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Chapter 217 Awakening
Consciousness gradually awakens in the darkness.

It felt like a fire was burning in my chest, the heat making my head spin, as if it wanted to drive me completely insane.

At this moment, Zhou You felt as if he were adrift in a sea of ​​suffering, sometimes being tossed far up to the clouds, and sometimes falling aimlessly to the ground.

Finally, all feelings vanished, leaving only boundless nothingness.

After an unknown amount of time, Zhou You finally struggled to open his eyes.

What slowly comes into view is the roof of a hut.

"An unfamiliar ceiling is not right!"

Zhou You endured the stinging pain in his head and began to recall what had happened to him.

All the Tantric masters were wiped out. Then, the sudden descent of Maitreya, Zhengde's nominal master, marked the beginning of a great battle. Finally, at the critical moment, a hand descended.
—Damn it, did I escape or not?
—Is this not the underworld?

Zhou You took a deep breath and prepared to stand up.

however.

The moment he exerted his strength, a tearing pain shot through his entire body. It felt as if someone was branding his muscles with hot tongs, or as if a dagger was slowly dissecting his body. Even the slightest movement was enough to drive him mad with pain.

But Zhou You still bit his lip tightly and slowly got up.

Look around.

What came into view was just an ordinary room, not very big, but clean overall.

As for himself, he had a white cloth wrapped around his chest and abdomen, and there was a faint smell of medicine in the air.

Hiss. Looks like I've escaped?

Just as Zhou You was still feeling a bit confused, the wooden door of the house was suddenly pushed open, and a peasant woman carrying a basin of water walked in.

When she saw that Zhou You had woken up, she was taken aback, but she quickly smiled. She first gently placed the basin of water aside, and then said kindly.

"Taoist Master, you're awake?"

She was dressed simply and looked like a peasant woman, but her way of dealing with the situation was not something an ordinary peasant woman would do.

Zhou You subtly groped around a few times and found Duan Xie still beside his pillow. He was slightly relieved, nodded, and replied.

Excuse me, where is this place?

However, the peasant woman did not answer directly. She simply knocked on the door a few times and then smiled.

"Master, it would be better if you asked the person involved in this matter."

Just as Zhou You was puzzled, a series of 'thump thump thump' footsteps came from outside the door, and then the wooden door was suddenly flung open.

Immediately afterwards, Cai Yuankui's chubby face, beaming with delight, peeked in.

"Master, you're awake? Are you alright?"

Zhou You finally showed a slight smile. He shook his head and then coughed a few times.

"You won't die, Lao Cai, come in—and where am I? And what about Zhengde? Where did he go?"

Cai Yuankui then came in. He first greeted the peasant woman who had come out, and then spoke.

"Master Zhou, Zhengde is not in any major problems for the time being. He is just too exhausted, so I have arranged for him to rest in another room. As for this place, it is a stronghold of the Zhenxie Division outside Lizhou. You can rest assured that it is safe for the time being."

Hearing this, Zhou You's tense body relaxed a little, but he quickly remembered the scene he had seen before he lost consciousness and asked again.

"What about Maitreya Bodhisattva? And what stage has the Dragon Flower Assembly reached?"

Cai Yuankui opened his mouth as if to say something, but immediately let out a sigh. "Alas, Daoist Master, you... should take a look for yourself before making any decisions."

As he spoke, Cai Yuankui had already taken a mirror out of his pocket and thrown it into the basin of water next to him.

The water surface instantly boiled, then turned into wisps of mist that filled the entire room.

He then offered an explanation.

"Daoist Master, don't be afraid. This is the Water Mirror Sect's technique of transforming mist into scenery. It can project a view from another location over a hundred miles away. This is one of our last few remaining."

Zhou You, however, ignored him.

He just stared blankly at the scenery in the mist, completely unaware that the wounds on his body had reopened.

Right in his line of sight was the view of Twin Rivers City, or rather, the view of what was once Twin Rivers City.

The Bodhi Temple that used to be in the center of the city has disappeared, replaced by a large-bellied Bodhisattva sitting cross-legged on the ground, as tall as a mountain.

The Bodhisattva sat cross-legged on the ground, his hands forming the lotus mudra, his smile auspicious and compassionate. He kept opening and closing his mouth, as if preaching to the people of the secular world, or as if expounding some kind of truth, enlightening these confused beings.

however.

Beneath this Bodhisattva, however, lay a stark, hellish scene.

The earth had rotted like mud, and the city walls and houses were covered with all kinds of colorful mold spots. Twisted and strange fungi grew in every corner. Rats, cockroaches, and all kinds of insects in the sewers grew dozens or even hundreds of times larger as if they had been injected with hormones, and then they began to devour and kill each other.

On the street, many people were still wailing and crying. Some were running away, some were resisting, and some were holding Buddhist prayer beads and praying devoutly. But no matter what, they could not help but gradually melt away in the sound of Buddhist chanting. In the end, they turned into a dirty and smelly wax figure together with the surrounding mud and filth.

"Is this the start of the Longhua Dharma Assembly? Which round is it now?"

Cai Yuankui's face was also very ugly. He spoke slowly in a voice that seemed to come from his lungs.

"Replying to the Daoist Master, this is only the first lecture of the opening ceremony, but the problem is that even this one lecture has already destroyed nearly the entire Shuanghe City. Now the pollution is still spreading outwards at a rapid pace, and it is estimated that in at most one or two days, it will affect this shelter."

"."

Zhou You remained silent for a while, then suddenly remembered something and spoke again.

"What about your Evil Suppression Division? At least it's an organization that monitors the entire world. Now that this matter is about to get out of control, don't you have any good solutions?"

Cai Yuankui nodded.

"It is good that the Taoist priest knows that I sent a message for help as soon as I escaped. Now the remaining Taoist riders in Lizhou have gathered here, and the officials in the court have also made a decision to mobilize Zhang Tianshi of Longhu Mountain, as well as the two Zen masters Du'e and Dunan of Baima Temple and Posuo Temple to provide support."

Upon hearing this, Zhou You's expression softened slightly.

Although he didn't know how capable these people were, since the court had sent them to take over, they must have the ability to solve problems.

"This is the only good news we've had in a while. So when exactly will these big shots arrive?"

Cai Yuankui hesitated for a moment before uttering a number.

"One month."

Zhou You was taken aback.

"Wait, how much did you say?"

Cai Yuankui's bitter smile deepened.

"I mean a month."

(End of this chapter)