Chapter 618
Chapter 618
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 618
>Chapter Title: White Lotus
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Chapter 618: White Lotus
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> Hearing Li Huowang ask this, Bai Lingmiao's face showed a slight stun.
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> "Senior Brother Li, why would I deceive you? We've traveled all this way through hardships. Do you still doubt how I've treated you?"
>
>
> "I know, of course I know. But even without malice, even for good intentions, sometimes our own people deceive their own. Having been fooled once, it's inevitable to overreact a little."
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>
> Hearing this, Bai Lingmiao let out a soft sigh.
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> "Senior Brother Li, whatever you want to know, just ask. I'll tell you everything. But can you stop doubting me? It really hurts inside."
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>
> Hearing this, Li Huowang reached out and gently grasped her hand, pulling her slightly toward him.
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> "Being this White Lotus Saintess—any hidden dangers?"
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>
> "None."
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> Bai Lingmiao answered softly.
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>
> "Is that so? Then why were you suddenly chosen as the Saintess out of the blue? Isn't it that this so-called Wusheng Old Mother is using you as a heart anchor?"
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>
> Hearing this, Bai Lingmiao looked puzzled.
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> "Senior Brother Li, what's a heart anchor? The Wusheng Old Mother shouldn't need something like that, right?"
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>
> "No! She needs it! If she's a Si Ming, she definitely needs it!"
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> Li Huowang spoke with absolute certainty.
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>
> "Tell me everything that happened—don't hide a single thing! Whatever problems there are, we'll face them together!"
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>
> Hearing this, Bai Lingmiao fell silent for a long time before finally speaking in a faint voice.
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> "That day, after Senior Lian took me away, I met the people from her branch of the White Lotus sub-helm."
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>
> "After they saw me, they were all very excited. They said I carried the Wusheng Old Mother's Universal Enlightenment Wonderful Way, and they all knelt down to worship me."
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>
> "I thought I'd run into swindlers at first. But after they drew lots of characters on my body, I actually felt the Wusheng Old Mother."
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> At this point, Bai Lingmiao's expression turned devout.
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>
> "Senior Brother Li, do you know? Actually, my parents were wrong all along. Believing in the Wusheng Old Mother doesn't require human sacrifices at all. She's a good immortal."
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>
> "Hmph!"
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>
> Hearing this, Li Huowang snorted coldly in his heart. This Wusheng Old Mother probably no longer needed human sacrifices because the heavenly dao that demanded them had been snatched away. It had nothing to do with good or evil.
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>
> As Li Huowang pondered the Wusheng Old Mother's motives in his mind, Bai Lingmiao continued.
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> "She's really good. She even told me you were in trouble."
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>
> "Then she said she could teach me divine abilities and lend me the White Lotus Cult's people to come save you."
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>
> "Senior Brother Li, think about it. If the Wusheng Old Mother hadn't saved you before, you'd have been in real trouble back then. We owe her that favor."
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> "It was you who came to save me back then, not her. I owe you, not her."
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> "But my power comes from the Wusheng Old Mother. Without her help, I couldn't have saved you."
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> Li Huowang didn't want to keep arguing over this and cut straight to it.
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> "Tell her—no matter what her goal is, in front of the Yu'er God, we're on the same side."
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>
> "With a great enemy before us, we can cooperate for now to deal with the Yu'er God. As for other matters, once this storm passes, we can sit down and talk them over slowly."
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>
> Li Huowang was no longer the hot-headed youth he once was. Even if Bai Lingmiao spun tales of paradise, he knew exactly what sort of beings these so-called Si Mings were. Leaving her with the Wusheng Old Mother made him deeply uneasy.
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>
> Bai Lingmiao nodded gently.
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> "Alright then. But Senior Brother Li, I think things are pretty good right now. I'm really happy. My parents are living well in the Wusheng Old Mother's Vacuous Homeland."
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>
> "After I die, I can return to the Vacuous Homeland too and see them again!"
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>
> Hearing this, Li Huowang truly couldn't hold back any longer. He was just about to open his mouth to refute her when Bai Lingmiao's expression suddenly changed.
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>
> That familiar sensation made Li Huowang pause slightly. This was the Second God—the Second God hadn't died!
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> Just as Li Huowang opened his mouth to speak, the Second God glared right at him.
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> "Can you stop being such a busybody? Do you just enjoy filling Miao Miao's heart and body with pain and despair?"
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>
> "But... but that's fake!"
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>
> "Fake or not, so what? We like it! Besides, how do you know for sure this is fake? Can you really tell real from fake that clearly?"
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>
> These words hit Li Huowang like a thunderbolt, leaving him frozen in place as all sorts of thoughts exploded in his mind.
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> After a while, seeing Li Huowang remain silent, Bai Lingmiao—returned to her original appearance—spoke with a trace of apology.
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> "I actually wanted to tell you the Second God was still alive, but she wouldn't let me."
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>
> "Actually, we're not completely two different people. Our upper bodies are separate, but our lower bodies are joined, so we can barely count as one person."
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>
> "Wait, hold on—I suddenly need to ask someone something."
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> Li Huowang quickly stood up, pulled out his phone, and hurried outside.
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>
> Soon, Li Huowang returned to the pond's edge. He looked excitedly at his reflection in the water.
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> "Ji Zai! I need your help with something! Since this world is alive and reality shifts every moment into the past and future, do you have a way to bring Bai Lingmiao's dead family back to life?"
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>
> "I can't."
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>
> "Why?"
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> Li Huowang demanded loudly.
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>
> "First, I can't alter things so directly—it pulls at the entire web. Second, this is your karma. If I removed it, everything that happens to you afterward would change. It might even..."
>
>
> "Even what?"
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>
> "Very good. Stay calm."
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> After that, Ji Zai fell completely silent.
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>
> "Fuck your grandfather!"
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> Li Huowang couldn't hold back and cursed explosively once more.
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> Truth be told, even knowing Ji Zai was his future self, Li Huowang itched with hatred for him. He even fantasized about cultivating immortality just to beat the crap out of him.
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>
> "Senior Brother Li, what's wrong?"
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> Worried, Bai Lingmiao had followed him. Seeing Li Huowang raging at his reflection in the water filled her heart with concern.
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>
> "I'm fine. Don't worry about me—my illness is truly cured."
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> Li Huowang reached out and patted her shoulder.
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>
> "Really?"
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>
> "This is a bit of a mess. Let's focus on this wave of Great Qi disaster victims first. I sense this incident is going to be big."
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>
> Hearing this, Bai Lingmiao stopped questioning. She nodded gently.
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> "Okay."
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> Though they feared the disaster victims might threaten Oxheart Village, these people were nothing but skin and bones from starvation. They lacked the strength to raid or plunder.
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> At least near Oxheart Village, things remained calm and peaceful.
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> Using straw, rags, and timber sent from Oxheart Village, the disaster victims threw together some simple shacks nearby.
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> Crude and ugly as they were, they at least blocked the late-winter chill.
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> Li Huowang had figured that since even Oxheart Mountain in Great Qi was deserted, any trouble from these disaster victims would crop up elsewhere.
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> But to his surprise, that very night—in the dead of night—Li Huowang's eyes snapped open.
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> He heard a strange sound. Faint though it was, he heard it clearly: the wooden fish beat typically heard only in monk temples.
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>
> ————————
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