Mutated Tao

Li Huowang curled up like a fetus, remaining motionless in a corner of the Preparation Room.

The other guiding drug ingredients didn’t dare to disturb him and just quietly went about their own tasks.

Unknowingly, night had descended upon them, and all the oil lamps on the wall were extinguished.

Darkness enveloped Li Huowang like a blanket as he lay there like a corpse, unresponsive to the changes in the outside world.

At around 1 a.m., a faint candlelight flickered to life at the entrance, illuminating the nearby shelves and dissipating the darkness around Li Huowang’s body.

It was Bai Lingmiao who was timidly carrying a bundle of dried grass toward Li Huowang, before carefully placing it over his body.

Then, she pulled out a steamed bun made with mixed grains from her pocket, and placed it near his mouth.

Seeing Li Huowang continue to remain motionless, she pursed her lips and gently nudged him. "Senior, please have a bite. You haven’t eaten anything all day."

Li Huowang’s eyes were open. He hadn’t blinked for those last few hours, and was just numbly staring at the icy-cold ground. He showed no signs of movement despite Bai Lingmiao approaching him.

Bai Lingmiao wanted to leave, but after a moment of hesitation, she took out a jade pendant from her pocket and placed it in the palm of Li Huowang’s hand.

“Senior, this is yours. Please take it back.”

This time, Li Huowang finally reacted. He looked at the object in his hand and realized that it was the circular jade pendant he had stolen from the previous Xuan Yang.

Li Huowang remembered that he had given this item to Yang Na in order for her to exchange it for money. Just the thought of Yang Na made his broken heart start to ache once again.

"How did this end up with you?" asked Li Huowang.

“It was Senior Li who passed it to me. Even though I said that I didn’t want it, you insisted on giving it to me.”

Under the dim candlelight, Li Huowang slowly sat up and carefully examined the jade pendant with cloud patterns on it.

Before this moment, he had never felt that everything here to be so real. However, in this reality, there was only genuine despair and agony.

If he was given the choice, he would prefer to remain trapped in that beautiful illusion forever.

Seeing Li Huowang respond, Bai Lingmiao asked softly, "Senior Li, where were you captured by Master? I’m from the Liang Kingdom. Where are you from?"

Li Huowang was stumped, but then he shook his head dispiritedly, “I don’t know.”

He truly didn’t know. He did have memories of the past. But after today’s events, Li Huowang himself was unable to determine just how many of those memories were true and how many were false.

Even here, he was nothing more than a lunatic that could not distinguish fact from fiction.

As he was shaking his head, Li Huowang suddenly felt that there was something abnormal on his head. He reached out to find a blob of congealed blood in his hair; he had been injured before.

Bai Lingmiao saw Li Huowang touching his own hair and explained, “That was done by Senior Wang.”

Li Huowang knew Senior Wang; he was that hare-lipped fatty who had wanted to harm Bai Lingmiao

“After he did that, you killed him with one kick.”

Li Huowang’s mind played the scene in the hallucination, where he kicked Old Liu and sent him flying.

Remembering the scene, he lowered his head, silently chuckling; he was insane enough.

Then, Li Huowang reached into his pocket and fished out the golden anklet with a red thread tied around it, and placed it before Bai Lingmiao. “This is yours, take it back.”

Bai Lingmiao looked at her own anklet and pushed it back with both her hands, “Senior Li, you were right. There’s no use for this here, so you can take it.”

Li Huowang looked blankly at this golden anklet. This object had no use to him now, since everything he cared for had all but vanished.

“Senior Li, I would like to use this item as compensation, and ask for a favor.”

Bai Lingmiao’s words caused Li Huowang to look at her.

“If you are ever able to get out of here alive, can you pass on a message to my parents? They stay at the foot of the Cow-heart Mountain in Liang Kingdom. Tell them that their daughter isn’t filial, and cannot fulfill her filial duty of supporting them through their old age.” Bai Lingmiao’s voice choked with sadness.

“Senior Li, I really don’t wish to trouble you, but I have no other choice. I will probably be taken to the Pill Room soon.”

Li Huowang’s face had been filled with despair and numbness. But upon hearing those words, his silent eyes gleamed with some light as he came to a decision.

He looked at the dried grass on his body, then at the steamed bun beside him. He gently placed the red-threaded golden anklet back into his pocket once again.

“I’ll keep my word. Since I’ve taken something of yours, then I will help you.”

Bai Lingmiao’s sorrowful eyes lit up, but quickly dimmed again. “Senior Li, that won’t do. It will get you into trouble as well.”

“Keke… Do you think I’m afraid of that now?” Li Huowang had completely thrown caution to the wind. Since everything he cared about had vanished, what else was there to be fearful of?

“Alright, Senior Li, you’re so mighty!” A male voice suddenly rang out from outside the Preparation Room, causing the two inside to jump in fright.

When candlelight illuminated that person, they saw a mischievous monkey-like face with thin lips. His face had patches of yellow and white, and it seemed that he had some form of skin disease like vitiligo.

This person took out two mixed-grain steamed buns, and placed them beside Li Huowang to get on his good side.

“Hehehe, Senior Li, have these steamed buns. When I was having dinner, I remembered that Senior Li hadn’t eaten anything yet, so I specially saved these two for you. You may not recognise Junior, since I was born and raised without a formal name. You can call me Puppy. Hehe, yesterday, I gifted 17 copper coins to you.”

Puppy anxiously fidgeted, while the will to flatter was plastered on his face. He evidently wanted to rely on Li Huowang, and did not want to simply be a guiding drug ingredient. From the looks of it, there were clever people everywhere.

Li Huowang did not respond. He just picked up the three slightly hardened steamed buns and wolfed them down; after all, he hadn’t eaten for a whole day.

Due to eating too quickly, he slightly choked on them. Immediately, the smart and sensible Puppy ran out to bring him a cup of water.

With the help of the icy underground water, Li Huowang stuffed the three mixed-grain steamed buns into his stomach.

He struggled to stand up, shaking constantly due to his legs that were numb from lying on the ground for too long.

Bai Lingmiao reached out to help support him, but Li Huowang pushed her away.

His eyes were fixed on the dark exit of the Preparation Room, before he walked out unsteadily.

His enemy was no longer that sudden illness. Now, his enemy was that Baldy, Taoist Dan Yangzi, someone who used humans to refine pills.

When Dan Yangzi’s ugly and nauseatingly large face appeared in his mind, Li Huowang’s eyes were filled with a strong hostility, and he grinded his teeth with a grating sound.

Just moments ago he was wallowing in despair, but now he was now filled with motivation. The only thing he had to do now was to find a way to kill him!

Chacha and Char’s Thoughts

Ah yes, the love interest and the comedic relief are introduced here. His team is growing!