Mutated Tao

Bai Lingmiao hugged her drum as she waited nervously.

At that moment, the Second Deity suddenly appeared behind her silently and stared at the bolted door.

“I know that I can’t always rely on Senior Li, and so I don’t intend to do so this time. No need to remind me,” Bai Lingmiao whispered. “Really, it’s fine. Plus, what does Senior Li have to do with you?”

Hearing those words, the Second Deity placed her sharp fingernails on Bai Lingmiao’s neck. “You know very well just how much Senior Li has to do with me, with us…”

Bai Lingmiao was visibly upset when she heard those words, but said nothing.

As the hall was once again plunged into silence, Bai Lingmiao started feeling scared. “What if I don’t help the Immortal families do their bidding? Just what would they do to me? I’m not saying that I don’t want to help, but what if I was so busy that I couldn't do it?”

When she heard the answer in her mind, she became even more upset. “Is that so… I wonder how we can stop them...”

At that moment, a knock came from the front door, surprising Bai Lingmiao.

Bam!

Bai Lingmiao peeked through the crack and saw a pair of eyes, ones that did not belong to the living.

“It’s here!”

Instantly, Bai Lingmiao passed her drum to the Second Deity and covered her face with a red veil.

At the same time, a shrill female voice rang through the night. “Summon~ The~ Gods~”

Bam!

The door was knocked down, and an old lady with white hair stood in front of Bai Lingmiao. The old lady was still wearing the red graveclothes.

There were bloodstains on the old lady’s mouth while her eyes looked completely soulless. She just stood there like a zombie in the night, striking fear into everyone who saw her.

Bam!

The old lady passed through the doorway and leaped into the house. Her feet were tied together with black ropes, and so she could only resort to jumping.

“The sun set on the Western Mountain, and the skies went dark~ Nine of the ten families had locked their doors, and only one remains~”

The chant was fast but the old woman paid no heed to the Second Deity. Instead, she was searching for something within the house.

When she didn’t find what she wanted, the old woman stared at Bai Lingmiao before approaching her slowly.

“The East and West Dipper come together, the Big Dipper examines the cosmic dust~ The grass grows in Spring, and dies in Autumn~ The pines remain eternal and persevere through the Summer and Winter~ A faint star in the Heavens fell onto Earth and brought about life!” chanted the Second Deity.

As the chanting continued, four incense sticks appeared in Bai Lingmiao’s hand. She swung her hand and the incense sticks instantly lit up without a fire.

“The Heavens have their rules and Hell has its own laws~ You’ve lived your life in the past, so begone and let go of the present!”

Following the rhythm of the chant, the white smoke emanating from Bai Lingmiao’s incense sticks billowed toward the old lady.

But something was wrong.

As if entering a body of water, the smoke disappeared the moment it came into contact with the old lady’s clothes.

At that moment, the old lady opened her mouth and bit into Bai Lingmiao’s arm; however, rather than flesh, the old lady was met with a mouthful of black porcupine quills. The quills pierced through her mouth and her jaw.

“Dong dong dong~ Master Red, send your infantry~ Dong dong dong~ The first drum means the soldiers have eaten~ Dong dong dong~ The second drum means that the soldiers have donned their armors~ Dong dong dong~ The third drum means the soldiers have brandished their swords~ Dong dong dong~ The fourth drum means that the soldiers have started clashing with the enemies~”

As the drum continued beating, clumps of white fur flew out from within Bai Lingmiao’s sleeves and extended from beneath her red veil. At the same time, a fox tail slowly grew from underneath her skirt.

The fur was akin to a living animal as it flew into the old lady’s orifices.

The old lady wanted to struggle against the attack, but it was no use. She gradually became weaker and slower.

After a while, the old lady suddenly collapsed. Then, something soft and black came out from beneath her graveclothes and immediately ran out into the night.

“Dong dong dong~ Leave if you want to; The sovereign has given you the horse’s reins~ Undo the restraints and ride the saddle, the Immortal Family will spur the horse forward~ Time to go back~ Ai Hai Yi Hou Hei~ Dong dong dong!”

After the chant finished, Bai Lingmiao returned to normal and removed the red veil. Then, she sighed in relief before letting out a happy laugh.

This was her first solo exorcism and she had done it perfectly!

She was very confident now. At the very least, she would be able to help Senior Li whenever he was in trouble.

As the saying went, the wife should always follow the husband. Bai Lingmiao would never complain about Senior Li’s matters, and she would always help him if she could.

“How should I go about becoming stronger as a Shaman? I feel like my strength is still inadequate… Hm? You want me to learn how to sing and chant instead? But you are the one doing it… Oh, ok. I will try,” said Bai Lingmiao.

After that, Bai Lingmiao carefully tidied up the old lady’s graveclothes. The old lady was no longer moving.

“Looks like I was right. Something was indeed possessing her corpse, but I don’t know what it was since it ran off so quickly.”

After making sure that the old lady’s graveclothes looked presentable, she called for the father and son duo. They gave her fifty coins before sending her off.

Bai Lingmiao had just walked out of the house when she was surprised by a black shadow sitting beside the door. “Who is it?!”

The shadow approached her and grabbed her hand. “At least let me know if you are doing something like this next time. Then, I can at least keep watch.”

It was Li Huowang. He was worried about her and had been sitting outside for quite some time.

Bai Lingmiao was surprised by his actions and felt loved. Feeling shy, she hugged his arm. “Ok…”

Both of them walked on the muddy path back to their house, enjoying the silence; they didn’t talk at all.

But the silence was soon broken.

A hunchbacked old lady was carrying a basket while holding a bamboo in her hand as she approached them.

Tok tok tok~

They saw her sweeping the bamboo stick left and right—she was blind!

When she heard their footsteps, the blind woman stopped and asked them. “Do you know the way to Qian Niusheng’s house? Someone in their house was possessed and I am here to help them exorcize the evil spirit.”

“Ah? Grandma, I think you are too late. The evil spirit has already been exorcized,” said Bai Lingmiao.

“What? How dare they fool a blind woman like me!” raged the old lady.

The blind old woman was so mad that she shouted out profanities that neither Li Huowang nor Bai Lingmiao had ever heard of. She was cursing all of Qian Niusheng’s ancestors.

At this point, even the dogs around them had started barking.

Seeing this, Li Huowang stared at the fierce old lady with interest. “You are already so old and yet you can still exorcize spirits? May I know your name and which sect you belong to?”

Hearing his question, the old lady calmed down. “My surname is Cui; you can just call me Lady Cui. Do you need my help?”

As she spoke, she suddenly felt that something was off, prompting her to place her bamboo stick under her armpit and carefully feel her way toward Li Huowang.

Li Huowang wanted to dodge but the old lady homed in on him accurately. In the end, her skinny fingers gripped Li Huowang’s face like an eagle.

“Holy shit. Just what kind of sin did you commit in your previous life? This is so strange! Most people would be missing one of the five elements in their life, either fire or water. Worst case scenario, I’ve seen extremely unfortunate people who were missing two elements in their lives. But you are missing all five of your elements!”

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