On the dark dirt road in the woods, Li Huowang led the others forward with a torch in hand.
It was still dark outside, but they didn't feel sleepy after what they had just been through. After all, who could sleep after such an experience?
The donkey cart was piled with some horse meat, which was Li Huowang's only loot besides a few broken pieces of silver from the bandit's body.
"We'll rest here until dawn. It's not safe to travel at night," Li Huowang ordered, and the torches were quickly piled together to form a new bonfire.
"I can stay up if I can't sleep. We need to keep our strength up for tomorrow's journey," he said.
As the sound of the donkey's hooves and footsteps faded away, the dirt road became quiet again.
Sitting by the bonfire, Li Huowang turned his head to look down the road where they had just come from. It was pitch black, and it seemed that the old beggar wouldn't follow them until he finished burying all the dead.
Thinking back on everything that had just happened, Li Huowang couldn't help but feel a little emotional. This place was really chaotic.
All sorts of dangerous things were happening, and even their own kind weren't working together and were killing each other.
He poked the dying embers of the bonfire with his sword and threw some firewood into it.
As time passed, the scattered people in the woods gradually gathered around Li Huowang's bonfire, and several small fires were lit.
There was no sign of the Lv family among the returning people, but Li Huowang wasn't worried. When the bandits came out, they were the fastest to run.
Lv Zhuangyuan was indeed an experienced person, no wonder he was so stingy and chose horses to pull the cart. He must have considered today's situation a long time ago.
As time passed, the sky gradually brightened, and the others began to wake up and roast the horse meat for breakfast, ready to start their journey.
Regardless of whether the horse meat was tasty or not, at least it was meat and could help them replenish their strength.
As they ate heartily, a trembling figure walked up from behind.
Seeing the person's appearance, Li Huowang's wary heart eased a little. It was the old beggar from before, and it seemed he had spent the night burying the dead.
The morning dew had wet his tattered monk's robe, and he was shivering. He walked to a spot near the bonfire and curled up.
Seeing Li Huowang looking at him, the beggar smiled foolishly.
Thinking of his selfless act of saving someone last night, Li Huowang's hostility towards him diminished.
Although he thought that the old beggar's kindness wouldn't help him survive in this dangerous world, no one would reject contact with a good person.
When Li Huowang handed him a steamed bun, the beggar eagerly took it and mumbled, "May Buddha bless you."
Hearing this, Li Huowang became interested. "Which Buddha do you mean?"
"Huh? Isn't Buddha just Buddha? Why do you ask which one?" The old beggar looked confused.
"Never mind, just eat. It's rare to see someone like you in this world. I hope you're not deceiving me."
"How could I deceive anyone? I'm a monk, and monks can't deceive people," the old beggar said firmly."Reciting sutras only knows how to recite Amitabha Buddha, and doesn't even know which Buddha he believes in. What kind of monk are you?"
"Sun Xiutai said that monks are all bald, so I shaved my head. Wang the tailor said that monks can't marry, so I won't marry! Liu the grocer said that monks can't eat meat, so I won't eat meat! And I saw other monks chanting Amitabha Buddha, so I learned to chant it too. I've done all that, so why can't I be a monk?"
The old beggar seemed to care a lot about this and argued stubbornly.
Hearing this, Li Huowang couldn't help but laugh. This monk was even more fake than him as a Taoist. "But that doesn't mean you are a monk."
The old beggar was stunned and looked at Li Huowang holding half a steamed bun. "Then what do you think a monk should be like?"
Looking into the old beggar's eyes, Li Huowang opened his mouth but couldn't answer the question. The old beggar's words seemed to contain some truth in his foolishness.
For some reason, Li Huowang saw Danyang Zi's shadow on him and persisted in his ignorance.
"I guess you can't read, can you?"
"How did you know? Are all you Taoists so good at divination?"
"Hehe."
"Why are you so obsessed with being a monk?"
"If it weren't for a monk who saved me, I would have died long ago. Since that day, I vowed to become a good monk too!"
As they spoke, Li Huowang saw the Lv Family troupe coming back in the distance. He stood up and walked towards them.
Nothing unexpected happened on the way, and the old monk followed him all the way. Sometimes Li Huowang saw him chewing wild vegetables when he was hungry, and he occasionally gave him a steamed bun or two.
After walking for more than ten days, a city more magnificent and grand than Jianye appeared in front of Li Huowang's eyes. They had arrived at the capital, Chang'an.
"Finally arrived?" When he saw the city gate, Li Huowang finally breathed a sigh of relief. He had been scared along the way, but fortunately, the scenes from his nightmares did not appear.
"Master, you can't stay in just any inn in Chang'an. They'll rip you off. Let me take you to a cheap one," Lv Zhuangyuan said, about to walk towards the city gate, but was stopped by Li Huowang.
"Wait, where is the temple you mentioned before?" Li Huowang asked eagerly. This was his most important purpose for coming here.
Led by Lv Zhuangyuan, Li Huowang walked towards the Zhengde Temple, the most prosperous temple in Chang'an.
Before he even saw the temple, Li Huowang smelled the unique scent of incense in the Buddhist holy land, and the spacious streets began to get crowded.
Old men, women, adults, children, all kinds of people were there, holding stacks of incense in their hands. Li Huowang immediately understood that these people were all here to worship Buddha.
"Has this temple always been so prosperous?"
When Lv Zhuangyuan heard Li Huowang's question, a nearby incense burner interjected, "Of course, the Bodhisattva of Zhengde Temple is very efficacious! My daughter-in-law became pregnant after praying here once."
"And the masters of Zhengde Temple are very kind. They often distribute porridge to the poor."
(Note: Jianye and Chang'an were both ancient Chinese capitals, but at different times. Jianye was the capital of the Eastern Wu Kingdom during the Three Kingdoms period, while Chang'an was the capital of multiple dynasties, including the Western Han, Sui, and Tang dynasties.)"Yes, yes. It's really a blessing from several lifetimes of cultivation to have such a good temple in the Western Capital."
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