Chapter 307: Warmth

Chapter 307: Warmth

As time crept forward, watching the flames gradually diminish, Li Huowang removed his worn-out leather shoes and dried them before tossing them into the fire.

With the addition of the shoe, the fire flared up once more, raising the temperature so sharply that Li Huowang had to lean back slightly.

Yet even as he shifted backward, something strange occurred—instead of feeling cooler, he felt increasingly hot.

The man who had nearly frozen to death now sweated profusely from the heat.

"Why is it so hot?" Li Huowang began undressing, his wet clothes clinging to him. As he did, wisps of black smoke rose from his body.

"Whew!" With a breath, small crimson sparks burst from his mouth like embers.

"It's too hot! So incredibly hot!" Li Huowang stood up, ready to strip off his garments.

But at that very moment, the small campfire before him suddenly surged, enveloping him completely.

"Aaaahhh!!" In excruciating agony, Li Huowang knelt on the ground, his body wracked by pain that threatened to shatter his will.

"What... what is this..." Struggling to raise his head, he saw a mountain of flame forming before him.

Fire everywhere—no space untouched. The entire reed marsh was ablaze.

Behind the flickering flames, Li Huowang glimpsed people running and crying in the fire. They ran until they collapsed, falling to the earth to become fuel for new flames.

In his hallucination, he had only lit plastic; here, however, he had sacrificed every inch of his skin, performing the ritual described in *The Great Record*!

"No, no, no!" Panicked, Li Huowang rose amidst the flames, rushing toward them.

But as he approached, the blazing fire seemed to accumulate, and anyone who came near him turned to ash within moments.

Li Huowang watched helplessly as a woman fell before him, her fingers curling weakly toward Niuxin Mountain. “Nannan…”

“How could this happen?! I was so restrained! Why did it end like this?!” Screaming with despair, Li Huowang clenched his charred fists and pounded the earth.

He didn’t know when the inferno had ended. When he came to his senses, the surroundings were nothing but scorched land, and he sat motionless like a statue emitting white smoke.

His body ached terribly, yet compared to the pain in his heart, it was negligible.

He had just lost his family, and the anguish would be delivered personally by him to Bai Lingmiao, who had been so kind to him.

"Tsk tsk tsk," the wooden mask approached quietly, gazing in awe at the desolation around him.

Seeing the copper coin-shaped mask burned red on Li Huowang’s face, the wooden mask stepped closer, cautiously asking, "Hey, brother! Still alive?"

As Li Huowang lifted his head slightly, black powder scattered from his neck.

Seeing this, the wooden mask exhaled in relief and hurried over, helping him walk through the blackened wasteland.

"Hey, you’re just a minor operative from the Heavenly Watch Office. Why take such risks?"

"You must be new here, right? Let me tell you, if something looks like a losing bet at first glance, hold onto it tight!"

"And besides, they're just ordinary White Lotus followers. Do you really need to go all out like this? Are all the Aojing sect members this hot-tempered?"

Li Huowang gave no response, silently walking forward.

"I’m Liu Zongyuan, from the Moon Gate. What’s your name?"

"What? You’ve gone mute? Did you learn the silence meditation like those monks?"

Just as they stepped out of the scorched land, Li Huowang remembered something. He reached to touch the wound on his abdomen.

The spear that had pierced him earlier had now turned into a black charcoal stick, plugged tightly into his belly like a cork.

Using his finger to grip the edge, Li Huowang gently pulled. A walnut-sized hole appeared in his charred stomach.

He extended a blackened finger into the cavity.

"Oh my, oh my," Liu Zongyuan grimaced, his teeth aching at the sight.

But just as Li Huowang’s finger was about to enter, a dry, cracked tentacle trembled out from the hole, wrapping around his knuckles. Then, a pair of eyes with strange pupils flashed briefly inside the wound.

"Huh~! You’re quite peculiar. What’s in there? I never heard the Aojing sect had this?"

Li Huowang glanced at Liu Zongyuan and finally spoke, "Internal Spirit."

"Internal Spirit? I thought they were supposed to hang from your neck, right? Why is yours still inside? Don’t you worry about accidentally turning into excrement?"

Li Huowang ignored him and continued walking.

"Hey, brother, everything’s wrapped up now. Why are you still frowning like that?"

Hearing this, a bitter smile crossed Li Huowang’s face. "It’s over, yes. Exactly. It’s completely over."

"What? You feel bad for them? Brother, do you think those other villages near Niuxin Mountain disappeared by accident? They killed far more than you did. You’re just doing God’s work."

Li Huowang removed his hand from Liu Zongyuan’s shoulder and stood still. "You go your way. We’re not on the same path. Let’s part here."

"Part ways?" Liu Zongyuan stared at the charred figure before him in disbelief. "How can you go anywhere like this? You smell so good, don’t get eaten by some beast on the way."

"This is my business. Go now." Li Huowang slowly sat down on the ground.

Liu Zongyuan scratched his head, then turned and walked into the woods.

After a few steps, he sighed, turned back, and stood before Li Huowang again. "Alright, alright. I’ll help you to the end. Close your eyes."

"What?" Li Huowang looked up at the red-cheeked wooden mask.

"Just close them. Do you really think I’d hurt you? If you stay here alone, you’ll die soon enough."

Li Huowang raised his charred hands to cover his eye sockets, which had no eyelids.

*Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.* Li Huowang felt something moving on his body—soft, furry, like a brush.

After two incense sticks had burned, he heard the voice again. "Alright, put your hands down."

When Li Huowang lowered his hands, he saw his burned skin had returned.

But upon closer inspection, he realized it wasn’t his own skin—it was a layer of pink paper.

This particular hue reminded him of the paper figures burned at graves.

Not just skin, but also a paper robe, identical to the paper figures.

Even more astonishing, the intense pain caused by the lack of skin vanished entirely.

"Don’t touch water. Remember to avoid rain. If you get soaked, it won’t work anymore."

"Which sect are you from? This power is extraordinary."

Li Huowang looked at the wooden mask before him.

"Didn’t I say? I’m from the Moon Gate. This uses our sect’s Glue Character Technique. Besides Glue, there are also Spread, Merge, Pass, Moon, Separate, Chase, Open."

Seeing Li Huowang stunned, Liu Zongyuan laughed. "Don’t understand? Heh, that’s the point. Our sect’s secrets aren’t shared with outsiders. You haven’t told me your name yet."

"Er Jiu."

"Alright then, see you later, Er Jiu." Liu Zongyuan turned and leaped into the forest like a monkey, vanishing.

Li Huowang looked down at his paper skin again, and with a little pressure, tore a hole in it.

The sharp pain did not stir any emotion in him. He remained seated, turning his head toward Niuxin Mountain.

A deep despair filled his eyes. "I wiped out the entire Bai family. How do I face her when I return?"

(End of Chapter)