Abbot

Beneath the five immense, solemn Buddhas, two old abbots in red kasayas sat cross-legged on prayer cushions, turning Buddhist beads in their hands as they murmured sutras.

One of them was the abbot of Zhengde Temple whom Li Huowang had met years ago. His appearance was unmistakable—like Bai Lingmiao, his pupils were pink. They both had albinism.

The other abbot looked perfectly ordinary, yet his face was identical to that of the monk beside Li Huowang. He was the abbot of Zhengde Temple in Great Qi. Compared to their meeting in Oxheart Village, he was clearly much fatter now.

"Amitabha."

"Amitabha."

Seeing them chant the Buddha's name while looking at him, Li Huowang walked over and sat on the prayer cushion before them.

"Benefactor Li, since you have come to the temple, surely it would be improper not to offer incense to the Buddhas?" said the abbot of Zhengde Temple from Four Qi.

Li Huowang looked up at the five imposing Buddhas within the hall, their heads nearly touching the rafters. With a lift of his hand, he conjured three lit incense sticks, waved them casually at the statues, then rammed them straight into the Stone Slab, cracking it in several places.

"Abbot, it has been a long time. After we parted last time, who would have thought we would meet again?" Li Huowang said to the Four Qi abbot who had once wanted to kill him.

Li Huowang had not forgotten that shortly after he left Qingfeng Temple, this very man had deceived him. When the deception failed, he had even sent people to hunt him down.

Had he not relied on Danyangzi inside him to escape disaster, he likely would not have lived until now.

"Amitabha. Those who leave the secular world embrace compassion. All I did back