Chapter 175

"Stop! You'll die too if you cross!"Watching the Bodhisattva draw closer, Dan Yangzi's voice was uncharacteristically filled with deep terror. Yet, at this moment, Li Huowang seemed remarkably unperturbed."No matter! For my master to achieve enlightenment and immortality, what is this life of mine?"

Li Huowang's movements, coupled with the pulling sensation in the breeze, meant that despite Dan Yangzi's desperate struggles, they continued to move slowly but surely towards the open Yak Gate.As the circular white halo from the Bodhisattva's head illuminated them, Dan Yangzi's asphalt-like feathers began to transform into the exact same white gauze covering the Bodhisattva's body. Whether it was the writhing flesh or the twisted, prolapsed internal organs on Dan Yangzi's body, any part, once enveloped by the white gauze, fell into silent death.

As Dan Yangzi felt his body gradually dying, he was overcome with intense resentment. He hadn't achieved immortality; he didn't want to die in such a pathetic, ignominious way."Huowang! Why be so absolute? Your physical body is still usable. If we just go down now, you go your way, I'll go mine! We'll never see each other again!"However, before Li Huowang could reply, one of the bandit-like hallucinations immediately interjected."Youngster! Don't believe him; that old fellow never speaks a single truth! His heart is full of malice!"

Just as Dan Yangzi glared venomously at the hallucination, a wispy layer of white gauze covered his head. His head slumped to one side, completely still.Dan Yangzi's other head, that of a young boy, was utterly terrified by this sight. He instantly abandoned all dignity and began to beg Li Huowang."Huowang! You win, alright? You win! If we keep going like this, we'll both die! And God knows what that monstrous thing is! We might end up in a fate worse than death!""I'll kowtow to you, alright? You be my master, alright? Please have mercy and spare me!"

Specks of thin gauze covered Li Huowang's eyes, yet he was smiling with immense joy."That won't do, Master. You promised we'd achieve immortality together."As soon as the words left his lips, they finally passed through that invisible, intangible membrane. They had entered behind the gate.

The moment they entered, Li Huowang's and Dan Yangzi's bodies suddenly separated.Looking at the translucent form of the other in the distance, neither could utter a single word.Like a bubble, with a 'pop,' Dan Yangzi's horrific body instantly disintegrated.Dan Yangzi, who had tormented Li Huowang for so long, vanished like an ant, silently, without a trace.Immediately afterward, various colored objects scattered from where Dan Yangzi had been, drifting towards the depths beyond the gate.When Li Huowang saw these objects, he instantly understood what they were, yet he couldn't express it accurately in normal language.If he had to put it into words, they were desire, greed, obsession, hatred, murderous intent.

Although Li Huowang did not die like Dan Yangzi, his situation was no better.A Bodhisattva, immense as a mountain, emerged from the white gauze, raising a colossal, rotting skeletal claw to grab him.But just as the colossal shadow was about to envelop him, an extremely faint sound, like a suona, resonated from a great distance.As this sound began, everything in Li Huowang's vision distorted. In that instant, he simultaneously possessed five completely different perspectives.In one of these visions, the Formless Bodhisattva before him was formed from piled-up corpses of the deceased.And beneath it, an umbilical cord glowed.Not just the Bodhisattva, but everything behind the Yak Gate was tethered by an umbilical cord.Not only his vision distorted, but Li Huowang's entire being began to warp. Perceptions that weren't his own were also forced upon him.Gradually, Li Huowang found himself beginning to move, drifting rapidly towards the world of White Jade City.The further he drifted inside, the more sensations Li Huowang perceived."No... no, no! No!"Li Huowang began to gradually comprehend this world, but these things were also almost completely overwhelming him to the point of bursting.Amidst Li Huowang's desperate screams, as he slowly understood everything, he continued to plummet deeper into White Jade City.As everything around him rapidly inverted, Li Huowang, who now fully understood everything, saw the final scene: a torrent of pain and torment rushing towards him. It was Bahui!

In the state of Siqi, on a picturesque hillside, a group of people in mourning clothes gathered around a new grave. They scattered copper coins, burned paper ingots, and wailed."Senior Brother Li! Wuwuwu~ How could you just die like this? What will we do without you?"Gouwa, with bloodshot eyes, knelt there, sobbing loudly. Mid-sob, he quickly fell silent, secretly glancing at Bai Lingmiao nearby.Compared to his exaggerated grief, Bai Lingmiao appeared unusually calm, not shedding a single tear, burning paper piece by piece.Even when there was no more paper, she continued the motion of offering.Seeing this, Gouwa sighed and sniffed, then prostrated himself before the tombstone and began wailing loudly again."Senior Brother Li, why did you leave us without any illness or disaster? Without you to support us, won't others just bully us to death?"

Just as he was putting effort into his wailing, he suddenly saw the mound of grave soil begin to shift."Hmm?" Gouwa thought he was imagining things. He instinctively rubbed his eyes, and then a hand suddenly shot out from the pile of earth towards him."Oh my god! He's back from the dead!" Gouwa screamed in fright and immediately fell backward.Bai Lingmiao, however, reacted first. Her emotions suddenly collapsing, she threw herself onto the grave mound and frantically dug at the earth.Soon, the other senior brothers and sisters also realized what was happening and rushed to help.However, before they could dig him out, Li Huowang, wearing a burial shroud, suddenly appeared atop the grave mound without warning.His expression contorted, he clutched his head tightly, his face twitching as he muttered to himself, looking utterly terrifying."Senior Brother Li!" When a tearful Bai Lingmiao rushed towards him, she was seized by Li Huowang.His bloodshot eyes stared fixedly at the young girl before him. "It's alive! Everything's alive! This world, it's alive!"Seeing this, Xiaoman, who had been ready to draw his sword, immediately relaxed. "It's alright, it's not a zombie; it's indeed Senior Brother Li."Facing such a strange Li Huowang, Bai Lingmiao disregarded her fear, looking at him with deep concern. "Senior Brother Li, what's wrong with you?""Listen to me! I know what's wrong!" Li Huowang's hysterical shouts drowned out everything around them."This world is alive! If it's alive, it means what happens to people can also happen to it!""I know I'm insane! But this world is insane too! It's insane!"After uttering these words, Li Huowang suddenly threw Bai Lingmiao to the ground.Pointing one finger at the somber sky above and the other at his own chest, Li Huowang, with extreme paranoia, repeated over and over:"It's insane, it's insane! It's far crazier than me!"After repeating this phrase more than a dozen times, Li Huowang, taut as a bowstring, suddenly went limp and collapsed to the ground.

End of Volume One.