The Nun, Again

Chapter 165: The Nun, Again

Carrying the stack of pastries on his back, Li Huowang gasped for air as he trudged up the dirt path of Mount Heng.

With only one hand now and so many pastries to carry, this climb was even harder than last time.

To keep the sweat from soaking through the wrappers, he held the box as far from his body as he could, which only made the burden worse.

Finally, at a bend in the trail, he couldn’t take it anymore. He set the pastries down, leaned against a crooked tree, and panted heavily.

He’d climbed the mountain without a break right after arriving at its base, and now hunger was starting to gnaw at him.

After a moment’s thought, he reached into the box, pulled out a mung-bean cake, and bit into it.

The crisp, crumbly pastry soothed his empty stomach. He’d never had this kind of cake before, but now, tasting it, he found it surprisingly good.

It seemed to have been made just this morning—crisp and fragrant. Better than any of the cream cakes or chocolates he’d eaten before he crossed over.

As for eating the nun’s pastries… Li Huowang didn’t see a problem with that.

It wasn’t his first time here. He didn’t need to stand on ceremony with Abbess Jingxin. She wouldn’t mind.

“This should be enough to fill her up, right?” he said, looking at the pile. Then he smiled to himself.

“No. Even double this probably wouldn’t be enough for her.”

He smiled, then froze. When had he gotten this close to Abbess Jingxin?

Now that he thought about it, for all her greed, laziness, and filth, she was still the kindest person he’d met in this world—aside from his fellow disciples.

She hadn’t tried to kill him for being a Heart-Element. She’d helped drive Danyangzi out of him. And before he left, worried he might run into danger on the road, she’d deliberately given him a sword.

“If I weren’t committed to taking Bai Lingmiao and the others home, settling down in the town at the foot of this mountain wouldn’t be a bad choice. This is Anci Nunnery’s territory. No one else would come looking for trouble here.”

Thinking these idle thoughts, he ate half the box of mung-bean cakes before stopping himself.

He looked out at the lush greenery of Mount Heng and let out a long breath. Then something occurred to him. He reached into his robe and pulled out a book—the translation of the True Sutra of the Fire Vestments.

He opened it slowly, intending to check how far Danyangzi’s influence had spread. What he saw sent a chill through his heart.

He couldn’t recognize a single character.

“No… I need to hurry.” His voice was tight. “Danyangzi is accelerating his possession of me. If I keep dragging this out, I’ll be completely subsumed!”

He shoved the book back into his robe, picked up the pastries, and resumed his climb up the dirt path.

By the time the moon hung high in the sky, he had reached the gate of Anci Nunnery.

Seeing the diamond-shaped couplets written in women’s script again filled him with a strange warmth.

“Abbess! I’m back! Look what I brought you!”

Calling out excitedly, Li Huowang strode into the pitch-black nunnery.

“No candles lit? Looks like they couldn’t be bothered.”

The moment his foot crossed the threshold of the dilapidated Bodhisattva hall, he felt something was wrong.

“Where’s the stench?”

He dropped the pastries, stood still, and took several deep breaths. The thick, rank odor that had once permeated Anci Nunnery was gone—completely and utterly gone.

“Something’s very wrong!”

His heart racing, Li Huowang abandoned all caution and charged deeper into the nunnery.

“Abbess Jingxin! Miaoyin! Miaoxin! Where are you?!”

His voice echoed through the halls, but no one answered. A cold dread seized him.

Then he heard something in the distance. He sprinted toward the sound. As he got closer, he recognized it—the grunting of pigs.

When he reached the pigpen behind the latrine, the sight before him froze him in place.

A figure as massive as a small house lay sprawled in the pen. The black-haired hogs surrounded her like piglets suckling at a sow.

But they weren’t suckling.

They were eating her.

Their trough-worn molars, used to grinding slops and filth, tore strips of greasy flesh from the enormous body. Each pig’s snout was slick and red. They feasted without concern.

“Get OFF!”

Eyes bloodshot, Li Huowang drew his sword and charged. Before the pigs could even turn, he swept them—one cut, two halves, all dead.

The remaining black pigs scattered, terrified by his killing intent.

He fell to his knees before the dead giantess. He cradled the head—only half a face remained, gnawed down to the bone. It was Abbess Jingxin’s face.

“AAAAHHHHH!!!”

His anguished roar tore through the night of Anci Nunnery.

Clutching her face to his chest, tears fell to the dirt. Abbess Jingxin was dead. The only person in this world who had been kind to him was dead, and she had taken the last shred of hope he had with her.

“WHO DID THIS?!”

Nearly mad with grief, Li Huowang exploded out of the pigpen, sword in hand, searching the nunnery for the enemy.

But all he found were more dead nuns. No one else.

Abbess Jingxin had been dead for a while. Whoever had done this was long gone.

“WHO KILLED HER?!”

The question consumed his mind. He took a step toward the gate, sword still drawn, then stopped.

Eyes bloodshot, he trudged back to Abbess Jingxin’s side. He drew his sword again and began digging a grave beside her. He wouldn’t let her be eaten by pigs, even in death.

The grave needed to be large. He dug for a very long time—well into the next afternoon—before it was barely adequate.

As he prepared to roll her body in, he noticed something strange.

Her corpse had sat out all night. But there was no sign of decay. No flies.

The image of the river corpses surfaced in his mind. They, too, had not rotted. They, too, had been eerily lifelike.

“Were they all killed by the same people? Does everyone they kill stop rotting? Who are they?!”

“Wait. That’s not right.”

He realized he’d overlooked something. After a moment’s thought, he rushed back to the pigpen. He examined the black pigs he’d killed the day before.

They had also sat out through the night and the following day. They, too, had attracted no flies. They, too, showed no decay.

Li Huowang staggered out of the pen, staring in disbelief at the nunnery around him. There was no sign of a struggle anywhere.

In any world, decay is an inescapable part of existence.

But now, in this moment, it was as if the world itself had malfunctioned. The process of rot had simply… stopped.

“Maybe… no one killed her.”

Slowly, the realization dawned. He turned back to look at Abbess Jingxin.

Her skin—once grotesque, bloated, and crawling with boils and maggots—was now smooth and pale.

The “decay” of this world had vanished.