Mutated Tao

Li Huowang looked up at the Buddhas, but he couldn’t see their faces. He could only see their tentacle-like hands wriggling behind them, as well as the giant dark heads. He also smelled a strange mixture of blood and incense emanating from their bodies.

Li Huowang took a few steps back and looked around, realizing that he was really alone here. He shook his head firmly at the Buddhas in front of him.

“I’m not going,” Li Huowang said, grabbing the hilt of his sword.

The giant Buddhas bent down and blocked the moonlight shining down on Li Huowang’s head. A tremendous pressure descended upon him.

Li Huowang could feel the many lantern-sized eyes watching him in the darkness.

“Amitabha, alms giver, it’s for your own good that you come with us,” Jian Dun continued to persuade him in a calm tone.

“If you really want what’s best for me, then let me leave. Aren’t monks supposed to be compassionate? What about let me go?”

“It is precisely because we are compassionate that we cannot let you go.”

As he spoke, a stone flew over and hit one of the Buddhas on the head, making a crisp noise.

Li Huowang and Jian Dun both looked over there,they see Bai Lingmiao and others holding their luminous stones from a distance.

“Senior Brother Li, run!!” More stones were thrown towards them, hitting the Buddhas,but then falling weakly to the ground.

“Amitabha, the sea of suffering has no bounds, but the shore is within reach.” Jian Dun’s huge hands closed heavily together, and his slender legs squatted lightly, then he kicked on the ground heavily.

With a loud noise, Jian Dun’s towering figure rose into the air like a giant rock,then he fell heavily on the ground behind Bai Lingmiao and the others. Several trees were directly crushed under him.

Seeing the frail Bai Lingmiao standing beside Jian Dun, Li Huowang suddenly shouted fiercely, “Stop!!”

As if sensing something in an instant, both the Buddhas around Li Huowang and Jian Dun in the distance retreated a step.

“Alms Giver Xuan Yang, we didn’t mean to do anything. Please calm down,” Jian Dun’s voice was tinged with nervousness. He seemed to be avoiding provoking Li Huowang.

“Hmm?” This scene caught everyone off guard, especially Li Huowang.

“They… are nervous? I’m just an ordinary person, why are they nervous?”

“As monks, we do not take lives. I just wanted them to quiet down,” Jian Dun said as he used his huge hands to break off trees at the surroundings and crossed them over each other to make a crude cage, trapping everyone inside.

After finishing all this, Jian Dun swayed came to Li Huowang.

“Alms Giver Xuan Yang, since you don’t want to come with me, why not have a dialectical discussion with me?”

“Dialectical discussion? Are you trying to persuade me with words?” Li Huowang looked at the hand that was even bigger than his body, still uncertain what these monks were up to.

“Yes, Alms Giver Xuan Yang, you are a reasonable person. I believe I can persuade you,” Jian Dun replied.

“Hmm?” Thinking back to what happened at Zhengde Temple earlier, Li Huowang noticed something very illogical.

Whether it was Xin Hui or Jian Dun in front of him, even though they were very powerful, they never wanted to use violence against Li Huowang. Instead, they kept trying to trap him with deception.

“Why do they make things so complicated when they can easily solve them with force? Do I have something special?” Li Huowang opened his hands and looked at his ordinary palms.

“Besides having psychosis, is there anything else that could make them care about me?” Li Huowang thought to himself, completely ignoring Jian Dun’s ongoing speech.

He needed to find out what they were worried about. This might be his only chance to escape.

“So, if they threaten my life with violence, what would be the consequences?” 

Suddenly, Li Huowang remembered The Delight being dragged by something in the darkness. That was the only time he had a life and death situation, but solved in a very strange way.

Li Huowang suddenly realized, “Dan Yang Tzu! They dare not use violence against me because Dan Yang Tzu will attack them! Dan Yang Tzu is actually protecting me!”

Having realized this point, Li Huowang suddenly saw the light. He had always thought that Dan Yang Tzu was about to harming him, but now he realized it was not the case.

Although Li Huowang killed Dan Yang Tzu, from Dan Yang Tzu’s perspective, Li Huowang did not do anything wrong to him. He even helped him achieve his goal of becoming an “immortal”.

“The monks at Zhengde Temple obviously saw this point long ago, but they didn’t tell me. Instead, they went to great lengths to deceive me and want use the Buddhist mass to completely get rid of Dan Yang Tzu.

“But if they really got rid of Dan Yang Tzu, then we would truly be at the mercy of anyone,” Li Huowang felt nauseated and frightened at the thought of what the monks at Zhengde Temple would do.

Li Huowang looked up at Jian Dun, this time, a slight smile appeared on his lips. “Are you afraid of Dan Yang Tzu? If he has already become a Buddha, why are you monks afraid of him?”

Jian Dun’s expression became solemn. “Alms Giver Xuan Yang, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I can swear to the Buddha that the Buddhist mass will only get rid of Dan Yang Tzu and will not harm you in any way.”

This sentence further confirmed Li Huowang’s suspicions.

There were no good people in this world, and if he wanted to know something more valuable, he had to rely on self-collection and judgment.

“I suddenly realized that it would be better to keep Dan Yang Tzu. After all, he is my Master. It’s not good to completely get rid of him,” Li Huowang said calmly.

“Amitabha, this is definitely not possible. Dan Yang Tzu not only concerns you but also the world and all living beings.”

Li Huowang looked up at Jian Dun and smiled. “Why don’t you talk to my Master face to face?”

“What?”

“Clang!” Li Huowang grabbed the hilt of his sword with one hand and pulled it out forcefully. The sharp long sword was now in his hand.

Jian Dun saw this scene with a kind smile on his face and said, “Alms Giver Xuan Yang, this kind of thing cannot harm me.”

“Are you deaf? I said, I let you to talk to Dan Yang Tzu face to face.”

After speaking, Li Huowang placed his long sword under his neck and vigorously stroked it.

The skin on his neck was easily cut open, and hot blood sprayed out, instantly dyeing the Taoist robe on Li Huowang red.

“Hehe……”

Li Huowang’s consciousness began to blur. He covered his neck with his hand and whispered, “Do you hear… it seems… there’s thunder……”

（https://v.douyin.com/UgeDRVa

The first and second characters are Jian Dun and Xin Hui, respectively）