Li Huowang followed the technique written on the parchment and used his dantian while chanting silently in his heart. He then raised the bronze coin sword with his left hand and stabbed it toward the green bamboo shoot on the ground.
The bronze coin sword trembled for a moment and then scattered, each of the coins stabbing into the bamboo shoot.
When Li Huowang retracted the hilt, the bronze coins all flew back before consolidating into the form of a sword.
Li Huowang turned his attention back to the one-meter tall bamboo shoot, and saw that it had been shredded into ribbons.
After that, Li Huowang took a piece of stone covered in moss and slashed at it.
However, at that moment, Li Huowang suddenly felt a strong power coming from within the sword. He felt as if the sword was twisting his hand instead of him swinging the sword.
Just as the bronze coin sword was about to hit the stone, it scattered and the various bronze coins flew past it. Then, the coins cut down a tree behind the stone before rearranging themselves back into his hand.
This sword is very useful.
Li Huowang smiled as he looked at the sword in his grasp. Compared to the other items, it was far more useful and it didn't have any side effects. At the same time, it was also a ranged attack, something that he needed desperately.
Meanwhile, Lu Xiucai's eyes were full of envy as he saw Li Huowang easily grasp the technique in such a short period of time compared to him.
However, even though he was envious, he still praised Li Huowang excitedly, "Master is amazing! You are the best in the world!"
Hearing the praises of someone who hadn't studied and didn't know how to praise someone, Li Huowang's face was filled with disgust.
"Master, what should I learn next?" asked Lu Xiucai. His eyes revealed just how eager he was as he asked this most important question.
Li Huowang didn't answer him. There were only two reasons why he had decided to teach Lu Xiucai: One, he wanted to see if the technique used by the disciples of Luoism would be able to chase off the rage within Lu Xiucai's body, and two, he wanted to test and see whether the technique had any side effects.
However, now that his objectives have been attained, Li Huowang needed to think about how to deal with the annoying fellow.
Since it was impossible to chase Lu Xiucai away with his current temperament, Li Huowang needed to think of something else.
After a while, Li Huowang finally said, "Learn. You need to learn how to read."
Hearing this, Lu Xiucai was stunned. This was completely different from what he had expected.
"Do you know why I managed to learn that technique so much faster than you? That's because I'm literate," said Li Huowang.
"So what if I can't read? I can still learn how to do it without being able to read! I can cultivate to become an Immortal!" shouted Lu Xiucai angrily.
"You don't want to? Then goodbye. I won't be teaching you anymore," said Li Huowang as he turned around.
Seeing him turn around, Lu Xiucai panicked and kneeled in front of him before kowtowing three times. "Master, I'm sorry! I was wrong! I will learn!"
By the time Li Huowang walked out from the bamboo forest, there was already a book filled entirely with characters in Lu Xiucai's hands; he had to memorize all of them. He had never worked so hard before.
On the other hand, when it saw its owner walk out, Bun happily approached Li Huowang and smelled him.
Li Huowang patted its head while talking to the others, "Let's go. We need to walk faster and enter Yinling City today."
The ox-cart started moving once more while Li Huowang checked the map. There was a big city just up ahead: Yinling City.
Based on the information he had obtained, Yinling City was one of the largest cities within the Liang Kingdom. It was also where one of the members of royalty lived.
However, all Li Huowang cared about was the fact that they would be one step closer to Cowheart Mountain once they arrived at Yinling City.
Their journey would finally come to an end after they reached Bai Lingmiao's house.
"Senior Li, I've never been to Yinling City. However, I have heard from my grandfather's brother that the people in Yinling city are extremely rich. When he was younger, he managed to hunt a chicken-feet deer[1] and sold it in Yinling City. When he came back, he had enough money to build three houses! He also said that Yinling City was extremely gorgeous and the food there was amazing. I can only imagine just how nice their meals would be."
Bai Lingmiao was blindfolded as she held onto the hem of Li Huowang's robe. Currently, she was completely different from before.
On the other hand, Li Huowang just continued to silently listen to her as she talked on and on. They were truly a match made in heaven.
Soon,amidst Bai Lingmiao's chirpy voice, they arrived at the city wall that was as tall as a mountain.
As they stood at its base, they saw that the shadow of the wall completely covered all of them. It was truly like a mountain!
"This... This wall..." Puppy stammered.
"This wall is massive!" exclaimed Yang Xiaohai.
"Why are you finishing my sentence?" scolded Puppy as he hugged his wife's waist and followed closer behind the horse carriage.
Soon, they reached one of the city gates where everyone was lining up. The guards, who were wearing robes inscribed with the character for 'soldier', checked the people who were trying to enter.
Compared to Qing Qiu, they were much more stern with the inspections over here. Only after checking everything did they let the people enter.
Seeing this, everyone felt worried; they all tightly grabbed the black veil covering their heads.
As they waited to be let into the city gates, Li Huowang heard the conversation of people in front of them.
"Why are you entering the city?" The guard's tone was cold.
"Sir, I am a performer. I hope this will be enough," said Lu Zhuangyuan as he passed the recommendation letters while hiding some silver underneath them.
The guard took the letter before throwing the silver onto the ground.
After confirming that the recommendation letter had an official stamp on it, the guards that were waiting to inspect their items backed off. "Pass. Next."
Li Huowang sighed in relief as he stood beside the ox-cart housing the Black Taisui.
After they entered, Li Huowang heard everyone behind him gasp loudly before letting out a sigh. However, this was to be expected when they were faced with the massive buildings on the sides of the road. The entire street was busy and bustling with activity.
Staring at the busy city, even Lu Zhuangyuan didn't know what to do. He just stood in the middle of the road, unsure of where to go.
As the people around them saw him, they all had a look of disdain on their faces. It was as if they were mocking him for being a country bumpkin that had never seen a city. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚
"Why are all of you so worried? We should just do the same thing as usual. Let's find an inn and settle down." Li Huowang took the lead and everyone followed after him.
However, as he led everyone else, Li Huowang stared at the scene in front of him with a complicated look on his face. He had never expected to see a place so advanced in this world. He had thought that none of the places in this crazy world were any good.
1. author's creation ?
Chapter 281 - Exquisite Pagoda
There weren't any inns near the city gate. They continued to ride down the street that was wide enough to allow sixteen horses to move side to side. Li Huowang's group had to travel for almost an hour before they found their first inn.
"This place is crazy! If one of our oxen were to defecate on the street, then we would have to pay a fine of ten bronze coins! How the heck do I even go about controlling when they were to defecate?!" Zhao Wu grumbled about what had happened to them just now.
"Yeah! In fact, the ox feces can be used to burn as fuel! We are giving it to them for free here, but rather than thanking us they want to fine us! Fucking bastards!" cursed Lu XIucai.
"Enough. Since we are in a different place, we need to adhere to their rules. Enter the inn. Since we can finally get some proper rest tonight, we should do so," said Li Huowang as he entered the inn.
Li Huowang was glad that he had asked the magistrate to write them those recommendation letters. To think that they would need them even to just stay in an inn!
"Yikes! Young Daoist, they are even charging us for water! They must be crazy! It's not even tea, but just plain water!" said Lu Zhuangyuan as he carefully hugged the jug of water in front of him.
Li Huowang, who was busy checking the map and trying to get familiar with the geographical locations of the Liang Kingdom, didn't pay him any heed.
"Hmph! To think that it's worse to stay here even though the Liang Kingdom is so big. Our old home was better; at least, there we didn't need to pay to get water." Lu Zhuangyuan carefully placed the water jug back onto the table.
However, at that moment, his stomach suddenly started rumbling. Since they had rushed to enter the city before nightfall, they had yet to eat lunch.
Li Huowang turned around and looked at Bai Lingmiao who was busy dealing with the bedsheets. "Are you hungry? We can deal with the bedsheets later after we eat."
"Young Daoist, why don't we just eat our rations? If we need to pay for even water, then their food must be quite expensive!" suggested Lu Zhuangyuan. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎
However, Li Huowang just shook his head as he closed the map. "It's fine. We've traveled for a very long time, and should relax every once in a while. Call your family. Tonight, we will have a good meal."
Everyone perked up when they heard that they would be getting a good meal tonight. They soon walked out of the inn.
By the time Li Huowang and group arrived at the top floor of a five story restaurant, the sky had slowly turned dark. Everyone gasped when they saw that they could see the entirety of Yinling City from up here. The scenery was so pretty that they kept staring at it for a long time.
Since Li Huowang had already seen the modern world before on the 'other side', he wasn't that surprised by the scene. However, he did note that for some reason there were no sects or monasteries here within this city.
"Senior Li, look at that! It's so pretty! It's as if the pagoda was made from porcelain!" exclaimed Bai Lingmiao.
A pagoda made from porcelain?
Li Huowang turned around and was surprised when he saw that Bai Lingmiao had not been exaggerating—there was indeed a pagoda built entirely from porcelain!
The roof of the pagoda was installed with rainbow tiles while the pagoda itself was completely white with streaks of blue. As the streaks went from the bottom of the pagoda to the top, they formed many different motifs. Even the bell at the top of the pagoda was golden in color. The bell swung with the wind, forming deep ringing sounds that gave the pagoda an air of exquisiteness and authority.
"It's so beautiful..." Li Huowang admitted it. This was something that even the 'other side' did not have.
Hearing Li Huowang's praises, a scholar wearing a blue robe opened his fan and said pridefully, "Of course! That is Yinling City's Exquisite Pagoda. There is only one such pagoda in the entire Liang Kingdom."
After speaking, the scholar turned to look at Gao Zhijian's tattered shoes and the clothes worn by the rest of them. Instantly, his face was filled with contempt.
Ignoring the expression on the man's face, Li Huowang pointed at the pagoda and asked, "Who stays there? Is someone cultivating there?"
The scholar laughed. "Hahaha! You are very interesting. You are right; there are indeed people 'cultivating' there."
Hearing this, Li Huowang suddenly became nervous.
Oh no, is there something like the Righteous Monastery in this city?
Li Huowang squinted, allowing him to see the pagoda even clearer. Through the windows covered by a thin veil, he saw women inside the room.
The women were plump and wore translucent clothes. Their skin was as white as jade, but somehow, they had the blue veins and markings of porcelain vases.
All of them just stood there motionlessly, as if each of them were a beautiful porcelain vase.
Meanwhile, the scholar was desperately trying to hold his laughter back. "Within the Exquisite Pagoda, the men and women would all 'cultivate' together hahaha!! It's a place where they seek pleasure."
"Why did the Liang Kingdom build a brothel in a pagoda?" Puppy was confused.
At this point, the other people in the room joined their conversation.
"Hey, don't call it a brothel. Also, why do you think they became the most famous out of all the other places? That's because they are at the forefront of novelty."
"As long as you have money, you could even choose one of the girls and decide what to tattoo on her body. I've heard before that someone drank too much and ordered the pagoda to tattoo an entire tortoise on a woman's face."
Soon, more and more people joined in on the conversation.
"That's not even the end of it; I once had a chance to touch one of the ladies there. My god, their flesh was as smooth and soft as cotton! It's amazing!"
As the conversation continued, it got more and more obscene.
Meanwhile, Li Huowang just stared at the Exquisite Pagoda with a hint of contempt on his face.
As expected of the Liang Kingdom, the place where they revel in excess. To think that they would even put so much thought into something like this.
Just then, Li Huowang looked down and saw a beggar lying on the side of the street. The beggar's robes were in tatters, but her face had the same marking as the porcelain vases, but rather than looking pretty and exquisite, the beggar's markings looked like they were broken.
Everyone loved porcelain vases, but no one loved those that had been broken.
"Senior Li, the food is here. Let's eat first."
Li Huowang stared at the Exquisite Pagoda one more time before turning to the round table to eat.
At that moment, he realized that as long as you had money, you could do anything within the Liang Kingdom.
"Green Branches Hanging Over The Pond, White Heron Standing Amidst Calm Waters, Yellow Magpie On A Tree During Sunset, Phoenix Soaring Through The Heavens, Yellow Crane Final Farewell."
The names of the dishes brought out by the waiters were also quite exquisite.
Gao Zhijian extended his chopstick before shrinking back when he saw the carrot that had been carved into the shape of a beautiful phoenix.
"What are you waiting for? Eat," said Li Huowang as he started eating. Everyone else followed suit.
Soon, the table went completely silent with no one talking. Only the sound of munching remained. Even Li Huowang could not find any faults with the dishes today.
Everyone in the restaurant was looking toward them as they ate in a barbaric way, but Li Huowang couldn't care less about their gazes.
Soon, it was nighttime. The stars in the skies were as numerous as the lanterns in the city.
"Senior Li, look! There's lanterns in the skies!"
Chapter 282 - Voice
"Senior Li, look! There's lanterns in the sky!"
Hearing this, everyone raised their heads and saw the lanterns floating in the skies. They looked akin to luminescent jellyfish.
"Those are just lanterns. Nothing to be in awe about," said Li Huowang as he brought the bowl close to his mouth and drank the best shrimp soup he had ever had.
The lanterns had numerous surnames written on them as they slowly floated into the skies and merged with the stars. The people who released the lanterns were all crying; it was as if they were conducting a ritual.
"It's not just the skies. Look, someone is doing the same to the river too!"
There was a river that ran through Yinling City. Currently, the people were lighting candles on boats and sending them down the river.
"The Liang Kingdom sure is busy." Li Huowang muttered as he looked at the sea of lanterns. He could feel that the Liang Kingdom was very different from the other places they had been too. Their wealth was immense.
"Miaomiao, we've passed through the kingdom of Si Qi, Hou Shu, Qing Qiu, and now the Liang Kingdom. Are there any more countries beyond the border of the Liang Kingdom?" asked Li Huowang.
"I don't think so. If we traveled any further, then we would arrive at the sea," replied Bai Lingmiao.
With this, Li Huowang's understanding of this place solidified even further.
So the Liang Kingdom is bordered by the sea? I wonder if there are island countries beyond that.
Even if there are island countries, they probably are...
Just as Li Huowang was busy thinking about it, he suddenly heard an extremely faint voice mixed within the crowd's chatter.
"Hungry. Mouth. Wood."
As soon as he heard the voice, Li Huowang felt all of his hair stand on end. He suddenly stood up and looked around in a panic.
Li Huowang's movements were so sudden and jolting that even the soup on the table spilled a little, causing everyone to turn and stare at him. This caused the atmosphere to become very embarrassing. The people at his table and those around him all stared at him as if he was a psycho.
"Senior Li?"
Sensing the worried gazes of his group, Li Huowang sat back down as tried to calm himself. "It's nothing. You know me. It's an old problem. Continue eating."
Hearing this, everyone continued eating. Only Bai Lingmiao noticed that Li Huowang's hands were trembling.
After finishing their meal, they walked back to the inn. All the while, Lu Zhuangyuan was busy calculating how many pigs they could've bought with the money they had paid for the meal just now. While they might have enjoyed the meal, Lu Zhuangyuan was heartbroken to see all the money he had worked so hard to earn being spent just like that.
"Senior Li, are you alright?" Bai Lingmiao approached Li Huowang and held his calloused hands. His hands had long since grown rough from handling the sword for so long.
"No worries. I'm feeling much better now after eating the Black Taisui," assured Li Huowang.
Once they reached the inn, all of them headed back to their room and discussed the things they saw before washing up.
Nothing happened even after the inn closed and they blew out all the candles.
Late into the night, Li Huowang was sleeping on the bed when he suddenly woke up. He looked at Bai Lingmiao before slowly extracting his hands from around her neck. He then walked out of the room and into the courtyard of the inn.
As it sensed its owner, Bun crawled out from under the horse carriage. It was on duty to guard the carriage housing the Black Taisui.
Li Huowang approached the carriage and opened the tarp before looking inside it. There, he saw the Black Taisui that was still being bound by the cow tendons.
Li Huowang's face was gloomy as he looked at the Black Taisui and remembered the voice he had heard just now.
Ever since he ate the Black Taisui, everything had been normal. In fact, all of it had been too normal, to the point that he nearly forgot that he was a Strayed One. Now, he had heard the voices once again.
Li Huowang looked at the Black Taisui in front of him before calling out in a trembling voice, "Mom, could you call Dr. Wang here? I need to talk to him."
After some time, Li Huowang looked calmly at the Black Taisui. "Wang Wei, is that you? Did you give me some medications a few hours ago?"
However, the Black Taisui did not react. All it did was shift around the dirty slime on its body and make some bubbles.
"If that's you, then increase the dosage and try again," said Li Huowang.
Li Huowang waited for the illusion to come, but nothing happened.
After a while, Li Huowang's breathing became ragged as he glared at the tentacled monster. Then, he growled at it, "Stop fucking around! If you want me to think that the other side is real, then pull me back there if you can!"
Amidst his whisper-shouting, the Black Taisui continued wriggling bit by bit. It tried to extend its tentacles, but the hardened cow tendons bound it tightly.
Pant pant~
Li Huowang took deep breaths as he tried to calm his heart. Then, he continued to stand within the stable, waiting for the world around him to crumble away.
A long time passed before he suddenly heard someone shouting outside while smacking together pieces of bamboo, "Duo~ The weather is hot~ Be careful of the open fire~"
Based on that announcement, Li Huowang knew that it was the fourth section of the night. He had been waiting here for a few hours already, but nothing had happened. With this, he finally calmed down a little.
After that, Li Huowang took out a dagger from his pouch of torture tools and shaved off a piece of the Black Taisui to eat.
He kept munching on the rubbery flesh until he suddenly paused; a feeling of sadness suddenly appeared within his heart.
He had thought that he had let it go, but his reaction even in the face of such a faint hope made him realize that he had just been lying to himself.
He realized that he could never forget about the place where he grew up.
He yearned for it. He wanted the other side to be real and this side to be fake.
Maybe I really am sick. Maybe that side is fake. I have to stop being so suspicious. It was just a fake voice. There's nothing to worry about. That's right... everything is fine.
Just as Li Huowang was lost in his thoughts, the feeling of a foreign gaze instantly made him calm down.
"Who are you?" Li Huowang quickly closed the tarp and looked around only to find a man wearing a doll head standing within the stables.
"Someone told me to come and find you. I heard that you want to work with the Surveillance Bureau. Is that true?" At that moment, a voice as hoarse as Li Huowang's came from underneath the doll's head.
Chapter 283 - Information
He is from the Surveillance Bureau? Hong Da honored his promise?
Li Huowang stared at the man warily. The man was wearing a female doll head. The doll head had a red dot on the forehead that shone brightly within the dark stable.
Since the man was someone from the Surveillance Bureau, Li Huowang dared not act rashly. He had deduced that the most likely development at this point would be them wanting to test him and see if he was worthy of joining the Surveillance Bureau or not. However, before that Li Huowang needed to ensure that the man in front of him was not a member of the Sitting Oblivion Dao. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦
Just as Li Huowang was thinking about what to do, the man with the doll head spoke up; it was almost as if he knew what Li Huowang was thinking. "Don't worry, the Three Officials of the Sitting Oblivion Dao have been injured. It's likely that they will stop their activities for a while."
Li Huowang pondered for a moment and then spoke slowly, "About Hong Da... I helped him quite a bit last time and I think I could have even handled it on my own. There's no need for him to get all of the rewards, so..."
Hearing that, the man with the doll head swayed a little before slowly approaching Li Huowang. "To join the Surveillance Bureau is both easy and difficult at the same time. Sometimes, you need to think a bit about others and that will make your path much easier. Do you understand?"
"Hm?" Li Huowang was taken aback. Originally, he did not understand what the man meant, but he realized it soon enough.
He wanted some bribe.
This was good news for Li Huowang. At the very least, people with desires were people who were alive.
After having gone through so much, Li Huowang didn't have high expectations.
After a moment of thought, Li Huowang took out a chest embedded with gemstones and handed it to the man. Within the chest were a number of gold pieces.
"Gold?" The man extended his wrinkled hands and checked it out before throwing the gold and chest onto the ground.
Seeing that the man wasn't moved, Li Huowang took out the gourd from his waist. Then, he took out five lifespan pills that were covered in yellow talismans from within it.
Seeing those pills, the man's voice became discernibly more friendly, "Hmm... Not bad, looks like you know how to do it."
Once he gave the five lifespan pills to the man, Li Huowang received a metal plate that was half the size of his palm. The metal plate had the words "Surveillance Bureau" etched onto its back while the front side had the words "Tenth Pawn, Er Jiu" carved on it. The words were all encircled by depictions of constellations and the whole thing looked quite pretty.
Is this it? Did they prepare it beforehand? Isn't this too convenient?
After receiving the metal plate, Li Huowang looked at the man with the doll's head. "What does Tenth Pawn mean?"
"I don't think I need to explain about the "Pawn" part, but "Tenth" refers to your rank. One to ten, where the larger your number, the lower your rank. You will know soon enough. Now, here's your mission: Go and check if this is related to the Sitting Oblivion Dao. If it is, then you can just deal with it like how you helped Hong Da last time," said the man as he passed a red envelope to Li Huowang.
"Sitting Oblivion Dao? Now?" Li Huowang was surprised at how quickly he had received a mission.
"Why? You can't do it? Then I can just give it to the other pawns," said the man, wanting to take the envelope back from Li Huowang.
However, Li Huowang continued to hold onto it. "No, I will take care of it. What is my reward and how do I go about increasing my rank within the Surveillance Bureau? Also, is there any information about the enemy?"
As he asked these questions, Li Huowang's heart was beating rapidly. The only reason he had joined the Surveillance Bureau was to learn more about the Sitting Oblivion Dao.
At the same time, he considered that they might also have information about Strayed Ones.
"Get to work first. If you do well, then you will get your reward. The information about the mission and the enemies is all written inside the letter," said the man with the doll head. Then, he turned around and walked out from the stable. However, even though the man had turned around, the doll's head did not. The eyes of the doll head were staring at Li Huowang the whole time as the man walked out.
It was only after the man disappeared that Li Huowang turned his attention toward the envelope and the metal plate.
He knew that it wouldn't be easy. This mission was also a test for him.
He could only join the Surveillance Bureau after passing it. If he couldn't pass the test, then the metal plate would be nothing but junk.
Could it really be related to the Sitting Oblivion Dao again? Is this a coincidence? Or did they do it on purpose? Did they give me this mission because they are suspicious of me being someone from the Sitting Oblivion Dao?
Does this mean that they are going to send someone over to observe me while I'm doing the mission?
Li Huowang carefully opened the envelope while thinking about the various possibilities.
The letter didn't say much. All it said was that an informant felt that there was a possibility that the Sitting Oblivion Dao was operating in a village, and so they requested the Surveillance Bureau to come and check.
Everything looked normal. There was even a piece of paper that described the Sitting Oblivion Dao.
The letter was written in an ancient format that was quite difficult to read. Li Huowang had to spend some time before he finally managed to decipher what it was talking about.
According to the description, the Sitting Oblivion Dao was an organization that appeared out of nowhere. Not even the Surveillance Bureau knew about how they came about. All they knew was that the members of the Sitting Oblivion Dao only cared about pleasure.
As long as it was fun, they would even be willing to risk their lives.
They had also managed to trick the Simings into giving them power; however, no one knew how they managed to do it.
Li Huowang had already known about most of it, but there was one word that attracted his attention.
"Siming? So the Surveillance Bureau calls those beings from within the Baiyu Capital "Siming"? Why do people call them by so many different names?" muttered Li Huowang as he committed the name to memory. Then, he continued reading.
The entire Sitting Oblivion Dao's hierarchy was based on mahjong tiles. Tiao, Bings, and Wan[1] were the lowest ranking ones.
After that were the Four Joys: Dong Feng, Xi Feng, Nan Feng, and Bei Feng[2].
Beyond the Four Joys were the Three Officials: Hong Zhong, Bai Ban, and Fa Cai[3].
Finally, above the Three Officials was the legendary Shai Zi[4] who controlled the entirety of the Sitting Oblivion Dao.
As for why they were a legend, that was because no one had ever seen Shai Zi before.
Not only were the members of the Sitting Oblivion Dao bizarre and used bizarre techniques, but even the method of joining them was crazy. Rather than joining normally like the other sects, you needed to trick your way into the Sitting Oblivion Dao.
They didn't only trick the Simings and the others, but even themselves.
Thus, if someone wanted to join the Sitting Oblivion Dao, then they had to trick those who were already within it.
All the members of the Sitting Oblivion Dao were both liars and victims of lies at the same time.
"I knew it. They are just a bunch of crazy bastards," cursed Li Huowang.
Li Huowang wanted to read more, but that was the end. He felt sad that the information had stopped at that point.
At that moment, a rooster called out, causing Li Huowang to raise his head.
It was already morning—he had spent the entire night standing in the stable.
1. Correspond with the Bamboos, Circles, and Characters mahjong tiles ?
2. East Wind, West Wind, South Wind, and North Wind respectively ?
3. Correspond with the Red, White, and Green of the Three Dragons in Mahjong respectively ?
4. Dice, as in gambling dice ?
Chapter 284 - Departure
Even after standing in the stable for an entire night, Li Huowang just rubbed his sore neck as he once again looked at the envelope.
His guess that the Surveillance Bureau had a lot of information he didn't know about was indeed right.
To think that he would be able to obtain so much information from just joining the Surveillance Bureau. He looked forward to obtaining more information about Bei Feng after his position within the Bureau was cemented further.
Even if Bei Feng was not a Strayed One, Li Huowang was certain that he could use the Surveillance Bureau's backing to obtain a method to get rid of the bewilderment and the sense of doubt that all Strayed Ones suffered from.
At the same time, now he was also no longer a headless fly that was just flying around in this chaotic world.
At the very least, if he didn't understand anything, then he would be able to obtain information from the Bureau.
Despite having stayed up all night, Li Huowang did not feel the slightest bit tired as he quickly ran into his room, excited.
He could think about all of that later. For now, the most important thing he had to do was to take care of the mission.
"Ganyuan Village."
Li Huowang sat on the granite table and started reading the map. He was trying to find where the village was.
Eventually, he found it; however, the place was not enroute Bai Lingmiao's village. It would take a long detour to go there.
So now, he had to choose; he could either deal with the mission first or bring Bai Lingmiao home first and deal with it after that.
But he was worried that the members of the Sitting Oblivion Dao would run away if he chose the latter. If he were to arrive too late, then the entire village might end up like Pi County.
At that time, he might not even be allowed to join the Surveillance Bureau.
Just as Li Huowang was thinking about how to do both the things at the same time, Bai Lingmiao walked out with a cake on a lotus leaf. The cake was quite soft and made into the shape of a bunny. It looked very cute and delicious at the same time.
She blew on it before taking a bite. She savored the sweet flavor and revealed a pleased smile.
As he saw this scene, Li Huowang once again realized that Bai Lingmiao was not as mature as he thought. She was still a little girl.
"Senior Li, do you want to take a bite? It's very sweet," offered Bai Lingmiao as she showed Li Huowang the cake with its ear bitten off.
Li Huowang shook his head and told her to sit down, "Miaomiao, there is something I need to do first. Once I'm done, I will come back immediately and bring all of you home..."
However, even before Li Huowang could finish what he was saying, Bai Lingmiao stopped him resolutely. "No!"
Her voice was resolute as if there was no room for negotiation, "No matter what you will be doing, I want to go with you! Don't even think about leaving me behind!"
Li Huowang laughed. "Since when did I ever think of leaving you behind?"
"You did! Back in the Benevolent Nunnery, you said the same thing and you promised us that you will catch up to us! But when I saw you again, you were already dead! I had to bury you with my own hands! Do you know how much pain I felt back then?" Bai Lingmiao started crying.
Looking at the girl in front of him, Li Huowang felt his heart ache. "I just thought that you are almost at your home and so there's no reason for you to follow me. Plus, this is something minor and there won't be any danger."
"If it's not dangerous, then why don't you let me follow you?! Also, I can help you in case you can't solve it yourself. Both me and my sister can help you!" said Bai Lingmiao.
"Sister? Do you call your Second Deity sister?" asked Li Huowang as he recalled how Li Zhi called his Second Deity "his wife".
"Senior Li, let us come with you. If not, at the very least, let me follow you; you can let the others travel to Cowheart Mountain first," requested Bai Lingmiao.
Li Huowang stared at her; he understood that even though the Immortals were finicky, they could still do a lot of things and might be able to help him out of some situations. But this time, he was dealing with the Sitting Oblivion Dao. Also, they were now almost at Bai Lingmiao's home. He didn't want Bai Lingmiao to be in danger.
As he was pondering about how to respond, there was a knock on the door.
"Master, are you in there?"
It was Lu Xiucai's voice.
"Enter," said Li Huowang as he removed his hands from Bai Lingmiao's arm and looked toward Lu Xiucai entering the room.
At this moment, the youth was covered in coal dust. Even his face and hands were blackened with it.
"Master, I've finished writing what you told me to write," said Lu Xiucai as he took out some papers and showed them to Li Huowang.
Looking over them, Li Huowang frowned. "Xiucai, I remember teaching you how to write words, not draw talismans."
Lu Xiucai perked up and was happy when he heard that. "Master, are you teaching me how to draw talismans? Thank you, Master!"
Li Huowang slammed the paper onto the table. "No! I meant that your handwriting is as horrible as the runes scribbled on talismans. Don't you understand? Is this supposed to be the character for 'wood'? Why is it so squiggly? And the character for 'mouth', why is it round? Can't you even draw a straight line with a piece of charcoal? Also, why is your entire face black if you are just writing words?"
Li Huowang ranted and scolded him to distract Lu Xiucai from wanting to learn about talismans. Even though Lu Xiucai was hardworking and Li Huowang taught well, somehow the results were still bad.
Li Huowang sighed as he looked at the disappointed Lu Xiucai. "Enough. Go and call your father. I have something to tell him."
While Li Huowang was technically fine with letting Bai Lingmiao follow him, the same was not true about the others. He couldn't let the Lu family, Yang Xiaohai, and the women who were with them follow him into danger.
All of them would just drag him down during a battle.
This was different from last time when trouble came to find him. This time around, he would be actively searching for the enemy, and so he needed to prepare.
When Lu Zhuangyuan entered the room, Li Huowang told him to bring everyone who couldn't fight to Cowheart Mountain.
Li Huowang had decided that he would only bring Bai Lingmiao, Gao Zhijian, Chun Xiaoman, and Puppy to Ganyuan Village.
"Don't worry Young Daoist, I have traveled for quite a long time; with my experience, I will safely bring them to Cowheart Mountain!" assured Lu Zhuangyuan.
Yinling City was a central hub that allowed access to various different locations throughout the Liang Kingdom.
After speaking with Li Huowang and swearing that he would keep everyone safe, Lu Zhuangyuan dragged the disappointed Lu Xiucai away with him.
Chapter 285 - Sounds of Hallucination
Li Huowang bowed to Lu Zhuangyuan. "Thank you for your service. Once you reach there, make sure that everyone gets to settle down properly. We will also join all of you once we are done with our mission."
Li Huowang was fine with them heading off on their own because there were almost no bandits within the Liang Kingdom. If there were, then he wouldn't have been fine with this arrangement.
"Master, since I've learned how to use some of the supernatural powers, let me follow you as well!" requested Lu Xiucai.
However, neither Lu Zhuangyuan nor Li Huowang wanted him to follow Li Huowang's party.
Li Huowang glared at Lu Xiucai. "First, learn how to read and write. If you don't know, then ask your father. He might not know much, but he at least knows some of them. You can only learn supernatural powers and techniques properly once you know how to read."
After that, Li Huowang instructed Zhao Wu and Yang Xiaohai about some details.
"Senior Li, don't worry. Even if my body is weak, with me guarding them, I can assure you that I will not let a single horse or a penny disappear," said Zhao Wu.
Li Huowang wanted to say something else when he suddenly snarled and looked toward the empty space to his left.
"Senior Li, what's wrong?"
Li Huowang's face was sullen, but he soon cheered back up before saying, "Nothing. Now that everything is in order, you can depart."
With that, both groups waved each other goodbye before going their own way.
Lu Juren held his son while speaking to his father, "Father, what do you think about the Young Daoist?"
Lu Zhuangyuan took one look at Zhao Wu and then whispered to Lu Juren, "There's no need to worry about the Young Daoist. You can't control what he wants to do. Rather than worrying about that, first worry about your son. If you have the ability, then you would better pour all of your attention into your son so that he can become an official. Then, our ancestors would be proud."
"Father, why are you..." Lu Juren felt desperate while holding his son, but in the end, he didn't say anything more.
Meanwhile, Li Huowang led two horse carriages as they crossed a small path.
Since there were so few of them, all of them could fit onto the horse carriage and there was no need for anyone to walk. This way they could conserve their strength as well.
Li Huowang was still thinking about the sound that he had heard just now. He already ate a piece of the Black Taisui yesterday; even so, he still heard that voice. This meant that the voice was not something that could be suppressed by the Black Taisui.
What's going on? What's wrong with me?
Li Huowang's heart became more and more agitated as he thought about numerous scenarios.
Is Wang Wei using some medicine? Or did my illness get worse? No, I'm not a crazy person! This is just a symptom of the Strayed Ones! But... is this a good thing or a bad one?
Lost in his thoughts, Li Huowang clenched his fist tightly, until a pair of soft hands covered his own.
Bai Lingmiao didn't say anything, and just sat beside him to soothe his agitation.
After a while, Li Huowang closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He reopened them as he tried to calm his heart.
Don't worry. Those were just auditory hallucinations. It's nothing serious. At least it's only appearing from time to time and not affecting me. But... why did it start happening now of all time? Then again it is harmless. It seems that I will have to keep dealing with these kinds of issues from time to time. I will have to take care of them one by one just like the symptoms of a Strayed One. For now, I must pass this test. This can wait till after that.
After he finished composing his thoughts, Li Huowang turned to look at the others. "I didn't have the time to talk about this before, but now that we have some time, I will explain about our enemies this time, the Sitting Oblivion Dao. To put it simply, they are a group of liars and tricksters with powers. You need to remember that they can change their faces, and so you have to be careful of who is approaching you; never let your guard down."
All of them listened attentively to what Li Huowang was saying.
Before this, they had always been on the passive side because trouble found them first. But now, for the first time ever, they would be actively seeking out the enemy first. Everyone was excited yet nervous.
Li Huowang did his best to explain everything he knew about the Sitting Oblivion Dao to them. After all, the more they knew about them, the better their situational judgment abilities would be.
While they were listening attentively, they suddenly heard the sound of horses coming from the front.
Soon a row of strong warhorses separated Li Huowang and the other passersby from the center of the path,
"Aiya, I wonder who is coming?" Puppy was curious.
Through the gaps of the horse legs, Li Huowang saw the guards holding up a massive plate with the words 'Make Way' etched on it. Behind the main unit of guards were four guards that rang the gongs, followed by a group of feminine men.
Finally, behind the hundreds of feminine men, Li Huowang saw a massive carriage the size of a small house.
At this moment, a man wearing golden robes with a jade ring on his left thumb was sitting in the carriage. The chairs he was sitting on were all made with jade. He seemed to be the ruler of Yinling City.
Just as Li Huowang was examining the yellow banners marked with a four-clawed dragon, an old man beside him said to his grandson, "The Prince is patrolling the place. Quickly kneel down!"
Is that the Prince of Yinling City?
At that moment, Li Huowang saw the Prince snoring away in his chair. Beside him was a girl, fanning him.
The girl had the same blue porcelain markings. It was clear she came from the Exquisite Pagoda.
By the time Li Huowang snapped back to reality, he saw that everyone around him had kneeled down. Even Bai Lingmiao, Puppy, Chun Xiaoman, and Gao Zhijian did the same. This made him very conspicuous as the only person sitting on the horse carriage.
"How dare you not kneel?!" Several soldiers ran out from the prince's entourage and surrounded Li Huowang. Then, without even waiting for him to speak, they directly drew their blades.
Li Huowang thought about it for a moment, and then revealed the identity plate given to him by the person from the Surveillance Bureau.
When the soldiers saw the plate, all of them were shocked before they quickly sheathed their weapons.
"Dear Sir, please excuse our rudeness!" The soldiers bowed to Li Huowang before leaving him alone.
Looking at their backs, Li Huowang suddenly felt repulsed by the fact that the Surveillance Bureau was making sure that royalties like the prince were all safe in their position.
Everyone else in this crazy world has changed, so why are the royalties like him still fine?
Li Huowang stared at the fat prince. "Get up and don't kneel to him."
After the Prince's entourage was gone, their remaining journey was quite smooth. Nothing happened even as they reached Ganyuan Village.
The village was situated beneath a mountain. Blue roof tiles could be seen covering the entire area.
From the size of it, it was just a normal village, one that was no different than the others they had seen during their travels within the Liang Kingdom.
Chapter 286 - Ganyuan Village
A child was riding his ox while taking their dog out for a walk. Some women were washing clothes by the river. Everything seemed... normal; it was different compared to what they had seen back in Pi County. There was nothing special about the village based on appearances alone.
But the more normal it seemed, the more abnormal it was to Li Huowang.
He once again took out the envelope and confirmed that this was indeed where the Sitting Oblivion Dao had been spotted; however, the details were unknown.
Thinking back to what had happened in Pi County, Li Huowang told the others to stay back, "Since there is a possibility that members of the Sitting Oblivion Dao are inside, let me sneak in first so that we don't alert them."
"Senior Li, will you be alright?" asked Bai Lingmiao. She wanted to say something else, but stopped. Li Huowang's recent changes hadn't escaped her eyes. While he had recently gotten better, he had suddenly become paranoid once again.
Li Huowang hadn't told her anything about the voices. After all the more he explained, the more worried she would get.
After reassuring Bai Lingmiao, Li Huowang sent his illusion into the ground and made himself invisible; then, he started walking on the path beside the willow tree.
"Again. People. Wind."
At this point, Li Huowang was no longer surprised by the voice. He just shook his head and looked at Monk's illusion that was stuck within a tree.
"Why are you looking at me? It wasn't me who said it," said Monk.
"Shh." Li Huowang placed his finger on his mouth before slowly moving into Ganyuan Village. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦
He ignored his illusions and was focused completely on identifying any potential threats.
Once he entered, he soon realized that the entire Ganyuan VIllage was celebrating something. Even the couplets and Door Gods[1] were being changed and given a makeover.
Li Huowang sat on a tree covered in red cloth. As he looked down from atop the tree, he didn't see anything unusual.
He decided to wait patiently.
It was only after lunch that the villagers suddenly congregated before heading into the depths of the village. All of them were happily chatting like normal.
Li Huowang followed them and stopped in front of a village shrine.
Here, their voices became much softer. The adults would even pinch the children to be quiet if they were too loud.
Everyone just stood there; it was as if they were waiting for something.
Just when Li Huowang was thinking about entering the shrine to investigate, the black door suddenly opened. Then, the villagers brought out a brown deity made from clay. From the vase being held in the deity's hand, it appeared to be a Bodhisattva.
But this Bodhisattva didn't have the usual kind and merciful face. It was as if it had gone through the worst storm in its life. It's face had melted away, leaving strands of clay on its face. Two irregular black holes had been poked to make its eyes.
"Heave ho!" The villagers of the Ganyuan village all helped carry the Bodhisattva as they paraded it all around the village.
"A Clay Bodhisattva..." muttered Li Huowang, frowning at what he was seeing.
Li Huowang climbed up a tree and looked at how the villagers paraded the peculiar clay Bodhisattva around the village numerous times. Every time they made a circle around the village, they would place another red veil onto the clay Bodhisattva. The sunlight was quite hot, but the Bodhisattva was covered in layers upon layers of the red veil.
When they were finally done, they brought it back to the shrine and placed it back inside.
After placing the Bodhisattva back inside, they once again picked it up, sang for a bit, and then brought it out of the shrine. Once the clay Bodhisattva was out of the shrine, they once again placed it back inside.
They went to and fro three times before finally placing the Bodhisattva down for good. Then, they lit up some incense sticks and started praying.
Li Huowang wanted to check what the shrine looked like from the inside, but the villagers were blocking the entrance. Thus, Li Huowang had no chance to sneak inside.
After a while, the sun slowly set and the villagers went back to their homes.
When it was night, the shrine keeper locked the door of the shrine before going to sleep.
It was only at this point that Li Huowang slowly came down from the tree.
Before long, the sound of metal being cut in half rang out. The bronze lock was slashed in half and the door was opened slightly.
By the time moonlight illuminated the dark interior of the shrine, Li Huowang had already grabbed his sword tightly.
If the Sitting Oblivion Dao is involved, then they would have definitely tampered with the shrine.
Only after confirming there weren't any traps did Li Huowang slowly tiptoed inside.
Due to the incense sticks, the entire shrine was filled with the smell of smoke. The clay Bodhisattva from before sat in the middle of the darkness, its melted face barely visible.
But it was not the only statue here. There were clay statues of other deities lined up on both sides. They were the Eighteen Arhats.
While the Bodhisattva didn't have a face, the Eighteen Arhats did. They stood there with faces filled with anger or hatred. They all looked extremely real, to the point that anyone stepping inside would feel like they were being watched.
As for the Bodhisattva, it was placed in the middle of the shrine, sitting atop a stone lotus.
The incense sticks lit up by the villagers had already burned out. All of the incense sticks lit up by the villagers were used to worship only the clay Bodhisattva.
There were two other clay statues to the left and right of the Bodhisattva. These two statues still had their faces, and from the looks of it, they were a pair of assistants for the Bodhisattva, one boy and one girl.
The shrine was quite small, and so Li Huowang managed to inspect it fairly quickly. However, he didn't find anything suspicious, and so he once again placed his attention on the Bodhisattva that was shrouded in numerous red veils.
The Bodhisattva wasn't tall, roughly two meters. But due to the stone lotus altar, Li Huowang had to raise his head to look at it.
Given the darkness of the shrine, it was quite horrifying to look at a clay Bodhisattva with its face melted off.
Li Huowang had long since thought that there was something wrong with it.
Should I just cut it apart?
Li Huowang began to ponder his choices.
While thinking about it, he suddenly turned his attention to the clay statues of the assistants.
Wait... They weren't like this just now. Did they move?
Looking at two clay statues staring at him, Li Huowang felt his body go numb from an inexplicable chill.
"You. Come."
"Who?!" Li Huowang turned around, but didn't see anything.
Wait, was that my auditory hallucination or something from the shrine?
Li Huowang didn't know what to do; he couldn't differentiate it.
1. Deities that act as protectors to the house ?
Chapter 287 - Blind
Within the dark shrine filled with the smell of incense, Li Huowang stood in front of the three clay statues as he struggled with himself.
Was that voice real or just a hallucination?
He had just entered the village, and rather than finding anything about the Sitting Oblivion Dao, he had managed to confuse himself instead.
Just as he was thinking about this issue, the door to the outside was suddenly pushed open. The shrine keeper poked his head filled with white hair into the shrine, using the light of a candle to illuminate the interior of the shrine.
With this weak light, he checked the interior of the shrine, especially the rafters. However, even after looking around for a while, he didn't see anyone.
"That's strange. There's no thief here. Did the lock break?" muttered the shrine keeper.
The shrine keeper looked around one last time before using a hemp rope to tie the gate closed.
The shrine keeper was about to head back to sleep, but felt that it wasn't safe enough. He went back, took a blanket from his home and decided to sleep in front of the main gate of the shrine. "I don't think the thief would be able to enter now."
Li Huowang would never have allowed himself to get locked in the shrine just like that; he had already sneaked out and was standing on the roof of a nearby building while observing everything that happened.
Except for the noise just now, everything looked normal.
If it wasn't for the envelope that stated the members of the Sitting Oblivion Dao were active here, Li Huowang would've simply thought that this was a normal village.
In fact, if he had just been traveling around normally, he too might've fallen for their tricks too.
However, when he thought back to the voice that he had heard, Li Huowang's frown became tighter.
I can't even trust my own senses now. Looks like I will have to bring Bai Lingmiao and the others in here to see if they hear the same thing that I do.
With this in mind, Li Huowang no longer hesitated as he turned around and started walking out of the village.
The village was quiet at night. With the exception of barking dogs, there weren't any noises.
At this moment, Li Huowang was walking along a small path as fireflies danced around in the grass around him. The more he walked, the more he felt like something was wrong.
This feeling was not based on his observation or senses, but just his gut instinct.
After a while, he suddenly turned around and looked behind him; however, there was nothing.
Did someone notice me?
Li Huowang suddenly placed his back against a wall and hid himself in a corner. Then, he slowly made his way back toward where he had just been.
He continued to remain invisible, but moved swiftly. He was already holding his sword, ready to slash down at the person the moment he turned around the corner.
As he got closer and closer to the corner, Li Huowang's heart started beating faster and faster.
However, when he turned around the corner while tightening his grasp on his sword, the only thing he saw there was a wall made from yellow soil.
As soon as he confirmed that no one was following him, Li Huowang felt his entire body deflating. It had just been an illusion.
However, just as he was about to turn around, a pair of hands grabbed onto him tightly.
Impossible! I'm currently invisible, so how did he manage to find me?!
At that moment, without waiting for Li Huowang to even say anything, the one holding him urgently said, "Sh! Be quiet! Keep attracting them! Let them come!"
The voice was very quiet, but Li Huowang decided to obey it and didn't move. He didn't know why he did that; he was too busy thinking about who the voice belonged to.
"Aiya, our luck is bad. They ran away," said the voice.
When Li Huowang felt the hands holding onto him finally let go, he immediately turned around to see who it was.
With whatever light they had available, Li Huowang managed to see a blind man.
The blind man was quite skinny and wore a rumpled black cloak along with a pair of worn-out cloth shoes. He held a bamboo walking cane and carried a bamboo basket on his back. His eyes were completely white and he wore a black cap. His thick beard, which would normally make one look like a sage, instead made him look obscene.
As he looked at the man, Li Huowang finally realized why he was caught. The man was blind!
While Li Huowang was looking at the man, he too was 'looking' at Li Huowang; however, he was using his nose.
"The smell of blood on you is quite strong. Which army did you come from? My surname is Chen, so you can just call me Blind Chen. I'm a Ninth Pawn from the Surveillance Bureau," said the blind man as he showed his identity plate to Li Huowang.
"No, I'm from the Ao Jing Sect. My name is Er Jiu, a Tenth Pawn. I greet my senior," said Li Huowang, taking out his identity plate as well.
When he heard Li Huowang's words, Blind Chen's face lit up. "Oh~ So you are from the Ao Jing Sect. Since you are here, then you must be my reinforcement."
As he spoke Blind Chen began to carefully knock his bamboo cane on the ground as he swiftly moved toward the exit of the village, "Let's go. We can talk while we move. I arrived here earlier than you, so I will have to let you know about some things first."
Li Huowang smiled and followed after him.
"Blind Chen, have you been responsible for this place for some time? Can you tell me what's happening to the village and who are the culprits?" asked Li Huowang.
"I have no idea what that thing is either. That's also why I'm still trying to think of a plan to use. All I know is that they move within the dirt. Earlier, I saw that they were targeting you," replied Blind Chen.
"Is that so? The evil beings this time are so annoying," remarked Li Huowang calmly.
"Exactly. Evil beings that can travel through the dirt are very annoying to deal with and we don't even have any idea about what they look like; however, that's also why the rewards from the Surveillance Bureau for this mission are so good. Oh, if you are here as my reinforcement, then do you have any powers that can be used for this mission?"
"Senior Chen, I don't think there's anything amazing about me. All I know are the regular tricks used by members of the Ao Jing Sect," replied Li Huowang. He hadn't let Blind Chen out of his field of vision throughout their conversation.
"Hoho~ You can't say that. I know that the people from the Ao Jing Sect are powerful; it's just that their techniques require massive sacrifices. Are you here by yourself?"
"Yeah, I came here on my own. Are you alone as well?"
"Oh, I'm alone as well. Hoho~" said Blind Chen. Then, he silently led Li Huowang out of the village.
It was only when both of them were at the exit of the village that the silence was broken.
"Senior Chen, do we really have nothing we can do against them?" asked Li Huowang.
Blind Chen sighed as he sat on a mossy rock. "To think that there would come a day when I would have to call for help. As you can see, I'm blind. On the other hand, those mud bastards are like catfishes. It's so hard to catch them and even if I did, I could only ever catch them one at a time. Junior Er, do you have something to force them out?"
"As long as you can force them out, I will be able to kill them! Even though I'm blind, I'm confident that I'm stronger than them." Blind Chen oozed confidence as he said this.
Chapter 288 - Reinforcement
Li Huowang leaned against a tree and thought about it. "Senior Chen, could you tell me everything that has happened ever since you came here? I need to know the situation before I can make a plan. As you know, I have to pay a terrible price to use the techniques of the Ao Jing Sect."
Hearing this, Blind Chen nodded and started using his cane to poke at the mud below. "After I was given this mission, I entered the village as a fortune teller. Due to this, I managed to touch a lot of faces[1] for the first few days. To my surprise, on the third day, the beings within the walls actually came out and let me touch their faces so that they could get their fortune told. They thought that since I couldn't see, I was easy to trick; however, my ears are much sharper than that of regular people. That night, I was alone, but then, three more people suddenly appeared in my room! I hadn't even heard any footsteps coming in from outside. They just appeared out of the dirt and mimicked humans to try and get their fortunes told."
"I touched their faces to tell them their fortune. Even though their facial structures resemble humans, all of their fortunes pointed to the fact that they were already dead![2] I stabbed them with my cane, killing one of them and hurting another in the process. Back then, I had thought that I did quite a favor for the people of Ganyuan Village by getting rid of those evil beings, but rather than treating me to a meal, all of them chased me out! I circled back and came to learn that the entire village had fallen under the control of the evil beings. If we don't get rid of them, then we will not be able to save the villagers. That is why, every night, I wait until everyone in the village is asleep before coming in to kill the evil beings. But as you've seen, they are even more slippery than a catfish. There have even been times when they even tried to ambush me, but I always managed to see them coming."
Blind Chen's throat was parched after the long explanation, and so he squatted down and drank some water from a little puddle that was made from an ox stepping in the mud.
Then, with his throat feeling better, he turned toward Li Huowang and asked, "Junior, I've explained so much. Did you listen to it? Quickly think of a plan."
Li Huowang's voice came from another direction, "I'm listening. Don't worry senior. I'm thinking about how to force them out."
"Yeah. Quickly now. Ah~ next time I'm choosing a mission that is closer to my place. It's so arduous to travel here," said Blind Chen. Then, he once again sat on the mossy rock and brought out a Bagua-shaped mirror[3]. He carefully cleaned it before placing it back.
"Senior, I think I have a plan. Where do the evil beings usually hide?" asked Li Huowang.
"The shrine that houses the clay Bodhisattva. I have no idea why they like that place," replied Blind Chen.
"Then let us go there first," said Li Huowang.
"Sure, but we need to hurry; it will be dawn soon and the villagers will wake up then. It will be quite difficult to kill the evil beings later on," said Blind Chen as he immediately stood up and started using his cane to navigate back into the village. He was following Li Huowang's footsteps.
The village was still quiet and no one was walking around at night. Only the fireflies illuminated their path ever so slightly.
As they walked, Blind Chen suddenly got serious and placed one of his ears against the ground.
"Junior Er, be careful. Something isn't right. I've never heard sounds like these before. There are four people approaching us; two men and two women. One of the men is quite massive, and based on the sound of his footsteps, he should be wearing armor!" said Blind Chen.
Hearing this, Li Huowang also became serious as he looked around. "The four foreigners are probably enemies. Who else would come into a village this late at night?"
After saying that, Li Huowang ran away without waiting for Blind Chen to say anything.
Meanwhile, Blind Chen continued to place his ear on the ground to listen to those sounds.
Soon, the four people left the village.
"Senior, I've returned. I used an illusion technique to distract them away from Ganyuan Village," reported Li Huowang after coming back.
"Let's go and quickly finish our job. They must be up to something," said Blind Chen.
Hearing this, Li Huowang nodded and quickly followed after him.
By the time they appeared in front of the shrine once more, it was already the second section of the night. To be more precise, they were in an alley close to the shrine.
"We can only go this far. Any further and you would end up alerting them. That's how they were targeting you just now," said Blind Chen.
Li Huowang estimated the distance, and then took out a bronze bell from his robe. "Senior, it might get a bit noisy for a while."
Then, Li Huowang shook the bronze bell and a piercing sound exploded within the quiet village.
Li Huowang shook it hard, splitting the single Wandering God in front of him into eight separate individuals. Then, he swiftly placed some soil in his mouth and ordered them to attack!
Following his instructions, the Wandering Gods immediately dove down into the ground.
Blind Chen didn't know what was happening; the sound of the bell was interfering with his hearing.
"Junior Er, I don't think this is going to work! At this rate, you will wake the villagers!" shouted Blind Chen amidst the ringing of the bell.
"Don't worry Senior Chen! Even though it's noisy, we can force them out very quickly like this!" said Li Huowang, shaking the bell even harder.
Hearing this, Blind Chen hobbled towards Li Huowang. Once he was behind Li Huowang, he felt his cane touch something and bent down to pick it up. However, just as he bent down, Blind Chen suddenly used his bamboo cane to stab at Li Huowang! There was a sword hidden within it.
It was a vicious strike that didn't produce any sounds under the ringing bell.
But just as the cane was about to stab Li Huowang, he moved his body, causing the sheath of his sword to block the tip of the cane. However, even though Li Huowang managed to block it, the force from the attack still forced him several meters forward.
At the same time, the Wandering Gods that had been waiting in ambush all came out and attacked Blind Chen at the same time.
Just as Li Huowang stood up and was about to shout something, Blind Chen beat him to it.
"Hmph! Sitting Oblivion Dao! Don't think that you can fool me! I never called for reinforcements, and so there's no way that you are one!"
1. Because fortune-telling often involves looking at the faces of people, a blind fortune teller would have to touch the people's faces to be able to conduct the fortune-telling ?
2. It means that their fortune was something that couldn't possibly exist on a living person. ?
3. a symbol illustrating the nature of reality being composed by opposing forces reinforcing one another. ?
Chapter 289 - Blind Chen
Li Huowang's words got stuck in his throat when he heard what Blind Chen was shouting.
What? He thinks that I am from the Sitting Oblivion Dao? Did he never call for reinforcement?
Li Huowang thought about many things. When he recalled how the man with the doll head gave him this mission, he became even more suspicious.
Meanwhile, without Li Huowang controlling them, the Wandering Gods stopped mid-air and floated like jellyfish without any movements.
No!
Li Huowang snarled and shook the bell even harder. In response, the Wandering Gods immediately continued their assault on Blind Chen.
I need proof! I cannot allow myself to fall into their trap!
Even though Blind Chen couldn't see, he knew where the Wandering Gods were. He dodged their attacks, took out the Bagua mirror from his bamboo basket and started chanting, "Pure Heaven and Earth, muddled Yin and clear Yang!"
As he chanted, a soft light shot out from the Bagua mirror. It swept through the air and the Wandering Gods hit by it all disappeared. Then, he swung the mirror and two more Wandering Gods were cut in half.
Just when Blind Chen wanted to point the mirror toward the remaining Wandering Gods, he sensed an incredible killing intent suddenly appear above him.
By this time, Li Huowang was already halfway to the ground, his sword just a few inches away from Blind Chen's neck.
But then, something magical happened. Blind Chen's head shrunk into his shirt like a tortoise!
This sudden development caused Li Huowang to miss his attacks and before he could do anything else, a hand appeared from the collar and caught hold of his sword hand.
Li Huowang tried to shake it off, but failed; Blind Chen held onto him very tightly, nearly making Li Huowang fall.
Blind Chen used this opportunity to try and stab Li Huowang with his cane. But with the remaining Wandering Gods coming to Li Huowang's aid, his attacks didn't work.
Both of them were attacking each other fiercely and the situation was dire.
But this stalemate was destined to not last very long; Li Huowang had already set a trap.
"Senior Li, we are here to help you!"
Bai Lingmiao, Gao Zhijian, Chun Xiaoman, and Puppy ran from afar and attacked Blind Chen. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮
Blind Chen couldn't even defeat Li Huowang, much less four other people. With this, his fate had been sealed.
Splat!
A needle wrapped in a white fiber hit Blind Chen's right hand, causing his five fingers to melt like a candle before shifting toward his wrist.
Blind Chen panicked when he couldn't hold his weapon. In the next moment, a gust of wind filled with bloodlust blew at his face, making his hair stand straight up.
Shit!
His heart dropped.
"Zhijian, don't kill him!" shouted Li Huowang.
When Li Huowang's voice rang out, Blind Chen felt that force bend a little before going toward his wrist instead.
With the sound of bones cracking, Gao Zhijian's mace crumpled Blind Chen's wrist.
At the same time, Chun Xiaoman ran over and kicked away Blind Chen's cane. Then, she swiftly took the metal chain from Gao Zhijian and started binding Blind Chen.
"Did you see that? Hehe, he lost to me, Cao Cao!" chortled Puppy.
Li Huowang ignored Puppy and confronted Blind Chen. "Are you a dot or a bamboo? We can finally talk properly now."
"Ptui!"
A glob of phlegm mixed with blood flew toward Li Huowang; however, he easily dodged it.
Gao Zhijian slapped Blind Chen with his massive fist, causing the latter's nose to break and a few of his teeth got knocked out.
"Don't be so harsh." Li Huowang stopped Gao Zhijian and looked at Blind Chen. "I will ask again, who are you?"
"I'm your fucking grandfather!" snarled Blind Chen, his face bloody and red.
After a moment of thought, Li Huowang looked down to his pouch of torture tools and took out a small blade with a thin edge. "Fine, I will do it myself. Hold his head and don't let him shrink into his shirt."
As the blade slowly shaved off the skin on his face, Blind Chen shrieked and howled in pain.
Li Huowang carefully shaved off the first layer, and then started with the second layer. He was as focused as a craftsman hard at work.
Time slowly passed and Li Huowang soon realized that something was wrong. Blind Chen's face had almost been completely peeled off, and yet, there were no signs of another face beneath it!
"You really aren't from the Sitting Oblivion Dao?" asked Li Huowang as he looked incredulously at the weakened Blind Chen. By now, Blind Chen barely had any breath left in him.
Li Huowang had thought that Blind Chen was someone from the Sitting Oblivion Dao, but now that the proof was in front of him, he knew that he was mistaken.
"Fuck you. Fuck your grandmother..."
Looking at Blind Chen cursing at him weakly, Li Huowang felt his heart tighten. He quickly turned toward the red veiled woman beside him and said, "Miaomiao, quick! Summon the Bai family Immortal and heal him!"
After some time, Li Huowang watched as the shaved off skin on Blind Chen's face slowly healed and stitched back together.
"Sorry Senior. Even I can't be sure without doing this. Zhijian, untie him," apologized Li Huowang.
If Blind Chen was not someone from the Sitting Oblivion Dao, then this made the man with the doll head extremely suspicious. Maybe the entire "mission" was a trap.
When Blind Che, who was heavily injured, regained his freedom, he quickly distanced himself from Li Huowang. He was terribly weakened as he leaned against the wall and looked toward the direction he heard the footsteps from. "What are you bastards from the Sitting Oblivion Dao doing? Do you think I will ever trust you? Dream on!"
He tried to stand up but his current injuries made it extremely difficult.
"Senior Chen, listen to me," said Li Huowang, blocking Blind Chen.
"How else can you explain it? You want to say that it was all a misunderstanding? You want me to believe that? Fine! Go as far away from here as you can and I will believe you!" shouted Blind Chen.
Just as the two of them were arguing, they suddenly heard a noise coming from the shrine, causing both of them to stop and look toward it at the same time.
There was a person looking at them from behind the door.
It was the clay Bodhisattva. Half of its body was shrouded in darkness while the other half was exposed in the moonlight. It was using the two dark holes on its face to stare at them.
"See! Do you see now?! They saw how heavily injured I am and now they want to kill me! Now, we can all just die together!"
Just as Blind Chen's shout rang out, the Eighteen Arhats appeared from behind the clay Bodhisattva. Everytime they moved, their bodies cracked a little, and from within those cracks peeked out something that resembled compound eyes, all of them moving within.