Chapter 105: The Three Gates of the Fire Door (6)

  Did Huo Xiaoyao hear the conversation between Yan Chong and Hua Niangzi just now? The answer is no. Huo Xiaoyao was deeply poisoned by Hua Niangzi's Spring Poison, and the poison had a particularly strong effect on young men who were innocent and vigorous, taking effect extremely quickly. This was something that even the great thief Yan Chong from the Northeast might not have anticipated. If he lost all his wits, Huo Xiaoyao would be at the mercy of others, becoming foolish and crazy for several days, and might even lose his life. The last spark of consciousness in Huo Xiaoyao was slipping away into darkness, and if it went out, Huo Xiaoyao might never awaken again.

  Huǒ Xiǎo Xié felt himself surrounded by a faint glow, falling into the bottomless darkness, the fire in his chest growing dimmer and dimmer, until it suddenly went out... Huǒ Xiǎo Xié was instantly submerged in the endless darkness, floating on the soft surface of the water, as countless sweet voices of women rose up around him: "Huǒ Xiǎo Xié, come love me, come touch me, come, come, listen to my words, you must obey, you are mine, mine..." As the voices spoke, countless hands reached out, slowly caressing Huǒ Xiǎo Xié's entire body. His mind was already lost, and he had no strength left to resist, allowing himself to sink further down.

  "No……" Huo Xiaoyao shouted in his heart, but as he did, the flames that had been extinguished suddenly reignited in his chest, extremely weak. "No!" Huo Xiaoyao shouted again in his heart, and the small flame suddenly grew larger and brighter. "No! No! No! No! I am Huo Xiaoyao! I will not lose!" With a loud explosion, the flames in Huo Xiaoyao's chest erupted like a wildfire, and in an instant, the dark surface of the water transformed into an endless sea of fire, and the enchanting voice was instantly extinguished.

  Huǒ Xiǎo Yè let out a long sigh, sat up from the ground, and began to breathe rapidly in large gulps. Huǒ Xiǎo Yè clutched at his chest, his heart racing wildly, and his hands trembling uncontrollably. Huǒ Xiǎo Yè knew he had just returned from a narrow escape from the gates of hell, extremely lucky, but couldn't understand why a sea of flames suddenly appeared in his heart, saving his life. Was it related to the endless great fire that often appeared in his dreams? The more he was in dark, lonely, and uncertain times, the more this great fire would appear? But what did it ultimately mean? Was it auspicious or ominous?

  Huoxiao Ye was still puzzled, but secretly glad that his mind had cleared up. Huoxiao Ye sat quietly for a moment before slowly crawling back onto the high platform and lying down by the fire pit. Huoxiao Ye had figured it out - earlier, as soon as he moved and left the platform, disaster struck one after another, almost costing him his life. If Hua Niangzi had appeared just then, while he still had his wits about him, he would have steeled himself to remain motionless. After all, this was a high place with bright lighting, and every move was under the gaze of the crowd of bandits.

  Huǒ Xiǎo Xié's idea was correct, not only the thieves in the cave, but even monsters like Jiǎ Dīng Yǐ didn't dare to come up to the high platform where Huǒ Xiǎo Xié was.

  His little evil heart was exhausted, and he lay flat on his back, snoring again until a scream woke him up.

  "Ah!" A mournful cry echoed through the cave, and Huo Xiaoyu immediately sat up straight, looking in the direction of the cry. He saw a person covering their neck, running out from the darkness, stumbling and unable to stand firm, falling off the rock wall with a thud, bouncing several times against the sharp rocks below, rolling onto a large boulder, lying motionless on his back, half of his body covered in blood, seemingly dead. This person had countless pouches hanging from their body, it was the eighth one, San Qi Feng from Fujian.

  A lama jumped onto the protruding rock wall of Sanqi Peak, looked down and turned around, pointing into the darkness and shouting loudly: "Come out! Who are you? We were having a fair competition, how could you not follow the rules of Jianghu, killing people indiscriminately!"

  "Heh heh! Heh heh! Heh heh!" A menacing laughter echoed through the darkness.

  This lama was the fourth, Zhuo Wangnuo from Lhasa. At this time, his body slightly trembled, but he still loudly shouted: "Murderers report your names! This is a bandit's lair, not a killer's lair! We are all famous thieves on the rivers and lakes, how can you come here recklessly? You have broken the rules, you will surely die a terrible death!"

  "Hah! Hah! What moral principles, what thieving ways, all just nonsense. You thieves, with your mouths full of reason, who isn't a selfish and self-serving little person? Hah! Hah! I, Jia Ding Yi, am a thief, but I'm a thief who kills other thieves! I've endured for many years, just waiting for today to unleash my wrath! Hah! Hah!"

  Zhuo Wangnu Jiang cursed: "Jia Ding Yi, don't sneak around, if you want to kill me, come out and let's settle this once and for all!"

  "Haha! Zhuo Wangnu Jiang, your crime is not deserving of death, so I won't let you die."

  "What crime has Sanqi Peak committed?!"

  "I say he's guilty and should die, then he should die! Hehe!"

  A figure suddenly emerged from the side, shouting loudly towards the darkness: "You, Jia Dingyi! What kind of thing are you? You're too arrogant! You're just one person, we have over ten people here! At worst, we'll join forces to kill you, what can you do?" The man was short and small in stature, but wore luxurious clothes, and was the 17th ranked Beiping Zhao Shuncai.

  Zhao Shuncai scolded loudly, but couldn't hear Jia Dingyi's retort.

  Zhao Shuncai continued to scold: "Jia Dingyi, come out and stand in the bright spot, let's see what kind of bear you are. You dare not see people? Is it a green hat on your head, pants on your head, and a donkey egg in your mouth? Your ancestors, stupid, foolish, and brainless!" Zhao Shuncai spoke with a strong Beijing accent, his words sharp and hurtful.

  Still no one responded.

  Zhao Shuncai thought he was clever, thinking that scolding Jia Dingyi would leave him speechless. Instead, he became even more arrogant and shouted: "Everyone in the cave, this Jia Dingyi is really a turtle egg! Let's all show up together and take care of Jia Dingyi first..." Before Zhao Shuncai could finish speaking, a black awn descended from the sky and wrapped around his neck, forcing him to swallow his words.

  Zhao Shuncai was pulled by the black mane, unable to shout again, and immediately wrapped around his neck, pulling him to turn three circles on the ground, thud fell to the ground, body twitched, and died.

  "Hah! Hah! Those who dare to insult me shall be put to death! Hah!" The cold voice of Hei Dongyi came out again from the darkness.

  "Amitabha Buddha, Master Jia Ding Yi, why must you be so overbearing? Monk Su Deng is willing to compete with you to see who's superior. You can kill or punish those below you, but I will force you to show yourself." Monk Su Deng quietly walked out from behind a large stone not far in front of Zhao Shun Cai, and stood on top of it. He raised his right hand, bent at the elbow, with his fingers naturally extended and his palm facing outward. This was the "Abhaya Mudra" gesture in Buddhism, representing the Buddha's great compassionate wish to save all living beings, making their hearts peaceful and fearless, hence its name "Fearless Seal".

  "Hah! Monk Suffering Lamp, aren't you that monk who steals Buddhist teachings everywhere? Hah!"

  "Amitabha, I have already committed the sin of stealing the law. In the future, I will definitely punish myself. Master Jia Ding Yi, please show up and fight me! Otherwise, I will pursue you relentlessly."

  "Haha! Ku Deng and the monk, I really didn't expect you to come and compete for the position of Huo Jia's disciple! Haha! Unfortunately, I won't come out and fight with you, and you can't force me out either. However, I'll give you two good things! So that you don't have to worry about stealing the number plate."

  Jia Ding Yi's gloomy voice faded away in the darkness, and then two wooden plaques flew out of the darkness, shooting straight towards Ku Deng and Shang. Ku Deng and Shang raised their sleeves to catch the plaques, took them in hand, and examined them, slightly furrowing his brow.

  "Haha! Suffering Lamp Monk, these two tokens are indeed those of San Qi Feng and Zhao Shun Cai. Not long ago, San Qi Feng secretly killed Jingzhou's Sharp Ears, but couldn't find the token on him because it had been lost earlier. Just now, San Qi Feng tried to reenact his trick during the competition with stupid donkey lama. Do you think San Qi Feng should die? And that stinky-mouthed Zhao Shun Cai had already had his token stolen by me, but wanted to deceive everyone into thinking he was still alive and become my enemy so he could take advantage of the situation. Should this man not die? Suffering Lamp Monk, it's not that I'm being tyrannical, but rather we are the same kind of people. Since you've taken their tokens, I hope you will be compassionate and help them attain enlightenment! Haha! Haha! Haha!" The sound of Jia Ding Yi's laughter gradually faded away until it was gone.

  The two nameplates in the hands of Monk Ku Deng were exactly the eighth Fujian San Qi Feng and the seventeenth Beijing Zhao Shun Cai, these two dead men's nameplates.

  Ku Deng and the monk stood still, uttered a Buddhist mantra, and then fell silent. He slowly sat down on the stone with his legs crossed, closed his eyes, and began to recite scriptures. The thieves saw that Ku Deng had managed to drive off A Ding and Yi, so even though Ku Deng was now completely defenseless, none of them dared to make a move against him, nor did they dare to steal the Buddhist plaque from his hands.

  Zhuo Wangnu Jiang Lama stood at a high place, listening to Jia Dingyi's last words with his eyes wide open and tongue tied. He looked down at the dead San Qifeng below, recited a Buddhist mantra, and was about to step aside when he heard a weak voice coughing and speaking slowly: "Cough, great lama, I'd like to have a contest with you, what do you say? Cough, cough!"

  Zhuo Wangnuo Jiang stopped in his tracks, looking down to one side. That sickly Shanghai Wang Xiaoxian, also known as "Sick Jar", was slowly walking towards the light not far from Suku Deng and the monk, looking up at Zhuo Wangnuo Jiang. Sick Jar slowly adjusted his glasses, his expression dull, standing unsteadily, almost as if he could be pushed over with just one finger.

  "Ah! Shanghai's Sickly Wang, you want to compete with me?"