet.
“Wait a minute!!!” Li Huowang sat up in cold sweat and realized that everything was just a dream. He took a few deep breaths before he could calm down.
“Senior Brother Li, are you awake? I bought some pansit for you. Just eat them while they’re hot,” Doggie said.
“What time is it now?” Li Huowang asked, rubbing his throbbing head as he sat at the table and realized that the pansit were actually wontons.
“Just past the hour of the Dragon. It’s okay to get up a little later today, since we don’t have to hurry on the road.”
Li Huowang picked up a ceramic spoon and stuffed the wontons into his mouth, “No, we have things to do today. Let’s go buy what we need for the journey,” he said.
As the dream flashed through his mind again, Li Huowang continued, “I’ll take someone with me to buy those things, while you go ask Lv Zhuangyuan when we can leave. The sooner, the better. If he can’t leave, then we’ll leave in advance.”
After buying the donkey cart, Li Huowang still had some silvers left, plus the ones Bai Lingmiao gave him, he could use them to buy some necessary items for the journey.
（The meaning of silver in this novel includes but is not limited to silver pieces, silver coins, silver ingots, and most of the time refers to silver pieces. In ancient China, suitable weight silver pieces were usually cut from a complete silver for trading）
At the very least, they needed blankets and mats to sleep on. In addition, they needed to buy a pot so that they could cook some hot meals on the way and not have to eat dry rations every day.
With so many scattered things, one donkey cart was not enough. When he met Lv Zhuangyuan at the city gate, there was already another donkey cart in the group.
“Hey, Little Taoist Master is so amazing! The more you walk on the way, the more belongings you have. I guess if you keep walking for a little longer, you’ll be a millionaire,” Lv Zhuangyuan continued to flatter Li Huowang as they set off on their journey.
“Troupe Master Lv, is the distance from Jianye Town to Xijing City far?” Li Huowang asked, looking at the spacious dirt road ahead of them.
As the road widened, more people joined, there were not only Li Huowang and Lv Zhuangyuan’s groups but also many others with their luggage,it seems they were all heading towards Xijing City.
“Not far. It’ll take ten days or so,” Lv Zhuangyuan said, smiling happily as if he had thought of something pleasant.
Li Huowang nodded and continued to ask, “About the Buddhist temple you mentioned earlier, besides helping people have children, what else do you know about them?”
“Buddhist temple is just Buddhist temple. What’s the difference? They’re all a group of old monks leading a group of young monks to eat vegetarian food and recite Buddhist scriptures, aren’t they?”
Li Huowang let out a sigh. It seemed that he would have to personally visit the temple to inquire about this matter. Common people like Lv Zhuangyuan were living in a state of confusion and had no understanding of these matters.
“Little Taoist Master, look at that monk up ahead, the one who’s urinating under the tree. Maybe he’s a monk from that Buddhist temple,”
“Oh?” Li Huowang looked up and saw a bald monk standing by the side of the road.
As he walked over, he saw the monk in a ragged robe shiver and turn around.
But as soon as he saw the guy’s face, Li Huowang immediately frowned.
Rather than saying he was a monk, it was more accurate to say that he was an old beggar with a shaven head. His appearance was really shabby, and his robes were full of patches and holes.
“Amitabha, do you need anything from me?” the dirty old man grinned, showing yellow teeth.
“Are you…a monk?” Li Huowang asked.
“Yes, I am a monk!” The old monk held up the string of Buddha beads around his neck and said firmly.
“May I ask which temple you belong to?” Li Huowang’s voice carried a hint of hesitation.
“What? I don’t belong to any temple. I’m heading north in search of a Buddhist temple, I heard there are many temples over there,and they can provide food and shelter.I plan to become a monk there.”
Upon hearing the old monk’s words, Li Huowang had a suspicion in his heart. He nodded at the old monk and turned back to his group.
Although Li Huowang didn’t plan on paying attention to this fake monk beggar, the old man followed closely behind him.
“Are you also looking for a Buddhist temple? Let’s go together then. But aren’t you a Taoist? Taoists don’t believe in Buddha, do they?”
“What does this guy want?” Li Huowang raised his guard, tapped the donkey’s butt, and walked away quickly with the others, ignoring the old beggar.
However, although Li Huowang didn’t pay attention to him, others did. The naive Plonker didn’t feel that anything was wrong.
“You didn’t bring…any…food. You’ll…starve!” Plonker said to the old monk.
“Why would I starve? There are many things in the woods, wild fruits, wild mushrooms, and wild vegetables…” the old man replied.
“I also…I also…ate wild fruits before! I even…”
“Plonker, don’t talk to him!”
“Oh…”
As no one paid attention to him, the old beggar left with a bored expression. Li Huowang, who had secretly gripped his copper bell, breathed a sigh of relief.
Regardless of whether the old beggar was truly foolish or pretending to be so, one could not let their guard down in this eerie place.
After walking along the dirt road for two hours, the sun was already coming right in the middle of the sky. Li Huowang asked everyone to stop and have lunch.
Although he began to feel a little anxious, having more people around made things safer.
They ate lunch huddled around several jars of pickled vegetables with some white steamed buns.
After taking a sip of water from Bai Lingmiao’s gourd, Li Huowang turned back and suddenly realized that someone was missing.
“Hmm? Where’s Plonker?”
“He just went to the woods to pee. Maybe he got halfway through and decided to poop instead. Hey!! Plonker!! Are you in there?!”
After Doggie shouted towards the woods, Plonker’s simple and honest face peeked out from within. He had his mouth full, as if chewing on something.
“What are you eating?” Li Huowang asked in confusion.
“There’s wild…wild…wild rice in…in the woods. It’s…fr…free!” Plonker replied, then back into the woods again.
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