Chapter 712
Chapter 712
-----------------------------------------------------------------
>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 712
>Chapter Title: Believers
>-----------------------------------------------------------------
Li Huowang, bare from the waist up, gasped for breath with an expression of extreme agony.
He watched helplessly as his body split open and closed again against his will, but there was nothing he could do.
Sweat pouring from the pain trickled into the cracks in his flesh, making Li Huowang's body twitch in torment.
He had endured greater agony in the past, but those had been fleeting moments. This sensation persisted endlessly, growing ever more intense.
Bai Lingmiao tried to help from the side, but whether she summoned a spirit through tongji or performed a shamanic dance to call upon gods, nothing had any effect on Li Huowang.
Li Huowang knew it was useless. This torment came from the Si Ming Ba Hui himself—none of these minor spirits or deities could stand against him.
As the ascensions continued, his body had at first grown more sensitive and his healing faster.
But clearly, Ba Hui was no longer content to wait for him to self-harm. Now he was tormenting him personally.
Rumor had it that upon reaching a certain level of ascension, one became Ba Hui's Xinpan. It seemed he was close.
From the current situation, once he truly became Ba Hui's Xinpan, the pain would never cease, enveloping his entire body in endless torment.
"What? You want to compete with Ji Zai for the Xinpan? Still not giving up?"
Li Huowang asked the excruciating pain wracking his body.
Pain, as a sensation, naturally offered no response. Li Huowang sat there talking to himself, his mind muddled by the relentless agony.
Fortunately, the sensation didn't last long. Two incense sticks later, the wounds splitting open across Li Huowang's body rapidly sealed shut.
"I'll... rest for a bit." Exhausted from the torment, Li Huowang collapsed backward and instantly fell into a deep sleep. He was truly spent.
Bai Lingmiao leaned over, her heart aching at the sight of him. She fetched a basin of warm water, soaked a cloth in it, wrung it out firmly, and began gently wiping his body.
In that short time, the wounds on Li Huowang's body had already scabbed over. As Bai Lingmiao wiped, the scabs flaked off with a rustle.
Li Sui's tentacles reached out from behind, using their suckers to collect all the bloody scabs and slowly draw them back. Soon after, Bai Lingmiao heard the crunching sounds from behind her.
After washing Li Huowang's feet, Bai Lingmiao tucked him in properly and turned to leave.
"Sui Sui, your dad is very tired today. Stay with him while he sleeps and take good care of him. Don't let anyone disturb him."
"Okay." The graceful Li Sui walked to the bedside and opened her cherry lips. Writhing tentacles emerged and swiftly slipped under Li Huowang's covers.
Watching Li Sui fold her human form like laundry and stack it by the bedhead, Bai Lingmiao turned and left the room.
"Li Huowang's in for it now. If this trouble isn't dealt with, this agony will plague him for life."
Hearing the two gods' words in her mind, Bai Lingmiao walked on in silence.
Soon, she entered a cramped alley. Wooden doors here were adorned with lotus flowers, either hung or painted, and prayer flags dangled from the eaves. This was White Lotus territory.
Beneath the White Lotus, all beings were equal. Those who stayed here were neither the poor nor the fortunate—only devout White Lotus believers.
Through gaps in some unlatched doors, she could see groups of people silently prostrating themselves in worship.
Everyone coming from the opposite direction bowed their heads respectfully and stood aside for her.
Soon, she entered a hall lit by countless candles. At its center sat a glowing double lotus, illuminating the room as bright as day.
Bai Lingmiao knelt on the prayer mat, pressed her palms together, and silently prayed to the white lotus. "Boundless compassion of the Unborn Venerable Mother, your disciple beseeches you to help Senior Brother Li escape this sea of suffering soon."
The white lotus's glow shifted subtly, as if something had changed—or perhaps nothing had.
After praying silently for a long time, Bai Lingmiao opened her eyes and gazed at the lotus. "Your disciple willingly forsakes all to serve and revere you for life. May the Unborn Venerable Mother mercifully accept us."
"Your disciple vows to recite the scriptures ten thousand times, with utmost sincerity, respect, and prostration."
"But you once promised your disciple that if you schemed against me in this matter, I would make you regret it."
Her voice soft and glutinous, she finished and prostrated herself three times with nine kowtows before the double lotus.
The white lotus suddenly blazed with light. A beam shot into Bai Lingmiao's forehead. She soon felt a profound compassion flooding her, washing away all other emotions.
In the blinding white void, Bai Lingmiao seemed to see something: Li Huowang, but an abstract, distorted version.
Soon, a mass of blood surged onto his left side, while on his right, another Li Huowang emerged from his palm. This Li Huowang was bizarre—he had no back; both sides were fronts.
This double-faced Li Huowang and the blood pulled at the central Li Huowang, exerting greater force until they tore him in two.
As Bai Lingmiao snapped awake from the vision, she instantly understood the Unborn Venerable Mother's message.
It was like a prophecy or revelation: Li Huowang must stop using the Sitting Still Cult's spells, especially no more ascensions. If he continued, he really would be split in two!
"Thank you, Great Benevolent and Compassionate Unborn Venerable Mother, for your guidance. Your disciple is grateful." Bai Lingmiao kowtowed devoutly a few more times, then stood and headed back to Li Huowang's room.
But just as she exited the alley, she spotted the haggard Lv Xiucai approaching.
"Master's wife." He bowed his head to Bai Lingmiao.
Seeing his left hand missing two fingers, Bai Lingmiao warned him not to use the Great Thousand Record again before hurrying off.
Watching Bai Lingmiao leave, Lv Xiucai entered a simple room in the alley. He reverently lit three incense sticks, bowed to the white lotus painting on the wall, inserted them into the censer, and prostrated himself motionless before it.
"Your disciple Lv Xiucai has decided. I vow lifelong celibacy, no children, no meat or wine, no gold or silver. I offer my mortal body to endure the three disasters and three calamities for the Unborn Venerable Mother."
As he spoke, a middle-aged woman emerged from the corner. She was Lian Zhinbei, the one who had once found Bai Lingmiao.
She stripped off Lv Xiucai's clothes, exposing his scarred back.
Before the lotus painting, she took out tattoo needles and began inking his back.
When the color grew faint, Lian Zhinbei rubbed the needles on the white lotus in the wall painting before continuing on Lv Xiucai.
Each needle pierced his back, turning Lv Xiucai's face pale with pain, but he didn't dare move an inch, clenching his teeth tightly.
(End of chapter)