Chapter 161: Return

Inside a guest room, a naked Li Huowang sat in the bathtub, holding a three-edged awl with his sole arm. He was taking deep breaths, preparing himself for something.

"Hoo... hoo... hoo..." Li Huowang breathed slowly, calming his nerves.

Once completely calm, Li Huowang stuffed a folded cotton cloth into his mouth. He then raised the three-edged awl he held and plunged it forcefully into his abdomen.

Like a ritualistic disembowelment, the trembling awl slowly dragged to the right. Blood flowed from the wound into the bathwater in the tub, dyeing a large area crimson.

Veins bulging on his forehead, Li Huowang ignored the excruciating pain that nearly made him faint. His hand trembling, he reached into his abdomen and began to search.

After much effort, he located his stomach, intending to pierce a hole in it to see what was inside. However, he realized he only had one hand, which made it extremely inconvenient.

Just as he was debating whether to call for help, a pair of hands with long, black, pointed nails grazed his skin. They reached around from behind his waist, plunged into Li Huowang's abdomen, and precisely pulled out his stomach.

"Thank you," Li Huowang said, trembling as he raised the three-edged awl and made a hole in his stomach. The hands of the Second God began to exert slight pressure, and the contents of the stomach slowly squeezed out. Apart from some pulpy food, there was no Black Grand-Sage nor the half-face of Danyinzi.

Seeing this, Li Huowang smiled. He had guessed correctly: to deceive him that day in the cave, the people of the Sit-Forget Path had indeed dealt with the living Danyinzi.

Afterwards, to toy with him, they had hidden the immortalized Danyinzi so thoroughly that even the Abbess couldn't detect him.

These deceivers wanted to watch him, unprotected, gradually be replaced by Danyinzi, savoring the pleasure of this trickery.

However, this had inadvertently helped him. The Abbess had said that the reason Danyinzi hadn't been eliminated was because a part of him was still alive.

Now that the living part of Danyinzi was completely dead, he only needed to return to An Ci Monastery to find the Abbess, and they could thoroughly deal with Danyin... The blood-stained three-edged awl dropped into the water. Li Huowang tremblingly picked up the hemostatic powder nearby and poured it onto the wound in his abdomen.

At that moment, the hand with black nails quickly flipped over, grasping two threads with red strings. She then inserted them into the flesh of Li Huowang's wound.

The red threads quickly crisscrossed, swiftly stitching the wound. The pain was so intense that Li Huowang nearly bit through the cotton cloth in his mouth.

"Thank you," Li Huowang said. When he turned his head to look behind him again, there was no longer any trace of anyone.

With a somewhat pale face, Li Huowang stepped out of the bathtub and began to dress.

"Daoist priest, are you really only going back this time to deal with your master? Are you going to deal with those deceivers? You should, shouldn't you? You can't let them keep deceiving people; how many more will suffer if they continue? Acting on behalf of Heaven is also a good deed."

Li Huowang glanced at the hallucination of the monk before him, a flicker of hatred in his eyes. He couldn't be bothered to answer, continuing to put on his clothes.

Of course, he hadn't forgotten the Sit-Forget Path members disguised as followers of the Aojing Cult.

The thought of his two junior brothers who had died because of them, and all the things they had done to him, made Li Huowang want to rip out their hearts and dig up their bones. Even without Jiang Yingzi's dying wish, he wasn't finished with them; this matter was almost as important as dealing with Danyinzi.

"But they're very powerful. Can you fight them, Daoist priest?" The monk's expression was full of worry.

"I have my ways. Can you please be quiet!"

He couldn't deal with the five Sit-Forget Path members alone. However, after careful consideration during his journey, Li Huowang realized he didn't have to fight them by himself.

First, as evidenced by Jiang Yingzi also being deceived by the Sit-Forget Path, they controlled the Aojing Cult in those mountains through deception.

The lower-ranking Aojing Cult members, led by Shou San, had also been deceived by their own cult. If he could find a way to make them realize they were tricked, they could become his allies.

Second, Abbess Jingxin's son was also a Xinsu, just like him. Why had he become like this? It was clearly related to the Sit-Forget Path. If he explained the truth, he believed the Abbess would be more than willing to avenge her son.

Fully dressed, Li Huowang took out the translated text of the *Fire Aojing True Scripture*. He struggled to read the characters; he now recognized even fewer than before.

Li Huowang had previously thought his literacy had been taken by Danyinzi. Only now, recalling it, did he realize that wasn't the case at all; it was simply because Danyinzi hadn't died.

"Based on the number of characters I can still read, I should be able to return to Sizhi before Danyinzi completely assimilates me," Li Huowang said, closing the book in his hand and walking out.

As soon as he stepped out, he saw everyone looking at him with worried expressions.

"I need to return to An Ci Monastery to ask the abbesses some questions." This was Li Huowang's explanation to everyone for his return to Sizhi.

After several trips to An Ci Monastery, everyone clearly knew there was something amiss with Li Huowang's words, but they didn't question him.

Perhaps they had other thoughts, but unfortunately, for now, they could only follow without raising any objections.

Li Huowang saving everyone's lives was one factor; the increasingly frightening aura he exuded was another.

"Gao Zhijian, is your head alright?" Li Huowang, clutching his own stomach, looked up and asked the tall man whose head was bandaged.

"No... no... no..."

"That's good then. Rest well and recover. Eat something nutritious during this time to strengthen your body."

Li Huowang was equally astonished that Gao Zhijian was still alive, especially since he had watched the iron die penetrate his temple.

However, when others were clearing the battlefield later, they surprisingly found him still breathing. Then, with the help of the old immortal from the Bai family, whom Bai Lingmiao had invited, he actually woke up.

First, he had drowned, and now this. Li Huowang found it hard to believe it was a coincidence.

However, he had witnessed far more bizarre occurrences in this place. After asking Gao Zhijian himself, who also didn't know what had happened, Li Huowang stopped asking.

Regardless, being alive was better than being dead.

Although he had survived, the iron die remained embedded in his head. Li Huowang didn't expect much more than that.

"Has the new carriage been bought? I'll go see. No need to help me, I can walk."

Watching Li Huowang's receding figure, Gouwa, who hadn't dared to breathe deeply, suddenly shivered. He cautiously whispered to Zhao Wu across from him, "Hey, why do I feel like Senior Brother Li is becoming more and more like that scabby-headed guy? Do you feel it too?"