Chapter 193: Pity

Inside the Juyi Hall, Li Huowang re-examined the 'Records of the Great Thousand' in his hand, his fingers gently tracing its surface.

As the book was re-attached to his waist, a sense of reassurance settled in Li Huowang's heart. Although using the 'Records of the Great Thousand' always came at a huge cost, it proved invaluable in critical moments. After all, enduring torment was better than dying.

"Young Daoist! Young Daoist! You are truly the living ancestor of our Lü family! If it weren't for your help, our entire family would have perished here! I was utterly deluded before, I actually ran away! I deserve a beating! I deserve a beating!" Lü Zhuangyuan, looking like a refugee, raised his grimy palm without hesitation and slapped himself hard across the face.

"Alright, alright, are your people all safe?"

Hearing Li Huowang's intervention, Lü Zhuangyuan awkwardly lowered his hand.

"That bandit, Big Golden Dragon, his mother liked opera, so no one died, it's just... my daughter-in-law suffered a lot..." Suddenly remembering something, Lü Zhuangyuan's body jolted, and he said with great conviction, "Young Daoist, from now on we won't go anywhere else, we'll just follow you! Your life-saving kindness will never be forgotten! From this moment, our Lü family troupe is your personal opera troupe!"

"What would I do with an opera troupe? I don't even understand it."

Before Li Huowang could finish, the excited Lü Zhuangyuan dropped to his knees with a thud and repeatedly kowtowed to him.

"Alright, alright, if you want to follow, then follow. We can't stay here long. Do you still have your performance gear? Pack up quickly, we need to leave." Having spent so much time together, Li Huowang had long seen through his intentions; he simply wanted Li Huowang as a bodyguard. Besides, they would be useful soon.

Hearing this, Lü Zhuangyuan immediately scrambled to his feet and repeatedly patted his chest. "Yes, yes, it's all here! And I know where their horse stable is! I'll go get all their horses now!" Without delay, Lü Zhuangyuan, eager to prove his worth to Li Huowang, quickly pulled his family towards the nearby cave entrance.

After dealing with Lü Zhuangyuan, Li Huowang looked up at the cave Xiaoman had just rushed into. A complex emotion flickered in his eyes. He turned to Gao Zhijian beside him and said firmly, "Go in and hurry them up. This is a bandit stronghold, it's not safe here. Tell them to come out quickly; we need to leave."

Gao Zhijian nodded, dropped the iron rod he was holding, and picked up a bandit's spiked mace from the ground nearby. He hoisted it onto his shoulder and walked towards the cave. However, before he could enter, he saw Chun Xiaoman and Bai Lingmiao emerge, their eyes red, looking as if they had just been crying.

"What's wrong?" Li Huowang's brows furrowed.

Chun Xiaoman bent down and tore at a bandit's clothes on the ground. "Come inside and see... these bandits are not human! They're beasts!" Glancing at Bai Lingmiao, who was also bent over stripping clothes, Li Huowang stepped into the cave.

Soon, at the end of the cave, Li Huowang saw several naked women, their eyes vacant, bodies trembling as they huddled on the ground. Nearby were several oddly shaped wooden frames. From the ropes on the wood and the women's bruised wrists and ankles, it was clear they had only recently been released from them by Bai Lingmiao and the others. With the help of others, these women were draped in bandit clothes and brought into the brightly lit Juyi Hall.

If the women stolen from Reed Island still held some status, then the women in this bandit lair were unequivocally tools for sexual release. And if that weren't bad enough, Lü Zhuangyuan revealed that the stronghold was quite dull, so idle bandits would treat these women as toys. The fate of these women was even more tragic; once they were "broken," they were discarded and replaced with new ones. As long as they could raid, women were never in short supply.

Hearing these sickening descriptions, Li Huowang turned his head, his eyes filled with murderous intent, and looked at the collapsed rock wall. With a flick of his hand, the Daoist bell appeared in his grasp. "Ring, ring, ring!" As the piercing bell rang, the Wandering Master, formed from lines, swiftly materialized before Li Huowang. Li Huowang pointed forcefully at the rock wall. The Wandering Master nodded quickly, then turned and merged into the collapsed rock wall. Shortly after, Li Huowang's acute senses detected faint screams emanating from within the wall.

After half an incense stick's time, the Wandering Master re-emerged from the rock wall. After nodding to Li Huowang once more, it swiftly dissipated. As the bell's ringing faded, Li Huowang turned to the women behind him and said, "Don't worry, all those bandits are dead, not a single one left."

Yet, faced with this news, the women's faces showed no emotion—no excitement, no sorrow, no joy. At that moment, only numbness was etched on their faces. Li Huowang looked at them with pity. These people had suffered too much; it could be said they were almost no different from broken individuals.

"Wait, is this what pity feels like?" Li Huowang froze, then immediately reached into his robes and pulled out the 'True Scripture of Fire Robes'. Carrying this newfound emotion, he began to recite the obscure incantations from the translated text. The white wax swiftly condensed into fiery slugs. These slugs crawled up Li Huowang's trouser leg towards the wound on his abdomen. With a sizzling sound, the gruesome wound was swiftly cauterized and pulled together. At this moment, the missing piece of the 'True Scripture of Fire Robes' was finally completed for him. This item, left to him by Jiang Yingzi, could finally be put to use.

This should have been a joyful occasion, but it was not a time for joy. Li Huowang looked at the dazed women, committing the emotions he felt at that moment firmly to memory, lest he forget them in the future.

After ransacking the entire bandit lair, the group left the death-filled place under the moonlight. As Lü Zhuangyuan had said, the bandits indeed had many horses. They also found supplies like blankets and food inside the cave. However, while they found everything else, there was no silver. It seemed the place where they hid their silver was behind the collapsed rock wall. There were no living people left in that cave; they, along with the bandits killed by the Wandering Master, would be forever buried there.

That night, the group traveled quickly without sleep, only resting the following noon after they were far away from the bandit lair. While the others slept, Li Huowang and Mantou stood guard. When they woke in the evening, Li Huowang immediately fell asleep. When he woke again, it was already the next morning. He rubbed his eyes and looked around, seeing Bai Lingmiao distributing porridge to the women. Nearby, the voices of Sun Baolu and Gouwa reached Li Huowang's ears.