Mutated Tao

Li Huowang sensed something was wrong and started rapidly punching his own head.

He realized that it wasn’t working. He stabbed his head with a long needle instead. The intense pain stopped his thoughts in time.

“Hah!” Cold sweat drenched his blood-red robes as he panted and gritted his teeth. No matter what the Siming was, since he had to defeat the Dharma Sect, he had no choice but to meet them.

Just then, he felt a pair of eyes staring at him.

“Who’s there?!” he shouted. Three tentacles sprouted out, with Li Sui gripping a sword in each of them.

He then saw Chan Du, the Abbot of the Qi Kingdom, shuffling out from a small alley.

“Benefactor Li, I require a bit of assistance. Would you be kind enough to help?”

I knew that there would be a price to pay. No wonder he agreed so fast just now. He wanted me to help him with something…

Li Huowang pondered before asking, “What do you need? I can’t do many things, and I don’t have the time to travel anywhere far away.”

Li Huowang hated doing other people favors to get what he needed, especially when they were allies. Nevertheless, he couldn’t be bothered to argue.

He only needed to find out the method that Xuan Pin had used. Everything else was insignificant at the moment.

“Benefactor Li does not have to fight. Please follow me.”

Li Huowang sheathed his three swords and followed Chan Du.

Even though Chan Du wanted Li Huowang to help him, he never explained what he needed. He just brought Li Huowang deep into the temple.

The monastery still looked beautiful, though the Righteous Monastery was not as clean as before.

Li Huowang walked slowly through the monastery as the sun set and the bell tolled. He stared at the majestic temples, emanating an aura of reverence.

They walked for fifteen minutes before they approached a large hall.

The hall looked new. There was no sign on it, and a few monks were still busy painting the wood.

Several old ginkgo trees surrounded the large hall, which was solemn and majestic from the front. Since it was new, there were very few devotees there.

Li Huowang followed Chan Du into the hall before realizing it was empty inside. There was an altar with a lotus seat, but there was nothing there. The hall was completely empty.

For some reason, there was a lot of lit incense in the incense burner, even though there wasn’t a deity or statue in it.

“What’s going on? Did your Buddha run away? You want me to track it down?”

Chan Du shook his head and lit three incense sticks before praying earnestly towards the empty altar.

“Benefactor Li, I’ve sent some of my disciples outside to scour for information. They told me it wasn’t a coincidence that we survived—we were saved by someone else. We were supposed to die, but someone saved us by connecting the Dragon Vein of the Qi Kingdom to the Liang Kingdom.”

Li Huowang gradually let his guard down when he heard Chan Du. He somehow knew what Chan Du wanted him to do. “You are right. Someone saved you.”

Chan Du perked up attentively. “May I know our savior's name? I’ve also heard that this matter concerns you?”

“He’s already dead. Why are you asking for this now?”

“No, every survivor of the Qi Kingdom is indebted to our savior. We, who follow the teachings of Buddha, do not allow ourselves to be indebted to another person without repaying their kindness. I wish to erect a statue of our savior so that the others can pray and give their thanks.”

Li Huowang stared at the empty altar and chuckled. “So that’s how you become a Buddha? Would he actually become one? He doesn’t even believe in Buddha, so that’s quite a joke.”

“Benefactor Li, what is a Buddha? Is a Buddha a cultivator who has undergone all three major tribulations? Or is it one who has obtained sufficient merits and wisdom? Or is this a Buddha?” Chan Du pointed at the empty altar.

Li Huowang sat on the ground and wrote “Buddha” on the marble. He stared at the writing before sighing.

“Those capable of saving hundreds of thousands of people should become a Buddha. I’ve even asked my disciples to spread the word of the savior who rescued us from the Qi Kingdom. I wish for the remaining survivors to come and pray to the savior.”

“He’s already dead. What good will it do?”

Li Huowang raised his hand, and the marble tiles of the hall slowly began to stick together. Eventually, they formed a marble statue of Zhuge Yuan on the altar.

Chan Du’s eyes widened with shock upon seeing this. “It’s him?!”

Li Huowang sighed and left the newly opened hall.

Chan Du did not move. He stood still and stared at the statue. “So this is what a Buddha looks like.”

Once news spread out of the new hall, every surviving monk who came from the Qi Kingdom put down their work and started making their way to pray to their savior.

Soon, several groups of survivors from the Qi Kingdom somehow caught wind of the newly opened hall. They made their way towards the new hall, carrying offerings and taking their children along. They prayed earnestly to Zhuge Yuan’s statue, and their prayers didn’t stop, even late into the night.

Li Huowang stared at the crowd from a corner in the dark. He looked at the statue enveloped in incense smoke and heard the prayers coming from the devotees with his sharp hearing.

Their prayers were so earnest that even Li Huowang thought the statue would come to life and reply their prayers.

Li Huowang stared at them and realized that Zhuge Yuan had indeed saved a lot of people.

The old monk illusion beside him jumped excitedly. “Daoist, please materialize me! I want to do good deeds and become a Buddha!”

Li Huowang ignored him and turned to leave. Just then, Li Huowang saw the other Abbot leading a group of serious-looking monks into the hall.

They were conducting a ceremony, but Li Huowang didn’t know the details about it.

The Abbot held a roll of yellow fabric and carefully wrapped it around the statue. He then took out a brush dipped in cinnabar before drawing a single red dot on Zhuge Yuan’s forehead.

Li Huowang laughed when he saw Zhuge Yuan with a red dot on his forehead. “HAHAHA!”

His laughter spread out far. Several monks and devotees were looking at where the laughter came from.

“Pfft! Hahaha! It’s alright, just continue doing your things! Hahaha!” Li Huowang laughed as he left the hall.