Chapter 537: Sleepiness

Chapter 537: Trapped

“Burrowing technique?” Li Huowang acted without hesitation, pulling out the Spine Sword and slashing fiercely at one of the raised mounds, shearing off a large chunk of earth along with the mound itself.

As he sliced away the second mound, the final mound had already reached his feet.

The next moment, a piercing pain shot through the sole of his left foot, and his entire left leg went limp and soft like a noodle.

“Something in the earth took my leg bone!” Gritting his teeth against the agony, Li Huowang gripped the Purple Spike Sword and drove it deep into the soil, black, foul-smelling liquid gushing out.

“Li Sui!” At his shout, the missing bone was instantly filled by Li Sui’s tentacles.

With no more time to waste, Li Huowang tramped through the muddy, blood-soaked path toward Peng Longteng in the distance.

But when he spotted several more mounds rising and racing toward him, the ground bulging as they sped closer, his heart sank.

“Too many people! No good—if this keeps up, I’ll be held back! I have to take shelter in Daliang!” Thinking this, Li Huowang immediately went to draw the Spine Sword.

Yet to his surprise, Zhuge Yuan’s voice cut in with grave seriousness. “Brother Li! No!”

“You must not let these people know that your sword can open a path to Daliang. If there’s a divination expert among the Dharma Sect, you’ll never know peace in Daqi!”

Li Huowang cursed under his breath, then stomped hard into the blood-soaked ground again. Propelled by the tentacles’ violent push, he soared high and leaped far away.

After a few powerful bounds, Li Huowang landed on Peng Longteng’s shoulder and surveyed the sea of Dharma Sect followers around him.

Though height gave him a broader view, he still couldn’t see the end. “How many are there? So many! Has everyone in Daqi joined the Dharma Sect?”

Suddenly, an alarm bell rang in Li Huowang’s mind. He twisted his body instinctively as three flying stones plummeted from above, grazing his red Daoist robe and punching three bloody holes into Peng Longteng’s body.

Scanning the area, Li Huowang spotted the attacker—a Miao woman whose limbs and neck were writhing, the silver ornaments on her head rustling with each twist.

She moved as if on flat ground, stepping over the dense masses of Dharma Sect believers as she rapidly closed in on Li Huowang.

Li Huowang had little contact with the Dharma Sect in Daliang, but in Daqi, every spell and attack seemed tied to rock and earth.

When he saw her, his pupils contracted—he recognized this woman! She was one of the Zuowang Dao he had cleansed alongside in the past.

But now, there was no trace of the Zuowang Dao in her. She no longer believed in Doumu; she had fully converted to following Shidu.

In that moment, Li Huowang understood the severity of the situation in Daqi. If the Dharma Sect could absorb even a Zuowang Dao follower, then ordinary people were even easier prey.

Heaven knew how many such converts existed. Li Huowang didn’t want to be held up here, but with people packed everywhere, even invisibility might not be enough to escape.

As he watched the Miao woman draw nearer, his expression grim, the corpse Peng Longteng was swinging caught his attention, and a spark of inspiration ignited.

“Wooosh, wooosh, wooosh—” Peng Longteng grabbed Li Huowang’s two tentacles and swung them with force.

As the speed increased, Li Huowang couldn’t keep his eyes open.

Just as three flying stones punched three bloody holes in his body, Peng Longteng released his grip, hurling Li Huowang high into the air.

The wind howled past his ears. He rose so high that he could see the edge of the Dharma Sect’s crowd, but when he fell swiftly, he still landed among them.

Yet it didn’t matter—Li Huowang had found the right way to use his hallucinations.

Peng Longteng materialized beside him, grabbed his tentacles again, and spun him once more.

After three rounds, when Li Huowang finally dropped, head splitting with pain, he didn’t land in the crowd but beside a small earthen mound.

Ignoring his aching head, he immediately shifted his body underground, becoming invisible.

By the time the Dharma Sect followers surrounded the area to search, Li Huowang had already made his way to a distant hillside, watching them from afar.

“Dad! Great! We escaped their encirclement! We won!” Li Sui’s tentacles waved joyfully.

“Won…?” Li Huowang silently stared at the ragged Dharma Sect followers scouring for him, and couldn’t help recalling the madwoman Peng Longteng had pulverized into mush.

These so-called believers were nothing but pawns under the Sect’s control. “Nothing to celebrate. There’s no winner here.”

“Help… help…!” A vaguely familiar voice sounded again. Li Huowang turned to see Jin Shanzhao pointing at the Dharma Sect followers.

He had thought Jin Shanzhao would remain mute forever, but the man began to speak in this moment—even if it was just a single word.

Just one word, but with that expression, Li Huowang understood his intent.

“Help? How do you expect me to help? You harbor grand ambitions, your heart yearns for the world’s suffering—but do I look like the Emperor of Daqi or the Celestial Observatory Director?”

Li Huowang said to him. “You think they’re pitiful, miserable? I’m far more miserable than them! So who pities me? I can’t even help myself—how can I help them?”

Jin Shanzhao’s trembling fingers lowered, his half-crushed body halting, falling silent.

Pressing his hand against the clotted wounds on his body, Li Huowang sat down on the ground, waiting for his headache to ease.

He dared not overreach now—repeatedly relying on Peng Longteng had gone too far. If his innate one qi spiraled out of control again, he’d be back in the hospital.

“If you’ve been sticking by me for this reason, I suggest you disappear now. I’m not Brother Zhuge—I’m not that selfless.” Panting heavily, Li Huowang stared at the sky as he spoke to Jin Shanzhao.

Zhuge Yuan had no intention of joining in. With one hand behind his back, he stood watching the tiny, ant-like Dharma Sect followers in the distance, his expression solemn as he pondered something.

After resting a while, Li Huowang felt somewhat better and prepared to stand and leave before the Sect found him.

But as he sat up, he saw Jin Shanzhao standing before him, his face completely transformed, beaming at him.

“Huh? Why that look?” Li Huowang quickly noticed that Jin Shanzhao wasn’t just staring at him—he was looking at something behind him.

When Li Huowang turned around, he barely resisted cursing out loud.

Three zhang behind him stood a woman, gaunt and ragged, with a white headscarf wrapped around her head. In her arms, swaddled in cloth, was a half-rotten infant. Another illusion had joined him.