Chapter 112
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 112
>Chapter Title: A Way
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Chapter 112: A Way
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> Li Huowang sat on the ground, his expression filled with intense hesitation and struggle.
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> He stayed in place for a long time, thinking for what felt like forever, before finally picking up a brush and starting to write on the rice paper.
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> But Li Huowang paused for a very long time after every few characters.
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> He wasn’t used to the brush—that was one issue. More importantly, he was starting to forget how to write many everyday characters.
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> Li Huowang knew this meant he was becoming more and more like Danyangzi.
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> After scrawling down a long passage, Li Huowang added five large characters at the end: Li Huowang’s Final Words.
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> Once he finished, Li Huowang blew on the paper to dry the ink and handed it to the fat nun beside him.
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> “If my fellow disciples come looking for me, I’d trouble you to pass this letter to the tall one. He can read.”
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> He then handed over the Heavenly Book gourd and the Dao bell as well. “And please give them these three things too.”
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> “They know how to use the gourd and the bell. As for the Heavenly Book, just let it be a memento for them.”
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> Miaoyin’s gaze flicked over the three items before shifting to the Great Thousand Record at Li Huowang’s waist.
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> “You’re not giving them that?”
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> Li Huowang pressed a hand to the bamboo slips that had brought him endless suffering and shook his head slightly. “No. This thing is inauspicious. Leaving it with them would make me uneasy on my way out. Better if it comes with me.”
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> With everything sorted, Li Huowang turned to Jingxin, who was waiting nearby. “Abbess, I’m all set.”
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> Abbess Jingxin nodded and turned toward the depths of Anci Nunnery, her loose, sagging flesh trailing along the ground like the hem of a skirt.
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> She walked ahead while Li Huowang clutched his abdomen and followed behind. The two walked in silence.
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> They passed through a moldy swamp of food scraps and several dilapidated, filthy shrines before a short black pagoda came into view.
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> Seeing the tower, Jingxin finally spoke. “Are you truly set on this?”
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> Li Huowang nodded. “What you said earlier woke me up to something I’ve wanted all along—to eradicate Danyangzi completely. As for whether I survive...”
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> At that, Li Huowang let out a low chuckle. “Looking back now, I don’t actually care that much about my own life.”
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> Li Huowang pressed his abdominal wound, exhaustion plain on his face.
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> “Abbess, to be honest, after everything I’ve been through, I’m truly worn out. I don’t want to see my mother suffer anymore, and I don’t want to endure Danyangzi’s erosion every moment. I just want to rest properly.”
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> The thought of impending death brought no fear as he imagined it—instead, a trace of relief stirred in his heart. “Sigh, I really feel so tired.”
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> Abbess Jingxin nodded and led him into the tower. “Very well. As you wish.”
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> “Thank you, Abbess. Among all the people I’ve met in this world, you’re the only good one.”
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> “I’m a nun. Nuns embrace compassion—it comes naturally.”
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> “Abbess, since you’re a disciple of the Buddha, may I ask you a question?”
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> “Oh? What question?”
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> “Do you think, when people die in this world, they really turn into ghosts?”
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> “Then, since you’ll be dying soon, would you rather become a ghost or vanish into smoke?”
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> “I think living is exhausting enough. Once dead, just rest—no more fuss.” Li Huowang spoke with complete candor.
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> Jingxin tilted her head slightly, looking at Li Huowang again with her shrunken eyes. “Are you truly certain you have no attachments left? Is there truly nothing in this mortal world worth lingering for?”
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> Li Huowang’s expression stiffened briefly as many faces flashed through his mind. “I do. But as I am now, being with them would only hurt them.”
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> Seeing this, Abbess Jingxin said no more and continued toward the black tower.
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> As they drew closer, Li Huowang heard a rustling sound—the peculiar noise of leaves rubbing together.
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> Looking up toward the source, he finally identified it: cockroaches. The black insects were crammed densely inside the tower.
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> Jingxin didn’t stop and led Li Huowang straight into the mass of cockroaches.
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> The sensation of the bugs crawling all over him was awful, but Li Huowang, resolved to die, paid it no mind.
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> He could only shove aside the swarming insects as best he could to keep up without falling behind.
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> After trudging through the cockroach pile for about the time it takes to burn half a joss stick, the space ahead opened up. But before Li Huowang could catch his breath, what lay before him made his whole body jolt.
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> Countless gray rats of all sizes had their tails tangled together, forming clusters of huddled, moving rat piles.
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> The rat piles merged into one another, ultimately forming a massive rat mountain.
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> At that moment, the countless red eyes of all sizes in the writhing rat mountain stared straight at Li Huowang.
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> A hole gaped in the rat mountain, as if waiting for someone to enter.
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> “This is it, then?” Li Huowang took a deep breath and stepped toward the hole in the rat mountain.
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> He stopped after just a few steps and turned to Abbess Jingxin for final confirmation. “Abbess, you’re certain that once I’m dead, you can truly deal with Danyangzi?”
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> His own life was minor; ensuring that damned beast suffered eternally was what mattered.
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> With her firm affirmation, Li Huowang exhaled in relief and headed toward the rat hole.
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> In his final moments, the images of Yang Na and Bai Lingmiao both appeared in Li Huowang’s mind. Gradually, their figures overlapped.
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> “Farewell, you rotten place!” Li Huowang thought as he lifted his foot to step inside.
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> Just as Li Huowang was about to enter the hole, Abbess Jingxin’s voice came from behind.
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> “Since you’re not even afraid of death, I can offer you another choice. If it proves useless, you can always die later.”
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> Hearing this, Li Huowang turned in astonishment toward Abbess Jingxin. “There’s another way?”
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> Her words instantly reignited the spark in his ashen heart.
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> Jingxin nodded and pointed at the Great Thousand Record at his waist. “Seek help from its original owners.”
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> “They?” Li Huowang looked in surprise at the red bamboo slips. “Abbess, I never asked before—what is the origin of this thing that demands flesh sacrifices?”
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> “The Ao Jing Cult.” Abbess Jingxin named something utterly unfamiliar to Li Huowang.
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> “In the past, they were two separate cults: the Ao Cult and the Jing Cult. Somehow they merged later on, and the Great Thousand Record in your hands is theirs.”
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> “The Ao Jing Cult?” Li Huowang murmured to himself in place. He knew of Buddhism and Daoism, but this was the first he’d heard of any Ao Jing Cult.
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> “They can separate Danyangzi from me?”
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> “You can try seeking them out. If anyone in this world can resolve your bizarre affliction, it would be those even more bizarre folk.”
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> “Of course, if they do help you, you might not easily escape their grasp afterward. But since you’re not afraid of death, this shouldn’t faze you either.”
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> With that, Abbess Jingxin folded the loose skin on her body with her hand, then swiftly sliced it with her fingers, peeling off a sheet of human skin.
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> Her black fingernails scratched rapidly across it, carving lines of rectangular women’s script.
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> Once finished, she walked to Li Huowang’s side and placed it in his hand.
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> “Show them this, and they won’t strike you down on sight.”
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> “If even they have no solution, you can always come back to die.”
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> Li Huowang gently rubbed the skin letter in his hand, hardly able to believe it. He’d steeled himself for death, yet here was a sliver of hope.
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> “Thank you, Abbess! If Danyangzi is truly dealt with, I’ll repay you a thousandfold someday!”
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> Better not to die if he didn’t have to. Clutching this last thread of hope, Li Huowang turned and headed back into the cockroach swarm.
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> “Abbess, it’s a deal then! If they can’t solve it either, I’ll return in two months for you to kill me.”
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> Not long after Li Huowang left, the fat nun emerged from the rat pile and came to Jingxin’s side.
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> “Abbess, why help that Xinsu kid so much? You even used a skin letter—that’s a huge favor. We’ve never gotten along with those people anyway.”
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> Abbess Jingxin watched the direction Li Huowang had gone with a deeply complex expression. Only after a long while did she slowly speak.
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> “Earlier, the child held my face and called me ‘Mom.’”
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> “You know, he really resembles Yu’er when she was young—both in how he acts and how he speaks.”
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> (End of chapter)