Chapter 627
Chapter 627
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 627
>Chapter Title: Treatment
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In a dense wooded area, tentacles equipped with suckers and barbs burst from Li Huowang's left arm, wrapping tightly around a tree trunk, while another tentacle emerged from his right abdomen, coiling around another tree.
“Hold on tight! Grip it hard!” Li Huowang shouted as he drew a short knife and slowly sliced along the base of the tentacles. Crimson blood mixed with excruciating pain sprayed from the wounds.
Sweat beading on his forehead, Li Huowang didn't dare slack off. He gripped the short knife and plunged it into his own body, beginning a slow excision in an attempt to fully sever the connection between himself and Li Sui.
It had taken a heavenly disaster for Li Sui to fuse with Mantou back then, but he never imagined such a thing could happen to him.
Li Sui's sensibility had made Li Huowang completely forget that she was an evil being—a Black Tai Sui capable of possessing human bodies!
He couldn't let Li Sui stay inside him for long, or her instincts would devour his flesh and claim his body entirely.
“Hah...” Li Huowang trembled all over from the pain. This agony was no less than death by a thousand cuts, for the connection between him and Li Sui wasn't just the external tentacles but also their internal organs. It was like flaying skin and scraping bone.
“Dad, does it hurt? Should we take a break?” Li Sui's voice echoed in Li Huowang's mind.
“No!” Li Huowang shook his head forcefully, his hands still working.
The rapid healing granted by Ba Hui was a hindrance here. If he didn't push through in one go and paused midway, the freshly severed parts would likely reconnect.
“Dad, I'm sorry. It's my fault.”
“It's fine! This has nothing to do with you! Don't talk! Wrap the tentacles tighter! It's just a small problem! It won't stump me! We'll sort it out soon!!”
The process was incredibly arduous, no less difficult than manually separating conjoined twins.
“Amitabha. Benefactor, what in the world are you doing?” As Abbot Chandu of Great Qi's Zhengde Temple entered the woods, he was met with an utterly bizarre sight.
That red-robed Daoist, not the friendliest sort, had hoisted himself into the air with tentacles sprouting from his body and was now carving into his own flesh with a knife?
Thin streams of blood dripped from him, soaking the ground beneath into a vivid red.
After learning from Li Huowang's mouth that he was in trouble, Chandu pressed his palms together and bowed toward him. “Amitabha. Benefactor Li, you should have said so earlier. We could have helped.”
Li Huowang paused the hand that was cutting into his flesh and eyed the old monk before him. “You? For real? Do you even understand the trouble I'm in?”
“Amitabha. The Ratnasambhava Buddha of the Southern Joyous Pure Land universally saves all sentient beings. With endless flesh comes boundless merit. This body of ours is merely a foul sack of skin. Benefactor, you are a great virtuous one. The Ratnasambhava Buddha will bless you.”
“Ratnasambhava Buddha?” Li Huowang furrowed his brow. The more he thought about the old monk before him, the more off it felt. He hesitated before asking, “You're not thinking of making me give birth to Li Sui like that eunuch giving birth to a son, are you?”
“Hey~ No, no. Benefactor, put on your clothes and come with me.”
Chandu led the dressed Li Huowang to two other monks. After a brief exchange, he had Li Huowang sit cross-legged on the ground. Then the three surrounded him and began rhythmically striking wooden fish.
“Siddham samayam mukhe... dul dul pisha ye di... yi xi li...” As the three started chanting obscure sutras, Li Huowang gradually felt his scalp itch.
When he reached up to scratch, he peeled off his own scalp. And it wasn't just his scalp—other parts of his body began crumbling and melting away.
Looking down at his dissolving body, Li Huowang suddenly understood how those vase ladies were made.
As Li Huowang's body began slowly separating from Li Sui's, Chandu removed the prayer beads from his neck and tossed them onto the indescribable mass of flesh before him.
In the next instant, a swastika glowing with Buddhist light appeared on Li Huowang's body. Li Sui's separation accelerated dramatically, and soon she was completely detached.
As the chanting faded, Li Huowang reverted to his original form. This time, Li Sui was no longer fused with him.
Li Huowang, his eye sockets empty, groped around. “Sui Sui, give me an eyeball!”
He took the eyeball from the tentacle, shoved it into his socket, and the familiar world returned to view.
Glancing down at his fully healed body, Li Huowang couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Zhengde Temple's divine abilities were still potent when applied correctly. “Thanks. I owe you one.”
“Amitabha. What are you saying, Benefactor Li? One favor for another. Consider it repayment for your great merit in donating rice back then.”
Li Huowang walked over to Li Sui's side and examined the skinned dog covered in tentacles. “How are you? Everything okay? See if anything's missing.”
“Dad, I'm fine!” Li Sui spread her arms and hugged Li Huowang, grinning happily.
“Benefactor Li, is this the evil being you've subdued? Wonderful. All things have spirits. Back at Zhengde Temple, many evil beings took refuge in the Buddha's door.”
“Refuge in the Buddha's door?” Li Huowang eyed her with some disdain. “After taking refuge, do they end up like those pigs, cows, and sheep, helping the temple's monks cultivate?”
Chandu chuckled at Li Huowang's jab, unfazed, twirling his prayer beads. “Benefactor, your body hasn't fully stabilized yet. Avoid excessive movement for the next few days.”
“Got it.” Li Huowang picked up his things from the ground and walked out of the woods, with Chandu and his two monks following behind.
Since the man had helped him so much, Li Huowang's impression of him improved greatly. “Abbot, don't mind my attitude earlier. There's a Zhengde Temple in Great Liang too, and I have bad blood with them. It spilled over onto you.”
“Oh? Why is that?”
“I have a friend who's a heart elemental. Those monks lost their minds and insisted on keeping him. Compared to you, their enlightenment is still shallow.”
Chandu's expression grew solemn as he shook his head. “Benefactor, you are mistaken. If it were this monk, I would do the same.”
Li Huowang's expression hardened. “Why? Aren't heart elementals people? Can you just kill them at will?”
“Amitabha. Excellent, excellent. Heart elementals are of course people, but to save the world's sentient beings, heart elementals must be eliminated. Otherwise, they would harm far more lives.”
“Besides, a heart elemental is a treasure trove. Keeping him, dismembering him to craft ritual implements, and trading them for grain could save countless commoners. Isn't that right, Benefactor Li?”
Li Huowang stared at him for a moment before falling silent and trudging onward.