Mutated Tao

Li Huowang pulled the girl behind him and carefully enunciated his words one by one, “I will not do such things even if I die!”

“Pft~” One of the Ao Jing Sect members laughed. “Don’t be so confident. You are a Strayed One after all.”

“So what if I’m a Strayed One? I may be crazy, but I’m not someone as heartless as Dan Yangzi! I will never do the type of things he did!” said Li Huowang.

On the other hand, Shou San looked at the sect member with an unfriendly gaze. “Yan Lu, you think this is funny? Can’t you control yourself in front of an outsider?”

Just as the sect member was about to explain himself, his facial features started melding together. Even his fingers and toes started to meld.

He slowly transformed into a wriggling maggot.

“Wrap him up with a cloth and don’t let him feel any pain for a month,” said Shou San.

This proved that Shou San was right; he was indeed skillful with healing arts.

As the ‘man’ was being carried away, Li Huowang stared at Shou San seriously. “Find me a cave for me to live in. I will figure out a way to induce maximum mental pain. Also, I need this girl to serve me.”

“Hmph. You have a lot of demands. I don’t think you will ever be able to find a method better than mine,” said Shou San.

However, even though he said so, Shou San still agreed to Li Huowang’s demand and ordered his underlings to prepare the cave for him.

Soon, Li Huowang was brought into a medium-sized cave. The walls of the cave were uneven and riddled with holes, but at the very least the cave had all the basic necessities, including a toilet.

Meanwhile, the girl silently followed Li Huowang.

On the other hand, Bun, who had been whimpering from fear behind Li Huowang, immediately started running around in the cave while sniffing every corner of it.

Once they had settled in, Li Huowang removed the sword from his back and placed it on the stone table. Even though he had promised Shou San that he would find a way to inflict maximum mental pain on himself, he actually didn’t have a clue about how he would go about it. Without inflicting the necessary amount of pain, he would not be able to summon Ba-Hui.

The Ao Jing Sect would never help him get rid of Dan Yangzi if he failed to fulfill their condition. It was a dead end.

Thinking about this, Li Huowang paced around inside the cave for a while before he laid his eyes on the girl. A sudden thought flashed in his mind.

He had an idea, but things might not go as he expected.

“Don’t worry, they won’t be able to hurt you when you are with me. Come here, let me ask you something,” said Li Huowang as he patted the stone stool.

But the girl didn’t move from the door. Instead, she started sobbing. She cried louder and louder until she sat on the floor, her body wracked with grief.

When he heard her woeful cries, Li Huowang sighed.

She had originally thought that she was a member of the Ao Jing Sect, but now she knew that she was nothing more than a tool. It was normal to feel sad, especially at a young age like hers.

Li Huowang walked over and carefully propped her up on the stone stool. “They didn’t even treat you like a human and yet you still want to stay here? How about helping me? I swear that as long as you help me attain my goals, I will not abandon you while I am alive.”

Hearing his words, the girl’s eyes were filled with confusion. “Where can I go even if I escape? My house… it’s gone… everything’s gone…”

“What happened to your home?” Li Huowang’s voice was soft. To some extent, he could resonate with her.

“My home was the town at the foot of the mountain…” said the young girl through her sobs.

When Li Huowang heard her say that, he felt his heart ache a little; she might just be the last survivor of that ghost town.

“My father, mother… my three sisters and two brothers… they are all gone… they are all dead…” The girl lowered her head as her tears dripped down her hands.

“What happened to the town? Did someone or something destroy it?” asked Li Huowang. But just as he asked that, he realized that now was not the time for such questions; asking such things right now was akin to rubbing salt in her wounds.

“It’s fine; you can just follow me. I have many brothers and sisters that are also trying their best to survive in this world. Later on, when we regroup, you can join us. My group currently only has two girls, and so there’s more yin energy than yang. If you join us, then the energy will be more balanced,” said Li Huowang.

After he had comforted her for a while, her emotions had finally stabilized. When the atmosphere was right, Li Huowang asked her some questions. “How long have you been here?”

While the Ao Jing Sect did not trust Li Huowang, he didn’t trust them either.

He already had experience dealing with elaborate schemes from his time at the Righteous Monastery, and so he didn’t want to fall for the same trick. This time around, he was not going to go by their rules. All he needed to do was figure out the method that Ao Jing Sect would use to get rid of Dan Yangzi. Then, he wouldn’t have to inflict pain on himself and he would be able to get rid of Dan Yangzi with his own hands.

Hearing his suggestion, the girl nodded. “Four years ago…”

When he saw that she was finally willing to talk to him, Li Huowang gently started to coax her so that she would open her heart to him. “Since you’ve been here for so long, you must know the place well, correct? Can you tell me about this place? Anything is fine.”

Her scarred hands didn’t stop scrunching up her sleeves as she started talking, “The Ao Jing Sect originally consisted of two different sects. One worshiped the Sacrificial God while the other worshiped Ba-Hui. Later on, the Sacrificial God absorbed a portion of Ba-Hui’s power and the two sects merged…”

“Hmm? Was this recorded in the books of the Ao Jing Sect?” asked Li Huowang. He had a feeling that it was nothing but a fairy tale. He didn’t believe it.

“I don’t know either… That was what the others said… By the time I entered the sect, they had already merged…” She gingerly looked at Li Huowang before lowering her head once more. She didn’t dare to maintain eye contact with him.

“It’s fine. You can keep talking. Wait, may I know your name first?” said Li Huowang.

“They… They call me Er Jiu…” replied the girl.

Er Jiu, Shou San, and Yan Liu[1]. Do the names of the members of the Ao Jing Sect represent a combination of a body organ and a number?

Li Huowang was somewhat confused. These names didn’t feel like the Taoist names given to full fledged Taoists.

“What was your previous name?” asked Li Huowang.

“Jiang Yingzi…” replied the girl.

“Alright, then I will just call you Yingzi. Have you seen the Ao Jing Sect treat anyone in the past four years?” asked Li Huowang.

Yingzi nodded. “Mm-hmm… I’ve seen it a few times.”

“Were all of them cured?” questioned Li Huowang.

“They should have been. All of them left afterward,” replied Yingzi.

Looks like they do have the necessary expertise.

This was good news. At the very least they hadn’t lied to him and he might actually have a chance of getting rid of Dan Yangzi.

“Yingzi, I have another question. Other than the self mutilating rituals recorded within the Profound Records, does the Ao Jing Sect have any other kinds of power or techniques?” Li Huowang finally asked the most important question.

1. Literal translation would be Ear Nine, Hands Three, and Eyes Six. The character for the numbers portion of their name was written differently with the same pronunciation ☜

Chacha and Char's Thoughts

This time around we have Shou San! Yeah he's gnarly looking. Credits to 格子的乱七八糟 on douyin

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