Chapter 164: Not Yet Won

Chapter 164: Not Yet Won

Veins bulging on one hand, Li Huowang exerted all his strength to push the corpse of Abbess Jingxin into the large pit he had dug himself.

Immediately after, he dropped to his knees, scooping up handfuls of earth to rebury the Abbess's mangled remains.

A wooden board painted with pastries was planted in front of the Abbess.

His face ashen as death, he lined up the pastries brought up the mountain, arranging them before her grave like sacrificial offerings.

Abbess Jingxin was dead, and with her died the "rot" of this world.

From the moment of death, no flesh or blood would be consumed by decay; whatever state they were in at death, they would remain in that state forever.

The Abbess's death was surely connected to this, as the supernatural powers the nuns had wielded always seemed tied to "rot."

The disappearance of "rot" seemed to be the true cause of death for the Abbess and the others.

At any time, "rot" is forever something disgusting, something to be shunned and avoided.

Yet any world would face grave disaster if such things were removed.

When corpses no longer decay, the cycle of the Heavenly Dao will be broken, and the world's corpses will pile up endlessly.

Yet at this moment, Li Huowang had no mind to ponder what was truly happening, for he himself was on the brink of ruin.

The Abbess was dead, and there was no one else like her to help him expel Danyang Zi from his body.

At this juncture, he could find no one else to help, for there was no time left.

He had now become utterly and completely illiterate; it was foreseeable that Danyang Zi would soon completely seize his body.

If he did not want Danyang Zi's treacherous plot to succeed, there seemed to be only one path left for him.

"Abbess, please wait for me on the Bridge of Helplessness; I will be down to join you shortly!"

After kowtowing three resounding times before the grave mound, Li Huowang, looking utterly bereft of soul, walked toward the rat hole he had visited before.

The Abbess had once said that only by being gnawed to death by those rats could Danyang Zi's body-snatching be completely thwarted.

He did not want Danyang Zi to live again; even if it meant his own death, he would not let him live!

Yet when Li Huowang, resigned to death, returned to the black tower, he froze at the sight of the blackness covering the ground.

He walked over and scooped up the black mass; as his fingers parted slightly, overturned cockroaches and flies tumbled from his grasp, falling like black snowflakes.

Dying alongside the nuns, besides "rot," were the flies and cockroaches, the lowest tier of decomposers.

Li Huowang suddenly stood up, his breathing ragged as he charged into the black tower.

But he was soon met with a shocking sight: the black rats inside were all dead too, and like the others, they showed no signs of decay or stench.

"Damn it!" In extreme grief and fury, Li Huowang slammed his clenched fist into the dead rats, bursting their flesh and entrails from their mouths in all directions.

"What kind of wicked deeds did I commit in my past life!! Why the hell can't I even die when I want to now!!"

"Hehehe... child..." a low chuckle echoed from beside Li Huowang.

Li Huowang looked up and saw the three utterly terrifying faces of Danyang Zi.

"What did this immortal tell you? Whatever you do is in vain; it is not too late for you to turn back and help me now."

"Do you think you've already won?" Li Huowang stood up, his eyes filled with extreme hatred.

"As long as this body remains in my hands for one more day! You have not won yet!!"

Li Huowang sprang to his feet and dashed toward the gates of An Ci Nunnery, rushing down the mountain as if possessed.

No sooner had he reached the foot of the mountain than he collided face-to-face with Yang Xiaohai, who had two fried sweet potato strips dangling from his mouth.

Yang Xiaohai quickly said with a fawning smile, "Senior Brother Li, you're coming down? Finished with the business on the mountain? How about we head back together?"

At this moment, Li Huowang completely ignored his flattery and dashed straight onto the road.

Glancing left and right, he snatched a scholar's horse and leaped onto its back.

Quickly turning the horse's head, Li Huowang, his eyes bloodshot, pulled out a barbed spike and drove it into the horse's rump.

The horse reared up on its hind legs, letting out a painful whinny before charging toward the mountains of the Zoroastrian Sect.

"My horse!! That's my horse!!" the scholar cried and wailed, chasing after him, but Li Huowang soon vanished from his sight.

Witnessing this scene, Yang Xiaohai panicked; clutching the oilcloth bundle in his hands, he rushed toward the inn. "Senior Brothers and Sisters! Senior Brother Li is having an episode again!"

The mountains where the Zoroastrian Sect resided were over two hundred li from Henghua Mountain of An Ci Nunnery, a journey that normally took a carriage quite some time.

Yet under Li Huowang's relentless torment with torture implements, the horse managed the journey in just two days.

Upon returning to the dead town, the stolen horse finally gave out, foaming at the mouth and collapsing to the ground in convulsions, its hindquarters a mangled mess of flesh and blood.

Li Huowang pushed through the mounds of graves he had dug himself, hurrying toward the mountain cave.

He had not slept for three days now, and with no food or water, his complexion was ghastly.

But Li Huowang, who had long since cast life and death aside, no longer cared about any of this; he just wanted Danyang Zi to die!

No matter what it took, as long as it achieved this goal, he would spare no effort.

Seeing Li Huowang return, the Zoroastrian followers in their loose robes immediately and tacitly blocked the cave entrance. "Shou San has ordered that you—"

Before they could finish, a flash of cold light severed two heads from their bodies; their eyes were wide with disbelief, never having expected him to strike so directly.

Radiating an aura of bloodlust, Li Huowang charged into the cave. "Zuo Wang Dao! Come out and face me!!"

Li Huowang's voice echoed continuously through the cave, drawing the attention of everyone.

Soon, in a vast, empty cavern, Li Huowang was completely surrounded.

But he didn't care; he had never intended to leave alive anyway.

Shou San, his body enveloped in flames, stepped out from the crowd. "You are so ignorant; do you truly think we won't take action?"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Li Huowang saw the five elders step out from the crowd.

Looking at the five individuals disguised as Zuo Wang Dao before him, Li Huowang smiled.

"Come on, show me the strength of your Zuo Wang Dao!"

With that, Li Huowang raised the longsword in his hand and forcefully slashed it across his own neck.

Danyang Zi, beside him, instantly flared with rage; his terrifying body gradually shrouded in black clouds, lunged directly at Li Huowang.

Feeling his life force draining away with the flowing blood, Li Huowang paid it no heed.

"Rustle," the Record of the Great Thousand unfolded flat on the ground, and Li Huowang stepped directly onto it.

The blood flowing from his neck soaked through his clothes, completely drenching the entire scroll of the Record of the Great Thousand.

(End of Chapter)