Chapter 735
Chapter 735
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 735
>Chapter Title: Great Black Heaven
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"Hoo—" A gentle breeze blew over the withered yellow grassland, curling up a few dry grass blades.
The sky at this moment was overcast, with clouds like lead blocks pressing low, mirroring Li Huowang's mood right now.
After these days of desperate rushing along the road, he had finally arrived at Qingqiu. But could the scene before his eyes really still be called Qingqiu?
The past expanse of green like a velvet blanket shimmering with a million acres of silk was gone, replaced by patchy withered yellow dry grass leaning east and west.
This situation was even worse than when he had come before. If previously the grass was merely yellowing, now the grassland seemed on the verge of death itself. He couldn't help feeling a bit worried for Sun Baolu.
However, compared to Qingqiu, Li Huowang's own major trouble remained unresolved. He had no time to worry about what was going on here.
With Li Huowang gently squeezing his horse's belly with both legs, the handsome steed with talismans stuck to its body galloped toward the distant city.
That was Qingqiu's capital. Li Huowang recalled someone mentioning its name once, but he didn't remember it now. The only thing he remembered was the road piled solid with cow dung and sheep dung.
Although Qingqiu's khan had gone to personally lead troops onto the battlefield, it was clear that someone was still in charge in this city filled with the stench of livestock.
As soon as Li Huowang entered the city gate, several Qingqiu cavalrymen wearing tall red hats blocked his path.
He didn't open his mouth. A low voice emerged from the cavalryman's abdomen.
"Where are you from? Where are you going?"
Li Huowang pulled out his Great Liang Bureau of Celestial Observation waist token and tossed it over. He then pointed toward the majestic temple standing solemnly in the distance.
"I have some business with the masters of your Bardo Temple."
As these cavalrymen carefully inspected the waist token Li Huowang had thrown them, the surrounding Qingqiu folk hurriedly cleared a path, prostrating themselves fully on the ground.
Soon, two rows of lamas clad in black fur jackets approached with hands clasped in prayer, slowly passing by them to stand before Li Huowang.
They were clearly Qingqiu folk as well—dark-skinned and gaunt—but without exception, they were all elderly, their faces covered in age spots or wrinkles, their movements nearly wooden and stiff.
Li Huowang had seen lamas like these once before during his previous time in Qingqiu. It seemed the Bardo Temple knew his identity and had sent people to receive him.
They said nothing, merely bowing to Li Huowang before turning toward the sharp-peaked Bardo Temple.
Li Huowang glanced at the cavalrymen, who had already dismounted and didn't dare act the slightest bit presumptuous. He turned and followed the lamas.
A tentacle extended from his red Daoist robe, forcibly snatching the waist token back from the cavalryman's hand.
Following behind these old lamas, he passed through a vast throng of herders prostrating and kowtowing toward the Bardo Temple, ascending the steps into its depths.
Though the Bardo Temple's exterior appeared exceptionally majestic and solemn, its interior was vast and empty, devoid of superfluous Buddha statues. Instead, it was filled with various leather murals and sharp, pyramidal treasure pagodas.
The subjects of these leather murals were bizarre and varied, depicting all manner of things, seemingly tied to the myths of the Eternal Heaven.
However, Li Huowang hadn't forgotten the purpose of his visit. He addressed the old lama leading the way ahead of him.
"I've sought out you masters this time because there's a matter I'd like your assistance with."
The lamas said nothing, as though they had long known what was coming. They continued leading Li Huowang deeper into the temple, passing through a lively scripture-debating courtyard before finally halting at the deepest chamber of the Bardo Temple.
The old lama spoke toward the interior. A voice responded from within, but they spoke in the Qingqiu tongue—Li Huowang couldn't understand a single word.
But soon enough, Li Huowang understood once more.
"Real Person Li, we've long admired your great name."
With that extremely feeble voice, the pitch-black doors of the hall slowly creaked open, revealing the dark layout within.
The moment Li Huowang stepped inside, he spotted several mummified corpses wearing cockscomb hats, their necks roped and hanging from the room's crossbeams.
Though their faces resembled skulls wrapped in a thin layer of skin, the ornate monk robes adorning their bodies and the various exquisite bone ornaments dangling from them indicated these mummies held exalted status within the Bardo Temple.
The room carried no stench at all. Instead, it was filled with cloying scents of various incenses.
Li Huowang looked up at these things, not caring whether they were dead or alive, and cut straight to the chase.
"Since you know who I am, I'll make this short. I've come down with a stubborn illness today. I need a certain medicine primer from within Fengdu to save my life. I have a little junior brother who said you're quite familiar with that place. So please, take me to Fengdu."
Fengdu was the domain of the Death Si Ming, Kui Xi. Anything involving a Si Ming was trouble, and being unfamiliar with the terrain, Li Huowang had no intention of venturing in alone.
He had already clashed once before with the Lion Dance Palace. He had no desire to repeat the experience.
Since the Bardo Temple worshipped death itself—and the temple was now allied with them against the Dharma Sect—there was every reason to enlist their aid.
No sooner had Li Huowang finished speaking than he saw the mummy to his left swaying gently left and right amid creaking sounds.
"No good? Even this won't do?"
"It's not impossible, Real Person Li. Do you know that Fengdu is no pure land for the living?"
His words seemed laced with phrases Li Huowang couldn't comprehend.
"Of course I know. If I needed living folk, I wouldn't have come to you for help."
"Fengdu is easy enough to enter. But once you're in, you may never leave."
"No way. My friend went there before. It wasn't as mysterious as you make it sound. You can just use the Wheel of Rebirth to retrieve me then."
Li Huowang distinctly remembered how little Yang kid had stumbled inside in a daze, yet emerged in the end completely intact.
Sure, he'd had Hong Zhong's help, but surely he himself now wasn't inferior to some snot-nosed brat when it came to this?
"Daoist Li, things are different today from days past. We're telling you this for your own good. Go back."
At these words, Li Huowang's brows furrowed.
"How are things different? Has something happened in Fengdu lately?"
"Great Black Heaven has stirred. It was meant to lie forever dead beneath Qingqiu. It should not have moved."
Another mummy spoke.
"What did you say?"
Li Huowang felt a vague unease stirring within him. The Great Black Heaven this one spoke of was surely the Death Si Ming, Kui Xi.
"Generation upon generation, we have stood in Qingqiu sacrificing humans and beasts—offerings of mind, of body, of emptiness—all to keep Great Black Heaven at peace in its Kalaya."
"Perhaps the fated hour has arrived. Now Great Black Heaven has abandoned its former resting place."
"Then what does Great Black Heaven abandoning its position have to do with Fengdu?"
He had rushed here at a full gallop. If he accomplished nothing and simply turned back empty-handed, Li Huowang would never accept it.
"No, Real Person Li, you don't understand. Great Black Heaven is the wrathful aspect of Great Freedom Heaven. With every twitch of its finger, a village in this world dies. With every step it takes, a town perishes. With every zhang it shifts, a city falls."
(End of chapter)