In the Pill Refining Room of the Zephyr Temple, Li Huowang sat, covered in Dan Yangzi's blood, too stunned to react.
Were those three pills really that powerful? Did we make pills or explosives?
After a long while, he got up from the ground and touched his face. Then, he bent down and began to examine Dan Yangzi's scattered remains.
After some time, he couldn't find a single piece of moving flesh. Even Dan Yangzi's bronze bell had been dented. Li Huowang finally breathed a sigh of relief; Dan Yangzi had been well and truly killed by him.
But now that he's dead, what should I do next?
Li Huowang stood still, unsure of what he should do next.
He had thought he would be very happy after avenging himself. But when the moment actually arrived, he found himself at a loss.
All the planning over these past few days had been centered around killing Dan Yangzi. However, he hadn't imagined that he himself would survive.
Now that Dan Yangzi was dead, Bai Lingmiao was safe. He had achieved everything he had promised to do.
What should I do next?
Just as he was contemplating this, the door to the Pill Refining Room suddenly opened. Chang Ming and Chang Ren stepped in cautiously, each holding a sword.
They looked around and didn't see Dan Yangzi, then turned their vigilant gazes toward the blood-soaked Li Huowang.
"Hey! Where are you from, demon? Speak, where's our Master?"
"Master? You're standing on him. Also, I'm Xuan Yang, my two dear Seniors."
This reply made Chang Ming and Chang Ren subconsciously look down and raise their feet to reveal internal organs scattered around them. Their pupils shrank intensely.
Li Huowang looked around, then picked up half of Dan Yangzi's face. "Look, he really is dead."
He died because of me.
Logically, he should have died long ago for killing people so indiscriminately, but that's not why I killed him. I did it for personal revenge.
Just as Li Huowang was about to explain his reasons to the duo before him, Chang Ming and Chang Ren exchanged glances. Without a word, they sheathed their swords and dashed out the door.
"Hey, wait for me to finish explaining before you leave!" Li Huowang shouted, feeling exasperated.
When there was no response even after shouting for a while, Li Huowang smiled bitterly. He clutched his stomach, which still ached slightly, and walked toward the door.
"Baldy's dead! He's dead! Everyone can go out now! You can all go home!!" Li Huowang shook the dented bronze bell vigorously and shouted loudly.
It was the first day of the New Year. The piercing clanging sound from the bell didn't attract any Wandering Gods, but it did draw the young assistants and the guiding drug ingredients.
When they saw the half-face clutched in Li Huowang's hand, they were overjoyed and kowtowed on the ground.
Meanwhile, Li Huowang slowly walked through the entire cave system, wanting to bring the good news to everyone within the Zephyr Temple.
More and more people joined his ranks, shouting alongside him, "Baldy is dead! He is dead! We can go home!"
At this point, Li Huowang felt someone reach out and try to support him. He turned around to see that it was Bai Lingmiao, who was shedding tears of joy.
Li Huowang smiled at her, then happily displayed Dan Yangzi's half-face. "Baldy is dead! You can all go home to celebrate the new year! You can all go home!"
"Hey! Senior Li! You can go home too! We can all go home!"
Li Huowang's face froze for a moment, but then he continued to wave the bronze bell with all his strength and hollered, "Dan Yangzi is dead! Come out! You can all go home now!"
But not everyone in Zephyr Temple was elated by the news. Just as Li Huowang walked close to Dan Yangzi's residence, he heard the clinging sound of metal from afar.
Li Huowang led the crowd over. Outside Dan Yangzi's dirty residence, he saw Xuan Yuan standing in confrontation with Chang Ming and Chang Ren. Both sides had drawn their weapons, and the atmosphere was very tense.
Li Huowang saw the so-called sacred text that was circled in black lines and copper coins, and he naturally realized what they were fighting over.
"Junior Xuan Yang! Come quickly! Let's join forces to kill these two accomplices of Dan Yangzi! Then we can share this sacred text that gives the method to attain Immortality!" Xuan Yuan urged Li Huowang. He no longer had an amicable look on his face.
Meanwhile, Chang Ming took a step forward and pointed his longsword directly at Li Huowang, who was standing at the entrance. "Get lost if you don't want to die! Master taught you the path of pill refining! In this situation, do you think you'd be able to handle both of us, who are trained in the path of swordsmanship?"
Seeing the scene unfolding in front of him, Li Huowang sighed helplessly. "That is not some sacred text granting the secret of Immortality. There are only ancient scriptures written on it. Whatever I said earlier was fabricated by me to deceive Baldy. Don't believe Baldy's nonsense; he was full of lies, pretending as if Taishang Laojun personally gave that sacred text to him. Given his personality, it's likely that he stole or looted it from someone. Seniors, let's go."
However, Chang Ming and Chang Ren just held black talismans between their fingers and swiped them against their blades. An eerie wind suddenly started blowing through the room.
"Junior Xuan Yang, if you don't wish to get involved, then cut your nonsense and get lost," Chang Ming and Chang Ren raised their swords and said in unison.
At that moment, Li Huowang felt Bai Lingmiao timidly tug at his Taoist robes.
"Then, Seniors, you guys can continue. We'll meet again if fate allows." Li Huowang put his hands together and bid farewell to both parties before bringing everyone else toward the entrance of Zephyr Temple.
The moment Li Huowang closed the gate, rumbling sounds rang out from within.
Within the black passageways of the cave system, a group of people excitedly and emotionally returned home. Each of them held an oil lamp with trembling hands.
The tunnel was quite unfamiliar and rugged, and some parts even required ropes to climb. Li Huowang did not recall ever being here before.
Even so, he clearly knew that this was the Zephyr Temple's exit; he could see the hands of the people around him trembling more and more violently.
After walking for about two incense sticks, they saw a vague light in the distance. When the people saw that light, their pace became even more disordered, and some of them even started sprinting.
As they ran, the light in the distance grew larger and larger until it filled everyone's vision.
After exiting the tunnel, almost everyone squinted and shielded their eyes. Having lived in the cave system for so long, the outside world was simply too bright for them.
They were finally able to see the scenery outside the Zephyr Temple once their eyes gradually adapted to the brightness.
The distant skies had flowing clouds, while the faraway mountains had green forests. Everything appeared pure and beautiful, almost as though they were viewing an ink painting.
Right at that moment, the first rays of the New Year's morning sunlight peeked through, shining upon their faces.
Li Huowang squinted at the sunrise and mumbled to himself, "Did I spend a whole night with Baldy in the Pill Refining Room? Even the sun is out now. The weather is pretty good today."
Suddenly, someone beside him moved. It was a child with tears streaming down his face. He single-mindedly dashed toward the small road leading toward the forests.
This started a chain reaction as more and more people ran toward that direction. They wanted to get as far away from this terrible place as possible.
In just a while, there were only seven or eight people left from the Preparation Room, all of them looking toward Li Huowang.
"Senior Li, we should leave as well." Bai Lingmiao was smiling very happily, with tear stains still on her face.
"Hold on for a moment." Li Huowang said before pulling out some paper notes from his pockets and passing them to Bai Lingmiao. "These are the last words and the addresses of the guiding drug ingredients who had to die. When you go out, find some messengers along the way and pass them along."
For a moment, Bai Lingmiao was at a loss as she held onto those paper notes, frozen on the spot.
Then, Li Huowang once again smiled at the remaining people before turning around with the oil lamp in his hand, and walking back into the darkness of the Zephyr Temple, all alone.