CH 40

安8-10 minutes 04.06.2023

“Hmm? What’s he talking about?” Li Huowang furrowed his brows and walked into the woods where Plonker was.

As soon as he entered the woods, Li Huowang’s pupils contracted. He saw Plonker and the old beggar squatting in front of a small mound, munching on something.

On top of the small mound were several yellow papers pressed down firmly with a rock.

Li Huowang suppressed his anger and rushed over, giving Plonker a kick that knocked him down. “Get up! How dare you eat the things used for grave worship?! Are you tired of living?!  Didn’t I tell you not to talk to this beggar?!”

Plonker got up in a pitiful state and said, “I…I didn’t…talk to him.”

“Kneel down! Apologize and kowtow!” Li Huowang commanded.

After seeing Plonker kowtow heavily to the small mound several times, Li Huowang reached out and pulled him up.

In this eerie world, anything could happen, and he didn’t want to take any risks. If things went wrong, they could be in trouble.

“Clang!”

Li Huowang drew his long sword from behind and pointed it directly at the old beggar’s face, saying coldly, “I don’t care about your intentions, just stay away from my people! Otherwise, don’t blame me for being impolite!”

Without waiting for a response, Li Huowang pulled Plonker and left.

“I’m not a beggar, I’m a monk,” the man muttered quietly to himself before continuing to squat and eat the offerings meant for the dead.

As they returned to the road, the group continued on their journey. Li Huowang’s expression was solemn as he began instructing the others, “Don’t sleep too soundly these next few nights, something might happen.”

Although Plonker had apologized by kowtowing, but Li Huowang is still unsure what will happen.

Upon hearing Li Huowang’s warning, the others immediately understood what he meant and nodded silently.

As the sun set and night fell, people on the road headed to the nearby woods to collect firewood for making a fire. Li Huowang lit a bonfire around the two carts and sent others to gather enough firewood from the woods.

With no moon in the sky, the surroundings were pitch black. The tree branches swayed with the light wind as if hiding countless things that were peering at the people around the bonfire.

As time passed, the surroundings gradually quieted down and everyone else fell asleep. However, Li Huowang remained awake, sitting quietly next to the fire as if waiting for something.

Apart from the nearby woods, his mind was also occupied by thoughts of the old beggar, he was still following them.

If something were to appear, it would be even better. It would be the perfect opportunity to find out what was going on with the old beggar.

As the long wait continued, the first half of the night passed by without any incident. Then the second half of the night arrived, it was also the time when people were most likely to doze off.

“Senior…Brother Li, um…did you see a face just now over there?” Doggie, who was keeping watch with Li Huowang, asked with a trembling voice.

Li Huowang quickly looked over, but there was nothing in the darkness.

“Are you sure?” he asked in a hushed voice.

“Not sure. Maybe…maybe it was just my eyes playing tricks on me.”

“Don’t talk. Be quiet,” Li Huowang pretended to stare at the bonfire in front of him while keep focusing in that direction.

After waiting quietly for a while, Li Huowang saw an ugly face slowly emerge from the darkness, and the face had a cruel smile on it.

What made Li Huowang’s scalp tingle was that more heads gradually emerged from behind the first one, and strands of white light flickered under the heads.

“Wait, white light?” Li Huowang stood up suddenly, grabbed a burning stick from the bonfire, and threw it to that direction. 

“Stop here! Who are you people?!”

Li Huowang’s loud shout was like a thunderbolt in the quiet environment, waking up the others from their sleep.

When the rolling firewood was thrown under the heads and the accompanying shadows and feet were revealed, Li Huowang immediately realized that these were all living people.

Not only did Li Huowang see them, but the others saw them too, along with the large machetes they held in their hands.

“Brigands are here!! Run!!”

This fearful shout caused the crowd to go into a panic. Everyone quickly picked up their belongings and dispersed in all directions.

“Damn it! We’ve been discovered! Bring the horses over here!!” Soon, the sound of horse hooves could be heard as the bandits grabbed their weapons and chased after the people on the road.

“Quick! Run into the woods!!” The old beggar shouted, and the others quickly stay away from the main road,  rushing into the surrounding woods.

Although the others ran away, Li Huowang and his group with their donkey carts couldn’t escape. Donkeys are not as fast as horses.

Hearing the sound of horse hooves approaching from behind, Li Huowang quickly turned around and saw a strong horse carrying a bearded brigand with a machete in hand charging towards an old woman.

“There’s no way to avoid it!” Li Huowang quickly took out a pill and swallowed it, feeling a surge of heat rushing through his body.

Just as Li Huowang was about to charge towards the brigand, the old beggar suddenly rushed out from the side and pushed the old woman aside.

The brigand on horseback looked at the old beggar with disdain, not even bothering to lift his machete. He grabbed the reins in his hand, lifted the horse’s hooves high, and stepped straight towards the old beggar.

A cruel smile appeared on his face. However, in the next moment, a figure rushed out from the front and punched the horse’s head heavily.

“Peng!” 

Accompanied by the horse’s neigh, the charging horse was abruptly forced to change direction and fall towards the right.

The brigand, who was falling to the ground, couldn’t do anything but watch as the horse’s head collapsed, his eyes widening in horror.

In the next moment, with a muffled sound, his head and his horse met the same fate.

Seeing their cohort facing an adversary, other brigands whistled for reinforcements.

However, after taking the pills made by Dan Yang Tzu, Li Huowang made these brigands immediately realize that they had provoked someone they shouldn’t have.

The dull sound of blows continued to echo on the dim dirt road. After Li Huowang killing several of the brigands, other brigands quickly panicked and fled.

“Retreat! This person is not easy to deal with! He might be from the Fate-Observatory!”(①)

Li Huowang stood there with his fists covered in blood, breathing heavily.

He turned around and looked at the old beggar behind him. After the recent incident, he could be sure that the old beggar was just an ordinary person.

Under Li Huowang’s gaze, the old beggar stood up and walked to a person who had been killed by the brigands. He knelt down with his hands clasped together and muttered something under his breath.

As Li Huowang leaned over, he could hear what the old beggar was saying, “Amitabha, Amitabha, Amitabha……”

After repeating it more than ten times, the old beggar began to walk to the nearby woods and began to dig holes in the ground with his hands.

①:司si天tian监jian,This was an official position in ancient China, whose responsibility was to observe stars and calculate calendars. In this novel, the author turns this word upside down and turns it into 监jian天tian司si,监天司 In this novel, it is a division/department belonging to various states, whose responsibility is to handle various strange things, such as the appearance of evil spirits or demons, supernatural disasters, and other strange and eerie things. And, Fate-Observatory can also refer to those who work for this division, such as “a Fate-Observatory”, “these Fate-Observatorys”.