Chapter 754: Help

The constant clatter of horse hooves echoed as Li Huowang rode through the mountains. Scattered skeletons and corpses indicated that this was not a peaceful place. With both sides using Siqi as a battlefield, the fate of the civilians living there was left to chance.

Li Huowang was heading to the location Xuanpin had mentioned, though he remained skeptical of everything the man had said. To truly understand their intentions, he knew he would have to verify everything himself. Even though he had forced some information out of Xuanpin, anything coming from him could be distorted or even false. Nevertheless, Xuanpin was right about one thing: he had to help, and the Dharma Sect's plan had to be destroyed.

Suddenly, dense footsteps sounded ahead. A large throng of Dharma Sect followers, identified by the black cloths draped over their shoulders, surged towards him. Li Huowang glanced at them, quickened his pace, and galloped past. The Dharma Sect members, seemingly oblivious, continued on their way.

This wasn't his first encounter with the Dharma Sect. He was now back in an area where the two sides clashed, and exposure could lead to another ambush at any moment. After his last ordeal, Li Huowang was now fully alert, leaving no room for carelessness.

When Li Huowang saw his position overlap with the red dot on the Xuan'guang mirror, he stopped. He found himself in a battlefield strewn with corpses. Carrion dogs, covered in ticks and pustules, alongside various vultures, black crows, and writhing white maggots and flies, feasted on the macabre banquet. What was death for humans was life for them. The animals tore at the corpses haphazardly, scattering body parts everywhere and making the scene resemble a living hell. The stench was naturally horrific, but Li Huowang paid it no mind.

After calming his spooked horse, Li Huowang looked around, puzzled as to why Xuanpin would choose such a place for their meeting. As Li Huowang waited patiently, the sky gradually darkened. There was no moon that night, and the surroundings were pitch black. The only sounds Li Huowang could discern from the darkness were the chilling crunching of bones being bitten and marrow sucked.

With the day already missing several hours, Li Huowang didn't know the exact time, only that when the darkness overhead deepened to its darkest, he heard footsteps approaching from his left. Someone had arrived. Li Huowang pulled out a pale green fluorescent stone from his pocket and threw it towards the sound. A strange figure appeared before him.

It was a bizarrely dressed man with fair skin and an effeminate expression. More notably, he had a queue tied at the back of his melon cap. His demeanor reminded Li Huowang of eunuchs from the palace. His attire was otherwise unremarkable: a common gray robe topped with an ill-fitting, waxy yellow cloak. Then, Li Huowang noticed something odd about his arrival. Despite hearing footsteps, there were no tracks on the ground behind the man, as if he had floated there.

"Zhao Jiabao, Assistant Supervisor of the Bureau of Astronomy for Later Shu, greets True Man Li," the peculiar man said, bowing respectfully. The gesture further solidified Li Huowang's suspicion that he was a eunuch. It seemed the imperial court had also sent someone.

"Why choose such a place to meet?" Li Huowang asked, a slight frown on his face.

"Because this place is already occupied by other things," an aged voice replied. "The Dharma Sect's entities cannot cross over, nor can they see or hear us here."

Soon, three elderly lamas, identical as triplets, stepped into the green light. They simultaneously pressed their palms together and bowed to Li Huowang. The only difference between these three and the lamas from the Zhongyin Temple was that their wrinkled faces and hands were covered in dense Buddhist scriptures. Seeing the various gold- and jade-inlaid bone ornaments on their bodies, Li Huowang knew these three likely held high positions within Zhongyin. The mummified figures he had met at Zhongyin Temple were similarly adorned.

As these two groups emerged, others also started to appear from the darkness. There weren't many of them, only a few dozen, but Li Huowang could sense a distinct aura from them, clearly indicating their formidable strength. It seemed Xuanpin had truly gone all out this time.

"Greetings, True Man Li!" the disparate group chorused to Li Huowang.

Li Huowang surveyed the men, women, and children before him. He recognized only the monks from Zhengde Temple; the attire of the others was largely unfamiliar, suggesting they belonged to sects he hadn't encountered before.

"Xuanpin told me you know the location of the Dharma Sect's Heavenly Sacrifice?" Li Huowang asked them.

"Yes, True Man Li," Zhao Jiabao replied, pulling out a map from his sleeve and placing it before Li Huowang.

Li Huowang glanced at the constantly shifting map, then averted his gaze. "Since you're all here, Xuanpin must have told you what we're up against, right?" He pressed them again, "I know you all possess extraordinary abilities, but are you certain you can deal with that thing?" It was obvious, even with a feint, that the Dharma Sect's stronghold for their ultimate weapon would be heavily guarded.

"We are, of course, no match for True Man Li," Zhao Jiabao said. "However, the Supervisor of the Bureau of Astronomy stated that our task is merely to assist True Man Li to the best of our abilities. With True Man Li's immense powers, this mission will surely be accomplished with ease."

This was definitely Xuanpin's doing; he was the only one Li Huowang knew who so readily flattered him. "Alright, we can discuss other matters as we go," Li Huowang said, swinging himself onto his horse. "This is not the time for idle talk."

Just as Li Huowang pulled the reins, a plump woman with a mole at the corner of her mouth offered him a black *zongzi* wrapped in red string, holding it in both hands. "True Man Li, this item will allow you to conceal yourself, preventing them from knowing our intentions in advance," she explained.

Li Huowang took it, examined it for a moment, then tucked it into his waist. "Which sect do you belong to?"

"Oh my, humble me has no sect or school," the woman replied with a fawning smile. "I'm just a tiny little matchmaker, not important enough to be on such a stage."

"A matchmaker? A follower of the God of Weeds?" Li Huowang glanced down and noticed the woman indeed had bound feet, wondering if it was a coincidence or something more. "You didn't happen to be a malevolent spirit who gained human form by obtaining a verbal decree, did you?" Li Huowang asked, half-jokingly.

The plump-faced woman pulled a red handkerchief from her sleeve, covering her mouth with one corner as she giggled. "Hehe, True Man Li certainly knows how to tell jokes," she chuckled. "I thought all you Daoists were terribly dull."

Li Huowang's expression hardened. He yanked the reins, and his horse reared up before charging out of the foul-smelling battlefield.