After glancing at the several pieces of silver in Bai Lingmiao's hand, Li Huowang reached into his chest and pulled out another piece of silver to stack on top.
Before Li Huowang could speak, Bai Lingmiao hastily interjected, "That gold bracelet has already been melted down; I saw it with my own eyes, it's been dissolved, and it can't be redeemed anymore."
Watching Li Huowang gape in stunned silence, Bai Lingmiao laughed triumphantly, feeling like she had won. She stuffed the silver in her hands into his embrace.
"Don't worry, that bracelet was just something my mom gave me for protection, it wasn't any family heirloom."
Seeing Bai Lingmiao speaking so frankly, Li Huowang didn't insist further. After carefully counting and storing the silver, he said, "Once everything settles down, I'll buy you a bigger one."
"Hmm! I'll be waiting!" Bai Lingmiao nodded with a smile.
Just then, the door suddenly opened, and Gouwa walked in from the outside. Seeing the couple squatting in the corner, he was taken aback, and then quickly made to leave, "I've entered the wrong room; I am really sorry, I will leave immediately."
Bai Lingmiao's face reddened as she rushed to the door and shoved it open to run away.
With a grin, Gouwa walked in, "Brother Li, although Sister Bai is clad in white, when it comes to choosing a wife, looks aren't important—it's the personality that counts. You shouldn't hold her appearance against her."
Li Huowang couldn't be bothered with the nonsense. "Stop blabbering; go wash up and get some sleep. We finally have beds to sleep in."
Deep in a drowsy stupor, Li Huowang found himself in an old forest with a dim light source ahead. Confused, he used his sword to clear away branches and hurried toward the light of a fire.
Upon getting closer, Li Huowang saw that it was Bai Lingmiao and others joining his mother and Yang Na, gathered around a bonfire roasting dried sweet potatoes.
At this comforting scene, he let out a sigh of relief and was about to walk over,
when suddenly the world shifted dramatically. He saw Master Danyang towering a hundred feet tall with three heads and feathers all over, standing there like a mountain.
"Hahaha, kid, you did well, bringing the 'Medicinal Guide,'" said the monstrous Master Danyang with a laugh, lifting a stone pillar taller than himself and smashing it down hard on the bonfire below.
"Wait!!" Li Huowang sat up with a start, covered in cold sweat. After taking several deep breaths, he realized that everything had been just a dream.
"Brother Li, you're awake? I specially bought you some dumplings. Eat them while they're hot." Gouwa, who was enjoying the commotion, retracted his head from outside the window.
"What time is it now?" Li Huowang, clutching his swollen head, sat at the table and noticed that the dumplings looked almost like wontons.
"It's just past the hour of Chen; it's okay to sleep in a bit, we don't need to travel today."
Grabbing a ceramic spoon, he gulped down the wontons, and in no time, he had finished eating. "Who says there's nothing to do today? Let's go, we need to buy supplies for the trip."
Then, the dream flashed through his mind once more. Li Huowang spoke again, "I'll take someone else to buy those; you ask Top Scholar Lv when he can leave, the sooner the better. If he can't leave, then we go ahead without him."
With the silver left from buying the donkey cart, plus the extra silver Bai Lingmiao had given, they could supplement with some essentials.
At the very least, they needed blankets and mats so as not to spend the night huddled by the campfire with their backs burning and chests cold.
Furthermore, they could purchase a pot, so they could have something hot to eat on the road and not just chew on dry rations every day.
With all the miscellaneous items, one donkey cart was not enough. When he met up with Top Scholar Lv at the city gate, they had already acquired another donkey cart.
"Hey, Taoist Master, you're quite something, gathering more and more belongings as we go. I reckon if you keep this up for another six months or a year, you'll be loaded," Top Scholar Lv teased as they traveled.
"Band Leader Lv, is it far from Jianye to the Capital City?" Li Huowang asked, looking at the wide dirt road ahead.
The road was broad, and there were more people, not just him and Band Leader Lv's group, but also many others with loaded packs, seemingly all headed to the Capital City.
"Not far, another ten days or so should get us there," Band Leader Lv appeared very pleased with himself as he grinned from ear to ear.
Li Huowang nodded and continued to inquire, "About that Buddhist Temple you mentioned, besides their renown in granting children, what else do you know?"
"Hey, a Buddhist Temple is just that; how are they any different? Don't all Buddhist Temples have a bunch of old monks leading a bunch of young monks in their chanting and prayer?"
Li Huowang sighed softly, realizing that matters like this demanded his personal enquiry. Top Scholar Lv, with his ordinary villager's cluelessness, had no concept whatsoever about such things.
"Taoist Master, look ahead, there's a monk, see, the one urinating under that tree? You're better off asking him than me; he might just be a monk from the Buddhist Temple."
"Oh?" Li Huowang lifted his head and indeed noticed a bald monk standing by the roadside.
As he approached, he saw the figure in tattered monk robes shudder and turn around.
However, when Li Huowang glimpsed the man's face, his brow furrowed immediately.
He was called a monk, but he looked more like a bald-headed old beggar. As wretched as wretched could be, his entire monk's robe was patched and full of holes.
"Amitabha, do you need something from me?" the dirty old man grinned, revealing his toothless yellow smile.
"Are you... a monk?"
"Sure, I am a monk!" the old monk replied, lifting the string of Buddha Beads strung from kernels around his neck, with a hint of affirmation.
"May I ask, Master, which temple's esteemed monk are you?" Li Huowang's voice already carried a hint of hesitation.
"I don't have a temple. I'm heading north to look for one. I heard there are many Buddhist Temples there and they even provide meals. I plan to go there and become a monk."
Hearing this, Li Huowang had his suspicions and nodded indifferently before turning back to his own group.
But as Li Huowang decided not to engage with the pretentious beggar-turned-monk, the man stuck to him like a plaster.
"Are you also looking for a Buddhist Temple? Then let's go together. But aren't you a Taoist? Taoists don't believe in Buddha, do they?"
"Is this guy trying to play the fool with me?" On guard, Li Huowang slapped his donkey's rump and accelerated with the rest, ignoring the man's presence.
While he ignored the man, someone naive and simple-minded did not feel anything amiss.
"You didn't bring... didn't bring... food; you'll starve!"
"How could I starve? Look at the forest. There's everything – wild fruits, mushrooms, and vegetables."
"I also... I also... ate wild fruit...! And I've also... I've also...!"
"Idiot, don't talk to him!"
"Oh...."
When no one paid him any attention, the bored old beggar departed, and Li Huowang, secretly gripping his Taoist Bell, breathed a sigh of relief.
Whether he was truly foolish or feigning it, one could not be too careful in this eerie place.
Following the dirt road for hours, with the sun at its zenith, many had started to squat and nibble on dry rations. Li Huowang instructed his companions to do the same.
Although he was beginning to feel anxious, being in a group was safer.
Newly bought white Mantou were distributed to everyone, and they ate their lunch with a few jars of pickled vegetables.
After taking Bai Lingmiao's Water Calabash and drinking deeply, Li Huowang looked back and suddenly realized someone was missing. "Huh? Where's the simpleton?"
"He went into the forest to pee just now; he hasn't come back yet. He couldn't have started pooping midway, could he? Hey!! Simpleton!! Are you in there?!"
As Dog-Er shouted towards the forest, the simpleton's honest head emerged, his cheeks bulging as if he were chewing on something.
"What are you eating?" Li Huowang asked, puzzled.
"Wild... wild... wild white rice in the forest. It's... it's... it's free!" said the simpleton before ducking back into the forest.