Chapter 240
Chapter 240
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 240
>Chapter Title: Daoist
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To eat up entire families, they even offered up their own kind to the evil beings. Li Huowang truly hadn’t expected that behind this evil being’s joke of a name lurked such a ridiculous custom.
“So many people delivered right to its door, that Rope Son must be absolutely delighted, right?”
“Of course. The moment it sees more old folks arriving, it couldn’t be friendlier. If it had hands and feet, it’d be greeting them with smiles and serving tea.”
Chatting idly about these things with Han Fu brought Li Huowang much closer to the man—at least on the surface.
“Fellow Daoist Han, how much longer until we leave this place?” Li Huowang asked, eyeing the darkness constantly receding on either side.
“Ka~ *ptui*.” Han Fu spat a glob of phlegm onto the ground and said casually, “It’s close. Just remember one thing: in Fengdu, if you want to get out, don’t go down—go up. The higher you go, the closer you are to the surface. When you reach the top, even if there’s no path, you can drill through any hole to escape.”
“Fengdu?”
From this man’s mouth, Li Huowang learned the name of this interconnected network of dark caverns beneath Qingqiu.
He lightly stomped the ground with his foot, feeling the subtle upward slope, and felt a bit more at ease in his heart. “Right, it really is sloping upward.”
“Hey, these days, everything’s exhausting. I thought being a Daoist would be leisurely, but even that’s tiring. Right, Xuanyang?” Han Fu stretched his arms high above his head with a mighty yawn.
“Fellow Daoist speaks truly. In this world, everything’s exhausting.” Li Huowang brushed him off casually.
The sharp childlike voice that had debated philosophy with this man earlier had been silent for so long, yet his face showed no worry at all. Could that person still be alive? Li Huowang’s eyes darted subtly around.
Though their rapport had warmed somewhat, and they’d endured hardship together under Rope Son’s threat, Li Huowang still didn’t trust him.
“Look, over there. We’re almost out.” Following Han Fu’s pointing finger, Li Huowang spotted a hazy white spot ahead. The weather outside seemed decent.
Seeing the exit, the group—tense from the strain—finally relaxed a bit. After all this winding around, they’d finally reached the end.
Having lingered so long in this sunless void, even the distant glimmer of sunlight lifted everyone’s spirits considerably.
Under Han Fu’s lead, Li Huowang’s group carried Black Tai Sui toward it.
Just as they neared the exit, Han Fu’s mouth kept running nonstop. “Hey~ Fellow Daoist, did you hear about that recent heavenly disaster? The commotion was huge—they nearly turned everything into a chaotic mess, but then the disaster hit and it all stopped.”
“That’s only natural. All the rot vanished.” Li Huowang glanced back, counted heads, and relaxed slightly upon seeing everyone accounted for.
“I still remember the last heavenly disaster. I was three back then.”
Li Huowang, fixated on the growing white spot, had his pupils contract sharply. His attention snapped to this revelation. “Could it be that this vanishing of rot has happened many times before?”
The news shocked Li Huowang to his core. After all this time in this hellish place, he realized how pitifully little he truly understood about this world.
Suppressing his excitement, Li Huowang spoke calmly to Han Fu. “I have no memory of the previous disaster. Could you tell me more?”
“You didn’t know? I thought you did. Last time, it was lies that vanished. That was something!”
“I heard from my master that those Sitting Oblivion Dao swindlers were so desperate they nearly killed themselves. Hahaha!” Han Fu laughed heartily at the thought.
“Lies vanished?” Li Huowang struggled to imagine such a world. Everyone telling the truth?
Just as Li Huowang was about to press further, Han Fu spoke first.
“Hey, Xuanyang, do you know what caused the heavenly disaster?” A smug grin spread across Han Fu’s face.
“Does Fellow Daoist Han know?”
Han Fu’s cloth shoe edged closer to Li Huowang as he whispered, “I’ll tell you, but don’t spread it around. My master told me...”
As Li Huowang’s heart leaped to his throat, Han Fu’s right hand swiftly wiped across his own face.
With a soft “pat,” the copper coin mask on Li Huowang’s face detached and plummeted toward the ground.
Li Huowang caught it instantly, but it was too late—his face was fully exposed to Han Fu.
Staring at Li Huowang’s face, Han Fu first showed a flicker of realization, then a smug grin.
“So that’s what it was—a heart elemental.” The shrill childlike voice suddenly emanated from his body.
In everyone’s stunned gaze, a fist-sized infant head poked out from Han Fu’s collar.
The sparse-haired infant scalp bore the same square Tai Chi zodiac crown as Han Fu’s.
A Daoist in yellow robes with one large and one small head—this sight was utterly eerie. No wonder he’d said Gouwa and the others were nothing; he was far stranger.
Seeing this, Li Huowang’s expression darkened. So the one who’d spoken to him in the darkness earlier... had been this guy all along!
“Fellow Daoist Han, what’s the meaning of this? You think Clear Wind Temple has no one?” Li Huowang gripped his sword hilt, facing the two-headed freakish Daoist. He really didn’t want a fight now against someone of unknown strength.
“Heh~” Both of Han Fu’s heads—one large, one small—grinned, revealing teeth mottled black and yellow. “Since you’re a heart elemental, what do you think I mean?”
“Yeah, guess~ Guess~” the small head chimed in.
With that, Han Fu pinched a mudra and slapped it to his chest. The next instant, the darkness behind him thickened into substance, draping over him like layers of thin gauze.
“He wants my life!”
*Clang!* Li Huowang whipped out his sword, slashing at Han Fu’s lone eye exposed beyond the darkness.
The moment the darkness enveloped Han Fu, Li Huowang’s blade struck, cleaving the shadowy mass in two.
Yet it was a step too late—the parted darkness held no trace of Han Fu.
“Kid~ Now that you’re in Fengdu, why not stay?” Overlapping mocking voices echoed from all directions.
Scanning the surrounding darkness, Li Huowang locked onto the distant light and barked to the others, “Go! Get out of here, fast!”
Whatever Han Fu’s scheme was in this darkness, they had to escape this wretched place. Things were far too passive here!