Escape

With a creak, the wooden door slowly opened a crack, and Li Huowang peered vigilantly outside through it.

The soft afternoon sunlight filtered through swaying leaves, scattering flecks of shadow across the ground.

It was very quiet outside. Apart from the Sweeping Monk in the distance holding a broom, there was nothing unusual.

Yet to Li Huowang, who had completely come to understand things, this peaceful scene was an entirely different picture.

"Hmph! It's all an act. They can't fool me! They're doing this to keep me steady, to make me willingly take part in that so-called Universal Salvation Ritual!"

The moment he said this, a thought flashed through Li Huowang's mind.

"Wait, why are they doing this? I'm just an ordinary person. They're so powerful—if they want something, why not just come at me head-on?"

This question was destined to have no answer for now, but Li Huowang did not need one. All he wanted was to leave this hellhole as soon as possible.

Just as Li Huowang was wondering whether the Sweeping Monk in the distance had come to watch him, the monk saw no 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. This is the only advantage I can use right now." Li Huowang silently calculated.

There was no one outside anymore, but Li Huowang did not leave. Instead, he quietly waited for something.

Time passed bit by bit, and sweat gradually began to seep from Li Huowang's palms.

Dong—dong—dong! The deep tolling of a bell instantly rang throughout Zhengde Temple, making Li Huowang's entire body shudder.

Having stayed here for so long, Li Huowang already knew that this bell meant Rooster Hour had arrived. It was also the signal for all the monks of Zhengde Temple to eat.

With a creak, Li Huowang walked out of his quarters with a calm expression and followed the monks he encountered along the way toward the dining hall.

It was perfectly reasonable for him to appear here now. Over the past few days, he had gone to eat just as he did today.

Compared to where he lived, the dining hall was obviously closer to the main hall, where worshippers gathered in droves. Since they had used a Blinding Method, they certainly did not want ordinary people to see their horrifying, sinister side.

Along the way, Li Huowang noticed quite a few monks secretly watching him and whispering to one another, apparently discussing what had happened that afternoon.

Their eyes carried mockery, hostility, and curiosity.

But Li Huowang understood that it was all fake. These monks were merely putting on a show.

"They're all in league with Xin Hui. Not a single person in Zhengde Temple is good. They all want to harm me!!" Li Huowang concluded with absolute certainty.

After walking at neither a fast nor slow pace for the time it took half an incense stick to burn, Li Huowang saw the dining hall churning with bald heads. He did not flee at once, but instead followed the crowd inside.

After filling a wooden bowl with food, Li Huowang calmly sat on a stool and began eating the vegetarian dishes before him.

Today's meal consisted of taro soup, konjac stir-fried with fried tofu, oil-dressed greens, and potatoes stewed with squash.

There was no meat at all, but it tasted fairly good.

But after what had happened, Li Huowang had no appetite whatsoever.

To deceive them, however, Li Huowang did not dare make any unusual movements and kept wolfing down mouthful after mouthful.

A hand landing on his shoulder with a slap made Li Huowang's body jolt violently. "Little Daoist, you're here too? Hey! Why did you run off in such a panic earlier?"

Hearing that familiar voice, Li Huowang turned his head with his cheeks stuffed full and, unsurprisingly, saw that smiling face missing one front tooth.

It was the old monk he had met on the road. If not for this old monk dragging him off to see some Stone Statue today, he would not be in this predicament now.

Holding his own bowl of food, the old monk forcibly squeezed in beside Li Huowang and sat down. "Let's eat together."

Li Huowang glanced with the corner of his eye at the monks around them, who showed no abnormalities. After chewing what was in his mouth, he lowered his head and continued eating. "Suit yourself."

"Daoist, where are the others you were with? Tell them not to stay at the inn anymore. Come eat with us! Let me tell you, food here is free!" The oblivious old monk remained as carefree and boisterous as ever.

But this time, Li Huowang, eager to get away, could not be bothered to respond to him.

He finished dinner at his usual pace, let out a full belch, and headed out of the dining hall.

Once more on the stone-paved path outside, the old monk followed after him again. "Don't go yet. Let's chat a little longer. The monks here are dull as death."

Li Huowang licked food scraps from his gums with his tongue, then looked at him with a trace of impatience on his face. "Stop following me. Go back and sleep."

"Sleep? What Double Hour is it now? Let me tell you something—"

The old monk had only gotten halfway through his sentence when he saw the little Daoist, who had been fine just moments ago, turn terribly pale.

Then Li Huowang spoke to the old monk in an extremely low voice. "Leave! As fast as you can! This temple is dangerous!"

The next second, Li Huowang drove both feet hard against the ground and sprinted toward the main hall with every ounce of strength in his body.

The instant he ran, he drew the attention of the other monks. The monks around him immediately turned to look, but he ignored them and began racing wildly.

Li Huowang's heart pounded furiously, and his mind was stretched taut as a bowstring. He constantly watched his surroundings for anywhere that old bastard Xin Hui might appear.

Thirty yards! Fifteen yards! Three yards!!

When Li Huowang burst through the side door, the surroundings erupted in noise. Footsteps, voices, and the tapping of Wooden Fish flooded into his ears at once.

He had returned to the main hall, thick with incense smoke and overflowing with worshippers. Common folk who had come to pray bumped into him, making him sway again and again.

Standing at the heart of the roaring crowd, Li Huowang froze for a moment. The natural expressions on all those faces around him seemed to be silently telling him something.

Li Huowang, slightly out of breath, suddenly thought of something and whipped around to look toward the side door he had just come through.

It stood empty. There were no pursuers at all.

In the distance, neither the welcoming monks receiving guests nor the monks drawing fortune sticks for visitors glanced his way even once.

To Li Huowang, everything seemed so normal—so normal that it was beginning to feel abnormal.

"Could it be...? Were those really hallucinations? Were all those disgusting things imagined by me?"

But Li Huowang quickly dismissed that absurd thought. He shook his head hard, lifted his feet, and rushed toward the temple gates in great strides.

This was not something he could gamble on. Not even the slightest possibility was acceptable.

Leaving the temple was easy, just as easy as entering it had been.

At top speed, Li Huowang arrived at the inn.

Seeing Li Huowang after not seeing him for several days, the Medicinal Guides were especially affectionate and crowded around him.

"Senior Brother, you're back? Is everything at the temple settled?"

"There's no time to catch up. Pack your things, now! Let's get out of here!"

"Alright, then I'll go notify Master Lu Ban."

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

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

"Out of the pass!"

Sorry, I'm not feeling well today. I keep coughing. There's another chapter coming later; I'll get myself back on track as soon as possible.