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Chapter 618 - Mercy
Dak, dak, dak~
The wooden fish noises annoyed Li Huowang.
“Li Sui, let’s go! Let’s see what kind of evil entity has come here!” Li Huowang exclaimed. He grabbed his swords and Li Sui before jumping onto the roof to head toward where the sound was coming from.
Li Huowang soon found the source of the sound. It was a group of monks; the monks were so skinny that their bones were visible under their skin.
The monks were sitting near the entrance of the village, playing with their wooden fish.
The refugees woke up from the noise, but they dared not to even take a peek.
They buried their heads deep in the fields and trembled in fear.
When Li Huowang appeared, the monks stared at him at the same time. Some of the monks used the eyestalks sticking out of the scars on their heads to stare at Li Huowang rather than their eyes.
“Amitabha. This humble monk meets the benefactor.”
Li Huowang stared at the old monk in front of him. The old monk was skinny, but he could still recognize the monk.
The monk’s face was similar to the illusion by his side. He was the Abbot of the Great Qi’s Righteous Monastery!
"Amitabha. We are here seeking alms. We hope that the benefactor will help us,” said the old monk. He then showed his bronze alms bowl, and the noises being produced by the wooden fish abruptly came to a halt.
“Alms? No, I don’t want to give any alms. What are you going to do about it?” Li Huowang asked. Li Sui’s tentacles burst out of him, and every single tentacle was either holding a talisman or a torture tool. They were clearly trying to intimidate the monks.
A few moments later, footsteps echoed from behind Li Huowang.
Bai Lingmiao led a group of believers from the White Lotus Sect to stand behind Li Huowang.
In addition, the able-bodied people in Cowheart Village rushed out as well
Li Huowang held the numbers advantage against the monks.
Just as Li Huowang thought the Righteous Monastery would fight them, the Abbot stared alternatingly between Bai Lingmiao and the White Lotus Sect before putting away the alms bowl and praying in front of Li Huowang. The monks then left with the Abbot at the helm.
“Senior Li, what’s wrong with those monks? And they just left like that, too,” Puppy said, sounding confused.
Li Huowang frowned at the backs of the departing monks. Then, he turned to Bai Lingmiao and said, “Tell your people to guard the Cowheart Village's perimeter. I'll go and check what those monks are up to.”
Li Huowang was afraid that the monks were plotting something. A thief harboring ill intention was worse than a thief stealing something once.
“Senior Li, be careful. They have many people on their side.”
“Don’t worry. I’m confident that I can still escape even if I can’t beat them,” Li Huowang said. He projected his image into the ground and tailed the monks in his invisible state.
Li Huowang couldn't help but admit that he had made a mistake. Since the civilians and the Dharma Sect members of the Qi Kingdom were transported here, then it wouldn't be strange if the other sects throughout the Qi Kingdom were transported here as well.
The monks weren’t wearing shoes, so their footprints were visible on the muddy ground. Li Huowang slowed down and followed them carefully.
Li Huowang walked for two Lis straight, and just as he was thinking that the old monks were planning on circling back and attacking Cowheart Village, he suddenly caught a whiff of roasted meat—roasted human meat. Li Huowang's eyes flashed with killing intent. He looked around before climbing up a giant tree with the aid of Li Sui’s tentacles.
Soon, he discovered where the smell of roasted meat was coming from.
There was a tiny clay Buddha on an earthen altar in the woods not too far away from Li Huowang.
A group of refugees in tattered clothes were kowtowing and praying to the Buddha.
However, what sent chills down Li Huowang’s spine was the thing beside the Buddha’s statue. Several monks with swollen abdomens were sprawled out on the ground. Their legs were high up in the air as blood and amniotic fluid flowed down the ground. Shockingly, the monks with swollen abdomens were giving birth to bony lumps of meat covered in hair!
The lumps of meat still had their umbilical cords, and they'd pulse from time to time as if they were alive.
The other monks carried the meat and placed it into a large cauldron.
The scent of cooked meat wafted into the air as the lumps of meat were tossed into the boiling water.
The praying refugees lined up with broken bowls in their hands. They frantically scooped the meat from the cauldron before eating it with relish.
Li Huowang was absolutely disgusted by the sight.
“Benefactor, this humble Abbot wishes to speak to you.” A voice echoed from beneath Li Huowang, and he felt his nape going cold upon hearing it. He had been spotted!
Li Huowang decisively swung his spine sword.
The old monk beneath the tree was split in half, but the flesh fused together rapidly, and the monk returned to normal.
Li Huowang’s attack was ineffective against the old monk!
Li Huowang glared at the old monk beneath him, who had the same face as the old monk’s illusion next to him.
“What is this disgusting thing that you're doing here?! What are you feeding the refugees?!”
The Abbot looked up and put his hands together along with the prayer beads before saying, “Benefactor, saving one life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. We're saving the people here. We can’t save everyone in the world, but we still can save those in front of us.”
“By feeding them those disgusting things? Would you even eat what you're feeding them?!”
“Amitabha. Benefactor, we are monks. We cannot eat meat. Anyway, they do not have a choice. It goes against the teaching, but it’s the only thing that the refugees can eat right now. Otherwise, they'd starve.”
Li Huowang was stunned, and he had no idea what to say.
The Righteous Monastery is trying to save the refugees by using such a strange method to produce food?
“Benefactor, the world is ending, and we really cannot find food anywhere. We could only borrow the powers of Buddha to save the people,” said the Abbot with a face that was the epitome of mercy. His emaciated face radiated an aura of compassion.
“Ah! He’s a kind and merciful person!" the old monk’s illusion beside Li Huowang praised the Abbot. "Daoist, he looks like me, and he's a good monk!”
Li Huowang glared at him before turning to the Abbot and saying, “Does that mean that you approached my village to find food? You don’t have any ulterior motives at all? You really don’t have any food left?”
“Benefactor, this humble monk, and the others were really looking for alms. Benefactor, may I ask why you are hostile toward us? We’ve been kind toward you, and I do believe that we haven't wronged you at all.”
Li Huowang disagreed and retorted, “Kind? Why didn’t you say that you were kind when you stuffed those girls into those vases?”
“Benefactor, why are you bringing them up? They were abandoned by their family. If we hadn't saved them, they would’ve been drowned or buried alive. We simply found a way for them to survive. We're doing kind deeds here.”
“Is helping the eunuchs give birth to children a kind deed as well?”
“Of course! Why wouldn’t it be? Helping others to have children when they cannot have one is a kind deed indeed.”
Li Huowang went silent. He had seen enough. The monks were indeed doing kind deeds—deeds that were kind in their eyes.
Li Huowang was convinced that they'd murder without hesitation if they judged that the action was "kind" overall.