Entrapment

“Burrowing technique!” Li Huowang reacted instantly, pulling out his spine sword and swinging it fiercely at one of the rising mounds of earth. He sliced the mound and a large patch of the ground around it clean off.

Just as he severed the second mound, the final one reached his feet.

The next moment, a drilling pain shot through the sole of his left foot. His entire leg went limp, sagging like a wet noodle.

“Something in the ground pulled out my leg bone!” Gritting his teeth against the agony, Li Huowang gripped the Purple-Tasseled Sword and drove it deep into the earth. A black, foul-smelling liquid bubbled up from the wound.

“Li Sui!” As Li Huowang shouted, the space where his missing bone had been was instantly filled by Li Sui’s tendrils.

There was no more time to waste. Stepping through the muddy, bloody path, Li Huowang sprinted toward the distant Peng Longteng.

But when he saw more mounds of earth bulging and rushing toward him across the ground, his heart sank.

“Too many people! I can’t hold out like this—I’ll get bogged down! I need to hide in Great Liang!” Li Huowang thought, and immediately reached for his spine sword.

But then Zhuge Yuan’s voice stopped him, heavy with gravity. “Brother Li, no!”

“You cannot let these people know that your sword can lead to Great Liang. If there are any skilled diviners among this Dharma Sect, you will never know peace in Great Qi!”

Li Huowang cursed under his breath. His feet once again stomped hard into the blood and mud, launching himself high into the air with a powerful push from his tendrils, leaping far into the distance.

After a few heavy jumps, he landed on Peng Longteng’s shoulder and surveyed the sea of Dharma Sect followers surrounding him.

Even from his high vantage point, he could not see the edge. “How many are there?! Why are there so many?! Has the entire population of Great Qi joined the Dharma Sect?!”

Suddenly, an alarm screamed in Li Huowang’s mind. He twisted his body instinctively. Three throwing crossbow bolts shot down from the sky, grazing his red Daoist robe and punching three bloody holes into Peng Longteng’s form.

Scanning his surroundings, Li Huowang found the attacker. It was a female Miao tribeswoman, her limbs and neck twitching wildly. The silver ornaments on her head rustled with every spasm.

She walked across the sea of Dharma Sect followers as if on flat ground, closing in on Li Huowang at an unnatural speed.

Li Huowang had little experience with the Great Liang Dharma Sect, but here in Great Qi, every spell and attack seemed tied to rock and earth.

When he recognized the woman, his pupils contracted. He knew her! She was one of the Zuowandao from the earlier purge.

But now, there was no trace of the Zuowandao left in her. She no longer believed in Doumu. She had fully converted to worship Shidu.

In that moment, Li Huowang understood the severity of the situation in Great Qi. This Dharma Sect was even absorbing members of the Zuowandao. The rest of the population stood no chance.

He had no idea how many more were like her. He didn’t want to be trapped here, but the crowd was so dense that even turning invisible wouldn’t help.

As Li Huowang stared grimly at the Miao woman drawing closer, the corpse Peng Longteng was swinging caught his eye. An idea struck him.

“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—” Peng Longteng grabbed the two tendrils protruding from Li Huowang and began to whirl him around like a sling.

The speed grew so fast that Li Huowang couldn’t keep his eyes open.

Just as three more crossbow bolts tore three bloody wounds into his body, Peng Longteng released her grip, flinging Li Huowang high into the air.

The wind roared past his ears as he soared higher and higher, rising until he could see the very edge of the Dharma Sect’s followers. But as he fell back down, he still landed among them.

It didn’t matter. Li Huowang had figured out the correct way to use his illusion.

Peng Longteng materialized beside him, grabbed his tendrils, and swung him again.

After three consecutive throws, when the dizzy, splitting-headed Li Huowang finally landed, he was no longer in the crowd. He had landed beside a small earthen mound.

Ignoring his pounding headache, Li Huowang immediately shifted his body into the ground, turning invisible.

By the time the Dharma Sect followers converged to search for him, Li Huowang was already far away on a hillside, watching them from a distance.

“Dad! We made it out of their encirclement! We won!” Li Sui’s tendrils waved joyfully.

“Won…?” Li Huowang stared quietly at the ragged Dharma Sect followers still searching for him. He couldn’t help but recall the madwoman, already reduced to pulp by Peng Longteng.

These people were called Dharma Sect followers, but they were nothing more than cannon fodder under the sect’s control. “There’s nothing to be happy about. There are no winners here.”

“H-Help…” A vaguely familiar voice called out again. Li Huowang turned his head. It was Jin Shan Zhao, pointing toward the Dharma Sect followers.

Li Huowang had thought Jin Shan Zhao would remain mute forever. He hadn’t expected him to speak at a time like this, even if it was only a single word.

Even just one word, combined with that expression, was enough for Li Huowang to understand.

“Help? How do you expect me to help? You have grand ambitions and care for the people of this world, but do I look like the Emperor of Great Qi or the Director of the Heavenly Observatory to you?”

Li Huowang looked at him. “You think they’re pitiful? They’re miserable? I’m more miserable than they are! So who’s going to pity me? I can’t even help myself. How am I supposed to help them?”

Jin Shan Zhao’s trembling fingers lowered. He dragged his half-crippled body to a halt and fell silent.

Pressing his fingers against the scabbed wounds on his body, Li Huowang sat down on the ground, waiting for the pain in his head to subside.

He couldn’t afford to push himself right now. After several consecutive swings with Peng Longteng, he had already gone too far. If the innate pneuma inside him lost control again, he would probably end up back in the hospital.

“If you’ve been sticking around me with this in mind, I suggest you disappear now. I’m not Brother Zhuge. I’m not that selfless.” Li Huowang gasped for breath, looking up at the sky as he spoke to Jin Shan Zhao.

Zhuge Yuan didn’t seem intent on joining the conversation. With one hand behind his back, he stood watching the ant-like Dharma Sect followers in the distance, his expression solemn as he calculated something.

After resting for a while, Li Huowang felt a little better. He got ready to stand up and leave before the Dharma Sect could find him.

But just as he sat up, he saw Jin Shan Zhao standing in front of him, his face completely changed. He was grinning at Li Huowang.

“Huh? Why that expression?” Li Huowang immediately noticed that Jin Shan Zhao wasn’t just looking at him. He was looking at something behind Li Huowang.

When Li Huowang turned around, he almost couldn’t stop himself from cursing.

Standing three zhang behind him was a gaunt, emaciated woman in tattered clothes, a white headwrap tied around her head. In her arms, wrapped in a swaddling cloth, was a half-rotted infant.

His delusion had gained another member.