Zhengkun's attack had broken two of Li Huowang's ribs and left his body with several deep, dark bruises. Fortunately, the injuries were not severe, and with the help of elixirs, he could manage to heal them.
Compared to his wounds, he was more concerned with his scheme.
On the first day of the lunar month, Li Huowang used another confrontation with Zhengkun to "accidentally" tell him the information about "Master You" that he had learned from Bai Lingmiao.
When he saw the man's expression shift ever so slightly, a thrill of delight went through Li Huowang's heart.
In truth, he didn't know what the man would do with the information; he was just testing the waters. He had nothing better to do, and as the saying goes, it's worth taking a few shots in the dark. It looked like he had succeeded—the man definitely had his own ulterior motives.
Days and nights blurred together in the karst cave, and soon enough, the first day of the lunar month arrived. This was the best time for Master Danyang to refine elixirs. He would stay in the Alchemy Room all morning, and as it happened, this was also exactly when "Master You" was away.
While the Qingfeng Daoist Temple wasn't huge, it wasn't small either. Having lived there for so long, Li Huowang had long since figured out Zhengkun's patterns. Yet, he did nothing, simply remaining in Zhengyi Hall, sitting quietly in a cross-legged position.
Could I have guessed wrong? Maybe the bastard isn't as greedy as I thought? Li Huowang lay on his bed, pondering where he had gone wrong.
Fifteen days passed, bringing the first day of the second lunar month, yet Zhengkun still hadn't made a move.
Just as Li Huowang was about to write it off as a miscalculation, on the fifteenth of the second month, Zhengyi Hall—Zhengkun's usual haunt—was empty. He finally couldn't resist any longer.
The moment he saw Master Danyang start the furnace, Li Huowang stuck to his original plan and hurried toward Master Danyang's quarters.
However, just as he was about to reach the cave entrance, Li Huowang stopped dead in his tracks. He saw Zhengkun standing guard in the distance, not going inside.
Watching him carefully survey the doorway, Li Huowang immediately understood. Someone else was doing the dirty work for him while he stood watch. Damn, the guy is even more paranoid than I expected.
After about an hour, Li Huowang spotted Xuan Yin sneaking out.
Zhengkun shot him a look, pulled out a black Talisman, and slapped one onto each of their knees. They vanished as quickly as the wind.
The door was merely left ajar, like a trap designed to lure someone inside. Seeing that they had already scouted the path for him, Li Huowang knew that any traps that might have been set inside had likely been disarmed by Zhengkun. He crept closer, knowing this was his chance.
Master Danyang's abode was spacious, but it was a chaotic and filthy mess. The stench of dead rats inside was unbearable.
Despite the appalling environment, Li Huowang's eyes were instantly drawn to the most valuable object: a stone tablet covered by a net of black thread strung with copper coins.
Unsurprisingly, that stone slab had to be the "Heavenly Book" Master Danyang had mentioned. Li Huowang tiptoed over and peered at its contents through the black threads.
Zhengkun had clearly tried to steal the Immortality Cultivation Technique, but from the looks of it, he hadn't succeeded.
Li Huowang carefully studied the text on the Heavenly Book. The writing was obscure and difficult to decipher. He could barely make out that they were pictographs, possibly from a much older dynasty.
Although Chinese characters have evolved minimally over thousands of years, he still struggled to read them.
The more he read, the more something felt wrong. Didn't Master Danyang say the path to immortality required one to cultivate both an inner core and External Alchemy Pills? It looks like the man isn't following what's written here at all.
"Auspicious steps in Pu Yin, Gandharva… spreading clouds and universal blessings… a wondrous body brings peace and liberation for all…"
Besides, no matter how he looked at it, this didn't resemble a Cultivation Technique at all. It read more like a scripture.
"Hee hee." A creepy giggle sent a chill down Li Huowang's spine. He spun around, but no one was there.
In a hollowed-out section of the wall stood a single blue-and-white porcelain vase, about as thick as a forearm.
Something's off. His heart pounding, Li Huowang began to retrace his steps. It seemed Zhengkun hadn't cleared out all the dangers.
"Don't you move, okay?" a shrill, delicate girl's voice piped up from behind him.
Li Huowang slowly turned his head again. The sight before him made his blood run cold. Protruding from the mouth of that narrow vase was the ghastly white head of a little girl.
He called her a girl, but her skin color looked nothing like a living person's, especially the blush on her cheeks, which was a frighteningly unnatural shade of red.
Staring at the intensely red dot in the center of her forehead, Li Huowang found it growing more unsettling by the second.
In that instant, it all became clear. This must be what Master Danyang used to "read" the Heavenly Book for him. It was this thing.
"Are you with that man from before? Hee hee, you're in big trouble! I just have to shake my bell, and my Daddy will come right back." Tied to her pigtail, which stuck straight up, were several small copper bells on a red string.
Hearing her threat, Li Huowang's heart burned with anxiety, but his expression suddenly became calm the next second. "Go ahead. Call your Daddy over. It's a perfect time for him to find out that you've been deceiving him."
When a trace of panic flashed across the vase-head's face, Li Huowang sneered inwardly. I was right. I'm not the only one who wanted to fool the illiterate old man. Whatever this thing is, it has been playing the same game all along!
The fish rots from the head down. Every single person in the Qingfeng Daoist Temple has their own sinister agenda!
"It… It's not my fault! The words are written so ugly, I can't make heads or tails of it! Daddy forced me to read it to him, so what was I supposed to do?" the vase-head whimpered, on the verge of tears.
Seeing the vase-girl's panicked expression, Li Huowang thought quickly and made a decision.
"Alright, let's make a deal. I'll leave this place right now, and you'll pretend you never saw me. I'll act like I know nothing about you. That's better for everyone."
The vase-head wobbled and finally nodded. "Okay, fine. Just hurry up and go. I'll pretend none of you were ever here."
Li Huowang began to slowly edge toward the door. "If the Heavenly Book is a fake, then what about those Pill Recipes for refining humans into elixirs? Did you make those up, too?"
The vase-head flashed a simple-minded grin. "I did. Those recipes were the only things I could remember, so I pretended they were written in the book and told Daddy. Don't worry, they won't kill anyone. I don't want Daddy to die. I'm just scared he'll find out I'm useless and abandon me. Look at me… no hands, no feet…"
Just as the vase-head was getting carried away with her explanation, Li Huowang's right hand shot up. He clutched his Jade Pendant and smashed it hard against the vase.
The round Jade Pendant, trailing a white streak, crashed into the porcelain. Cracks spiderwebbed across its surface and, with a look of terror on the girl's face, the entire thing toppled heavily to the ground.
The vase shattered, spilling its contents. A grotesque mass of internal organs, tangled in black Buddha Beads and mixed with feces and urine, was now exposed.
"Waaah… Daddy! It hurts, Daddy, it hurts so much…" The vase-head's cries grew weaker and weaker.