"Senior Li? What's the matter?" asked Puppy cautiously, his heart thumping loudly when he saw Li Huowang suddenly start to chew on the object. "Oh no, Senior Li is having an episode again."
However, Li Huowang completely ignored what Puppy thought, and focused on slowly savoring the taste of the layer of skin. The more he chewed, the more excited he became.
This taste is unmistakable! It's definitely the skin of a Black Taisui! I can finally do something about my hysteria!
Though the skin was completely dried up, Li Huowang had seen it once before, and he knew that the Black Taisui would turn into a puddle after it died, leaving behind only this layer of skin. The reason why it became like this was that the Black Taisui would be dehydrated after its death.
Currently, he didn't have any methods to deal with his hallucinations, and finding a method to resolve the issues related to being a Strayed One was simply a distant dream with extremely slim hopes.
However, a Black Taisui could help him isolate the hallucinations, something which was very useful even if the effect was just temporary!
"Bun! Where did you find this thing?" Li Huowang turned to ask Bun.
"Woof woof..." The dog's ears drooped as it cocked its head toward him, clearly not understanding what he was trying to ask.
Seeing this, Li Huowang directly placed the Black Taisui skin in front of its nose. "Smell it! Find where it came from!"
"Woof woof!" This time, Bun seemed to understand Li Huowang's intention. It sniffed the black skin, and then turned around before running toward the nearby grassland.
"Leave the ox-carts with Sun Baolu for now! We're not leaving yet; we will only leave after we find the Black Taisui!" instructed Li Huowang as he used his crutch and started hobbling to chase after Bun.
Though the others did not know what Li Huowang was up to, they still followed after him. They were afraid about him having another episode in his current state.
This time around, Bun ran quite far away, to the point that even Li Huowang's armpits began to bleed from the friction caused by the crutches rubbing against his armpits as he chased after it.
Dadada~
At that moment, the sound of horse hooves rang out, causing Li Huowang to turn over and see Sun Baolu who was riding a horse with some Qing Qiu people following behind him.
"Senior Li, what are you looking for? Get on the horse, and I'll bring you there!" said Sun Baolu.
Hearing this, Li Huowang stepped onto the saddle and mounted the horse, and then pointed toward Bun who was running into the distance. "Follow it!"
The horse was obviously much faster than Li Huowang, and so they would at least not be left behind.
As the sun gradually rose higher and higher into the sky, the air around them became noticeably hotter.
So far? Where did Bun find the Black Taisui from?
As he thought about it, Li Huowang touched the sword on his back. Black Taisui may have been dangerous to him previously, but it was definitely less so now.
Right now, he couldn't consider whether or not the Black Taisui would threaten him. Instead, he had to consider how he could capture it alive, imprison it, and then consume its flesh in a sustainable way.
While Li Huowang was busy pondering these issues, Bun, who had been running ahead frantically, suddenly vanished.
When the horse passed by, Li Huowang found that Bun had not truly disappeared. Instead, it had run into a low-lying area of a grassfield.
There was an irregular round hole on the left side of the depression, one which resembled the rabbit holes commonly seen on the grasslands. However, no matter how one looked at it, this hole did not seem like it was something that was dug by a rabbit. It was too large, and was at least a foot wide.
Li Huowang dismounted and approached Bun, who was circling around the area. As he approached, he noticed the traces on the ground, which seemed like the traces left behind by a Black Taisui.
The scattered black skin had been dispersed by the Qing Qiu wind, and only some pieces were left behind. However, the traces of blackened water had not yet vanished completely.
Li Huowang recognized this black water. It was something sprayed out by a Black Taisui right before its death. In the area he was standing, any grass that had been touched by this black water had withered completely.
The traces of the black water extended from inside the round hole. Li Huowang could roughly ascertain the situation based on what he had seen so far.
The Black Taisui should have been living within this hole, but had somehow suffered some sort of fatal injury. Then, it used the last of its energy to climb out before finally dying outside.
Then, the skin it left behind was picked up by Bun and brought back to him.
Well... Hopefully there was more than one Black Taisui within this hole.
As his thoughts reached this point, Li Huowang vigilantly approached the dim, round hole.
"Hold on!" shouted Sun Baolu as he rode his horse and rushed up before blocking Li Huowang's way to the entrance of the hole. Terrified, he jumped off his horse and grabbed Li Huowang. "Senior Li, you must not enter! You really must not!"
Sun Baolu's face was drenched in cold sweat. It seemed like he was terrified of the round hole, and did not even want to look at it.
"You've been here?" Li Huowang asked. Anyone who wasn't blind could see the terror he felt toward the hole.
"Senior Li, I beg you! Please, leave quickly! It's very dangerous here!" pleaded Sun Baolu.
Sun Baolu was almost kneeled down, but Li Huowang still didn't budge.
What joke is he playing? How can I let a Black Taisui run after finally finding some clues about it?
"Baolu, calm down. It's safe here. No one can harm you here," Li Huowang soothed him, gradually calming Sun Baolu down.
Then, Li Huowang took a water gourd from Gao Zhijian, and passed it to Baolu. "Take a sip. Your lips are cracking up."
After Sun Baolu drank all the water within, Li Huowang asked him once again, "What do you know about this place? What's inside here? I need to find something in there, and your information can help me a lot."
"Senior Li, you really mustn't go in there! Qing Qiu has no evil spirits, not because they vanished without a trace, but because they have all hidden themselves under the grass! That is the entrance to their hideout!" said Sun Baolu.
Hearing this, Li Huowang looked down toward the hole in the green grass which Sun Baolu was pointing his trembling finger at.
If that's the case, then everything under Qing Qiu's surface was evil?
Li Huowang shuddered at the thought.
After some consideration, he felt that this was within the logical limits in this crazy world. Otherwise, a Black Taisui wouldn't randomly appear in a place like this.
"That's all? Anything else? What else do your tribesmen know?" asked Li Huowang.
"Senior Li, don't go in! No one else knows what's inside! In Qing Qiu, there are orders not to even allow anyone to discuss what's inside this cave. Just mentioning its name and imagining its appearance can bring about a disaster!" pleaded Sun Baolu, trying to convince him.
After listening to Sun Baolu, Li Huowang pondered for a moment, and then spoke, "Alright, I got it."
Then, he used his crutches to walk toward the hole behind the horse.
"Senior Li, I've already made it so clear to you! Why are you still trying to enter it?! You will really die!" shouted Sun Baolu, jumping from anxiety.
Li Huowang looked at him, and then recalled the hallucination from earlier in the morning. At this point, he truly craved a Black Taisui which could help him isolate those hallucinations.
"I have already come across quite a few evil entities before, and I'm not a fledgling like before. Meeting one wouldn't necessarily mean defeat for me," said Li Huowang.
He truly did not want to experience the entanglement of the two worlds anymore. In fact, Li Huowang had little confidence in himself. He was afraid that he would end up delving deeper into the hallucinations if he experienced them a few more times.
"It's very dangerous inside. All of you stay here. I can deal with this myself." After Li Huowang instructed Bai Lingmiao and the rest, he walked into the cave on his own.
However, those words instantly displeased all of them. Puppy was the first to say something, "Senior Li, you can't do that! We can help you if we end up meeting trouble."
Li Huowang looked at Puppy's skinny body and felt annoyed. "And what can you help with? Even Bun is more useful than you! If you come with me, then I would have to protect you instead!"
Hearing that, Puppy lowered his head in shame. "How could you say that?! I actually had to gather a lot of courage to bring myself to say that. I also trained myself with a blade, or at the very least, if your illness strikes again, then I could tie you up with the chains."
"Senior Li, even if Puppy is useless, we can still be of use to you. You can enter, but you must bring us in!" Bai Lingmiao's face was serious as she held her drum and whip in her hands. Even though she had always been meek, her heart had always been abnormally resolute in dire situations. She would always take charge in certain situations.
At the same time, Gao Zhijian stepped forward as well. Even though he didn't say anything, his clenched fist already told everyone about his decision.
"Senior Li, since the Black Taisui can help suppress your illness, all of us are more than happy to help. The more people we have, the better. Also, we are different from Puppy," said Chun Xiaoman as she held the bronze bell in her hand.
Staring at their serious faces, Li Huowang felt happy in his heart. "Fine, but be careful. If there's anything wrong then we must immediately head back out."
After saying that, Li Huowang turned around as he prepared to bring the rest of them into the cave.
However, at that moment, Sun Baolu ran forward and stopped all of them.
"Why are you so persistent? Get away," snapped Li Huowang, finally getting annoyed.
Hearing those words, Sun Baolu's eyes went wide with agitation and he started taking off his clothes. His hands continuously trembled while untying the knots. "Senior Li! Listen to me! I went in there once. If you think you are fine with becoming like me, then I won't stop you! Senior Li, you once asked me why I hide my body, right? It's because I'm different from everyone! No matter what deformities you have, at least all of you are still human! But me? I'm a monster!"
As Sun Baolu's shirt started to slide off, Li Huowang saw a small pit the size of a thumb at the base of Sun Baolu's neck.
"What's that? Is that a belly button? Wait, that is a belly button! But why is Sun Baolu's belly button at the base of his neck?"
At that moment, Sun Baolu removed his shirt and showed everyone his body. With the exception of Chun Xiaoman and Bai Lingmiao who had turned around, everyone who saw Sun Baolu's body gasped.
"Sun... W-why are your or-organs messed up?" Puppy stammered.
At this point, Li Huowang finally understood why Sun Baolu had hidden his body from them all this time—it was because Sun Baolu's body was completely messed up. To be more accurate, all of his organs were located in the wrong places.
Sun Baolu's anus was located on his belly, while his belly button was at the base of his neck. His genitals were growing from where they shouldn't be growing, while his nipples were nowhere to be seen.
It was almost as if a child had used some clay to make Sun Baolu's body.
Meanwhile, as Sun Baolu saw their horrified faces, he felt more and more ashamed. He had always had nightmares about people finding out what his body looked like, and so he kept hiding it. To think that there would come a day when he would have to show it to everyone on his own.
After a moment, Li Huowang sighed and hobbled over before helping Sun Baolu wear his clothes.
"What happened to you?" whispered Li Huowang. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖
"Something touched me inside the cave and I became like this. Back then, it was too dark, and so I didn't see what it was. I just felt a giant brush touch my body and then I became like this." Sun Baolu trembled from fear as he recalled what had happened to him in the past. "Back then, I was still quite young. I was only seven when some of the lambs I was herding ran into this cave. Even though the adults had said that the caves were dangerous, me and my four friends thought that it would be fine. In the end, I was the only one who managed to escape."
As he spoke, Sun Baolu stared at Li Huowang with agitation. "Senior Li, you've saved my life and allowed me to finally come back home. I'm deeply indebted to you and I cannot let you die in there!"
Even now, Sun Baolu was still trying his best to persuade him.
Li Huowang sighed. He could feel the concern in Sun Baolu's voice. "You should know that there is probably a Black Taisui in there, right? Do you know what that means to me?"
As he spoke, Li Huowang calmly explained why he needed to enter the cave, "This is why I must enter the cave at all costs; if I don't, then I will forever be haunted by my hallucinations. It's the only cure that I know of. I know that you have good intentions and I appreciate it. But if you want the best for others, then you must never force your kindness on them. Instead, you should let them choose. Thank you for the information. It will be very useful to me."
Li Huowang patted Sun Baolu's shoulder before heading toward the cave; he was adamant about capturing a Black Taisui.
The others looked at each other before quickly following Li Huowang.
As Sun Baolu saw all of them disappear into the dark cave, he did his best to stop his legs from trembling. After hesitating for a while, he finally relented and followed after them. "Since all of you are entering the cave, then I will come as well! I've been here before and I can guide you!"
As they entered the cave, they took out the glowing green rocks. Everything around them had become eerily quiet. The sound of wind, as well as the warm sunlight had disappeared completely.
"Hu~" Li Huowang exhaled lightly and white mist came out from his mouth. "Baolu, has the cave always been this cold?"
Li Huowang's voice startled the tense Sun Baolu, but he quickly nodded. "Yes. It was this cold before as well. The deeper we walk, the colder it will get."
As he spoke, Sun Baolu quickly walked past them. "I will take the lead, but you guys must follow me closely. If we go slightly further ahead, then we will reach the point where I lost one of my friends."
Sun Baolu's warning immediately made everyone tense up as they held onto their weapons.
The cave was extremely silent. There were no other noises besides their footsteps.
It was not a limestone cave but a rocky one instead. The cave was slanted ever so slightly downward. This meant that the more they walked, the further away they were from the surface.
They slowly made their way down the cave. No one said anything as they walked. Even though they continued walking for a long time, they had yet to reach the bottom; it was as if the cave was never ending. Luckily the deeper they walked, the wider the cave got. Due to this, it was not as oppressive as it had been near the entrance.
"Wait, stop." Li Huowang saw something and kneeled down. He stared at the footprints within the cave.
"These are the footprints of an adult. Looks like someone else also came into this cave before... Everyone, be careful. Let's continue walking." Li Huowang stood up and continued walking down the cave. Compared to the evil beings, he was more afraid of encountering another human.
After all, if a human could enter this cave filled with evil beings so easily, then that would mean that the human had to be extremely powerful.
After a while, there was a turn in front of them. Sun Baolu stopped nervously and spoke, "Back then, when I passed through this point, one of my friends disappeared."
Sun Baolu's fear soon affected everyone else causing all of them to become a lot more alert.
Li Huowang pulled Sun Baolu back and walked to the front of the bend. He held his sword and stood there while surveying his surroundings, but in the end, nothing attacked him.
"Are you sure it's here? There's nothing on the ground except for two dead lambs," asked Li Huowang.
"Dead lambs?" Sun Baolu and the rest carefully approached Li Huowang and raised their glowing rocks. Just like Li Huowang said, there were two dead lambs and nothing else within the darkness.
Looking at their mummified bodies that were covered in dust, it was clear the lambs had lost their way in here and then died from hunger.
After a moment, Li Huowang sliced open the mummified lambs, causing the dried up organs within them to fall out.
However, Li Huowang did not stop there, and stomped the corpses of the lambs to bits. He was being cautious of the lambs suddenly being reanimated and attacking him.
Even though it might seem like he was being overly cautious, he would rather be safe than sorry in this situation.
After turning both the lambs to dust, Li Huowang sheathed his sword and continued walking.
Even though the cave became wider and larger the deeper they went, Li Huowang still couldn't see what was within the darkness.
The darkness within the cave was bizarre; it was as if it was even darker than the darkness found in other places. The glowing rocks in their hands only allowed them to illuminate a short distance away, while Li Huowang's eyes could barely see any further than that.
After walking for some time they soon encountered even more mummified lambs, but this time Li Huowang did not destroy them; there were just too many of them. They were littered across the floor, and there were at least 800 of them!
"We could attribute there being one or two dead lambs to them wandering in here and getting lost,, but more than a few hundreds? It's clear that someone did this purposefully. Someone herded the lambs into the cave and waited for them to die. But, who did this?" Li Huowng pondered out loud.
The body of the lambs were fine as well; there were no traces of them being bitten.
With all these indicators, it was clear that the Black Taisui was not around here. After all, it would never give up on the lambs since it required their meat to survive.
After giving it some thought, Li Huowang took out the dead Black Taisui skin from his pouch and once again placed it in front of Bun. "Bun, smell this and help us find its source."
Bun licked its lips and hesitantly walked forward.
Li Huowang waved his hand and everyone quickly followed after him. "Stay close. Don't fall behind."
"It should be fine in the short path ahead, but if we walk for another seven minutes or so, we will arrive at the place where I was hit by the brush last time around. That was also the farthest I went back then," Sun Baolu nervously reminded them.
The dead lambs littering the ground did not stop as they went deeper and deeper into the cave. Finally, after walking for ten minutes, they saw something different.
It was a massive bronze cauldron, roughly ten feet tall.
The giant bronze cauldron was covered in green rust and dust; it was as if it hadn't been used in a long time.
"Huh. This wasn't here when I last came here," said Sun Baolu, confused.
This fact instantly caused Li Huowang to raise his guard. He looked at the cauldron and then at the mass of dead lamb behind them. He felt that both of them were somehow connected. Li Huowang knew that a cauldron was an important object in ceremonies.
After a moment, Li Huowang circled around the cauldron and looked behind it. Just as he had expected, he found plates made from white jade, as well as the rotting carcasses of several animals that had been used as a sacrifice.
This place was indeed being used by someone for ceremonies.
Didn't Baolu say that this was the place where all the evil beings hid? Then why is there a ceremonial ground here? Unless... was it the evil beings who were conducting the ceremony? If so, what are they worshiping?
Li Huowang carefully approached the cauldron and looked inside. However, other than ashes, there was nothing else inside it.
"Ah!"
At that moment, a sudden cry rang out, surprising Li Huowang. When he swiftly turned around, he saw Bai Lingmiao hugging her Second Deity tightly.
"What's wrong? Did you see something?" Li Huowang quickly ran forward and asked.
"Lamb! The lamb!" shouted Bai Lingmiao as she pointed toward the left side of the cave. At the same time, she hugged the Second Deity even more tightly.
Seeing this, Li Huowang carefully approached the location that Bai Lingmiao was pointing toward and illuminated the area with his glowing rock. There, he found even more lamb corpses.
However, these corpses were different. These corpses were half human and half lamb! The corpse of an old man was just beneath Li Huowang's feet. When he checked, he saw that the old man had spiral horns growing out from his forehead. Right before his death, the old man had been touching his face with his hooves, his face filled with despair.
There was another corpse right beside the old man's corpse. The top part of this corpse belonged to a lamb, and had been skinned, but the bottom half was distorted, looking like a combination between a human and a lamb.
This was merely the start.
As Li Huowang raised his glowing rock and illuminated even more of the dark corner, he saw more and more corpses that were transformed half way through, each more horrifying than the last. It was no wonder that Bai Lingmiao was so scared.
As he looked at these half-human half-lamb corpses, Li Huowang instantly remembered the lamb corpses he had seen before. "Those weren't lamb corpses! Those were humans! They were transformed into lambs and then made into sacrifices!"
After coming to this realization, Li Huowang quickly ran toward the cauldron and saw rows and rows of lamb corpses, each of them placed neatly.
Upon realizing that the lambs were originally humans, it finally dawned on Li Huowang just how much danger they were in!
Someone had killed thousands of people over here just to offer sacrifices and worship!
When Li Huowang realized that all these dead lambs were humans that were transformed, he was beyond shocked.
Numerous questions raced through his mind.
What are they worshiping, and who are they?
However, in the end Li Huowang kept going back to the same two questions.
He needed to get the answers soon. If there was an evil sect within the depths of this cave, then he might have to reconsider whether he wanted to leave immediately or not.
While it was worth the risk to enter the dangerous cave to get his hands on a Black Taisui, it was not worth it to risk everyone's life.
At that moment, Sun Baolu noticed something. "Wait, Senior Li, something's not right. Look at how the offerings were placed. It's backward. Someone was... offering the animals to the dead lambs."
"They are not worshiping some deity but the lambs?" Li Huowang frowned as he continued to observe the dead lambs and the offerings.
"Is it a Lamb God? Sun Baolu, is there a Lamb God in Qing Qiu?" Puppy asked.
"Lambs are just livestock. Why would we worship livestock as gods? Qing Qiu doesn't have such a rule," replied Sun Baolu.
Meanwhile, Li Huowang quickly tried to recall the names of various sects and their powers.
The Righteous Monastery worshiped the lustful flesh Buddha; the Ao Jing Sect worshiped the pain-giving Ba-Hui[1], and the Benevolent Nunnery worshiped the decaying Bodhisattva.
As he thought about all this, Li Huowang had a sudden idea and accidentally said it out loud, "I get it. They are not worshiping the lambs themselves. The lambs are merely a metaphor or a vessel. They are worshiping death itself!"
"Huh?" No one else understood what he meant.
They didn't understand it, but Li Huowang did. He stood above the giant cauldron and stared at the corpses of the lambs below.
Someone or something had chased thousands of people in here and transformed them into lambs. Then, those that failed to undergo the transformation were cast aside, while those that managed to complete their transformation into lambs were herded and killed at the same time.
Once the lambs died, they started their ceremony. They were not worshiping the lambs, but the 'death' of the lambs itself!
As he carefully thought about the clues presented to him, he slowly deduced the intricacies of this world.
Not only were the evil beings of Qing Qiu all trapped underground, there was even a sect that worshiped death itself!
Worse still was the fact that Li Huowang didn't know whether this sect was formed by humans or something else.
Since the sect worshiped death, that meant that their powers were closely related to death. Just based on that information alone, Li Huowang realized the strength of their enemies and just how much danger all of them were in.
Realizing all this, Li Huowang quickly ran down and warned everyone. "Run! We need to get out of here, now! It's no longer an issue about facing a mere evil being anymore!"
Li Huowang was just about to lead everyone out when the sound of smacking wood suddenly rang out.
Dak~ Dak~ Dak~
Hearing this sound, Li Huowang unsheathed his sword while quickly scanning the darkness.
Dak~ Dak~ Dak~
The sound of smacking wood was rhythmic, and it came from everywhere, making it so Li Huowang could not determine where it originated.
Given that he did not know where the enemy was located, Li Huowang dared not rush in a single direction, afraid that he would crash into them.
Li Huowang bit his lips and focused, trying his best to locate the enemy based on the sound. He needed to know where the enemy was right now!
The sound slowly got louder and closer. Finally, Li Huowang's sharp senses allowed him to determine the source of the sound.
"IT'S ABOVE US!" shouted Li Huowang as he quickly looked up into the darkness and threw out the glowing rock in his hand. The glowing rock got stuck within the cracks of the ceiling, its light illuminating the top of the cave.
Finally, they saw what it was—a massive human face, one larger than a dinner table, was being illuminated by the green light of glowing rock.
The face was completely flat and it seemed like a man. Its skin was pale and it had an extremely large mouth. At this moment, two eyes the size of lanterns were staring at Li Huowang. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺
Behind the neck of the man was not a humanoid body, but a caterpillar-like body. At the same time, hands of various sizes could be seen holding the sheet together.
The rhythmic sound of smacking wood was originating from the body!
Li Huowang immediately recognized what it was. He had just seen it at the Women's Mountain!
Is that the Lion Dance from the Lion Dance Palace?! That can't be! It has a flattened dead human face and not a lion head! Were they the ones who conducted this ceremony? Are they not from the Lion Dance Palace but the Death Dance Palace[2] instead?!
Regardless of what it was, Li Huowang could not ignore that massive being at the top of the cave. After a moment, he decided to be the one to make the first contact with it.
Li Huowang carefully worded himself, "Masters from the Lion Dance Palace, I, Xuan Yang, greet you humbly. I have no intention of causing trouble for you by trespassing into your territory, but there is an underlying issue. I need to find a Black Taisui that can be refined into a pill. I've heard there was one in your territory, and so I came here to seek one. If the Masters from the Lion Dance Palace could help me find one, I will give a bountiful reward to the Lion Dance Palace."
While he didn't have a 'reward', the first thing he needed to do was get out of this situation. This was the best he could do for now.
But the Lion Dance did not react. It just continued to hang from the ceiling without saying anything. One might even have mistaken it for a hanging stone statue instead.
Why aren't they saying anything? Maybe they don't understand my language and can only speak the native Qing Qiu language?
Upon reaching this conclusion, Li Huowang turned around and instructed Sun Baolu what to say to the Lion Dance above.
However, just as Sun Baolu was about to talk to the Lion Dance, Li Huowang's body tensed up as he sensed an intense feeling of danger coming from behind him. He immediately dodged to the left.
But it was too late. Something hit his back forcefully, the impact causing him to be flung away.
"It's an ambush! The Lion Dance above is just a decoy!" shouted Li Huowang as he crashed into the darkness and struggled to stand up. When he finally managed to get up, he quickly inspected his back but was surprised to see that it was fine.
"Huh? What's going on?" Li Huowang felt his back before finally touching the Profound Records embedded underneath the skin of his back.
At that moment, he realized that it was the Profound Records that had blocked the attack. Even though the embedding process had been very painful, it was very useful. He now had armor on his back.
However, Li Huowang didn't have time to be happy. He quickly found his crutches and hobbled back to the light, finally seeing what it was that had ambushed him.
It was another Lion Dance, but this one had a flattened woman's face with red lips!
1. Ao Jing Sect is infatuated with stealing the power of Ba-Hui, and they actually worship the sacrificial god. Likely mistake by the author, similar to the earlier chapter ?
2. character for lion and death have almost the same pronunciation ?
The sounds of the bronze bell and drums filled the dark cave.
Ring~ Ring~ Ring~ Dong~ Dong~ Dong~
Amidst the harmony of the two sounds, the Wandering Gods, the Second Deity, and all of Li Huowang's companions were fighting off against the female Lion Dance.
Li Huowang did not run to help them. Instead he focused on the Lion Dance on the ceiling that was falling downward. He couldn't let the two Lion Dances trap them!
Jiang!
Li Huowang unsheathed his sword and ran as fast as he could toward the male Lion Dance.
Meanwhile, the various black legs of the Lion Dance under the white tassels and white sheet of the Lion Dance started to tap aggressively as it ran towards Li Huowang.
Soon both of them were close enough to see each other's faces, and both of them saw the killing intent contained within the other's eyes.
Both of them clashed. The giant Lion Dance rammed into Li Huowang, brushing the white tassels on its body toward Li Huowang.
But both of its attacks missed. On the other hand, Li Huowang raised his sword and sliced it downward toward the side of the Lion Dance.
Both of them quickly ran past each other. Li Huowang was unharmed while several feet of the Lion Dance were cut off.
What the Lion Dance saw was just an illusion of Li Huowang. Li Huowang had already separated his main body and illusion before he ran over here.
Staring at the unharmed Li Huowang, the Lion Dance's massive lantern-like left eye moved upward, revealing a round black hole. Then, seven to eight arms resembling dried up monkey paws extended outward from behind and placed themselves neatly into rows like eyelashes.
Soon, several irregularly-shaped eyes filled the empty eye socket. At the same time, the man's face became very scary with the several small eyes all staring at Li Huowang's true body.
Li Huowang clenched his teeth, feeling a chill run down his spine. Regardless of what it was, it was definitely not a Lion Dance!
After a moment, Li Huowang threw his crutches away and stabbed his broken leg into the ground. His eyes were filled with killing intent as he roared, "Come!"
Then, he held the sword in front of him before swiping his left hand toward the sword. Instantly, two of his fingertips were cleanly cut as they started expanding in midair. With a pop, the sharp bone exploded from the flesh and flew toward the Lion Dance.
The bone bullets were extremely fast. The Lion Dance failed to avoid them and soon, two bloody holes appeared on its large face.
The two bone bullets had penetrated the face and continued to penetrate through its entire body. Accompanying the sound of tearing flesh was the sticky black blood flowing down the feet underneath the white sheet.
The performers of the Lion Dance were hurt, but they did not give up. The Lion Dance shook its body rigorously and the white tassels shot themselves toward Li Huowang.
However, Li Huowang had already anticipated this. He quickly took out a plier and pulled two of his molars out of his mouth. The two molars exploded in the air, causing the white tassels to be torn apart and fall listlessly toward the ground.
At the same time, the Lion Dance itself was also torn by the shrapnels from the exploding teeth. Reddish-black blood seeped out of the white sheet, making it look even more fearsome.
At this point, while the Lion Dance had realized that it was no match for Li Huowang, it still didn't say anything. The feet below the white sheet quickly moved as they dragged away its torn body into the darkness.
But how could Li Huowang let it escape so easily? He quickly shoved the pliers into his mouth again.
In the face of Li Huowang's attacks, the wounded Lion Dance soon died.
Then, without waiting to catch his breath, Li Huowang quickly ran over to help out his comrades. Once he joined in, the other Lion Dance also fell quite quickly.
Li Huowang leapt onto the Lion Dance head and stabbed his sword down, slicing right through the neck and chopping off the Lion Dance's head!
Without the head, the Lion Dance soon slumped onto the ground.
Bam!
The Lion Dance fell heavily and thick blood seeped out from underneath it, staining the ground with reddish-black blood.
Li Huowang retrieved his sword and leapt down. Then, he looked at everyone who had been spooked and asked, "Is everyone alright?"
"Everything's fine. It's just that Gao Zhijian's left ear was touched by the white tassels, causing it to shift downward by an inch. Those white tassels were most likely the things that Sun Baolu had touched before," Chun Xiaoman answered him.
Li Huowang nodded when he saw Gao Zhijian now have one ear lower than the other. Then, he wiped the blood off his sword and placed it back into its sheath before turning around and inspecting the two Lion Dances.
Behind the flattened faces of the Lion Dance were not live humans, but masses consisting of fleshy corpses.
The entirety of the Lion Dance was just one body. It didn't matter whether they were the hands or the feet, all of them originated from a single, grotesque body. Underneath the white sheet, various organs were connected to each other with blood vessels, confirming Li Huowang's suspicions.
Li Huowang didn't know whether these beings were born like that, or whether they were made by humans. But no matter what, their situation was quite bad; in fact, it might have just gotten even worse.
The truly scary thing about the Lion Dances was the fact that they were not confined to the underground, and that they could appear in the open in Qing Qiu. They were even accepted as a part of life by the people of Qing Qiu!
But while Li Huowang was sad, he was no longer surprised anymore.
"Heavens... What is this..." Puppy was too shocked to even speak properly.
"Im... im... impossible! This cannot be right!" Sun Baolu stared at the Lion Dance corpse with a complicated look on his face. Everything that he had learned to accept in the past ten years was toppled over just like that. "Senior Li, what... What are they?"
At this moment, Li Huowang was standing beside the male Lion Dance corpse. He didn't have the luxury to think about what would happen to those living within Qing Qiu. In the end, they were just passers by who were passing through Qing Qiu so it didn't matter to him.
Instead, he was thinking about another problem.
Li Huowang stabbed the organs and flesh of the Lion Dance as he tried to find something.
"Senior Li, what are you finding?" asked Puppy.
"I'm finding Death," answered Li Huowang. However, Puppy didn't understand what he was saying.
"What?"
Li Huowang was too lazy to explain and just continued examining the massive corpses in front of him.
Something's not right here. The RIghteous Monastery had the lustful flesh Buddha and those monks could use powers related to flesh. The Benevolent Nunnery had the decaying Bodhisattva and they could use powers related to decay. But these Lion Dances... They did not use any powers related to death even though this place worships it... Unless... there's another sect underneath here?!
As his thoughts reached this point, Li Huowang turned to look toward the giant cauldron. His body felt numb from the cold. This place was far more crowded than he had originally thought.
"Woof!"
Bun's barking broke Li Huowang's train of thoughts as he saw Bun heading into the darkness.
"Daoist! Go and chase after it! The dog just caught a sniff of what you were looking for!" Monk's illusion quickly reminded Li Huowang.
"Black Taisui?" Li Huowang took a glance at the illusion and quickly hobbled after Bun. Everyone else followed after him.
Bun ran faster and faster through the cave. After a couple of turns, Li Huowang also started getting excited! He too could smell a Black Taisui!
The Black Taisui is nearby!
Li Huowang's heart started beating rapidly. But just as he was about to run faster, Li Huowang felt his scalp tingle and he immediately ducked. Thankfully, he managed to duck just in time, allowing something to swing past where his head had just been.
Bam!
Gao Zhijian slammed that thing with his mace and helped Li Huowang escape whatever it was. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞
When Li Huowang stood up once more, he saw that the thing had slipped back into the darkness.
Everyone else grouped around Li Huowang and readied their weapons.
Li Huowang's body was tense as he asked Gao Zhijian, "Did you see what it was?"
"Meat... meathook!" Gao Zhijian explained what he saw.
"A meathook? Another evil being is here? Why can't we just catch a break." Li Huowang stared into the darkness alertly.
"Did you see it?" Li Huowang spoke to Monk's illusion.
"No, I was distracted," replied Monk.
Dak dak dak~
At that moment, something came from Li Huowang's left side, causing everyone to point their weapons there, only to find that it was Bun running toward them.
Bun placed its head onto the ground and barked at Li Huowang.
"Daoist, it's asking why aren't you following it?" suggested Monk.
Li Huowang frowned. "Shut up. As if you know how to talk to dogs."
Seeing this, everyone was surprised as they stared at Li Huowang.
"Senior Li, please don't get one of your episodes over here. If you do, then we will really be done for." Puppy trembled.
Li Huowang frowned at him and then looked at Bun. "Why did that thing attack me and not Bun?"
But no one could answer him. Meanwhile, Bun just wagged its tail and walked around in circles. Looking at how impatient it was, the thing they were looking for should be close.
Staring at the darkness ahead, Li Huowang decided to follow Bun. They were already here and it would waste all of their efforts if they decided to turn back now.
"Come! Everyone, follow me! Remember! Don't lose track of anyone and don't fall behind," instructed Li Huowang. In order to prevent another ambush, all of them huddled around before walking forward carefully.
Because of the thing just now, Li Huowang kept looking upward to see if there's anything on the ceiling.
On the other hand, when it saw its owner start to walk, Bun continued to trace the scent into the cave.
Nothing happened for the next two hours; neither the meathook nor the Lion Dance made an appearance. It was quiet, too quiet.
All of them were feeling oppressed by their surroundings. Within the dark and silent cave, everyone was tense; after all, anything could leap out from the darkness at any time. Cold sweat dripped down from their faces.
"Shhh! Quiet! I think we found it." Li Huowang stared at the writhing tentacles within the darkness. Even though it was still blurry, Li Huowang was sure that it was a Black Taisui!
The Black Taisui was curious by the sudden light and extended one of its tentacles to touch the glowing green rock.
"We finally found it." Li Huowang's breath became soft. It was as if he was afraid of scaring the Black Taisui away.
"Senior Li, how should we bring it back?" Sun Baolu whispered.
Li Huowang stared at the Black Taisui and pondered about it. This Black Taisui was quite a bit bigger than the one in the Zephyr Temple.
"Zhijian, bring me the chains that all of you use to tie me up. We might need to surround and ambush it. When we act later, be careful not to kill it," said Li Huowang.
As everyone moved around slowly, the chains slowly wrapped around the Black Taisui.
When Li Huowang gave the signal, Gao Zhijian raised his mace and ran over to the Black Taisui, as if about to smash it into pieces.
Bam!
At that moment, several translucent tentacles exploded from the Black Taisui's flesh and stabbed toward Gao Zhijian.
In the instant it attacked, everyone raised the chain and ran around it.
They were trying to bind it!
Li Huowang also shot forward and cut down the tentacles with his sword.
Compared to the Lion Dance, the Black Taisui was an easier foe for them to subdue. Even so, it was a ridiculously hard task to capture it without killing it. They could use all of their techniques to kill the Lion Dance, but they couldn't use them against the Black Taisui.
After all, they could neither be too hard on it nor too soft.
Li Huowang's group wanted to use the chains to capture it, but the Black Taisui's tentacles kept disrupting them.
The situation got chaotic very fast.
At this point, Li Huowang's plan has gone completely awry! The tentacles did not disappear after he chopped them off; instead, even more of them extended from where he had cut them.
At the critical moment, all of them heard something coming from their left.
Something was approaching them!
Peng! Shua!
The sound was too bizarre, completely unlike anything Li Huowang had ever heard before.
Shit! Something is coming and I can't wait any longer! I guess I have no choice.
Making up his mind, Li Huowang took a deep breath and quickly took out a dagger before cutting off the skin on his torso.
He peeled off the skin and flesh, revealing his white ribs to the air.
Then, without heeding the pain that almost made him pass out, Li Huowang threw the large piece of skin towards the Black Taisui. It quickly expanded and captured the Black Taisui. No matter how many tentacles the Black Taisui spawned to stab at the skin, it was useless!
"Let's go!" Li Huowang ignored his pain and ordered everyone to run in the opposite direction with the Black Taisui.
They were faster than whatever that thing was, and so the sounds slowly grew silent.
"Senior Li, you are hurt." Bai Lingmiao glanced at Li Huowang's shirt which was gradually becoming more and more red. As she spoke, she took out the Golden Wound medication and spread it across his torso.
Li Huowang almost had the urge to kill himself from all the pain and the medication, but when he saw Gao Zhijian dragging the Black Taisui, he once again found the drive to live.
Li Huowang smiled. Amidst the intense pain wracking his body, he started laughing.
Finally... he had finally found the method to stop the hallucinations once and for all.
"Wang Wei, didn't you say that that side is reality? If you can still drag me back to 'reality' after I consume the Black Taisui, then I will believe you!" Li Huowang laughed, mumbling within the darkness.
"Senior Li, who's Wang Wei?" Hearing his mumblings, Bai Lingmiao asked out of curiosity.
Li Huowang shook his head. "Hehe, Wang Wei is just a nobody. He doesn't exist."
Bai Lingmiao helped him up and they quickly retraced their steps. Compared to when they came in, the road back wasn't as bad.
Since none of them died and they even found the Black Taisui, everyone felt relieved. Still, they wanted to head out as soon as possible.
"Senior Li, once we get back out, can we rest at Sun Baolu's place for a few days? I want to eat more roasted lambs before we leave. I feel like I've lost six months of my life," Puppy pleaded with Li Huowang, his white patchy face revealing a tired expression.
Li Huowang looked at everyone else and noted their tiredness before agreeing, "Sure. It's thanks to everyone that we succeeded this time. We should get some more rest."
In the end everyone was a living human. He had to consider the limits of their physical capabilities as well.
Hearing Li Huowang's agreement, Puppy clenched his fist in excitement. Just the thought of the lamb meat already caused him to start salivating. "Haha! The things I had heard about the roasted lamb meat of Qing Qiu was not exaggerated in the slightest! Other places simply can't compete with it!"
"Wait, Puppy, what are you holding in your hands?" asked Li Huowang when he saw some white threads floating in Puppy's fist.
Puppy opened his fist and showed Li Huowang. "Oh this? These are the white threads on the Lion Dance. I cut down quite a lot of it. Since it could turn Sun Baolu into what he is today, this must be quite a special item. I think that I can sell it once we reach someplace big, like the capital of Liang Kingdom. We should also consider our finances as well, right? After all, we've already used a lot of our money throughout our journey."
Within Puppy's fist was a pouch woven from thick cloth. Inside the pouch were bundles of white threads that looked like cotton.
Li Huowang shook his head. Puppy never failed to surprise him when it came to money. "The Lion Dances are already dead and so these might not even work anymore. And yet, you still took them with you?"
Puppy heard Li Huowang's words and felt that it was indeed possible for them to no longer work. His heart started pounding as he gingerly extended his pinky finger and swiped it against one of the white threads.
At that moment, Puppy saw with his very eyes as his fingernail shifted to the other side, while his fingerprints shifted to where his fingernail was before.
"This... this ..." Puppy checked his pinky fingernail and stared at Li Huowang helplessly. "Senior Li, it's still working, but now... my pinky finger is upside down..."
"Why are you panicking? It should be fine, plus there's no need to sell them for money. Why don't you research how to use them to kill enemies? For example tying one of them to a needle and shooting the needle through a blow pipe or something," suggested Li Huowang.
Li Huowang's advice caused Puppy's eyes to light up! "Hey! You are right! Senior Li is indeed a knowledgeable person! You are so much smarter than me!"
Puppy was excited! With these white tassels, he too could also be considered someone with supernatural powers!
It doesn't matter if it's real or fake, but now, I will also be able to show off to the women and make them want to marry me! I will also be able to help Senior Li next time if there's trouble!
As he thought about this, Puppy ignored his inverted pinky finger and quickly kept the pouch of white tassels securely inside his shirt.
While Puppy was busy considering the possibilities, everyone else started to slow down.
"Wait, this isn't right. We've walked so far and yet we still haven't even reached the cauldron?"
Li Huowang's words were like a splash of cold water on all of their faces. Not only did it extinguish all of their happiness, it even made them feel somewhat scared.
All of them stared into the darkness, trying to find something familiar they could recognize.
But everything within the darkness looked the same to them.
"This place isn't right! It could make us lose our way!" At this point, all of their relief was gone and they started panicking again!
"Don't panic! Look at the foot prints! We just need to use them to retrace our steps!" said Li Huowang, causing all of them to lower their glowing rocks toward the ground.
Seeing the clearly visible footprints, they finally calmed down a little.
"Let's slowly retrace our steps," instructed Li Huowang.
Everyone followed Li Huowang's orders and slowly retraced their steps, even if some of their footprints weren't all that clear in certain places. There was also the trail of blood that Li Huowang had left from when they were walking just now.
An hour passed as they continued to retrace their steps, but they had yet to reach where the Lion Dance corpses were. They were certain they hadn't walked so far away. Even so, the blood stains continued leading them into the darkness.
Sun Baolu was the first one to start despairing. "Senior Li, we can't go out anymore. The cave has eaten us."
Li Huowang wasn't feeling good about being forced into the dead end either. However, at that moment, he heard something.
"Sh!" Li Huowang lowered his body and placed his ear onto the ground.
Li Huowang slowly crept forward. "Everyone, hide your glowing stones. Someone's coming."
Hearing his words, everyone kept away their glowing stones, allowing the darkness to engulf them. All of them were feeling afraid as they held onto each other to prevent themselves from getting separated.
"What do you mean you heard someone? I'm not hearing anything?" asked Puppy. However, just as he said this, Li Huowang silenced him by covering his mouth.
They continued walking slowly until Li Huowang suddenly stopped. Everyone tried their best to listen but heard nothing.
However, Li Huowang heard it clearly. It was an old man's voice.
"Let me test you. We are born as humans, but what is a 'human'?" asked the old man.
A child's voice answered him, "Humans are made of flesh, so the flesh is human."
Li Huowang frowned and stopped as he listened to their conversation.
"Wrong! The flesh is nothing but a vessel," said the old man.
"But Master did not say that. He just told me to stop thinking too much and taught me that humans are made of flesh," said the child.
"Shh! Don't listen to Master. That old man is just making stuff up! Everything is a lie," said the old man.
"Can you stop talking in circles? If you don't want to tell me, then don't! It's so annoying!" snapped the child.
At this point, the old man's voice became conceited as he started explaining, "Humans are One, and One is humans. Everyone has One, and One becomes Two. From there the cycle of life and death is born. Two becomes Three, and then it becomes the Three Corpses and Seven Emotions. The path to cultivating the Dao is to cultivate the One. In order to do so, we must first abandon the Seven Emotions and kill the Three Corpses to return back to One!"
Li Huowang was crawling on the ground while trying to pinpoint the location of the two voices. He started listening to their conversation.
Cultivation of Dao? Is he a Daoist? Is he talking to someone else? But it doesn't seem like a Daoist that I know, or at least I don't know any Daoists that cultivate the One.
As Li Huowang continued listening to them, the two of them continued with their discussion, the girl was scoffing at the older man.
"What rubbish are you talking about? Your mother was pregnant for ten months before she gave birth to you. Don't you think it's stupid to abandon your flesh?" said the girl.
"No, no! You must be thinking that the flesh on our bodies, the Seven Emotions, and the Three Corpses all belong to us, but that's wrong! They all belong to someone else! Even life and death belonged to someone! It was them who gave it all to us!" said the older voice.
"They belong to someone?"
"That's correct! The pain of our body, the smile on our faces, our previous lives, and our future lives all have an owner! Do you think it's good for us to carry all that with us? No, they are all shackles! We need to remove all of them! Fifty Major Daos, and the Heavens controlled forty-nine of them; on the other hand, we humans only needed to have access to one! That is how we become One!"
After hearing all that, the girl asked the question that Li Huowang wanted to ask. "What happens after we become One?"
"Hehe, after we become One, no one owes anyone anything. Then, we will all be truly free, free from the Three Realms and Five Elements."
What are they talking about? What owners and what One?
Li Huowang frowned and tried his best to understand their conversation.
Do all of them have their respective owners? Pain belongs to Ba-Hui while happiness belongs to the God of Prosperity?
At that moment, Li Huowang instinctively remembered the big cauldron.
Are they... worshiping the owner of death?
Li Huowang shook his head and cast aside all excess thoughts.
No, I can't let myself get roped in by them. They might just be talking about what they believe in and it might not even be real. They might as well be another Dan Yangzi, thinking that they know everything while truly knowing nothing! I shouldn't be thinking about this right now. I should be thinking about how to react if I happen to meet them and how to get out of here. Should I just reveal myself to them?
Li Huowang thought about it but felt that it was too risky.
Staring at the darkness around him, Li Huowang thought about another idea.
Should I slowly tail them and hope that they will leave the cave? No, this is even worse than last time!
Just as Li Huowang was thinking about how to deal with both of them while escaping the cave, someone pulled on his sleeves. "Senio... Senior Li!"
"Sh! Quiet!"
Li Huowang was getting angry. If those two people heard them, then they might lose their only chance to escape the place.
"Senior Li, someone is holding my wrist, but there's no one on my left!" Sun Baolu was almost crying as he said that.
Hearing this, Li Huowang gulped. He slowly moved his hands across Sun Baolu's sleeves.
He felt a very rough hand.
When Li Huowang held that hand, it instead grabbed onto him and pulled him toward the darkness.
Immediately, Li Huowang unsheathed his sword and swung it down.
At the same time, upon sensing the movement within the darkness, Chun Xiaoman brought out her glowing stone.
A green glow illuminated their surroundings but there was nothing there.
While Li Huowang was looking around, a young Daoist ran toward them. The Daoist was wearing a yellow Daoist robe while his cheeks were sunken. He wore black cloth shoes and a crown with a picture of the Taiji.
Compared to Dan Yangzi, this fellow actually looked like a Daoist.
When the Daoist and Li Huowang saw each other, the Daoist stopped in his tracks and suddenly shouted at them, revealing his black and rotten teeth, "Run! Sheng Erzi is coming!"
Li Huowang recognized that voice as the one who had been speaking just now! However, he looked much younger than his voice would indicate.
When all of them saw the Daoist running into the darkness, Li Huowang and the rest immediately followed after them. They didn't know what Sheng Erzi was, but they knew it would definitely be terrifying if it was something that lived within the cave.
Compared to that man, Li Huowang's group was considerably slower due to having to drag the heavy Black Taisui around.
Just as Li Huowang was beginning to think that the Daoist might be using them as meat shields, the Daoist suddenly turned back.
The Daoist bit both his fingers and blood flowed out from the wound. He used the blood to quickly draw a talisman in the air. "Hide the lights!"
Staring at his thin back, Li Huowang hesitated for only a moment before ordering everyone to hide their lights.
Within the darkness, the Daoist started to chant. It was a peculiar chant. It wasn't the chant of a sutra or a spell, but seemed like a completely different system.
When the chant was over, a peculiar pressure enveloped them. Li Huowang felt goosebumps rising all over his body, as if something unidentifiable had covered it. He then felt his body temperature to drop rapidly.
"Shh~" The Daoist shushed them and told them to stand there quietly.
At that moment, Li Huowang felt something hairy hiding beneath his two feet. Sensing the trembling, he knew that it was Bun.
Bun was afraid of something that was approaching them.
Li Huowang felt the ground trembling, as if something massive was closing in on them.
The trembling gradually became stronger, and Li Huowang was barely able to see something massive coming out from within the darkness.
Huff~
A warm gust blew Li Huowang's hair. The rancid stench indicated that something massive had just exhaled at them!
Then, a rusty scale dropped in front of Li Huowang from the darkness above. The scale was tied to a rope and the rope in turn was tied to a pair of cloth shoes.
Cloth shoes?
When Li Huowang saw what it was, the scales suddenly tipped and the cloth shoes fell downward.
Shua! 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖
A female corpse clad in red clothes with a long tongue suddenly dropped in front of Li Huowang.
Both of them were just an inch away from each other.
Staring at the corpse that was just an inch away from him, Li Huowang almost reflexively unsheathed his sword. However, he suppressed his movements to the limit in order not to unsheathe his sword.
That was because Li Huowang saw that the thing was not staring at him. It really was just a corpse and not Sheng Erzi.
Li Huowang carefully looked up and saw a mass of darkness up there. Thinking back upon the shaking earth just now, he somehow guessed what it was.
The corpse is just part of it! Maybe it's just a finger. The thing hidden in the darkness is the real Sheng Erzi!
The thing did not attack them immediately. It was clear that the Daoist's method was working.
After thinking about it for a moment, Li Huowang started to study the corpse in front of him.
The woman's clothes were red. Within the darkness, it appeared to have a deep crimson color. Wrinkles covered her face and she had white hair. She was an old lady!
She just hung there in the darkness, her wax-like eyes staring at Li Huowang without moving.
Minutes passed, proving that Li Huowang was right. If he didn't move, the corpse didn't do anything to him. It was just like a puppet.
Within the darkness everyone just stood there motionlessly. If it wasn't for their pale white breath signifying that they were alive, then they would be no different from statues.
Li Huowang finally understood the meaning of living through days as if they were years. His limbs started to go numb from not moving for so long.
No one knew how long it was before the rope started moving once again. The corpse slowly floated back upward, leaving Li Huowang's field of vision.
Li Huowang gently shifted his gaze upward, only to see the corpse entering the being within the darkness.
Li Huowang didn't know what the old lady's corpse meant for Sheng Erzi.
Was it a part of its body or a decoration? Sheng Erzi means 'Son of Ropes', right? Why is it called as such?
Then, the trembling sound started again as the being went further and further away.
Time slowly passed. Once the trembling had gone far enough, the invisible pressure around them receded as well.
Flash!
At that moment, a light illuminated everyone's pale face. It originated from a yellow talisman being lit on fire. The Daoist was holding it with two fingers. He first saw Li Huowang's exposed ribs and then chuckled nervously, "Daoist, Sheng Erzi has left. We are safe now."
When they brought out their glowing stones and saw that all of them were still alive, they finally sighed in relief. At the same time, they were all quite amicable with the other Daoist after the latter saved their lives.
When the Daoist saw how weird all of them looked, Li Huowang tried to explain their situation to him.
"Hoho, no worries, no worries. I am a disciple of Luoism. My name is Han Fu. Pleased to meet you," The skinny Daoist bowed to Li Huowang while revealing his rotten teeth once again. His teeth were yellow and black. They grew wildly in different directions and he had plaque caking his gum. The stench from his mouth made all of them take a step back.
It was not your everyday normal bad breath, but one that could rival a toilet.
However, even though he wasn't a hygienic man, Li Huowang did not mind it, not after having been to the Benevolent Nunnery.
Compared to his bad breath, Li Huowang was more interested in what he had just said.
Luoism? Is it a branch of Taoism?
But he did not say it out loud, fearing that it would reveal him as a fake. Instead, he chose to respond with a similar greeting. "Zephyr Temple, Xuan Yang. Pleased to meet you."
Li Huowang was happy that not only could they communicate, Han Fu didn't seem like he wanted to kill him either. Maybe they really could find a way out of here with their help.
"Oh? Are you also a Daoist? I thought you were someone from the Ao Jing Sect instead." Han Fu was happy to talk to someone as well.
"I used to be from the Ao Jing Sect, but I've left it due to personal reasons." Li Huowang made up a random excuse.
Where is the other person he was talking to? Did Sheng Erzi catch her? Why isn't he sad? No, I can't ask him or he would know that I had been listening to them just now.
Li Huowang didn't have the time to care about others right now. He pointed to the Black Taisui behind him and said, "Master had instructed us to come and capture some guiding drugs, but we ended up getting lost. We are fortunate to be able to meet a fellow Daoist as well. I hope Senior Han can lead us out of here."
With those words, Li Huowang had not only presented what they needed him to do, he had also implied that he had a 'master', ensuring that the other party would not act rashly.
While Li Huowang was sizing up Han Fu, the latter was doing the same. When Han Fu saw Li Huowang's bronze coil veil, he paused for a moment, and then laughed, "Sure, and no need to be polite. We are fellow Daoists after all. Come, let me bring you out of here. You can't walk around here randomly or you will end up dead."
As they followed Han Fu into the darkness, Li Huowang thought about something and asked, "Senior Han, what was that evil being? We have never seen one like it before."
Finally having met someone knowledgeable, Li Huowang decided to seize the opportunity. Without a Master, this was probably the only choice he had.
Han Fu was more than happy to answer him. "That was Sheng Erzi. Sometimes an elderly might not have children to take care of them, or maybe their children didn't want them. Whatever the reason, there's a saying that an elderly person could go and find Sheng Erzi to help take care of them before it sent them off to the afterlife."
Li Huowang recalled the female corpse and was surprised. "That thing could actually take care of someone?"
"Haha. Are you stupid? They are just lying. Anyone with eyes would be able to see that something like that would never take care of the elderly. Old people... They are useless. They can't do anything, can't tend to the fields, and are basically just eating for free. When the time is right, the villagers choose a good day and carry the elderly on a chair before sending them to Sheng Erzi. They would even play drums and musical instruments to liven things up. As for the elderly's money and the house~ Hehe, everyone would get a share of it," explained Han Fu.
At that moment, Puppy suddenly spoke up. "I know! In my village, this is called 'eating the final member'." 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺
"Yep! It's called 'eating the final member', as in robbing the assets of the last surviving member of a family that has no descendants. But since it doesn't sound nice, they just refer to it as sending them to Sheng Erzi to be taken care of. That way, it sounds much better," said Han Fu.
As he heard Han Fu explain it, Li Huowang was filled with anger—he was angry that people would do something like that.
But in the end, there was nothing he could do about it.
To think that they would send one of their own to the evil beings just to obtain their assets. Li Huowang had never thought that there would be such a disgusting practice behind such a funny name.
"Sheng Erzi must be happy seeing so many people being offered to it?" asked Li Huowang.
"Of course. Whenever it sees a new elderly, it becomes very excited. If it had hands and feet, then it would be pouring tea for them!" replied Han Fu.
After talking for so long, Han Fu and Li Huowang had become closer, at least on the surface.
"Senior Han, how long until we reach the surface?" asked Li Huowang while staring at the darkness surrounding them.
"Ptui~" Han Fu spat on the ground and said nonchalantly, "Almost there. You need to remember that within the Feng Capital, if you want to get out, then you must always move up. Never go down. The further up you go, the closer you are to the surface. Even if you meet a dead end, you need to just dig a hole and go out."
"Feng Capital?" muttered Li Huowang, finally learning the name of the interconnecting cave systems beneath Qing Qiu.
After a moment, Li Huowang gently stepped on the ground and felt the slight incline. He sighed in relief.
Looks like we are indeed heading up.
"Sigh. It's so tiring to do anything these days. I thought that Daoists had a lot of free time, but I was wrong! Xuan Yang, don't you think being a Daoist is hard?" Han Fu raised both hands and stretched his back.
"You are right. In this world, nothing is easy." Li Huowang did his best to answer.
Where is the girl? He was talking to her until just now, but he doesn't look too concerned about her absence. Maybe she's not dead?
Li Huowang looked around cautiously. Even after they had gotten friendly with each other and survived their encounter with Sheng Erzi, Li Huowang still didn't trust Han Fu.
"Look, we are almost there," said Han Fu, pointing toward a glowing white light. From the looks of it, that was the entrance.
Everyone sighed in relief when they finally saw the entrance again. After staying in the dark for so long, they were beyond ecstatic to finally see a sliver of sunlight.
Everyone followed Han Fu's lead while carrying the Black Taisui.
Even though they were almost there, Han Fu still continued to chat, "Hey, did you know about the Natural Disaster that occurred on that day? I heard everyone had been waging wars against each other when the Natural Disaster happened, and that was the reason why everyone stopped the wars."
"That's natural. After all, 'decay' disappeared from the world," said Li Huowang while counting his group to ensure that everyone was there.
"I remember that the last time a Natural Disaster happened, I was still three years old," recounted Han Fu.
Li Huowang was focused on the white dot in the distance that was gradually becoming larger, but he was distracted by Han Fu's words. "You mean the Natural Disaster has happened more than once?"
Li Huowang was shocked. He suddenly realized that despite having been here for so long, he knew far too little about the world. He suppressed his excitement and asked Han Fu calmly, "Do you remember what happened during the last Natural Disaster?"
"Oh so you don't know? I thought you knew. I remember that last time, the 'Lies' disappeared and it was very amusing! I heard my Master say that back then, the members of the Sitting Oblivion Dao were so bored that they almost killed themselves, haha!" said Han Fu, happily laughing away.
"'Lies' disappeared?" Li Huowang could never imagine what kind of world that would be.
Everyone could only tell the truth?
However, before he could ask anything else, Han Fu asked him something first.
"Xuan Yang, do you know why a Natural Disaster happens?" Han Fu teased him.
"Does Senior Han know about it?" inquired Li Huowang.
Han Fu got close to Li Huowang and whispered, "I can tell you, but you mustn't tell the others. This was what my Master said."
Just as Li Huowang was anxious waiting for the answer, Han Fu lashed out with his right hand and quickly swiped it at Li Huowang's face.
Pa-tak!
Immediately, Li Huowang's bronze coin mask fell onto the ground.
Li Huowang quickly tried to use his hands to hide his face, but it was too late. Han Fu had already seen his face by then.
With this, Han Fu's curiosity was satisfied, making him feel quite pleased with himself.
"And here I thought who that man is! He's a Strayed One!" At that moment, the shrill voice of a girl came from within Han Fu's body.
In front of everyone's shocked eyes, a fist-sized baby head popped out from within Han Fu's clothes. The baby head had sparse hair and was wearing the same Daoist crown as Han Fu.
A yellow-robed Daoist with a normal head and a small head. It was too bizarre!
It was no wonder that he was fine when he saw Puppy and the rest. Han Fu was even more of a freak than them!
Li Huowang growled. There had never been two people; it had always been just one! Han Fu was just talking to the other head!
"Senior Han, what is the meaning of this? Do you think the Zephyr Temple doesn't have backup?" Li Huowang gripped his sword and stared at the odd Daoist. He really didn't want to fight without knowing how strong Han Fu was.
"Hehe~" Han Fu's two heads chuckled at the same time, both revealing the exact same type of rotten teeth. "So you are a Strayed One. You should know what I want to do now, yea?"
"Hehe, guess, guess!" said the little head.
Han Fu formed a seal with his hand and placed it on his chest. Immediately, the darkness behind him came to life and enveloped Han Fu.
"He's trying to kill me!" shouted Li Huowang as he slashed at whatever remained of Han Fu—his one eye that had yet to be enveloped by the darkness.
Li Huowang managed to cut the darkness in half just as it enveloped Han Fu, but it was too late. Han Fu was already gone.
"Brat~ Since you have come to the Feng Capital, then you can just stay here," the two head's voices intersected with each other and rang out from all directions.
Li Huowang stared at the surrounding darkness and fixated on the white light in front of them. He immediately pointed toward it and shouted at everyone, "Run! We need to head out now!"
No matter what Han Fu was planning from within the darkness, they had to get out first or there was nothing they would be able to do!