Chapter 286: Gan Yuan

A child on a cow was herding his dog out of the village. Some young women and wives were washing clothes by the river. Everyone's expression was so normal, a stark contrast to Pi County on the last occasion.

From the outside, the village appeared unremarkable.

Yet, the more normal it seemed, the more abnormal it became in Li Huowang's eyes.

Li Huowang took out the envelope again and examined it closely. It indeed mentioned signs of the Forgetful Dao sect's presence here, but it didn't specify what those signs were.

Recalling his experience in Pi County, Li Huowang turned to the others and said, "Since the Forgetful Dao might be inside, I'll sneak in first to scout around, to avoid alarming them."

"Senior Brother Li, will you really be alright by yourself?"

Bai Lingmiao hesitated, wanting to speak. Li Huowang's changing demeanor couldn't escape the eyes of someone so close to him. The recently somewhat normal Li Huowang was now starting to act strangely again.

Connecting it to the voices, Li Huowang offered no explanation. In such matters, the more he explained, the more she would worry.

Li Huowang shifted his spiritual body slightly out of sync with his physical one and slowly moved inward along the winding path beneath the willow tree at the village entrance.

The sudden auditory hallucination, "Another person's wind," no longer surprised Li Huowang. He shook his head vigorously and looked at the monk stuck in the tree nearby.

"Why are you looking at me? I didn't say it."

"Shhh." Li Huowang lowered the finger he had held to his lips, slowed his pace, and cautiously entered Ganyuan Village.

His mind completely shifted from the hallucinations, focusing entirely on the immediate danger.

Soon, Li Huowang noticed that the entire Ganyuan Village seemed to be celebrating something. New couplets adorned the walls, new door gods were on the doors, and even the villagers' clothes were fresh.

Li Huowang stood atop a large tree adorned with red ribbons, silently observing everything below. So far, he had not discovered anything unusual.

Before long, the situation changed. Villagers, dressed neatly and having finished a hearty midday meal, began heading towards the end of the village in small groups.

Along the way, the seemingly good-spirited villagers chatted and laughed, still showing no abnormalities.

Li Huowang followed them to the end of the village, stopping in front of a village temple.

Everyone's voices quieted significantly. Any noisy children were promptly pulled aside by their parents and given a slap on the backside.

Everyone stood there, anticipating something.

Just as Li Huowang hesitated whether to sneak into the temple to investigate, a swaying brown clay sculpture was carried out from the dark, arched doorway.

Judging by the treasure vase in the sculpture's hand, it was clearly a Bodhisattva statue—a clay Bodhisattva.

However, the Bodhisattva's face showed no benevolence at all. The clay statue looked as if it had endured a massive downpour.

All its facial features had melted, stretching into long strips that hung from its face, leaving only two irregular black holes.

"Oh! Oh!!" All the Ganyuan villagers surged forward, helping the temple attendants carry the Bodhisattva, and began parading it around the entire village.

"A clay Bodhisattva," Li Huowang murmured to himself, his brow furrowed as he looked at the two black holes on the statue.

Standing atop the tree, Li Huowang watched as the villagers continuously swayed the bizarre clay Bodhisattva, parading it around Ganyuan Village again and again.

With each circuit, more red cloth was draped over the Bodhisattva. As the sun hung high, the clay Bodhisattva became covered in a thick layer of red fabric.

The red-draped clay Bodhisattva was then carried back to the temple, swaying as it was brought inside.

However, no sooner had it been taken inside than it was carried back out of the temple amidst shouts, only to be carried in again immediately to the cheers of everyone.

After three such entries and exits, they finally placed the clay Bodhisattva inside the temple and began burning incense, kowtowing, and worshipping it.

Li Huowang originally wanted to go inside and see what the village temple was like.

However, the villagers had surrounded the interior so densely that even the invisible Li Huowang had no place to step, making it impossible to get close.

As the sun gradually set in the west, they left, satisfied, and headed home.

When night fully fell, and even the hunchbacked temple priest locked the main door to sleep in a side room, Li Huowang slowly descended from the tree.

Soon after, with a crisp snap, the bronze lock broke in two, and the tightly shut main gate opened a crack.

As moonlight from outside pierced through the crack into the dark village temple, Li Huowang, standing outside, already had his hand on the hilt of his Purple Tassel Sword.

If the Forgetful Dao sect truly intended to cause trouble, it was highly probable they would use this place as their base of operations.

With a creak, the invisible Li Huowang pushed open the door and stepped inside.

Due to the incense, the entire interior was filled with a rich sandalwood aroma, and the clay Bodhisattva with melted features appeared indistinctly in the darkness.

There wasn't just one clay Bodhisattva in the temple; both sides of the hall were lined with clay sculptures, but these were the Eighteen Arhats, not Bodhisattvas.

While the Bodhisattva was faceless, the Eighteen Arhats had faces, standing there with expressions of anger or hatred, appearing strikingly realistic. Being in the temple gave one the sensation of being watched.

The clay Bodhisattva that had been paraded earlier was placed in the very center of the temple, on a stone lotus pedestal.

The incense burner in front of it was filled with burnt wooden sticks. All the incense had been offered to it.

To the left and right of the Bodhisattva in the center of the temple, two more clay sculptures stood.

These two sculptures had facial features, and judging by their appearance and size, they were a pair of boy and girl attendants of the Bodhisattva.

The temple wasn't large, and Li Huowang quickly finished his inspection. Finding nothing, he eventually focused his attention on the red-draped Bodhisattva.

The clay Bodhisattva itself wasn't very tall, seemingly only about two meters, but because its pedestal was very high, Li Huowang had to look up at it.

In the dim, nearly lightless temple, a red-robed Bodhisattva with melted facial features presented an utterly terrifying sight, especially since Li Huowang had already determined there was something wrong with it.

"Should I just strike it with my sword to see what happens?" A thought popped into Li Huowang's mind.

As he seriously considered this, he suddenly turned his head to look at the boy and girl attendants on either side of the Bodhisattva.

"Were they like this just now? Or did they just move?"

Staring at the two clay sculptures that seemed to be watching him, Li Huowang inexplicably felt a chill run through him in the dark silence.

"You come."

"Who's there!" The muddled voice made Li Huowang spin around, but there was nothing behind him.

"Wait, was that my hallucination, or did something in this temple make that sound?"

Pondering this question, Li Huowang froze. For a moment, he couldn't tell the difference.