Mutated Tao

“What’s there?” asked Bai Lingmiao, about to head toward the Second Deity. However, she was pulled back by Xiaoman.

“Be careful, don’t go there,” said Xiaoman.

Bai Lingmiao thought for a moment, glanced at the Second Deity who was at the edge of the forest, and then said, “It’s okay. There shouldn’t be any danger.”

As they saw Bai Lingmiao directly walk over like that, everyone grew worried. They all raised their torches before following along.

When they reached the Second Deity’s side, they finally understood where the sounds had been coming from.

In the light of the torches, they saw a person dancing wildly in the forest.

“Mom, I can eat on my own; you don’t need to feed me. The IV on my hand is also fine.”

Covered in dust, Li Huowang sat on the ground covered in dry leaves while smiling at a spider web on the tree. He held a long piece of stone in his hand, biting it over and over. One could hear a constant cracking sound, and his mouth was flowing with blood.

"Mom, I swallowed it, I really did. I'm not a child, so there's no need for you to worry about me being picky. Hehe," said Li Huowang.

“Woo~ woo~” Bun circled around Li Huowang while constantly wagging its tail. It was the source of the howling sound from earlier.

“Senior Li!” Bai Lingmiao could not help but cry out upon seeing his pitiful state. She unconsciously took a few steps forward, but then forcibly stopped herself. "Quick, get a rope and tie Senior Li up. He'll be fine in a while!"

After some time, Li Huowang opened his eyes to a familiar tear-stained face. He showed an extremely exhausted smile as he asked, "You guys came? How did you even find me?"

Bai Lingmiao was choked with emotion as she held Li Huowang's head tightly in her arms. Even though she didn't say anything, her deep emotions were conveyed through her actions.

Seeing this, Li Huowang felt warmth in his heart while an unfamiliar emotion rose within him.

Is this… joy? I haven't felt this in a long time…

He reached out and patted her back. After some thought, he decided to give a vague explanation, "I… I went to figure some things out, and finished dealing with some trouble. How did you all get here?"

Li Huowang did not want the others to know about what he had been through or what he had done in the past.

After a warm conversation, everyone gradually fell silent.

Beside the campfire on the dark forest path, Li Huowang took a sip of hot soup. It helped to warm his stomach, and also cleared out the taste of blood from his mouth. While the inside of his mouth was all torn up, he knew that these wounds would heal quickly.

After a while, Li Huowang gently squeezed Bai Lingmiao's smooth right arm, and once again reassured her, “It’s alright. The trouble is over now. We can continue our journey home.”

Li Huowang looked at everyone surrounding him and saw the concern in their eyes. He knew that there were still some people in this world who genuinely cared about him.

He raised his hand as he thanked all of them. "All of you have worked hard. Thank you for your hard work."

He didn't specify what he was thanking them for. Some things were better when kept within; there was no need to say everything out loud.

At that moment, Lu Zhuangyuan, who was sitting on the right side of Dan Yangzi, spoke with a flattering smile, "Oh my, what are you saying? We only did what we should have. Anyway, what happened to you earlier? Were you possessed? How come you were eating stones? Was there some kind of evil spirit?”

Li Huowang already knew why the Lu Family Troupe had come; however, he didn't care about these small matters. He shook his head and pointed to his own head with a bitter smile. "My brain has some problems. Don't worry; it's nothing serious."

At this point, Puppy who had been squatting beside Jiang Yingzi, widened his eyes and asked, “Senior Li, are you really alright? You won’t crawl into someone’s belly and eat your way out from the inside in the future, right?”

As soon as he uttered those words, the faces of Lu Zhuangyuan and the others turned green with shock.

Zhao Wu punched him on the waist as he quickly tried to defuse the situation. “What the heck are you talking about in front of outsiders? When has our Senior Li eaten others? That was when he was ill, and thought that he had eaten someone.”

“Ah~ right, right. I’m so pig-headed; how come I keep remembering things incorrectly,” Puppy realized that he had misspoken and tried to cover up.

However, this wasn’t quite enough to reassure Lu Zhuangyuan and the others. They all tried to put on a brave facade.

"Enough, stop pretending. Some things have happened, and there's no need to conceal anything," Li Huowang clarified the situation. “Troupe Leader Lu, I’ll be honest. I have done many wicked things in the past, which I won’t explain further. All I can say is that all that was against my wishes. If you are worried that it might bring harm to your family, then let’s part ways amicably. However, if you don’t mind it, then you can stay for as long as you want. We are friends, and I will ensure your safety.”

“Ah, what are you saying? Is this old man so snobbish? I trust your character. There must be some difficult reasons behind all this,” Lu Zhuangyuan put on a smile before quickly pouring out another bowl of hot soup. This old man will use this as a substitute for wine to compensate you. Who said we’re leaving? Whoever leaves is a bastard!”

Hearing this, Li Huowang raised his own bowl to Lu Zhuangyuan, and then took a sip.

It didn’t really matter to Li Huowang whether they left or not. What he needed to consider now was what his next steps would be.

After some consideration, Li Huowang addressed everyone before him, “Everyone, we’ve been delayed by these matters for far too long. Fortunately, all the problems have been resolved now. And so, we will resume our journey and leave the Kingdom of Si Qi tomorrow.”

As long as he sent all these people back to their homes safely, he would feel much less burdened, and it would also be a lot more convenient to do what he needed to in the future.

“Senior Li, we can’t leave yet. The Abbess told us that if we found you, we had to report to them that you are safe,” explained Bai Lingmiao.

“There’s no need to take a detour merely for this. Just write a letter and send it through a relay station,” said Li Huowang. Since his problem had been resolved, there was no need to make another trip to the Benevolent Nunnery; while it wasn’t very far, it wasn’t that close either.

“No, the Abbess asked for you to come see her in person. It seemed like she had something she wanted to tell you face-to-face,” said Bai Lingmiao.

Li Huowang furrowed his brow.

Face-to-face? Seems like it’s not something as simple as reporting my safety. Does the Abbess have something else that she needs to tell me about?

After some consideration, Li Huowang handed the bowl in his hands to Bai Lingmiao. "Alright, let's go back to Henghua Mountain. It's also a good opportunity to get an overall picture of what's going on now."

Ever since coming to this wretched place, he had been rushing all along, and had never had time to figure out what was going on.

How many sects there were, how extensive was their influence, and what he should avoid when dealing with them. If they were to continue with their journey, then he had to get a better understanding of these matters.

Chacha and Char's Thoughts

And now we have Lu Juren's wife, Luo Juanhua! Credits to 格子的乱七八糟 on douyin

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