In the desolate Cold Palace, Li Huowang looked at the monk's illusion with some dissatisfaction.
Li Huowang wasn't a heartless person. However, he really had no time to deal with a pregnant old eunuch of unknown origin.
After all, this was the Great Qi and not the Great Liang. Nobody knew if this guy was setting a trap.
His priority was to return and inform the Surveillance Bureau about Prince Ren's collusion with the Dharma Sect.
"Let's go!" Li Huowang said and turned to leave. He had only taken a few steps when a horrifying scream echoed from behind him.
He saw the eunuch grip a dagger with one hand before thrusting it into his swollen belly. A mixture of amniotic fluid and blood sprayed out from the wound. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶
It seemed that he intended to deliver the baby himself since Li Huowang wasn't going to help him.
The monk's illusion couldn't sit still anymore at the gruesome scene. He scratched his head as he blocked Li Huowang again and said, "Daoist, please save him. Saving a life is more important than building many houses. Even if we don't save him, the baby in his belly isn't guilty of any crimes, don't you think so?
"One is reborn as a human as a result of accumulated blessings throughout lifetimes. This is a precious life."
Li Huowang sighed lightly and pressed his temple with one hand. "Fine! You have a kind heart; you are a living Bodhisattva. If you want to save him, do it yourself."
The monk's illusion didn't immediately grasp what was happening, but he soon noticed the changes in his body.
"I'm alive? I'm alive?!" the monk exclaimed with joy. He patted his bald head and bounced around like a child.
"Aren't you going to save him? I can't hold on much longer."
"Oh, right, right!" The monk regained his composure and hurried over to the eunuch.
However, the monk seemed at a loss when faced with the bloody scene. He obviously had no idea how to deliver babies.
The eunuch, who seemed on the verge of death, didn't care where this unexpected helper had come from. He propped himself up as sweat poured down his face.
He opened his cracked lips, and his lips trembled as he pleaded, "Master! Forget about me! Save the child! I can die, but I will not let my ancestors down as long as the Wang family will have a descendant!"
"Okay, okay!" The monk nodded repeatedly and knelt down. He grasped the dagger sticking out of the eunuch's belly and pulled downward.
"AAAAHHHH!" The eunuch screamed in agony as blood and amniotic fluid sprayed out of the wound and drenched the monk.
"Thank you... Master... May you... may you achieve enlightenment soon..." the eunuch trailed off, and his head tilted lifelessly to the side. His face lost all signs of vitality, but a satisfied smile was tugging at his sweaty lips.
The monk was covered in filth, and he was still rummaging through the eunuch's stomach.
Li Huowang couldn't take it anymore and walked over.
The monk felt as though there was a treasure trove filled with blood-red objects before him, and his hands were moving incessantly within the treasure trove.
Suddenly, he felt he had grabbed the ankle of the child. With a delighted expression, he pulled hard, but he ended up yanking out the eunuch's intestines.
Li Huowang jumped into the fray, and his keen senses allowed him to detect the only thing moving in the treasure trove.
He yanked out the object as if pulling out a radish from the soil.
The monk's eyes widened in shock when he what Li Huowang had yanked out.
He took several steps backward and muttered, "What is that thing?"
Li Huowang was holding a baby in his hand—no, it seemed like a baby, but it had the body of a cow or a sheep, and it was covered in short, damp fur. Its limbs had hooves at the end instead of five fingers.
The monk wouldn't have been so frightened if it were just a calf born from the eunuch. What was most terrifying was that its head had a human face.
The eunuch didn't give birth to a male infant who could carry on his lineage. Instead, he gave birth to a strange creature with a human face and the body of a cow!
"What a mess!" Li Huowang exclaimed in disgust. He tossed the creature against the wall forcefully.
Bang! The human-faced sheep hit the wall and fell to the ground. It surprisingly didn't die. Instead, it stood up with its hooves and spat out amniotic fluid in big mouthfuls.
Li Huowang finally saw the appearance of this human-faced cow. It had the exact same face as the eunuch who gave birth to it. It had the same bald head and the same wrinkled face as the eunuch, but it seemed to embody the ugliness of the world. Li Huowang furrowed his brows and gripped the hilt of his sword, ready to eliminate this evil being. The human-faced cow opened its deformed mouth and cackled. Although its face was that of an old man, it had a baby's voice, which created an eerie combination.
"Hahaha! The moon will rise, the sun will dip, and the well water will overflow through the golden gate. The morning seeks to rise; the evening seeks to unite. It's difficult for the panchi[1] to survive against the serpent. Kill the cows and sheep, and drink wine. Everyone, big or small, will be happy! Eat his mother! Everyone, have a good time! Hahaha!" After singing the nonsensical phrase, the human-faced cow went limp and collapsed to the ground. Its eyes rolled up, and it died just like that.
Li Huowang couldn't understand what he had just witnessed. Why was everything in Great Qi so bizarre? What nonsense was it singing just now? Was it cursing me?
Li Huowang sheathed his sword with a frown, and then he looked at the monk, who had returned to being an illusion, "What did I tell you? You didn't listen and had to try it out. How was the good deed?"
Li Huowang didn't wait for the ashamed monk to reply. He prepared to leave this Cold Palace of Great Qi with Li Sui.
"Brother Li!" Zhuge Yuan's words made Li Huowang stop. He turned toward Zhuge Yuan and was shocked to see that Zhuge Yuan's expression was tense with a hint of regret.
"Brother Zhuge, what's going on?" Li Huowang asked. He sensed something off with Zhuge Yuan's emotions.
"I need you to do me a favor. Help me pass on a message to some friends in Great Qi!"
"Of course. But... Brother Zhuge, can you tell me what exactly is going on?"
Li Huowang didn't think for a moment that Zhuge Yuan's current demeanor was all because he was so touched that he managed to return to Great Qi and that he couldn't wait to reminisce with some of his old friends.
Zhuge Yuan wasn't that kind of person.
Moreover, he had never seen Zhuge Yuan lose his composure. Zhuge Yuan had remained calm even in the face of Doulao and his own despairing death.
Chapter 531 - Zhuge Yuan
Li Huowang knew that the issue had to be serious, as Zhuge Yuan looked so distressed.
What could be even worse than Doulao descending upon the mortal realm?
"Senior Zhuge, don't panic," said Li Huowang in an effort to console Zhuge Yuan, "Tell me what's going on. I can't help you if you don't explain it to me."
Zhuge Yuan closed his reddened eyes. He took a deep breath before pointing his fan at the deceased human-cow hybrid on the ground. "Junior Li, do you know what that is?"
"Er ... Isn't that the son that the Righteous Monastery had implanted into that eunuch to give birth to? Wait, I actually don't know if they can indeed grant children to the eunuchs. Maybe they just deceived the eunuchs?"
The fake Hong Zhong's illusion interjected. "Yeah, how could they be so unscrupulous?"
"Wrong! You're very wrong. Did you not hear what it sang? That was an omen! The Great Qi's dragon vein is about to be severed!"
Zhuge Yuan's words frightened Li Huowang. He didn't know what the human-cow hybrid was, but he knew that the severing of a dragon vein was bad news.
"Junior Li, we don't have time now! We need to leave now! We can't use your techniques here yet!"
Li Huowang ran out of the abandoned palace without any hesitation.
"Dragon Vein?" Li Huowang recalled the tied-up bodies of the past emperors in the imperial palace of the Liang Kingdom last time.
Zhuge Yuan caught up to Li Huowang and explained, "There would be an omen before every great disaster—a half-human and half-beast hybrid would be born, and they would tell an omen before passing away. Omens are mostly bad, and they almost always happen immediately!"
"That means ... Did that thing say that the Great Qi's Dragon Vein would be severed? Senior Zhuge, what would happen if the Dragon Vein was severed?" Li Huowang stomped the ground and leaped up the palace wall with ease with the help of Li Sui's tentacles.
"There should only be the Great Qi in the first place. The Great Liang never existed! Do you know why? It's because a thousand years ago, the Dragon Vein of the Qi Kingdom was severed once! If it's severed once again, the entire Qi Kingdom might cease to exist!"
Li Huowang felt his blood run cold. The Dragon Vein was the anchor of a timeline!
Now he knew why the Liang Kingdom needed to have an emperor at all times and why the authority of the imperial family had lasted so long amidst such a crazy world.
But did the Liang Kingdom really come into existence because the Dragon Vein was severed once? Or was Zhuge Yuan mistaken?"
Li Huowang's mind was in disarray as if he had learned something important but only the superficial details. He felt like the details were being obfuscated by something.
"Junior Li, stop here! This is good enough!"
Li Huowang noticed that he had arrived in the capital city of the Qi Kingdom, You Capital. It was night, so the streets were silent—too silent.
Li Huowang felt like something had changed here, but he didn't know what had changed.
"Senior Zhuge, what should I do next?"
"Materialize me! I need to have a physical body!"
Li Huowang didn't hesitate and did it. He pressed his temples, and Zhuge Yuan's figure flickered.
Veins bulge on his forehead and his eyes started popping outwards slightly. He was using a lot of force.
Something's wrong! It wasn't this hard to materialize the old monk and Peng Longteng! Li Huowang kneeled on the ground as blood dripped out of his nose.
"Junior Li, please hang on! The lives of everyone are at stake here!" Zhuge Yuan clenched his fist and urged Li Huowang to continue.
"Don't worry! I can handle it!" Li Huowang's brain bulged, and his head expanded by a huge margin. Zhuge Yuan's fleshly body materialized slowly.
Zhuge Yuan did not waste any time when he saw Li Huowang's swaying figure. He immediately took the spine sword off Li Huowang's back.
He tore off the talisman on the hilt, and the sword came back to life.
The two Zhuge Yuans looked at each other before he spoke to the sword, "There's an omen! The Dragon Vein is about to be severed!"
"What?! Is that true?!"
However, Zhuge Yuan's spine sword did not hesitate. He raised his skeletal hand and drew a line on its own bloody body. Blood flowed down his organs and talismans to reach the tip of the sword.
The blood that had dripped from the sword was somehow alive, and it burrowed into the ground.
Zhuge Yuan wielded the spine sword and started writing, but no words appeared on the ground as all of the blood had been absorbed by the ground.
"Faster! My dad can't keep it up any longer!" Li Sui shouted at Zhuge Yuan while supporting Li Huowang with her tentacles.
"Junior Li! Hang on! I'm almost done!" Zhuge Yuan leaped into the air and pointed the spine sword at the ground. His white robes billowed out in the wind as his figure gradually became transparent. The next moment, he let go of the sword and kicked it toward the ground. The spine sword slipped past Li Sui's tentacles and returned to Li Huowang's back.
Taking advantage of the momentum, Zhuge Yuan flew and landed on a roof on the left side. He waved his right arm, and the roof tiles flew upwards, revealing the writing implements in the room.
He waved his hand, and a brush flew into his hand. Then, he summoned a piece of paper and drew something on it. He drew an incomplete circle with a single opening before writing something inside the circle.
When his hands faded into nothingness, the paper filled with words burned up, and when the tiles neatly landed on the roof, Zhuge Yuan finally disappeared.
Zhuge Yuan sighed in relief when he saw the paper burning up and scattering into the air as ashes. "I hope that it works. May the Three Ancient Ones protect the Dragon Vein."
Zhuge Yuan floated toward Li Huowang.
"Junior Li, thank—" Zhuge Yuan stopped mid-sentence.
Li Huowang was bleeding from all of his orifices and was unconscious in his daughter's tentacles.
Chapter 532 - Back
Li Huowang was having a splitting headache. "Materializing a Twisted One is still too much for me. If I want to materialize Zhuge Yuan to lend me a hand, I need to master the 'Truth' first."
Knowing that they were at a critical juncture, Li Huowang sat up abruptly. He shook his head and opened his eyes. "Sorry, Senior Zhuge, I fainted. I didn't see—"
Li Huowang stopped mid-sentence upon seeing doctors wearing white lab coats around him. He then looked around and saw that he was strapped to some sort of medical device. Moments later, Li Huowang finally realized that he had returned to the other side. "I'm back?"
"Li Huowang? Li Huowang? How many fingers am I holding up?" Three fingers were put up before him.
"Three?"
"Good! It seems that increasing the voltage has truly managed to bring you back here."
Under the instructions of the doctor, the nurses approached Li Huowang and undid his restraints. They also peeled off the two electrodes on his temples and his scalp.
"Eat this first."
Li Huowang's pupils shrank at the pills and the cup of water before him. He slapped the pills away and asked, "Who's been feeding me these pills? I don't want any of these! Li Sui picked up the spine sword and sent me back to the Liang Kingdom! Do not trust the person that's near me!"
Li Huowang was clad in his blue and white striped patient robes, and he looked quite emaciated.
A doctor wearing frameless glasses told the nurses to back down before carefully approaching Li Huowang. "Li Huowang, don't be afraid. Have you forgotten me? It's me, your doctor Yi Donglai."
"Yi Donglai?" Li Huowang stared at the familiar face in front of him. He remembered a lot of things. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢
"I don't care who you are. I won't eat anything right now! You can feed whatever medicine you want once I get back to the other side!" Li Huowang shouted so loudly that even the people outside the corridor could hear him. Some of them peeked through the door.
"Alright, don't panic. Relax. I'm not feeding you any medicine and mean no harm to you." Yi Donglai took a step back and displayed his palms.
Li Huowang sighed when Yi Donglai backed off. No matter who it was in the Qi Kingdom, at least that person meant no harm.
Seeing that his patient had calmed down, Yi Donglai brought out a stool and placed it beside Li Huowang. "Come here and sit down. Don't do any sudden movements. Your muscles are too weak to support you right now."
Glancing at Yi Donglai and the stool, Li Huowang reached for where his purple-tasseled sword was supposed to be and slashed at the stool before taking it to sit down.
Yi Donglai nodded and looked at the camera at the top-left corner of the room. "Please give me a copy of the footage later."
With that, Yi Donglai looked at Li Huowang and said, "Based on what you've been talking about recently, I feel like you are encountering issues on the other side. Is something wrong there?"
Li Huowang kept quiet when he was being questioned by Yi Donglai. He knew that the doctor would not be able to help him deal with Shai Zi.
Yi Donglai pushed his glasses, "Li Huowang, is Shai Zi aiming for the Dragon Vein of the Liang Kingdom?"
"HM?!" Li Huowang looked up in shock. How did the doctor know what was happening on the other side?
He immediately realized the gravity of the situation. The Dragon Vein could affect the history of a timeline, and Shai Zi wanted Ji Lin to succeed to the throne. Is Shai Zi aiming for the Dragon Vein?
Even though he didn't know what Shai Zi's true goal was, his fake memories as a Sitting Oblivion Dao were telling him that deceiving an entire history of a timeline was very alluring.
If Zhuge Yuan was right, it meant that the Liang Kingdom only appeared because the Qi Kingdom's Dragon Vein was severed.
Even Li Huowang had no idea what would happen if Shai Zi ended up achieving his goal.
Seeing that Li Huowang was deep in his thoughts, Yi Donglai gestured for everyone to leave the room and closed the doors. The room was quiet now that only he and Li Huowang were left inside.
Yi Donglai grabbed a stool and sat in front of Li Huowang, "Coming from my viewpoint as a doctor, I think it's best that you don't help the prince to become the emperor. In addition to the fact that it's not really a profitable trade for you, you also have to risk your life by killing the other prices. However, the Shai Zi capturing your Miaomiao is indeed a huge problem. Why don't we think of a solution together?"
"Wait a minute!" Li Huowang clutched his head in pain and stopped the doctor.
It took him a few moments to catch his breath and calm himself down before he looked at Yi Donglai, "Don't discuss this with me. You have nothing to do with it!"
"What? Is it that uncomfortable to have reality and the hallucination mix with each other? It's fine; we can talk about something else. How about a trade?"
"A trade?" Li Huowang was curious as to what Yi Donglai was proposing.
"Yes. A trade. Do you understand the situation you are in right now? You are just like a living Bodhisattva. We can't throw you, nor can we lose you. The leaders of White Tower Hospital are having a headache dealing with you. Whenever they're having a headache, they'd always pressure us, the doctors. How about this? Can you work with me and become sane during the visits of the leaders? That way, I'll be able to prove that my treatment method is working."
Yi Donglai stood up and helped Li Huowang stand up before moving to the window. They stared at the scenery outside.
"As your reward, I can do almost anything for you as long as it's within my authority. This is a win-win deal for both of us."
Yi Donglai produced an unfamiliar smartphone and gave it to Li Huowang.
Li Huowang touched the screen, and an anime wallpaper popped up. Li Huowang realized that it was his smartphone.
"I've updated the games. Why don't you play them?"
Li Huowang tapped into QQ and WeChat. He saw the red message bubbles with the letter +99 on them. He tapped further and stared at the messages.
"I can give you your phone, and I can even grant you a certain degree of freedom. You just have to work with me. You can go to the canteen, play video games on the computer, and even watch movies."
Li Huowang felt a shiver down his spine at the remark, and he exclaimed, "Stop fooling me! The other doctors tried to do the same thing as you did! You want me to interact with this world more frequently so that you can condition me to think that this place is reality while the other side is fake!"
Chapter 533 - Doctor
Yi Donglai looked at him in exasperation and said, "Li Huowang, I'm trying to help you here by following your logic. I thought you managed to cultivate the 'Truth' and turned this place into reality. Why are you still afraid if this side is real?"
"I'm not afraid!" Li Huowang exclaimed. He then realized that he was shouting, and he calmed down by taking deep breaths. After calming down, he slowly persuaded the doctor. "I'm not afraid; it's just that there are still many things I need to do on the other side. I have to focus on that side first. Once I've cultivated it to a high enough level, I will be able to resolve everything quite easily!"
"But what if Shai Zi is telling the truth? What if you are doomed when you cultivate on the 'Truth' and not the 'Lies'?" Yi Donglai sighed and gestured helplessly.
"I will say it again! Stop talking about those things to me! You have no idea what I went through, and you don't have the right to talk about it!"
"Why can't I? Do you really think that whatever is happening in that world is still a secret here? Are you surprised to find out that everyone here knows what's happening there? Are you worried about the possibility that this side and that side may not be too far away from each other and on the verge of overlapping? Or perhaps you're afraid of me inadvertently revealing your true thoughts by speaking with you? Li Huowang, ask yourself this question: Is that crazy world in your heart real or not?"
Bam!
Li Huowang hurled the smartphone to the ground, shattering it. Li Huowang grabbed one of the sharp fragments and pounced on Yi Donglai. Before the doctor realized what was going on, the sharp fragment was already pressing against his jugular vein.
"I said, shut up! My muscles have atrophied, but I can still kill you quite easily!"
Li Huowang backed off only after seeing Yi Donglai trembling in fear.
"I will decide what is real and what is fake! I will do my best to solve the issue on the other side in two years, so stop looking for me! Once everything has died down, my illness will resolve itself!" Li Huowang threw the metal piece as he staggered backward.
Yi Donglai did not give up. "Li Huowang, you have to understand that your mental illness will make you think both worlds are real! No matter what you choose, you will have to treat yourself!"
"I'm not sick!"
Bam!
The door was kicked open; several nurses holding a bunch of tools charged in to suppress Li Huowang.
Yi Donglai rubbed his neck and looked at Li Huowang with a complicated expression. "If you think both worlds are real, why are you afraid that they'd overlap with each other? What are you so afraid of?"
Li Huowang sitting on the stool was surrounded by the nurses. The nurses glared at him, ready to act the moment he made a move.
They surrounded him until the straitjacket arrived. They restrained Li Huowang once more despite his emaciated look.
They carried him out of the room like a pig on a stick.
"Who caught me on the other side? Looks like the Qi Kingdom's people have no plans on killing me. Li Sui, is everything alright?" Li Huowang mumbled.
"Li Huowang! Li Huowang! I finally found you! I knew you're here!" Li Huowang heard someone calling his name. He looked toward the ward on the left and saw a disheveled man jumping up and down in joy.
"Who is that? Do you know him? Why does he know you?" Yi Donglai was curious.
Li Huowang stared at the man and identified him. "That's Wang Wei... I think he used to be my doctor before. He did the same thing as you did. But why did he go crazy, too?"
"What? What did you say?!" Yi Donglai was shocked. This was news to him.
"Li Huowang! Come here! I need to talk to you!" Wang Wei shouted at Li Huowang, jumping up and down.
Li Huowang closed his eyes and breathed deeply. When he opened his eyes once more, he found himself staring at the dusty rafters in the ceiling. The sight told him that he was back.
I should stay on this side before I'm done cultivating the "Truth." I'm not in danger on the other side, so it should be fine if I stay here for a while.
"Ah!" The pain in his abdomen made him look down, and he saw Li Sui pulling his stomach open while stuffing dumplings into it.
Li Huowang wasn't sure how long he had passed out, but based on his bloated stomach, he seemed to have been asleep for a while. He looked around the dingy room and asked Li Sui, "Suisui, where are we? Are we in the Great Liang or in the Great Qi?"
"Dad, you're awake! What's the Great Liang and the Great Qi?"
Li Huowang went silent and looked at Zhuge Yuan instead. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦
"Junior Li, you're in the Great Qi," Zhuge Yuan said.
Li Huowang nodded and struggled to get up. He felt dizzy, and he almost fell backward. Thankfully, Li Sui was there to catch him.
I've rested for so long, but my injuries are still so serious. Looks like it will be a long time before I can materialize Zhuge Yuan again.
Li Huowang shook his head and felt somewhat better. "Senior Zhuge, who approached and fed me just now?"
"Dad, it's me. I tried feeding you some buns, but you slapped it away. That's why I'm stuffing it into your stomach."
Hearing her dejected voice, Li Huowang felt his heart go soft, and he hugged her. "Sorry for scaring you. I didn't do it on purpose. It's just that I don't have any awareness of what's going on here while I'm on the other side. I can't tell who is good or evil."
Li Sui wrapped her tentacles around Li Huowang.
After consoling Li Sui, Li Huowang looked at Zhuge Yuan again. "Senior Zhuge, are you done with everything? Do I need to do it again?"
However, Zhuge Yuan would never let Li Huowang manifest him again after seeing how bad the side effects were.
"No need. Everything is up to the heavens now. I'm already dead, and I've done my best as well. The rest is up to the people of the Great Qi."
"Then let's go back to the Liang Kingdom." Li Huowang unsheathed the spine sword. He was about to swing it when he recalled what Yi Donglai had told him. "Wait, will the Liang Kingdom get affected if the Dragon Vein of the Qi Kingdom gets severed?"
"No. In fact, it's a great thing for the Liang Kingdom."
Li Huowang sighed and opened his mouth for Li Sui. "Come in here."
Chapter 534 - Shangji Guankou
"I'm awake?" Li Huowang woke up in the darkness and looked around.
He found himself lying in the courtyard of the house he owned in Shangjing. He sighed in relief because he didn't find himself in a hospital bed.
He struggled to get up and shook his heavy head. His vision was still blurry.
That day, he returned from the Qi Kingdom back to the Liang Kingdom and found himself in a hot kitchen. He immediately ran to the Surveillance Bureau and reported how Prince Ren was colluding with the Dharma Sect.
The Surveillance Bureau's reaction was according to his expectations. He learned from Nangong that the mission related to Prince Ren had been accepted by someone else.
Clearly, his mission from Ji Lin was as good as done. All he needed to do was to wait.
Li Huowang took advantage of the downtime to rest and recover. He had injured himself badly, and the splitting headache was still refusing to go away.
It seemed that forcefully materializing Zhuge Yuan had affected him both physically and spiritually.
To make matters worse, he had also lost control over his primordial breath, causing him to wake up in the White Tower Hospital. He hated it—he hated not having control over himself.
Li Huowang washed up and munched on the overcooked buns.
Li Sui had made the bun. Even though she couldn't make fluffy buns without yeast, it was still considerably better than the burnt ones she had made last time.
Li Huowang enjoyed his breakfast while listening to Li Sui practicing with the talisman and chanting on the lower floor.
After his breakfast, Li Huowang looked at Zhuge Yuan and asked, "Senior Zhuge, I have some questions. Would you mind answering it?"
"Please, ask away." Zhuge Yuan's calm demeanor had returned as if he had never panicked in the Qi Kingdom not too long ago.
Li Huowang thought about how to ask the question. "Senior Zhuge, there's a chance that Shai Zi is trying to take advantage of the succession war, despite being hunted down by the Surveillance Bureau. is it because he wants to do something to the Dragon Vein?"
Li Huowang had no choice but to consider this possibility, especially upon recalling the Dragon Vein's value and that doctor's words.
As much as he hated Yi Donglai, he had to admit that the latter's questions were logical. If Yi Donglai's assumption was true, then Li Huowang couldn't help Ji Lin ascent to the throne.
Zhuge Yuan did not answer immediately. He tapped his fan on his palm and fell into deep thoughts before giving an answer, "You are not wrong, but Junior Li, you need to understand that the officials and Surveillance Bureau would definitely think of the possibility if even you can link the clues together. The Dragon Vein is important, and it's not as fragile as you think. It's actually the opposite. The reason the Dragon Vein is in the imperial temple isn't to protect it but to protect the palace. In short, the emperor is the son of the Dragon Vein. Shai Zi cannot defeat the emperor in the palace."
"The Dragon Vein is that strong? Even Shai Zi can't defeat the emperor if the latter is under its influence?" This was news to Li Huowang.
That's true. How could the anchor of the history of a timeline be weak?
"Senior Zhuge, since the Dragon Vein is so strong, how did the one in Great Qi get severed?"
Zhuge Yuan's face fell when he heard that. He shook his head, "I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"I've been dead for quite some time, and while I was alive, the Qi Kingdom was still fine. There was no news about the Dragon Vein being severed. I have no idea what happened there after I died, too. There are too many possibilities."
The room fell silent, and the two of them looked at each other.
Zhuge Yuan broke the silence first. "Junior Li, there's no need to ponder over Shai Zis' thoughts. We should first think about how to counter him. If we want to fight him, we need to do what I told you."
"Now?" Li Huowang could still recall Zhuge Yuan's words. He could find someone in the Great Qi who could track down Shai Zi!
"Now that the omen has been read, who knows what would happen to the Qi Kingdom? If we don't act now, there might not even be a Qi Kingdom next time..." Zhuge Yuan said, "I-If the Qi Kingdom vanishes, then you'd have a hard time tracking down that Shai Zi."
Li Huowang was flustered. He finally managed to come up with a decent plan against defeating Shai Zi, so he couldn't give up now. This was much more important than helping Ji Lin to succeed to the throne. "Senior Zhuge. What should I do?"
"Go to the Great Qi and find Shangji Guankou. They have the method to find Shai Zi."
"Really?" Finding Shai Zi had always been a difficult task, but Zhuge Yuan made it sound easy. Li Huowang was suspicious of the method.
"We are talking about Shai Zi here. Even the entirety of the Surveillance Bureau hadn't been able to Shai Zi. How can Shangji Guankou do that? If it were that easy, why was it that the Surveillance Bureau hadn't looked for Shangji Guankou even once?"
Zhuge Yuan stared deeply at Li Huowang and replied, "Junior Li, that's because only the Great Qi has Shangji Guankou. They do not exist in the Great Liang."
Li Huowang immediately understood. He took his weapons below his pillow and got ready to move out. "I see. Let's go then!"
"Wait, don't do it here. We should leave the city first. If we enter the Qi Kingdom here, we will appear in the You Capital, and we might kill someone accidentally."
"Alright." Li Huowang wore his red Daoist robes and took his two weapons as he went downstairs. "Senior Zhuge, what is Shangji Guankou? Is it a person or a sect?"
"I can't tell you that."
"Why not?" Li Huowang told Li Sui to wear her veil as he asked.
"To some, they are humans. To others, they are evil beings. But there are people who had seen Shangji Guankou as a temple."
"Is it that profound? Doesn't that mean they would request some sort of payment to find Shai Zi?"
"Don't worry. I will deal with that. Even if I'm dead, my reputation in the Great Qi has not. I still have some connections." Zhuge Yuan became confident again.
Li Huowang sat on his horse and urged it to exit the capital as soon as possible.
"But, Junior Li, even though Shangji Guankou can find Shai Zi, they cannot help you fight him. You need to deal with Shai Zi on your own."
"I understand!" Li Huowang swore to kill Shai Zi on his own.
He finally had a chance to defeat Shai Zi, and he had to take advantage of that opportunity no matter what!
Chapter 535 - Natural Disaster
"Beat the drum and the gongs~ Stop the gongs and hear my song~ Hear me sing the eighteen touches~"
Someone's singing came from the left side of an alley. Li Sui heard the voice and looked over, but Li Huowang frowned. He urged the horse to run faster so Li Sui wouldn't learn the inappropriate words.
"Touch the edges of my legs, and the skies are covered in clouds~ Touch the tip of my forehead, and feel how full it is~"
Lu Juren sang on the stage with his white makeup as he gestured with both of his hands according to the lyrics.
The men beneath the stage listened attentively and even looked at each other with a knowing gaze, snickering as they did so.
Everyone cheered and showered the stage with bronze coins at the end of the show. The Lu family's performance wasn't from the Liang Kingdom, so none of the audience had heard of it before. They relished in the novelty of it.
"Encore! Encore! One more time!"
"Do you have female performers?! I want them to sing for us!"
"Yeah, we want female performers! We will pay you more!"
While Lu Zhuangyuan was happily picking up the bronze coins, someone shouted, "What are you doing here?!"
Everyone saw that the shout had come from the city guards, so they ran away in a panic.
Lu Zhuangyuan panicked and froze.
"Who granted you permission to perform here? And you're even performing a pink show! This is an outright offense to public decency! Are you blind? Did you not see the warning on the city gates?!"
Lu Zhuangyuan lowered his head humbly. "Officer! I don't know how to read... Please forgive us..."
"I don't care whether you can read or not! We will seize all of the money you've earned here! Pick those coins up!"
Lu Zhuangyuan didn't want to part away with so much money, but there was nothing he could do. The officials were of higher rank than him.
Soon, the city guards walked away happily with the money in hand, and the performers were left to pack up the stage with frowns.
Halfway through, Lu Xiucai and Puppy returned while bickering.
"Stupid! Your method is useless! Those beggars searched for so long and didn't even manage to catch a glimpse of my master!"
"Shut up! At least I'm doing something. What about you? Except for flapping your mouth, you are doing nothing to help!"
The two only stopped bickering when they saw the performers packing up.
"Troupe Leader Lu, what happened? We finally found a place to perform. Why are you packing up now?" Puppy scratched the side of his face in confusion.
After learning what had happened, Lu Xiucai stomped the ground angrily and waved the bronze coin sword that he had stitched himself. "The people of Shangjing are so cruel! I will go and cut them down!"
Lu Zhuangyuan sighed and massaged his lower back, "It's fine. We already have enough issues, so stop giving me more. We don't need the money."
"We can't do that. We have to feed ourselves and the horses. Everything is so expensive in Shangjing. Even a single piece of bread costs five coins," Luo Juanhua grumbled with the bronze mirror in hand.
"Do you really think that I don't know how to manage my money?" Lu Zhuangyuan chided and looked at Puppy, "Sir Cao, did you manage to find the young Daoist?"
Lu Zhuangyuan couldn't wait to leave Shangjing after learning that he couldn't build his own theater here. He couldn't even earn money here. However, he didn't know what to tell the others if he returned without results.
Puppy could say nothing but lie about how he was close to finding Li Huowang.
However, Shangjing was so large, and there were too many people inside of it. It was like trying to find a needle in the haystack.
"Nevermind. Let's report the situation back to Xiaoman using the pigeons. I've already asked the beggars, so they can't blame me for not trying to find Li Huowang."
Puppy walked toward the nearest City God Temple to find a scholar who could help write a letter for him.
Unbeknownst to them, Li Huowang was out of the city. After traveling for a few more kilometers, Li Huowang found an isolated place to park the carriage. He prepared food and water for the horse before traveling to the Qi Kingdom.
Upon sensing Li Sui inside of him, Li Huowang took a deep breath and gripped the spine sword tightly.
"Let's go!" Li Huowang swung the sword. He stomped his feet onto the ground along with six tentacles before launching himself towards the crack in space.
He was getting used to the movements. This time, he didn't even get his robes torn off.
Li Huowang didn't even get to celebrate his small achievement when he was shocked to see what was happening in front of him. A massive cloud was heading towards him!
"Those are..." He stared into the distance to identify it, "Locusts!"
The locusts covered the sun and crashed downwards like a black tsunami.
Li Huowang put away the spine sword and brought out the purple-tasseled sword. The killing intent around him scared the locusts away. However, some of them still managed to chew on his robes and head before flying away.
The locusts flew around him, devouring anything in their path. When the sun revealed itself again, everything around Li Huowang turned barren. The plants have all been chewed off.
"Junior Li, this is a Natural Disaster."
"Natural Disaster? But they are just locusts."
"To normal people, food is the most crucial part of their life. They don't care about the Heavenly Daos because they can still live on without the Heavenly Daos, but without food, they will quickly die from hunger. To them, a locust swarm is worse than a Natural Disaster. More importantly, more disasters would follow after the locusts. There would be a drought, war, and finally, a plague. The world would become desolate." 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚
"What's happening with the Qi Kingdom?" Li Huowang said, staring at the You Capital. He then looked at Zhuge Yuan and asked, "Senior Zhuge, is there something you need me to do here? Tell me, and I will—"
Zhuge Yuan shook his head. "Junior Li, you are not someone from the Qi Kingdom. This is not your karma, and you don't need to interfere. You are also in a bad place. I love the people here, and I wish to protect them, but there's nothing I can do for them."
Chapter 536 - Great Qi
"Junior Li, go east," Zhuge Yuan said after observing the mountains and rivers around them.
Li Huowang nodded and walked east without deviating even an inch. He climbed past the hills and waded through the waters.
"The left is blocked, and the right is crooked. We cannot walk this path any further. Head west for two Li."
Li Huowang followed, but he needed clarification. "Senior Zhuge, is Shangji Guankou not in a specific place?"
"No. Shangji Guankou is alive. They're extremely good at moving and hiding. Thankfully, the Feng Shui around them would change every time they move. We just need to use the metal and water detection method to find traces of them amidst nature." Zhuge Yuan calculated something with his fingers while looking at the sky.
Li Huowang nodded and said nothing as he continued walking.
He felt more confident and calm with Zhuge Yuan guiding him, especially in a foreign place like the Great Qi.
Under Zhuge Yuan's guidance, Li Huowang walked in circles until midnight. He only stopped when he saw a town with some lights in the distance while he was walking through a dried field with cracks in the ground.
The town had a decent size, so it wouldn't be an issue for him to find an inn there. Li Huowang looked at Li Sui and then at Zhuge Yuan. "Senior Zhuge, let's stop here for now and rest." Li Huowang then approached the town with Li Sui.
"Junior Li, rest well. According to my calculations, we'll catch up to them by tomorrow."
"Then that's good. I hope everything goes well."
The Qi Kingdom's situation wasn't too bad, but Li Huowang felt a sense of foreboding for some reason.
He wasn't sure whether his instinct warning him of imminent danger or if it was just a feeling because he hadn't met any danger so far. Still, he maintained his guard.
Just as he got closer to the town, he caught a whiff of burning wood.
Someone was guarding the entrance of the town, but Li Huowang frowned at how unprofessional the guards were. They were all drinking soup by a bonfire.
The guards didn't even react when Li Huowang approached them.
He entered the town but failed to find an inn. More specifically, no one had their doors opened. The streets were deserted.
He sighed and decided to find a house that still had a light in it. He soon found one. The house had a small courtyard. Inside the courtyard was someone wearing a white towel on their head while cooking something on a small stove.
The man had been adding firewood to the stove, and he turned around upon hearing Li Huowang's footsteps.
Li Huowang saw that the man had pale skin and a fragrant scent. Li Huowang was immediately suspicious of the man.
"Do you need something, Daoist?"
That man stood up and looked at Li Huowang before staring at Li Sui behind him. Thankfully, Li Sui was wearing her veil.
Li Huowang took one look at the man and raised his guard up further. The man's feet were bound!
The man's feet were half the size of an ordinary human's feet. He was also wearing three-inch shoes women usually wore.
The man was reaching for something behind him when Li Huowang immediately unsheathed his sword and placed it on the man's neck.
"What are you doing?!"
"Junior Li, wait. Don't be so rash. This is the Qi Kingdom. You don't have any enemies here. This man is just an... escort," Zhuge Yuan said, and then he proceeded to explain further.
Li Huowang then learned that there were men selling their bodies as a profession in the Qi Kingdom. Men with bound feet were one of such people.
Li Huowang sheathed his sword. The man slumped to the ground with his pants wet, and he kowtowed to Li Huowang.
"Please! The money is at the bottom of the chest! You can have it! Please spare me!"
Li Huowang looked at what the man had been reaching for behind him. It was a red handkerchief.
"I'm not here to rob you! I'm here to stay the night. Stand up. I will be staying at your house tonight. Take this. If it's too much, just think of it as my apology."
Li Huowang dragged the man up and placed several broken pieces of silver into his hands.
"T-t-that's..." the man stammered, but Li Huowang had already entered his home.
The house was small and simple; it was surprisingly clean as well.
There was an altar to the left with two painted clay pots. Li Huowang was immediately attracted to it.
Staring at the long ears and three-pointed mouth of the pots, Li Huowang turned around and looked at the man. "What are you worshiping?"
The man smiled sheepishly, "We worship Sir Rabbit. Everyone in my line of work prays to him."
"Hoh. I knew it."
It was already late at night, and Li Huowang didn't want to talk too much to the man. He needed to rest as well.
He walked up the second floor and used a drawer to block the stairways. Only then did he fall asleep on the bed.
Li Sui huddled at his side like a dog and closed her eyes, but her ears twitched as she monitored her surroundings for danger.
Time ticked by just like that. Li Huowang was still sleeping when he heard the sound of cracking firewood outside.
Sunlight shone in through the window, and Li Huowang opened his eyes upon hearing footsteps outside.
Li Sui was already taking a peek through the window gap.
"Dad, there are people outside. They all wear the same white towel, and they're whispering to each other... They're done talking. The man threw one more firewood into the stove and left with them."
Li Huowang got out of bed and took his weapons. "They probably left to report to the officials."
Li Sui nodded and followed him down the stairs.
The man with bound feet had left, but the fire in the stove was still going strong.
What was he cooking for an entire night? Li Huowang walked out of the courtyard to leave the town.
When he walked through the streets, he saw that everyone was cooking something. He frowned when he noticed it.
"Senior Zhuge, is this a tradition of the Qi Kingdom?"
"I don't think so. Junior Li, what month is it? Is the Dragon Boat Festival around the corner? I remember that it would take an entire day and night to cook the dumplings."
Li Huowang took a deep breath before shaking his head. "No. The leaves wrapping the dumplings would be fragrant, then, but I can't smell anything at all. Anyway, it doesn't matter as long as they don't hinder us."
Li Huowang picked up his pace and walked to the entrance of the town.
And that was when he saw rows of steaming stoves before him...
"What's going on here?"
The townspeople were carrying heavy stoves outside of the town.
Chapter 537 - Dharma Sect
Li Huowang was confused when someone called out to him. "Daoist! Daoist!"
The man with his bound feet walked over to Li Huowang and smiled. "You're leaving? How about staying for a few more nights?"
"What are you doing?" Li Sui asked.
The men heard her and opened the pot lid. The steam escaped the pot, and a large stone, roughly the size of a watermelon, was sitting in the boiling water.
"We are cooking stone soup! This is a very nutritious meal. Not only could you stave off your hunger, you can even extend your lifespan. We just have to cook this stone until it becomes soft, and we can then ascend to the realm of the Immortals after drinking it! We no longer need to suffer the pain of the mortal realm."
"Hm?" Li Huowang frowned and looked at the man in front of him. He hesitated for a moment before deciding to give some advice. "You think you can become immortal if you cook stone soup? Are you tricked by the Sitting Oblivion Dao?"
The man covered the lid and placed the pot back on the stove. "Daoist? What's the Sitting Oblivion Dao? I've never heard of that before."
"Stop cooking it. The one who told you that was lying. You can't cook stones, and drinking boiled stone water won't turn you into an Immortal."
Li Huowang did what his conscience had told him to do and left. He had just taken several steps when he noticed several men approaching him with hostility in their faces.
Li Huowang gripped the hilt of his sword when he saw that all of them were wearing the same white towel on their heads.
"A liar? Sir Arrogant Stone, who has descended upon the mortal realm, was the one who told us to cook these stones!"
"Arrogant Stone?" Li Huowang mumbled, trying to recall if he had ever heard of that name before. He was about to retort, but he realized that he had been surrounded by the townspeople. All of them had the same white towel on their heads.
Li Huowang unsheathed his purple-tasseled sword, and a killing intent burst out of him spread out. "Scram!"
The townspeople retreated at Li Huowang's fierce display, but they didn't retreat far away. More and more people with white towels on their heads came out from the alleyways to join the others.
"Junior Li, we need to go now. I've been in the Great Qi for so long, and I've never heard of anyone with the moniker 'Arrogant Stone.' Something's wrong with them!"
Li Huowang opened his mouth, and Li Sui entered his body without needing any instructions.
Black tentacles sprouted out from his body and thrashed wildly, knocking the pots and stoves toward the people.
The boiling water scalded the townspeople, and they cried out in pain.
"Let's get out of here!"
Li Huowang's two feet and four tentacles stomped on the ground, propelling him away. He jumped out from their encirclement and ran toward the massive field up ahead.
He was about to reach the field when he noticed a white figure approaching him. The two tentacles on his armpits moved, lashing out at the white figure.
The white figure fell to the ground.
Li Huowang noticed the character "Witch" written on the white cloth covering the figure's face, and he immediately realized the identity of his opponents.
He had seen the same figure in the Liang Kingdom, but they were wearing black in the Liang Kingdom. To think that they'd wear white here in the Qi Kingdom.
There was no Arrogant Stone! It was just another name for God Yu'er! The people in the town belonged to the Dharma Sect of the Qi Kingdom!
"To think that even the Qi Kingdom has the Dharma Sect! The Natural Disaster has affected both places!" Zhuge Yuan frowned.
The white figure stood up, but Peng Longteng plummeted toward them.
Bam!
The white figure was crushed, and a cloud of dust flew into the air.
But rather than scaring the people away, they all went mad upon witnessing the death of one of them. They grabbed the stones that they were cooking and ran over to Li Huowang.
"I can't get entangled with them!" Li Sui slapped two talismans onto Li Huowang's legs, which increased his speed as he ran away like a ghost.
He had just exited the town when he saw a massive group of refugees standing in the empty space in front of the town.
They were skinny and wore rags, but no matter how dirty they were, they were still wearing clean white towels on their heads. They were from the Dharma Sect, too!
"Dammit! I should've known that the harder one's life was, the easier it would be for the evil sects to convince them to join their cause! The Dharma Sect's influence in this world is likely greater than their influence in the Liang Kingdom!"
"Brothers and sisters! Attack! That Daoist in red robes has killed Wu Zhu!"
The refugees standing outside of the town heard the cries from within the town. They all turned and stared at Li Huowang at the same time.
Li Huowang gritted his teeth when he felt their gazes. He gripped his purple-tassel sword with his right while he unsheathed the spine sword with his left. He smashed the spine sword on the ground.
Li Sui's tentacles opened Li Huowang's bag of torture tools, and her tentacles all held polished torture tools except for one tentacle holding the bronze coin sword.
"AAAAAAAAH!" The skinny refugees revealed their yellowing teeth as they ran at Li Huowang like zombies.
"Li Sui! Do it!" Li Huowang ran into the crowd without any hesitation.
He swung the spine sword, and a large group of the refugees was cut down like rice stalks. Blood sprayed everywhere as only their lower half remained.
Li Huowang jumped and crashed into the crowd. Blood and gore would paint the air every time he landed.
Even though there were many people from the Dharma Sect here, none of them could block even a single attack.
The purple-tasseled sword was a weapon forged for the army. Rather than losing strength, he was becoming stronger as he killed the refugees.
Li Huowang finally discovered the sword's true potential. It flourished in battles!
"Kill them all!" Li Huowang's eyes grew bloodshot, and the world before him became veiled in red.
Clang!
The purple-tasseled sword swung down and broke a sickle as if it were made of clay.
Li Huowang aimed for the next person who had blocked his escape, but he hesitated briefly at the astonishing sight.
The woman was wearing a white towel on her head with a dead baby covered in flies in her arms.
The sight convinced Li Huowang that the lady had gone mad.
The lady looked at Li Huowang and immediately brought out a rusted sickle to thrust toward Li Huowang.
The next moment, a large shadow plummeted, crushing the woman and the baby into a gory paste.
Peng Longteng then grabbed the nearest human being and used them as a weapon to slaughter everyone around her. A clearing was then made around Li Huowang in the blink of an eye.
Chapter 538 - Chibao
"Phew~" Qiu Chibao was sprawled out on the ground while carefully fanning the flames with her breath. She was cooking something in her broken bowl above the fire.
Rumble!
Her stomach rumbled, and she tied the strings of her pants tighter.
Her name was Chibao[1], but she rarely filled her belly.
It had been the same when was still living with her parents, and it remained the same even after she got married.
The fire grew smaller, and she panicked. She looked around her and quickly grabbed a handful of human bones beside a bonfire to fuel the flames.
Qiu Chibao sighed in relief when the flames got stronger. She then carefully removed the tile that she had used to substitute as the bowl lid.
The boiling water had three cobblestones within it; she prodded the stones with her rusted knife and grinned in delight, which brightened up her dirty face.
Qiu Chibao then covered the bowl and added more firewood. Afterward, she grabbed the nearby bundle of rags and rocked it in her arms.
"My son, the stones will soon go soft. Once it's soft, you can drink the stone soup, and your illness will be cured! You can even become an Immortal!"
Qiu Chibao was so thrilled at the idea that she was chuckling while playing with her laughing son.
Just then, the people sleeping around her suddenly woke up in agitation.
An old man sleeping beside her woke up and stretched. His legs accidentally knocked over her bowl.
"My stone soup!" Qiu Chibao cried out in despair. The Dharma Sect members around her stirred and stood up one by one.
"Kill that Daoist in red robes! He killed our Lord Wu Zhu!" someone shouted, and everyone buzzed with agitation.
"Who killed our Wu Zhu?! Without him talking to Sir Arrogant Stone, the stone soup might not going to work!"
Qiu Chibao forgot about her despair when she heard those words. She stopped collecting the cobblestones on the ground and placed her rusted knife into the bundle of rags that she had used to wrap her son. She stood up shakily and wanted to charge at the front lines, but she was too emaciated to do so. She was too weak to shove away the person in front of her.
"Let me go! Let me go! I can't see!" Qiu Chibao shouted, but no one heard her.
All of a sudden, the people moved to the side, revealing a path to her.
At the end of the path was a Daoist in red robes; the Daoist was wearing a bronze coin veil and had black tentacles sprouting all over his body.
Rather than feeling afraid, Qiu Chibao felt that she was under Sir Arrogant Stone's protection. She held her crying son and charged at the bizarre monster.
"You killed our Wu Zhu! How dare you destroy my stone soup!" Qiu Chibao gritted her teeth and thrust her rusted knife toward the Daoist in red robes.
In the next instant, she saw the sky become dark. She didn't know what happened afterward.
"Dad! Dad!" Li Sui's voice snapped Li Huowang out of it. He had been staring at the meat paste in front of him.
This was not the time to be distracted! He was still surrounded by the enemies! 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮
Li Huowang was soaked in sweat as he took a deep breath. He chased after Peng Longteng, who was opening a path for him.
"Don't just stand and fight! Charge forward! Break through the people!"
However, Peng Longteng ignored him and continued her onslaught.
"Go forward, or I will dematerialize you! I won't materialize you again if that happens!"
Peng Longteng stood still and clenched her right hand. The grotesque noise of cracking bones echoed as she crushed the head of a refugee in her hand. The bones and flesh seeped out from the gaps in her fingers.
Even though she didn't want to do so, she had no choice but to follow Li Huowang's orders under the latter's threat. She could only enjoy the sensation of killing with a physical body, so she had no choice but to rely on Li Huowang for now.
The massive Peng Longteng grabbed two men and forged a path of blood through the refugees. She swept across the townspeople and refugees alike as if she were a tornado.
Peng Longteng was in charge of the slaughter up ahead, so Li Huowang felt that the burden on him was much lighter. But he was not happy at all. He couldn't stop thinking about the woman holding a dead baby earlier.
He looked around and saw their skinny bodies with an engorged abdomen.
The red veil slowly lifted off his eyes.
Peng Longteng stomped on one of the refugees' stomachs and squeezed out the content of their stomach through their mouths. However, rather than food, the refugee vomited lumps of what looked like clay.
It turned out that the refugees had been eating Kaolinite!
Those who consumed Kaolinite wouldn't live for long. Li Huowang even saw a human's leg in the refugee's stomach; it seemed that they had been eating each other as well.
Li Huowang knew that those who had joined the Dharma Sect would commit all kinds of atrocities. It was definitely not a good thing to worship God Yu'er, but did they have a choice?
"Sir Arrogant Stone, protect me!" An old man with white hair raised his stick as he charged at Li Huowang.
Li Sui's bronze coin whipped around the old man's neck and tore off his head.
Li Huowang walked over the head and moved forward.
He looked at their faces, and for some reason, he recalled his master, Dan Yangzi.
All of them were just like Dan Yangzi, firm in their beliefs but ignorant. And that was exactly how they were manipulated...
Li Huowang discovered another truth of this cruel world when he saw the frenzy in the eyes of the decapitated heads.
This crazy world had ground everything the people in this world had to dust, including their rationality. Thus, they could only place their hope on God Yu'er; it didn't matter even if God Yu'er forced them to become murderers.
The people were innocent, but Li Huowang had no choice but to use their blood to forge a path to live.
However, perhaps death was better for them. Dying meant emancipation from suffering, and it was much better than living life as a mindless zombie.
Jin Shanzhao stared at the scene in front of him with eyes filled with sadness and anger. He cried at the sight of such injustice, "ARGH!"
That was the first time Li Huowang heard his voice ever since he became an illusion...
All of a sudden, the ground beneath caved in, and his legs were stuck!
He looked around and saw three mounds of earth rapidly approaching him.
Li Huang knew that there had to be someone commanding so many sect members, but he never expected them to come here so soon!
Chapter 539 - Trapped
"Tunneling?" Li Huowang immediately swung his spine sword at one of the earth mounds. The earth mound disappeared along with a huge patch of soil.
He destroyed the second earth mound, but the third one managed to reach him.
He suddenly felt an intense pain radiating from his left leg, causing his left leg to collapse like a wet noodle.
Something in the ground just took my femur! Li Huowang gritted his teeth and stabbed the purple-tasseled sword into the ground. A smelly, black blood spread out from the ground.
"Li Sui!" Li Huowang shouted, and Li Sui immediately filled his left leg with her tentacles.
There was no time to waste. Li Huowang ran through the soggy path of blood towards Peng Longteng.
He saw several earth mounds chasing after him and sensed that he was in danger.
There are too many of them! I can't keep dragging on like this, or I'll get caught! I need to hide in the Liang Kingdom now! Li Huowang grabbed his spine sword.
Zhuge Yuan suddenly stopped him. "Junior Li! You can't! You must not let them know that you can travel to the Liang Kingdom. Someone in the Dharma Sect might be able to divine when you'll come back here! You would never be able to hide in the Qi Kingdom by then!"
Li Huowang cursed and ran nonstop. He stepped on the bloody path as Li Sui's tentacles propelled him forward
After jumping several times, Li Huowang landed on Peng Longteng's shoulders. He saw the endless sect members of the Dharma Sect.
He was already standing on Peng Longteng and he still couldn't see the end of the crowd. "How many people are here?! Did everyone in the Qi Kingdom join the Dharma Sect?!"
Li Huowang's instinct suddenly warned him of impending danger. He twisted himself as three rocks fell from the sky. They tore open his robes and made three holes in Peng Longteng'.
He looked around and saw who did that. It was a lady that was dressed in strange attire. Her limbs and neck swayed in the air as her silver jewelry jingled.
She stepped on the crowd as if she was walking on the ground. She ran towards Li Huowang with minimal effort.
Li Huowang never fought much with the Dharma Sect in the Liang Kingdom, but he noticed that the Dharma Sect of the Qi Kingdom primarily used techniques related to earth and stone.
Li Huowang observed the woman before he had a sudden realization! The woman was a member of the Sitting Oblivion Dao!
But the woman no longer had any features resembling the Sitting Oblivion Dao. She no longer believes in Doulao but rather in Arrogant Stone.
He realized how dire the situation was in the Qi Kingdom. To think that the Dharma Sect could absorb the Sitting Oblivion Dao.
Li Huowang didn't want to get dragged into a fight of attrition here because he didn't know how many more people from other sects were absorbed into the Dharma Sect. But there were too many people for him to turn invisible.
Li Huowang stared at the woman getting closer to him when he had an idea from seeing how Peng Longteng was throwing the corpses around.
Li Huowang sent two tentacles to wrap around Peng Longteng's hands. Peng Longteng understood what he wanted to do as well as she swung him around.
She turned faster and faster, to the point where Li Huowang couldn't keep his eyes open.
Three more stones flew past and bore three holes in him. At the same time, Peng Longteng released her grip and hurled Li Huowang far away.
He felt the wind flying past his ears, and he got farther and farther away from the ground. He was so high up that he finally saw the edge of the Dharma Sect crowd, but he soon fell down into the arms of the Dharma Sect members.
But he wasn't worried because he finally found a good way to use the illusions.
He rematerialized Peng Longteng, and she grabbed Li Huowang's tentacles again.
After throwing him three times, Li Huowang finally landed in a place without a crowd. He found himself beside a small earth hill.
Ignoring his headache, he projected his body image beneath the ground and became invisible.
When the Dharma Sect members ran over to find him, he was already halfway up the hill.
"Dad! We won! We escaped their encirclement!" Li Sui's tentacles wiggled with joy.
"Did we?" Li Huowang looked down at the Dharma Sect members wearing tattered clothes. He recalled the crazy woman who was crushed into a paste by Peng Longteng.
Even though they were from the Dharma Sect, they were being used as cannon fodders. "There's nothing to be happy about. No one won here."
"Help... Help!" A familiar voice echoed. Li Huowang turned around and saw that Jin Shanzhao was pointing at the Dharma Sect members.
Li Huowang thought Jin Shanzhao would forever remain muted, so he never expected that Jin Shanzhao would start talking once again.
Even though he had uttered only a single word, Li Huowang understood what he was trying to say.
"Help? How do you want me to help them? How ambitious; you actually want to help the people, but do I look like the Emperor of the Qi Kingdom in your eyes? Or the Chief of the Surveillance Bureau? They're pitiful, right? But what about me? I'm worse than them! Who's pitying me instead? I can't even help myself, so how can I help them?"
Jin Shanzhao lowered his trembling finger and went silent.
Li Huowang sat down and pressed down on the scabs all over him. He was waiting for his headache to improve.
He couldn't rush things now. His head was pounding after materializing Peng Longteng so many times in quick succession. He would end up back in the hospital if he lost control of the Primordial Breath inside of him
"I would suggest that you disappear if you were planning on staying by my side just because of that. I'm not as selfless as Senior Zhuge." Li Huowang panted as he looked at Jin Shanzhao in the air.
Zhuge Yuan said nothing. He had one of his hands behind his back as he stared at the crowd of Dharma Sect members moving around like ants. He was counting something with his other hand.
Li Huowang rested for a while and suddenly felt better. He then stood up to leave and swore not to get involved with the members of the Dharma Sect ever again.
Just then, Li Huowang noticed Jin Shanzhao smiling at him.
Hm? Why is he smiling? Li Huowang realized that Jin Shanzhao wasn't looking at him but was looking at something behind him.
He turned around and almost cursed out loud.
A woman wearing tattered rags stood just a few meters away from her. She was skinny with a white towel on her head, and she was still holding her dead baby in her arms.
There was another illusion in Li Huowang's illusion roster.