Li Huowang felt hesitant as he looked at Bai Lingmiao; he wasn't sure if he should bring her up the mountain.
While it was true that with her ability to summon the Immortals she could help him, he didn't want to place her in danger.
At the same time, the others started pleading as well.
"Yeah, Senior Li, please let us come with you."
"If we followed you, we might be able to help you. Aren't you afraid that the nuns are dangerous?"
"Yeah, and just in case... just in case your condition flares up again, then we can at least take care of you," said Puppy.
The final sentence from Puppy finally defeated Li Huowang. "Baolu, place the horse carriages at the inn. We will all go up the mountain."
The effect of the Black Taisui to suppress his hallucinations rapidly falling and he could slip into his hallucination at any time, so he definitely needed someone beside him.
Hearing his words, everyone smiled as they followed him; they were happy that they would finally get to help out their Senior Brother.
The road up to the mountain had many twists and turns, but Li Huowang and the rest were used to it.
After a while, they rested halfway up the mountain, only continuing after a while. They finally arrived before the front gate of the Benevolent Nunnery just before nightfall.
They all looked inside and Li Huowang saw that the nunnery was still just as dilapidated as it had been beforeโgrass could be seen growing between the stone tiles while the holes on the roofs hadn't been repaired.
When he finally caught sight of the Women's Script on both sides of the gate, Li Huowang's heart started pounding rapidly.
He had risked his life just for the sake of today.
When he thought that he would finally be able to get rid of his bizarre Master, Li Huowang could not hold back the excitement he felt in his heart.
He took a deep breath and turned around; he needed to let them know what they should expect. "The inside of the nunnery is extremely dirty and unkempt. The nuns are also very fat, so don't be surprised by it, ok?"
After seeing everyone agree, Li Huowang held the box containing the Eighteenth Lunar eyes, took a deep breath, and walked inside.
Before they could even enter the main hall, a wave of putrid stench assaulted them.
What were they doing? It's even more putrid than the last time.
Li Huowang pinched his nose and entered the place, forcing himself to endure the stench.
Meanwhile, the other guiding drug ingredients were already regretting their choice in coming here. While it wasn't dangerous, it was far too smelly.
Soon, they arrived at the first hall of the nunnery. The moment Li Huowang stepped in, he felt something soft at the base of his right foot. When he picked his foot up he saw that it was a piece of peach cookie.
"Careful, they don't like to keep it clean here," warned Li Huowang.
He raised his head and saw that the Buddha statue was still covered in dirt. He walked past it and went out through the back.
Just as he had expected, there was a mountain of flesh lying down just behind the Buddha; it was a fat nun with an extra large guokui on her face. She was sleeping and eating at the same time.
"What the... Is... is she still human?" The rest of them were shocked.
Meanwhile, after what had happened last time, Li Huowang decided not to wake her up; he couldn't do so even if he wanted to.
Soon, they walked past her and entered a side door, arriving at the interior of the nunnery.
They had just taken a few steps in when they realized that there was nowhere for them to walkโeverything around them was covered in rotten food, even the floor and the roof were covered with it. There was even a mountain of moldy dumplings to their right, a large swarm of flies hovering over it. At the same time, numerous white maggots could be seen crawling on the mountain of dumplings.
However, the most surprising thing was that everything here was vegetarianโthere was not a single piece of meat.
Looking at the mountain of food, Li Huowang realized that all these things were bought using the gold that he had given them the last time. The moment they got the money, they used it to buy various types of food in large quantities.
"Step over it," said Li Huowang as he sank his legs into the sea of rotten food. It almost felt like he was in a swamp as he slowly walked forward.
Hearing this, everyone, including Bai Lingmiao who loved being clean, were quite unhappy. However, when they saw Li Huowang getting further and further away from them, they could only clench their teeth and trudge through the sea of rotten food.
"Why are they wasting so much food? Such a waste! They are just letting it all rot. This year has been filled with disasters and so many people didn't even have any food to eat!" Having once been a beggar, Yang Xiaohai was particularly angry. This was one of the few times he had spoken up.
Li Huowang glanced at the boy. "That's because they are greedy."
Hearing this, Yang Xiaohai pursed his lips, choosing to remain silent.
They trudged onward for half an hour before finally arriving at the place where the nuns usually had their meals. This was where they found the rest of the nuns.
Blegh~
One of the fat nuns vomited right in front of Li Huowang, emptying out what she had eaten. Her head was covered in sweat, but she didn't even bother to wipe it off before continuing to eat the food on the table.
"Hello Miao Yu. How are you?" Li Huowang greeted the fat nun in front of him.
When Miao Yu opened her mouth to talk, her saliva and scraps of food bombarded Li Huowang's face. "It's you. Do you want me to show you the way? The price has increased now. It's at least one gold coin."
"No need. Is Abbess Jingxin still in the same house?" asked Li Huowang as he backed off to prevent getting splashed by her saliva.
Seeing how she couldn't get any gold, the greed on Miao Yu's face was replaced with disappointment. "Of course. She's so fat that she can't even walk. Where else could she be?"
Li Huowang nodded and turned around, walking toward the house where he saw Abbess Jingxin last time.
Meanwhile, the others followed after him as they walked through the swamp of rotten food. ๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐๐จ๐๐ฏ๐๐๐ง๐๐น.๐ฐ๐ผ๐
However, Yang Xiaohai who had been standing at the very back, chastised the nuns when he saw how much food they were wasting. "You are all so wasteful! Do you know just how many people are starving outside? Some of them have even died due to starvation! Do you know just how painful it is to have to endure your hunger?"
Miao Yu answered plainly. "Of course we know; isn't that why we are trying not to let it go to waste? Can't you see that it has already started rotting? If we don't eat all of it now, then we won't be able to eat any of it later."
After saying all that, she turned around and vomited, once more emptying her stomach in the process. Then, she continued eating, her eyes filled with greed.
Meanwhile, Li Huowang retraced his steps from the last time, walking past the pigsty before arriving at Abbess Jingxin's house.
Due to the fact that this place was fairly secluded, there wasn't a lot of rotting food over here. Thus, they felt so much better standing here. Even though the stench was still present, at the very least they had already gotten used to it.
Li Huowang placed a glowing rock in his hand and walked inside. As he walked in, he saw Abbess Jingxin shoving something back into the folds of her skin and flesh.
"Oh, it's you! How was it? Did you manage to find the Eighteenth Lunar?" asked the Abbess.
Li Huowang nodded and opened the box in his hands.
Even though she didn't have eyes, Abbess Jingxin somehow managed to feel something, causing her loose face to reveal a greedy grin.
Then, Abbess Jingxin slowly shifted her huge mountain-like body as she began to approach Li Huowang, at the same time causing the entire house to start shaking.
Chapter 106 - Begin
Soon, Jingxin used her crusty nails to reach into the box and took out the pair of red eyes, gently rolling them around in her hands. "Hoho, these are good."
Then, without any warning, she held the egg-sized pair of eyes with her hands and directly shoved them into her dark and empty eye sockets.
By the time she removed her hands from her face, the pair of blood-red eyes had found a new owner. "Thank you. With this, I can finally see once again."
That scene was downright horrifying. Imagine a swollen, ugly, and toothless old nun with a pair of blood-red eyes. She didn't even have her eyelids!
"Senior Li, is she really a good person? I don't think so..." said Bai Lingmiao as she hid behind Li Huowang's body. ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ธ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ต.๐ฌ๐ค๐ข
"Shh, stay quiet." Unexpectedly, Li Huowang was not surprised by Jingxin's demeanor. His tolerance for such horrifying scenes had increased substantially after having gone through so many incidents.
Li Huowang's voice turned serious as he stared at the old nun's face. "You've got what you need. When can we start the process of getting rid of Dan Yangzi?"
"Why the rush? You youngsters are always in such a hurry," said Jingxin.
She had just finished saying that when Li Huowang detected movement from behind himself. He turned around and saw that it was a row of fat burping nuns.
What are they doing? Are they trying to go back on their word?
Li Huowang instinctively placed his hand on the Profound Records.
However, he was wrong. The nuns' actions revealed that they had no ill intentions. All they wanted to do was to remove the wall.
Abbess Jingxin's body was far too large and the door was far too small; they had to remove the walls for her to exit.
When one of the walls of the house had been removed completely, a wooden plank with numerous wheels was pushed inside. From the looks of it, this seemed to be Abbess Jingxin's method for moving around.
Then, under everyone's watchful gaze, Abbess Jingxin slowly wriggled up the wooden plank like a giant bug. Jingxin tried to get on, but failed. She tried a few more times before exasperatedly turning toward Li Huowang and saying, "Are you guys blind? Don't you want to be free of your Master? Why aren't you in a rush now? Can't you see that I'm slow? Hurry up and come push me!"
Finally, with everyone's help, Abbess Jingxin was pushed onto the plank. Then, the wheels below the plank started to creak heavily under her body weight as the rest of the fat nuns slowly pushed her out.
On the other hand, after he released his grip of her flabby flesh, Li Huowang helped Jingxin scratch an itch that she could not reach for herself.
Taking a few steps back and looking at Abbess Jingxin who was surrounded by a group of fat nuns, Li Huowang suddenly had a feelingโhe suddenly felt like he was looking at a Buddha statue.
"A Buddha statue is nothing but a statue. It's not easy to become a Buddha. Follow us, quickly," said Jingxin.
Hearing this, Li Huowang raised his legs and followed her.
However, the nuns did not push Abbess Jingxin toward the exit of the nunnery, instead taking her deeper inside. They were heading to a place that Li Huowang had not been to before.
"Remove your hands from the Profound Records. I will overlook it this one time. In the future, don't bring that thing to the nunnery. It's an extremely unlucky item," said Jingxin.
Even though Jingxin's tone was repulsive, Li Huowang decided to ignore it. In fact, he didn't have any time to care about how rude she was being. He was busy thinking about what he needed to do next.
"What's the method to get rid of Dan Yangzi? Will it work?" asked Li Huowang anxiously.
"Aren't you asking that question far too late? Relax, our Benevolent Nunnery adheres to the values of integrity and trust quite strongly. If you can't trust even us, then there's no other place you could place your trust in," said Abbess Jingxin.
However, Abbess Jingxin's words were not able to calm Li Huowang down. Ever since he realized that Dan Yangzi had possessed him, everything he did and thought about had been for this day. Thinking about the stone in his heart that he would finally be getting rid of, he thought about many things for the first time.
"Don't be too excited. Even if your Master has been dealt with, you are still a Strayed One. That's an even bigger problem," said Abbess Jingxin.
Li Huowang's heart sank upon hearing her. "Abbess Jingxin, you might not have been able to find a method in the past, but that doesn't mean that I have no hope either."
The Abbess laughed at him. "Do you think you are the only one who had such a thought? The rest of the Strayed Ones had the same kinds of thoughts as well, but in the end they all met the same fate."
Li Huowang was just about to refute her when he stopped and took a deep breath. "But we can't give up without even trying, right? I can't just continue to live on like Yu'er, accepting my fate of being trapped inside a hallucination my entire life. You think it's the best scenario? I don't think so."
Abbess Jingxin's face fell. She plunged her hands into the folds of her skin and pulled out her son, staring at his shriveled face with pity as she caressed him gently.
"Sigh~ I really don't have a choice. As his mother, the only thing I could do was keep him alive." Li Huowang stretched his hands and gently patted the old man's white hair. His eyes were filled with pity, just like Abbess Jingxin.
Meanwhile, the rest of the guiding drug ingredients and nuns were also staring at the shriveled up old man.
Li Huowang stared at the old man and said slowly, "I still remember how he leapt into my embrace when he was younger. Ah~ Fun times."
Abbess Jingxin nodded, her face covered in bitterness. "Once we get trapped inside a hallucination, it's really hard to differentiate which side is real and which is fake. I once saw my mother kneeling in front of me inside the hallucination. At that time, my heart was aching so much."
The bitterness on Jingxin's face spread to everyone.
"Sigh." Everyone sighed in unison, the atmosphere around them turning heavy.
The wooden plank continued to creak as it rolled forward. They trudged on with a heavy heart until they encountered a fork in the road. Toward their left, there was another fat old nun the same size as Jingxin. She was being pushed on a wooden plank as well.
Li Huowang stared at the old nun, his face revealing an expression of disgust. "Junior sister Jingyuan, could you please hurry up? Dan Yangzi is constantly trying to take over my body."
"Why are you being so pushy? You've already waited for so long and we are just moments away from succeeding. If you had hurried up in the first place, then we wouldn't have to rush," said Jingyuan as she picked up a piece of moldy cake from the ground and shoved it into her mouth.
Jingyuan was not the last nun they met. Soon, they met a second and a third fat, old nun. All of them were similarly being pushed on wooden planks with wheels. In just a while, including Jingxin, a total of six old nuns were being wheeled toward their destination.
Soon, Li Huowang and the rest arrived at a small basin. In the center was a large, black Buddha statue that was tens of meters tall.
For some reason, the surface of the statue looked like it was wriggling.
When they got closer, they could hear a loud buzzing soundโthe wriggling black Buddha statue was composed entirely of flies!
"My stomach hurts. How about waiting for a bit?" Li Huowang pressed his stomach in pain.
"Stop whining and hurry up. You think it's easy for all of us to come out at once?" said Jingxin as she rummaged through the folds of her skin and took out a set of shining prayer beads before throwing them over to Li Huowang.
When he saw them, Li Huowang snatched them from the air. Then, he started turning the prayer beads in his hands as he started chanting an extremely difficult sutra.
Chapter 107 - Buddha
"The devout followers saw the extraordinary landscape and cheered, happiness coming forth from deep within their hearts~ They sat on the diamond lotus, followed Amitabha, and arrived at the Western Pure Land~ They saw Amitabha's true form, a boundless goodness containing prosperity, wisdom, and dignity~ They saw the true form of the Bodhisattvas, profound yet dignified~"
Li Huowang's chanting grew louder and louder. As he recited the sutra, the top of his head started to glow with a holy light.
Initially, only his voice could be heard, but soon, numerous other voices started to chime in. Some were more high pitched while others had a lower pitch. However, all of them cooperated with Li Huowang.
The voices came from the fat nuns surrounding him. All of their faces revealed a humble demeanor, just like Li Huowang's.
Soon, their chanting was supplemented by the sound of gongs, chimes, the sound of wooden fish, and other Buddhist instruments that rang out from the surrounding temples.
With the aid of these instruments, Li Huowang's chanting became even more dignified, more... Buddha-like.
Their chanting slowly changed their surroundings, something that should be impossible to do with just sound. The colors around them slowly started to fade, slowly being replaced by a dim yellow color; it was as if they were looking at the world through a dim yellow filter.
As more and more time passed, their chanting grew louder and louder. Soon, Bai Lingmiao, Puppy, Gao Zhijian, and even Abbess Jingxin's son joined them in singing.
Their voices gradually grew louder and louder, to the point that the Buddha statue made of flies started to vibrate.
As they chanted, the Buddha statue slowly floated toward the top of Li Huowang's head. At the same time, the buzzing sound of the flies slowly started to resonate with the rhythm of their chant.
Finally, when their chant reached the climax, the Buddha statue opened its black eyes and fell downward. The buzzing flies instantly engulfed Li Huowang.
The flies buzzed intensely, their sound overlaying the sound of the chant.
At this moment, everyone, including the millions of flies were all linked with each other spirituallyโall of them were inseparable. The humans knew what the flies were thinking, and the opposite was true as well. The flies could understand the intentions of the humans.
At that moment, Abbess Jingxin willed something in her heart, and the flies complied, rearranging themselves around Li Huowang, forming a black Bodhisattva sitting atop a lotus. The Bodhisattva made of flies held a vase in its hand. At the same time, the buzzing sound of the flies took over Li Huowang's voice, leading the others to chant.
However, the grand scene before them did not last long before the sound of thunder boomed throughout the sky. At that moment, everyone stared at the sky at the same time, only to see that a hole was being torn in it.
Dan Yangzi could be seen floating high up in the air. He had three heads and numerous repulsive organs attached to his body. His three eyes were staring at the entire Benevolent Nunnery sadistically as he stood amidst the white clouds.
"My dear disciple, looks like you are way too hung up on the physical realm," said a voice.
As soon as they heard this voice, all of the old nuns, including Abbess Jingxin, stuck their hands within the folds of their skin and took out a set of prayer beads forged entirely with gold. None of them responded to Dan Yangzi verbally.
They wrapped the prayer beads around their palm and formed a Mudra by curling their index finger and thumb toward their palm. In an instant, an air of authority surged out from them and flew upward. "Praise the Buddhas! Praise the Dharma! Praise the Monks! Praise the Prohibitions! Praise the Kindness! Praise the Heavens! The monks cultivate the Six Praises and obtain Dharani!"
At the same time, the buzzing sound exploded as the black flies that constituted the Buddha statue flew up toward the sky like a tsunami. A periodic humming sound akin to someone chanting could be heard from the flies.
Seeing this, all three of Dan Yangzi's faces smiled sarcastically. He stepped on the white clouds and flew straight toward the flies and swung his arms that were composed of numerous tentacles, revealing a bronze coin sword. The bronze coin sword was still connected to a tentacle that had an eye on it. He swung the sword hard, throwing chunks of flesh toward the flies.
The body of the flies touched by the pieces of flesh twisted abnormally as they formed a miniature version of Dan Yangzi's head. Then, this twisted Dan Yangzi made of flies started attacking the other flies around it.
Meanwhile, Li Huowang was sitting still with a solemn expression on his face. His chanting grew louder and louder with each passing moment.
Under the guidance of the chant, the white maggots that had previously been wriggling on the food rotting within the entire Benevolent Nunnery turned into flies as they beat their wings and flew toward the chaotic sky.
The battle in the sky was extremely chaotic. As the two sides clashed intensely, countless dead flies rained down from the Heavens.
Jingxin remained calm as she stared at the chaotic battlefield. She had utmost confidence in their abilities, and that was the only reason she had accepted Li Huowang's request to begin with.
At that moment, Li Huowang placed both his palms together, his merciful voice turning low. "The righteous path of justice, the three paths to calmness, all temptations disappear in the boundless universe. May the Bodhisattva protect me."
As soon as this chant rang out, the Buddha statue let out a bright light within the sky. This light enveloped Li Huowang, slowly turning his body into a golden Buddha statue.
At the same time, the same thing also happened to Dan Yangzi as his body was slowly turned into a gold statue. Gradually, Dan Yangzi's grotesque organs started turning into gold as the light continued to affect his body.
As soon as the flies in the air saw this opportunity, they instantly swarmed Dan Yangzi.
Bzz Bzz Bzz
The group of flies expanded and slowly turned into a massive Bodhisattva sitting on a large lotus while holding a vase. Then, the entire statue gently fell toward the ground, growing smaller and smaller as it approached the ground. Even the hole in the sky started to shrink in size, inch by inch.
At the same time, the sound of chanting, the gongs, and the wooden fish slowly died down.
Back on the ground, two fat nuns held a large brush the size of a broom. The tip of the brush was dipped in the ashes contained within an incense burner. The nuns were staring at the flies with expectations in their eyes.
Looking at the scene, a sliver of greed flashed past Abbess Jingxin's heart even though she was still chanting. The ritual would soon be coming to an end, and whatever the flies had acquired would be hers once everything finished.
Ah~ Such a rarity. I wonder what it will taste like.
Just as she thought that everything was going according to the plan, something suddenly went wrong.
The golden Li Huowang suddenly started coughing, his cough worsening with each passing moment.
"Something's wrong! I can no longer feel his thoughts! That brat broke through our pure heart!" An old nun cried out in surprise. ๐๐ซ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ฅ.๐๐๐
Just as she said that, Li Huowang expanded his mouth to the extreme. A vomiting sound was heard as he clutched onto his own neck forcefully.
Soon, everyone was greeted with a disgusting scene. A few black and sticky tentacles emerged from within the mouth of the red-robed Taoist!
It was a Black Taisui, albeit an incomplete one. However, at the base of one of the tentacles was half of Dan Yangzi's face!
"Aiya! The Buddha is not completely dead yet! He hasn't turned into a true Buddha! The Buddha had just merged with the Black Taisui and hidden itself within Li Huowang's stomach! We were wrong! The real body was here!"
Chapter 108 - Dan Yangzi
This unexpected turn of events happened so suddenly that not one of them managed to react in time.
The tentacles that burst out from within Li Huowang's mouth instantly shot toward one of the nuns at the front.
The tentacles hardened by tensing themselves up. Then, this hardened tentacle pierced through the abdomen of the fat nun. However, instead of bleeding, the fat nun leaked out pearly-white fat from her injury.
But no matter what leaked out from the nun's body, her painful cries caused the so far regal chanting to become disharmonious. As the sound of the chanting lessened, the Bodhisattva statue composed of flies started to lose its form, slowly losing its grip on Dan Yangzi.
However, this was merely the start.
More and more tentacles that were merged with Dan Yangzi's organs burst forth from inside Li Huowang's mouth as they continued their attacks against the other nuns.
The black tentacles propped Li Huowang up, making him crawl along the ground like an octopus.
The entire place fell into chaos. Just as one of the fat nuns was about to stop him, the Bodhisattva statue composed of flies collapsed.
Soon, with the aid of the corporeal Dan Yangzi who was down on the ground, the incorporeal Dan Yangzi in the air freed himself from his restraints.
The situation had been reversed!
While Jingxin and the rest wanted to fight against Dan Yangzi, they couldn't do so if their Peaceful Heart Link had been broken. Immediately, the incorporeal Dan Yangzi disappeared from their eyesโall they could see now was a Taoist with numerous tentacles bursting forth from his mouth.
"We need to find a way to once again pull that brat into our Peaceful Heart Link, otherwise we will not even be able to touch Dan Yangzi!" shouted one of the fat nuns.
"It's no use! Dan Yangzi is inside his stomach. He's constantly disturbing our Peaceful Heart Link! Junior sister, we have no choice. We need to summon the Bodhisattva or the nunnery will be in jeopardy!" shouted another nun.
Hearing this, Jingxin stared at the upside-down Li Huowang and sighed in her heart. They were just a step away from succeeding. To think they would fail at the final step.
Meanwhile, regardless of what the others were seeing, from Li Huowang's perspective, the tentacles emerging from his mouth were not moving at allโin his eyes, it was the horrifying Dan Yangzi who was attacking the fat nuns. He had also been able to hear everything that Jingxin and the others had said just now.
Dan Yangzi is not dead? He's actually alive and was even merged with the Black Taisui that was in my stomach?
Just thinking about it sent a chill down Li Huowang's spine.
The murderous Dan Yangzi, someone that didn't bat an eye when he refined living-breathing people into pills, was still alive! ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐น.๐๐ ๐
Li Huowang had always thought that Dan Yangzi was only corrupting him mentally, but to think that Dan Yangzi was even corrupting his blood and flesh!
At that moment, Li Huowang's eyes were filled with boundless hate as he stared at Dan Yangzi.
No! I must do something! I cannot just sit still and wait for my death to arrive. I need to kill him and settle this today!
Immediately, his right hand reached for the Profound Records and his left hand reached for the torture tools on his back. Then, he fished out a sharp pike and forcefully stabbed it into his own palm while gritting his teeth to endure the pain. Thanks to his heightened senses, he nearly passed out from pain; in fact, a normal human would've fainted almost immediately.
While the heightened senses were beneficial when using the Profound Records, Li Huowang had decided not to use them this time around. However, just then, an Immortal sash appeared and wrapped itself around the Profound Records, throwing them away from him.
"My dear disciple, you need to help your Master ascend to Immortality! You can't conspire with outsiders to try and stop me~!" Dan Yangzi's left head spoke out. The left head was an old man with a bald spot.
"Helping others ascend to immortality is a deed of great merit! You will definitely understand once you step on the path of cultivation to become an Immortal yourself," said Dan Yangzi's middle head. This head was a middle-aged man.
"You have no idea what I've seen at the edge of Immortality! I deeply want to enter that realm! No, Iย needย to enter it! I'm just one step away from it, so you need to help me!" said Dan Yangzi's final head that was on the right and looked like a child.
"Fuck off! I will not help you even if I have to die!" Li Huowang gritted his teeth and pulled out the pike stabbed in his palm, leaving behind a massive gash.
Hearing this, Dan Yangzi's mouths twisted into a nasty grin as they laughed. "My dear disciple, you have no say in this matter. Youย willย assist me in killing the Three Corpses. After all, I am your Master."
"Who gives a fuck about killing the Three Corpses? You think that I will trust you ever again? Just tell me about it straight if you want to take over my body! Just because I managed to fool you doesn't mean you can try to fool me! Just so you know, the nasty things that were used in the pills you ate have transformed you into a monster! The entire method of becoming an Immortal was nothing more than a hoax that I came up with on my own!" shouted Li Huowang.
However, Dan Yangzi did not become angry when he heard the truth. Instead, all six of his eyes revealed an intense sense of yearning. "No, I've definitely become an Immortal, albeit I am just a Half-Immortal at the moment. I've personally seen the Southern Heavenly Gates and also seen other Immortals just like me. There were even female Immortals over there!"
When he heard Dan Yangzi's ravings, Li Huowang started laughing coldly. "Hehe, the realm of the Immortals? Rather than wasting time talking to me, why don't you see what's behind your back?"
Dan Yangzi's three heads turned at the same time only to see a massive Bodhisattva standing in front of him. The Bodhisattva was made from heaps of fatty flesh and shook its three heads and six arms.
Bam!
The Bodhisattva made from the fatty, rotten flesh slammed down and trapped Dan Yangzi against the ground, burying half of his body.
However, despite having half of his body buried under the fatty flesh, Dan Yangzi turned around with a terrifying look in his eyes as he stared at Li Huowang. "Relax. This is just a minor issue. As long as the nuns aren't able to connect with your inner heart, they will not be able to see me. They are nothing but a bunch of blind nuns with a little bit of power. As for you, let me straighten out the facts for you. If you listen to me, then you can still be my disciple. However, if you don't, then you too will be nothing more than a stray dog that I can directly kick to death! There is nothing you can do to me."
When he heard this, a rush of blood surged into Li Huowang's head. Immediately, he took out a blade and used it to stab his abdomen. Then, he sliced toward the left and started rummaging his innards.
"Stop! What are you doing? Stop!" screamed Dan Yangzi, his faces covered in a terrifying expression. He wanted to personally stop Li Huowang but he was trapped by the fat nuns.
"Didn't you say there's nothing I can do?" Li Huowang shouted at Dan Yangzi, his eyes turning bloodshot.
"THEN HOW ABOUT THIS?!" Li Huowang endured the extreme pain as he shakily raised the blade and stabbed it right into his stomach.
Seeing this, Dan Yangzi's faces were covered in a mix of extreme anger and disbelief.
"You fucking ingrate! You have no idea what you are doing! You think you can fight against me? Dream on! Your fate has been sealed!" shouted Dan Yangzi.
On the other hand, Li Huowang gritted his teeth and stabbed once more, completely puncturing his stomach. "My fate is sealed? I don't fucking believe in such fairy tales! Fucking Baldy! We are not done here!"
Chapter 109 - Injury
Ci Ci~
The sound of flesh being torn apart rang out as black liquid poured from the hole Li Huowang had made in his own abdomen. Soon, Li Huowang collapsed due to the extreme pain caused by cutting open his own stomach.
Even so, he smiled when he saw Dan Yangzi's grotesque body slowly starting to blur. He didn't mind enduring all the pain in the world as long as he could kill Dan Yangzi!
"You ungrateful brat! You would still be stuck inside your hallucinations if I hadn't helped you!" shouted Dan Yangzi as he disappeared.
Hearing this, Li Huowang gritted his teeth while pushing the blade even deeper. "You think I needed your help? It's because ofย youย that I am suffering so much today!"
"You fucking brat!" Dan Yangzi's six eyes revealed ghastly killing intent, which also influenced Li Huowang, making him feel vindictive.
Just as the oppressive atmosphere reached its climax, a large group of flies swooped down from high in the Heavens, covering both Li Huowang and Dan Yangzi in rot and filth.
Jingxin and the other nuns had made their move. They placed their palms together and wrapped them in prayer beads before resuming their chant toward the Buddha statue. "Without pain, we cannot remove pain; without wisdom, we cannot obtain enlightenment. The Bodhisattva must follow the path of Buddha and face everything with a heart that expects nothing. Only then can one's heart be free of obstacles. Without obstacles, there is no fear, and one will be free from all distractions, thus achieving Nirvana. The Buddha of the past, the present, and the future have all achieved Nirvana in this state!"
As their chanting grew louder, their bodies underwent a massive transformation. Everything associated with old age, filth, and fat quickly disappeared from their bodies. Then, the essence of old age, filth, and fat intertwined in the air, flying higher and higher. When it reached a certain height, a crack appeared in the Heavens, revealing a massive eye that could cover the sun. ๐๐ฟ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐จ๐๐๐.๐๐ ๐
It was an eye from an angry Arhat and was devoid of all filth and sins.
"HA!" A furious shout rang out for tens of miles as space itself trembled. By the time the sound disappeared, everything unusual within the Benevolent Nunnery, including Dan Yangzi, had disappeared.
...
Bai Lingmiao woke up groggily. She realized that she had been lying face down in front of a large pot of oily fried rice while stuffing her mouth with her own two hands.
"Blegh!" She spat out the oily fried rice in her mouth while scanning her surroundings anxiously. After taking a moment to let everything sink in, she realized that she was in the food hall of the Benevolent Nunnery. Surrounding her were the fat nuns who were busy stuffing their mouths with food. The constant sound of chewing filled her ears.
She turned around and inspected the steel pot only to see that the fried rice was prepared for her and the entire table. Puppy, Xiaoman, Baolu, Yang Xiaohai, Gao Zhijian, and the others were also present as they stuffed their mouths with food, just like the nuns. Luckily, they all snapped out of it one by one before scanning their surroundings in a dazed panic.
"What's going on? Why are we here?" The rest of them were clearly confused about what had happened.
Bai Lingmiao did the headcount and was relieved to find that everyone was here... except for Li Huowang.
"What happened? Weren't we helping Senior Li with his exorcism? Why are we here eating rice? Also, there's not even a single piece of vegetable in this thing. It's too oily, yuck," said Puppy as he checked the other tables.
However, the nuns were too lazy to bother with them and just continued stuffing themselves. But, instead of the fried rice, the nuns were eating moldy dumplings and other food.
Bai Lingmiao was visibly worried. She approached one of the nuns and asked, "Master, may I know where our Senior Li is?"
"Senior Li? You mean the Strayed One? He's with Abbess Jingxin. Find her, and you will also find him," The nun answered Bai Lingmiao without even turning around; she was busy eating the food in front of her, almost as if she was afraid that her food would be gone if she ate any slower.
Bai Lingmiao and the rest decided to brave through the swamp of moldy food before arriving at Abbess Jingxin's house.
Just then, they saw Li Huowang talking with a strange nun. The nun didn't have eyes, and her eye sockets were sunken in. She was quite skinny, but her skin was very loose, to the point that the skin on her chin reached down to her stomach and the skin on her stomach could touch the ground. It was almost as if she was wearing an extremely oversized Taoist robe.
When he heard footsteps, Li Huowang turned around before smiling and waving at them as he called them over.
Bai Lingmiao was shocked. This was the first time she had seen Li Huowang smile.
"Are you guys alright? I hope you were not frightened. The nuns in the Benevolent Nunnery couldn't put a stop to their abilities in time, so you guys were affected for a period even after the exorcism ended," Li Huowang calmly explained.
Just as Bai Lingmiao and the others got closer, they were shocked to see the beautiful appearance of the nun. She was simply too gorgeous despite her bizarre appearance.
Bai Lingmiao pulled Li Huowang slightly away from the nun and whispered, "Senior Li, who is she?"
"She's Abbess Jingxin. Don't you recognize her?" asked Li Huowang.
Li Huowang was just explaining the situation when the blind nun with flabby skin nodded.
"Her? Jingxin?! The nun who couldn't even walk because of being too fat?" Everyone's eyes widened with shock. The change in her appearance was just far too massive!
"The abilities of the nuns from the Benevolent Nunnery are somewhat different from the rest of the sects. There's no need for all of you to pry deeper into it. Thanks to the sacrifice made by Abbess Jingxin, my worries had been dealt with. Dan Yangzi will not appear again," explained Li Huowang.
Hearing this, everyone smiled and congratulated Li Huowang for being healed.
After talking for a bit, Li Huowang stopped them from asking further questions; he had something to say.
"I still have to take care of some stuff over here, and so I need to stay here for a few days. You guys should leave first. Once I'm finished with my business, I will catch up with you," said Li Huowang.
"Senior Li, why do you need to stay? Also, can't we just stay and help you?" Bai Lingmiao immediately raised an objection when she heard that they would be separated.
"Sorry, but there's nothing you guys can do to help me in terms of cultivation. You guys leave first, and I will catch up to you in another ten days or so. You guys need to reach your homes soon. Any later and you will be once again stuck having to celebrate the new years away from your homes. We've already delayed our journey for far too long. Relax, it's not as if I won't be traveling anymore. Just follow the path that I've marked on the map and I will be able to catch up with you guys soon enough," persuaded Li Huowang.
In the face of Li Huowang's persuasion, they all finally relented and left the nunnery after saying their goodbyes.
As he stared at them walking away, Li Huowang's smile slowly fell, being replaced by an expression filled with pain.
He removed his red Taoist robes and pulled up his shirt, revealing a large gash on his abdomen. Currently, there was a dense mass of white maggots crawling in the wound.
"Your injury will heal in just a few days within the Benevolent Nunnery. What you need to be concerned about is an entirely different matter. You know what I mean," said Abbess Jingxin.