47 Placing the Incense Sticks

However, immediately after saying those words, Xin Hui realized his mistake and placed his hands together, praying toward the western direction with his eyes closed.

"Amitabha! This disciple is in the wrong. I will write down the sutras a hundred times after this to atone for my wrongdoings," said Xin Hui.

After that, Xin Hui turned back to calmly look at Li Huowang once again. He thought about it for a moment before lightly nodding his head. "I think I may know why you saw those things. Benefactor Xuan Yang, please follow me."

Looking at how the other monks were staring at him angrily, Li Huowang had no choice but to sheathe his sword and follow the abbot.

Xin Hui brought him back to the place where he had seen the monks who were sculpting the statues. "Benefactor Xuan Yang, was it here that you saw those filthy things?"

Li Huowang, surrounded by the other monks, was shocked to see that the various masses of flesh had changed back into incomplete statues; it was as if they were mocking him. "Wait…"

"Benefactor, follow me." Xin Hui started moving once again.

Under Xin Hui's lead, Li Huowang was brought back to the place where he had seen the livestock and animals.

However, now there were none. The only thing he saw were incomplete statues of the Qilins and lions, all of them aligned neatly, their stone eyes gazing at them lifelessly.

Just then, Xin Hui suddenly took Li Huowang's sword and slashed the statues, causing one of the stone lion's heads that was the size of Xin Hui's palm to be separated from its body. Then, he grabbed the head of the stone lion and placed it in Li Huowang's hand.

Li Huowang gently touched the head of the lion; the texture and weight of the lion's head told him that it was indeed made of stone!

They then arrived at the large hall, and he saw a giant statue of Buddha sitting in lotus form. Its left hand was holding a bowl meant for receiving alms while its right hand was pointing its index finger directly toward the ground. The Buddha statue appeared to be completely motionless in front of Li Huowang.

"Impossible! I had seen all of it so clearly, so how could it all be fake?" Li Huowang questioned himself.

Hearing his words, Abbot Xin Hui sighed. "Amitabha! Benefactor, it seems that the severity of your illness is not light."

Li Huowang paused and considered a possibility. 

Did my hysteria return? Was everything that I saw simply an illusion? 

Xin Hui nodded his head lightly, as if he could read Li Huowang's mind. "Benefactor, you are much more aware of what kind of illness you have than us."

"But I ate so much of the Black Taisui flesh. Was all of that only able to last this long? Did my hysteria really return?" Li Huowang mumbled as he placed both hands on his head.

Hearing his words, the monks around him whispered to each other, telling what they had just heard to the others.

"We chased him for so long and it turned out that he was just someone sick," lamented one of the monks.

"If there's no issue, then it would be better to send him out of the monastery. What if his hysteria worsens and he starts cutting people up?" commented another monk.

"Quiet!" Xin Hui shouted out, silencing everyone.

Xin Hui then entered the hall and lit up four incense sticks before offering them to Li Huowang and saying, "I'm fine with you disturbing my disciples, but it's not good to disturb the Buddha. Please admit your mistakes and offer these incense sticks."

"Offer these incense sticks?" Li Huowang glanced toward the massive Buddha statue, then toward Xin Hui, and the four incense sticks. His body once again tensed up.

"Benefactor, what are you waiting for? This was your mistake after all," Xin Hui said as he shook the incense sticks.

However, in Li Huowang's mind, he could not forget the mass of flesh and the monks around the monster's body. If all of that was real, wouldn't it consume him if he went up to offer the incense sticks?

"Benefactor, why are you hesitating?" asked Abbot Xin Hui.

At that moment, Li Huowang saw that Xin Hui's face was beginning to show signs of impatience.

For a moment, he looked up toward the sun while holding the stone lion's head. In the end, he threw the stone lion's head aside and took the incense sticks with both his hands. Then, he walked past the door and slowly approached the gigantic Buddha statue.

He walked quite slowly due to his tense muscles and the fact that his mind was racing. Sweat dripped down his forehead.

Soon, he arrived at the base of the statue. 

The statue did not move, nor did it transform into the vile thing he had seen earlier.

Li Huowang held the incense sticks with both his hands while standing in front of the incense burner. He looked up once again, only to see the Buddha's stony eyes watching him devoid of any emotions. At that moment, Li Huowang felt a sense of respect for the statue.

As he held the incense sticks above his head to pray, the four incense sticks lightly shook as the white smoke slowly drifted from them to the top of the hall.

After praying three times and placing the incense sticks into the incense burner, Li Huowang turned around and walked out of the hall.

Seeing that the conflict had been resolved, the monks slowly dispersed, going back to their work stations before continuing with their work. Soon, the sound of chisel striking against stone echoed throughout the courtyard.

Meanwhile, Li Huowang followed Xin Hui down the brick path and exited.

"Benefactor Xuan Yang, since your illness is so serious, you should just stay here and wait for the Great Fast instead of wandering around the place. Even though your illness is troubling, Dan Yangzi is even more dangerous. We should do the necessary things slowly, taking it step by step, just like how we eat rice one mouthful at a time," Xin Hui said as he held his prayer beads.

Li Huowang raised his head and stared at the bright sun. He raised his hands and stretched his body as he asked, "Abbot, is there a method to cure my illness in the Righteous Monastery?"

"I will let my disciples know. Maybe they can help, or maybe they can't. After all, the Righteous Monastery doesn't specialize in medicine nor do we have the necessary medical knowledge," replied Xin Hui.

"It's alright. I was just asking. I'm already used to my illness." Li Huowang said. 

After hesitating for a moment, Li Huowang asked, "Wait, how did you do that just now? How did you take the bell that was on my body?"

"Hoho. It's just a children's trick. Nothing much," replied Xin Hui.

"Abbot, no need to be so humble. If you say that it was nothing much, then it would mean that I'm even less than an insect," said Li Huowang with a wry smile.

"Benefactor Xuan Yang, that's not the case. Even though Dan Yangzi was not as strong as me, he was still very skilled. Nonetheless, was he not eliminated by you?"

"Dan Yangzi was strong? Then how strong are you? How do you categorize the strength of people like him?" asked Li Huowang.

"There is a way to categorize them as Heaven, Earth, Black, and Yellow, but that is just something that was made up by the people. As monks, we are not interested in fame, so I don't know much about it," replied Xin Hui.

As they walked, they talked for a long time, allowing Li Huowang to learn many new things about this world.

When they finally left the courtyard, Li Huowang stopped, bowed, and thanked Xin Hui, "Thank you for helping me, abbot."

"It's nothing. It's just a simple matter. If your body is feeling unwell, then you should head back and rest," replied Xin Hui.

After some pleasantries, Li Huowang left. When he looked around after a while, he didn't see the abbot following him, so he started walking back to his place.

He walked quite slowly, as if he was busy thinking about something. Finally, after one hour, he reached his room. The moment he closed the door, his expression twisted into one filled with anger as he punched the wall of the room. He didn't know what that monk had used to deceive everyone's senses, but Li Huowang was someone who had a lot of experience dealing with illusions due to his illness. This was why he was extremely sensitive to such illusions. He had already felt that the massive stone Buddha had something off about it, just like the hospital in his illusion, but he just didn't know what.

"The statues were all fake! Even the giant Buddha statue was fake! They must've cast an illusion spell! I know what I've seen and those filthy things were not some illusion!"