Chapter 53
Chapter 53
-----------------------------------------------------------------
>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 53
>Chapter Title: Pondering
>-----------------------------------------------------------------
“The creak creak” of the donkey cart’s wheels kept turning, the bearings constantly emitting a harsh, grating noise.
“Gouwa, drip some sesame oil on the wheels.”
Li Huowang said with effort from where he lay on the donkey cart. His neck had just been sewn back together by Bai Lingmiao with an embroidery needle and coated with golden wound medicine, so he couldn’t sit up yet.
Before long, the squeaking grew much quieter. Li Huowang stared blankly at the sky, thinking about the events of that night a few days ago.
The trouble at Zhengde Temple had been resolved, but the trouble on his own body had only just begun.
In his view, it was Danyangzi after becoming an immortal who had killed those Buddhas.
But in everyone else’s eyes, it was he himself—looking hideous and terrifying—who had pounced on them, burrowing into the Buddhas’ bodies and devouring them alive.
One world couldn’t have two perspectives, so one of what he and the others had seen had to be false.
Li Huowang turned his head to look beside him. Bai Lingmiao, her eyes wrapped in cloth strips, clutched his hand tightly, refusing to let go even for a moment.
His gaze retracted, and Li Huowang looked back at the white clouds in the sky, a bitter smile appearing on his face.
Truth be told, because of his condition, even Li Huowang himself no longer fully trusted his own perceptions.
Combined with his bulging belly and the blood all over his face, everything pointed to the fact that it really had been him who did it—not Danyangzi.
“Could Danyangzi really be dead? And everything was just my imagination?”
The moment this thought surfaced, Li Huowang swiftly dismissed it.
“Just me having an episode couldn’t possibly have taken down those massive Buddhas so easily. In the end, it was still Danyangzi.”
“No matter what he’s become now, the key point is that he’s still around, still watching me.” Li Huowang was absolutely certain of this.
“I always thought it was him, having ascended to immortality, coming down personally. But now it seems he was just possessing my body to act.”
“I previously assumed Danyangzi was protecting me, and that guess has been confirmed. But based on what I know of him, someone like that would never help me out of kindness. He’s helping me for some other purpose.”
Thinking back to the strangeness he’d felt that night, a vague guess formed in Li Huowang’s mind. He reached out and scratched lightly at the soft palm of her hand.
“Do you think my temper’s gotten worse since we left Clear Wind Temple?”
“No, Senior Brother Li, why do you ask?”
Li Huowang’s fingers gently stroked the back of her hand, offering no explanation. He just murmured silently in his mind: “I ask because I’m worried that old bastard Danyangzi is up to no good!”
Others might not have said anything, but Li Huowang himself had noticed changes in how he handled things.
“Could that old coot Danyangzi be trying to revive himself through my body? So he’s protecting me because it’s also protecting his own body?” This terrifying conjecture, one that made cold sweat break out on Li Huowang’s skin, exploded in his mind.
But he quickly calmed down. It was just a guess, after all.
Danyangzi definitely had to be dealt with, but while the goal was clear, how to do it was the crucial part.
Li Huowang felt utterly at a loss about this. Nothing in this world came with clear labels like in a game—everything was unfamiliar, and he had to figure it all out himself.
After the ordeal at Zhengde Temple, Li Huowang no longer dared to casually interact with any other sects or groups here. After all, even the most benign monastery of monks had turned so horrifying—who knew what other places might become.
Yet after mulling it over, Li Huowang realized that if he wanted to survive in this damned place, he couldn’t avoid them forever.
As Li Huowang pondered these matters, the donkey cart slowly came to a stop, the sound of rushing water coming from nearby.
“Senior Brother Li, I’ll go wash your clothes for you.” With that, Bai Lingmiao gently withdrew her hand, picked up the bloodstained clothes from the cart, and headed toward the nearby stream.
The others didn’t idle either, tacitly heading into the woods to gather firewood and start a fire for cooking.
Li Huowang, unable to sit up, could only rely on sounds to judge what was happening around him.
Soon, the aroma of cooking food wafted over, and Li Huowang’s stomach growled. His injured body desperately needed sustenance.
“Senior Brother, let me feed you.” Li Huowang felt himself being helped up and leaned against something furry.
He already knew this woman, covered head to toe in black hair like a chimpanzee. Her name was Chun Xiaoman.
The name was straightforward—she’d been born on the day of the Xiaoman solar term, so her family simply named her Xiaoman. Rural folk often named their girls that casually.
Chun Xiaoman scooped up some horse meat soup with a wooden spoon she’d whittled herself and brought it to Li Huowang’s lips.
One person fed silently while the other ate silently. Since the incident, Li Huowang had noticed that the others seemed even more afraid of him.
He understood their fear—after all, traveling with a man-eating monster would make anyone uneasy.
Once he’d eaten his fill, Li Huowang said softly to Chun Xiaoman, “Call Bai Lingmiao back. If it won’t come clean, just forget it.”
“Got it.” Chun Xiaoman gently laid Li Huowang back down and placed the Heavenly Book under his head as a pillow.
Before long, Bai Lingmiao returned. The bloodstained Daoist robe in her hands hadn’t faded back to its original cyan.
“Drape it over the donkey’s back to dry. Hurry and eat—dinner’s getting cold.”
“Mm.” Bai Lingmiao softly assented, crouching down to carefully inspect Li Huowang’s wound before heading to the campfire.
Clip-clop clip-clop. Familiar hoofbeats approached from the distance.
The voice arrived before the person did. “Oh my! Little Daoist! So here you all are! I thought I’d never catch up!”
When Lv Zhuangyuan’s wrinkled old face appeared before him, Li Huowang knew the Lv family troupe had followed them.
“Oh dear, oh dear, what’s this?” He’d spotted Li Huowang’s condition.
“Nothing much, just some minor trouble on the road. Do you need something?”
“Little Daoist, how could you leave without a word? Weren’t we supposed to travel together? Good thing you mentioned heading out of the pass earlier, or I really wouldn’t have found you.” Lv Zhuangyuan said with a fawning smile.
He couldn’t so easily let go of this free bodyguard he’d finally found.
“Sorry, Troupe Leader Lv, I’m injured, so I won’t chat. Do as you please.”
“Hey hey, you just lie there, lie there.” Lv Zhuangyuan didn’t pry. After years of wandering, he knew well that the more you knew, the more danger you were in.
With night falling, neither group planned to move on. After all, the nearby stream made washing and fetching water convenient.
Unable to sleep, Li Huowang silently gazed at the stars in the sky, thinking over the day’s events.
Suddenly, a rustle came from his right side.
Before Li Huowang could react, a small, soft body silently slipped into his arms, trembling.
Smelling that familiar faint fragrance, Li Huowang reached out with his right hand and gently patted her back. “It’s okay. Leave everything to me. Everything.”
(End of Chapter)