CH 50

At night, in a dense thicket of bushes, Li Huowang wrapped himself in a blanket and silently kept watch. The night without a campfire was particularly cold, especially since it was only March.

But at this moment, he dared not light a fire, for fear that the flames would attract the chase of the monks. Under the faint moonlight in the sky, Li Huowang reached into his arms and took out a small copper bell.

He had already consumed most of the pills that Dan Yang Tzu had given him to enhance his strength. This was the only thing Li Huowang could use now. However, he felt a strong sense of frustration when he thought about how easily Xin Hui had taken the copper bell from him.

Those monks wanted to harm him, but he could only run away. This feeling was too unbearable.

“In this chaotic and bizarre world, everything is about strength. If I want to stand firm here, I must be strong enough!” Li Huowang thought to himself.

“Even illiterate people like Dan Yang Tzu can become so powerful, why can’t I? No matter how strange the cultivation methods in this world are, I must obtain them!

“I want to protect myself, and I also want to protect the people I care about! If I can’t beg for it, I’ll steal it. If I can’t steal it, I’ll rob it. If I can’t rob it, then I’ll use cunning schemes!” Li Huowang’s expression gradually became fierce.

Just as he was thinking this, Li Huowang suddenly froze and looked confused as he felt his neck. He seemed to be pondering something.

“Namah Heraladna~ Dorayeye~”

A ethereal chanting voice broke the silence of the woods. Li Huowang instinctively stood up and quickly looked around, but it was pitch black and he couldn’t see anything. The simple traps he had set up earlier didn’t show any response either.

“Namah Alidie~ Polugejiedi~ Shuoboluoya~”

The ethereal chanting voice sounded again, this time closer than before.

“Quick! Everyone, get up! Let’s go! Run separately, don’t care about the cart anymore! Plonker, do what I taught you before!” 

At his reminder, Bai Lingmiao was about to follow Li Huowang but suddenly lifted onto Plonker’s shoulder, then Plonker quickly ran towards the east.

Li Huowang crossed over the bushes and jumped back onto the road. He gritted his teeth and ran forward as fast as he could. After all, the monks’ target was only him. If he couldn’t escape, there was no need to let others fall into danger too.

In the darkness, Li Huowang kept running, but the chanting voice, which come from nowhere, followed him closely. He also began to smell the incense from the temple.

As Li Huowang ran, he suddenly stopped. He looked at the pitch-black road ahead, where there were many small red dots trembling slightly.

“Botuoye~ Botuoye~ Midiliye~ Narajinchu…” The chanting voice became louder and louder.

Finally, something in the darkness slowly appeared. It was a Buddha, with a huge head and tall body, but thin legs and a big belly. 

The red dots that Li Huowang saw earlier were actually incense sticks inserted into the Buddha’s body. As the Buddha’s huge body swayed, the incense sticks inserted into its flesh trembled.

There weren’t just one Buddha, but seven. They stood side by side, swaying their bodies as they walked towards Li Huowang. They stepped with a simple and repetitive rhythm, swaying left and right. They looked like humans, but not quite, with expressions that seemed like smiles but also not quite.

When they were fully exposed to the moonlight, Li Huowang also saw the face of the leading Buddha. He recognized him as Jian Dun. “Amitabha, alms giver, your heart is not calm.”

Li Huowang looked up at the Buddhas, whose fleshly body was at least four meters high. “So you finally stopped pretending, huh? You scum who worship monsters!”

“Alms giver, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Just come back to the temple with me. Dan Yang Tzu’s karma is upon you, if you leave with it, you’ll have big trouble, and so will the world.” Jian Dun finished speaking, and as he clasped his hands together heavily, the sound of flesh tearing was heard, and palms without flesh emerged from behind him, swaying.

In an instant, the seven Buddhas had turned into seven terrifying and horrific Blood Flesh Thousand-Handed Buddhas.

“Ring ring ring~!!” As Li Huowang shook the copper bell in his hand with all his might, the environment around him began to distort. The lines of the surrounding tree branches twisted rapidly, forming Master Wander.

However, despite the ringing and the distortion of the surroundings, it had no effect on the Buddhas. They stood there like stones.

Li Huowang dug up some soil from the ground and stuffed it into his mouth. Then he pointed at the Buddhas and shouted, “Helpe þú mé!” Master Wander immediately flew towards the Buddhas while sticking to the ground.

“Hey!” The Buddha’s huge palm slammed down with force, stirring up a cloud of dust. However, the intangible Master Wander completely ignored the attack and dove straight towards one Buddha’s face.

Once Master Wander fully entered one Buddha’s head, its towering figure began to sway. Its huge palm swatted in the air like shooing away flies, but it was not effective. After a moment, the massive Buddha collapsed heavily to the ground, its facial features melting away as its body twisted with the surrounding environment.

The remaining six Buddhas quickly stood back-to-back, forming a circle. They slammed their hands onto the ground, then starting to recite a difficult-to-understand Buddhist scripture.

As soon as the chanting began, Li Huowang saw that something was wrong with Master Wander. The lines that made up its body began to shake involuntarily.

Li Huowang noticed this and shook the copper bell in his hand even harder. “Eft!þrýmónaþ lífes tíd!”

Upon hearing Li Huowang’s willingness to sacrifice more of his lifespan, Master Wander struggled to maintain control of its body and charged towards one of the Buddhas.

With a loud crash, another Buddha fell to the ground, but this was already Master Wander’s limit.

Amidst the resounding chanting, Master Wander fell from mid-air onto the ground.

Seeing that Master Wander was no longer useful, Li Huowang stopped shaking the copper bell. However, as everything around them returned to normal, the Master Wander on the ground did not dissipate.

All the lines that make up its body began to lose their original color and turned into a pinkish flesh color. Its intangible body had been given flesh and blood by the chanting of the Buddhas!

With flesh and blood, Master Wander now looked like many tangled earthworms slowly wriggling on the ground.

The Buddha’s huge palm with the 卍 symbol was heavily tapped on the ground, and Master Wande’s body instantly turned into a lump of pulpy flesh.

The huge palm that was stuck to Master Wander’s flesh and blood slowly lifted up. The remaining five Thousand-Handed Buddhas swayed towards Li Huowang and stood in front of him.

“Amitabha, alms giver, please come with us.”