Chapter 15: Zhengkun

Chapter 15: Zhengkun

"My home is at Number Twenty-Two, Baolu Ward, near the East Gate of Xialiang. Tell my wife there are two small goldfish hidden in the false bottom of the third pickle jar under the bed. She must use them sparingly; they should last until our Bao'er comes of age."

A middle-aged man, his face heavily pockmarked, fought back his terror as he whispered his last words to Li Huowang.

This man was today's medicinal primer sent to the alchemy chamber. Li Huowang could do nothing to change his fate, only commit these dying words to memory.

Watching the trembling figure step into the pill-refining room, Li Huowang turned and walked back, his expression tinged with irritation.

This was already the eighth person. As time passed, the number of people in the ingredient room dwindled, and what pained him even more was the realization that he was growing accustomed to it; the guilt of sending people to their deaths was steadily fading.

He was being assimilated by a repulsive creature like Danyangzi, and he wanted no part of it.

Li Huowang desperately yearned to escape this exceptionally torturous predicament. He searched for a way out, but it was no easy task. Relying solely on himself and a few maimed souls in the ingredient room, it was virtually impossible to contend with the unfathomable Danyangzi.

The only things he knew for certain were that the Wandering Lord controlled by Danyangzi was absent on the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month, leaving them unwatched, and that Danyangzi was illiterate, relying on some entity within the Qingfeng Temple to read the heavenly scriptures for him.

"Should I go to Danyangzi's dwelling, find that entity, and kill it? I am the only literate disciple in the entire cave, so he would surely have me translate the scriptures! By then, wouldn't killing Danyangzi be as easy as reaching into a bag?"

Yet, no sooner had this thought popped into his mind than Li Huowang dismissed it.

Though he knew the location of the karst cave where Danyangzi lived, he had no idea what traps lay within, nor did he know the strength of the entity reading the scriptures. Charging in blindly would mean dying without even knowing how.

"Poison his alchemy ingredients? No, he taught me everything I know about pill refining. Showing off my meager skills before the master would be courting death."

Li Huowang walked back, his mind racing as he pondered new ways to deal with Danyangzi.

Just then, a sullen-faced youth dressed in a Daoist robe and a scholar's cap approached from the opposite direction. Li Huowang recognized him as Zhengkun, one of Danyangzi's inner disciples.

Li Huowang knew little about him, save for the occasional encounter during meals; at all other times, Zhengkun was nowhere to be seen.

Moreover, unlike Li Huowang and the other registered disciples, Zhengkun didn't have to bother with the trivial affairs of the Qingfeng Temple. As for what he usually busied himself with, Li Huowang had no clue.

The two passed each other, and with a slight brush of Zhengkun's shoulder, Li Huowang slammed right into him. The moment they touched, Li Huowang felt as though he had struck a slab of pig iron.

Zhengkun suddenly stopped, turned sideways, and looked at him with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Xuanyang, you've been quite lively in the temple lately. You've certainly kept our master in high spirits."

Li Huowang frowned slightly, glanced at him, and turned to leave without a word.

But before he could take two steps, a tremendous force surged from behind, shoving him forward.

Li Huowang stumbled a few paces, struggling to steady himself, and barely managed to avoid sprawling flat on his face.

"What's the matter, Junior Brother Xuanyang? Do my words carry no weight anymore?" Zhengkun asked, stepping up to Li Huowang with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Senior Brother Zhengkun, I still need to help Master prepare the alchemy ingredients," Li Huowang said calmly.

"Don't you dare use Master to suppress me! Back when I was fleeing assassins with him, you were nowhere to be found! Let me tell you, Xuanyang, just do your chores obediently and keep your mouth shut about everything else. Don't be so blind to the situation." Zhengkun's tone grew even harsher.

Li Huowang felt no anger. Instead, he stared blankly at Zhengkun, seemingly lost in thought. The man was indeed as ill-tempered as Xuanyuan had described, but didn't that also mean he was rather impulsive?

"What? Cat got your tongue? Say something!"

Li Huowang, whose expression had been wooden just moments before, suddenly came alive, a hint of mockery creeping into his tone.

"Master favors me because it is his will. Even if he were to share the secret of immortality with me, that would be his business. I'm afraid there's nothing you can do about it, Senior Brother Zhengkun."

Zhengkun was taken aback, momentarily unable to process the fact that the other dared to speak to him this way.

When he finally snapped out of it, his face twisted into a ferocious scowl. He pressed two fingers together to form a hand seal and thrust them like a small chisel through the Daoist robe, stabbing directly into Li Huowang's left ribs.

"You think you're worthy? Master hasn't even taught me the immortal arts, why would he teach you? What do you think you are? Dregs of the pill!!"

The searing pain nearly made Li Huowang black out, yet a smile spread across his face. He had guessed right.

"Heh, perhaps Master didn't tell you because your comprehension is lacking. Senior Brother Zhengkun, cultivation depends on talent. Since yours is wanting, don't waste Master's time on your worthless body."

These words seemed to strike a nerve. Zhengkun withdrew his fingers and stabbed Li Huowang's torso three more times in rapid succession. "You miserable dreg! You're courting death!!"

Despite the agonizing pain, Li Huowang's laughter only grew louder. "Hahaha, come on then! Kill me! Let's see how Master reacts when he finds out his disciples are slaughtering each other."

Watching Li Huowang's laughter escalate into a manic cackle, Zhengkun kicked out, sending him crashing against the wall. "Hmph! A madman who doesn't know the meaning of death."

Li Huowang lay on the ground, unable to catch his breath for a long while. After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, a pair of broad hands reached out from the side and helped him up.

"Sigh, Junior Brother Xuanyang, why won't you listen to reason? Didn't I tell you to show some respect to Zhengkun? Why did you go and provoke him?"

The speaker was Xuanyuan, the resident people-pleaser. Thanks to his easygoing nature, he was the only one in the Qingfeng Temple who would actually talk to Li Huowang.

Clutching his side and enduring the pain, Li Huowang said, "What, is he going to kill me? Master's Wandering Lord is watching. If another disciple dies, the temple won't be able to sustain itself."

"What Wandering Lord?" Xuanyuan asked, looking rather bewildered.

He didn't know? A thought suddenly flashed through Li Huowang's mind. Could it be that the others were unaware of how Master monitored the entire temple?

Recalling that two of the previously deceased were inner disciples, Li Huowang realized they might truly be in the dark.

"Nothing. I just meant he wouldn't dare make a move."

"That's not how it works. He's an inner disciple, and you're merely a registered one. He might not dare kill you outright, but making your life miserable would be as easy as turning over his hand."

"Haha, I have small feet. I was born to wear tight shoes."

As he spoke with Xuanyuan, a glint of amusement flickered in Li Huowang's eyes. Zhengkun had just let slip a crucial piece of information: even as an inner disciple, he was still not qualified to learn the immortal arts.

Danyangzi trusted no one, but that wasn't the point. The point was the look in Zhengkun's eyes. During their confrontation, when Li Huowang claimed to have learned the arts, he had clearly sensed the man's intense resentment.

Disciples raised by Danyangzi could never be truly loyal.

This might be an angle to exploit. He wanted to test it.

(End of Chapter)