Chapter 880: Dafasi Temple

Lu Xiucai clung tightly to his *Great Records* with his single hand, the bumpy carriage unable to shake the struggle and turmoil within him. He still couldn't believe that the White Lotus Society, which had once fought desperately against the Legalist Sect, would now be like them. How could the White Lotus Society have become his enemy in just a few months?

Yet, Lu Xiucai also felt that what the man called Liu Zongyuan, the "sack," said didn't sound false. After all, he had asked his master to intervene; even if he dared to lie to Lu Xiucai, he wouldn't dare lie to his master.

"Sigh, Xiucai, are you really going? You only have one arm left. Are you planning to lose your last arm too and become a human stick?" Doggy, who was driving the carriage, craned his neck and tried to dissuade him.

"Even if I lose my last hand, I must go and see what's happening with my own eyes. If someone is impersonating the White Lotus Society, or if there are villains within it, I need to tell my Mistress so she can send people to clean up the sect."

"You're in such a mess yourself, and you still have time to worry about this. Aren't you concerned about your father and your niece?"

"Your father will be fine; Oxheart Village needs a village guardian anyway, and he can fill that role. He can live to old age by eating from the community. But what about your niece? She's only five, she's lost her parents, and her grandfather has gone mad. You're her last remaining relative. How about we go back?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiucai immediately retorted, "What do you mean? Are you hoping for my death? I'm just going to scout it out! I'm not the Lu Xiucai I used to be! And even if I only have one hand, I'm still stronger than you!"

Doggy didn't reply, quietly driving the carriage with his neck bent. After a long while, he finally blurted out, "You really are his disciple. Your temper is becoming more and more like his."

Lu Xiucai, hearing this, didn't argue further. He looked out the window at the stars in the sky. "I used to think my master didn't teach me because he looked down on me or was holding back."

"But now I understand that he just didn't want me to walk the path he walked. This path isn't easy; it's hard and tiring."

"Heh heh, you just realized that? I noticed it long ago." Doggy's face showed great pride. "I can't endure hardship. Even though I'm illiterate, in this regard, I'm smarter than you."

"But there must always be someone to be the 'fool' in this world, mustn't there?"

Doggy seemed to understand this, or perhaps he didn't, as he didn't pick up the conversation. "Senior Brother Li, I wonder what he's doing now, always out of the house. Something happened at home, and you have to take the fall for it."

"I don't know, but Master must be doing something important. Since I'm his disciple, I'll take care of this minor matter for him, so he doesn't have to bother with such trifles."

"Hmph, you're capable, you're impressive. If it were me, sending a letter to the capital would be good enough."

"How much time would that take back and forth? By the time your letter arrives, they've probably already gotten the news and vanished without a trace. Stop the carriage!"

As Doggy pulled the reins, the sound of hooves gradually ceased. "Why the hurry? There are still two *li* left."

"If they are indeed villains, there must be hidden scouts outside. You can go back to avoid being implicated."

"Oh, my, my, you've learned a lot just by leaving the courtyard."

Lu Xiucai couldn't be bothered with Doggy's sarcastic remarks. He propped himself up with his single arm and climbed onto the horse pulling the carriage.

He untied the carriage ropes, gave a strong shake of the reins, and rode the horse along the road.

Doggy looked at the receding figure and, stroking the white spots on his face, shouted, "If you're not dead, remember to come back soon. If you die, I'll collect your body for you; that burial shroud will finally be put to use."

With only one hand, Lu Xiucai was unstable on the horse's back, so he rode very slowly, almost ambling along, until he reached the Great Dharma Temple that Liu Zongyuan had mentioned.

Upon arrival, Lu Xiucai discovered that the so-called Great Dharma Temple was actually a large mountain resembling a temple.

He looked around at the dark woods but saw no hidden sentries and encountered no ambush.

Lu Xiucai reached out and gave a strong tug, revealing the white donkey tattoo on his back by pulling up his paper belly band.

Regardless of whether there were hidden sentries or if the White Lotus Society members saw him, he whipped his horse again and rode up the mountain path towards the Great Dharma Temple.

As the mountain path grew more rugged, a腥 smell filled the air. Lu Xiucai recognized this smell; it was the smell of blood.

Halfway up the mountain, Lu Xiucai's heart suddenly sank. He saw a White Lotus banner hanging by the roadside. Although the writing was crooked, it was indeed a White Lotus Society slogan, and it was written in blood.

"The Red Sun's tribulation ends, the White Sun shall rise! Mud from chaos gives birth, the White Lotus appears for a glorious age!"

Lu Xiucai pursed his lips, whipped his horse again, and urged it onward. Soon after, the sound of hooves suddenly vanished. Lu Xiucai immediately looked down and saw a dark expanse on the ground.

He used his copper coin sword to pick up some of the black substance and realized it was human hair. The entire mountain path was covered in human hair.

So much hair—how many people must have died for this? It reminded him of the stiff, dead human stakes beneath Oxheart Village.

As he neared the summit, the horse beneath Lu Xiucai refused to move forward, constantly backing away and whinnying as if sensing something terrifying ahead.

When Lu Xiucai dismounted, the wooden spikes inserted into his legs sank a bit deeper.

But Lu Xiucai, long accustomed to the pain, propped himself with his copper coin sword and prepared to walk forward.

Just as he dismounted, he suddenly noticed a bag on the horse's back. When he opened it, he found Doggy's white-haired syringe and Young Yang's rotten-wood *ruyi* scepter inside.

Lu Xiucai smiled, didn't take them, and left them on the horse's back. He patted the horse's hindquarters vigorously and turned to painstakingly move towards the summit.

At the end of the road was a mountain cave. Looking at the cave, Lu Xiucai felt it resembled the Pure Wind Temple cave that Doggy and his companions used to boast about.

The wind blowing from the cave entrance carried a heavier smell of blood. This had to be the place.

As Lu Xiucai stepped inside, he saw the gilded statue on the massive lotus flower in the center of the cave entrance.

But upon closer inspection, Lu Xiucai realized it was a coiled, hideous yellow centipede!

The centipede's thousand hands were clasped together like a monk's, and at a glance, it truly seemed like the Thousand-Armed Guanyin reborn.

"A centipede?" Lu Xiucai was first startled, then delighted. "I knew it couldn't be the White Lotus Society! You beast dare to impersonate the White Lotus Society and commit evil!"

Just then, a "tap-tap-tap" sound echoed. It was the sound of the great centipede's clasped limbs separating.

But what was chilling was that the sound came not only from in front of Lu Xiucai, but also from his left, right, and even behind him.