"The Fiery Sutra?" Li Huowang grabbed the wax-covered book. Through the translucent wax, he could see the title of the book.
He noticed that a different character had been used to replace the character for the word "Sutra". Rather than Fiery Sutra, it was more accurate to call it the Fiery Scripture.
Even though the treatment process was immensely painful, Li Huowang knew that it was very effective.
"Why give me the book?" Li Huowang was puzzled.
"I gave it to you because you need it more than me. But it's not easy to learn how to use it; you need to learn how to read another language in order to use it," said Yingzi as she opened the wax-covered book and revealed its content.
"This..." Li Huowang furrowed his brow. The words were circular in nature. Larger circles encircled smaller ones while the smaller ones had dots within them. The various sizes and combinations among them were almost endless.
He had no idea what language it was nor had he seen a similar linguistic system.
"If you want to understand the sutra, then you need to learn from scratch. You can only use that book after you've learned how to read the Heavenly Fire Mark and its five tones," explained Yingzi as she passed her notebook to him. "This is a translation of the Heavenly Fire Mark to the common language. You can use it as a reference."
Li Huowang opened the notes and saw that they were quite detailed. It seemed that Yingzi had written them herself. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢
Since she had already given him so much, there was no reason for Li Huowang to decline. After all, he needed the Fiery Scripture.
But he didn't have any time to research it right now—he needed to get out of this wretched place before doing anything else.
Li Huowang kept both books and asked, "You gave both these books to me on your own accord. Will you end up getting into trouble if they find out?"
In response, Yingzi lowered her head and shook it.
Li Huowang nodded and stared at her seriously. "I won't pry into your past, but I am a man who definitely pays back the generosity of others. As long as you help me, I will help you escape from this place."
"Em!" Yingzi nodded excitedly. "Sir, what do you need me to do? I can help you with anything."
It was clear that Yingzi was desperate.
After staring at his surroundings alertly, Li Huowang whispered. "Yingzi, since you and I have the same goal, I consider you an ally. I actually do need your help quite desperately as well."
Then, Li Huowang whispered something to her and she nodded.
Fifteen minutes later, both of them exited their cave.
During the next two days, with Yingzi's guidance, Li Huowang scoured the entire cave, not missing even a single spot.
At the same time, Shou San did not go back on his words either; no one tried to find trouble with Li Huowang. The most they did was to stare at him before letting him pass if they encountered Li Huowang.
By the third day, Li Huowang had grasped the entire structure of the cave system and etched it into his memories.
"Sir, now that we have memorized the layout of this place, what do we do?" Yingzi whispered from behind.
Li Huowang stared ahead for a moment before turning back toward their room. "Let's go back first. I'm afraid there might be someone listening in on us over here."
Hearing this, Yingzi silently followed him like an assistant.
On the other hand, Li Huowang was worried, his expression occasionally turning gnarly as he recalled something.
They were halfway back when they encountered the burnt looking Shou San. He revealed a ghastly smile as bits of burnt skin flaked off his body. "Little Xuan Yang, it is already the third day. Do you have any idea how to do it? Do you need my help? If you thought that the previous method was too harsh, then I have another idea."
However, Li Huowang refused without even hearing his proposal; he was very repulsed by their methods. "No need! I've said that I will deal with it myself!"
After saying that, Li Huowang pulled Yingzi away, bringing them back to their cave.
Shou San did not try to stop them. He just stood there silently, a strange glint in his eyes as he stared at their departing backs.
When the wooden door closed and isolated them from the outside world, Li Huowang finally heaved a sigh of relief. Living in a place that belonged to others was way too stressful; he had no choice but to abide by their rules and cater to their whims.
"Sir, what should we do next?" asked Yingzi.
Hearing Yingzi's question, Li Huowang took a breath. Just as he was about to say something, his expression froze.
"Damn! It's here again!" Li Huowang placed his back against the wooden door and slowly slid down onto the floor.
"Sir? Sir, are you alright?" Yingzi carefully approached him.
However, Li Huowang just stared at the girl blankly, his expression conflicted as he whispered, "Mom? You are here again? No, I don't want to eat oranges. Could you please step outside? I have some business to attend to. I know, I understand that the other side is a hallucination. You don't need to worry about me. I'm a little thirsty, so could you help me get some water? No, I don't want the water in the thermos. I just want some regular water."
"Sir... ?" Yingzi carefully said as she saw Li Huowang hallucinating.
In the next instant, Li Huowang once again became serious. His eyes were unfocused as they darted around. "Yingzi, quick, tie me up! Tie me up on the bed! I will explain everything to you when I come back to my senses!"
Just as he had said those words, his expression changed again. "Dad, why are you here? Don't you need to go to work?"
Meanwhile, Yingzi just stood there, motionless as she stared at the red Taoist speaking toward empty space—she did not obey his command about tying him to the bed.
"Thanks, Mom. No need to feed me, I will just drink it on my own." Li Huowang placed both hands together and made a motion of drinking water.
Staring at Li Huowang's opened mouth, Yingzi carefully took out a ball of rusted nails that were bound together. Her hands were trembling from nervousness. She hesitated for a while, before placing the ball of nails back into her robes.
"Alright, alright. I will peel the oranges on my own. There's no need to feed me," said Li Huowang.
This time around, Yingzi took out a bottle of acid. Then, she threw the ball of nails into the bottle of acid, causing the metal to start sizzling.
Soon, the mixture of corroded nails and the acid was placed in front of Li Huowang, black smoke coming out from it.
"Uuu~" At that moment, Bun slowly approached them, not comprehending what was happening.
BAM!
When she saw Bun, Yingzi kicked it away.
The kick sent Bun flying as it started spitting out blood; it struggled to get up for a while before falling down due to the pain.
"Mom, no need to peel anymore. I've eaten too many oranges already," said Li Huowang. Then, he grabbed the smoking ball of nails.
As this was happening, Yingzi stood there, her body trembling from excitement as she saw Li Huowang about to die.
However, just as the ball of nails reached his mouth, Li Huowang's hand stopped. By the time he dropped the ball of nails, his fingers were already bloody from the corrosive liquid. The ball of nails barely brushed past his face and fell onto the ground, rolling a few times before stopping.
At this moment, there was no sign of Li Huowang hallucinating, and his eyes were deathly cold and sharp as he stared at her. "Why?"
Chapter 126 - Wicked Person
"Why?!" Li Huowang's cold voice echoed within the cave. "They've already tortured you to the point of having to amputate your own hand, so why are you helping them fight against me? Why? I've already told you that I will take you away from this wretched place. Have I not shown you enough kindness? Do you even have a conscience? Or have you also aligned yourself with them after living here for four years?"
"Hehe..." Hearing his words, Yingzi started laughing. She slowly raised her head, her laughter becoming louder and louder.
This was the first time she had met his gaze, her eyes dripping with tears as she laughed.
Hatred filled her soft brown eyes.
The hatred in her eyes was so deep that she could pounce toward Li Huowang and kill him at any time.
It was only now that Li Huowang understood why she did not meet his gaze before this—she was afraid that she would act rashly the moment she met his gaze.
At that moment, two sets of Profound Records were unfurled on the ground.
With the aid of the Profound Records, Li Huowang saw his own flesh and skin expand in the air and pounce toward Yingzi, looking like a massive net.
On the other hand, Yingzi used her little finger to make a bone pike. However, the flesh net created by Li Huowang captured it and both of them fell to the ground.
Looking at the items on the ground, Yingzi realized that both of them were using the Profound Records. If she wanted to kill him, she would need to sacrifice more of herself than he did of himself.
With this realization, she didn't hesitate to instantly place her right foot onto the Profound Records.
As he saw the unique words on the red bamboo slip slowly slither up her legs, Li Huowang instinctively felt that the situation was dangerous.
Shit! This is dangerous!
Immediately, Li Huowang ran out from the cave.
Just as Yingzi followed after him and hobbled out from the cave with her single leg, an ear-piercing sound of a bell rang out. When a Wandering God made of squiggly lines sprung up at her from under the ground, she couldn't react in time; even as she did her best to dodge, the Wandering God managed to phase through half of her exposed body. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮
Immediately, she fell onto the ground, losing any and all control of the parts of her body that were exposed to the Wandering God. However, she did not give up and instead gritted her teeth as she struggled to stand up.
But at that moment, a sharp blade was placed against her neck, deciding the victor.
Li Huowang did not act immediately, instead staring at her face. Then, he spat out angrily. "Why? I want to know why! Did the Ao Jing Sect take someone close to you as hostage?"
Dak dak dak~
At that moment, Li Huowang heard footsteps coming from everywhere around him; it was clear that the Ao Jing Sect's members had heard all the commotion.
Li Huowang turned around and saw Shou San approaching them.
"You think this is funny? You've already gone back on your words so many times! Why did you ask her to do this? If you can do this, then come face me directly instead!" shouted Li Huowang.
Li Huowang hated the Ao Jing Sect to the core. They kept breaking their promises while trying to harm him over and over.
However, Shou San's expression threw him off; his burnt face was revealing an expression filled with doubt.
"I'm not sure what you've heard, but I never ordered Er Jiu to act. There's no benefit for us in fighting you, and it's actually the most dangerous method," said Shou San.
"Lies! The evidence is right in front of you and yet you are trying to lie to me!" shouted Li Huowang before falling silent.
Li Huowang didn't trust their words, but then, a girl's voice broke the silence, causing him to turn around and stare at Yingzi. The girl was still on the ground, her eyes glaring at him with hatred.
"Hehe... Didn't you want to know why? Then let me tell you the reason!" Yingzi gritted her teeth with disgust as she met Li Huowang's gaze.
Then, she removed her robes, exposing her mutilated body to everyone around.
"It's because you killed my family! I've suffered so much because of you!" shouted Yingzi.
When he heard those words, Li Huowang thought she had gone crazy; he didn't believe her. That was such a ridiculous lie!
However, Yingzi pointed at the sect members encircling them and continued, "You said that they were wicked, that they had no conscience. But they can't even be compared to you!"
Yingzi's voice was hoarse as she continued to shout, "Four years ago, you massacred everyone in my town! Tens of thousands! All of them are dead! You killed them all. Compared to you, the members of the Ao Jing Sect can be considered Saints!"
Hearing those words, Li Huowang felt like an explosion was going off in his head.
"No, impossible! I am not the same as you crazy bastards! I'm a good guy!" shouted Li Huowang, denying it vehemently.
"HAHAHAHA! You? A good guy? Yeah right!" Yingzi pointed her trembling fingers at him as she laughed hysterically. "The old grandma who used to sell tofu, my neighbor's baby who was barely a week old, and even my parents! You didn't even bat an eye when you killed all of them and yet you dare to call yourself a good guy?!"
When he saw just how resolute her hatred of him was, Li Huowang even started to doubt himself. He scoured his memories up until four years ago and knew that he had not yet transmigrated to this world back then, nor did he have the illness... at least not yet.
The only thing he recalled from that time was participating in the sports day and playing with everyone on a crowded field.
"No! I did not! Impossible! I hadn't transmigrated four years... ago?" Li Huowang suddenly realized something that he should have realized long ago.
Sensing the doubt in his voice, Yingzi snarled as she revealed a thin blade in her hand. Just as she had placed her hand on it, the sword placed against her neck moved, causing her to freeze.
Red blood splattered out from her neck. Her body convulsed for a while before going still.
After a few breaths of time had passed, Li Huowang realized what he had done and immediately checked on her. His hands were trembling as he held her with his arms and covered the wound on her neck while stuffing Blood Nourishing Pills into her mouth.
"Don't die! You cannot die! You need to tell me what happened!" shouted Li Huowang.
"Cough... Good guy..." Even in the final moments of her life, Yingzi continued to stare at Li Huowang mockingly. "Good guy..."
Soon, her hands went limp and her eyes became unfocused.
As he held onto her corpse, Li Huowang's breathing started becoming erratic. He shouted toward the members of the Ao Jing Sect standing around him. "Haven't you had enough?! What are you guys thinking?! You damned crazy self-mutilating psychopaths! If you want to capture me, a Strayed One, then do it directly! Do you all think it's fun to fool me?!"
When Shou San heard those words, he had a rather amused expression on his face. "It seems that you really have forgotten what happened four years ago. You did in fact massacre a whole town, regardless of their age or gender. Blood flowed through the entire town like a river. Back then, Elder Yan Jianxi could tolerate it no longer and wanted to stop you, but then, you ran to our place and started wreaking havoc, destroying many of our Cross Temples. We had to spend a lot of manpower to chase you away."
Chapter 127 - Who Is It?
"It was me? I massacred an entire town? It was me who killed Yingzi's entire family?" Trembling, Li Huowang turned to look into the eyes of the dead girl before him.
Her pupils were devoid of any expression, dilated to the maximum. A mocking smile still hung on her face.
"I killed her, a girl who just wanted to seek revenge for the death of her parents? Am I the one who deserves death?" mumbled Li Huowang.
At this point, Li Huowang was starting to feel afraid. It was an extreme type of fear. He pushed Yingzi's lifeless body and took a big step back before raising his trembling hands which were stained completely red with Yingzi's blood.
"No! It's not like that. I hadn't even transmigrated here four years ago! Even if I had, it's impossible for me to massacre an entire town! I wouldn't have had the ability to cause chaos within the Ao Jing Sect. After all, I'm just an ordinary person!" shouted Li Huowang.
"You're not ordinary; ordinary people wouldn't have your abilities," someone interjected.
Meanwhile, Shou San just watched as the red-robed Taoist became more and more terrified before continuing his explanation, "Logically, I wouldn't want to have too much interaction with you. Who knows whether you will go mad while we are conversing? But since Abbess Jingxin asked us to help you, we are doing her a favor."
"Shut up! Don't try to deceive me! Aren't you all lusting for Strayed Ones? Stop pretending! I'm right here, so come at me!" shouted Li Huowang.
Seeing Li Huowang glaring at him, Shou San backed away. "Little Xuan Yang, calm down. All of us here are trying to help you. You can't repay our kindness with enmity."
However, his words did not help. Conversely, they caused the fear within Li Huowang's heart to deepen; he was starting to slowly feel like they were all telling the truth.
At that moment, Shou San gently waved his hand, gesturing for the others from Ao Jing Sect to withdraw. Then, he turned to Li Huowang. "Little Xuan Yang, while our Ao Jing Sect might not have the best reputation on the outside, we're at least different from you; we don't kill people on a whim. There should at least be a justification for a person's actions."
Li Huowang glanced down at Yingzi's corpse, his eyes bloodshot. After a while, he gritted his teeth and dashed out of the tunnel.
Given Li Huowang's overbearing attitude, nobody from the Ao Jing Sect dared to block his way; they backed up against the walls and gave way to him.
Outside, it was still night time, with the round moon hanging in the sky. The cold wind that blew past helped Li Huowang to clear his head a little. He stumbled beside a tree and leaned against it, covering his face with his hands as he squatted down, his body trembling involuntarily.
Am I really a killing maniac? Someone worse than even Dan Yangzi? Did I really kill Yingzi's entire family? And then I killed Yingzi, who was just seeking revenge?
The intense pain brought about by this fact weighed down on Li Huowang's mind like a mountain.
At that moment, Li Huowang suddenly heard footsteps approaching him. But at this point, he just wanted to hide and not care about anything else.
He felt someone gently pat his shoulder and speak in a voice that carried a tinge of worry, "Little Xuan Yang, are you leaving? Then does our agreement from before still stand?"
These words finally managed to break Li Huowang out of his reverie. "Impossible! I'm going to find evidence! I can't possibly have killed everyone in that entire town!"
Li Huowang stood up and pushed aside Shou San's hand before directly dashing toward the town at the foot of the mountain.
Shou San watched Li Huowang vanish along the mountain path. Once he had vanished from Shou San's field of vision, Shou San turned around and respectfully bowed toward a square-faced member of the Ao Jing Sect. "Elder Shen Benyou, please look at this..."
The square-faced man frowned and pondered for a moment, then said, "Follow him and observe; however, don't get involved with anything yourself."
Meanwhile, accompanied by the moonlight, Li Huowang once again arrived at the ghost town.
The darkness and deathly silence, as well as the sparse vegetation made the town seem even more horrifying.
However, Li Huowang did not care about all this. He just rushed in and frantically started to search even as he continued to bleed from his injuries.
When he discovered a skeleton on the ground, his eyes lit up. He took out a glowing stone from his pocket and began to examine the body closely.
"The left side of the skull is shattered! This was done by a blunt weapon. That's not my style, and I don't like to use blunt weapons anyway," mumbled Li Huowang, his mood slowly stabilizing as he methodically continued to search through the other skeletons.
"The bones of this corpse are charred, and they crumble easily upon touch. This person died in a fire, something that I couldn't have done."
"This one is even more absurd; half its body is exposed outside, and half of it is stuck in the wall. How could I have possibly done this?"
Li Huowang felt more relieved the more corpses he checked. Finally, when he saw a skeleton that had bloomed on the floor like a flower, Li Huowang put down the burden in his heart.
I didn't kill anyone... I'm not a killing maniac! Yingzi was clearly misremembering!
Li Huowang re-confirmed this fact in his mind.
But, another question leapt into his mind.
Why would Yingzi misremember all of it? Could there have been an evil person that looked exactly like me?
Ah... this is troublesome. This fact might cause more trouble in future.
But I can think about this matter at another time. First, I should think of a way to deal with Dan Yangzi.
Li Huowang was about to leave the rotting wooden house when some of the papers on the bedside caught his attention. He calmly picked up those pieces of paper.
There was quite some blood on them, and they seemed like they were penned by someone right before they died.
Li Huowang could not really make out the contents of the paper; he could not recognize a lot of the words.
Hold on, these three characters are quite familiar.
Frowning, Li Huowang touched the last three characters doubtfully. He touched them for a long time, his brows furrowing even more.
Then, he suddenly realized something.
"Li Huowang! These three characters make the words 'Li Huowang'!" shouted Li Huowang excitedly. However, immediately after that, a realization struck him that caused him to feel like he was being strangled.
He once again surveyed the skeletons around him, his pupils dilating and constricting repeatedly. Fear gradually started to consume his heart.
"No... Impossible! Yingzi must have made a mistake! I didn't kill her parents! I didn't kill all these people!" mumbled Li Huowang to himself hysterically, trying to refute his realization. However, his emotions were slowly going out of control.
He could find all sorts of ways to deceive himself, but the three characters on the piece of paper in his hand forced him to face reality.
In that moment, something inside Li Huowang snapped.
"Li Huowang! You killed them! You madman!"
"No! I didn't! I didn't! I didn't! I'm different from Dan Yangzi and the rest!"
Veins started bulging on his forehead as Li Huowang knelt amongst the skeletons of the people that had died due to various causes while shouting hysterically.
Swoosh~
At that moment, a fur-covered pill flew into Li Huowang's mouth.
In an instant, the guilt and agony that he had been suppressing in his heart were magnified many times over, almost engulfing him completely.
As this was happening, a person slowly walked in. It was Shou San.
His body was completely charred as he walked in while lightly snapping his fingers. Dense flames surrounded his entire body, crackling as they burned him.
Then, he gently waved his hand, and the burning flames quickly extended along the ground, engulfing Li Huowang's entire body.
Chapter 128 - It's Not Me
The flames continued to burn around Li Huowang, his appearance gradually turning more and more like that of the charred Shou San.
Everything in his field of vision began to distort; however, it was unknown whether it was due to ingesting the pill or being doused in flames.
At the same time, the skeletons around him that should have been lifeless suddenly started growing like trees, twisting in bizarre ways as they grew.
"Ah... ah... ah!"
As Li Huowang howled, the flames seemed to find an entrance and directly burrowed inside him, burning his inner organs.
"Little Xuan Yang, it's time." Shou San walked over and retrieved the Profound Records from Li Huowang's waist, placing it before him.
At that moment, as Li Huowang peered through the flames, he felt like he was being tortured in hell. In this state, the Profound Records he saw did not look like an arranged row of bamboo slips, but a pile of quivering flesh worms. Strange words were written on them as they arranged themselves neatly into extremely strange-looking slips of flesh.
"This... What the heck is going on!" shouted Li Huowang. He felt like his brain was turning to mush. No, perhaps the scorching heat of the flames had already turned his brain to mush.
Meanwhile, disciples of the Ao Jing Sect had taken off their gowns, and were approaching them from all directions. They sat down around Li Huowang in an orderly fashion with their disfigured bodies.
However, in Li Huowang's view, they had all turned into various sorts of flesh-mangled monsters.
Shou San looked at Li Huowang being burned by the flames, and then took a step backward. "Little friend, don't forget the objective for which you came to our sect. Now, the opportunity is ripe; it's time to open the door to the Abyss of Worldly Suffering and meet Ba-Hui once again."
Li Huowang looked at him through the flames and shouted, "You lied to me?! You've been lying to me about everything?!"
"No, I did not lie to you. It's just that coincidentally this was a very good opportunity and that we leapt onto it as well. Don't you want to get rid of your Master? As long as you summon Ba-Hui, the elders will have a way to get rid of Dan Yangzi who is entangled with your body," replied Shou San.
Hearing this, Li Huowang howled in extreme agony. Then, he raised his charred hands and gently pressed them onto those flesh worms full of inscriptions.
At that moment, both the pain in Li Huowang's body and mind gradually started to morph into something else, just like before. At the same time, an extremely terrifying and desolate aura started to be emitted from Li Huowang's body, causing everyone present to shudder as they felt this other-worldly strength.
Li Huowang was very familiar with this scene; this was the prelude to Ba-Hui's appearance. Soon, his five senses also began to morph, and the cloudless skies suddenly changed colors.
Meanwhile, Shou San saw all this and started becoming excited. His body started to tremble; it was as though he was looking forward to something. "After all that turmoil, it's finally happening."
However, things did not progress as he wished. All the abnormalities that signified Ba-Hui's descent suddenly started returning to normality.
"What's going on?" Shou San emotionally glanced at Li Huowang. For some reason, he sensed that at this point, the other person had somehow changed.
At that moment, Li Huowang slowly picked up the Profound Records with both hands.
At the same time, his voice rang out; however, this time, it wasn't a voice filled with agony, but with doubt.
"Why... should I suffer like this? What do their deaths have to do with me? At this point, there's nothing to restrain me. Who can say anything even if I did kill a few people?"
"It's the survival of the fittest here. If they are weak, then they deserve to die. If I don't kill them, then someone else will. It's quite amusing; why should I feel guilty?"
"Moreover, all of this could have been lies that these self-mutilating lunatics of the Ao Jing Sect crafted!"
As Li Huowang spoke, he felt the mountain-like pressure that had been weighing down on him suddenly vanish.
As he saw Li Huowang transform so abruptly, Shou San asked apprehensively, "Little friend? Have you been influenced too deeply by your Master? Stay firm in your own beliefs. Do you want your Master to take over your body completely?"
At that moment, Shou San saw Li Huowang clutch his head within the flames as he struggled with a pained look on his face, arguing with himself.
"If I die, then so be it! Why should we care? Are you a saint? Look at yourself living like that! Do you have the capacity to care about others?"
"Dan Yangzi! Get out of my head! I will decide my own values! You won't influence me again!"
The abnormal atmosphere and Ba-Hui's terrifying aura expanded and contracted along with his shouting.
As time passed, the changes eventually started to stabilize.
At the critical moment, Li Huowang once again felt his surroundings change abruptly. The extreme pain from his body and mind rapidly faded as peace and quiet enveloped him.
When he finally regained consciousness, he found himself under the sun, restrained by a straitjacket while being pushed on a wheelchair by his mom. All the pain and suffering had instantly receded.
Whoo... whoo...
Li Huowang panted, still reeling from the shock.
He finally had a chance to catch his breath amidst all that torment.
At this point, he wanted to do nothing and just rest quietly.
"Son? Are you awake?" Sun Xiaoqin was surprised to see that her son was not in his usual crazed state.
Li Huowang turned to his mom with a complex expression. "Mom, do you know? I really don't want to go back there. I'm tired of living there."
Hearing this, Sun Xiaoqin hugged him tenderly, "It's alright, don't be afraid. It was all a hallucination. It's all fake."
Li Huowang closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Truthfully, he really wanted to escape now; he did not want to suffer anymore. Compared to the peace and quiet here, as well as his own family and Yang Na, the other world was simply hell.
Remembering the events from before, Li Huowang's expression once again became filled with pain. "Mom... Who do you think I am?"
"You are Li Huowang! My son," replied Sun Xiaoqin.
"Then, what sort of person is your son?" Li Huowang's agonized voice carried a trace of confusion.
Sun Xiaoqin stroked her son's head. "Li Huowang is a good child. He is sincere, responsible, and hardworking at his studies. Do you remember that afternoon in junior high? That day on the bus..."
As he listened to his mother's words, Li Huowang began to recall various things he had done in the past. He had experienced so much after going there, so much so that he had even forgotten what sort of person he had been.
He had changed, and not for the better. It was not just due to Dan Yangzi's influence, but also because of that world.
Slowly, his gaze gradually grew resolute.
That's right... This is me. The real Li Huowang.
That suspicious, foolish, and easily deceived person with no moral values is not me. That is Dan Yangzi. It's not me!
Chapter 129 - Up
"Mom, push me back. I might become a bit noisy later, but be patient; I'll come back and see you when I have the time. Let me know if you run out of money."
At this moment, Li Huowang was engulfed in flames with a strange smile on his charred face, talking to himself.
Seeing this, Shou San frowned and took another step back, "Elder was right. This kid is different from the usual Strayed Ones. This is rather difficult to manage."
Just when he was at a loss, he suddenly felt movement behind him.
As soon as he turned around, his expression tensed up and the flames around his body quickly diminished before burrowing back into his body.
"Elder Yan Jianxi, Elder Er Tingnu, Elder Bi Xiuai, Elder She Changshi, Elder Yi Jianyu, Elder Shen Benyou. Why have the elders come down from the mountain?" asked Shou San as he greeted the elders.[1]
"How is the situation?" asked the square-faced Elder Shen Benyou, looking rather disgruntled.
"The Strayed One is just standing there. As you can see, he doesn't follow our routine," Shou San was rather upset as he pointed his charred finger toward Li Huowang.
Hearing this, the six of them exchanged glances. Then, a tall woman amongst them walked over and said, "He's almost there. We just need to give him another push."
As she said that, the six of them raised their fists into the air, causing the flames that had enveloped Li Huowang to pull him toward the ground.
"Mom, can you push a little faster? I feel like something is wrong. Also, remember to cover my mouth." Li Huowang continued to mumble to himself as he stared at the moon in the night sky.
"I'll do it," Elder Er Tingnu, who was dressed like a courtesan, said. Then, she made a gesture with her finger and reached into her hair before gently pinching and slowly pulling outward.
Gradually, a silver needle that carried a cold light began to be pulled out.
Soon, the needle's length had reached almost an inch. This went to show just how deeply the needle had been stuck inside the woman's head.
Once she pulled it out, she gently flicked it, causing the bloodied silver needle to fly out with an afterimage before embedding itself directly into Li Huowang's charred head.
"What did you inject into him? Don't administer things carelessly; things can go wrong," reminded Yan Jianxi.
"Just a piece of the past from four years ago. I'm afraid that his heart wasn't suffering enough, so I gave him just a bit more, hehe," replied Er Tingnu as her blood-red lips rose slightly, a smug expression on her face.
At that moment, as soon as the long needle pierced Li Huowang's head, he returned from the other side. At the same time, various bloody scenes appeared in his mind, causing him to involuntarily clutch his abdomen and start vomiting.
In those scenes, he could clearly see that it was indeed him—he laughed maniacally as he wantonly killed people in that small town.
More accurately, it wasn't really killing.
While there weren't any obvious reasons, the people around him had their bodies suddenly explode, burst into flames, or had their heads caved in.
And this was not limited to just dozens of people, but tens of thousands!
Male or female, young or old, everyone in the small town suffered a similar fate.
Only one person remained—Jiang Yingzi. She somewhat resembled Yang Na from when she was younger.
The scenes of tens of thousands of people dying due to him exploded in his mind. This was not something that Li Huowang could endure.
"Did I really kill all those people in this town?" Li Huowang once again began to question himself. However, there was no need to answer this; only he would show mercy to someone who resembled a younger Yang Na.
At that moment, coupled with the effect of the pill, the charred Li Huowang screamed in agony, and the skies were split apart.
Everyone looked up toward the depths of the skies. Deep in the sky, in an unfathomably vast and dark abyss where countless black worlds and suns swirled around, there was something moving.
At the same time, everyone present felt their five senses starting to morph as they melded together. Their senses of sight, taste, smell, and hearing were all melded together into a brand-new perception that ordinary people would never be able to understand.
Only in this way could they truly "see" Ba-Hui.
"Finally!" Shou San shouted excitedly despite the almost materialistic fear that shrouded his body.
"Begin quickly! Everyone, get ready!" shouted Shou San.
Once those words were uttered, the other disciples who were sitting cross-legged around Li Huowang all began to mutilate themselves in various ways. At the same time, they all "looked" toward Ba-Hui in the skies, their eyes filled with a morbid longing.
Soon, red blood dripped down from their skins and began to form complex hook-shaped symbols on the ground. Slowly, the blood symbols coordinated with one another and formed a giant circle.
Just as the symbol circle was about to be completed, Li Huowang, who was in the center of the circle, gently raised his head. At the same time, all the blood symbols on the ground were lifted before slowly revolving around his body.
Ba-Hui had been summoned by Li Huowang, and so at least for now, he had momentarily obtained a portion of Ba-Hui's strength.
Seeing that their plans had been foiled, the six elders simultaneously glared at Li Huowang.
After a moment, Elder Yan Jianxi spoke first, "Young man, what are your intentions?"
Powerless, Li Huowang continued to kneel on the ground, his body swaying as though it could fall at any moment; there was no sign of vitality in his eyes.
Due to having endured extreme mental and physical agony, Li Huowang's heart was filled with the desire for death. At present, even thinking was very difficult for him; even so, he endured it and mumbled, "I've done my part... Now, it's your turn."
"Now? Are you mad? You must know how long we have waited for this moment?" shouted one of the Elders.
"Stop horsing around! Quickly return the blood symbols!" shouted another Elder.
"Who do you think you are?! You dare to threaten us?" shouted yet another Elder.
However, Li Huowang's outburst suppressed all their voices, "It must be now! I didn't get what we agreed on! So, don't even think about getting what you wanted!"
Even in his current state, Li Huowang was keenly aware of the fact that there was no friendship between him and the Ao Jing Sect. He was also a Strayed One. If he didn't take the opportunity to barter right now while he still held the upper hand, then there would be no room for negotiation once he no longer had Ba-Hui's strength.
"You guys can just kill me now! Then all your work this time around would have been for nothing! As long as... Help me get rid of Dan Yangzi! ...I won't care about what you do next!" Li Huowang used his remaining strength to state his conditions.
Then, his body began to tremble as his physical and mental agony started to spread outward in all directions.
At the same time, all the Ao Jing Sect disciples fell to the ground, shrieking miserably. This agony greatly surpassed the intensity of their usual self-mutilation.
When any existence is unable to endure the pain and suffering they are going through, they try to think of a way to escape. And so, all the Ao Jing Sect disciples took out various sorts of sharp weapons before pointing them toward their necks.
"Stop! We will help you get rid of Dan Yangzi now!" shouted one of the Elders.
When he heard this, a smile bloomed on the face of Li Huowang who had been quivering in agony.
At that moment, everyone had their attention focused on Li Huowang; nobody noticed Ba-Hui glancing at Li Huowang.
1. Their names are interestingly made up of sensory organs, senses, and an emotion. Yan Jianxi - Eye sees Joy, Er Tingnu - Ear hears Anger, Bi Xiuai - Nose smells Love, She Changshi - Tongue tastes Thought, Yi Jianyu - mind sees Desire, Shen Benyou - body touches Worry.