Xin Hui: The Abbot

1,357 words

Chapter 46: Xin Hui

“Buddha?” Li Huowang stared up at the thing before him, his mouth hanging open.

Whatever the old monk saw as the Buddha, what Li Huowang saw was a single massive, twisted mound of pink flesh, at least twenty meters tall. Its skin was like a toad’s back, covered in thick, clotted plasma.

Obscene, malformed reproductive organs, wrapped in that same plasma, pushed in and out of the nauseating skin, writhing in time with the thing’s pulsing movements.

And this grotesque, sickening mass was completely covered in squirming monks.

They were feeding on the pink mist that sprayed from the thing’s body, their expressions ecstatic, their breathing ragged, using their own flesh to fill every gap and crevice in the “Buddha’s” form.

Women. Their own kind. Beasts. And now this. The monks of Zhengde Temple seemed to be testing the limits of their own physical depravity, one step at a time.

“Well? Impressive, isn’t it? This is the biggest stone Buddha I’ve ever seen!” the old monk said, standing beside him, completely oblivious.

Li Huowang’s body went rigid. He had always assumed that someone as evil as Danyangzi was a true heretic, rejected by the mainstream.

If the monks of Zhengde Temple were enemies of Danyangzi, then they might not be saints, but at least they followed some kind of rules.

But that assumption had been fundamentally wrong. There was no righteous path and no heretic path! Maybe the entire world was just as monstrous as this!

Maybe Danyangzi’s feud with these monks wasn’t about good versus evil at all. It was just two gangs fighting over territory!

Whatever their reasons, one thing was certain: everything the old abbot had said was a lie. He had been tricked!

“The Great Deliverance Feast? That old monk was definitely lying. I have to get out of this place. Now.”

Li Huowang turned his head to look at the old monk, who still hadn't noticed anything wrong. He didn't know why the monks’ illusion didn’t work on him.

But he knew one thing for sure: they hadn’t discovered him yet. If he wanted to escape, he had to use that to his advantage.

Li Huowang forced himself not to make any sudden moves. He schooled his expression and turned away. “It’s alright, I suppose. Not that impressive. I’m going back now.”

Without waiting for a reply, he strode out of the main hall and into the nauseating carving yard outside.

The mounds of flesh all around him were still pulsing and writhing, but he pretended not to see them and kept walking.

“Hey, Taoist, don’t go! You just got here, what’s the hurry?”

The old monk scrambled out of the hall and hurried after him. “The food here is pretty good, too. How about we grab a bite before you go? Their fried tofu tastes better than meat!”

Li Huowang put on a look of mild annoyance and quickened his pace, the old monk chattering on beside him.

Just as Li Huowang was about to clear the field of flesh, a tall, broad figure blocked his path.

It was a huge, stern-faced monk. He was a full head taller than Li Huowang, and he stared at him in silence.

“Something I can help you with, Master?” Li Huowang asked coldly, his heart suddenly clenching in his chest.

The tall monk leaned forward, looking Li Huowang up and down with intense scrutiny.

Then something happened that made Li Huowang’s heart skip a beat. A thin, flexible, black tentacle, covered in tiny suction cups, slithered out from the tonsure scar on the top of the monk’s head. It grew longer and longer.

The strange tentacle moved like a sea snake swimming through the air, slowly circling Li Huowang’s head as if it were sensing something.

“Amitabha. Goodness, goodness. Benefactor, your heart is not pure.”

At these words, the writhing mounds of flesh all around them suddenly froze. Every single monk turned to stare at Li Huowang.

He knows I can see through the illusion! I have to fight! Seeing that things were spiraling beyond his control, Li Huowang steeled himself. He reached behind his back with one hand, drew his sword, and swung it with all his might at the monk in front of him.

Rrriip! The monk’s tentacle and his robe were both slashed open in an instant, spraying a foul mixture of yellow and green pus.

A pill flew into Li Huowang’s mouth. He pushed off the ground with both feet, launching himself three meters into the air, heading straight for the nearest earthen wall.

The moment Li Huowang moved, everything around him began to change drastically. All the monks on the fleshy mountain leaped off and charged after him with furious roars.

But that wasn’t all. The ground shook violently, nearly knocking everyone off their feet.

From his perch on top of the wall, Li Huowang instinctively turned his head. He saw the enormous “Buddha” smashing through the wooden doors of the main hall, rolling straight toward him!

Escape! Get out of this temple! There’s no way they’ll let all of Xijing see the true face of their “Buddha”!

Holding onto that thought, Li Huowang sprinted toward the front gate. The noise behind him grew louder and louder, but he no longer had any attention to spare for it.

It was one man running, with a crowd in pursuit. The pill he had swallowed gave him incredible endurance. Though there were several close calls, he managed to avoid being caught.

He was just one turn away from the gates of Zhengde Temple when a familiar face blocked his path. It was Xin Hui, the abbot of Zhengde Temple.

Without a second thought, Li Huowang reached into his robes for the Daoist bell. But the next second, his hand froze. The bell he used to summon the Wandering Lord was gone.

“Amitabha. Benefactor Xuan Yang, are you looking for this?” Xin Hui asked, holding the bell out. His expression remained as calm and unhurried as ever.

Before Li Huowang could answer, Xin Hui walked over to him and gently placed the bell back in his hand. “Benefactor, this object is inauspicious. Use it with care.”

Then, instead of questioning Li Huowang, he turned to face the crowd of monks who had just caught up. He scolded them. “Silence. You are men of the cloth. What is the meaning of this panicked behavior?”

“Abbot! We wouldn’t be panicked if this Daoist disciple hadn’t suddenly attacked Senior Brother Jian Wei!”

Hearing this, Abbot Xin Hui turned back to Li Huowang with a perplexed expression. “Benefactor Xuan Yang, is this true? Why did you suddenly attack one of our disciples? Was his service not to your liking?”

Li Huowang looked at the sea of bald heads before him, then at the bell that had been lost and found again in his hand. He couldn’t understand what they were doing.

They all knew he had seen everything. What was the point of this charade?

After thinking for a moment, Li Huowang decided to just lay his cards on the table. “Abbot Xin Hui, you had a grudge against Danyangzi. And I’m the one who killed him. I’m not asking for your gratitude, but you don’t have to kill me either, do you?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll keep my mouth shut about everything I saw in this temple. I won’t tell a soul.”

“Besides, one man’s word isn’t enough to shake the reputation of your Zhengde Temple.”

But upon hearing Li Huowang’s words, Xin Hui’s expression became even more confused. “What did you see, benefactor? This old monk does not understand.”

For a moment, both sides just stood there, frozen in a sudden, uneasy silence.

Huh? What’s going on? Is the abbot not in on it with those things? Filled with doubt, Li Huowang slowly began to describe everything he had seen.

“Preposterous! Utter nonsense!” For the first time, Li Huowang saw Xin Hui show anger. The two white whiskers beneath his nose trembled like dragon’s whiskers. A powerful aura radiated from him, instantly cowing the monks behind him into bowing their heads.

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Reading Guide Decoding

The Flesh Buddha is Unveiled: The True Horror of Zhengde Temple

Cultural / Xianxia Notes

The Flesh Buddha (肉佛): This is not a monster from nowhere. In the Dao-Twisted World, “becoming a Buddha” is a literal, horrific process. The monks are not worshipping an idol; they are merging their own flesh with a parasitic entity that has been “cultivated” over generations. This is a perversion of Buddhist cultivation, where enlightenment (bodhi) is replaced with corporeal fusion. The pink flesh and organs are a direct mockery of the “pure” and “detached” body a Buddha is supposed to have.
The Vertical Eye (竖眼): The black tentacle emerging from Jian Wei’s tonsure scar is a type of “Vertical Eye” (竖眼), a metaphysical and often physical organ associated with forbidden sight and hidden knowledge. In many Chinese folk and Buddhist traditions, the “third eye” or “Buddha-eye” represents wisdom and insight. Here, it is literally a writhing, parasitic tentacle, symbolizing that the temple’s “insight” is a corrupt, predatory sense.
The Illusion Barrier: It is crucial to understand that the old monk and presumably most of the temple’s lay followers do not see the Flesh Buddha. They see a grand, stone statue. The monks’ power is not just physical; it is a psychological and perceptual field that redefines reality for those within it. Li Huowang’s ability to see through it is a direct consequence of his nature as a Heart-Element (心素)—he is already a crack in reality, and these lesser illusions cannot hold him.
Eyes as Signature: The constant emphasis on eyes in this novel—the vertical eye, the staring monk, the “thousand-eyed” bodies—is a signature motif. In the Dao-Twisted World, to “see” is to be complicit, to be a witness, and often to be a target. Li Huowang’s sight is his curse and his only weapon.

Vertical eye (竖眼)

A metaphysical third eye that erupts from the skull, often manifesting as a tentacle in this novel. A symbol of corrupted wisdom and forbidden sight.

Vertical Eye Tentacle

In the Dao-Twisted World, a monk's ‘third eye’ is not an inner light, but a physical, sucker-covered tentacle used to sense hidden truths, such as a liar’s ‘impure heart.’

Eyes (眼睛)

A recurring motif. To see the truth is to be cursed with knowledge in this novel. Li Huowang’s ability to see the Flesh Buddha is a direct consequence of his Heart-Element nature and sets him apart from everyone else.

Chapter Overview

Get ready, fellow Daoists, because Li Huowang just walked into the biggest, most horrifying trap in Xijing, and it’s not the one he was expecting. After surviving Danyangzi’s alchemical nightmare, he thought he’d found a safe harbor in the pious-looking Zhengde Temple. Nope. This chapter is a brutal rug-pull that reveals the Dao-Twisted World’s ultimate truth: there is no “good” side. The monks aren’t righteous warriors against evil; they’re just a different flavor of flesh-worshipping horror. Li Huowang sees their true, grotesque Buddha—a pulsating, parasitic mountain of organs—and instantly knows he’s stumbled into another den of monsters. The tension is a masterclass in panic: a lone man realizing he’s surrounded, outnumbered, and completely out of options, with only his wits and a terrible secret to cling to.

Key Plot Points

The chapter opens with Li Huowang’s vision of the “Buddha” shattering: what is a sacred, stone statue to the pious monks is, to him, a twenty-meter-tall mound of pink, writhing flesh covered in malformed reproductive organs and plasma. The monks are physically merging with it, feeding on its pink mist.
Li Huowang’s worldview collapses. He finally understands that the conflict between Danyangzi and Zhengde Temple isn’t a holy war; it’s a gang war between two equally monstrous factions.
The old beggar-monk, completely blind to the horror, tries to compliment the “Buddha’s” size, providing a terrifyingly mundane counterpoint to Li Huowang’s existential dread.
Li Huowang attempts a quiet escape, pretending nothing is wrong, but his cover is blown by the towering monk Jian Wei, who uses a black, sucker-covered tentacle from his own tonsure scar to “sense” Li Huowang’s impure heart.
A fight breaks out. Li Huowang slashes the tentacle, swallows a pill, and makes a desperate run for the temple gates, triggering a full-scale chase involving the rolling, fleshy “Buddha” itself.
Just before the exit, Li Huowang is intercepted not by a monster, but by Abbot Xin Hui himself, who calmly returns his lost Daoist bell, calling it “inauspicious.”
In a tense standoff, Li Huowang decides to lay his cards on the table, explaining what he saw and offering a truce. The chapter ends on a knife’s edge as Xin Hui, for the first time, shows genuine anger, calling Li Huowang’s testimony “preposterous.”

Reading Guide

Alright, let’s talk about the real horror of this chapter. It’s not the tentacles, the pus, or even the giant rolling meat mountain. It’s the sheer normalcy of the situation for everyone else. The old monk is chirping about fried tofu while Li Huowang is staring at a nightmare. This is the core of cosmic horror: being the only sane person in a world that has collectively agreed to hallucinate something sweet while it eats them alive.

Notice how Abbot Xin Hui reacts. He doesn’t attack immediately. He listens. He looks confused. This is a brilliant character moment. Is he genuinely ignorant of his own temple’s depravity? Or is he trying to gaslight Li Huowang, to make him doubt the evidence of his own senses? The chapter ends on an open question, and that ambiguity is far more terrifying than a simple monster battle. The best horror asks, “Is the monster lying, or am I the one who’s crazy?” Spoiler alert: in this book, the answer is usually both.

Also, pay close attention to Li Huowang’s growth here. In the early chapters with Danyangzi, he was a victim. Here, he’s thinking strategically. His first instinct isn’t blind rage; it’s to assess the situation and negotiate a way out. He’s learning the rules of this world, even if those rules are written in blood and screaming.