Chapter 326: Good Deeds

Li Huowang gazed at the seventy-nine lifespan orbs in the bloody water, his heart deeply unsettled. "What does he mean by giving me these Longevity Pills?"

Perhaps he wanted Li Huowang to consume these Longevity Pills, or perhaps he wanted to explain why he had become this way.

This question was destined to remain unanswered, for the human fiend was dead, truly and utterly dead.

His long sword pointed at the corpse before him. After a moment's pause, Li Huowang raised his sword and brought it down, dismembering the human fiend's body completely to prevent it from moving again.

He then bent down, placed the seventy-nine Longevity Pills into his gourd, and turned to the stunned elders. "Don't stop! Keep moving!"

The elders looked exhausted, but their previous disgusting actions left Li Huowang with no intention of showing respect for the elderly or care for the young.

If he hadn't been unable to carry so many children by himself, he would have long since impaled each one of them with his sword.

As they slowly moved, Li Huowang and his group gradually exited the cave.

However, immediately after emerging from the cave, Li Huowang began searching the dim area, determined to eliminate any future troubles.

Since the fiend had previously intended to refine pills using infants, he must have possessed some pill formulas or cultivation techniques.

Li Huowang wouldn't feel at ease without destroying those items, fearing that another human fiend might repeat the same atrocities after he left.

As he searched, Li Huowang unexpectedly found new items, such as a watermelon-sized alchemy furnace placed next to a much larger one.

Near the furnaces were numerous infant corpses, indicating that the human fiend had been using the large furnace for alchemy here.

The difference between him and Dan Yangzi was that this fiend first deboned the bodies before alchemy.

Looking at the small alchemy furnace, Li Huowang suddenly remembered a skill he had learned from Dan Yangzi: alchemy.

With these items, his depleted stock of pills could now be replenished.

Next, Li Huowang also found some books written in strange characters within the karst cave.

Perhaps these were the human fiend's writings. Li Huowang didn't know if any of them contained formulas for refining pills from children, so he burned them all.

After various searches, when a grayish-white stone slab appeared before him, a peculiar expression crossed Li Huowang's face.

"A Heavenly Tome? Another Heavenly Tome?"

"Where do these things come from? Why are they everywhere?" Li Huowang pondered this question, holding the heavy Heavenly Tome in his hands.

"Could it be that the human fiend's formula for refining pills from infants came from this?"

Li Huowang examined it carefully and found that this Heavenly Tome was identical to the one Dan Yangzi had acquired, not a single character different. It was still a Buddhist scripture encouraging people to do good.

"Do you know what this thing is?" Li Huowang asked, looking at Hong Zhong, who was secretly glancing their way.

Hong Zhong smiled mysteriously, shaking his head slightly. "Hehe, I don't know, hehe, I don't know."

With a toss of his hand, Li Huowang threw the Heavenly Tome into the cold underground river.

Seeing this, Hong Zhong instantly became anxious.

"Hey! How can you be like that! This might be a valuable treasure! Pick it up quickly!"

"If it's such a treasure, then you can retrieve it yourself."

Li Huowang finished speaking, picked up a wailing child from the ground, and boarded the small boat they had arrived in earlier.

The boat was small, and they were rowing against the current, so it took several trips to transport everyone to the shore.

When Li Huowang returned to Cangshui County with the group of elderly and children, the entire town erupted in commotion.

Li Huowang's appearance at this moment was extremely terrifying, yet everyone's attention was focused on the crying children.

The families who had lost children were always the first to rush forward.

Those who found their children knelt before Li Huowang in gratitude, while those who didn't could only collapse to the ground in sorrow, wailing loudly.

Magistrate Lou, with a group of people, was about to pay his respects to Li Huowang. "Thank you, sir! You are the great benefactor of Cangshui County!"

"Don't rush to pay your respects; the matter isn't over yet," Li Huowang said. He then recounted the elders' actions to Magistrate Lou.

"What? You mean those elders were accomplices of the fiend?"

Magistrate Lou was greatly shocked as he looked at the elders; he had previously thought they were saved by Li Huowang.

"According to the Great Liang laws, what would be the fate of those who committed such acts?" Li Huowang asked, looking at the elders standing in fearful apprehension.

"They should be torn apart by chariots!" Magistrate Lou's eyes became unusually cold.

"Torn apart by chariots? Isn't that a bit excessive? Besides, they are so old; perhaps beheading would be more appropriate."

Magistrate Lou, uncharacteristically, retorted, "What are you saying, sir? What does a person's age have to do with their crime? What's done is done. If we spare them because of their age, wouldn't the infants in the underworld die with even greater resentment?"

Li Huowang pondered this carefully, then cupped his hands toward Magistrate Lou. "Magistrate Lou is right. You handle it then. I'll be leaving."

Magistrate Lou quickly stopped Li Huowang. "Sir, why such a rush? I hope you will grant your humble subordinate an opportunity to host a welcoming banquet for you."

Li Huowang glanced at his tattered, blood-stained clothes and nodded.

"Alright, I haven't slept for two days. I'll go rest. If you would, Magistrate Lou, please have some clothes made for me."

Upon returning to the inn, Li Huowang practically collapsed into sleep. The immense fatigue outweighed the sharp pains throughout his body.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but Li Huowang awoke to the rumbling of his stomach.

He rubbed his eyes and looked out the window. It was still daytime, but he wasn't sure which day.

"Daoist, you've slept for a day and a night. The official came to check on you earlier but left when he saw you sleeping."

Li Huowang glanced at the smiling monk. "You seem very happy?"

"Of course I'm happy! We've done a good deed, a really great one! Shouldn't we be happy when we do good?"

"Indeed, indeed," Li Huowang replied dismissively. Enduring the pain, he sat up, took off his foul-smelling clothes, and put on the new attire from the nearby stool.

Magistrate Lou had clearly put thought into it. The new clothes were obviously tailored to Li Huowang's size and style: the same dark red, the same Daoist robe.

Furthermore, he hadn't just ordered one; the tailor had made a total of five identical robes.

"Heh, Magistrate Lou is quite considerate," Li Huowang remarked as he dressed.

After getting dressed, Li Huowang headed to the backyard, preparing to drive his carriage away.

"Daoist, the official still wants to invite you to dinner. Aren't you going?"

"No, it's a waste of time. Now that the trouble is handled, I should quickly return to Yinling; it's not a short journey." For Li Huowang, everything else was secondary now.

As Li Huowang arrived at the stable in the backyard, he was momentarily stunned.

His carriage was sparkling clean, without a speck of mud on the wheels. The horse pulling it had smooth, well-groomed fur, clearly having been specially brushed.

Various mountain delicacies and cured meats surrounded the carriage, and Mantou was sprawled among the provisions, gnawing on a large bone.

"Woof woof!" Mantou, seeing his master return, excitedly ran over, wagging his tail incessantly. In just a few days, he seemed to have gotten noticeably fatter.

Seeing all this, the monk smiled again and said to Li Huowang, "Daoist, see? Didn't I tell you good deeds are rewarded?"