Chapter 824: Trouble

Chapter 824: Trouble

To this remark, Li Huowang offered no rebuttal. He spoke instead, "In all of Great Qi, is there no one who can make crops grow faster?"

"There are. We usually call such people 'agricultural experts.'"

"Damn it, I wasn't talking about that! I meant supernatural powers! Supernatural powers!"

Li Huowang gnawed on his fingernails and paced back and forth in the kitchen for a while before suddenly coming to a halt. "Whether remnants of the Observing Heaven Bureau or members of other sects, notify them all to gather here. We must find a way to help Great Qi!"

"We must mobilize every possible force. No matter how much I exert myself, I can only save those near Youdu; others in Great Qi will still starve to death."

"Buddha's mercy, dear friend, do not worry so much. Heaven has compassion for all living beings. Not everyone in Great Qi will die of hunger. Those who survive can consume the flesh of the dead—this should sustain them for some time."

"That's not good at all! Forget it! I'll go catch some pigs first." Li Huowang once again drew out his rib-bone sword and slashed forcefully against the kitchen wall.

After returning to Daliang, Li Huowang paid no attention to anything else, immediately galloping toward the Western Market of the Capital City.

"Brother Li! Brother Li!" A voice somewhat familiar called out to him.

Li Huowang turned his head. Upon seeing the wooden mask on the approaching face, he thought for a moment before remembering—the fellow was Liu Zongyuan from the Moon Gate. Back when he had infiltrated the Observing Heaven Bureau, he had worked alongside this boy on several missions.

The well-informed Liu Zongyuan clearly knew of Li Huowang’s changed status and acted with even greater humility than before.

He said a few words, but the clamor of the White Lotus faithful gathered nearby drowned out his voice, making it impossible for Li Huowang to hear anything.

When they moved a bit further apart, Liu Zongyuan complained, "The once-secretive White Lotus Cult now openly enters the halls of power. Where do you even begin to argue about such things?"

"What exactly are they up to?" Li Huowang asked, looking at the crowd in the distance.

"I heard they're praying to Mother Wusheng to bring back the vanished Vacuum Homeland to save the people."

Previously, Xiao Xiao had mentioned that they sought to ask Mother Wusheng to lower the vanished Death Dao, but now it seemed things were not so simple.

Li Huowang directed his gaze toward Liu Zongyuan. "Oh yes, what were you just about to say?"

"Oh, I was thinking, Brother Li, we haven’t seen each other in ages, and I miss you greatly. How about today I treat you to dinner? Let us catch up."

Hearing it was just idle chatter, Li Huowang lost interest instantly. "Next time. I’m too busy right now."

"Oh? What troubles you, Brother Li? Tell me, perhaps I can lend a small hand."

"You can’t help. How do you help the dead?"

"The dead aren’t bad! These days, dying is actually a great joy. So many people want to die but cannot. Why be troubled?"

Li Huowang wanted to explain, but felt exhausted mentally. "Yes, dying isn’t good either. Not dying isn’t good either. People are just so contradictory."

Then he ignored Liu Zongyuan’s calls and continued racing toward the Western Market.

Soon, after negotiating prices with the pig keeper, dozens of piglets were packed into pig cages and quickly delivered by Li Huowang to Great Qi.

Upon arrival at Zhengde Temple, Li Huowang saw the monks bring out a writhing Buddha statue.

Surrounding the lotus seat, the monks sat cross-legged, striking wooden fish as they chanted sutras.

"May all beings in the world attain peace and happiness,

Unshaken by the heavens, free from all bonds.

Beings, obscured by ignorance, are often deluded,

But the divine eye sees this method clearly.

The pure and radiant body of the Tathagata,

Appears throughout ten directions without equal.

This body has no essence, no place to rely upon..."

Amidst the sacred sounds of the sutra, the Buddha writhed, swallowing the piglets one by one like eating steamed buns into its body.

It did not fully consume them, instead revealing a pig’s head. It was unclear what the Buddha was doing inside, but the exposed pig heads screamed in agony.

As the chanting grew louder, the pig heads began to swell, developing various bumps on their bodies.

Half of the piglets' bodies protruded outward. In mere moments, they had swollen to nearly full pig size.

Yet their appearance was grotesquely unbalanced and strange—some had short front limbs, others bore tumors on their backs.

"Plop!" sounds echoed continuously as the pigs were expelled. As soon as they hit the ground, they didn’t hesitate to mount each other and wildly writhe.

This scene made Li Huowang frown deeply. Although Zhengde Temple was a prestigious sect, their methods were truly repugnant to behold.

At that moment, a monk pushed a cart loaded with corpses and buckets of excrement directly onto the pigs.

The pigs devoured them greedily, rolling in the filth, red blood splattering their entire bodies. They lay amidst the muck, eating and moving, their bellies slowly swelling.

"Dear practitioner, the union of yin and yang is the great path of heaven and earth. There is no need for such actions. Besides, soon the people won’t have to eat rice or meat—they’ll eat pork instead."

"Is there really a difference?" Li Huowang, feeling nauseous, couldn’t bear the stench anymore and stepped outside to breathe fresh air.

Just as he had recovered somewhat and prepared to return, a bowl of pork was placed before him. "Dear practitioner, please try some?"

Li Huowang didn’t move. "This pork smells rotten! How can others eat it?"

The pork in the bowl reeked of a strong musky odor that hit his nose like a punch. To Li Huowang, it was no better than the contents of a latrine.

"Smells bad?" Chantuo picked up a piece and chewed it. "No, dear practitioner, this meat is fragrant. You think it smells bad because you’re not hungry yet."

Faced with this, Li Huowang had no more words. He pulled out his rib-bone sword, preparing to transport more grain.

"Dear practitioner, wait," Chantuo called out. "I know you have a compassionate heart, as I am well aware."

"But Great Qi doesn’t just lack food. Haven’t you noticed something odd about the sky?"

Li Huowang looked up at the seemingly normal sky, puzzled by Chantuo’s meaning.

"The dragon veins of Great Qi have been severed, so time itself has stopped. Everything remains fixed at one point. The cycle of heaven and earth no longer turns."

At that moment, Miao Guihua, who had been sweeping the floor with a broom, walked over. Chantuo waved to her and handed her the pork.

Guihua happily accepted it and ate it hungrily, appearing quite satisfied.

Chantuo gently stroked her head and said, "Great Qi now lacks both dawn and dusk. Like this little girl, she will never grow up, and so shall it remain."

"This is merely the karma affecting humans. But the absence of time also brings changes to the celestial Dao of Great Qi."