Chapter 167: Cooperation

Chapter 167: Cooperation

Amidst a howling rush, Danyang Zi swung his sword forged from flesh and blood, shaped like a string of copper coins, prompting Li Huowang and Yiwàn beside him to retreat in perfect, unspoken synchrony.

Seeing this, the other three Mahjong men swiftly surged forward to intercept Danyang Zi.

Seizing this rare moment to catch their breath, Yiwàn glanced at Li Huowang.

"What do you say? Just help us deal with Danyang Zi, and we can part on good terms afterward."

Yet Li Huowang dismissed his words as wind past the ear; he stomped fiercely on the ground, intending to rush over and relieve the three Zuo Wang Dao members fighting in the distance.

Witnessing this, Yiwàn spoke again, and the words that left his lips this time successfully brought Li Huowang's stride to a halt.

"Still not enough? Then I'll wager my very last stake!"

"Li Huowang, aren't you the Heartless One? The constant torment of bewilderment must be unbearable, isn't it? If you help us this once, we can tell you how the Heartless One can break free from bewilderment! We can make you a normal person!"

Seeing the sheer astonishment on Li Huowang's face, Yiwàn explained once more, "It's true, the Heartless One can indeed escape bewilderment, it's just that the method is exceedingly difficult! Ordinary people could never find it!"

"Stop lying! If even Abbess Jingxin couldn't find it, how could you?" Li Huowang's tone was resolute as iron, yet he did not leave.

Watching his companions struggle desperately in the distance, Yiwàn's pace of speech grew ever faster.

"That old nun Chen Hongxiu doesn't know shit! Let me tell you the truth! Beifeng, one of the Four Joys of the Zuo Wang Dao, is a Heartless One! He's lived for a hundred and ninety years and is still going strong! No more bewilderment clings to him!"

Just as Li Huowang was lost in thought, the other three Zuo Wang Dao members in the distance could no longer hold on.

The flesh-and-blood copper coin sword pierced the chest of one Mahjong man, and his chest began to bulge.

In the next instant, his body exploded entirely, instantly transforming into a massive, mangled mass of grotesque flesh that splattered in all directions.

"Look! Three men are already dead! If you don't completely suppress Danyang Zi now, in the end, both sides will die, and he'll be the fisherman who reaps the spoils—is that what you want?"

"Let's be frank! Even if I make it blatantly clear that I'm plotting against you, so what? Do you hate him more, or do you hate us more? We've already lost three men, while your master Danyang Zi hasn't lost a single hair! Weigh your options carefully!"

These words seemed to persuade Li Huowang; if forced to choose a victor between Danyang Zi and the Zuo Wang Dao, it was a remarkably simple choice.

Li Huowang watched Danyang Zi chasing the remaining two Zuo Wang Dao members in the distance, and he nodded. "Hurry up! I'll hold him off first!"

Just as Danyang Zi opened his bloodied maw, nearly about to bite off the square head of a Zuo Wang Dao member whole, at this critical juncture, Li Huowang finally arrived in the nick of time.

At this moment, he couldn't be bothered to dodge; he simply stomped his feet and plunged straight into Danyang Zi's gaping, torn mouth.

The worms formed from the Record of the Great Thousand writhed with restless hunger, like bloodthirsty leeches, burrowing out from Li Huowang's chest and baring their ringed fangs at Danyang Zi.

With a sharp clang, Danyang Zi's mouth snapped shut before Li Huowang could even reach it.

Li Huowang, covered entirely in worms, slammed heavily into Danyang Zi's terrifying face.

All the worms opened their maws, ready to burrow deep into Danyang Zi's flesh.

Little did they expect, as Danyang Zi's fingers, woven from writhing tentacles, swiftly formed a hand seal.

The flesh and blood on Danyang Zi's body twisted in reverse, lunging directly at Li Huowang, attempting to devour him completely.

Blood, skin, bone, organs, and worms—all these things converged within an extremely confined space, tearing and devouring one another.

Seeing Li Huowang being so troublesome, Danyang Zi wanted to deal with the Zuo Wang Dao first, but Li Huowang would not allow it.

The two sides gradually began to merge, becoming inextricably intertwined, each within the other.

Although it appeared that Danyang Zi was stronger than Li Huowang, devouring him so easily was far from a simple task.

Li Huowang had sacrificed his Five Elements and Five Organs; the things he had exchanged from Ba Hui could absolutely not be resolved so easily.

Those worms were unaffected by the anomalies on Danyang Zi's body, firmly gripping the flesh and blood on Li Huowang, preventing them from being devoured.

To Yiwàn and the others, Danyang Zi and Li Huowang in the distance seemed to have merged into a single, constantly writhing sphere of flesh.

"Master, have you been well?" Li Huowang sneered a greeting, staring at the tangerine-sized, seemingly flayed human head right before his eyes.

Though he was smiling, Li Huowang's heart at this moment yearned to devour his flesh and drink his blood!

Looking at Li Huowang before him, Danyang Zi wore a mocking smile on his face from beginning to end.

"Ungrateful disciple, do you truly believe you can defeat me? This Daoist is a half-immortal; what are you, a mere mortal, in comparison?"

"Then how is it that you, a half-immortal, are still tangled up with me, a mere mortal? Master, you're not much of a half-immortal, are you!"

Just as they were locked in their struggle, the remaining three Zuo Wang Dao members made their move; they swiftly surrounded the master and disciple, sitting cross-legged with their eyes closed, chanting incantations.

"Cultivation has its path! Practice forms one's nature! Discard cleverness, abandon the body! Sit and forget in stillness! Unmoved by silence! The subtle enters the light! Those who tread different realms! Ultimate meaning knows no day! Those who follow this way! Observing the mystery is within reach! Little effort, great merit! Crucial! Marvelous! Hahaha!!"

Accompanying the chanting, the patterns of Pai Gow, Mahjong, and Leaf cards flowed out from beneath their clothes like running water, spreading rapidly across the ground.

These patterns and lines swiftly pieced together into bizarre talismans, and the strokes began to tremble, emitting laughter that rose and fell in pitch.

The laughter grew louder and louder, continuously infecting the watching Zoroastrian congregants all around, and equally infecting Danyang Zi and Li Huowang in the distance.

Everyone's voices began to echo within the karst cave, growing louder with each reverberation, and Li Huowang's ears gradually began to hear something hidden within the laughter.

Something dark and obscure, incomprehensible to the sensory organs of ordinary people; though incomprehensible, Li Huowang sensed a certain familiarity within it.

"This is the God of Joy! I remember now, this is the God of Joy from the Hu family shrine! The Zuo Wang Dao are summoning the God of Joy!!"

However, Danyang Zi beside him perceived even more.

"No! Child, you are mistaken, they are not summoning! They are deceiving!"

"They deceive not only Ba Hui but even their own God of Joy! None of their supernatural powers are their own; they are all deceived and stolen from elsewhere!"

Li Huowang felt something being drawn in by the laughter; those things were staring fixedly at him from within the surrounding walls—it was the God of Joy, with three gazes.

The laughter in his ears grew ever louder; Li Huowang knew that whatever they were doing, the most critical moment had arrived.

Just as the laughter was about to reach its peak, glancing at the three sitting Zuo Wang Dao members, Li Huowang's lips curled up slightly, and his body suddenly shrank.

All the worms inside Danyang Zi's body, which had been entangled with his grotesque flesh, retreated along with Li Huowang.

(End of Chapter)