CH 222

"Lion dance?" Li Huowang's mind still couldn't wrap around it. The thing slowly approaching from afar didn't look like the lion dance he remembered.

First of all, in his memory, the lion dance that represented celebration would not have a large, dirty-looking thin white cloth, and this so-called lion dance didn't even have a head!

Inside the stretched white cloth was a blurry white light source, which illuminated everything around through the bottom of the white cloth, and what he saw was just the light below.

If it was just a shiny white cloth, Li Huowang wouldn't think it was evil. What was even more creepy were the dried handprints on the white cloth.

Under the illumination of the light source, the entire white cloth became slightly transparent, clearly presenting the large or small handprints on it to Li Huowang.

As the lion dance approached, Li Huowang saw more details on the white cloth. There were white tassels, and there were many white tassels on the cloth, just like the white tassels on the funeral banner carried by others.

Li Huowang's gaze shifted downwards towards the lion feet under the white cloth, and what came into his sight were some bare feet covered in mud.

If there was anything that could match the lion dance, it was the feet under the white cloth and the hands holding up the white cloth, as if they were dancing to a certain rhythm.

With every movement and shake, there was a sound of wooden sticks colliding inside the large cloth, as if it was an accompaniment.

"Senior Li, it's okay. I've seen this since I was young, and I was scared to tears then. After watching it a few more times, I got used to it." Sun Baolu attempted to dispel Li Huowang's worries.

Li Huowang cautiously pulled the brass mask on his face with his hand, trying to cover his face as much as possible.

"Something that you're used to isn't necessarily safe, and why doesn't this lion have a head?"

"Because they haven't graduated yet. They're just apprentices. Only the master of the lion dance is qualified to hang the lion head. These kids are just practicing when no one is around at night."

After Sun Baolu explained it to Li Huowang, he looked up and shouted at the lion dance next to him. From his tone, it seemed like he was saying some words of encouragement.

However, no one responded to Sun Baolu's words about the headless lion. They were like a dead elephant lying on the ground, slowly walking past Li Huowang with a certain special melody.

After a while, the lion dance finally left, leaving Li Huowang with a gradually fading back.

"Senior Li, you see, there's nothing wrong. Qingqiu is different from other places. With the protection of Changsheng Heaven, those evil spirits dare not cause trouble."

With some remaining caution, Li Huowang glanced at him and turned to walk towards the inn. "Is Changsheng Heaven so stingy? They only protect this area?"

"Well... that's what my people say.""Are these lion dancers all taught by their masters and apprentices?"

"No, they all have their own heritage. There is a group of people in Qingqiu who specialize in teaching lion dance. They are called the Lion Dance Palace."

"The Lion Dance Palace?" Li Huowang repeated this word to himself, feeling like he had heard it somewhere before, but couldn't remember where.

Suddenly, while Li Huowang was trying to think hard about this question, the monk next to him who was counting on his fingers anxiously stomped his foot and said, "Daoist, something's not right! Those lion heads are not right!"

"Hmm?" Li Huowang looked at the monk's hallucination next to him in surprise. "What's wrong?"

"You didn't count just now? The numbers don't match! The hands holding up the cloth are much more than the feet below! There are more hands and fewer feet, which doesn't match up! Those people must have a problem!"

"Wait!" As Li Huowang recalled the scene just now, his body suddenly went cold.

If the monk hadn't reminded him, he almost didn't notice why the lion dancers' hands were more than their feet!

"Li Shixiong?" Seeing Li Huowang standing there talking to himself, Sun Baolu took a few steps back with some fear.

Just as Sun Baolu was about to say something to stop him from talking nonsense and go back to find others with chains, he saw Li Shixiong hobbling inside with a crutch.

"Baolu, don't sleep tonight. We two will keep watch!"

"Huh? Ah! Okay!" Although he didn't know why they had to keep watch in the inn, Sun Baolu still obeyed.

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At three in the morning that night, Sun Baolu saw Li Shixiong suddenly stand up and tell them to start moving.

Although the others were a little puzzled as to why they had to travel at night, they still obeyed. They lost some silver and gained a few bags of barley, as well as dozens of sheep.

"I'm good at this! I'm good at this! When I was begging as a child, I let a wealthy man keep his sheep for two years!" Lv Zhuangyuan volunteered and temporarily took on the role of a shepherd.

Under the moonlight, they left Women's Mountain. Li Huowang, who looked back from time to time, had a solemn expression and a tired look on his face, making him look very unpleasant.

Seeing this face, everyone felt that something had happened, and nobody had the mood to talk about anything else. The atmosphere was somewhat depressing.

Curious Chun Xiaoman came to Sun Baolu with her sword and whispered, "What's wrong with Li Shixiong? Wasn't he always with you? He was even playing with Bai Shijie earlier, why did he become like this overnight?"

Sun Baolu hesitated and finally whispered to Chun Xiaoman, "I don't know either. There was clearly nothing wrong. Maybe..."Speaking of this, his voice lowered even more, almost as small as a mosquito's. "Maybe Li Shixiong is having another episode... Didn't he often say that someone was trying to harm him?"

Xiao Man glanced again at Li Huowang, who was nervous and jittery, then turned and walked over to Bai Lingmiao to find out what was going on.

But even after resting by the river, Xiao Man was still confused about what had happened.

"Get the pot and light the sheep dung we collected underneath!"

The group dispersed to start picking wild vegetables.

Suddenly, Gou Wa's eyes lit up. He spread his hands and pounced on two grasshoppers entangled together. He carefully broke the legs and wings of the grasshoppers with his fingers and put them in his waist bag.

"The land in Qingqiu is so fertile. I've already picked a plate of tough vegetables in no time."

After tightening the bag, he crawled back onto the ground and continued to search through the grass.

Soon, his attention was drawn to a small thorn bush. He used his dirty fingernails to firmly pinch a tender thorn, then tore off the spiky skin on the outside, revealing the green core inside.

He chewed on the green core and a satisfied expression appeared on Gou Wa's face. He had eaten this wild vegetable before and it tasted good, a bit like crispy celery.

Just as he was about to gather all the tender thorns in a pot, a basket suddenly appeared in front of Gou Wa, startling him.

He looked up and saw that it was Xiao Man's basket. After she put the basket down, she turned and walked towards Li Huowang, who still had the same expression on his face.

"When you go back, please take this with you."