"Ah! There's nothing to be scared of. When you're traveling far, it's fine as long as you have a big group," Top Scholar Lv shared his wisdom with Li Huowang.
"Oh? If there are a lot of people, there's more yang energy, so those things won't dare to make a move?"
"No way!" Top Scholar Lv packed more tobacco into his pipe and took another puff. "How many people could it really eat? If you do run into something, just run faster than the others. Instead of worrying about that, you should be keeping an eye on bandits who rob and kill for silver, or the man-eating tigers in the forest."
For a moment, Li Huowang didn't know how to respond. He and Top Scholar Lv clearly weren't on the same wavelength.
"Come on, come on, the bread's toasted! Eat it while it's hot." Luo Juannhua brought over several white mantou buns, skewered on branches and roasted to a golden yellow.
Li Huowang took them and handed them to the apprentices nearby, whom he had picked up along the way. The moment those guys realized they could leave Qingfeng Daoist Temple, they had bolted without a second thought, never considering what would happen next. By the time he ran into them on the road, they were so hungry they were about to pass out. Since they were his fellow apprentices, Li Huowang couldn't just turn a blind eye, so he had brought them along.
Once hot food was in sight, the others didn't stand on ceremony. It was late and everyone was a little hungry, so they grabbed the mantou and chowed down.
Watching the big oaf stuff one bun after another into his mouth, Top Scholar Lv's eye twitched. These are refined flour mantou! They aren't something I'd eat every day! If I'd known, I wouldn't have been so generous earlier.
Just then, a question from Li Huowang made Top Scholar Lv forget his heartache. "Elder, do you have a map? To be honest, we're not locals and we've gotten pretty turned around in these woods. We don't even know where we are right now."
Indeed, Li Huowang was lost. Everywhere looked the same in the forest, and he couldn't get his bearings. Asking the others was pointless. They all came from different parts of the country and could talk your ear off about their hometowns, but when asked where they were now, nobody could say for sure. It seemed that to keep things secret, Master Danyang hadn't sourced his Medicinal Guides from anywhere nearby.
"What? A map? I don't have one, but I know all the roads around here! Just ask me where you want to go!"
"Mm, a lot of places. Take a look and see which one is closest, old sir." Li Huowang pulled a pile of notes from his sleeve.
"What... what's this say?" Top Scholar Lv held the slips far away from his face, his wrinkles bunching up as he strained to read them.
His name might be Top Scholar, but if he really were one, he wouldn't be singing opera for a living.
Top Scholar Lv could read, but not much. With Li Huowang translating, he finally understood all the addresses on the notes.
Still, after years of traveling far and wide as a troupe leader, Top Scholar Lv was at least knowledgeable about geography.
However, just because he knew where these places were didn't mean Li Huowang could get there easily.
"Well, what do you know, even Liang State is here! Weren't they at war with our Qi State some years back?"
Top Scholar Lv crouched down and used the end of his long smoking pipe to draw on the ground, sketching out a simple map for Li Huowang. If you had to describe his map in one sentence, it'd be that a large pancake had dropped on the floor and shattered into smithereens. Their current position was in the upper-left corner of the "pancake." Moving from left to right revealed various large and small states crisscrossing one another.
This is a bit like the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms era—there's no unified empire. Li Huowang thought as he looked at the map on the ground.
He hadn't held out much hope, but seeing the map confirmed it for him: he hadn't transmigrated to some ancient dynasty, but to an even stranger place.
"This old man has only taken the troupe around the northern parts of this region, so I know this area. But once you cross the border, I really don't know which end is up. I've just heard their operas are different from ours."
Hearing this, Bai Lingmiao's heart clenched. Her family was on Niuxin Mountain in Liang State, which sounded very, very far from here.
Li Huowang immediately noticed her reaction and gave her a reassuring look. "Don't worry."
Top Scholar Lv eyed the odd collection of more than a dozen people before him, and the schemes that fear had previously suppressed began to bubble up again.
"Well now, little Daoist Master, look here," he said. "There's a Jianye Town on one of your slips. Our Lv's Troupe happens to be heading that way too! Hehe, how about we team up for the journey?"
"Jianye Town? Whose is that?" Li Huowang flipped through the slips.
"Senior Brother Li, my family is in Jianye Town," Zhao Wu spoke up from the side.
"And there's an Escort Agency in town. As long as you give them some silver, they can deliver the slips destined for Nanping for you."
Hearing this, Li Huowang didn't hesitate. He stuffed the slips of paper back into his robe. "All right then, elder. We'll be counting on you to guide us. Let's head to Jianye together."
Relying solely on the old troupe leader's word didn't seem very reliable, whether for map information or anything else. Still, it was a start. Whether he was searching for the Black Taisui to suppress his Huan Jue or sending letters for the others, his best bet was to first go to a town where information flowed. Besides, their food was also running low. If possible, Li Huowang also wanted to find one of the so-called righteous sects. In a place this dangerous, survival without strength was impossible. Anyone could walk all over you, and he had no intention of being snatched by another Master Danyang.
Top Scholar Lv grinned and waved his hands repeatedly. "Hey, hey, you're too polite! Not at all, not at all."
That's what he said, but inside, Top Scholar Lv was ecstatic. Having a master like him traveling with us is like getting a free bodyguard! On this trip, I'll at least make back the cost of those white flour mantou and the five salted duck eggs.
The big fool nearby let out an enormous yawn; he'd eaten his fill and was ready for bed.
Seeing everyone looking sleepy, Top Scholar Lv wisely stood up. "Look at that, we've chatted until the second watch. Little Daoist Master, you all should get some rest. I'll stand guard."
"No need, I'll take the watch tonight." Li Huowang wasn't just being polite—he knew you could never be too careful around strangers.
After such a long day, everyone was exhausted. The two different groups sat around the warm campfire, drifting into their dreams, while Li Huowang and Top Scholar Lv sat opposite each other in silence.
At dawn the next day, Li Huowang was woken by Gouwa, who had taken the last watch. "Senior Brother Li, the opera troupe is packing up."
"Let's go. Time to hit the road." Li Huowang slung his longsword and stone slate onto his back, then stood up and led his group after the opera troupe.
Just as they set out, everyone was clearly a little tense. Nobody spoke, merely stealing glances at each other and muttering quietly to their own companions.
This didn't apply to the leaders, however. Li Huowang and Top Scholar Lv chatted away amiably the whole way. Li Huowang hoped to glean more about this world from Top Scholar Lv, while the latter was eager to get closer to this powerful man. Kind words were free, after all—a few more couldn't hurt.
"Oh my, little Daoist Master, so young and already so formidable! Your future is unlimited, ha ha ha!"