"The creaking of the donkey cart's wheels continued as they turned, emitting an unpleasant, grating sound.
"Hey, kid, pour some sesame oil on the wheels," Li Huowang, lying on the cart, said with difficulty. His neck had just been sewn up by Bai Lingmiao with an embroidery needle and covered with golden wound medicine, so he couldn't sit up.
After a while, the creaking sound lessened significantly, and Li Huowang stared blankly at the sky, thinking about what had happened a few nights ago.
The trouble at Zhengde Temple had been resolved, but his own troubles had just begun.
In his view, Danyang Zi, who had become an immortal, had killed those Buddhas.
But in the eyes of others, it was he, with a terrifying and ferocious expression, who had pounced on the Buddhas and eaten them alive.
There couldn't be two perspectives in one world, so either he or they were seeing something false.
Li Huowang turned his head and saw Bai Lingmiao, whose eyes were covered by a cloth strip, tightly holding his hand without letting go.
His gaze returned to the white clouds in the sky, and a bitter smile appeared on his face.
To be honest, because of his illness, Li Huowang didn't even believe himself.
Coupled with his swollen belly and bloodied face, everything indicated that he was the one who had done it, not Danyang Zi.
"Could it be that Danyang Zi is really dead? Is everything just my illusion?"
This idea was quickly overturned by Li Huowang.
"Just relying on my illness, it's impossible to easily deal with those huge Buddhas. It's ultimately Danyang Zi."
"Regardless of what he has become, the key is that he's still there, still watching me." Li Huowang was very sure of this.
"I just thought before that he was protecting me. This speculation has been confirmed, but based on what I know about Danyang Zi, he would never help me out of kindness. He helped me because of another purpose."
Recalling the strangeness he had felt that night, Li Huowang had a guess in his mind. He scratched the soft palm of Bai Lingmiao with his finger.
"Do you think my temper has gotten worse since we left Qingfeng Temple?"
"No, why would you ask that, Senior Li?" Bai Lingmiao's hand was gently stroked by Li Huowang, but he didn't explain anything. He just silently thought, "Why ask? Because I'm worried that Danyang Zi is up to no good!"
Although no one had said it, Li Huowang felt that he had changed in his way of dealing with people and things.
"Could it be that Danyang Zi wants to revive himself through my body? So he's protecting me because he's also protecting his own body?" This terrifying speculation made Li Huowang break out in a cold sweat.
But soon he calmed down. This was just a guess.
Danyang Zi had to be dealt with, but the target was set. The key was how to do it.Li Huowang felt very confused about this. Everything in this world was not clearly marked out like in a game. Everything was unfamiliar and had to be sought out on his own.
After experiencing the turmoil at Zhengde Temple, Li Huowang dared not easily have any contact with any other factions here. After all, even the kindest and most amiable temple monks had become so terrifying. Who knows what other places had become.
However, after thinking it over, Li Huowang realized that he could not avoid them if he wanted to live in this ghostly place.
As Li Huowang was pondering over these things, the donkey cart slowly stopped, and the sound of rushing water came from nearby.
"Senior Brother Li, I'll go wash your clothes for you." Bai Lingmiao said, gently pulling her hand away and picking up the bloody clothes from the donkey cart and walking towards the nearby stream.
The others didn't sit idle either and began to search for firewood in the woods, starting a fire and cooking.
Li Huowang couldn't sit up now, he could only rely on his hearing to judge everything happening around him.
Soon, the smell of cooked food wafted over. Li Huowang's stomach growled, and his injured body urgently needed food.
"Senior Brother, let me feed you." Li Huowang felt himself being lifted up and leaning against a furry embrace.
Li Huowang already knew the name of this woman covered in black hair, like a black chimpanzee. She was called Chun Xiaoman.
This name was very easy to understand, as she was born on the day of Xiaoman, and all the names given to girls in rural areas were so casual.
Xiaoman scooped up the horse meat soup with a wooden spoon and brought it to Li Huowang's mouth.
One person silently fed another person silently eating. Since the incident happened, Li Huowang found that the others seemed to be even more afraid of him.
Li Huowang could understand their fear. After all, who wouldn't feel nervous being with a man-eating monster.
After eating, Li Huowang whispered to Xiaoman, "Let Bai Lingmiao come back. If she can't wash it clean, don't bother."
"Okay." Xiaoman gently put Li Huowang down and used the Tian Shu as a pillow under his head.
Soon, Bai Lingmiao came back, and her blood-red Taoist robe did not return to its original blue color.
"Spread it out on the donkey's back to dry, let's hurry up and eat, the food will get cold."
"Mm." Bai Lingmiao responded softly, kneeling down and carefully examining Li Huowang's wounds before walking towards the campfire.
"Clippety-clop" the familiar sound of horse hooves sounded in the distance.
The person arrived before the sound. "Hey hey! Little Taoist Master! So you guys are here! I thought I wouldn't be able to find you!"
When Lv Zhuangyuan's wrinkled old face appeared in front of him, Li Huowang knew that the Lv Family Troupe had followed them.
"Oh, it's you...what's up?" He saw Li Huowang's miserable state.
"It's nothing, just ran into some trouble on the way. Do you need something?"
"Little Taoist Master, why are you leaving without saying a word? Didn't we agree to travel together? Fortunately, you said you were leaving the sect, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to find you." Lv Zhuangyuan said with a smile.It's not easy to find a free bodyguard, I can't just give up on him easily.
"Sorry, Master Lv, I'm injured, I won't bother you, take care of yourself."
"Alright, rest well." Lv Zhuangyuan didn't ask anything, he understood that the more you know, the more dangerous it is after wandering around for so many years.
As the sun was about to set, neither group planned on leaving, after all, there was a small river nearby, which was convenient for washing and using water.
Li Huowang, who couldn't sleep, silently looked at the stars in the sky, thinking about what happened during the day.
Suddenly, there was some movement on his right side.
Before Li Huowang could react, a small and soft body quietly lay in his arms, trembling.
Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.
Smelling the familiar fragrance, Li Huowang reached out his right hand and gently patted her back, "It's okay, leave everything to me."