Chapter 128
Chapter 128
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 128
>Chapter Title: Who Is It?
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Chapter 128: Who Is It?
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> “Is it me? Did I slaughter the entire town? Did I kill Yingzi’s whole family?”
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> The trembling Li Huowang twisted his head around, looking toward the eyes of the dead girl in front of him.
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> Her completely lifeless pupils had dilated to the maximum, and that mocking smile still hung on her face.
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> “Did I kill her, kill a girl who just wanted to avenge her parents? Am I the one who deserves to die the most?”
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> At this moment, Li Huowang began to feel afraid, utterly terrified. He abruptly shoved Yingzi’s corpse over and hastily retreated a full step.
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> Li Huowang tremblingly raised his own hands, staring at how they were thoroughly dyed red by Yingzi’s blood.
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> “No, that’s not right! It’s not like that at all! I didn’t even transmigrate here four years ago! And even if I had transmigrated back then, there’s no way I could’ve killed everyone in the whole town! I sure as hell didn’t have the power to storm into the Sitting Still Sect and raise hell! I’m just an ordinary person!”
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> “You’re anything but ordinary—regular folks don’t have your kind of talent.”
>Someone cut in.
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> Looking at the red-robed Daoist growing ever more terrified before him, Hand Three on the side kept explaining.
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> “By rights, this old man had no intention of dealing with you much—who knows if you might snap halfway through—but since Tranquil Heart Abbess spoke up, we’re doing her this one favor.”
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> “Shut your mouth!!”
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> “Don’t try to fool me! Aren’t you Greed Heart Elements? Quit the act! I’m right here!! Make your move!”
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> Seeing Li Huowang glaring furiously at him, Hand Three took a small step back.
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> “Xuanyang, my young friend, just calm down a little. We’re helping you out here—you can’t repay kindness with enmity.”
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> The man’s words offered zero comfort. If anything, they plunged the fear in Li Huowang’s heart even deeper, sounding just like the gospel truth.
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> Hand Three lightly waved a hand, signaling the surrounding Sitting Still Sect followers poised to act to fall back.
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> “Xuanyang, my young friend, sure, our Sitting Still Sect has a rotten name out in the world, but we’re nothing like you lot—we don’t kill willy-nilly. Everything’s got to be proper and above board.”
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> With another glance down at Yingzi’s corpse, Li Huowang—eyes bloodshot—clenched his teeth and barreled headlong out of the cave.
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> Seeing Li Huowang charging up with such ferocity, every Sitting Still Sect follower blocking the way hugged the walls, clearing a path for him.
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> Outside the cave, night had fallen, a round moon hanging in the sky. The cold wind blowing head-on sobered Li Huowang up somewhat.
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> He staggered over to a tree, leaned his back against the trunk, covered his face with his hands, and squatted down as his body began shaking uncontrollably.
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> “Am I a bloodthirsty maniac? Am I more vile and beastly than Danyangzi? Did I really slaughter Yingzi’s whole family? And then I killed Yingzi when she came for revenge?”
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> Intense repression and agony came crashing down on Li Huowang’s head like a mountain, drawing the string in his heart taut to the breaking point.
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> Li Huowang’s keen hearing caught footsteps drawing near, but right now all he wanted was to hole up and tune out the world.
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> Suddenly, he felt a gentle pat on his shoulder. A voice tinged with concern asked,
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> “Xuanyang, my young friend, you planning to leave? So does that mean our earlier talk’s off the table?”
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> The man’s words shattered Li Huowang’s fragile shell of isolation in an instant.
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> “Impossible! Absolutely impossible!! I’m going to find proof right now! There’s no way that town was wiped out by me!”
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> Li Huowang hauled himself back to his feet, shoved Hand Three aside, and bolted straight down the mountain toward the town.
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> Watching Li Huowang vanish down the mountain trail, Hand Three turned respectfully to a square-faced Sitting Still Sect follower and asked,
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> “Elder Shen Benyou, what do you think...?”
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> The square-faced man furrowed his brow, pondered for a moment, then said,
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> “Follow him and check it out. Play it safe—don’t get yourself dragged down too.”
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> Accompanied by moonlight, Li Huowang returned once more to the dead town.
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> In the darkness, the withered, sparse woods ringed an empty, lifeless town—an utterly chilling tableau.
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> But Li Huowang paid none of it any mind. In a frenzy, he charged inside and began rummaging about, not stopping even as gashes drew blood nonstop.
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> When he found a skeleton sprawled on the ground, his eyes lit up. He fished out a fluorescent stone from his robes and leaned in for a close look.
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> “Left side of the skull’s completely smashed! Blunt force trauma—that’s not my style at all, and anyway, I don’t even use blunt weapons.”
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> Li Huowang’s mood began to steady as he systematically kept hunting down other skeletons.
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> “This one’s bones are charred pitch-black and shatter at a touch—burned alive in raging fire. No way I could’ve pulled that off.”
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> “And this one’s even crazier: half the body sticking out, the other half jammed right into the wall. Impossible for me.”
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> The more gruesome deaths he uncovered, the lighter Li Huowang’s heart grew.
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> Spotting one skeleton splayed out on the ground like a blooming flower, the weight finally lifted completely from Li Huowang’s chest.
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> “I didn’t kill them. I’m no murderer—Yingzi got it all wrong!”
>Li Huowang reaffirmed his identity to himself over and over.
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> But right on the heels of that, another question leaped into Li Huowang’s mind.
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> “Why’d Yingzi get it wrong? Was there some villain back then who looked exactly like me?”
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> “Hmm... that’s a problem. Might stir up plenty of headaches down the line.”
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> “But that can wait. First things first—I need to sort out Danyangzi.”
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> Just as Li Huowang moved to leave the rotting shack, some scraps of paper nearby snagged his eye.
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> Calm now, he walked over and picked them up.
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> They were splattered with plenty of blood—scrawled right before death, by the look.
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> Li Huowang could barely make out the writing anymore; plenty of the characters were unfamiliar to him.
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> “Wait—these three characters... they look so familiar.”
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> Frowning slightly, Li Huowang traced the final three brushstrokes with his finger, puzzling it over intensely.
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> He lingered there, tracing them for ages and ages. As his brows knit tighter and tighter, his mind suddenly detonated.
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> “Li Huowang! Those three characters spell Li Huowang!”
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> The moment he shouted out the meaning in excitement, Li Huowang felt a chokehold clamp his throat.
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> He scanned the skeletons all around, pupils flaring wide then contracting, fear steadily gnawing into his mind.
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> “No... impossible! Yingzi got it wrong for sure! I didn’t kill their parents! I didn’t kill these people!”
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> Li Huowang muttered frantic rebuttals nonstop, but his agitation only mounted.
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> He could fool himself with any excuse under the sun, but those three characters on the paper in his hand dragged him kicking and screaming toward the truth.
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> With a sharp “snap,” the string in Li Huowang’s heart gave way.
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> “Li Huowang!! You killed them!! You madman!!”
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> “No! I didn’t!! I didn’t! I didn’t!! I’m nothing like Danyangzi and his ilk!”
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> Veins throbbing on his forehead, Li Huowang dropped to his knees amid the skeletons in their gruesome poses, screaming hysterically at the empty air.
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> “Swish~”
>A hairy pill tumbled through the air and into Li Huowang’s mouth.
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> In that instant, the repression, guilt, and agony in his heart ballooned manyfold, on the verge of swallowing his mind whole.
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> That was when a figure eased into the room—Hand Three.
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> His body charred black all over, he snapped his fingers lightly. Roaring flames erupted, sheathing him entirely and crackling as they burned.
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> With a casual flick of his hand, the blistering fire leaped from his body, racing along the ground to engulf Li Huowang completely.
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> (End of chapter)