Chapter 41
Chapter 41
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 41
>Chapter Title: Monk
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> On the pitch-black dirt path through the woods, Li Huowang held up a torch, leading the others forward.
The sky was still dark, but after their shocking ordeal, none of them felt the least bit sleepy. After everything that had just happened, no one could think about sleep.
The donkey cart was piled with some chunks of horse meat they'd cut off. Aside from a few scraps of silver from the bandits' corpses, this was all Li Huowang's loot.
“That's enough. Let's rest here until dawn. It's not safe traveling at night.”
At Li Huowang's command, the torches were quickly piled together to form a new campfire.
“Close your eyes and rest if you can't sleep. We need to keep moving tomorrow—save your strength. I'll take first watch.”
As the sound of donkey hooves and footsteps faded away, the dirt road fell quiet once more.
Sitting by the fire, Li Huowang turned to look back down the path they'd come from. It was all darkness there. That Old Beggar wouldn't catch up until he'd buried all the dead.
Reflecting on everything that had happened, Li Huowang couldn't help but sigh to himself. This place really was chaotic.
With all sorts of bizarre and dangerous things around, his fellow humans weren't banding together for safety—instead, they were slaughtering each other.
He poked at the nearly dying fire with his sword and tossed in some nearby firewood.
As time slowly passed, the people who'd scattered in the woods gradually made their way back to Li Huowang's campfire. Soon, several small fires dotted the area.
The Lv family wasn't among those who returned, but Li Huowang wasn't worried at all. When the bandits had charged out, the Lvs had bolted the fastest.
Lv Zhuangyuan was a real veteran of the roads. No wonder a cheapskate like him insisted on using a horse to pull the cart. He'd clearly anticipated something like this.
Time ticked by, and the sky gradually lightened. The others began to stir, roasting horse meat for breakfast as they prepared for the next leg of the journey.
Horse meat might not taste great, but it was meat all the same, and it would replenish their strength nicely.
As they tore into it hungrily, a trembling figure approached from behind.
Seeing who it was, Li Huowang's guard eased a bit. It was the Old Beggar from before. He looked like he'd been burying bodies all night.
The morning dew had soaked his tattered monk's robes, leaving him shivering. He shuffled to a spot nearer the fire and squatted down, huddling into a ball.
Catching Li Huowang's eye, the beggar gave a dopey grin.
Considering how the old man had thrown himself into danger to save them the night before, much of Li Huowang's hostility melted away.
Sure, he figured someone so soft-hearted wouldn't last long in this dangerous world, but no one turned away from a good person.
When Li Huowang tossed him a mantou, the beggar snatched it up and started chewing, mumbling through a full mouth,
“May the Buddha bless you.”
Hearing that piqued Li Huowang's interest.
“What Buddha are you talking about?”
“Huh? The Buddha's just the Buddha. What do you mean 'which one'?”
The Old Beggar looked baffled.
“Sigh, just eat. Folks like you are rare these days. I hope you're not scamming me.”
“How could I scam anyone? I'm a monk! Monks don't lie.”
The Old Beggar declared firmly.
“You only chant 'Amitabha,' and you don't even know which Buddha you're chanting to. What kind of monk are you?”
“Sun the Scholar said monks are bald, so I shaved my head. Tailor Wang said monks don't take wives, so I didn't. Butcher Liu said monks don't eat meat, so I don't! And I heard other monks chanting 'Amitabha,' so I do it too. I've done everything—how am I not a monk?”
The Old Beggar seemed touchy on the subject, arguing stubbornly.
Li Huowang couldn't help but chuckle. This guy's monk act was even faker than his own as a Daoist.
“But that doesn't make you a monk.”
The Old Beggar froze, holding half a mantou and looking at Li Huowang seriously.
“Then tell me, what should a monk be like?”
Li Huowang opened his mouth to reply but found he had no answer. There was something profoundly foolish yet oddly truthful in the man's words.
For some reason, Li Huowang saw echoes of Danyangzi in him—blind persistence amid ignorance.
“I bet you can't read, right?”
“How'd you know? Are all you Daoists such great fortune-tellers?”
“Heh.”
“Why are you so dead set on being a monk?”
“Back then, if a monk hadn't saved me, I'd be dead. From that day on, I swore I'd become a monk too! A good monk!”
As he spoke, Li Huowang spotted the Lv troupe hurrying back from afar. He patted his butt and stood, heading their way.
The rest of the journey passed without incident. The old monk trailed along the whole time. Whenever Li Huowang saw him gnawing raw greens from hunger, he'd toss him a mantou or two.
After more than ten days like that, a city even grander and more magnificent than Jianye appeared before Li Huowang. The Western Capital had arrived.
The endless stretch of blue brick walls towered imposingly. Standing at the gates and looking up filled him with overwhelming pressure.
“We're finally here?”
Seeing the gates, Li Huowang let out a long breath of relief. He'd been on edge the whole way, but the nightmare scenario hadn't come to pass.
“Little Daoist, you can't just crash at any inn in the Western Capital—they'll fleece you blind. Let me take you to a cheap one.”
Lv Zhuangyuan started toward the towering gates, but Li Huowang held him back.
“Wait. Where's that monk temple you mentioned before?”
Li Huowang asked eagerly. That was the main reason he'd come here.
Under Lv Zhuangyuan's lead, Li Huowang headed for Zhengde Temple, the most incense-rich spot in the Western Capital.
Before the temple even came into view, Li Huowang caught the distinctive sandalwood scent of a Buddhist site. The wide streets grew crowded.
Old folks, women, men, children—people of all sorts.
Seeing the stacks of incense in their hands, Li Huowang instantly knew they were all there to pay respects to the Buddha.
“Does this temple always have such booming business?”
An incense buyer nearby overheard Li Huowang talking to Lv Zhuangyuan and chimed in.
“Of course! The bodhisattva at Zhengde Temple is incredibly efficacious! My daughter-in-law got pregnant after praying here once.”
“And the masters at Zhengde Temple are good people too. Every few days, they hand out porridge to the poor.”
“Yeah, yeah. Having a temple this great in the Western Capital is a blessing for generations.”
(End of Chapter)