Mutated Tao - Chapter 46

“Buddha?” Li Huowang looked up in shock at the enormous, 20-meter-tall unidentified organism in front of him.

Whatever the “Buddha” looked like in the old monk’s eyes, to Li Huowang, it was a huge pink mound of twisted and deformed flesh with viscous plasma covering its skin, its back just like toad’s.

Various strange and grotesque reproductive organs protruded from the disgusting skin, and wriggled constantly as the “Buddha” moved. And all over its body were naked monks writhing and squirming.

These monks were intoxicated as they inhaled the pink mist spraying out from within this organism. Their faces were ecstatic, breathing heavily, they used their own flesh and blood to fill any gaps in the “Buddha’s” body. Their bodies writhed in sync with the movements of the “Buddha”.

“It’s so huge, isn’t it? This is the hugest stone Buddha statue I have ever seen!” The ignorant old monk stood beside Li Huowang said.

Li Huowang’s body froze, he suddenly realized his previous assumption that people like Dan Yang Tzu were evil and shunned by society was wrong.

He once believed that since the monks of Zhengde Temple have a grudge against Dan Yang Tzu, then these monks are at least not too bad.

But his assumption was fundamentally flawed – there was no such thing as good or evil sects!

Maybe all other cultivation methods in this world were equally bizarre as what he was seeing at Zhengde Temple! And perhaps the conflict between Dan Yang Tzu and these monks wasn’t a struggle between righteousness and evil, but rather a benefit dispute between two sects!

Regardless of the reason why they were doing this, one thing was certain – the words of the abbot were all lies! He had been deceived by them!

“Buddhist mass? Bullshit! That old abbot must have been lying to me! I must leave this place as soon as possible without arousing their suspicions!” Li Huowang thought to himself.

He turned his head towards the unwitting old monk and pondered his next move.

Although he didn’t know why the deceptive tricks at Zhengde Temple weren’t working on him, it was clear that he hadn’t been discovered yet. To escape from this place, he needed to make good use of this advantage.

Li Huowang forced himself to suppress the urge to vomit and refrained from making any suspicious movements. He turned around with a subdued look on his face and said, “It’s alright, just so-so. I should go back now.”

With that, Li Huowang strode out of the hall and into the sculpture yard, which was filled with piles of flesh mounds still wriggling restlessly. But he ignored them and kept walking forward.

“Hey! Taoist, don’t leave yet! You just got here, don’t rush back!”

The old monk followed Li Huowang closely and said, “The food here is great! Why don’t we have a meal together later? The fried tofu here tastes even better than meat.”

Li Huowang pretended to be slightly impatient and quickened his pace while the old monk continued to chatter on.

As he was about to walk out of the yard, a tall figure suddenly blocked his way.

The figure was a tall, muscular monk with a serious expression. He was a head taller than Li Huowang and stared at him without saying a word.

“Master, do you need something?” Li Huowang asked coldly, but he was extremely nervous.

The tall monk leaned forward and examined Li Huowang carefully.

Then, to Li Huowang’s horror, a soft and flexible black tentacle with suction cups emerged from the scar on his head and extended longer and longer.

The strange tentacle writhed like a sea snake in the air and began to slowly circle around Li Huowang’s head, as if sensing something.

“Amitabha, alms giver, your heart is impure.”

As soon as he spoke, the wriggling flesh mounds around them suddenly stopped, and all the monks turned to stare at Li Huowang.

“He knows I’ve seen through their deceptive tricks! It’s time to fight!” Li Huowang made up his mind and drew his sword, then fiercely attacked the tall monk in front of him.

“Swish!”

The tentacle of the tall monk was cut off along with his clothes, spraying out a mix of yellow and green pus.

Li Huowang quickly threw a pill into his mouth and pushed himself off the ground, jumping three meters high into the air. He then dashed towards the nearest earthen wall.

As Li Huowang moved, the surroundings began to change rapidly. All the monks on the flesh mounds jumped down and roared ran after him.

But that wasn’t all – the ground suddenly shook violently, making everyone almost lose their balance. Li Huowang had already jumped onto the wall, he instinctively turned his head and saw the enormous “Buddha” breaking through the wooden door of the hall, rolling towards him!

“I must leave this temple! They can’t let the entire Xijing City see the true face of this so-called Buddha anyway!”

Li Huowang quickly rushed towards the main hall, with the sound of pursuit growing louder behind him, but he didn’t have time to worry about that now.

Li Huowang running alone while being chased by a group of people, after taking a pill, Li Huowang’s endurance was amazing. Although he found himself in danger several times, he managed to avoid being caught by the monks.

Just as Li Huowang turned a corner and was about to reach the entrance of Zhengde Temple, a familiar face blocked his path. It was the abbot of Zhengde Temple, Xin Hui!

Li Huowang didn’t hesitate and reached for the copper bell in his pocket. But the next moment, he froze in place – his copper bell that could summon Master Wander was gone!

“Amitabha, Alms Giver Xuan Yang, are you looking for this?” Xin Hui asked calmly, holding up the copper bell.

Before Li Huowang could answer, Xin Hui walked slowly towards him and placed the copper bell back into his hand. “Alms giver, this object is ominous, you need to use it with caution.”

Xin Hui didn’t ask Li Huowang any questions but instead turned around and reprimanded the monks who had chased after them. “Silence! You are all monks, how can you act in such a disorderly manner?”

“Abbot, it’s not that we’re acting disorderly, it’s this Taoist disciple who suddenly attacked Senior Brother Jian Wei!”

Hearing this, Xin Hui turned back to face Li Huowang and asked him in confusion, “Alms Giver Xuan Yang, is this true? Why did you suddenly attack our disciple? Did he fail to take care of you properly?”

As Li Huowang looked at the group of bald monks and his little copper bell that he had just retrieved, he couldn’t understand what Xin Hui was trying to do.

Since they all knew he had seen everything, why still pretend as if nothing had happened?

After thinking for a moment, Li Huowang decided to confront Xin Hui. “Abbot Xin Hui, I know you have grudges against Dan Yang Tzu, and I’ve killed him, even if you don’t thank me, is there any need to harm me?

“Rest assured, I will keep everything I saw in the temple to myself and won’t tell anyone. Moreover, with just one person, I cannot tarnish the reputation of your Zhengde Temple anyway.”

However, upon hearing Li Huowang’s words, Xin Hui looked even more puzzled. “Alms giver, what did you see? I don’t understand,” he said.

Suddenly, both sides stood frozen in place, and the situation became peaceful.

“Hmm? What’s going on? Could it be that he’s not with those things?” Li Huowang felt puzzled and slowly revealed everything he had seen.

“Nonsense! So absurd!” This was the first time Li Huowang had seen Xin Hui angry. His two white beards trembled slightly under his nose, and his powerful aura instantly made the group of monks behind him bow their heads.