CH 452

"Oh, oh, oh~!" As the rooster crowed, the sleeping Niu Xin Village gradually woke up.

After washing up, it was time for breakfast. Ordinary people couldn't afford breakfast, except during the autumn harvest when they needed the energy to work. On regular days, they only ate two meals a day.

But in Niu Xin Village, everyone had breakfast. That's why many people were so grateful to Bai Lingmiao.

They were provided with food, books to read, and even a share of the crops they grew in the fields. There was no better host in the world.

"Hurry up! Get up! The porridge needs to be thick at the beginning. You're not diligent even when it comes to eating! What have you done in your life that's diligent?" Lv Zhuangyuan knocked on his eldest son's door anxiously.

"Dad, we have money now. Let's cook at home." Lv Juren's wife, Luo Juanhua, felt very dissatisfied with not being able to sleep in every time and expressed her discontent.

"Are you going to burn money by cooking at home? Don't eat the free meals and spend money to buy food! You wasteful thing, get up quickly!"

After scolding his daughter-in-law with a dry tobacco stick, Lv Zhuangyuan turned around and went to knock on the doors of his disciples.

He wasn't calling them to steal breakfast, but to wake them up and practice their basic skills.

Lv Zhuangyuan taught his disciples just as his master had taught him, strict and focused. If they didn't practice enough or didn't do well, they couldn't eat.

Originally, to practice singing in the opera, they had to start from a young age. At their age, if they wanted to stand out, they had to be even more diligent.

Amidst the varying voices of his disciples' singing, Lv Zhuangyuan led his family towards the Bai family's courtyard.

As soon as they entered the courtyard, they saw Yang Xiaohai directing two people to carry a pot of hot porridge into the main hall.

He smiled and walked towards the hall, but when he saw his rebellious son Lv Xiucai there, his smile instantly disappeared. "Hmph!"

Facing his son, whom he had beaten and scolded countless times, Lv Xiucai stubbornly stuck to his own reasoning and refused to listen to anything.

In the face of his father's hostility, Lv Xiucai muttered and occasionally said things like "old turtle" and "wait and see, one day."

His wife, Tao Er, whom he had bought, silently watched her father-in-law and husband, seemingly lost in thought.

"Oh, everyone is here." As the unpleasant voice of Gouwa sounded, everyone immediately saw him supporting his pregnant wife and walking in.

"Yes, she's about to give birth. It's almost full term. It should be these few days. My son is about to be born." Gouwa smiled at Lv Xiucai.

Lv Xiucai showed a trace of disdain on his face. "Did I ask you? What are you showing off for?"

"Hehehe." Gouwa, with a smile on his face, supported his wife to sit down and walked to Lv Xiucai's side, whispering, "Xiucai, how's your supernatural power training going?"

"It's still the same. I'm slow because I can't read. Why? Do you want to learn?" Lv Xiucai smiled.

Gouwa laughed, "I won't learn that stuff. It's too tiring. After breakfast, I'll take a walk and wait for lunch."

"I let others cultivate my four acres of land. I just wait for the harvest. I don't have to do anything. I have food every year. It's so comfortable. I've endured so much hardship. I deserve a good rest."

After traveling with Senior Li for so long, he hadn't learned much except for gaining experience. There weren't many things in this world that were given for free, especially dangerous supernatural abilities.

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Actually, his real plan was to wait a few more months. If Lv Xiucai didn't encounter any problems, then he would learn. He had learned this from Senior Li.

"Hmph, all you do is eat and sleep. No ambition!" Lv Xiucai looked down on Gouwa.

"Hey, I may not have ambition, but I have a son. Do you?"

As they were talking, Li Huowang and Bai Lingmiao walked down the steps. The others immediately stopped talking and waited for them to take their seats.

Although Li Huowang's skin was gone and he looked terrifying, everyone present had already gotten used to it. They had seen scarier things than this.

When Li Huowang sat down at the main seat and picked up his chopsticks, the others started eating.

Li Huowang ate a lot, using pickled vegetables and salted eggs to go with his steamed buns and porridge. He ate with great enthusiasm.

"Slow down. Don't starve yourself to death. No one is competing with you." Bai Lingmiao ignored Li Huowang's complaints and continued eating her breakfast.

Ever since he started cultivating, a day would pass in the blink of an eye. If he didn't eat enough now, he wouldn't have a chance to eat at noon.

"Hey, even in Niu Xin Village, no one has harmed you. Why are you covered in blood?" Bai Lingmiao picked at the scabs on his body.

"It's better to be prepared. Don't worry, I won't die.""Doesn't it hurt to be so close to death? Are you addicted to pain? Sharing a bed with you, I get startled awake by your nightmares."

Under Bai Lingmiao's incessant nagging, Li Huowang hastily finished his breakfast and left the Bai family compound, where Li Sui had been waiting outside.

The tall and short duo began their trek up the rugged path towards Ox Heart Mountain.

However, just as he stepped out of the village, a white mist began to permeate the surrounding woods. Li Huowang, his brows furrowed, immediately gripped his Purple Sui Sword and drew a portion of it. "Who's there? Show yourself!"

As the rising evil aura stirred the thin mist, it quickly dispersed, revealing a face hidden behind a wooden mask.

"Oh my, isn't this a case of the river flooding the Dragon King Temple, where family members fail to recognize each other? So it's you, Er Jiu!"

"Liu Zongyuan?" Li Huowang looked at the man with the wooden mask in slight surprise. He remembered him. When he, Ji Xiang, and Tuoba Danqing were searching for the Heart Impurity, he was one of them.

Times had changed. Of the five who had acted together, Ji Xiang was dead, the Heart Fool Monk was also dead, Tuoba Danqing was trapped in the Heart Impurity and couldn't get out. Now, only the two of them were left.

Upon meeting again, the two sighed with a hint of familiarity.

Since Liu Zongyuan was here, it was naturally impossible to continue cultivating. Li Huowang immediately brought him to the reception room for tea.

After taking a sip of tea, Li Huowang asked with a hint of curiosity, "Brother Liu, did you come here today because the Skywatch Bureau has assigned you a task?"

Although Liu Zongyuan was also from the Skywatch Bureau, he didn't think this man came because of the major event in the capital. After all, at that time, he was using Beifeng's female body, so no investigation could trace back to him.

Soon, Liu Zongyuan's words confirmed Li Huowang's guess.

"Oh, I heard that someone moved in here again, so I thought it might be another group of White Lotus heretics. I came to check it out, but I didn't expect to run into you here."

(End of Chapter)