Chapter 81
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 81
>Chapter Title: Anci Nunnery
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Chapter 81: Anci Nunnery
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“Haah~ Haah~” Sweat pouring down his face, Li Huowang braced his hands on his knees, gasping for breath.
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Li Huowang had been climbing for two whole hours, yet he still hadn’t arrived.
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That nunnery was far higher up than he’d imagined.
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He laboriously lifted his head and saw that the winding dirt path stretched endlessly upward, with no end in sight.
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Gritting his teeth, Li Huowang grabbed a nearby vine and kept climbing.
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When his legs ached unbearably, he finally spotted the mountain gate of Anci Nunnery.
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Wiping the sweat from his chin with the back of his hand, Li Huowang instinctively glanced at the couplets flanking the gate.
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To his great surprise, he couldn’t make heads or tails of the nunnery’s couplets.
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It wasn’t that he’d forgotten how to read them because of Danyangzi—these characters just looked utterly bizarre.
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They resembled elongated diamond-shaped “many” characters, tilted with the right side high and left side low. Slender and slanted, they evoked oracle bone script at first glance, yet bore traces of familiar hanzi.
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“Are these... characters? Or something else entirely?” Perplexed, Li Huowang stepped closer and touched them with his hand.
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After studying them intently for a while, he lifted his foot and walked into the nunnery.
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But once inside, the words he’d prepared in his mind found no target.
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The weed-choked plaza before him was utterly deserted, a stark contrast to the crowded bustle of Zhengde Temple.
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“Anyone here?” Li Huowang’s voice echoed back and forth across the plaza, but still no one appeared.
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Glancing around, Li Huowang headed toward the grand hall ahead. No incense burned within, yet it wasn’t dim at all—the roof was full of holes, and slanting sunlight poured in, illuminating everything inside.
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The central Bodhisattva statue was caked in dust and draped in dingy cobwebs.
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If not for the lotus-shaped pedestal, Li Huowang might not have recognized it as a Bodhisattva at all.
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“Did I get the wrong place? This nunnery looks completely abandoned.”
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Just as Li Huowang thought this, a faint snoring sound caught his attention.
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Following the noise, he slowly walked around behind the Bodhisattva statue and spotted a large, heaving mass.
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Up close, he realized it wasn’t a meatball—it was the belly of a fat nun spilling out from her robes.
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Lying on the cold ground with her upturned nose, she snored with her mouth agape, an acrid stench wafting toward him.
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Black robes, obese, filthy—it all matched. This was the nun from Anci Nunnery.
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Li Huowang frowned slightly as he sized up the “good person” Li Zhi had mentioned. Good or not, he couldn’t say yet, but in her current state, even villains wouldn’t want much to do with her.
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“Esteemed Master, Xuan Yang of Clear Wind Temple has urgent business.” Li Huowang raised his voice and performed a Daoist salute toward the heaving mass.
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But the fat nun’s snores showed no sign of stopping. She wasn’t waking up.
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“Is she pretending not to hear me?”
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Li Huowang stepped forward, raising his voice further. “Esteemed Master! Xuan Yang of Clear Wind Temple has urgent business!!” Still, no reaction.
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Li Huowang leaned in toward her ear to shout, only to be repelled by the overpowering stench from her body.
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The nauseating odor—like fermented socks, durian, and sweat combined—was too much for him to bear.
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Before Li Huowang could try something else, the fat nun shuddered and sat up on her own.
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She dug at her crusty yellow eye gunk with stubby fingers, eyes still closed, and wobbled toward a side door. “Oh dear, time for the meal, time for the meal.”
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“Esteemed Master, Xuan Yang of Clear Wind Temple has urgent business!”
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This time, Li Huowang wasn’t ignored. The fat nun jolted in fright, her three layers of chins quivering with her.
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“You scared me half to death! How do you walk without making a sound?”
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Li Huowang stood there, face twisted in conflict. He’d stopped worrying whether these people meant him harm and started doubting whether the nuns here could truly deal with Danyangzi.
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“Go burn incense and pray if you want to worship! Don’t hold up my meal!” The fat nun snapped coldly before continuing onward with her elephantine legs.
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Li Huowang said nothing more and simply followed behind her.
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The nunnery was vast, but equally dilapidated. The main hall’s Bodhisattva was bad enough; the side halls’ were even worse.
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Some doorways still bore inscriptions, identical to those at the gate.
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“Master, what script is this?” Li Huowang asked.
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“Women’s script. Of course you can’t read it— it’s passed only to women, never to men.”
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Though she answered, the nun seemed extremely impatient and strode straight ahead.
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As the surroundings grew increasingly unfamiliar, Li Huowang followed without hesitation. Everything here felt real—no trace of that bizarre hospital sensation.
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He couldn’t say whether it was from eating too much Black Tai Sui or from years lost in hallucinations,
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but other illusions held no power over him. Even if they took effect, he could easily tell them apart.
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After winding this way and that for a bit, Li Huowang followed the fat nun to a mud hut with a chimney.
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Sounds from within proved others were inside, and the thick stench alone told him they were all nuns.
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Watching the fat nun’s eyes light up as she rushed in, Li Huowang knit his brows, took a deep breath, pinched his nose, and braced against the eye-watering stink to charge in after her.
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The moment he entered, smacking lips, gulping swallows, and chewing crunches assaulted his ears.
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Li Huowang nearly thought he’d stumbled into a pigsty.
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A group of black-robed fat nuns huddled around a massive black pot, slurping and chomping away. They didn’t even use chopsticks or bowls—just scooped with their hands straight from the pot.
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They ate with such gusto that they paid no mind to a living person standing right there.
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As for what they were eating, Li Huowang could barely make out oily fried rice mixed with greens.
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Holding his breath until his face turned red, Li Huowang opened his mouth to breathe—and felt the room’s fumes burn his throat.
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His action finally drew notice. A nun who’d eaten her fill slurped her fingers and offered Li Huowang her spot.
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“Want some temple rice? Two hundred coppers a seat.”
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Hearing her ask for money, Li Huowang felt relief instead of anger. “No need, but I do require the Masters’ assistance with a matter.” He tossed over a gold bead.
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“Gold!” The fat nun excitedly shoved the gold beads into her mouth, chomped them with her yellow teeth to verify, then spat them back onto her palm amid veggie-flecked saliva.
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“You buying pigs? How many? Speak up! Our nunnery’s pigs are the fattest.”
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As she leaned in, Li Huowang took a cautious step back.
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“No, I’ve heard the Masters of Anci Nunnery possess profound arts, so I’ve come seeking your aid to exorcise an evil spirit.”
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“Hahaha~! Aren’t you a Daoist yourself? You’re asking nuns to exorcise your evil spirit? Hahahaha~”
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Her laughter proved contagious—the other nuns in the room burst out laughing, until even Li Huowang couldn’t hold back.
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“Hahaha~!!”
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(End of chapter)