Chapter 357: Hidden

"Kill him!" The murderous intent appeared instantly, and everyone's weapons immediately attacked the beggar.

Li Huowang, who reacted first, caught the attention of Xin Zhuo. After a deep gaze at Li Huowang, his body quickly vanished.

The moment his eyes disappeared, Li Huowang felt a chill on his mouth—the copper coin mask had been hidden by Xin Zhuo!

But in the next moment, Li Huowang realized this wasn't the time to ponder such things; he had something far more important to do!

A surge of hot blood rushed to Li Huowang's mind from the back of his head. His body began to tremble, and his bloodshot eyes swept over everyone around him: Jixiang, Hong Da, Tuoba Danqing, Liu Zongyuan.

"Boom!" As a fire sickle scraped, intense pain instantly shot through Li Huowang's body, from head to toe. Raging flames swiftly enveloped him.

"Kill! They know my true identity as a Xinsu! I must kill them all! Not a single one can be allowed to escape!!!"

As Li Huowang attacked, Liu Zongyuan curled into a ball and fled towards a nearby window to save his life.

Unsure whose action it was, Li Huowang instantly felt a powerful force that violently threw him backward.

Fully transformed into a man of fire, Li Huowang roared, thrusting his hand into his left eye socket and squeezing forcefully. A strange light enveloped everyone.

Jixiang raised the decaying wooden ruyi in his hand and pointed it fiercely at Li Huowang, but Li Huowang showed no reaction. He raised the Purple Tassel Sword in his hand, ready to sever his own left arm.

"Er Jiu! What are you doing!" The giant White Impermanence roared from the forest.

"Don't bother! Can't you see? This guy is being controlled!"

With a grim expression, Hong Da raised his rusty knife and plunged it into his arm.

But the other person's words jolted Li Huowang. At this moment, he stared at the people before him in utter shock.

"What's going on? They... can't see through my Xinsu identity?" The shocked Li Huowang suddenly recalled something.

He remembered when Zhuge Yuan gave him the spindle, he pointed to his mask and said, "Use this; it's much more effective than what you have."

In that moment, Li Huowang suddenly understood what the other person meant.

The reason they hadn't discovered his Xinsu ability was that Zhuge Yuan's item, which served as a substitute for his mask, had concealed his identity.

Li Huowang looked down at his fiercely burning lower garments. The torture tool bag, which contained the spindle, was already blackened and appeared as if it would soon be completely consumed by the flames.

"No, I can't let this leave my body." Li Huowang, engulfed in flames, quickly retrieved the spindle.

Li Huowang wanted to find a place to keep the spindle safe, but he had no pockets; even his flesh had been burned away.

Finally, he peeled back his burning flesh and, as if putting it into a coat pocket, placed the spindle into his abdominal cavity.

After securing it, Li Huowang walked towards the others. "Everyone, it's alright now. The person who performed the ritual to control me has been defeated!"

"Stop!" Jixiang, with an extremely grim expression, pointed his golden abacus at the man of fire before him. "I don't care if you're conscious or not; just stand still right there!"

When they saw Li Huowang actually stop, Jixiang, Liu Zongyuan, and Hong Da huddled together and began to confer.

Li Huowang couldn't hear what they were discussing due to the distance. He now had a more pressing concern: how to extinguish the flames covering his entire body?

Li Huowang thought of something, reached out, and ripped off the "Records of the Great Thousand" hidden beneath his skin.

As the item hit the ground, the raging flames on Li Huowang's body gradually died down.

This time, because it was only the beginning, Li Huowang's skin thankfully hadn't been completely burned away.

At this moment, Li Huowang looked like a candle figure just beginning to melt. Although still in immense pain, he was far better than his previous charred appearance.

"My clothes are gone again. Good thing I brought an extra set just in case."

Li Huowang had just turned to look towards the carriage when he only saw a fiercely burning pile of fire.

"Sigh..." Seeing this, Li Huowang had nothing more to say. He took out the "True Scripture of Fire Mantle" to heal himself.

As the scorching sensations crawled across his skin, the image of Zhuge Yuan surfaced in Li Huowang's mind.

"He saw through my identity, yet instead of capturing me, he gave me this spindle to help conceal it. Was his kindness genuine?" A long-unfelt warmth flowed into Li Huowang's heart.

Li Huowang suddenly wished to meet Zhuge Yuan again; there were so many things he wanted to discuss with him.

"Er Jiu," Li Huowang turned his head to see the three individuals approaching. It seemed they had finished their discussion and decided on a course of action.

"Er Jiu, can you identify who performed the ritual to harm you just now?" Jixiang asked with a very solemn expression.

"I have some impression. It seemed like a bald-headed Taoist priest," Li Huowang replied matter-of-factly.

"Hmm..." Jixiang pondered something with a grave expression. After a long silence, he said, "Alright, let's head back first. We can talk more once we're there."

Hearing him speak, the others nodded and walked together along the dirt road.

However, it was clear that the others didn't fully trust Li Huowang's words, subtly forming a circle around him.

They had barely taken a few steps when Li Huowang stopped and asked, confused, "Do you still remember what mission we came out for this time?"

Hearing this, a bewildered Hong Da immediately turned to Jixiang. "I was just called out by Lord Jixiang; I know nothing else."

"I was also called by Lord Jixiang. Lord Jixiang, what exactly is our mission this time?" Liu Zongyuan promptly followed up.

Li Huowang also looked at Jixiang. He remembered being called by Jixiang as well. He wouldn't have accepted such an open-ended assignment if Jixiang hadn't promised to help him retrieve information about the Zuowang Dao after this job.

Under the gaze of the three, Jixiang's expression was very serious. He wiped the dust from his face with his sleeve, seemingly lost in thought.

"I... I'm not entirely sure either," Jixiang said with a hint of uncertainty. "Why did I call you two here again?"

Li Huowang and Hong Da exchanged glances, unsure what to say for a moment.

To summon them and then completely forget the purpose of their outing—this superior truly acted on a whim.

"Oh well, let's just set off and find a populated area first," Li Huowang said. "The carriage is gone, and if we don't hurry, we'll definitely have to spend the night out here."

Checking the sky, Li Huowang and the others no longer hesitated and quickly hastened their journey.