"Clip-clop, clip-clop." Accompanied by the steady beat of hoofbeats, Li Huowang drove the carriage farther and farther away from Cangshui County.
Besides the Black Taisui, the carriage was now stacked with all sorts of easily stored dried goods. Li Huowang took out a dried red date, threw it into his mouth, and chewed it slowly.
"Is it sweet?" The monk leaned over, all those wrinkles bunching up together as he asked.
"It's sweet." Li Huowang said, then took out a handful of walnut meat and shoved it into his mouth, chewing as he spoke. "Do you think they're happy now?"
"Of course they're happy! If they weren't, would they have sent you all these things?"
"Long as they're happy. This world's too full of suffering—if people can have a bit more joy, then so be it."
Li Huowang murmured to himself, feeling himself struggle in all this pain and repression, but at least by helping others escape the same predicament, it didn't feel so bad.
