Escape

With a creak, the wooden door slowly opened a crack, and Li Huowang peered out warily through the gap.

The gentle afternoon sunlight filtered through the swaying leaves, casting dappled shadows on the ground.

It was very quiet outside, with nothing out of the ordinary except for the Sweeping Monk in the distance, sweeping the ground with his broom.

However, this peaceful scene looked completely different to Li Huowang, who had thoroughly understood the situation.

"Hmph! It's all an act, they can't fool me! They're doing this to reassure me, to make me willingly participate in their so-called Universal Salvation Ritual!"

As soon as he said this, a thought flashed through Li Huowang's mind.

"Wait, why are they doing this? They're so strong, and I'm just an ordinary person. If they want to do something, why don't they just force me?"

There was no answer to this question now, but Li Huowang didn't need the answer anyway. He just wanted to get out of this hellish place as soon as possible.

Just as Li Huowang was wondering if the Sweeping Monk in the distance was watching him, the Sweeping Monk, seeing no more fallen leaves on the ground, picked up his broom and turned to leave.

"The Monks of Zhengde Temple haven't noticed anything unusual about me. That's the only advantage I have right now." Li Huowang thought to himself.

There was no one outside anymore, but Li Huowang didn't leave. Instead, he waited quietly for something.

Time passed slowly, and Li Huowang's palms gradually began to sweat.

"Dong~ Dong~ Dong~" The dull sound of the bell instantly echoed throughout Zhengde Temple, making Li Huowang shudder.

Having stayed here for so long, Li Huowang already knew that the bell meant it was You time, which was also the announcement for the Monks of Zhengde Temple to have their meal.

With a "creak," Li Huowang, with a calm expression, walked out of his residence and joined the Monks he met on the road, heading towards the Dining Hall for their meal.

His appearance here was completely reasonable. In the past few days, he would go to eat like this every day.

Compared to his residence, the Dining Hall was obviously closer to the main hall where the pilgrims gathered. Since they were using illusions, they definitely didn't want ordinary people to see their terrifying and dark side.

Along the way, Li Huowang noticed that many Monks were secretly watching him and whispering to each other, seemingly discussing what had happened in the afternoon.

Their eyes were filled with mockery, hostility, and curiosity.

But Li Huowang understood that these were all fake, that these Monks were all pretending.

"They're all in cahoots with Xin Hui. There's not a single good person in the entire Zhengde Temple. They all want to harm me!!" Li Huowang confirmed decisively.

After walking for about half an incense stick, Li Huowang saw the Dining Hall filled with bald heads. He didn't run away directly, but followed the crowd and walked in.

Holding a wooden bowl, Li Huowang filled it with rice and sat down calmly on a stool, eating the vegetarian dishes in front of him.

Today's dishes were taro soup, konjac stir-fried with fried tofu, green vegetables drizzled with oil, and potatoes stewed with squash.

Although there was no meat, the taste was quite good.

However, after that incident, Li Huowang had no appetite at all.

In order to deceive them, Li Huowang dared not do anything unusual at this time, and continued to eat in large mouthfuls.

"Pa" A hand patted on his shoulder, causing Li Huowang's body to tremble violently. "Little Taoist, you're here too? Hey! Why were you running around in such a panic before?"

Hearing this familiar voice, Li Huowang, with his mouth full, turned his head and saw the smiling face with a missing front tooth as expected.

It was the old Monk he had met on the road. If he hadn't insisted on dragging him to see some stone statue today, he wouldn't be in this situation now.

The old monk forcibly squeezed next to Li Huowang with his bowl of rice and sat down. "Let's eat together."

Li Huowang glanced out of the corner of his eye at the surrounding monks, who seemed normal. He chewed the food in his mouth and continued eating with his head down. "Whatever."

"Daoist, where are the others who were with you before? Tell them not to stay at the inn and come eat together. I'm telling you, eating here is free!" The clueless old monk was still as boisterous as ever.

But this time, Li Huowang, eager to escape, didn't bother to pay him any attention.

He finished his dinner at the same speed as usual, burped, and walked out of the Dining Hall.

Back on the stone-paved road outside, the old monk followed him again. "Don't go yet, let's chat for a while. The monks here are so boring."

Li Huowang licked the food residue on his gums and looked at him with a hint of impatience. "Stop following me, go back to sleep."

"Sleep? What time is it? I have something to tell you—"

The old monk was halfway through his sentence when he saw the little Daoist, who had been fine just now, suddenly turn very pale.

Then, Li Huowang said to the old monk in a very low voice, "Leave! The faster, the better! This temple is very dangerous!"

The next second, Li Huowang pushed off the ground with his feet and sprinted towards the main hall with all his strength.

His run immediately attracted the attention of the other monks, who all looked over, but he ignored them and started running wildly.

Li Huowang's heart was beating fast, and his mind was highly tense, constantly watching for Xin Hui, that old thing, to appear.

Ten zhang! Five zhang! One zhang!!

When Li Huowang burst out of the side door, a roar erupted around him, and the sounds of footsteps, voices, and wooden fish instantly flooded his ears.

He had returned to the main hall, bustling with incense and worshippers, and the common people who had come to worship bumped into him, making him sway.

Standing in the center of the noisy crowd, Li Huowang was stunned for a moment. The natural expressions on the faces around him seemed to be silently telling him something.

Slightly out of breath, Li Huowang suddenly thought of something and turned to look at the side door he had just come through.

It was empty, with no pursuers in sight.

In the distance, neither the Welcoming Monk receiving guests nor the Fortune Telling Monk responsible for interpreting fortunes looked over here at all.

In Li Huowang's eyes, everything was so normal, so normal... that it was a bit abnormal.

"Could it be...? Were those really my hallucinations? Were those disgusting things all figments of my imagination?"

But Li Huowang quickly dismissed this absurd idea, shook his head vigorously, and strode towards the temple gate.

He couldn't gamble on this, not even if there was the slightest possibility.

Leaving the temple was easy, as easy as entering it.

Li Huowang arrived as quickly as possible, arriving at the inn.

Seeing Li Huowang, whom they hadn't seen for days, the Medicinal Guides were particularly affectionate and swarmed around him.

"Senior Brother, why are you back? Is the matter at the temple finished?"

"No time for reminiscing, quickly pack your luggage, let's go! We need to leave this place immediately!"

"Okay, then I'll go inform Lu Ban Master."

"We're not waiting for them! We're leaving now! Hurry, hurry, hurry!!"

"Senior Brother, where are we going?" Bai Lingmiao asked, her face full of doubt.

"Out of the pass!"

Sorry, I'm not feeling well today, coughing a lot. There's one more chapter coming later, I'll adjust as soon as possible.