Chapter 192: Mercy

Chapter 192 Compassion

Inside the Hall of Righteousness, Li Huowang examined the Record of the Great Thousand in his hand once more, his fingers brushing lightly over its surface.

When this object hung once again at his waist, Li Huowang felt a trace of peace in his heart.

Although using the Record of the Great Thousand exacted a heavy price every time, this thing always proved invaluable in critical moments.

After all, suffering torment was still better than being dead.

"Young Daoist Master! Young Daoist Master! You are truly the living ancestor of our Lu family! Without your help, our whole family would have perished here!"

"Before, I was simply bewitched by ghosts, actually running away! I... deserve beating! I, I deserve beating!"

Looking like a refugee, Lu Zhuangyuan did not hesitate, raising his dirty palm to slap fiercely at his own face.

"Enough, enough, are your people all right?"

Hearing Li Huowang's intervention, Lu Zhuangyuan only then sheepishly lowered his hand.

"That bandit called Da Jinlong, his mother loved opera, none of them died, it's just... my daughter-in-law suffered quite a bit..."

Suddenly thinking of something, Lu Zhuangyuan's body gave a sudden start, his tone extremely firm as he said: "Young Daoist Master, from now on we won't go anywhere else, we'll follow you! The grace of saving our lives is unforgettable! From now on, our Lu Opera Troupe is your private troupe!"

"What do I need an opera troupe for? I don't understand it anyway."

Before Li Huowang could finish speaking, the extremely excited Lu Zhuangyuan slapped down onto his knees, facing Li Huowang and kowtowing relentlessly.

"Enough, enough, if you want to follow then follow, we can't stay here long, do you still have your opera things? Pack up and leave quickly."

Having spent so much time together, Li Huowang had long seen through the other party's intentions, nothing more than wanting him to act as a bodyguard, and he happened to need them later.

Hearing this, Lu Zhuangyuan immediately scrambled up from the ground, hurriedly patting his chest constantly with his hand.

"They're here, all here! And I even know where their horse cellar is! I'll go bring all their horses over right now!"

Doing as he said, to show his value to Li Huowang, Lu Zhuangyuan hurriedly pulled his family members and rushed toward the cave entrance nearby.

After dealing with Lu Zhuangyuan, Li Huowang looked up at the cave Xiao Man had just rushed into. A trace of complexity flashed in his eyes.

He turned his head and said firmly to Gao Zhijian beside him: "Go in and urge them, this bandit stronghold inside is unsafe, tell them to come out quickly, we are leaving."

Gao Zhijian nodded, threw away the iron rod in his hand, picked up a bandit's spiked club from the ground nearby, hoisted it onto his shoulder, and walked toward that cave.

However, before he could walk inside, he saw Chun Xiaoman and Bai Lingmiao walking out from within, their eyes red, looking as if they had cried not long ago.

"What's wrong?" Li Huowang frowned.

Chun Xiaoman bent down and tore off the bandit clothes on the ground. "Come in and see for yourself... these... these bandits are simply not human! They are simply beasts!"

Glancing at Bai Lingmiao who was also bending down stripping clothes, Li Huowang stepped toward that cave.

Soon at the end of this cave, Li Huowang saw some completely naked women, their eyes numb, their bodies trembling as they curled up on the ground.

Beside them were several X-shaped wooden frames, from the ropes on the wood, and those women's bruised wrists and ankles, it could be seen they had just been let down from above by Bai Lingmiao and the others not long ago.

With the support of others, these women were draped in bandit clothes and came into the Hall of Righteousness where bright torches were planted.

If the women robbed from Reed Island still counted as having some status, then the women inside the bandit den were definitely tools for venting lust.

If it were only this it would be fine, but learning from Lu Zhuangyuan's mouth, it was very stifling inside the stronghold, and bored bandits would treat these women as toys.

The fate of those women was even more miserable, once they were played broken they were thrown away, exchanged for new ones, as long as they could rob, women were never lacking.

Hearing those disgusting descriptions, Li Huowang turned his head, looking at that collapsed rock wall full of murderous intent.

With a flip of his hand, the Daoist Bell appeared in his hand. "Jingle jingle jingle!"

As the piercing bell sound rang out, You Laoye formed by lines quickly appeared before Li Huowang.

"Feng Ju!" Li Huowang pointed forcefully at that rock wall with his hand.

You Laoye nodded quickly, turned around and plunged into the collapsed rock wall.

Not long after, Li Huowang's keen perception detected faint screams of agony transmitting from inside the wall.

After half a stick of incense, You Laoye drilled out from inside the rock wall again, nodded at Li Huowang once more, then quickly dissipated.

The bell sound gradually dissipated, Li Huowang turned his head looking at these women behind him and said: "Rest assured, those bandits are all dead, not one remaining."

But facing this news, there was no emotion on these women's faces, no excitement no grief nor joy, at this moment there was only numbness on their faces.

Li Huowang looked at them with compassion, the harm these people received was too great, one could say they were almost no different from invalids.

"Wait, is this the feeling of compassion?"

Li Huowang froze, immediately reaching into his robe to take out the Fire Robe True Sutra.

As he carried this mood of the moment, chanting the obscure mantras on the translation, that white wax quickly condensed into a burning slug.

This thing crawled along Li Huowang's trouser leg, toward the wound on his abdomen.

Accompanied by a sizzling sound, that ferocious wound was quickly scorched and gathered together.

At this moment, the missing piece of the Fire Robe True Sutra he had was finally completed.

This thing Jiang Yingzi left him could finally be put to use.

This should have been a joyful matter, yet this was not the time for joy.

Li Huowang looked at those muddled women, firmly keeping the emotions in his heart at this moment in mind, lest he forget in the future.

After the group scavenged through the entire bandit den, they draped in moonlight and left this place full of deathly air.

Just as Lu Zhuangyuan said, the bandits indeed had many horses, and they also found some quilts and grain supplies in the cave.

However they had everything else, just no silver, it seemed the place they hid silver should be behind that collapsed rock wall.

There were no living people left in that cave, they would be buried there forever along with those bandits killed by You Laoye.

That night, the group did not sleep but hurried on their journey, walking until noon the next day, far away from that bandit den before resting.

When the others slept, it was Li Huowang and Mantou keeping watch.

When they woke up at dusk, Li Huowang immediately lay down to sleep.

When he woke up again, it was already the morning of the second day.

He rubbed his eyes, looking around, and saw Bai Lingmiao was distributing porridge to those women.

Beside him, the sound of Sun Baolu and Gou Wa speaking entered Li Huowang's ears.

(End of Chapter)