Li Huowang shook his head, declining the white-frosted persimmon biscuit placed before him. "Don't eat too much right now; otherwise, when we go to the inn and have a proper meal, you might not have any space left for it."
However, Li Huowang's reminder did not slow them down.
"No problem. I can still eat more after finishing these," said one of the guiding drug ingredients.
"That's right! We will still eat even if we're stuffed! Being hungry is very uncomfortable. Ah, Senior Li, aren't you hungry?" said another one of the guiding drug ingredients.
Li Huowang just silently smiled and continued to lead the horse forward. There was an inn not too far ahead.
"Senior Li, would you like to try these clothes I bought for you?" asked Bai Lingmiao.
Li Huowang shook his head again, "Forget it. I've grown accustomed to wearing these Taoist robes while just having to change the inner layers. Also, you should cover your eyes up, or you'll start to feel pain soon."
The two horse carts squeezed through the dense crowd for a long time before finally arriving at the inn.
Once there, Puppy excitedly raised the gold beans in his hand and rushed in. "Waiter! Prepare the best private room for Lord Cao Cao! Also, bring me braised pork! Only fatty meat, no lean meat! Four large bowls!"
Li Huowang walked in and pushed him aside, then looked at the townspeople who were eating away and chatting. Then, he told the approaching waiter, "No need for a private room; we'll eat in the main hall. I like the liveliness."
"Senior Li, we have money now. Why are we eating in the main hall? It's noisy and-" protested Puppy.
However, the jumpy Puppy wilted like an eggplant as soon as Li Huowang glared at him.
They sat down at a wooden table, and Li Huowang started listening in on the surrounding conversations.
"Be careful of people making things hard for you. Your grandmother is really saying these things behind your back," said a man.
"If you ask me, others not respecting your boundaries calls for a fight! Our kingdom of Si Qi has never feared anyone in battle. Though I've retired from the military, I'll report back without question if orders are sent for me to come back!" said another.
"Kekeke, Zi Qi, forgive me for being late. My wife nagged me for a bit. As a punishment, I'll down three cups first," said another.
"Ah! Look there, that Taoist looks quite strange. His robes are red..." said another man, pointing at Li Huowang.
Li Huowang did not hear any information he wanted to hear while waiting for the food to be served. Based on his understanding, this town was quite close to the Nunnery, and there should be some form of influence on the people nearby, be it good or bad.
However, from what he saw, the presence and influence of the Nunnery were quite low among the townspeople.
Since this approach did not work, Li Huowang began to think of other ideas to gather the information he needed.
"Twin Dragons Chasing the Pearl~ Three Suns Prosperity~ Fish Leaping over Dragon Gate~ All the dishes are here~ Esteemed guests, please enjoy!" said the waiter, carrying in all their dishes.
Just as the waiter had finished placing the dishes and was about to leave, Li Huowang grabbed his arm and stopped him.
"Oh, Taoist, you can see how busy it is in this inn, I'm very sor—" the waiter tried to quickly apologize and leave.
However, before the waiter could even finish his sentence, Li Huowang stuffed a golden bean into his hand.
"Do you know about the Henghua Mountain over there?" asked Li Huowang.
"Yes!" the waiter replied happily.
"There's a Nunnery at the top of that mountain. I have heard that their incense is very prosperous? Is their Bodhisattva very efficacious?" questioned Li Huowang.
A look of bewilderment crept onto the waiter's face. "Prosperous incense? But the Benevolent Nunnery's incense isn't even as popular as the local deity."
"Eh?" Li Huowang looked toward Xiaoman; this was different from what she had told him before.
"My neighbor said that they were very popular," Xiaoman said, putting down her chopsticks in embarrassment.
"Ah, then your neighbor must be bragging. The Benevolent Nunnery's Bodhisattva has even started to gather dust. Even if they have an incense burning, it must be haunted there," said the waiter. "Taoist, I'm not wrong. After all, a widow from the village my elder sister's nephew lives at went to become a nun at Benevolent Nunnery."
This got Li Huowang interested. "Oh? Why did she become a nun there? Are there any requirements?"
Hearing this question, the waiter looked around hesitantly.
Li Huowang passed another golden bean into his hand, leading the waiter to lean in and answer in a low voice.
"Her husband died, the rest of her family lived far away, and she couldn't bear any sons. Thus, she was deemed useless by the people of her village and had no other options. Otherwise, nobody would willingly become a nun," explained the waiter.
"Oh... So it's like that." Li Huowang nodded thoughtfully.
From the information he had gathered so far, these nuns should be quite normal and not too different from what Li Zhi had said before his death.
"Then do you know why the nuns there need to wear black clothes?" Li Huowang asked as he took out yet another golden bean.
"Ah, those aren't supposed to be black clothes. The nuns are supposed to wear blue robes. But I don't know if it's because they have no wells up the mountain, or because they don't take baths or because they don't change clothes, their robes turn black over time," explained the waiter. His face was filled with disgust at this point.
"Some time back, a few nuns came down to sell some pigs, and I saw one of them rub her neck. Guess what?! She rubbed out a black mudball about the size of a jujube!" continued the waiter.
The others nearby had uncomfortable looks on their faces as they placed down their chopsticks.
Smack!
At that moment, a palm smacked the back of the waiter's head.
"There are guests eating here! What are you talking about?! Are you trying to ruin the reputation of my Penglai Inn?" asked the innkeeper.
"Innkeeper, that was not my intention! I only answered this Taoist's questions!" defended the waiter.
The fat innkeeper apologized and led the waiter away.
Meanwhile, Li Huowang picked up his chopsticks and began to eat.
"Senior Li, we can help you if you want to ask something," Puppy said as he picked up a fatty piece of meat and placed it into his mouth.
"Alright, don't go around frightening the people with your speckled face. Baolu, when you're done, go to the town and try to gather some information about the Benevolent Nunnery," said Li Huowang.
Amongst the guiding drug ingredients, this was the only man who was adept in swimming and also had a completely normal appearance, at least on the outside.
Sun Baolu had always maintained a low profile. Hearing Li Huowang's command, while he was momentarily surprised, he quickly nodded in silence.
Li Huowang glanced at him, and then continued to eat his meal. Having a normal outer appearance did not mean that he was normal. This man, Sun Baolu, had never taken off his clothes when they went to sleep and would always avoid people when going to the bathroom, be it male or female.
His clothes definitely hid the reason behind why Dan Yangzi chose him as a guiding drug ingredient.
But Li Huowang did not wish to pry. Similarly, he did not want others to discuss his mental state and hysteria.
Li Huowang decided to stay at this inn for some time.
Meanwhile, he sent some of the assistants and Baolu to gather information about the Benevolent Nunnery.
Li Huowang did not want a repeat of the events that occurred back at the Righteous Monastery. This time, he had even told Baolu to make a trip up the mountain.
After some time, Li Huowang reluctantly concluded that these nuns should not pose too much of a threat to himself. The most common adjectives used by the townsfolk about the nuns were dirty, lazy, and fat.
"If I don't return the next day, then you guys should leave this place immediately. Got it?" Li Huowang was standing at the mountain path as he instructed the rest of the guiding drug ingredients.
"Senior Li, let's go there together," suggested one of them.
"Go there together? To become a burden? Do you think this is just an outing?" reprimanded Li Huowang. However, he regretted his harsh words as soon as he said them. Even so, he did not explain anything to them. He just turned around and started heading up the mountain alone.
As she watched his figure gradually grow distant, Bai Lingmiao bit her lips. Tears welled up in her eyes as she seemed to want to say something. But in the end, she did not speak.
Meanwhile, Li Huowang vanished up the mountain path.
Chapter 81 - The Benevolent Nunnery
"Ha~ Ha~" Li Huowang's forehead was beaded with sweat as he placed his hands on his knees and panted for air.
He had already been climbing for four hours but had not yet reached his destination. The Nunnery was much higher up than he had imagined.
Li Huowang struggled to lift his head; the winding dirt path seemed to have no end as it stretched upward endlessly.
Li Huowang gritted his teeth, then grabbed a nearby vine and continued to climb.
By the time his legs had become extremely sore, he finally caught sight of the gate of the Benevolent Nunnery.
He wiped off the sweat on his chin with the back of his hand and then subconsciously glanced at the couplet on the sides of the gate. But what surprised him was that he could not understand the couplet of this Nunnery at all.
It was not because of Dan Yangzi's influence that he could not recognize these words. Instead, it was due to their appearance—those words looked very strange.
The words seemed to be rhomboidal in shape, with the right-side higher and the left-side lower. The characters were slanted and elongated, and they seemed to be ancient words, yet there were traces of many familiar characters.
"These are... Characters? Or something else?" Puzzled, Li Huowang walked up to and touched them.
After carefully examining them for a while, he continued toward the nunnery.
However, after he entered, the speech that he had prepared beforehand could not be used; there was no one here that he could talk to.
There was not a single person in sight within the square that was covered in overgrown weeds. This formed a stark contrast with the crowds he saw back at the Righteous Monastery.
"Is anybody here?" Li Huowang's voice reverberated in the square, yet nobody appeared.
Li Huowang glanced both ways before heading toward the main hall before him. There was no incense within, yet it was not dark at all. The ceiling had holes, and the rays of sunlight illuminated everything within.
The Bodhisattva statue in the middle of the large hall was also covered with gray dust and spiderwebs. Li Huowang would have almost not recognized that this was a Bodhisattva statue if not for the lotus seat beneath it.
Is there a mistake? This Nunnery seems to be completely deserted.
Just as Li Huowang was thinking that, a snore caught his attention. He followed the sound to its source and saw a large meatball rising and falling behind the Bodhisattva statue. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚
Only after approaching it did he realize that it was not a meatball but the exposed belly of a fat nun.
She was sleeping face-up on the icy-cold floor, snoring with her mouth open and releasing a putrid stench toward them.
Black clothes, fat, and dirty. These were all correct. This was a nun from the Benevolent Nunnery.
Frowning, Li Huowang tried to determine whether this was a good or a bad person. Based on Li Zhi's description, these nuns were good people. However, while he didn't know the veracity of that claim, given the current state of this nunnery and looking at this nun, he concluded that even bad people would not want to have much interaction with her.
"Venerable master, Xuan Yang from Zephyr Temple has an urgent matter to discuss," Li Huowang raised his voice and greeted the large meatball.
However, the fat nun's snoring showed no signs of stopping—she didn't wake up at all.
Is she pretending to ignore me?
Li Huowang stepped forward and raised his voice more. "Venerable master! Xuan Yang from Zephyr Temple has an urgent matter to discuss!"
Yet, there was still no response.
Li Huowang was about to go up to her and shout into her ear but was repulsed by the strong stench coming from her body. This stench was a combination of smelly socks, durian, and fermented sweat. It was quite unbearable.
Before he could come up with anything else, the fat nun trembled and sat up on her own.
She used her stubby fingers to rub off the yellowed eye boogers. Then, without even opening her eyes, she swayed toward the side door. "Aiya, time for a meal."
"Venerable master! Xuan Yang from Zephyr Temple has an urgent matter to discuss!" repeated Li Huowang.
This time, Li Huowang was not ignored. The fat nun jumped in fright, and at the same time, her extremely oily chin also trembled with her.
"You scared me. How come you walk so silently?" asked the nun.
Conflicted, Li Huowang remained rooted on the spot. He was now more concerned about whether the nuns here even had the ability to help him deal with Dan Yangzi rather than questioning their intentions.
"Go and burn incense on your own if you want to pay respects to Buddha! Don't delay my meal!" The fat nun said in an icy tone before continuing to walk inside with her humongous legs.
This time, Li Huowang didn't say anything and just followed behind her.
The entire nunnery was quite large, but also quite dilapidated. If the main hall's Bodhisattva statue was already so shabby, then the other Bodhisattva statues were likely to be even shabbier.
There were some inscriptions beside some of the hall entrances, but they were identical to those from the gate he saw earlier.
"Master, what characters are these?" Li Huowang asked.
"Women's script. You can't understand it. This script is only passed down to women, not men," replied the nun.
Although she answered the question, the nun seemed very impatient and directly walked inside.
As the environment inside became increasingly unfamiliar, Li Huowang continued following her without any hesitation. Everything here seemed real, without the strange feeling he had back at the hospital.
Whether it was due to him having consumed too much Black Taisui or due to him having spent a long time dealing with hallucinations, ordinary illusions had no impact on him. He could easily distinguish them from reality, even if they were effective in fooling his senses.
After wandering around for a while, Li Huowang followed the plump nun to an earthen house that had a chimney. He could hear some commotion from within, indicating that there were people inside. He knew that they were all nuns just based on the heavy stench coming from within.
He saw the fat nun rushing in with excitement, then frowned before taking a deep breath. Then, he pinched his nose and resisted the urge to tear up before following her inside.
As soon as he entered, he could hear sounds of lips smacking, as well as the sound of food being chewed and swallowed.
For a moment, he almost thought that he was at a pigsty.
At this moment, a group of black-clothed fat nuns were gathered around a black pot, chomping away at its contents. They were not even using any chopsticks or bowls, directly using their hands to grab the food from within the pot.
They were enjoying their meal so much that they didn't even respond to Li Huowang, a living person who was standing right there.
Meanwhile, Li Huowang could only blindly guess that they were eating some sort of vegetable fried rice.
Li Huowang was turning red from holding his breath. When he tried to breathe, he felt the stench in the air irritate his throat.
Finally, his actions attracted some attention. A fat nun who had just finished eating got up and gave her seat to him as she sucked her fingers.
"Do you want to have a vegetarian meal? 200 copper coins per person," asked the nun.
Li Huowang was happy upon hearing money being mentioned.
"No need. However, there's something that I need your help with," said Li Huowang as he tossed over a golden bean.
"Gold!" The fat nun excitedly stuffed the golden bean into her mouth and chewed on it with her yellowed teeth. After verifying the authenticity of the gold, she spit it back out, mixed with vegetable leaves and saliva.
"Do you want to buy pigs? How many? Our Nunnery has the fattest pigs," offered the nun.
As Li Huowang saw her approaching him, he took a step back. "No. I heard that the venerable masters of the Benevolent Nunnery are very knowledgeable. Hence, this time I've come to seek help from the Nunnery to exorcize some evil spirits."
"Hahaha~! Aren't you a Taoist? You're asking us nuns to help you exorcize evil spirits? Hahaha~" asked the nun, laughing.
Her laughter seemed to be quite contagious as the other nuns also started laughing.
Finally, even Li Huowang could not hold back anymore. "Hahah~!!"
Chapter 82 - Abbess Jingxin
Li Huowang had to try quite hard to stifle his laughter. He suddenly found it very humorous that he, as a Taoist, was asking for help from these nuns.
"Cough cough, esteemed masters, please don't laugh anymore. I have an urgent problem, and it might be life-threatening if left unresolved," Li Huowang explained.
"Follow me; let's go find the Abbess. Right, it'll cost two golden beans to show you the way," declared the nun as an oily hand reached out toward Li Huowang.
On the other hand, the thing that Li Huowang was the least worried about was them wanting money. After all, any matter that could be resolved through money was not really an issue.
He directly passed two golden beans over before following the fat nun outside.
Just as they were about to leave the house, Li Huowang looked back at the other nuns inside with a hint of reluctance. He had a feeling that if he spent his time with these carefree nuns, it would be rather enjoyable. At this point, even the pungent stench in the air didn't seem so unbearable.
He followed the nun onto the small path outside the house once again. Li Huowang said to the nun guiding him, "I am Xuan Yang from Zephyr Temple. May I ask for your monastic name?"
"Miao Yu," replied the fat nun as she picked her nose.
"Cough-cough... good name." Li Huowang had to restrain himself to avoid laughing out loud. The name did not match her appearance in the slightest.
They walked for a while, and arrived at a row of short thatched houses. The fat nun directly walked in. "Wait here, I need to take a dump."
"Sure, take your time," said Li Huowang as he stifled his laughter, clasped his hands, and bowed.
"Ah~ Hehe." Li Huowang stood beside the thatched house and stretched lazily. He felt rather at ease here. Here, Li Huowang wanted to smile at whatever he saw. His surroundings just seemed so cheerful.
Just as he was about to burst into laughter thinking about what had just happened, he suddenly felt everything around him begin to collapse. The white walls of a hospital began replacing everything around him, and some illusory figures started to solidify.
Li Huowang had just been feeling at ease, but now, his expression turned extremely ugly as he clutched his head tightly.
"No, not now! Just for a little while more, shh, shh! Help! Please, be quiet, shh~ shh~"
Almost as if his pleading had an effect, everything around him quietened down.
His expression was now quite pale, and he wiped off the cold sweat from his face as he stood up.
The Black Taisui's effects were fading, and those hallucinations were about to come back after a long time. However, Li Huowang had to push these matters to the back of his mind for now. In the face of life and death, these hallucinations were but a small matter.
Li Huowang's mood grew gloomy as he recalled the recent events; he found it hard to feel cheerful anymore.
"Hai..." Li Huowang sighed.
Just then, he suddenly heard a sound and headed toward the toilet behind.
He was truly shocked when he saw the scene behind.
There was a bamboo fence surrounding the area behind the thatched house, and a few black, long-haired pigs were being raised within.
At this moment, yellow waste was spewing out from within the thatched house, and the black pigs were grunting within it.
This scene instantly caused Li Huowang to feel nauseous.
He had heard previously that the nuns from the Benevolent Nunnery reared pigs, but he hadn't expected that they used something like this to feed them!
As he continued looking at the pigs, Li Huowang's impression of the Benevolent Nunnery as a whole gradually started falling. The nuns here were extremely strange.
The black pigs grunted and scattered, and then Miao Yu stepped out from the thatched house. She saw Li Huowang standing by the pigsty, but did not say anything and continued to lead him onward.
"Let's hurry; I still need to take a nap later," said Miao Yu.
"Do you all eat the pigs that are raised like this?" Li Huowang suddenly asked.
"What are you talking about! Can't you see we're nuns? We believe in Buddhism, and we can't eat meat. You're a Taoist and don't even understand this?" Miao Yu's tone carried a strong sense of disdain, but then she became dejected again as she changed topics. "Ah, actually we didn't want to feed the pigs or raise them either. However, nobody came to burn incense or give offerings, so we had to find some way to make money. After all, people can't survive on thin air."
"Indeed, indeed." Li Huowang nodded in agreement and continued to follow behind her.
After going in circles for a while, Miao Yu brought Li Huowang to a house and stopped before it.
"The Abbess is inside. I'm not going in. Truthfully, I'm a little afraid of her. Oh, right, her monastic name is Jingxin," said Miao Yu. Then, without waiting for Li Huowang's response, she left.
Li Huowang looked at her retreating figure, then chuckled softly and headed in.
It was very dark within the house. There were also sounds of food being swallowed, and an even stronger stench. These peculiarities made Li Huowang subconsciously grab onto the bamboo slip inside his clothes.
Just as Li Huowang placed his right foot down to step toward the darkness, he felt like he had stepped onto something shriveled up, and quickly withdrew his foot.
"You may light a lamp, please. I'm blind, so I usually don't need any light." A frail and aged voice sounded from within the darkness.
"Yes, Abbess." Li Huowang took out a glowing stone and threw it toward the direction he had just stepped in, instantly causing him to be startled by the strange thing he saw.
It was an extremely old and fat woman wearing a nun's cap. Her eye sockets were hollow, her eyes replaced by two black voids. The skin on her face hung loosely, dragged by the fat around her neck, as though it was about to be peeled off at any moment.
Seeing such a sight in the dim room was undoubtedly terrifying.
However, what was more important was her body, rather than her face.
Her fat body almost filled the entire room. Her filthy skin was covered in bloody acne, and there even seemed to be something moving within the acne!
And at this moment, this woman was hugging a large basin, reaching in with both hands to devour the greasy food.
"Keke, this is uncommon. It's rare for a Strayed One to come looking for me." The terrifying, old nun spoke with her toothless mouth before continuing to eat. Though her appearance was extraordinarily scary, her voice was unexpectedly gentle. If there was no light, one would likely mistake her for just an ordinary elderly person.
However, Li Huowang did not have time to think about that. Once he heard this person mention 'Strayed One', he instantly went on high alert and prepared to withdraw.
"What are you afraid of? One look and I know that you're a young child who doesn't know anything. When would our Benevolent Nunnery need others as ingredients? We're too lazy to bother with that sort of thing. In fact, my own son is also a Strayed One," said the Abbess.
"Oh?" Li Huowang perked up. "Then Abbess Jingxin, where is your son now?" This was the first time Li Huowang had heard about other Strayed Ones.
"He went mad. Strayed Ones typically have tragic fates. Going mad is considered a relatively better outcome for them," explained the Abbess.
Then, Abbess Jingxin started to talk about her son's story, her voice growing a little depressed.
Chapter 83 - Strayed One
Going mad is considered a relatively better outcome for a Strayed One? Is that going to be my future ending as well?
Li Huowang had always thought that others calling him a Strayed One was because he had some rare gift, something akin to the unique talents he had read about in cultivation novels. However, the Abbess was telling him it wasn't anything good. The name 'Strayed One' itself seemed to carry other problems.
Li Huowang took a moment to calm himself, then took a deep breath and said, "Abbess Jingxin, I have previously eaten Black Taisui to cure my hysteria, and it was rather effective. Have you used it for your son before?"
Li Huowang was hoping to hear that she hadn't used it before, but was immediately disappointed.
"Yes, of course. But Black Taisui cannot be eaten just willy-nilly. Something like that can be eaten quite easily, but it is very difficult to get it out of your body. It will stay in the stomach for a long time, sucking your blood and consuming your flesh. It's manageable if consumed in small amounts. However, if too much is eaten, it will occupy your entire stomach and burrow out from within your body," Abbess Jingxin graphically described the situation, almost as though she had witnessed it firsthand.
Hearing this, Li Huowang touched his stomach, his expression growing even more ugly. There was a mass of tentacle-covered Black Taisui currently nested within his stomach. At the same time, he reaffirmed his understanding of Dan Yangzi—he was always up to no good. Even the medicine given by him was full of such serious side-effects.
But these small matters had to be set aside for now; he had more pressing matters to ask about.
"Abbess Jingxin, could you tell me exactly what being a Strayed One entails? And why is it that the Strayed Ones end up descending into madness?" asked Li Huowang.
Li Huowang's anxiety drove him into asking this question. He really needed an answer to this, since it concerned his future life and death.
Abbess Jingxin had been scarfing down her food when she heard his voice, and then looked up toward Li Huowang with her hollow eyes.
"What is a Strayed One? You are a Strayed One and you are asking me? Can't you tell what is different about you compared to others? Then let me ask you, where are you from?" asked Abbess Jingxin.
Li Huowang almost blurted out an answer, but stopped himself warily. The matter of him transmigrating here from the modern era was an extremely confidential affair. He could not just tell about it to this strange old nun without any preparation, especially when he considered that he had just met her. Who knew what thoughts this fat old nun would have after learning this secret.
"Hehe, let me guess, you must think that you're someone not from here? Someone from a different realm, a world completely different from this one?" asked Abbess Jingxin.
Jingxin's words shattered Li Huowang's psychological defense. "You actually know?!"
Unperturbed, Jingxin bent down to eat the sticky, yellow substance in her bowl. "No need to panic. A child really has no composure. Are you questioning how I know about this matter? Didn't I tell you before? My son is also a Strayed One. He too used to think like that in the beginning."
This made Li Huowang lean forward subconsciously, his voice trembling as he asked, "Your son is also from the modern world? Did he transmigrate here as well?"
Currently, his heart was beating extremely fast. The discovery that there were others like him in this bizarre world filled him with excitement. No matter who they were, male or female, as long as they came from the same world, he was not alone. He would finally be able to share the burden that was weighing down on him heavily with someone else.
More importantly, he couldn't recall how he came to this world. Perhaps they would remember, and perhaps he could return to his original world through them!
Abbess Jingxin didn't answer him immediately, and wiped off the yellow liquid from the corner of her lips. Then, she smiled and "looked" at the youth before her. "No, he didn't. He came from my tummy. That much is certain. Also, young man, dreams may be reality, and reality may be dreams. Don't think that things are all definite, including any matters in your own head."
"What do you mean?" Li Huowang found that he could not understand what she was trying to convey.
"Why are you so certain that you must be from the other world? Why do you not think that you could be someone from this land? Who knows if those fantasy realms are fake, and all imagined by yourself?" asked Abbess Jingxin.
"Impossible! Definitely impossible! I know that some of the situations that happened in Zephyr Temple were hallucinations, but I definitely lived before in the modern world! I transmigrated from there! I am a transmigrator! I'm not some lunatic who concocted an entirely different world in my head!" Li Huowang's eyes were bloodshot as he retorted loudly. His hands were trembling as he clenched them into fists. It was as though a sensitive nerve had been struck.
Jingxin did not dispute anything, and only slanted her face slightly, as though thinking of something. "Hehe, my son had said these words to me before. Like you, he could remain clear-headed at times. However, at other times, he would be confused and spout nonsense. But as his mother, I'm certain about one thing—ever since he came out of my tummy, he never left my side. He didn't go to any other world. That was all made up by his imagination."
Li Huowang became petrified when he heard those words, his breathing becoming erratic. Everything from his past started to rapidly flash through his mind.
Yang Na, my mother, the hospital, my school. Are all these non-existent? Is it possible that that world never even existed? Does a modern world even exist?
In that instant, Li Huowang felt that everything around him was unreal and illusory.
What is real? What is fake?!
Did I not transmigrate here? Was I originally someone from here, and there never was any modern world in the first place? Everything I believed to be true was just something made up by my imagination? No, this is not right. There must be some mistake somewhere!
Li Huowang gradually began to lose control of his emotions. His breathing quickened, and his expression grew more and more menacing.
At this moment, his sense of self was crumbling, and he needed to find an outlet for the massive amount of stress built up within himself.
Suddenly, his gaze hardened, and he glared fiercely at Abbess Jingxin.
However, before he could even say anything, the plump woman pointed her greasy finger at him and mimicked his voice, "No! You're trying to deceive me~! You have sinister motives toward me!! Everything you're saying is fake! You want to harm me, don't you?! It's not going to be that easy!!"
After speaking these words, she looked at Li Huowang, who was frozen in place. A gentle smile was once again plastered on her plump and swollen face. "Hehe, you were just about to say these things to me, right? In fact, my own son said the same things to me before. Ah, thinking back, it feels like it was just yesterday. I really do miss those times."
Chapter 84 - Sense of Doubt and Confusion
Jingxin was different from anyone he had encountered up until now—she looked very terrifying, but she was very amiable.
But Li Huowang would rather this huge, fat woman just rip off her facade like the others and attack him instead of chuckling as she looked at him, almost as if she knew that everything she said was true. At least, that would make him feel better.
Is all that really true?
Li Huowang started to panic, his thoughts becoming more muddled, and his expression growing more agonized. The air around him seemed to be pressing in on him, almost as though it was heavy, making breathing rather unbearable.
Various images flashed through Li Huowang's mind constantly. When he remembered Yang Na passing him those examination papers, he seemed to have come to a realization.
"No! That's not right! A person may be able to imagine an entire world, but they definitely cannot just imagine knowledge!" muttered Li Huowang.
At that moment, all the knowledge that he had learned in high school quickly flashed through his mind.
A look of pity appeared on Abbess Jingxin's face as she 'looked' at the youth muttering to himself while clutching his head. "Poor thing."
However, regardless of what she thought, Li Huowang quickly came to his senses. He seemed tired, but his eyes were once again filled with determination.
I am Li Huowang! I transmigrated here, and there's no doubt about that! I am not some lunatic from this world, I am a transmigrator! Definitely!
"Looks like you've thought it through? So do you believe what I said or not?" asked Jingxin.
"Abbess Jingxin, let's not talk about your son anymore. Let's get to the point; tell me what a Strayed One is," asked Li Huowang, trying to regain control of the topic.
A fat finger with a cracked nail trembled as it pointed at Li Huowang's chest. "You are a Strayed One. The sense of doubt, confusion and the karmic obstacles in your heart, as well as the karma on your body. Based on the scent of those things that are behind you, you must have killed quite a few people before this, right? So you can't be considered a complete outsider either, and you should know some of the matters about the formless arts of cultivation. Aside from foreign objects, the most important thing in any cultivation sect is your state of mind. The sense of doubt, confusion and the karmic obstacles that Strayed Ones have are much purer and more stable than those of the ordinary folks. In order to stabilize their own state of mind, some sects require a Strayed One's sense of doubt and confusion. And, even if they don't need it for themselves, they can sell a Strayed One to those who do need it, and make a big profit."
State of mind? Emotions?
Li Huowang immediately thought of the intense amounts of pain and suffering needed to use the red bamboo slip, as well as the monks from the Righteous Monastery who had an obsession with beasts, flesh-and-blood creatures, as well as illicit affairs between the same sex.
From the looks of it, they all followed some sort of rules in everything they did. This was the first time that Li Huowang was getting a preliminary understanding of the supernatural powers of this world.
"Some people might capture you for other purposes as well, but the biggest reason will always be the sense of doubt and confusion that you possess. The only ones who always have this sense of doubt and confusion in their hearts are the Strayed Ones—normal people do not have that sense of doubt and confusion," explained Jingxin.
Through this conversation, Li Huowang came to understand that in this world, human emotions were not intangible. Here, they were objects that could be made tangible and could affect reality.
Human emotions could even be used as a form of currency.
Li Huowang decisively said, "The sense of doubt and confusion, as well as the emotions in my heart can actually be used to help others cultivate? But, at this point I'm no longer confused now—I am sure that that side is a hallucination, and that this is reality. Even if I sink into a hallucination once again, I definitely wouldn't mistake that side for reality."
Hearing this, Jingxin looked at Li Huowang, and smiled faintly. "Really? Alright, I will believe it if you say so; I can't be bothered to argue about it with you. You can take your leave."
Leave?
Li Huowang immediately realized that he had not yet completed his main objective for visiting here. He hadn't come here this time to understand what a Strayed One was.
"Abbess Jingxin, I came here this time to ask for your help in exorcizing an evil spirit," said Li Huowang.
Based on the current situation, Dan Yangzi was a far more dangerous problem, and the reason for his visit this time around had been to get rid of him.
The first thing he had to do was to survive; he could worry about whether or not he would turn mad after that. After all, if his body ended up getting occupied by Dan Yangzi, then there would be no need for him to consider what happens after that.
"Ah? So you're not here to ask about the way to resolve your situation as a Strayed One? Then why were you babbling about useless things earlier? Don't you know how to get straight to the point?" Abbess Jingxin was a little displeased.
After apologizing, Li Huowang explained the situation to Jingxin.
"Became Immortal? There are actually still people trying to become Immortal these days?" remarked Jingxin.
Jingxin mumbled to herself, then retrieved two cow-horn shaped hexagrams from under her nun cap and began divining out loud.
After a long time of divining, she started to carefully study Li Huowang's face with her 'eyes'.
Just as Li Huowang was starting to feel uncomfortable, Jingxin suddenly spoke, "On the day he attained Immortality, did you eat your Master?"
"Huh?" Li Huowang was puzzled. "How could I eat him? If I had a way to get rid of Dan Yangzi, then I wouldn't have made a plan that would end with me dying with him."
"Hmm..." Jingxin did not rebut and only nodded silently.
Then, with a flick of her right hand, Li Huowang suddenly felt something extremely greasy all over his body, making him feel very uncomfortable. At the same time, he felt as though something was moving beneath his skin.
"Don't rub it; endure that feeling," said Jingxin.
Finally, after maintaining that posture for two incense sticks worth of time, Jingxin spoke, "I do have a way to deal with your Master, but it would require using quite a few Buddhist artifacts and merits. So, why should I help you?"
Li Huowang was stunned but quickly regained his composure. This was simply about giving some benefits. Since she was being so straightforward about her conditions, he felt that she was way more reliable than the Righteous Monastery.
He took out the sacred text, the gourd storing the lifespan pills, and the red bamboo slip before placing them on the ground. "As long as you are able to get rid of Dan Yangzi, you can choose any of these items."
However, he hadn't expected that even after taking out all these items, he would be met with utter contempt from Jingxin.
"What kind of trash is all this? Take them all away! Especially the Profound Records. Bring that thing as far away as you can; don't taint the the Benevolent Nunnery's locale!" shouted Jingxin.
She seemed extremely repulsed by the red bamboo slip. It was also at this moment that Li Huowang learnt of its name.
At that moment, there was a look of greed on her old face, "I can smell gold on you."
Li Huowang immediately understood. "No problem, I will offer gold pieces to the Benevolent Nunnery's Bodhisattva later."
As soon as money was mentioned, Jingxin's attitude seemed to change completely. It was no longer as kindly as before; she seemed a lot more calculative now.
"Right, silver as well. I smell silver on you too. I want that as well. Besides that, I need you to help me find some items," said Jingxin.