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Chapter 620 - Gather
Li Sui was wearing her human skin while sitting on the mossy stairs of the Bai Family Estate.
A child was in front of her, and Li Sui's gaze was on the lard candy in the child’s hands.
“Is that delicious?” Li Sui asked, sounding intrigued.
The child was wearing a hat and shoes resembling a tiger. Li Sui wasn't familiar with the child nor his parents, but she could see that the child was interested in her based on how he seemed transfixed on her pretty face.
After a while, the child snapped back to reality and nodded. Then, he pulled Li Sui toward his house.
He brought Li Sui into the kitchen and imitated his mother. He used a pair of chopsticks to scoop out a glob of lard before tossing the lard into the jar of coarse sugar.
He rolled the lard around and coated it with a thick layer of sugar.
And just like that, a lard candy was made...
The child handed it over to Li Sui.
“Is it delicious?” Li Sui swallowed it whole and savored it before nodding. “Not bad. It has a porky flavor. I love pork, but I prefer bones with blood and flesh on them, especially those bones covered in white stuff.[1]Those are very chewy. Second Mother actually loves to eat it, too.”
Just then, Li Sui’s ears perked up. “Sorry, my father is calling me, and I need to go back. Thank you for the candy. I will treat you to some bloody bones next time.”
The tentacles under Li Sui’s skirt moved swiftly, propelling her toward the Bai Family Estate.
“Father, did you call me?” Li Sui asked.
Li Huowang was busy organizing talisman papers when he heard Li Sui's voice.
“Yes, let’s go. We are going to be busy," Li Huowang said. Then, he placed all of his three swords on his back.
“Where are we going?” Li Sui asked. She took off the human skin on her and placed it in a jar full of salt.
“We need to find someone called Taishan Shi. He’s very annoying, and we need to kill him,” Li Huowang replied. He then opened his mouth, and Li Sui shoved herself into Li Huowang through the latter's mouth.
Her tentacles made Li Huowang's neck bulge, but Li Huowang didn't mind it. He walked out of the door and saw Bai Lingmiao.
“Tell your people to protect the village while I’m not here. Be careful of people luring you out so that they can attack the village.”
Bai Lingmiao nodded quietly.
Li Huowang hugged her gently before exiting the village.
Li Huowang had just left when a pair of white shoes appeared at the doorstep. “Saintess.”
“Alright. I was just about to leave for Shangjing. Anyway, I want you to protect this place properly.”
There were nine people hunting Taishan Shi—Li Huowang, the Abbot, two other monks, Fo Yulu, and her four subordinates.
Once they were ready for the hunt, Fo Yulu said, “Don't act rashly once we find Taishan Shi. We need to observe him first. We can also retreat and request backup if we think he's too strong for us to defeat.”
Li Huowang heard that and frowned. He wasn’t a fan of Fo Yulu's conservative approach.
“Stop talking nonsense. Let’s just find him first. Have you heard anything from the informants of the Surveillance Bureau?” Li Huowang asked. He clearly favored a more direct approach.
The Surveillance Bureau, the Righteous Monastery, and he were hunting down just one person. Li Huowang thought that they could easily defeat Taishan Shi with their numbers. It didn't matter how strong Taishan Shi was, as they were in the Liang Kingdom rather than the Qi Kingdom. Moreover, Taishan Shi didn't have that many members of the Dharma Sect here.
Fo Yulu hated Li Huowang's rashness, and she glared at him to express that.
“We'll go to Li County, which is fifty Li away from here. The informant told me that the members of the Dharma Sect are in the middle of gathering there. We should interrogate some of them to find Taishan Shi's whereabouts.”
Everyone hopped onto their horses and made a beeline for Li County. They wanted to waste no time.
Fo Yulu approached Li Huowang's flank and asked, “Er Jiu! How’s my ancient sword? Is it powerful?”
“Why? Do you want to take it back?” Li Huowang asked. He didn’t even look at her, as he had nothing to say to her.
“No, but since you have an incredibly powerful ancient sword, you're not going to be a coward and stand at the rear once we find Taishan Shi, right?”
“What are you trying to say?”
“Hehe, nothing. If you don’t want to be one of the vanguards, then return my sword to me. I'll let you hide at the back of the group so you can just watch us fight,” Fo Yulu said, smiling.
Li Huowang made his horse approach Fo Yulu’s horse. He got extremely close to Fo Yulu before saying, “Fo Yulu, I don’t care about what you're trying to do here, but don’t forget that I have a connection with His Majesty. Do something stupid here, and I will make sure that you will regret it in the future.”
Fo Yulu scowled and went silent. She didn't expect that Li Huowang would use that card against her.
Sensing something amiss, the Abbot approached them and said, “Benefactors, I am willing to go up first and fight Taishan Shi as one of the vanguard the moment we find him. I'm willing to do that for the sake of the world."
The Abbot clearly didn't want internal strife, so Fo Yulu steered away from Li Huowang and got closer to the Abbot.
“May I know your name? We're all following the teachings of Buddha, so I don’t think it's good to keep calling you 'Abbot.' I also don't want you to keep calling us 'benefactors'.”
“This humble monk’s given name is Chan Du.”
“I greet Master Chan Du. My given name is Yu Se.”
Li Huowang guided his horse close to Liu Zongyuan. “How’s the new Ji Xiang? Is she good?”
“Brother Er Jiu, you can relax. She knows where to draw the line, so she's not going to do anything stupid.”
Li Huowang lowered his guard slightly as they continued on their journey.
Fifty Li sounded far, but they were fast on horseback. Soon, they reached the entrance of Li County’s main city.
Li Huowang pulled his reins, and his horse raised its front legs high up in the air. A large pile of metal pots was blocking their path into the city.
Li Sui’s swept across the pots, sending them flying.
Metal pots, boiling water, and rocks took to the sky.
Li Huowang immediately unsheathed his sword upon seeing the steam rising from the rocks.
No one would be stupid enough to cook stones and drink its soup except for the members of the Qi Kingdom's Dharma Sect.
“Careful! There are probably traps here. I'll search the perimeter!”
Fo Yulu stared deeply at the empty city. Moments later, her figure trembled, and several thumb-sized golden Buddhas jumped over the big pile of metal pots to enter the city.
Fifteen minutes passed by in a flash. Li Huowang wanted to take matters into his own hands when Fo Yulu took out red prayer beads and made a seal with the prayer beads between her palms. Then, she started chanting a strange sutra.
“Prince Vipassi witnessed the passing of the person with great wisdom, the one foremost among men there were eighty thousand of such individuals. They followed Prince Vipassi to renounce their worldly desires and practice the Brahman. The honored one, Prince Vipassi, preached the Dharma in the Deer Park at Isipatana, and they all came to the presence of the Buddha.”
1. Cartilage, but Li Sui doesn’t know the word for it. ☜