Chapter 105: Greed

*Dao Gui Yi Xian*

Li Huowang hesitated, looking at Bai Lingmiao. He wasn't sure if he should take her with them up the mountain. Her mediumistic abilities could certainly help him to some extent, but he didn't want to put her in danger.

At that moment, the others also began to persuade him. "That's right, Senior Brother Li, let us come along too."

"We can help if anything happens. Didn't you say those nuns weren't dangerous?"

"Exactly. Besides, what if... what if your illness flares up again? Wouldn't it be better to have someone look after you?"

Gouwa's last remark convinced Li Huowang. "Baolu, go stable the carriage at the inn, then we'll head up the mountain." The Black Grand Elder's ability to suppress hallucinations was rapidly fading, and Li Huowang could fall into a hallucination at any moment. He couldn't afford to be alone right now.

Hearing this, a faint smile appeared on everyone's faces, and they quickly followed him.

The winding dirt path up the mountain was familiar territory for Li Huowang and his companions. After resting for a while halfway up, they finally reached the mountain gate of An Ci Nunnery just before nightfall.

From their vantage point, An Ci Nunnery still looked as dilapidated as before. Weeds grew profusely in the cracks of the stone slabs on the ground, and the roofs of several distant temples still had holes that no one had bothered to fix. Looking at the couplets written in women's script on both sides of the mountain gate, Li Huowang's heart began to pound. He had risked everything for this day. The thought of escaping his bizarre master filled Li Huowang with uncontrollable excitement.

Taking a deep breath, Li Huowang turned around and gave the others a heads-up. "An Ci Nunnery is very dirty and messy inside, and the nuns are quite fat. Don't act surprised once we're in, understood?"

After receiving clear affirmations from everyone, Li Huowang gripped the Eighteenth Day of the Twelfth Month's eye in one hand, took a deep breath, and walked inside. As soon as they passed through the mountain gate but before entering the temple proper, a putrid stench hit them like a wall.

"What are these nuns doing? It smells much worse than before." Li Huowang, his brows furrowed, couldn't help but cover his nose, pushing through the foul odor deeper into the nunnery. At this point, the other companions began to regret coming. There might not be danger, but it was so incredibly smelly that they almost wished there was.

In the first temple of An Ci Nunnery, Li Huowang's right foot instantly felt soft as he stepped inside. He quickly lifted it, only to realize he had stepped on a soft piece of walnut shortbread. "Watch your step. The people here don't seem to care much for tidiness." Glancing up at the dusty Bodhisattva, which remained unchanged, Li Huowang circled the main hall towards the back of the statue. As expected, behind the Bodhisattva lay a towering mound of flesh – a corpulent nun with a large *guokui* (a type of flatbread) on her head, vaguely munching away.

"Good heavens, is that... is that a person?" The others following Li Huowang were instantly shocked by the sight. Having had a similar experience before, Li Huowang didn't bother trying to wake her up, knowing it would likely be futile.

The group passed through a side door in the wall, officially entering the inner section of An Ci Nunnery. However, just a few steps inside, Li Huowang and his companions found there was no place to step. As far as the eye could see, the ground and even the roofs were covered in various rotten foods. To their right, there was even a mountain of moldy steamed buns, swarming with flies and white maggots. What was peculiar was that despite the abundance of food, there was not a single trace of meat; it was all vegetarian. Seeing all this, Li Huowang immediately understood: this was clearly what his previous gold offerings had been exchanged for. As soon as they received the money, these nuns had immediately bought all sorts of food.

"Step over it," Li Huowang instructed, plunging his foot into the rotting food and slowly advancing as if wading through a swamp. The others looked reluctant, especially the clean-loving Bai Lingmiao. But when she saw his distant back, she gritted her teeth and followed.

"Why did these nuns buy so much food just to let it rot? What a waste! It's a year of famine now; this food could save many lives!" As a former beggar, the sight was too much for Yang Xiaohai to bear, and he uncharacteristically spoke up.

Li Huowang glanced at the young Taoist boy. "Because they are greedy." Yang Xiaohai pursed his lips and said nothing more.

After walking for about the time it takes an incense stick to burn, Li Huowang led the others to the nuns' former dining area, where they saw more nuns. "Ugh!" A plump nun was violently vomiting in front of Li Huowang, expelling all the mince-like pulp from her stomach. Sweating profusely from the effort, she ignored the beads on her face and continuously scooped the surrounding rotten food onto her stomach with both hands, using her belly as a table to continue her frantic eating.

"Master Miaoyin, still well?" Li Huowang greeted the corpulent nun.

As Miaoyin opened her mouth, food scraps mixed with saliva sprayed towards Li Huowang's face. "Oh, it's you. Do you still need guidance? The price is going up this time, at least one tael of gold."

"No need for that. May I ask if Master Jingxin is still in her original room?" Li Huowang carefully backed away, trying to stay out of her spitting range.

Seeing there was no gold to be had, the extreme greed on Miaoyin's face quickly turned to disappointment. "Nonsense, she's so fat she can't even walk. Where else would she be?"

Li Huowang nodded and turned to continue along the previous path. The others closely followed Li Huowang, continuing to wade through the swamp of rotting food. However, when Yang Xiaohai, who was at the very back, walked past the gluttonous nun, he truly couldn't hold back.

"How wasteful you are! Do you know how many people outside are starving, even dying of hunger? Do you know how terrible it is to be hungry?"

Miaoyin replied as if stating the obvious. "Exactly, so we can't waste it. Don't you see it's all rotting? If we don't eat it now, there won't be another chance." With that, she turned her head, opened her mouth, and vomited out what she had just swallowed. With greedy eyes, she continued to gorge herself.

Following the original path and passing through the pigsty, Li Huowang finally arrived at Master Jingxin's room. It was only in this relatively secluded area that the ground wasn't covered in so much rotten food.

As Li Huowang entered, holding up his fluorite, he saw Master Jingxin stuffing something into the folds of her fat. "Ah, it's you, boy? How was it? Did you find the Eighteenth Day of the Twelfth Month?"

With a grave expression, Li Huowang nodded and opened the lacquer box in his hand. Although she had no eyes, Master Jingxin seemed to sense something, and an extremely greedy smile immediately appeared on her loose, flabby face. As Master Jingxin's loose, wrinkled flesh began to shift towards Li Huowang, the entire room seemed to tremble.