CH 215

The ox cart is slower than the horse-drawn carriage, but it can carry more weight. In the Qingqiu region, there's no need to worry about the oxen's feed as there's plenty of grass everywhere.

After leaving Houshu, Li Huowang and his group had a smooth journey without encountering any evil spirits or bandits.

Furthermore, Li Huowang's injury was steadily improving, and everyone's faces had more smiles.

Walking with a limp and crutch beside the rolling wheel, Li Huowang had his dog Mantou running back and forth beside him, wagging its tail.

"Senior Li, why don't you go back to the carriage and rest? Your injury hasn't fully healed yet," Bai Lingmiao said with concern.

Li Huowang's newly grown hair swayed as he shook his head slightly. "If I lie down in the carriage, my limbs will go numb. Walking is good for me, and Mantou has already recognized me. At least now, my skin has fully healed, and the Daqian Record is buried on my back as I wished."

"Senior Li, we can take a break now, and after noon, we can walk for another two hours to reach the Women's Mountain," said Sun Baolu, a local, to Li Huowang. He always had a smile on his face and had become more talkative since arriving in Qingqiu.

"Old Sun, are you sure you want to go back? Why not come with us to avoid getting kidnapped again?" Zhao Wu said, but Sun Baolu smiled and shook his head.

"No, someone is waiting for me. I have to go home," he said, his eyes shining.

Li Huowang raised his crutch and pointed to a nearby stream. "Let's go there and start a fire. It's hard to find firewood here in Qingqiu, but we managed to find some dry shrubs."

As everyone gathered water and dug for wild vegetables, Li Huowang sat cross-legged with his one leg and completely shut out the sounds around him.

He looked up and saw Peng Longteng blocking his sunlight. It had been so long, yet she was still there.

The only comfort was that she was just standing there, not doing anything.

Peng Longteng, clad in heavy armor, was imposing and tall. Even without her head, she was still taller than Li Huowang.

He estimated that when she was alive, she must have been at least two meters tall.

Some strange noises entered his ears, but Li Huowang didn't turn his head to look because it was the sound of Jinshan dragging his organs on the grass.

"Why did they two follow me in this illusion?" This question had been plaguing Li Huowang's mind, but there was no answer to it.

Not just them, but also Jiang Yingzi and the monk from before had no answers."Is this also the ability of Heart Essence? Can Heart Essence control the people it kills?" A new speculation appeared again in Li Huowang's mind.

"How can I make them disappear? But wait, I didn't kill the monk. He might still be in Zhengde Temple, alive and well."

"But if their appearance is not the ability of Heart Essence, then what could be the reason? Could it be... that I really have a mental illness?"

A confused Li Huowang felt a little itchy on his body. He lifted his white and red hand and reached into his new clothes to scratch.

Mantou saw his action and quickly ran over, wagging its tail and squatting in front of him.

"Snip!" A large piece of black dead skin was peeled off and thrown at Peng Longteng from afar.

"Woof woof woof!" Mantou excitedly ran into Peng Longteng's body, rolled up the dead skin with its tongue, and happily gnawed on it.

After eating, Mantou wagged its tail and passed through Peng Longteng's crotch, and squatted obediently in front of Li Huowang again.

Li Huowang knew that Mantou liked to eat this, and his previous dead skin had all gone into its belly, including the broken leg.

He kept patting its head, which was like a bicycle seat, and stared at Peng Longteng in the distance.

After a long time, he sighed deeply and said to himself, "It's okay, at least these two people can't talk and won't be as annoying as the monk."

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"Taoist, am I annoying? I'm not, I didn't do anything."

Li Huowang laughed at himself, didn't speak, and self-soothed. Compared with these three hallucinations, what he feared more was what would happen later.

What if there were more and more of these hallucinations in the future? What if... it ended up like what happened to Dan Yangzi?

Thinking of all the horror that Dan Yangzi had experienced on him before, those dozens or hundreds of hallucinations, Li Huowang shuddered.

"I have to figure out what's going on and then get rid of them. If I really end up like Dan Yangzi, I will definitely go crazy."

Thinking of this, Li Huowang became more urgent to solve his Heart Essence identity.

"Baolu!" Li Huowang's voice made Mantou's drooping ears stand up. It turned its head and saw Sun Baolu running over from a distance. It moved its paws forward and leaned its dog head against Li Huowang's leg, nudging him with its black nose.

"Senior Brother Li, did you call me?"

Li Huowang looked up and down at the young man in front of him. He was still the same as when he came out of Qingfeng Temple, with no changes, and still dressed tightly.

In fact, he had been low-key all the way, so much so that sometimes Li Huowang would forget about him.

"Are you familiar with the Qingqiu area?" Li Huowang asked.

Sun Baolu nodded, "I know it roughly."

"Roughly?" Li Huowang was a little surprised. He had never heard such words from other senior brothers.Most people in this world, unless there are special circumstances, live and die within a radius of twenty li.

Sun Baolu knew this well, but it made him doubt whether he was exaggerating.

"Senior Brother Li, the people here in Qingqiu are different from other places. We basically follow the grass. Wherever the grass is lush, we go there. From my grandfather to my father, they have been circling around Qingqiu all their lives."

Hearing this, Li Huowang suddenly understood, "Oh, they are nomads."

Seeing the vast grassland, Li Huowang could also guess this. They rely on the mountains, the water, and of course, the grass.

"It's so hot today, why don't you take off some clothes?"

Seeing the other person just standing there smiling, Li Huowang didn't force it anymore, "Okay, let's talk about business. Are there any experts here in this place? Like the existence of Dan Yangzi?"