Chapter 88: Rules
“Don’t move! Everyone, stay still!” Li Huowang’s voice rang out in the eerie bamboo forest, causing everyone to freeze in ce.
They remained motionless while gazing at the row of bamboo tips above them, afraid that those things might pierce straight down.
"Stay still," said Li Huowang as he took a step forward with his right foot.
The others held their breath anxiously as they watched this scene. However, they all heaved a sigh of relief when they saw that there were no changes in the bamboo.
Then, Li Huowang took a few more steps forward and even circled around, but the bamboo remained the same, showing no changes.
“Could it… be that the bamboo in this wretched ce just grows in a strange manner?” Puppy wondered out loud.
However, Li Huowang did not dare to gamble on whether that really was the case or not. He immediately shook the bell in his hand to summon a Wandering God and thenmanded it to swiftly inspect the surroundings of the forest.
After a while, the Wandering God returned before Li Huowang and indicated that there were no issues. Only after this did Li Huowang’s apprehension reduce slightly.
However, he wasn’t relieved because of what the Wandering God had told him, but because that strange feeling like he was being watched had vanished.
Li Huowang did not immediately dismiss the Wandering God, choosing to continue deeper into the forest while it was still around. While the ringing of the bell caused everyone to feel dizzy, it was definitely better than being ambushed by the so-called Eighteenth Lunar.
<!--
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
-->
“Stay close; let’s quickly pass through this forest,” said Li Huowang as he continued to shake the bell while walking deeper into the forest. At the same time, he flicked open the sp of the leather bag, revealing the torture tools within. These objects gleamed with a cold light as they reflected the light given off by the glowing stones.
At this moment, everyone had gripped their weapons and held their breaths. They closely followed one another, scared to fall behind.
As time passed, the bamboo tips above them bent even more, with their tips eventually starting to touch the top of their horse carts. The sound of the bamboo tips scraping against the carriage roof was sharp and grating, making everyone feel even more oppressed. Even so, the Wandering God told them that there was no sign of any enemies.
As they walked through this bizarre bamboo forest, everyone felt as though they were traversing through arge mouth with the bamboo tips acting as the teeth.
Under such conditions, Li Huowang did not know how far they had walked either; the dizziness was causing him to lose the perception of time.
At that moment, he suddenly saw light in the distance.
<em>An exit!</em>
Excited, he swung his sharp sword and cut down an area of bamboo, allowing the sunlight toe in and illuminate the path.
The brightness of the sunlight made everyone squint instinctively due to how blinding it was. Based on the position of the sun, they could tell that it should be afternoon by now.
When they were finally able to see better and turned to look ahead, their eyes widened involuntarily; there was actually a vige at the back of this peculiar forest.
In the distance, the rows of blue-tiled houses were scattered around and arranged irregrly. It was not that much different from the other viges that Li Huowang had seen along the way.
There was a clear pond by the entrance of the vige. At this time, several young women were washing their clothes and chatting cheerily at the pond.
“Senior Li, are you sure this is the ce? Did we make a mistake?" asked Xiaoman as she frowned.
Meanwhile, Li Huowang quickly recalled the location that Abbess Jingxin had given him, then stored the bell before heading toward the vige.
“Follow closely, don’t let down your guard. Perhaps this is just an illusion created by the Eighteenth Lunar,” warned Li Huowang.
“The Eighteenth Lunar… could it be referring to a vige?” Bai Lingmiao mumbled.
<!--
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
-->
This thought had also appeared in Li Huowang’s mind. After all, the only piece of information he had obtained from the Abbess was that this evil being was red in color.
As they approached the vige, the first to notice them were naturally the women washing their clothes. They picked up their clothes and whispered amongst themselves as they walked back toward the vige.
Such arge group of people wearing ck-veiled bamboo hats would naturally draw the vigers’ attention. Soon, groups of burly youngsters carried farming tools on their backs as they approached, watching them vigntly.
"Outsiders! What brings you to our Wu Family Vige? Are you just passing through or are you visiting rtives?" An elderly man with a goatee yelled from a distance.
Li Huowang''s gaze swept over the faces of the vigers, but he couldn’t find anything abnormal. This seemed to be just like any other vige, if judged based on their appearance alone.
<em>Could the Eighteenth Lunar be here?</em>
When the vige chief shouted a second time, Li Huowang brought his people over, bowed to them, and opened his map. “Elder, may I trouble you to check if your vige corresponds to the location on this map?”
"What? Asking for directions?" The old man took the map and conversed with the others in hushed tones.
Meanwhile, Li Huowang kept his eyes on their faces, observing their expressions.
After a while, the vige chief handed the map back with both hands. "Outsiders, you have found the wrong ce. The location on this map is about ten miles away from here."
<em>We found the wrong ce? Or have we not arrived yet?</em>
Li Huowang quickly ran a mental calction of the distance from the Benevolent Nunnery to here. Abbess Jingxin had said that it was about two hundred miles, and he was no machine either. Thus, it would be normal for there to be some human error.
“Haha, my apologies for the mistake, I actually found the wrong ce.” Li Huowang sped his hands together and once again bowed to the people before him. “However, the sun is about to set quite soon, Elder. Could you allow us to stay for the night? We have been on the road for half a month, and we are quite exhausted.”
“Well…” The chief looked at Li Huowang’s group warily.
“Elder, if it’s convenient, then please.” Li Huowang smiled and leaned over, grabbing the chief’s hand underneath his gown.
At that moment, the chief felt something on his palm causing his expression to change as he pinched it with his fingers.
“Alright, our west wing is still vacant. You guys can stay there. Remember, just one night,” said the chief.
Soon, the two horse carriages were advancing along the moss-covered stone path toward the vige. Puppy leaned over and whispered, “Senior Li, isn’t this the wrong ce?”
Li Huowang gave the vigers peeking out through their doors a sideways nce. “Perhaps it isn’t a mistake? What if this is the ce we’re looking for?”
The most important lesson Li Huowang had learned after being out for so long was to always take the words of others with a grain of salt.
Since the Eighteenth Lunar could change into any shape, then a vige was undoubtedly an extremely convenient ce to hide in. He didn’t know whether or not it consumed people. If it did, then this vige would probably be a suitable feeding point.
As they walked, he started to scan the entire vige for any hint of redness. But even as they reached the vige entrance, he found no trace of red.
<!--
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
-->
Right as they reached the entrance, the vige chief sped his hands together and looked at them. “First, let me exin something. The Wu Family Vige has many rules that are passed down from the previous generations, and they cannot be changed. You guys may stay the night, but you must follow those rules. If not, it would be better for you to leave now.”
“Rules?” questioned Li Huowang.<blockquote>
Chacha and Char''s Thoughts
Rules? Usually when there are rules the MC would break all of them
</blockquote>