Chapter 132 - True or False?
“Illusions of the Strayed Ones?” Li Huowang mumbled as he stared at Jiang Yingzi and Dan Yangzi; he could still see them in the distance.
One was a three-headed deformed creature draped in celestial silks, and the other was a naked girl with grotesque scars all over her body. They just stood in place, both of them gazing at him with a mixture of hatred and amusement.
The two of them appeared to be so real that Li Huowang could not tell whether they really existed, or whether they were illusions. Trembling, he lifted his right foot to approach them, but found that he could not do so.
Every time he took a step forward, the two figures would move back accordingly.
However, they were not moving on their own; it was more like they would always remain at this specific distance from Li Huowang.
“Little friend Xuan Yang?” asked a voice.
Only after the voice from the cave echoed a few times did Li Huowang finally come to his senses.
After a while, a voice rang out from the cave; Li Huowang recognised that the voice belonged to the square-faced Elder Shen Benyou and that it carried a hint of complex emotions. “Little friend, you don’t look too well.”
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Li Huowang replied subconsciously.
However, before he could continue, he fell silent.
He immediately realized that he had misspoken.
How could he possibly be fine? He had a lot more problems now.
This was not just related to Dan Yangzi and Jiang Yingzi appearing in the distance, but also about what he had become now. Nobody could guarantee that there wouldn’t be any more of these apparitions appearing before he resolved this issue.
“Little friend, are you alright? Isn’t it natural for a Strayed One to always have difficulty distinguishing between reality and illusion?” asked Elder Shen Benyou. “Since you have survived into your adulthood, you should have become used to it by now. Why are you still so surprised?”
Li Huowang swallowed his saliva with difficulty, then took a deep breath to focus and arrange his thoughts. After contemplating for a long time and reluctantly digesting all this information, he spoke again, “Elder, I have heard that Abbess Jingxin’s son came here before. He is also a Strayed One. Can you tell me if he also had similar symptoms back then?”
Elder Shen Benyou paused for a long time before he answered. “Ah, it’s really hard to guess. In general, Strayed Ones tend to be a bit crazy. I once heard him referring to himself as a ship.”
Before Li Huowang could ask another question, a rough voice sounded from another dark cave within the wall. “I know about this matter. That person often woke up in the middle of the night, screaming that the Three Pure Ones were staring at him. Not long after, he turned into a complete lunatic.”
“Three Pure Ones? What is that?” Li Huowang questioned.
Beside him, Shou San quickly replied, “Seen but unseen; Colorless. Heard but unheard; Soundless. Can be reached, but is still unreachable; Bodiless. Colorless, Soundless, Bodiless. One becomes three, and three unite as one. This is the Three Pure Ones. Taoists of various sects to the south worship the Three Pure Ones. I’ve only ever heard of them and never seen them. Something that is even more unheard of is the fact that the Three Pure Ones can watch people.”
Li Huowang was somewhat baffled upon hearing these words. The other party’s symptoms did not seem to be similar to his.
After a moment, Elder Shen Benyou’s voice once again rang out from within the cave, “That person clearly came here on his own, but Abbess Jingxin from Benevolent Nunnery always assumed that it was us who drove him insane due to there being some past conflicts between us. It was an unjustifiable disaster. Little friend, these few days, you’ve also seen how we do things. Have we done anything that was against the rules? Under the heavens, breaking the rules is a great taboo.”
However, Li Huowang did not pay attention to what he said; his mind was simply a mess right now. After a while, he said, “Then... is there any solution to my situation?”
“Haha, you must be joking, little friend. It would truly be great if we had a solution. Strayed Ones often have hard lives. After all, they can never be truly understood by anybody. If one day, someone tells you that they have a way to heal you, little friend, then remember to be cautious. It’s highly likely that they want to harm you instead. You should know about this yourself, right? Strayed Ones are beings that are very desirable to many. Many seek them out to refine them into pills, or to use them for cultivation techniques to enhance their own cultivation.”
After listening to all this, Li Huowang realized he was still very unfamiliar with his own body.
The name ‘Strayed One’ carried too many meanings.
He stood on the spot for a long time, lost in thought. After a while, he first looked toward the two people in the distance, and then at the silent Ao Jing Sect disciples around him.
At least Dan Yangzi won’t try to take over me anymore. That should be a good thing, right?
Li Huowang consoled himself bitterly.
Then, he clasped his hands together and faced the caves, “Thank you, Elders, for enlightening me. We’ll meet again if fate wills it.”
Having said that, Li Huowang reached out and patted Bun’s head. Then, he began to make his way back with Dan Yangzi and Jiang Yingzi following right after him.
After a while, he returned to the desolate town in a daze; there, he stared at the two figures dazedly. At that moment, the two illusions started to speak at the same time.
“Kid, I’ve truly become Immortal now. As long as you continue to help your Master achieve enlightenment, everything that happened in the past can be forgiven.”
“Why aren’t you dead?! Why are you still alive, you murderous devil?!”
However, no matter what they said, or how close they were, they never came in direct contact with Li Huowang.
“Hehe... at least it’s more lively now. I’m no longer alone,” mumbled Li Huowang. He did not know whether his current situation was better than before, or worse; the only thing that he knew was that he had to keep moving forward, no matter what.
Li Huowang picked up the sword that was stuck in the ground, and continued to dig graves for the other skeletons in the town.
Meanwhile, Jiang Yingzi dragged her broken body and came beside Li Huowang, shouting at him with endless hatred, “Do you think that everything you did can be brushed away just because you are giving them a burial? They were all killed by you! If you really want to atone for your sins, then you should take your own life! Otherwise, everything you do will be in vain! Li Huowang, why don’t you go and die! Why pretend to be a Saint? Just hurry up and die!”
Li Huowang continued to remain silent; under Jiang Yingzi’s piercing insults, he just continued to dig one grave after another.
Meanwhile, back in the Ao Jing Sect’s cave, Elder Shen Benyou’s voice rang out, “Shou San, Tou Qi, you guys can disperse. If he comes back again, then just block him at the mountain gate. We have no further connection with him.”
“Yes, Elder Shen Benyou,” replied the charred Shou San as he bowed respectfully. Then, he brought the other Ao Jing Sect’s members away from the meditation area of the elders.
Not long after, everything turned quiet, leaving only the wall with six caves.
At that moment, a sharp female voice suddenly broke the silence. “Hehe... that Strayed One actually believed it... he believed it all! San Tiao, your method really worked!”
Once this voice rang out, it seemed like a switch had been flipped. The wall filled with black caves suddenly came to life and all kinds of laughter rang out—some sharp, some sinister, some mocking and some light. The joy contained in all those types of laughter soon filled the entire cave.
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