Creak~
The wooden door slowly creaked open as Li Huowang observed the outside through the small crack. It was already evening, and everything was very quiet outside. Aside from a monk sweeping the floor some distance away, there was nothing unusual.
However, Li Huowang had already seen through the reality of the Righteous Monastery. To him, this was not a peaceful scene in the slightest.
All of this is fake! They can't fool me! Since they're trying so hard to keep me here, they probably want me to go through their Great Fast of my own volition!
Just then, a thought flashed through his mind.
Wait, why are they doing all of this? I'm just a normal human. Since they are so strong, they could just force me to do what they want. Why go through all this trouble?
He didn't have an answer yet, but he didn't need it now. What he needed was to escape this place as soon as possible.
The monks of the Righteous Monastery haven't noticed anything strange about me just yet. I need to use this chance.
Even though there was no one else outside, Li Huowang did not try to escape just yet. He waited patiently. Time slowly passed, and his palms began to sweat.
DongDong~
The heavy sound of a bell rang across the entire Righteous Monastery, causing Li Huowang to jump slightly. He had learned that this bell being rung signified 5 pm, which was the monks' dinner time.
At that moment, Li Huowang opened the door and walked out calmly, following the monks toward the canteen. After all, it would be completely reasonable for him to appear there, as he had been eating with the monks all this time.
Compared to the place he had been staying, the canteen was much closer to the hall where the normal devotees came to pray. Since the opponents used illusion spells, it meant they didn't want the regular devotees and people to see their darker side.
As he walked, Li Huowang noticed many of the monks silently staring at him and whispering to each other. It seemed they were still discussing what had happened earlier. Their eyes, when they looked toward him, were filled with hostility, curiosity, and even jest.
But Li Huowang knew all of this was fake; they were all just putting on an act!
They must have the same goal as Xin Hui! No one here is a good person. They're all trying to harm me!
Li Huowang was certain of this.
He soon arrived at the canteen and saw a sea of bald heads. However, he didn't run away and instead followed them inside. He took a wooden bowl and got his meal before sitting down on a stool and calmly eating the vegetarian meal in front of him. Today's meal consisted of yam soup, stir-fried konjac with fried tofu, stir-fried vegetables, and a potato and squash stew. While there was no meat, the taste was excellent.
Even so, after the earlier incident, Li Huowang no longer had much of an appetite. However, in order to fool them and avoid suspicion, he didn't dare make any strange movements and simply continued eating his food.
Pa!
At that moment, a hand suddenly patted his shoulder, scaring Li Huowang.
"Little Taoist! You're here too? Why did you run away earlier?" asked the monk.
Hearing the familiar voice, Li Huowang turned around with food still in his mouth. Sure enough, it was the old monk, smiling at him while showing off his missing front tooth.
He had met the monk by chance while traveling. If it weren't for him pulling Li Huowang to see those statues, Li Huowang might still be clueless about the situation.
The monk took his plate of food and sat beside Li Huowang. "Let's eat together."
Li Huowang glanced at the other monks and saw that nothing seemed suspicious. He continued chewing as he said, "Sure."
"Little Taoist, where are the rest of the people from your group? Why not ask them to come and stay with you? The food here is free. They don't have to stay at the inn anymore," the monk said quite loudly, oblivious to the entire situation.
On the other hand, Li Huowang, who was anxiously trying to escape, couldn't be bothered to talk to him. He ate at the same pace as usual and burped before walking out of the canteen.
Soon, he was once again on the brick road, and this time, the monk was chasing after him.
"Hey, don't go just yet. Let's talk for a bit. I'm so bored here," said the monk.
As he licked the scraps of food stuck in his teeth, Li Huowang looked at him irritably. "Don't follow me and go to bed."
"What? It's still too early to go to bed. Let me tell you something—" the monk began in a whining tone. However, the monk couldn't finish what he was about to say when he saw Li Huowang's face turn sour.
At that moment, Li Huowang whispered aggressively to the monk, "Go! Run away from this place as soon as possible! This monastery is an extremely dangerous place!"
The very next second, Li Huowang ran as fast as he could toward the main hall.
The monks around them noticed that Li Huowang was running away, but Li Huowang just ignored them.
He ran faster and faster, his heart beating rapidly, his attention sharpened to the limit, searching for traces of that old man, Xin Hui.
100 feet! 50 feet! 10 feet!!!
When Li Huowang escaped through the side door and entered the main hall, his surroundings suddenly exploded with sound—the sound of footsteps, conversations, and the wooden fish, all entered his ears. He had returned to the main hall where everyone was burning incense and praying to the Buddha. In fact, there were so many people that he was pushed slightly to the side.
Standing in the crowd, Li Huowang was stunned as he looked at their oblivious faces.
At that moment, he suddenly realized something and turned back to look at the side door.
No one was there—not a single person had chased him.
At the same time, none of the monks turned to look toward Li Huowang, whether they were greeting devotees or divining fortunes.
To Li Huowang, all of this seemed completely normal. Too normal.
Unless... all of it really had been my illusion? Those filthy things were just a figment of my imagination?
But Li Huowang dismissed that thought quickly, shaking his head as he ran out of the monastery.
He couldn't risk it. Not in the slightest!
It was surprisingly easy for him to walk out of the monastery, almost as easy as it had been to enter.
With his speed, he soon arrived at the inn. When he returned, the guiding drug ingredients and assistants, who hadn't seen him in a while, crowded around him.
"Senior Li, why are you back? Have you finished the business you had with the monastery?" asked one of them.
"No time to talk! Pack your stuff now! We need to leave, now!" said Li Huowang.
"Alright, let me go contact troupe leader Lu," said another one of the guiding drug ingredients.
"No. We are not waiting for them. We need to leave right now! Quick!" shouted Li Huowang.
"Senior Li, where are we going?" Bai Lingmiao asked.
"We are leaving this kingdom!" replied Li Huowang.