The Unruly Immortals

Inside the Buddha Bone Temple, Li Huowang took deep breaths, struggling to suppress the overwhelming urge to kill the Xin Chi Monk, a person he had never loathed so much.

He followed the instructions of this Xin Chi Monk and killed someone from the Oblivion Path. Could it be that the monk nonchalantly threw at him the words "I was mistaken"?

He knew that the Astrological Bureau, in order to complete its tasks, could disregard human life,

but Li Huowang never imagined that such a thing would happen to him. It was because of him that he had killed an innocent person with his own hands!

In contrast to Li Huowang's effort to restrain himself, the monk beside him was obviously more agitated, crying and hopping madly.

"How could he do this! What right does he have to be a monk!! That was a human life!"

The monk, unable to contain his anger, rushed over and started beating and kicking at the Xin Chi Monk with the wooden cangue, but his actions simply passed straight through the man's body.

"What gives you the right to shave your head! You do no good deeds, just bad ones; you are unworthy of being a monk!"

Li Huowang stood up and moved closer to the others, his gaze towards the Xin Chi Monk turning from a trace of goodwill to extreme disgust.

He once had a trace of doubt—why, as a Buddhist, was the Xin Chi Monk locked up in the Yinling prison? Now it seemed that imprisoning him had been too lenient.

Li Huowang understood that internal strife was not an option under the current circumstances, or they might be overtaken by someone from the Oblivion Path at any moment. Compared to the Oblivion Path, the monk who disregarded life could wait, but he still couldn't swallow his indignation.

"How is Master Xin Chi doing? Was that person part of the Oblivion Path?" The man who lent out swords, Hong Da, was the first to ask.

"Not so, the poor monk was mistaken," Xin Chi's voice appeared in everyone's minds.

Hearing this, a hint of disdain crossed Tuoba Danqing's face, "Master Xin Chi, aren't you supposed to be a high-ranking monk with mastery over the six supernatural Buddhist powers? How could you make such a mistake? Our Record of Appearance works tirelessly every day; don't waste his precious time."

No matter what the others said, the Record of Appearance, unusually, did not respond, his features knotted together as he scanned the entire hall, his fat fingers richly adorned with jewels tapping on the golden abacus in his hands.

Li Huowang quickly picked up on this anomaly, calming his emotions and fixing his gaze on the white-faced eunuch before him.

"If his abacus can find out who is from the Oblivion Path, why bother going through all this trouble to find the Xin Chi Monk?"

After some time, the Record of Appearance suddenly stopped tapping his abacus and said, "Let's go, to the next temple hall."

His words caused the others to close their mouths and quickly follow.

Upon reaching the next hall where the Shariputra was enshrined, the Record of Appearance quickly started working on the abacus again.

Not long after, he spoke again. "Let's go, he's not here either, onto the next one!"

The words of the Record of Appearance once again sent everyone into motion, preparing to continue on to the next location.

The change of locations was so rapid that Li Huowang began to doubt if the Record of Appearance's method would really not let anyone from the Oblivion Path slip through their grasp.

But before they could leave the hall, a group of monks wearing robes and led by an old monk in a Kasaya, armed with discipline rods, surrounded them menacingly.

"Hey! Who are these thieves! Daring to commit murder within our temple!" The unibrow monk beside the Kasaya-clad elder was the first to challenge them.

With his hand on the hilt of his sword, Li Huowang immediately asked in return, "Who are you?"

"You blind thief! We naturally belong to the monks of the Buddha Bone Temple!"

Hearing what the monk before him said, everyone else cast their gaze toward the tall Xin Chi Monk; only he could discern who was from Oblivion Path.

When they saw the Xin Chi Monk nod, everyone else breathed a sigh of relief.

The slick Tuoba Danqing immediately stepped forward, pulling out a waist tablet from his robe, "Astrological Bureau on duty, you all must return to your rooms immediately, and no one is allowed to come out!"

After hearing these words, the expressions of the monks instantly grew unsightly. They all turned their gaze to the elderly monk wearing a Kasaya.

The elderly monk brought his hands together and chanted "Amitabha" before he spoke, "Respected officers, may I be so bold as to ask, why have you come to our temple? These recent days have been calm and uneventful within the Buddha Bone Temple."

"Of course, you would feel everything is peaceful, but underneath this calm surface, the entire temple has been tampered with like a dice, go back to your rooms, and do not come out again, or do not blame us for being merciless!"

Hearing Tuoba Danqing's stern threat, the monks dispersed.

Just as Record of Appearance was about to lead the others towards the next location, Li Huowang's feet suddenly came to a halt.

"Everyone, don't you feel that there is something amiss? We have been to the Buddha Bone Temple for a while now, and isn't it just too normal here?"

"The members of Oblivion Path are a group that thrives in chaos. They disregard even their own lives for the sake of mischief. A place where they had been could never be as undisturbed as it is now."

"Stop guessing wildly. The scouts of the Astrological Bureau are smarter than you think. If they say there are traces of Oblivion Path here, then there must be."

When Li Huowang heard Hong Da's words, he shook his head, "No, I didn't mean that there aren't members of Oblivion Path here. Rather, I meant that their purpose for infiltrating this place isn't merely for mischief; they certainly have some other motive."

Li expected Record of Appearance to ponder carefully, yet his expression just furrowed, "Just do your job." He then turned and walked towards another hall.

"What's going on?" Seeing such a reaction, Li Huowang was taken aback, thinking that Record of Appearance seemed to know what Oblivion Path was up to.

A flash of insight crossed Li Huowang's mind, and he quickly followed, "There must be something the old eunuch is hiding from me regarding this task."

Without even a trace of Oblivion Path yet, Li Huowang felt a sense of eeriness about this mission.

"Thud!" Li Huowang's leather boots hit the clean, smooth marble floor. This time, instead of focusing on the pilgrims and monks around him, he concentrated most of his attention on Record of Appearance.

Observing closely, Li Huowang indeed noticed something amiss.

If Record of Appearance's goal was to deal with Oblivion Path, then he should be focusing on the people.

But instead, he was constantly staring at the pillars within the hall, with his abacus in hand, constantly clicking as if calculating something unceasingly.

Could it be that Record of Appearance was looking for something? It wasn't easy to speculate without understanding his capability. Li Huowang's mind raced with wild thoughts.

"Ear, benefactor! Five Steps Kill to your left!" A sudden clap of thunder exploded beside Li Huowang's ear.

The moment he heard it, "clang," Li Huowang drew the Purple Tassel Sword halfway out of its sheath.

But observing the woman kneeling seriously on the prayer mat, he slid the sword back into the sheath.