Inside the alchemy room of Qingfeng Temple, Li Huowang stood still in shock. He was covered in his master’s blood and clearly couldn’t believe what he had just witnessed.
“Are these three elixirs really that powerful? The elixirs I made with Dan Yang Tzu were more like explosives,” after a moment of being on the ground, he got up and wiped his face with his hand, then bent over to pick something up from the ground.
Li Huowang searched for a long time but couldn’t find any piece of flesh that was still moving. Even Dan Yang Tzu’s copper bell had been depressed in the explosion. Li Huowang breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that he had indeed completely killed Dan Yang Tzu.
“But now that he’s dead, what do I do next?” Li Huowang stood there, not knowing which way to go next.
Li Huowang had thought he would feel happy after avenging himself, but when the moment finally came, he found himself lost. His entire plan for the past few days had revolved around killing Dan Yang Tzu, and he hadn’t even considered the possibility of surviving.
Now that Dan Yang Tzu was dead, Bai Lingmiao was safe, and he had fulfilled his promise. What should he do next? Li Huowang was at a loss.
Just as Li Huowang was pondering this question, the door of the alchemy room suddenly burst open,Chang Ren and Chang Ming walked in with their swords drawn, looking alert. They looked around but didn’t find Dan Yang Tzu. Their gaze then fell on Li Huowang, who was covered in blood.
“Hey, who are you? Where’s our master?” they asked warily.
“Master? You are stepping on him,” Li Huowang replied,”And by the way,I am Xuan Yang.”
Li Huowang’s words caused Chang Ren and Chang Ming to instinctively lower their heads and lift their feet, revealing some internal organs before them.
Li Huowang looked around and picked up Dan Yang Tzu’s half-face from the ground. “See, he’s really dead,” he said.
“I killed him,” Li Huowang muttered to himself. “He had killed so many people in his lifetime and should have died long ago, but I didn’t kill him for that. I killed him because of personal grievances.”
Chang Ren and Chang Ming exchanged a glance before quickly sheathing their swords and rushing towards the door. “Hey, wait for me to finish talking!” Li Huowang shouted at them in frustration.
After shouting for a while without any response, Li Huowang let out a bitter smile, clutching his still-painful stomach as he walked towards the door.
“Dan Yang Tzu is dead! He’s dead! Everyone come out, you can all go home now!” Li Huowang shook the flattened copper bell in his hand and shouted loudly to those around him.
It was the first day of the new year, and the jarring sound of the bell did not attract any Master Wander, but it did bring out the Taoist children and medicinal herbs.
When they saw the half-face in Li Huowang’s hand, they were overjoyed and fell to the ground, bowing in all directions.
Li Huowang walked slowly along the tunnel of the cave, intending to spread the news to everyone in Qingfeng Temple. More and more people joined his group and started shouting with him: “Dan Yang Tzu is dead! He’s dead! We can go home!”
Suddenly, Li Huowang felt someone reach out to support him. He turned his head and saw Bai Lingmiao, who was crying tears of joy.
Li Huowang smiled at her and raised Dan Yang Tzu’s half-face, waving it vigorously. “Dan Yang Tzu is dead, you can all go home for the New Year! You can all go home!” he shouted.
“Senior Brother Li! You can go home too! We can all go home!”
Li Huowang’s expression froze for a moment before he continued to swing the copper bell with all his might. “Dan Yang Tzu is dead! Everyone come out, you can all go home!”
Not everyone was happy, however. Just as Li Huowang walked towards Dan Yang Tzu’s residence, he heard the sound of fighting coming from inside.
Li Huowang led the crowd and approached the source of the noise. They arrived to find Xuan Yuan facing off against Chang Ming and Chang Ren, both holding weapons and the atmosphere was tense.
As Li Huowang looked at the celestial book entangled with black threads and copper coins, he understood what they were fighting over.
“Junior Brother Xuan Yang! Come quickly! Let’s kill these two accomplices of Dan Yang Tzu together and then share the celestial book!” Xuan Yuan, no longer wearing a friendly expression, urged Li Huowang.
Chang Ming stepped forward and raised his sword towards Li Huowang. “If you don’t want to die, then get out of here!Master taught you alchemy, do you really think you can handle us who practice swordsmanship?”
Li Huowang let out a sigh, looking somewhat helpless at the scene before him. “That thing can’t make anyone immortal, it’s just ancient scripture written on it. I made up everything I said to Dan Yang Tzu,
“Don’t believe Dan Yang Tzu’s lies. He’s a liar who will say anything to get what he wants. He claimed that Lao Jun gave it to him personally, but knowing his character, he probably robbed it from someone else. Senior brothers, let’s leave this place,” Li Huowang urged.
Chang Ming and Chang Ren took out two black talismans, wiping them against their swords. The room suddenly became chilly with gusts of wind blowing through.
“Junior Brother Xuan Yang, if you don’t want to get involved, then stop talking and just leave.”
“Junior Brother Xuan Yang, if you don’t want to get involved, then stop talking and just leave.”
Chang Ming and Chang Ren said in unison, then raising their swords.
Bai Lingmiao nervously tugged at Li Huowang’s robe and Li Huowang bowed to the three people standing in front of them before leading everyone towards the exit of Qingfeng Temple. “Senior brothers, you can continue now, hope we can see each other again,” he said.
In the dark tunnel, a group of people who were about to return home were walking excitedly and eagerly. Each person’s hand holding the oil lamp was trembling.
The tunnel was unfamiliar and rugged, requiring occasional climbing with ropes. Li Huowang had never been here before, but he knew for sure that this was the exit of Qingfeng Temple because he could see everyone’s hands around him trembling more and more.
After walking for about half an hour, there was light in the distance of the cave. As soon as they saw the light, everyone began to run towards it.
As they ran towards the light, it grew increasingly brighter,finally,it enveloped everyone. At the moment they emerged from the cave, everyone had to squint their eyes in discomfort. After living inside the cave for so long, the outside world was too bright.
Gradually, their eyes adjusted to the brightness and the scenery outside Qingfeng Temple appeared before them.
In the distance, the sky was just turning white and the mountains and forests were a lush green, pure and refreshing like a light watercolor painting. And then, at that moment, the first rays of dawn on the first day of the Lunar New Year pierced through the mist and shone on everyone’s faces.
Squinting as he looked up at the sunrise, Li Huowang muttered to himself, “Did Dan Yang Tzu and I really spend the whole night in the alchemy room? The weather today is really nice.”
Suddenly, someone next to Li Huowang moved. It was a Taoist child, tears streaming down his face as he ran towards a small path leading to the Shulins. This action triggered a herd mentality among the others, and more and more people began to run in that direction, wanting to run far away from this troubled place.
In no time, only the eight people in the materials room were left at the exit of the cave, and their gaze was fixed on Li Huowang.
“Senior Brother Li, let’s leave here too,” Bai Lingmiao said, tears still visible on her face but smiling.
“Just wait a moment,” Li Huowang said, taking out some pieces of paper from his pocket and stuffing them into Bai Lingmiao’s arms. “These are the last words and addresses left by the medicinal herbs that died. When you leave, please bring them with you to their families.”
Bai Lingmiao held the pieces of paper in her hands, stunned and unsure of what to do.
Li Huowang smiled at the remaining people again, then turned around with the oil lamp in hand and walked alone towards the pitch-black Qingfeng Temple.
