Chapter 518
Chapter 518
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 518
>Chapter Title: Bodhisattva
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Chapter 518: Bodhisattva
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> The invisible Li Huowang silently stood atop the tree canopy, silently watching the endless procession stretching into the distance.
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> Eunuchs, guards, palace maids—thousands of them in orderly formation, forming a long line with no visible end or beginning.
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> According to the information from Ji Lin, his targets, the Empress Dowager and the Eldest Princess, were definitely within that lavish procession.
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> However, Li Huowang knew that now was not a good time to strike—especially without knowing which luxurious carriage they were in, or how many ambushers lurked among the crowd.
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> If he startled them and they retreated into the depths of the palace, it would be much harder to make a move later.
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> For someone of the stature of the Great Liang Empress Dowager and Eldest Princess, the highest chance of success for killing them single-handedly was undoubtedly a sneak attack.
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> Besides, if the sneak attack failed, he could always switch to a direct confrontation then.
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> “Sui Sui, let’s go.” Li Sui, who was invisible alongside Li Huowang, wriggled her transparent tentacles slowly out from his body and wrapped them around a nearby branch.
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> With a slight pull from the tentacles, Li Huowang’s body leaped from one tree canopy to another.
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> Hanging far behind like this, Li Huowang followed the solemn procession as it slowly advanced.
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> At this critical moment, the Empress Dowager and Eldest Princess were heading to worship a Bodhisattva, so the temple couldn’t be too far from the capital. After following for just over ten kilometers, Li Huowang spotted it—a massive Bodhisattva holding a jade vase, built against a misty, cloud-shrouded mountain peak, standing there in an awe-inspiring sight.
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> Li Huowang didn’t recognize which Bodhisattva it was, but the Great Liang version differed from what he knew—their Bodhisattvas were male.
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> Like a mountain, the enormous male Bodhisattva held a treasure vase in one hand and lightly formed a mudra with the other, gazing down with pitying eyes that promised salvation to all beings.
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> “Let’s go! To the temple first!” Li Huowang quickened his pace, arriving at the grand temple before the Bodhisattva ahead of the procession.
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> A temple with such a colossal Bodhisattva couldn’t be some small shrine; dozens of acres of land before the statue all belonged to it.
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> Amidst lush green trees stood the temple compound, with apricot-yellow courtyard walls, blue-gray ridgelines on the halls, the smoke of incense from pilgrims, and the deep, resonant tolling of bells. All of it lent the place an air of utmost solemnity and sanctity.
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> Incense smoke wafted through the temple halls as a steady stream of worshippers arrived. They pressed their palms together, raising them to chest, forehead, and crown before prostrating flat on the ground. Day after day, the stone slabs in many places had worn concave.
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> Clearly, this temple held an extraordinary status among the common folk.
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> “Let’s go!” The invisible Li Huowang leaped onto the rooftiles and slipped into the temple first.
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> Li Huowang wasn’t worried that this place was like Zhengde Temple—a den of thieves that might turn the tables and ambush him. According to Ji Lin’s intel, the monks here were nothing special: ordinary monks doing ordinary things like bullying men and women.
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> Even if the temple hid some secrets, they wouldn’t get involved in a succession struggle.
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> Any temple this close to the capital knew better—unless they were fools. One wrong move, and they’d be shattered to pieces.
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> By the time he found a secluded spot to wait, the long procession had begun emerging onto the road at the temple gate.
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> Rows of monks in yellow robes, led by several in kasaya, came to the wide temple entrance to receive them.
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> Hiding inside the temple, Li Huowang held his breath and silently observed everything from afar.
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> As the palace maids in resplendent silk parted like a folding screen, Li Huowang caught his first glimpse of Great Liang’s Empress Dowager and Eldest Princess.
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> “Beautiful, stunning.” That was his first impression of them.
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> As Ji Lin’s elder sister, her looks were beyond compare—fish sinking, geese falling, moon hiding, flowers blushing—but remarkably, as his birth mother, she matched her beauty.
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> Her flawless white skin glowed with a faint rosy tint, her thin lips like tender rose petals. The years had left not a single trace on her face.
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> If not for their different attire, Li Huowang couldn’t have told which was the Empress Dowager and which the Eldest Princess.
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> Under Li Huowang’s gaze, the distant Eldest Princess said something to the abbot. Then the guards behind them surged forward, driving out the lingering pilgrims inside and sealing off the entire temple airtight.
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> Immediately after, the Empress Dowager and Eldest Princess, surrounded by eunuchs and maids, entered the temple.
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> They proceeded inward without stopping, ultimately ascending the stone steps to the tall pagoda at the temple’s heart, where they devoutly knelt on cushions and bowed to the mountain-built Bodhisattva.
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> And the grand Bodhisattva gazed down upon them, impassive and serene.
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> “Daddy, what are they doing?” Li Sui, unfamiliar with such spectacles, couldn’t comprehend it.
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> “They’re worshiping the Bodhisattva—probably begging forgiveness for their sins. Helping one son kill another would unsettle anyone’s heart, no matter who they are,” Li Huowang explained silently to Li Sui.
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> Li Huowang was patient, showing no sign of moving, rooted there like a stone.
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> They’d come all this way with such fanfare—not just for a quick prayer. They’d surely stay in the temple.
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> “Clang~ Clang~” With the bells tolling, the temple monks sat encircling the pagoda and began chanting sutras.
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> Against this solemn backdrop, the sun arced across the Bodhisattva’s front and slowly sank behind him.
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> At the third watch of the night, Li Huowang sensed the moment had ripened. Li Sui’s black tentacles coiled around the beams, slowly dangling the invisible Li Huowang upside down toward their quarters.
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> Li Huowang moved with excruciating slowness—even a fool could guess the area around those two women’s rooms was laced with ambushes.
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> After an hour of nerve-wracking creeping, he finally bypassed the outer sentries and reached the vicinity of their fine meditation rooms.
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> Though it was deep night, guards—eunuchs and maids—still stood watch around the rooms.
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> “Li Sui, remember: once we’re in, left room first, then right. Kill and get out—no lingering.”
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> With instructions given, Li Huowang gritted his teeth, raised his right hand, and slowly gripped the sword hilt.
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> Just as he was about to strike, a “creak”—the left meditation room door suddenly opened. Several sturdy palace maids carried a bald little monk wrapped in a blanket toward the other room.
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> “Halt! What hour is this? What are you doing?” An old eunuch with white powder caked on his face stepped out to block the maids.
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> “Reporting to Supervisor Cao, the Princess says the Empress Dowager grew weary from worshiping during the day, so she wishes to show her filial piety.”
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