The Unruly Immortals

At night, within a dense thicket, Li Huowang was wrapped in a blanket, silently keeping watch.

The night without a campfire was bitterly cold, after all, it was only March.

But at this moment, he dared not light a fire for fear that the light in the darkness would attract the monks' pursuit.

Under the weak moonlight, Li Huowang reached out and took the Taoist Bell from his bosom.

The incredibly powerful Elixirs Master Danyang had given him were almost all gone; this was the only thing he could produce now.

Yet contemplating the way the abbot had easily held it in his hand, Li Huowang felt a strong resentment.

The thought of the other wanting to deal with him and his only option being to flee was unbearably frustrating.

"In this chaotic and bizarre world, everything is dominated by strength. To stand my ground here, I must become strong enough!"

"If even someone like Master Danyang can become so powerful, why can't I? No matter how bizarre the methods of cultivating in this world are, I must acquire them."

"I must protect myself, and I must protect the one I want to protect. If I can't beg for it, I'll steal; if I can't steal it, I'll rob; if I can't rob it, I'll resort to more devious ways!" Li Huowang's expression gradually twisted.

Just as he thought this, Li Huowang was startled and touched the back of his neck with a puzzled expression, as if pondering something.

"Namo—Harada—they—naha—duo la ye ya—"

The silence of the woods was broken by an ethereal chanting.

Almost reflexively, Li Huowang jumped to his feet and quickly scanned his surroundings.

But it was pitch black all around, and he found nothing; the simple traps he had set off earlier showed no signs of being triggered.

"Namo—A-di-ye—Po-lu-jie-di—Shuo-bo-luo ye." The ethereal chanting sounded again from the darkness, this time even closer.

"Quick! Everyone up! Move it! Scatter and run, forget the mule cart! You fool! Do as I taught you before!"

With Li Huowang's warning, Bai Lingmiao subconsciously tried to follow him, but was carried off on the shoulders of the fool, who strode rapidly towards the east.

Li Huowang crossed the thicket and leaped back onto the path, gritting his teeth and rushing forward. After all, it was him the monks were after, and there was no point dragging others into death if he couldn't escape.

In the darkness, Li Huowang kept running, yet the chanting that seemed to come from nowhere was persistently following him, and he began to smell the incense from the temples.

As he ran, Li Huowang suddenly stopped. His pupils constricted as he stared down the pitch-black road ahead, where many fly-sized red dots were trembling slightly.

"Putuoya—Putuoya—Midi li ya—Namo jing chi..." The chanting grew louder and louder.

Finally, the thing in the darkness slowly appeared. It was a Buddha, with a gigantic head and tall body, but with exceedingly thin legs—the big-bellied Buddha.

The red dots Li Huowang had seen in the dark were bunches of incense sticks inserted into the Buddha's body, trembling with the giant's body's movements.

The tall Buddha surrounded by white smoke might have seemed full of immortal aura in another setting, but in the dim wilderness on a small forest path, it was a completely different matter.

There wasn't just one of these Buddhas, but seven, standing in a row, swaying their bodies as they walked towards Li Huowang.

They stepped in simple and repetitive rhythms, swaying left and right – their figures were somewhat like and unlike humans; their expressions were like and unlike smiles, like and unlike anger.

When completely exposed under the moonlight, Li Huowang also saw the head Buddha's face – he recognized that Buddha; it was Jiandun's face. "Amitabha, benefactor, your mind is not at peace," he said.

Li Huowang looked up at the flesh-and-blood Buddha towering at least four meters high, "So you're finally not pretending anymore, are you? You worshippers of monsters, you pieces of garbage!!"

"Benefactor, the poor monk does not understand what you're talking about. Come back to the temple with me quickly. Master Danyang's karma is upon you, and if you leave with it, you will have big trouble, and so will the common folk," the monk replied.

As soon as Jiandun finished speaking, with a heavy clap of his hands, the sound of flesh ripping echoed, and a series of fleshless palms began to grow from behind him, swaying.

In an instant, like a peacock fanning its tail, the seven Buddhas transformed into seven horrifying and ghastly Thousand-Handed Buddhas made of flesh and blood.

"Linglingling~!!" As Li Huowang vigorously shook the Taoist Bell in his hand, the surrounding environment began to distort, with the lines of the nearby tree branches rapidly twisting, forming into a You Lao Ye.

However, amidst the ringing of the bell, the chaotic surroundings did not affect the Buddhas; they stood there like boulders.

As Li Huowang scooped up mud from the ground and stuffed it into his mouth, "Keng gen ken!" You Lao Ye, with its afterimages, skimmed across the ground towards the Buddha.

"Die!" A gigantic Buddha palm slammed down forcefully, instantly kicking up dust and debris.

Yet the incorporeal You Lao Ye was completely indifferent to the attack, drilling directly out of the back of the palm and pouncing towards the big face of the Buddha.

When You Lao Ye fully penetrated the Buddha's head, the towering figure began to wobble, and the giant palms, like shooing away flies, continuously swatted aimlessly.

But it was in vain; in a short while, the huge Buddha fell heavily to the ground, its facial features beginning to melt, and its body, which should have been immune, also distorted with the illusions around it.

"Bang bang bang!!" The remaining six Buddhas quickly formed a circle, back to back, and then, like heavy stone blocks, they slammed heavily onto the ground, bringing their hands together and began to chant Buddhist scriptures that were difficult to understand and crudely pronounced. "Tathagata adorata~ Samak~ Samabodhi~....."

As soon as the chanting started, Li Huowang, who was in the distance, immediately saw that You Lao Ye was not right; the lines that made up its body began to twist involuntarily.

Seeing this, Li Huowang grabbed the Taoist Bell in his hand and shook it even more vigorously. "Chi jian! Garou toyu wok ruuu!!"

On hearing that Li Huowang was willing to sacrifice more of his Yangshou, You Lao Ye struggled to maintain its own body and rushed towards one of the Buddhas.

With a trembling of the earth, another Buddha fell to the ground, but this was the limit of what You Lao Ye could achieve.

Amidst the resounding chanting, You Lao Ye fell from the sky and landed on the ground.

Seeing that You Lao Ye was of no use, Li Huowang stopped ringing the bell. As everything around returned to normal, the You Lao Ye on the ground did not dissipate.

All the lines on its body started to lose their original color, turning into a pinkish flesh color, and the always incorporeal entity had been given a physical manifestation by the chanting of the Buddhas.

With a physical body, You Lao Ye now looked like a huge lump of earthworms tied in a dead knot, sluggishly wriggling on the ground.

A giant palm with a Swastika symbol slammed down heavily.

"Paji" – You Lao Ye's flesh instantly turned into a pile of mush.

The giant palm, sticky with You Lao Ye's flesh, slowly lifted up and came together heavily. The remaining five Thousand-Handed Buddhas wobbled over and lined up in front of Li Huowang. "Amitabha, benefactor, please come back with us."