Chapter 193 - Sympathy
In the hall, Li Huowang examined the Profound Records and gently ran his fingers across it. Only when this item returned to his waist again did he finally feel a sense of relief.
Even though each use of the Profound Records required one to pay a substantial cost, it always proved itself to be invaluable in critical moments.
After all, enduring some torture was better than death.
“Daoist! Daoist! You are the living protector of our Lu Family! Without your help, our whole family would have perished! And I... I on the other hand acted like I was possessed and actually ran away! I... deserve to be punished!” said Lu Zhuangyuan. As he spoke, Lu Zhuangyuan raised his dirty hand and prepared to slap himself across the face.
“Alright, alright. Are your people okay?” asked Li Huowang, stopping him.
Lu Zhuangyuan stopped reluctantly upon hearing Li Huowang’s intervention. “That bandit, Da Jinlong enjoys theater, and so we are not dead... But... my daughter-in-law has suffered quite a lot...”
At that moment, as if suddenly realizing something, Lu Zhuangyuan’s body quivered, and he said resolutely, “Daoist, from now on, we won’t go anywhere but follow you! We will never forget the debt of gratitude we owe you for saving us! From now, our Lu Family Troupe will become your personal theater troupe!”
“What do I need a theater troupe for? I can’t understand any of it,” said Li Huowang. However, even before he could finish his words, Lu Zhuangyuan knelt down emotionally, and started kowtowing repeatedly.
“Alright, follow us if you want. But we can’t stay here any longer. Do you still have your theater props? Pack everything up and prepare to leave,” said Li Huowang. After having spent so much time together, Li Huowang had long since figured out their intentions—they wanted to have him as their bodyguard. However, he had a feeling that they would be useful later.
Upon hearing this, Lu Zhuangyuan immediately got up from the ground. “They are still around. Ooo! I also know where they keep their horses! I’ll bring all of them here now!”
To show his value to Li Huowang, Lu Zhuangyuan moved quite quickly and led his family members toward the nearby entrance.
After dealing with Lu Zhuangyuan, Li Huowang looked toward the direction of the tunnel that Xiaoman had just entered with a complex look on his face.
After a moment, he turned toward Gao Zhijian and said, “Go inside and hurry them. It’s not safe to stay in this bandit hideout. Tell them to hurry; we’re going to leave.”
Gao Zhijian nodded and tossed aside the iron rod in his hands. He then picked up the mace dropped by one of the bandits and carried it on his shoulder as he walked toward the tunnel.
However, before he could enter, Chun Xiaoman and Bai Lingmiao walked out with reddened eyes. It seemed like they had been crying not too long ago.
“What’s the matter?” Li Huowang frowned.
Chun Xiaoman bent down to pull at the clothes of a fallen bandit. “Come in and see... These... bandits are complete savages! Just like animals!”
After glancing at Bai Lingmiao, who was also bending down to remove the clothes on the bandits’ bodies, Li Huowang headed for the tunnel.
At the end of the cave, Li Huowang saw several naked women. All of their gazes were listless as they lay there, shivering on the floor. There were several X-shaped wooden frames around them with ropes hanging from them. From the bruises he saw on women’s wrists and ankles, it was clear they were released by Bai Lingmiao and the others not too long ago.
Assisted by the others, the women put on the bandits’ clothes before gathering at the bright hall.
If the women captured by the water bandits from the reed island could be considered to still have some status, then these women inside the bandit’s den were nothing more than tools for these bandits to vent their desires.
While this was already bad enough, Lu Zhuangyuan mentioned that since it was quite boring within the hideout, the bandits would often treat these women as their playthings.
Thus, their fate was even more tragic. Once the bandits were tired of them, they were discarded and replaced by others. After all, there was no shortage of women as long as they could be captured.
As Li Huowang heard these disgusting descriptions, he turned around to look toward the collapsed rocks, a strong killing intent glinting in his eyes.
Instantly, a bronze bell appeared in his hand.
Ring ring ring!
As the piercing sound of the bell rang out, the edges of the world congregated and gave form to a Wandering God.
Then, Li Huowang pointed toward the rock wall.
The Wandering God nodded, and then disappeared into the wall.
Not long after, Li Huowang keenly heard some faint cries from within the wall.
After about fifteen minutes had passed, the Wandering God re-emerged from within the wall, nodded toward Li Huowang and then dissipated.
The ringing sound of the bell gradually faded. Then, Li Huowang turned toward the women behind him and said, “Don’t worry, all the bandits are dead. Not a single one remains.”
However, there was no emotion on their faces—no excitement, sadness, or joy. They just appeared to be listless.
Li Huowang looked at them with sympathy. They had suffered so much, and now, they had been mentally broken.
Wait, is this feeling... Sympathy?
As he thought up to this point, Li Huowang paused, and then took out the Fiery Scripture.
Then, with the emotions he felt now, he began reciting the cryptic incantations. Immediately, the white wax condensed into a fiery centipede which then crawled up his pants, and toward his abdominal wound.
Then, with a sizzling sound, the gruesome wound was quickly sealed.
With this, the missing portion of the Fiery Scripture was finally restored; This item that Jiang Yingzi had left for him could finally be used.
This should have been a joyous matter, but now was not an appropriate time to be happy.
As Li Huowang looked at these muddle-headed women, so as to not forget the feelings he had felt just now, he engraved them deep in his heart.
After thoroughly searching the entire hideout, the group left this place that reeked of death. By the time they left, it was already deep into the night
As Lu Zhuangyuan said, the bandits indeed had many horses. They also found some supplies such as dried food and blankets. However, there wasn’t much of anything else, especially no silver. It appeared that they had hidden their silver behind the collapsed wall.
Now, there was nobody alive in that cave, and so the silver would be forever buried with the bandits that the Wandering God had killed.
That night, they continued to travel without rest, all the way until noon of the next day, all so they could distance themselves from the bandit hideout.
Once here, Li Huowang and Bun stood guard while the rest of them took this chance to get some sleep.
When all of them woke up in the evening, Li Huowang immediately laid down and fell asleep. By the time he woke up, it was the next morning.
As he rubbed his eyes sleepily, he saw Bai Lingmiao distributing some porridge to the women they had found. At the same time, he heard the voices of Sun Baolu and Puppy talking beside him.
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