Chapter 33: Continue Singing

Feeling that something was amiss, Li Huowang's expression stiffened backstage as he swiftly tucked away the Heavenly Book and drew back the curtain to look outside.

What he discovered was that everyone, whether they were performing on stage or playing instruments beside it, had expressions of terror as they shook uncontrollably.

His gaze shot toward the front of the stage, his pupils shrinking to pinpoints in an instant. There, underneath the stage on a stool, sat the woman with bound feet he had encountered in the forest, legs crossed in a relaxed pose, watching the performance alongside the black tablets.

"This thing actually followed us here, could it have latched onto us?"

"Don't stop, keep singing," Li Huowang said as he pulled over a wooden stool and sat down with authority directly underneath the stage, his eyes locked on the little-footed woman.

The sight of Li Huowang's back gave the Lv Family courage, and, swallowing their fear, they exchanged glances and the sounds of the suona and singing were heard once more.

The small-footed woman kept her gaze fixed on the stage, completely indifferent to Li Huowang's hostility as if her true intention for coming was just to enjoy the play.

"If my enemy doesn't move, neither will I. I don't believe it can stay till daylight," Li Huowang thought and decided to act accordingly, trying to not to expend any of his remaining three months of life.

A wispy mist began to rise from the floor of the Ancestral Temple, gradually creating a more oppressive atmosphere.

Suddenly, the small-footed woman made her move, slowly extending her plump right hand to grab two red candles from the plate and popped them into her mouth, crunching away.

She ate quickly, and before long, she had finished all the precious candles on the Eight Immortals table beside her.

Then, the singing from the stage halted abruptly once again. Scholar Lv, playing the role of the xiaosheng, was so frightened that he burst into tears.

The paper effigies set up by the Hu Family started moving without warning, their heads adorned with black hats and faces painted with bright red blusher, as they lifted plates with red precious candles from other tables and floated them over to the small-footed woman.

"Hee hee hee~" The small-footed woman suddenly let out an extremely shrill and fine laughter, making everyone in Lv's Troupe tremble violently.

"Don't stop! Keep singing!" Li Huowang's roar echoed through the silent Ancestral Temple, dispelling the fear in everyone's hearts.

"Sing~ Ah~~!" Top Scholar Lv, dressed as an old man, called out, and the music started up again, louder than before.

Everyone sang with all the strength they could muster, as if to scream out the fear inside them, veins standing out and sweat pouring down their faces.

This time, the woman with the small feet wasn't laughing. Instead, she glared somberly at Li Huowang, and not just her – all the paper effigies acted the same.

Li Huowang didn't care and continued to glare back.

The third watch of the night passed in this eerie atmosphere, and the fourth watch began. Lv's Troupe on stage, singing with great effort, was nearly hoarse, but they dared not stop.

"She wants to wear me down? Just how long does this thing plan to wear me down?" Li Huowang thought to himself.

Just as he was hesitating whether to spend three months of his life to call upon Master You to deal with the woman once and for all, the situation changed again as the tablets below the stage began to tremble inexplicably.

"Tat-tat-tat-tat~" The sound of the tablets rhythmically knocking against the surface of the Eight Immortals table was unceasing, like raindrops pounding on the ground.

This time, the members of the Lv Family were completely unable to hold it together. One of them broke down; this was a complete onslaught!

At this sight, the small-footed woman started to laugh, her joy becoming exceedingly vivid. Her thin laughter was so piercing that Li Huowang's ears began to ache.

However, looking at the small-footed woman before him, Li Huowang gently smiled with a lift at the corner of his mouth. "I think I've figured it out. All your actions seem to be aimed at making them fear you."

"If you don't have this kind of twisted hobby like humans do, then I can only guess one thing: your food isn't those candles, but the fear that arises in their hearts, right?"

When Li Huowang saw the woman with the bound feet suddenly stand up, glaring at him with venomous eyes, he knew he must have guessed correctly.

"Band Leader Lv, don't stop, keep singing. Didn't Master Hu say? His ancestors want to hear something cheerful. If you're worried the wind might blow into your eyes, just close them and keep singing."

"Hehehe, tell me, do I look like a human or a god?" Having seen her plan completely fall apart, the woman with the bound feet stood up with a sinister laugh, beginning to sway her body as she moved closer to Li Huowang.

"I think you're like a demon spawned from an egg!" With a "clang," Li Huowang drew his sword with one hand from behind and charged at the woman.

Once he understood this fellow's purpose, Li Huowang instantly dismissed his concerns. This pretender wasn't nearly as powerful as he had thought.

It was just like beating a wolf with a stick—anxiety at both ends.

With just a few steps, they came to contact. Li Huowang swung his sword to strike,

and with a flash of cold light, the woman was split in two, the halves of a red candle falling out of her stomach.

The half of the woman's body that was in the air quickly shifted behind Li Huowang, about to reach for his back.

But when that pale finger was still some distance from Li Huowang's back, it retracted as if it had been burnt.

"Oh?" When Li Huowang sharply noticed this, joy instantly filled his heart. This thing was averse to the Heavenly Book!

Li Huowang tossed aside the longsword and took out the Heavenly Book, swinging it round to slap directly at the face of the woman with the bound feet,

Confronted by the Heavenly Book, the woman with the bound feet showed terror and turned to run away.

At this moment, the situation between them instantly reversed, with Li Huowang wielding the Heavenly Book, instilling fear in the other.

In the Hu Family's ancestral temple, Li Huowang chased the woman with the bound feet around in circles for a good while.

But surprisingly, despite her bound feet, she ran not a whit slower, and after a long chase, he hadn't touched her at all.

Li Huowang, panting, stared at the woman with the bound feet from across the table. This couldn't go on; he had to see if he could drive her away.

"Get lost! Do you hear me? Don't let me see you again!"

The woman with the bound feet glared at him with venomous eyes, then with a sway, she retreated into a dark corner of the wall.

When Li Huowang, holding the lantern, approached the corner, he found there was nothing there.

Top Scholar Lv picked up the sword Li Huowang had thrown, and jogging over, presented it to Li Huowang with both hands.

Li Huowang grabbed the hilt and slotted it back behind him. He then saw Top Scholar Lv with a smile plastered on his face, ingratiatingly saying to him, "Hehehe, tell me, do I look like a human or a god?"

Li Huowang's heart jolted. Something was wrong! The opera singing hadn't stopped! This Top Scholar Lv was a fake!

The moment he realized this, the Top Scholar Lv in front of him lunged at him, his ghastly white hands passing right through Li Huowang's body.

In an instant, he felt bone-chilling cold all over, his mood plunged continuously, and everything around him sank into darkness.