Chapter 621
Chapter 621
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 621
>Chapter Title: Assembly
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Wearing a human skin, Li Sui knelt with her knees together on the moss-covered steps of the Bai family estate's main courtyard.
She stared at the lard candy in the little boy's hand before her, her large eyes filled with curiosity. "Is this stuff tasty?"
This boy, who looked about seven or eight and wore a tiger-head hat and tiger-head shoes, didn't know whose child from the village he was, but he couldn't tear his eyes away from Li Sui's delicate face.
After a while, he seemed to snap out of it and nodded vigorously, grabbing Li Sui's hand and dragging her toward his home.
He pulled Li Sui into his family's kitchen and, mimicking his mother, used chopsticks to scoop a large chunk of solidified lard from the oil jar and drop it into the sugar jar.
Once the lump of lard rolled around inside, coated in a thick layer of red rock sugar, the piece of lard candy was ready.
The little boy with the sky-high braid then carefully held it up to Li Sui.
"Is it tasty?" Li Sui opened her mouth and swallowed it in one bite. After savoring it carefully, she said, "Mm, it's okay. It has a pig flavor. I like eating pork."
"But I prefer those bloody meat bones, the kind wrapped in white soft cartilage. They're so fun to chew. My second mom and I both like them."
At that moment, Li Sui suddenly perked up her ears to listen. "Dad's calling me. I have to go back. You treated me to candy, so next time I'll treat you to bloody meat bones."
With that, the tentacles under her skirt whipped rapidly, propelling her toward the Bai family estate.
"Dad, did you just call me?" she asked Li Huowang, who was sorting through some yellow paper.
"Mm! Let's go. Time to get busy." Li Huowang reached out and slung all three swords onto his back at once.
"Where to?" Li Sui asked as she peeled off the human skin and head she was wearing and placed them into a nearby salt jar.
"There's this guy called Taishan Stone who's a big problem. We need to find him and kill him."
As Li Huowang spoke, he opened his mouth. Countless tentacles burrowed into his body, swelling his neck to an enormous thickness.
When they stepped out the door, Li Huowang spotted Bai Lingmiao waiting in front of him. He said to the blindfolded girl, "While I'm gone, you and your people guard Niuxin Village so no one pulls off a ploy to lure the tiger from the mountain."
"Mm." Bai Lingmiao nodded gently.
Li Huowang gave her a light hug before turning and striding quickly toward the village entrance.
As soon as Li Huowang left, a pair of white shoes appeared at the door. "Holy Maiden."
"Sigh... fine. I'll head to the capital right away. You all protect this place."
Li Huowang's side had just him alone. The abbot of Zhengde Temple plus two disciplinarian monks made three. Buddha Jade Furnace plus her four subordinates made five. That came to exactly nine people to encircle Taishan Stone.
Once everyone who was ready had gathered, Buddha Jade Furnace spoke up. "If we find that so-called Taishan Stone, don't rush into action, everyone. Scout out his background first. If we can't handle him, I can go back to HQ for reinforcements."
Li Huowang clearly disagreed with Buddha Jade Furnace's excessive caution.
"Cut the crap. Find him first. Do you have any news from your Bureau of Celestial Surveillance spies?" Li Huowang asked directly.
With the Bureau of Celestial Surveillance, Zhengde Temple, and himself, so many people ganging up on just one target.
No matter what this Taishan Stone's background was, Li Huowang figured that once they found him, he was as good as dead. After all, this was Great Liang, not Great Qi, without the Faith of the Law's massive peasant base.
Buddha Jade Furnace shot Li Huowang a displeased glare at his overstepping tone and said irritably, "We head first to Lixian County fifty li away. The spies there say Law Faith followers are gathering. We'll grab a tongue and see if we can track down Taishan Stone's whereabouts from them."
No time to waste. Everyone mounted horses from Niuxin Village and charged toward the county seat.
On the galloping horse, Buddha Jade Furnace rode up to Li Huowang's left side.
"Er Jiu! How's my Tai Xu Sword working for you?" Buddha Jade Furnace asked Li Huowang from horseback.
"What? You want it back?" Li Huowang replied without turning his head, reins in hand. He had nothing nice to say to this woman.
"Not at all. Since you have such a powerful Tai Xu Sword, if we really face off against that Taishan Stone, you can't just hang back modestly, right?"
"What are you getting at?"
"Heh, nothing much. If you're too scared, that's fine too. Give the sword back, and you can stay way in the back watching."
Li Huowang flicked the reins lightly, and his horse pressed right up against Buddha Jade Furnace's. "Buddha Jade Furnace, I don't care what you're up to, but don't forget—I'm a noble backed by imperial power now. If you dare pull any shady moves on me during something this important, think about the consequences."
At Li Huowang's words, Buddha Jade Furnace felt like she'd swallowed a fly. To think he'd take pride in something like that.
Sensing the tension, the abbot of Zhengde Temple rode over to interrupt them.
"Everyone, please prioritize the greater good. If we truly encounter that Taishan Stone, this poor monk is willing to take the lead."
At the abbot's mediation, Buddha Jade Furnace yanked her reins and pulled away from Li Huowang. "May I ask the master's dharma name? We're both disciples of the Buddha—calling you 'abbot' all the time feels too distant."
"This poor monk's dharma name is Chandu."
"Greetings, Master Chandu. My dharma name is Yuse."
Li Huowang squeezed his legs lightly and rode up beside the masked Liu Zongyuan, asking him, "How's this new Record-Keeper?"
"Hey, Brother Er, relax. She knows her limits. She won't make trouble for you on something this big."
Hearing that, Li Huowang eased his wariness a bit and focused on the road ahead.
Fifty li sounded like a lot, but on horseback, it wasn't long before Li Huowang and the others reached the county seat's gates.
Li Huowang yanked his reins, and his sturdy horse reared up high, halting before a pile of iron woks and earthen jars.
One of Li Sui's black tentacles shot out with a blur, flipping all the things in front of the horse's head into the air.
Iron woks, boiling water, and stones flew upward.
When he saw those steaming hot pebbles, Li Huowang gripped his sword hilt instantly.
Besides the Law Faith of Great Qi, no one was stupid enough to boil stone soup.
"Watch out! There's probably an ambush here. I'll scout ahead!"
Buddha Jade Furnace eyed the eerily quiet county seat. Her body shuddered violently as several finger-sized golden Buddhas hopped and bounced through the forest of pots and jars into the city.
Soon enough, a stick of incense had burned down. Just as Li Huowang prepared to act himself, Buddha Jade Furnace pulled out a string of red prayer beads and wrapped them around the tiger's mouths of her hands. She pinched a Buddhist mudra and began chanting an arcane sutra that Li Huowang couldn't understand at all.
"Prince Vipashyin sees those dying beings, the supremely wise ones, numbering eighty thousand, who follow Prince Vipashyin into monastic life to cultivate the holy path. World-Honored Vipashyin teaches the Dharma in Deer Park, King Ajatashatru and all come to the Buddha."