"Kill them all!" Li Huowang's sword slashed upward, a crimson glow flashing on the sword's body. In the next instant, a shadow monster was sliced in half as it turned to smoke while howling in pain.
At the same time, Li Huowang gritted his teeth and continued running, closing in the distance between him and the veiled man.
Li Huowang slashed until there was only one shadow monster left. Initially, he had thought that this would be easy, but at that moment, the veiled man's underarm bulged before four more arms extended from underneath it.
Each of these arms held another shadow monster.
After a moment, the veiled man threw the shadow monsters into the air. Illuminated by the moonlight, Li Huowang was instantly surrounded by them.
"Senior Li, we are here to help!" shouted Bai Lingmiao.
"Don't come any closer! Miaomiao, don't play the drum! I can handle this myself." said Li Huowang as he slashed through the horde of shadow monsters while closing in on the veiled man.
Fa la la~
At the same time, the Profound Records was unfurled.
Then, Li Huowang sliced off two of his fingers, causing him to almost faint from the pain.
However, it was worth it.
The two fingers rapidly expanded before they even touched the ground. At the same time, the bones within them grew longer as they shot themselves toward the veiled man.
The veiled man tried to evade, but the fingers homed in on him.
Splurt!
The fingers buried themselves into the man's neck and Li Huowang saw the remaining shadow monsters stop in their tracks. Then, the shadow monsters slowly turned back into ordinary shadows.
"You..." The veiled man fell onto the ground, dead before he could say anything.
Seeing this, Li Huowang hurried over and inspected the dead six-armed man.
"Wait, is that it? This was too easy." Li Huowang was confused. Compared to the previous encounters, this was too easy.
After a moment, Li Huowang carefully used his sword to lift the coin veil; he wanted to see what the man looked like.
Just as he started unveiling the man, Li Huowang was stunned to see a wooden lip. The 'man' was nothing more than a puppet!
"Careful! The dwarf is inside the stomach! It's trying to attack you!"
Li Huowang didn't know who had shouted those words, but he saw a flash of steel approaching his heart from the puppet's abdomen.
Thanks to the warning, Li Huowang managed to block it with his sword.
The very next moment, Li Huowang raised his sword and stabbed it directly into the abdomen of the puppet.
A scream rang out, accompanied by a spray of blood from the abdomen of the puppet.
After a moment, a bald man with saggy skin and asymmetrical eyes crawled out. Blood could be seen leaking out from the dwarf's mouth.
But it was useless. Soon, the dwarf died.
At that moment, Li Huowang felt a dragon's roar coming from his sword, almost causing him to lose control of it. Then, he quickly removed the sword before sheathing it again, finally bringing it back under his control.
However, Li Huowang didn't have any time to inspect his sword. He turned around to see who it was that warned him about the dwarf's attack.
Standing there was none other than Monk.
"You again? Who are you?" asked Li Huowang.
One of Monk's shoes had a hole in it, revealing his toe. He walked forward with his torn shoes, walked past the dead dwarf, and then stored the bronze coin veil in his pocket.
"Let's go. We can talk while we run. Can't you see that they are catching up?" said Monk.
Li Huowang saw the rest of the black dots were becoming larger and started running.
"Everyone, quickly catch up! Don't get left behind!" shouted Li Huowang.
Then, he approached Monk and questioned him once more, "Who are you? Why are you doing this?"
Hearing this, Monk laughed. "No need to be so cautious. Have I ever harmed you when we were together?"
Without waiting for Li Huowang's reply, Monk continued talking, "No, I've never harmed you; in fact, I've been helping you. I helped you discover the Righteous Monastery's plot and I was the one who reminded you of how suspicious the performers of the Nuo Opera were."
Li Huowang sighed as he monitored the black dots chasing them as he tried to calm himself down. "I thank you for your help, but I hate it when someone lies to me."
The originally jovial Monk suddenly turned serious. "There's no need for you to know who I am. What's more important is for me to know whether you are the real Li Huowang or not. Are you the same Li Huowang that I know of?"
"What?!" Li Huowang's pupils shrank from surprise. He almost wanted to stop Monk from speaking any further.
"The things that I am about to say next may sound preposterous, but seeing how you saved me so many times, you need to trust me. I am not Monk, and you are not Li Huowang. All of these are identities that we've borrowed from someone else. Your true name is Peng Zhi and I am Peng Jiao. We are not real people. Our real identity is that of someone else's Three Corpses!"
"What the fuck are you talking about?!" Li Huowang was confused. "I'm not Li Huowang? And there is someone else called Li Huowang?"
Piu~
An arrow flew toward them. At the last moment, Monk pulled Li Huowang, causing the arrow to narrowly miss.
Sensing the urgency of the situation, Monk sped up his explanation. "Do you not know the Three Corpses of Taoism? Anyone who wants to become an Immortal must kill their Three Corpses! And, we are the Three Corpses! The upper corpse, Peng Ju is Dan Yangzi, the middle corpse Peng Zhi is you, and the lower corpse Peng Jiao is me! Now that Dan Yangzi has been slain, we are the only two left. We need to work together to live!"
"This... How could this be...." Li Huowang wasn't sure if he could trust those words. His entire perception of the world had been turned upside down in just a few seconds.
"Taoist! Look at me! You need to look at me!"
Hearing this, Li Huowang turned to stare at Monk; he could see how Monk was.
"The upper corpse, Peng Ju resides in the head, turning someone stupid and without wisdom; the middle corpse Peng Zhi resides in the chest, turning someone anxious, someone who can't calm down; the lower corpse Peng Jiao resides in the abdomen, causing a person to become greedy and lustful. Not everyone can abandon their instincts, but look! I've broken free of my nature. I was destined to be someone evil, but I persevered in doing good deeds! My instincts call on me to be lustful and greedy, but I refuse to follow them, choosing to become a poor and chastised monk! I alone shall control my life, not my instincts! I know that the instinct of Peng Zhi is to be anxious and doubtful, but Taoist, these are merely your instincts. You can fight back against them, just like me! Only then can we win against the one who is trying to kill us! We will finally be free after that!"
Chapter 156 - Peng Zhi
"I am one of the Three Corpses, Peng Zhi?" Li Huowang's brain was abuzz. His mind was a complete mess.
"How can that be? I was transmigrated here! How can I possibly be something stupid like Peng Zhi?" mumbled Li Huowang.
"It's no use even if you don't want to believe it. Currently, I need you to recall as much as you can and see if you are able to find something bizarre in the details that you remember."
"Details?"
While Li Huowang was reluctant, after thinking for some time, he did find many suspicious points. Dan Yangzi's idiotic pride and all his various bizarre encounters fit quite well with the hypothesis of the Three Corpses.
"One more thing. If I am correct, then you can't recall anything from your childhood, correct? This is natural, since we were never children to begin with. We were already adults when we took form!"
Monk's words made Li Huowang realize that he could indeed not remember anything from his time before Zephyr Temple. In fact, his very first memories were of him being within the Zephyr Temple!
"What's going on? What is real and what is fake?" mumbled Li Huowang as he felt his head splitting in pain as various pieces of information swirled within his mind.
"Peng Zhi! Don't think about it! Stop thinking! You have to go against your instincts! I did it and so can you! Don't think about it and don't doubt anymore. Only then can we win against that person!" said Monk as he shook both of Li Huowang's arms rigorously. "Pull yourself together. Do you see the people that are trying to kill us? The cultivator is using them to try and kill us! The moment he kills both of us, the cultivator will become an Immortal! We are in this together and we can never let his plan come to fruition!"
Li Huowang took deep breaths as he tried to calm himself down before turning to question Monk. "Monk, you—"
"Careful!" Monk quickly pulled him down as another arrow flew past Li Huowang's shoulder, taking off some of his hair.
"Why are you still asking questions at such a crucial time? Let's talk more once we leave here. Our enemies are quickly approaching!"
Hearing this, Li Huowang turned around and saw that the black dots chasing them had indeed become larger. They were chasing them on camels!
He could see that the assailants all wore wooden masks and had white fangs protruding out from their mouths, wriggling like antennas.
Li Huowang recognized them—they were the Nuo Opera performers!
He would've been fine if only the performers were the ones chasing them, but this time around they had brought an entire group of bandits with them!
The bandit had hidden their faces, allowing Li Huowang to only see their eyes that were filled with hostility as they raised their various weapons and hollered.
After a moment, Li Huowang stared into the distance, choosing to continue with his escape.
But just as he had taken a few steps, the sand dunes around him faded away into nothingness.
"Not again! Not when it's this dangerous!" shouted Li Huowang.
After a moment, he woke up and found himself strapped to a hospital bed.
At this moment, he could see Yang Na and his mother carefully moving a table and placing it near his bed.
"Peng Zhi." A faint voice rang out.
Hearing the voice, Li Huowang clenched his fist, his arms tied to the bed securely.
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then opened his eyes; however, he was still within the hallucination.
"Huowang, happy birthday! Do you remember my birthday? It is only three days away," said Yang Na. Currently, she was wearing a white sweater as she carefully placed a paper crown on Li Huowang's head. She hadn't noticed the changes in Li Huowang's expression just yet.
"Peng Zhi... Wake up..." The voice became louder.
Meanwhile, Sun Xiaoqin placed a cake on the table and started lighting up the candles on it.
On the other hand, the voice inside Li Huowang's ears suddenly became louder. "Peng Zhi, wake up! They are catching up to us!"
At the same time, the lights within the room were turned off. Then, both his mother and Yang Na stood beside him and smiled.
"Peng Zhi! Everything I've said is true! Don't think about the memories stored within Li Huowang's body! They are not yours! No matter how doubtful you are, they belong to Li Huowang and not you! You are only using his body. Fight against your instincts and forget about them!" said the voice.
"I'm not Li Huowang? The person my mother and Yang Na cared for, the Li Huowang they knew, was someone else?" Li Huowang's lips trembled as he saw them.
"Happy birthday to you~ Happy birthday to you~" The two of them started singing softly.
Staring at the warm and gentle sight in front of him, Li Huowang's lips continued to tremble. He bit his lips and swallowed the blood that flowed out from it.
He wanted to take a deep breath to calm himself down but he couldn't—he was afraid of scaring his mother and Yang Na.
Soon, the song came to an end. After that, Li Huowang slowly leaned his body forward and blew out the candles.
Li Huowang's sudden action surprised both his mother and Yang Na. "Huowang! When did you become coherent?"
However, instead of answering, he just smiled at both of them. "I want you to place a piece of cloth in my mouth. I'm afraid that I will get very loud later."
Just as he said those words, he felt an impact on his head causing stars to swim around his head. Slowly, everything around him fell apart.
"Wake up!"
At that moment, Li Huowang was back at the cold sand dunes, his face flat on the sandy ground. He was a bloodied mess.
He could see that their three horse carriages had been positioned in a circle and that everyone was taking refuge in the center. Many among them had taken up arms and were fighting against the assailants. Even so, they were slowly being pushed back.
There were just far too many enemies!
Seeing that the situation was dire, Li Huowang wanted to immediately help them.
But he did not move—he did not move because he saw someone standing on his right.
It was Monk.
Immediately, he turned to his left and saw another person—it was Monk, helping him up.
Seeing this, Li Huowang pushed them away. At this moment, there were two identical Monks!
Splurt!
An arrow pierced through Li Huowang's shoulder. However, neither did he feel any pain nor did he pay any attention to it. He just stared at the two Monks.
"Aiya! Taoist, you have been shot! Are you alright?" asked one of the Monks, about to approach Li Huowang. However, he was stopped by a shout from Li Huowang.
"Both of you! Stay back! I don't trust the two of you!" Li Huowang raised his sword in anger. He was afraid of being stabbed in the back if he didn't settle this right now.
Hearing this, the Monk standing closest to him was left speechless. "Peng Zhi, what do you mean by the two of us? That Monk is nothing more than your illusion. You can ask the others; they can't see the other Monk that you are talking about."
Chapter 157 - Peng Jiao
Li Huowang asked everyone around him and was surprised by what he heard from them.
"Senior Li, what are you talking about? There are no Monks with us at all. Forget that, and come help us; their archers are too strong!"
"Wait... Not even one Monk? Are both Monks part of my illusion? How could this be? There must be at least one of them here! No, this is impossible!" mumbled Li Huowang before staring at Yang Xiaohai. "When we were sending the urn of ashes, we encountered Monk and we even talked to him along the way! How can you possibly say that you didn't see him?"
The anxious Yang Xiaohai was lying flat on the ground as he stared at the enemies in fear. Hearing Li Huowang's question, he turned around, "Senior Li, there is no Monk. No one followed us along when we were sending the ashes."
"Impossible! I was talking to him the entire time. If he had been a fake, then that would have meant that I was talking to nothing but air. Are you blind? Why did you not tell me if I was talking to the air all that time?"
Yang Xiaohai cried from the pressure. "But Senior Li, you often talk with non-existent people. How would I know that this time was different?"
Shocked, Li Huowang fell onto the ground. "I speak to myself all the time? Then... what is real... and what is fake?"
As he mumbled, Li Huowang stared at the people surrounding him, smiling madly.
Bai Lingmiao, Puppy, Sun Baolu, Chun Xiaoman, Yang Xiaohai, Gao Zhijian, Lu Zhuangyuan, Lu Juren, Lu Xiucai, and everyone else. Their faces flashed in front of his eyes.
"Maybe... some of them are fake as well? Is this world the real one? Or is this side fake and the other side real? Which is fake?"
At that moment, the Monk closer to him pulled Li Huowang up from the ground. "See? I was right. You are indeed Peng Zhi, the one who doubts everyone the most. It's normal for you to always feel like something is off. If you think that the Monk standing there is real, then you can just go and touch him. The illusion of the Monk is over there, come! Let me bring you over to him!"
Li Huowang's mind was still buzzing when this Monk pulled him toward the other Monk.
Both Monks looked the same and were no different from each other.
"Taoist, are you alright?" asked the other Monk as he came over.
When the illusion of the Monk came over, Li Huowang's right hand phased through him. The Monk standing beside him was right—the one in front of him was nothing but an illusion, just like Jiang Yingzi.
"That means..." muttered Li Huowang, his face filled with pain.
"See? Didn't your hand phase right through? That means that I am real and that I am telling you the truth. You are Peng Zhi! You are not Li Huowang. We need to work together to—" said Monk before suddenly stopping halfway as he lowered his head—there was a blade embedded in his abdomen.
"Why?" asked Monk in a weak and trembling voice, feeling shocked as he looked at Li Huowang. "Wasn't the other Monk fake just like I told you? Why do you choose to ignore my words? Even though I've helped you so much throughout your journey, you are still trying to kill me?"
Li Huowang gritted his teeth and thrust his sword deeper into Monk's abdomen. "You are right, he was indeed fake. But... I am not Peng Zhi... I am Li Huowang!"
"Why? Why do you suddenly think that you are Li Huowang? Earlier, you had even been on the verge of believing me!"
Li Huowang snarled as he stabbed deeper into Monk. "I don't need any reasons! I am Li Huowang! I don't need any logic or evidence to prove my identity! Even if there's evidence showing that I am Peng Zhi, I still believe I am Li Huowang!"
Then, Li Huowang took a few steps forward and pinned Monk against the horse carriage.
Red blood flowed out from Monk's robes as he stared weakly at Li Huowang, using the last of his strength to question Li Huowang, "You... Have you ever thought that you might kill the wrong person? What if I am right?"
Li Huowang took a deep breath and shouted at Monk, "So what if you are right? So what if I am Peng Jiao?! I don't care! I am Li Huowang! I AM THE LI HUOWANG THAT MY MOTHER AND YANG NA CARE FOR THE MOST! NO ONE CAN TAKE THEM AWAY FROM ME!"
After Li Huowang's outburst was finished, Monk lowered his head.
Staring at the dead Monk, Li Huowang's face twitched as he continued to mumble to himself, "I am Li Huowang, I am Li Huowang, I am Li Huowang ..."
Every time he mentioned his name, killing intent arose within his heart. He kept thinking back to the birthday cake he had seen earlier.
"If the Li Huowang that Yang Na loved existed, then I would just kill him and steal his identity!" muttered Li Huowang.
Hearing this, Dan Yangzi's three faces turned scornful as he scoffed at him.
"Sigh... why are you such a crazy bastard? I had already been doing such a good job fooling you, so why aren't you following my plan? Why did you suddenly attack me? Ah! Such a hassle. But, it was so fun just now," Suddenly, the dead Monk spoke up, his face morphing into a rectangle while his facial organs melted and turned into two large circles.
Seeing this sudden change, Li Huowang was first surprised before becoming extremely angry. "I FUCKING KNEW IT! You are a liar! No, you are not just a liar, you are from the Sitting Oblivion Dao! You are Er Bing[1]!"
Li Huowang instantly realized who it was when he saw the face resembling a mahjong tile. He was a member of the Sitting Oblivion Dao that the Abbess had warned him about.
"Aaaaaaa! This is so annoying! You had already started to believe me, but then why did you suddenly attack me? You are such a crazy bastard!"
Er Bing's face quickly morphed into that of a beautiful woman. Then, she chuckled and quickly leaped to the top of the horse carriage.
As soon as all of the assailants spotted Er Bing, they stopped.
Meanwhile, Li Huowang ran up to the roof of the carriage and saw that Er Bing had joined their attackers and was getting further away.
Seeing how the Nuo Opera performers and the bandits didn't attack her, Li Huowang knew that she was the one who had orchestrated all of this!
There are no Three Corpses! 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖
Everything had been a lie created by the Sitting Oblivion Dao!
1. Er Bing refers to the name of the mahjong tile that this fellow's face resembles and thats why Li Huowang calls them that ?
Chapter 158 - Er Bing
"Look! I've forced him to come out! He's that crazy bastard who joined the Sitting Oblivion Dao! He's Dan Yangzi, the very same man that used mercury to flay your family before burying them underground! He's the culprit!" Er Bing pointed at Li Huowang as she shouted in an exaggerated manner.
Upon hearing her words, Li Huowang shouted in anger, "You damn liar!"
Li Huowang was so angry that he almost spat blood.
This damned bastard is lying about me being a part of the Sitting Oblivion Dao!
"That lady is the one from the Sitting Oblivion Dao! She can change her face freely! You guys are being lied to!" shouted Li Huowang.
However, even though Li Huowang told them the truth, none of them listened to him.
One of the Nuo Opera performers wearing the wooden mask glared at Li Huowang with intense hatred. "Not only have you killed my people, but you even sent that old man to probe us and then even rushed into our house to threaten us! Even with death at hand, you still think you can fool us? Dream on! Don't you dare think that the Lai household can be bullied by you, Dan Yangzi!"
At the same time, the masked bandit standing beside the Nuo Opera performer got excited as he started shouting, "Ptui! Fucking bastard! How dare you kill my sworn brother?! Just you wait, I will personally torture you once we have captured you!"
Li Huowang wanted to explain himself, but no one listened to him. Soon, under Er Bing's deception, they all took up their weapons and started charging toward the horse carriages.
Bam!
The horse carriages were pushed a few inches back while the carriages themselves started to crack.
Meanwhile, the scared Lu family huddled together in the center of the circle.
At that moment, a familiar scream rang out, causing Li Huowang to turn around amidst all the chaos.
He saw that a barbed arrow had shot past Bai Lingmiao's right shoulder, shearing off a chunk of her flesh.
Seeing that Bai Lingmiao was injured, Li Huowang was enraged; it was as if he was the one that got wounded instead. Immediately, he jumped down from the horse carriage.
"How many times must I tell you that you are all being lied to!" shouted Li Huowang. At the same time, cold steel flashed, and both humans and horses fell apart as they screamed in pain; Li Huowang had cut through them effortlessly.
Li Huowang had only recently learned how to use the sword properly and this was a good chance for him to quickly master it; the best method to do so was real combat.
"Give me back my grandson's life!" shouted an old man.
On the other hand, Li Huowang just took a step back before cutting the old man down.
"AAAAARGH! He was only six! What sin did he commit?! He was the only descendant of our family! Why did you kill him?!" shouted the old man. Even as he bled profusely, he refused to die. He pounced toward Li Huowang's leg before forcefully biting down with his white fangs.
"I've told you so many times that it was not me!" denied Li Huowang.
Bam bam bam!
Li Huowang kicked the old man numerous times, causing his head to become dented.
Then, Li Huowang once again started to mow through the enemies, slicing them in half in almost no time. The more he killed, the more familiar he grew with the sword, and the more his killing intent grew.
Given Li Huowang's heightened senses, he should've already been able to locate Er Bing amongst the crowd. However, for some reason, he was unable to do so. Thus, he concluded that she had a method to hide her presence.
After a while, Li Huowang bit his lips and glared at the crowd of assailants with eyes filled with killing intent. "ER BING!"
Hearing his shout, a woman wearing a coin veil popped out from the crowd. She revealed her mouth and smiled before disappearing behind a burly bandit.
"You crazy bastard from the Sitting Oblivion Dao, your evil-doing days are over!" shouted Li Huowang as he unfurled the Profound Records and took out his pliers.
Then, he ripped out three of his molars, using that to pay the price required by the Profound Records. The molars exploded in the air and pierced through everything in their path, be it leather armor or wooden masks.
Soon, the massive crowd of enemies in front of Li Huowang fell to the ground, allowing him to pinpoint Er Bing's location.
Just as he was about to chase her, the remaining assailants encircled him once again, stopping him from getting closer to Er Bing.
As Li Huowang saw Er Bing getting further away, he gritted his teeth and aimed his sword at his own forearm.
However, just as he was about to slice off his forearm, a tall figure appeared in between him and the enemies.
Gao Zhijian swung his large club mercilessly, causing bits of red and white to splash all over the place.
"Summon~ The~ Gods~"
At the same time, a red-veiled woman rushed forward along the beat of a drum, using her beastly jaws to tear through the enemies' throats.
Chun Xiaoman also arrived beside him with her bloodied sword. She panted while fighting off the enemies. "Senior Li! We are here to help you!"
As he saw his comrades, Li Huowang kept away his swords. "Ok! Follow me and chase after that woman. She's the mastermind who orchestrated all of this!"
After a while, they slowly closed in on Er Bing while fighting off their enemies. All the while, sounds of painful shrieks, cracking bones, and metallic clashes rang out continuously.
Er Bing finally had nowhere else to hide. Forced into a corner, she suddenly started laughing as she ran toward Li Huowang's group. At the same time, she threw something out from her sleeves.
No one had expected such a situation. Instinctively, Li Huowang blocked with his sword.
At that moment, a metallic die covered in flames flew high up into the air, covered by a faint glow that indicated a spell inscription.
Er Bing made a seal with her palms causing the flaming metal die to start spinning before embedding itself into Gao Zhijian's temple.
"Simpleton!"
"Gao Zhijian!"
Slowly, Gao Zhijian's massive body fell to the ground, his eyes growing more and more unfocused.
"Hehe, now this is how it should be. It's much more fun if someone dies~" Er Bing laughed as she produced two black dominoes from her sleeves.
She held both the dominoes in one hand while using the other hand to perform hand seals. "Seven, eight but not nine~ Make it a poisoned hand if nine~ Golden four, silver five and a stool, supports the Heavens and Earth, meeting fleet fully with four, five, and six~"
As she chanted, the two dominoes became soft and long, slowly seeping through her fingers as they started burrowing into the ground.
But at that moment, something unexpected happened—something Er Bing could never have foreseen.
An arm with two fingers burst forth from the ground, grabbing the two dominoes and stabbing into Er Bing's abdomen at the same time.
Er Bing spat out blood and raised her head. At that moment, she saw Li Huowang slowly stand up from a kneeling position, his left sleeve looking completely empty and billowing in the wind.
Meanwhile, Li Huowang's severed arm continued to tighten its grip until it managed to snap Er Bing's waist.
Chapter 159 - Liar
Li Huowang almost passed out from the pain, but somehow endured it as he ran over and sliced off Er Bing's face, revealing the bloody, mahjong tile face hidden underneath.
Li Huowang grabbed Er Bing's neck and raised her into the air. "Stop fighting! Look at this! She's someone from the Sitting Oblivion Dao! Everyone here has been lied to!"
But his only response was an arrow to his abdomen—they were all beyond reasoning.
It might've been a misunderstanding in the beginning, but at this point, too many people had died. There was no turning back.
Li Huowang threw Er Bing down and crushed the bones in all her limbs before charging into the battlefield. "Xiaoman, make sure she doesn't escape!"
As she saw Li Huowang become a demon of bloodshed, Er Bing started chuckling.
Seeing this, Xiaoman placed her sword on Er Bing's neck. "You still have the gall to laugh? You will be crying soon enough."
Hearing this, Er Bing started laughing even more loudly, all while her face underwent numerous transformations before settling on a new face. "When should I be laughing if not now? Risking my own life to fool someone feels especially amazing."
Today, Jiang Yingzi did not glare at Li Huowang like she usually did. Instead, she was looking at Er Bing with a complicated look on her face; among the various faces that Er Bing's face transformed into was the face of Elder Yan Jianxi.
After a while, the assailants finally retreated; not because they had realized that it was all a ploy devised by Er Bing, but because they'd lost too many men.
The sky slowly brightened while the sound of horse hooves and camel bells gradually became distant, leaving an entire battlefield littered with bodies as well as several camels with no owners.
As the sun gradually arose at the horizon, the blood on the ground, as well as everyone's bodies looked a lot more red.
Li Huowang had suffered numerous injuries, yet he still stood tall like a statue amidst a pool of blood.
In this battle, both parties had been innocent, but the Sitting Oblivion Dao's devious plot pushed both sides past the point of no return.
At this moment, Jiang Yingzi was staring at the scene in front of her, panicking; it was as if she was finally starting to piece the puzzle pieces together.
"Hahaha! Not bad! Not bad at all." The limbless Er Bing laughed.
Her voice attracted Li Huowang's attention as he too started to laugh. Then, Li Huowang let go of his sword and stumbled back.
Once he reached Er Bing, he stuffed several Blood Nourishing Pills into her mouth and instructed Xiaoman, "Go and fetch the Golden Wound medication that we bought in town."
"What?" Xiaoman thought she had misheard.
"Did you not hear what I said? Go and bring the Golden Wound medication, NOW!" shouted Li Huowang.
Once she retrieved it, Li Huowang carefully scattered the medication on Er Bing's disembowelled intestines. Then, he unfurled his torture tools in front of her before speaking lightly, "Feel like confessing?"
Er Bing was confused. "Confess? Did I do something that I need to confess?"
Li Huowang positioned Er Bing's listless right arm and carefully used his torture tools to pry out her fingernails, one by one. He didn't stop until all five fingernails on her right arm had been pried out. "Feel like confessing?"
"What do you want me to tell you?" asked Er Bing.
"DO YOU FEEL LIKE CONFESSING OR NOT?!" Li Huowang rammed his remaining hand into one of her eye sockets.
As Li Huowang crushed one of her eyeballs, Er Bing screamed in pain.
"Do you feel like confessing yet?!" asked Li Huowang once again.
"Senior Li, are you alright?" Bai Lingmiao approached carefully.
Li Huowang took a deep breath and gently said to her, "I'm fine. Help me check on the others. Summon the Immortals to heal those who have been heavily injured."
Just as Bai Lingmiao left to follow his instructions, Li Huowang stomped on Er Bing's intestines, and shouted in a voice filled with anger and hatred, "JUST TELL ME EVERYTHING!"
However, at this point, he didn't want her to tell him anything; he just needed an outlet to channel all his rage. He wanted to get his revenge on Er Bing. Everything had happened because of her, so she needed to pay the price.
Li Huowang often used only some of the torture tools, leaving the other tools untouched. However, those tools now had their chance to shine.
As more and more of his torture tools were stained with blood, Er Bing's once beautiful figure transformed into a bloody human stick.
Throughout the process, the intense pain caused Er Bing to faint and wake up over and over again.
However, Li Huowang didn't let her go regardless of how painful it was.
After a while, Er Bing stared at him with her one remaining eye and started laughing, her laughter gradually getting louder and louder.
The more she was tortured, the louder she laughed.
Eventually, Er Bing's breathing grew faint. Finally, Li Huowang, who was panting heavily, lost his patience and used his sword to aim for her heart.
"Li Huowang, wait, can you help me and ask her a question?"
This sudden voice caused Li Huowang to stop. He turned around and saw who it was that had spoken to him.
It was Jiang Yingzi's illusion.
At this moment, she looked conflicted, a mix of expectations and fear.
"Can you ask her if the Sitting Oblivion Dao was the one responsible for the massacre of my town four years ago?" asked Jiang Yingzi.
This question immediately caught Li Huowang off-guard, so much so that he didn't even notice how bizarre his illusion was.
At that moment, Li Huowang's pupils shrank, and he had a bold hypothesis. When he asked Er Bing the question, the latter started laughing loudly. "Hehehe~ Didn't you kill them? Be more confident! After all, you are a Strayed One! It's a piece of cake for you to kill those tens of thousands of people!"
As soon as she said those words, her remaining eye was crushed by Li Huowang. "You guys were the ones responsible for it! The massacre from four years ago was done by you guys! And you framed me!"
On the other hand, Jiang Yingzi's body became unstable and she started crying. She dragged her wounded body and approached Li Huowang. "Li Huowang, I was wrong. The Sitting Oblivion Dao was the one who killed my family. We've all been fooled."
Then, without even waiting for his reply, she wiped away her tears. "Li Huowang, I know it's too much for me to ask this, but can you get revenge for my family? If you help me, then I will tell you something important."
Hearing that, Li Huowang was curious but snapped out of it in an instant. "Why should I listen to an illusion like you?"
"I might be an illusion, and so was Monk, but Dan Yangzi is not! He's real! The elders of the Ao Jing Sect had all been replaced by the members of the Sitting Oblivion Dao! You've been fooled by them! They did not help you get rid of Dan Yangzi, but instead hid him further down inside of you! Your personality is still being influenced by Dan Yangzi!"
Just as Yingzi had just finished telling those words to Li Huowang, her body slowly started disappearing. "I'm sorry..."