Monk

On the pitch-black forest dirt road, Li Huowang held a torch, leading the others forward.

The sky was still dark, but the shaken group didn't feel any sleepiness. After experiencing so much just now, no one could bother with sleep.

The donkey cart was piled with some cut horse meat. Besides the few Silver Shards from the robbers' corpses, this was Li Huowang's only loot.

"That's about it. Let's rest near here until dawn. It's not safe to travel at night." At Li Huowang's command, the torches were quickly piled together, forming a new bonfire.

"Even if you can't sleep, just doze off. We have to continue on our way tomorrow, so conserve your strength. I'll keep watch."

As the sound of donkey hooves and footsteps disappeared, the dirt road returned to silence.

Sitting by the fire, Li Huowang turned his head to look at the road they had just come from. It was pitch black there. It seemed that the old beggar wouldn't follow until he had buried all the dead.

Recalling everything that had just happened, Li Huowang couldn't help but feel a little emotional. This place was really chaotic.

All kinds of weird things were dangerous enough, but instead of sticking together for warmth, they were killing each other.

He poked the dying bonfire with his Longsword and threw the firewood beside him into it.

As time passed, the people who had scattered in the forest gradually gathered around Li Huowang's bonfire. Soon, several small bonfires rose around the bonfire.

The Lu Family Troupe wasn't among those who returned, but Li Huowang wasn't worried at all. When the robbers came out just now, they were the ones who ran the fastest.

Lu Zhuangyuan was indeed an old hand. No wonder such a stingy person chose horses to pull the cart. He must have considered this situation a long time ago.

Time passed bit by bit, and the sky gradually brightened. The others began to wake up, roasting horse meat for breakfast, preparing to start a new journey.

Regardless of whether horse meat was delicious or not, at least it was meat, which could replenish their strength well.

Just as they were eating big mouthfuls, a trembling figure walked over from behind.

Seeing the appearance of the person, Li Huowang's vigilance relaxed slightly. It was the old beggar from before. It seemed he had been burying people all night.

The morning dew had soaked his tattered monk's robe, and he was shivering from the cold. He walked a little closer to the bonfire, squatted down, and curled up into a ball.

Seeing Li Huowang looking at him, the beggar smiled naively.

Thinking of his selfless act of saving people last night, the hostility in Li Huowang's heart lessened a lot.

Although he thought that this old beggar was too kind-hearted and wouldn't survive in this dangerous world, no one would reject contact with a good person.

Seeing Li Huowang hand him a steamed bun, the beggar quickly reached out to take it, chewing and saying vaguely, "May Buddha bless you."

Hearing the other party say this, Li Huowang immediately became interested, "Which Buddha are you talking about?"

"Ah? Isn't Buddha just called Buddha? Why do you need to distinguish which one?" A trace of confusion appeared in the old beggar's eyes.

"Hey, hurry up and eat. It's rare to see someone like you in this world. I hope you're not lying to me."

"How could I lie? I'm a monk, and monks can't lie." The old beggar said decisively.

"You only know how to chant 'Amitabha', and you don't even know which Buddha you believe in. What kind of monk are you?"

"Sun Xiucai said that monks are bald, so I shaved my head. Wang Tailor said that monks can't marry wives, so I didn't marry a wife! Liu Pukuai said that monks can't eat meat, so I don't eat meat! And I saw other monks chanting 'Amitabha', so I learned to chant 'Amitabha'! I've done everything, so how can I not be a monk?"

It seemed that the old beggar cared a lot about this aspect, and he stubbornly defended himself.

Hearing the other party say this, Li Huowang smiled dumbly. This monk was even more fake than he was as a Taoist. "But that doesn't mean you're a monk."

The old beggar was taken aback, holding the half of the steamed bun as he carefully looked at Li Huowang. "Then tell me, what should a monk be like?"

Looking at the other person's gaze, Li Huowang opened his mouth, but couldn't answer the question. The other person's words seemed to contain a hint of truth within their great foolishness.

For some reason, Li Huowang saw a shadow of Danyangzi in him, a muddled persistence within ignorance.

"I guess you probably can't read?"

"How did you know? Are all you Taoists so good at divination?"

"Heh."

"Why are you so persistent in becoming a monk?"

"If it wasn't for a monk saving me back then, I would have died long ago. From that day on, I swore that I would also become a monk! I must become a good monk!"

As he spoke, Li Huowang watched the Lu Family Troupe returning from afar. He patted his butt, stood up, and walked towards them.

No accidents happened on the road next. The old monk kept following them, and sometimes when he saw him so hungry that he was chewing on raw wild vegetables, Li Huowang would occasionally give him one or two steamed buns.

After walking like this for more than ten days, a city even more magnificent than Jianye appeared before Li Huowang. West Capital City had arrived.

The continuous blue brick city walls were tall and magnificent. Standing at the city gate and looking up, a huge sense of oppression came over him.

"Have we finally arrived?" Seeing the city gate, Li Huowang finally breathed a sigh of relief. He had been frightened all the way, but fortunately, the scene in his nightmare had not appeared.

"Little Daoist priest, the inns in West Capital City are not to be stayed in casually, they can rip you off. Let me take you to an inn, it's definitely cheap," Lu Zhuangyuan said, about to walk towards the tall city gate, but Li Huowang stopped him.

"Wait, where is that Monk Temple you mentioned before?" Li Huowang asked impatiently, this was the most important purpose for him coming to this place.

Under the leadership of Lu Zhuangyuan, Li Huowang walked towards Zhengde Temple, the most prosperous temple in West Capital City.

Before he even saw the temple, Li Huowang smelled the unique sandalwood fragrance of the Buddhist land, and the wide streets began to become crowded.

Old men, women, adults, children, all kinds of people were there.

Looking at the several stacks of incense sticks in their hands, Li Huowang immediately understood that these people were going to worship the Bodhisattva.

"Has the incense of this temple always been so prosperous?"

Hearing Li Huowang say this to Lu Zhuangyuan beside him, a nearby pilgrim leaned over and interjected, "Of course, the Bodhisattva of Zhengde Temple is very effective! My daughter-in-law became pregnant after praying here once."

"And the masters of Zhengde Temple are very kind, they usually give out porridge to the poor every now and then."

"Yes, yes. It's really a blessing from several lifetimes to have such a good temple in West Capital City."