Chapter 621: Law and Religion

Outside the deserted county town, Fo Yu Lu began chanting Buddhist scriptures.

As Fo Yu Lu continued to chant, echoes gradually emerged from within the previously silent county town.

Beside him, the abbot of Zhengde Temple took out a wooden fish and, accompanied by two other monks, began to tap and sing. Gradually, other sounds started to mix with the Buddhist chanting.

As the scriptures continued, Li Huowang felt every muscle in his body twitching, as if it were about to separate from him at any moment.

Fo Yu Lu's clothes writhed, and various small buddhas dropped out from them, sitting cross-legged and chanting along.

Just as the chanting reached its peak, the ground suddenly split open. A tall figure wearing a "Wu" character hood leaped out, holding two obsidian daggers high, and ambushed Fo Yu Lu, who was chanting.

Meanwhile, Hong Da, who had been prepared, leaped from his horse to block the attacker.

Unexpectedly, as Hong Da's rusty saber struck the attacker's chest, the attacker's arms, still clutching the weapons, detached from their body, one to the left and one to the right, and launched an attack towards Fo Yu Lu on the horse.

It turned out this was not a living person at all; the two dwarves disguised as arms were the actual attackers.

Just as one of the dwarves thought his objective was about to be achieved, he saw a red-robed Taoist priest blocking his path.

As his attention was fully focused on the Taoist's coin-sword, the Taoist suddenly opened his mouth, and various black tentacles with suction cups and barbs shot out, covering the dwarf's face.

The next moment, he felt a sudden pain in his body, and then knew nothing more.

Having dealt with this minor nuisance, Li Huowang, with long, blood-stained tentacles trailing from his chin, turned his head to look elsewhere.

The other attacking dwarf had already been caught by Peng Longteng, who continuously squeezed and crushed it like a doll. After turning it into a complete ball of flesh, Peng Longteng raised it high above her head and squeezed hard. Crimson blood splattered down, drenching the headless stump of her neck.

Li Huowang thought the matter was resolved, but in fact, it had only just begun. A slender black blade pierced directly through Peng Longteng's heavy armor.

Soon, people wearing white headscarves emerged from the county town and rushed towards Li Huowang and his companions.

As the Buddhist scriptures continued to be chanted, parts of their bodies, such as eyes and ears, occasionally fell off.

Regardless of how many organs fell off, the fanaticism within these people never subsided.

Among them were many emaciated people from Daqi, but even more were people from Daliang who had only recently put on white headscarves. The penetration speed of the Dharma sect in Daliang was much faster than Li Huowang had imagined.

Although these devotees were fearless, the disparity in strength between the two sides was too great. They were no match for Li Huowang, nor even for Peng Longteng.

The tall Peng Longteng, like an iron plow, carved bloody paths through the human tide.

She seemed to enjoy it all, her body constantly trembling as she swung two corpses at people.

"Don't kill them all! Leave a few! I need to interrogate them!"

The slaughter continued, but when Liu Zongyuan's white mist began to envelop the entire county town, the battle quickly concluded.

"Thud!" The last of them, a bloody, mangled dwarf hanging on the wall, finally took his last breath and fell lifelessly to the ground.

"This must only be a temporary stronghold for them. It seems they truly don't know the whereabouts of the Mount Tai Stone." Li Huowang rehung the blood-stained torture implements back into his kit.

The problem reverted to before: even if they could contend with the Mount Tai Stone, it would be useless if they couldn't find the person.

If the Dharma sect were allowed to absorb the common people, then the people of Daliang would eventually become their enemies.

Fo Yu Lu, who had been observing from the side, pondered for a moment before saying, "Let's go. We'll clear a path all the way to Yinling City. I need to find someone skilled enough to divine the Mount Tai Stone's location."

"Lord Jixiang, who is that person? Can they truly do it? The Mount Tai Stone is a person from Daqi," Hong Da asked from the side.

"His name is Chen Bazi. If he can't do it, then no one else can."

Li Huowang was startled to hear this; he knew the person. "Chen Bazi, the one who sets up a stall outside the City God Temple?"

"What, you know him?"

"You could say so; we've dealt with each other a few times. But as far as I know, his abilities aren't particularly strong. He was even tricked by the Zuowang Dao last time."

The "Complete Collection of Talismans" he obtained back then was traded from Chen Bazi.

"A fortune teller cannot divine their own fate. He may not be good at other things, but when it comes to fortune telling, few in the Jiantian Division can surpass him. He himself may not be capable, but what he believes in is," Fo Yu Lu said, then mounted his horse.

"What he believes in?" Li Huowang mused thoughtfully. "Could it be that there's a celestial official specifically in charge of divination? The past and future are constantly in motion; can this person really divine it?"

Li Huowang and his companions quickly departed, leaving behind a ground covered with corpses. Crows and vultures gradually began to gather in the sky, preparing to feast on this unexpected banquet.

He stepped on a crow, causing its internal organs to spill from its mouth.

"Well, what did I tell you, Taishan? Now is not the time to act. As soon as there's a bit of a commotion, the Jiantian Division comes sniffing around like dogs eating feces."

A man wearing a large robe adorned with colorful strips of cloth strolled leisurely among the corpses. A piece of ink-black cloth hung from his left shoulder.

Beside him, the person named Taishan was an ugly dwarf with ears covered in black fur. Despite his crude appearance, he wore an exceptionally elegant white theatrical robe. The white headscarf on his head corresponded to the black cloth on the other man's shoulder.

"Hmm... indeed. But the Dharma sect still has too few believers. If we lie dormant, when will our divine soldiers descend?"

"Don't worry, don't worry. I'm more familiar with this place than you. Although we both worship different aspects of the Child God, as fellow witch-ministers, why would I, He Xinlai, harm you?"

"What you need to do now is have your people lie low, disguised as disaster victims from Daqi, and let believers scattered in other places gather here."

"Daliang is the strongest in the world. As long as our Dharma sect takes Daliang, other places will be much easier to handle."

The witch-minister called Taishan pondered for a moment, then nodded. "Alright, you have more people than me, I'll listen to you. But before that, I want your people and mine to work together to seize that person's sword."

"Whose sword?"

"The bone sword of that kid in the red Taoist robe. That's the spine of the Three Pure Hearts of Pan, and I have great use for it."

"Alright. They seem to have been looking for you just now, so you can be bait, set a trap, and ambush them."

"Don't be careless. He feels a bit off to me. And it's best not to use the Dharma sect's identity; don't bring trouble upon yourself."

"Don't worry, I'll find some good hands. Actually, our Dharma sect isn't universally despised in Daliang; we have quite a few like-minded friends."