CH 33

Noticing that something was amiss, Li Huowang’s expression changed, and he quickly put away the Celestial Book,then drew back the curtain of the backstage and looked outside.

To his surprise, he saw that everyone on stage and those playing instruments beside them were all frozen with fear and trembling in place. 

His gaze shifted to the front of the stage,then he saw the small-footed woman with double faces whom they had encountered in the woods that day. She was sitting on a stool under the stage, her legs crossed while watching the opera with those black memorial tablets together.

（I found that small-footed seems more suitable and accurate than small feet）

“That thing is still following us!Is it going to stick with us?

“Don’t stop! Keep singing!” 

Li Huowang brought a wooden stool from the backstage and placed it right under the stage. He sat on it with his arms folded, staring fixedly at the small-footed woman.

Li Huowang’s back gave the Lv Family Troupe courage. They took a few deep breaths, exchanged glances, and then resumed their music and singing. The sound of suona and opera once again filled the air.

The small-footed woman’s gaze remained fixed on the stage, and she showed no indication of hostility towards Li Huowang. It was as if she had come solely to enjoy the opera.

“I won’t move unless provoked. I don’t believe it can stay here until morning,” Li Huowang thought. He decided not to pay three months of his life casual by confronting her.

A light mist began to rise from the ground in the ancestral hall, and the atmosphere gradually became more oppressive. 

Suddenly, the small-footed woman began to move. She slowly reached out her plump right hand and picked up two red candles from a plate. Then, she stuffed them into her mouth and started chewing on them.

She ate the candles quickly, and within moments, she had devoured all the candles on the table beside her.

The singing sound suddenly stopped again, and Lv Xiucai on the stage was so frightened that he burst into tears. 

Suddenly, the paper figures that had been placed on the Eight Immortals Table by the Hu Family began to move without warning. They wore black Chinese skullcaps and had faces painted with bright red rouge. They reached out their hands and carried over plates of red candles from other tables, floating them over to the small-footed woman.

“Hehehe~” The small-footed woman suddenly let out an extremely eerie and shrill laughter, causing everyone in the Lv Family Troupe to tremble violently.

“Don’t stop! Keep singing!” Li Huowang’s furious roar exploded in the silent ancestral hall, dispelling the fear in everyone’s heart.

“Keep…keep singing~!” Lv Zhuangyuan, who played the role of an old gentleman, shouted. The music and singing resumed, even louder than before.

Everyone sang with all their might, as if trying to shout out the fear within them. They bulging veins,sweat pouring down their faces.

The small-footed woman stopped laughing and instead glared at Li Huowang with a dark expression. All the paper figures also stared at him in the same way.

However, Li Huowang didn’t seem to care and continued to stare back at them.

Time passed in this strange atmosphere, and the hour of the Ox came. The Lv Family Troupe on stage were singing hard, their voices almost hoarse but they dared not stop.

“Is it still going to bother me? When will this thing stop bothering me?” Li Huowang thought to himself.

Just as he was contemplating whether or not to summon Master Wander and sacrifice three months of his life to deal with the woman once and for all, something unexpected happened. 

All the ancestral tablets beneath the stage began to tremble inexplicably.

The sound of the ancestral tablets knocking on the tables echoed continuously, like raindrops keep hitting the ground. It was as if the sound would never stop.

This time, the Lv Family Troupe couldn’t take it anymore and were frozen in fear, not knowing what to do.

Upon seeing this scene, the small-footed woman began to laugh hysterically and very happily, her sharp laughter almost piercing Li Huowang’s ears.

However, as Li Huowang looked at thesmall-footed woman in front of him, a smile formed on his lips and he chuckled lightly, “I think I understand what’s going on, It seems that your recent actions were meant to make them fear you.

“If you don’t have such a bad taste like humans, then there’s only one possibility: your food is not those candles, but the fear emotions that arise in their hearts, right?”

When Li Huowang saw the small-footed woman suddenly stand up and stare at him with extreme malice, he knew he must have guessed right.

“Troupe Master Lv, don’t stop, keep singing. Lord Hu said his ancestors want to watch some happy opera. If you’re scared, just close eyes and keep singing.”

“Hehehe, do you think I look like a human or an immortal?” Seeing her plan had failed, the small-footed woman stood up with a sneer and began to sway towards Li Huowang.

“Hmph! You’re just acting all mysterious!”

“Clang!” With a sound, Li Huowang drew his sword from behind and charged towards the woman.

As soon as he understood the purpose of this thing, Li Huowang dispelled his concerns in an instant. This thing with deceptive trick was far less powerful than he thought it would be.

After a few steps, they met and Li Huowang swung his sword towards her.

The cold light flashed, and the woman was cut in half. Red candles had been cut in two, and fell from her belly.

The upper half of the woman’s body quickly moved through the air and approached Li Huowang from behind, attempting to touch his back.

But when the pale fingers were still some distance away from Li Huowang’s back, it shrank back as if it had been scorched.

“Oh? “When Li Huowang keenly noticed this, he immediately felt a joy in his heart: this thing is afraid for the Celestial Books!

Li Huowang threw his sword to the ground and took out the Celestial Book, grabbing it and slamming it towards the small-footed woman’s face.

Faced with the approaching Celestial Book, the small-footed woman showed fear and turned to run away.

In an instant, the situation had turned around. Li Huowang, holding the Celestial Book, had made the woman fearful instead.

Inside the ancestral hall of the Hu Family, Li Huowang and the small-footed woman contend for a long time.

Although the woman had bound feet, she was surprisingly fast and Li Huowang chased her for a long time without being able to catch her.

Li Huowang gasped for breath and yelled at the small-footed woman across from him across the table, “Get out of here! Can’t you hear me?! Don’t let me see you again!” 

The small-footed woman gave him a vicious glare, then swayed her body back into the darkness at the corner of the wall.

When Li Huowang approached the corner of the wall holding a lantern, he found that there was nothing left there. 

Lv Zhuangyuan picked up the sword thrown by Li Huowang and ran over, handing it to him with both hands.

Li Huowang took the hilt and inserted the sword into the scabbard on his back. 

Then he saw Lv Zhuangyuan smile with flatter to him, saying, “Hee hee hee, do you think I look like a human or an immortal?”

Li Huowang was shocked:No!! The singing hasn’t stopped yet! This Lv Zhuangyuan is fake!

Just as he reacted, the Lv Zhuangyuan in front of him rushed forward, his pale hands directly passing through Li Huowang’s body.

In an instant, he felt a piercing cold all over his body, and his emotions began to continuously decline. Everything around him sank into the darkness.