Chapter 119: Yingzi

Chapter 119: Yingzi

Li Huowang pulled the girl before him behind his back, staring at Shou San as he spoke, enunciating every word: "Even if I die, I will never stoop to such a thing!"

"Pfft~" A follower of the Zoroastrian Sect beside him couldn't help but stifle a snicker. "Don't be so righteous; you are a Pure Heart."

"What's wrong with being a Pure Heart? I may be a madman, but I'm not a heartless beast like Danyangzi! I will absolutely never do what he did!"

Shou San cast a deeply hostile glare at the follower. "Yan Lu, is this amusing? You cannot even contain yourself before outsiders?"

The follower seemed to want to say something, but soon his facial features rapidly fused together.

Not just his facial features, but the gaps between his fingers and toes as well.

In no time, the man turned into a wriggling maggot.

"Wrap him in a blanket; he must not feel any pain for a month."

Shou San was right; when it came to healing people, they were exceptionally skilled.

As soon as the man was carried away, Li Huowang, his expression grave, turned his gaze back to Shou San.

"Find me a place to stay in the cave. I'll figure out how to achieve ultimate pain myself. Also, I need this woman to attend to me."

"Hmph, big talk. I don't believe you can find any good way."

Despite his words, Shou San still agreed to Li Huowang's request and ordered his subordinates to handle it.

Li Huowang was led into a moderately sized cavern chamber. Though the walls were pitted and uneven, the cave was fully furnished with everything one could need, even a latrine.

The girl from before was now silently following behind Li Huowang.

Curled up, Mantou crawled out from beneath Li Huowang's robe and scurried into the cave, excitedly sniffing here and there.

With a grave expression, Li Huowang unslung the long sword from his back and placed it on the stone table in the cave.

Although he had just spoken so resolutely before Shou San, he had no clue how to achieve the ultimate inner pain.

Without extreme pain, he could not summon Bahui.

If he couldn't meet the Zoroastrian Sect's conditions, they wouldn't help eliminate Danyangzi; it seemed like a dead end.

Li Huowang paced continuously in the cave, and as he walked, his gaze fell upon the girl at the entrance.

Suddenly, Li Huowang's eyes lit up.

An idea came to him; in fact, some things didn't necessarily have to be done according to their way of thinking.

"Rest assured, with me here, they cannot harm you. Come here, I have a few questions for you." Li Huowang patted the stone stool beside him, but the girl standing at the entrance did not approach. Instead, she began to weep, her sobs growing louder as she trembled and slowly sank to the ground.

Hearing this cry filled with endless grievance, Li Huowang sighed softly.

It seemed she thought she was already one of the Zoroastrian Sect's own, only to be thrown out as a tool. Feeling wronged was normal, especially since she looked so young.

Li Huowang walked over and helped her to the stone stool. Looking at her tearful face, he sought to turn her allegiance: "Those people do not treat you as a human being at all. Do you still intend to linger in this wretched place? Why not help me instead? As long as you aid me in achieving my goal, I swear, if I survive and leave this place, I will never abandon you."

Hearing this, the sobbing girl's eyes revealed deep confusion. "After going out, where else can I go? My home is gone... everything... is gone..."

"What happened to your home?" Li Huowang's voice became very gentle; he deeply empathized with the girl's current feelings.

"That town at the foot of the mountain is..."

Hearing this, Li Huowang's heart tightened instantly. That ruined dead town; this girl was probably one of the rare survivors of that dead town.

"My father and mother... and my three older sisters and two younger brothers are all gone, they're all dead..." The girl hung her head low, tears continuously dripping onto her tightly clenched hands.

"What exactly happened in that town? Who or what destroyed the entire town?"

As soon as Li Huowang spoke, he immediately realized he had said the wrong thing; bringing this up now was just rubbing salt in her wound.

"It matters not if you have nowhere to go; just follow me. I have many brothers and sisters there, and we shall all seek a way to survive together. You may join us when the time comes."

"We only have two girls, which is already few. The yang is strong and the yin is weak. If you join, it will make three, just enough to balance things out a bit."

After comforting her for a while and seeing her emotions stabilize, feeling the atmosphere was right, Li Huowang asked, "How long have you been here?"

They didn't trust Li Huowang, and naturally, Li Huowang didn't trust them either.

Once bitten, twice shy; he had no desire to let the ordeal at Zhengde Temple repeat itself. This time, Li Huowang had no intention of playing by their rules.

If he could somehow acquire the Zoroastrian Sect's method to eliminate Danyangzi, he would not need any damn extreme pain at all; he could simply dispatch Danyangzi himself.

Hearing Li Huowang's words, the girl nodded gently, still keeping her head low. "Four years..."

Seeing her speak, Li Huowang decided to take it slow and steady.

"After such a long time, you must have some understanding of this place, right? Can you tell me about it? Anything is fine."

Her scarred hands continuously kneaded the hem of her garments. "The Zoroastrian Sect was originally two sects, one worshipping the Gu God and the other worshipping Bahui..."

"Later, the Gu God absorbed some of Bahui's power, and then the two sects merged into one..."

"Hmm? Is this a fact or just a guess recorded in the Zoroastrian Sect's books?"

At this moment, Li Huowang felt like he was listening to a myth; the story felt incredibly unreal to him.

"I don't know either... I heard it from others... When I came in, the two sects had already merged..."

The girl secretly glanced up at Li Huowang, then quickly lowered her head again, not daring to make any eye contact with him.

"It's okay, keep going. By the way, I haven't asked your name yet."

"They... call me Er Jiu..."

Er Jiu, Shou San, and the previous Yan Liu; why were the members of the Zoroastrian Sect all named with human organs and numbers?

Li Huowang found this a bit strange; it didn't feel like a Daoist's Daoist name.

"What was your name before?"

"Jiang Yingzi..."

"Alright then, I'll call you Yingzi from now on. Yingzi, over these four years, have you seen those people treating others' illnesses in the Zoroastrian Sect?"

Yingzi nodded gently. "Mm... I've seen it a few times."

"Were they all cured?"

"Probably, anyway they all left afterwards."

"Sounds like these people really have ability," Li Huowang thought to himself.

This was a good thing; at least they hadn't lied to him. The Zoroastrian Sect most likely did have the ability to eliminate Danyangzi.

"Very well, Yingzi, let me ask one more question. Besides the self-mutilation rituals of the 'Record of the Great Thousand', does the Zoroastrian Sect possess any other cultivation techniques or divine powers?"

(End of Chapter)