Mutated Tao

Splash~

Yang Xiaohai closed his eyes as he dunked his head into the clear river water. After shaking his head a few times, he raised his head, feeling quite spirited.

With this, he had managed to finish washing up and drinking water at the same time.

“The water is so sweet here,” muttered Yang Xiaohai as he rubbed off the water on his chin before filling a pail of water and hurrying back.

After traveling for so long and having had enough food to eat, Yang Xiaohai’s body was no longer as skinny as before. He now had distinct muscles and his face was no longer yellow. He had even grown quite a bit taller.

“Good morning, Senior Cao Cao,” Yang Xiaohai greeted Puppy, the latter circling around some of the ladies. However, when he saw how Puppy didn’t have any time to talk with him, Yang Xiaohai just smiled and walked up to the pot.

He was no longer the innocent child he once was; he knew why Puppy was working so hard at serving the ladies.

Given that most of them were still asleep, they hadn’t yet started a fire under the pot. They waited until almost everyone was awake before starting the fire to cook breakfast.

After placing down the pail of water, Yang Xiaohai picked up a stick from the fireplace and started observing Chun Xiaoman, who was practicing with the sword, from the sidelines. Then, he started copying Chun Xiaoman by swinging the stick, focusing just as hard as Chun Xiaoman.

When she saw what Yang Xiaohai was doing, Chun Xiaoman suddenly sent a stab toward him. Flustered by the sudden attack, Yang Xiaohai fell onto the soft grass.

Chun Xiaoman was holding the sword with her one remaining arm as she said, “Get up and practice with me. You can’t just learn by staying on the sidelines.”

Usually, Li Huowang would practice swordplay with her; however, given his current condition, it was almost impossible for him to do so.

Hearing Chun Xiaoman’s words, Yang Xiaohai got excited and picked up his stick before trying to stab her.

Yang Xiaohai was someone who loved practicing with the sword and didn’t loathe how tiresome it was. After all, if he managed to learn well, then he wouldn’t be bullied by others even if he ended up becoming a beggar once more.

They continued practicing until they saw Bai Lingmiao come out from the ox-cart.

Seeing her, Chun Xiaoman sheathed her sword. “Let’s go and prepare breakfast. They are awake now.”

“Ok!” Yang Xiaohai happily returned to the fireplace and the pot. But when he got back, he frowned upon seeing someone else doing his job of starting the fire.

It was a plump woman. She was one of the women Senior Li had saved from the bandit’s camp.

Many of the women had died back at the border of Hou Shu due to the attack of the outlaw soldiers. She was one of the few remaining survivors.

“Get away!” said Yan Xiaohai as he ran over and took the flint from her hands. He was adamant about not letting anyone take his place.

The plump woman was not angered by his actions, and instead smiled sheepishly. “Little fellow, you are back?”

Yang Xiaohai had once talked to this woman for a while, but he had never expected her to suddenly claim that she came from the same village as him. He hated her quite a lot. She was particularly good at scheming.

After being rescued by Li Huowang, all the women had been eating and drinking without worries. Some of them even ran away at the border. However, more importantly than anything else, the women that were traveling with them had even started taking over Yang Xiaohai’s jobs! So, he hated them.

But the one he hated the most was the plump woman with a beauty mark on her chin.

“Don’t call me little fellow, and I’m not from the same village as you!” shouted Yang Xiaohai. There was no way things could be so coincidental. The woman was obviously lying.

Seeing his reaction, the plump woman smiled, a dimple appearing on her left cheek. Then, she started talking to Yang Xiaohai as he started the fire, “Little fellow, what is the name of that large man? He’s so strong.”

Yang Xiaohai turned around and saw Gao Zhijian who was gritting his teeth while trying to lift the halberd up. Veins could be seen bulging around his neck as he exerted all of his strength to do so.

“And why do you care?” asked Yang Xiaohai, annoyed.

“Little fellow, are you annoyed with me?” The woman smiled and dusted off some dirt from Yang Xiaohai’s body.

“Don’t touch me!” shouted Yang Xiaohai, causing the woman to step back a little.

Feeling wronged, the woman asked, “Why are you doing this? I was finally able to meet someone from my village and I just want to get close to you.”

I was sold when I was young so there’s no way you would recognize me!

But, in the end, Yang Xiaohai never said those words to her.

“Don’t come and steal my work. Just sit there next time,” said Yang Xiaohai.

“But my benefactor is injured… I was just trying to help,” retorted the woman weakly.

Hearing her words, Yang Xiaohai turned and stared toward the ox-cart.

At this moment, Li Huowang was staying inside the ox-cart.

As Yang Xiaohai recalled everything that had happened to them, he started getting worried.

Senior Li was their pillar. He must live!

After a while of trying, the flint finally produced some sparks and started a fire. Then, Yang Xiaohai raised his head and ordered the woman. “Go and fetch some water.”

The woman was not angry at being ordered around by a child, and instead looked eager. She turned around while carrying an empty pail.

Meanwhile, Yang Xiaohai patted the dirt on his shirt and approached the ox-cart warily. When he got close, he heard someone talking.

“What are you trying to say? What should I do for you to take Peng Longteng and leave?” asked a voice.

Yang Xiaohai moved to the other side of the ox-cart and saw Li Huowang perched on the window.

Compared to how burnt his body was before, he looked much better now. Even so, his appearance was still quite gruesome.

Half of his head was covered in new skin while the other half was still exposed with some patches of scarred flesh. The skin and flesh from his jaws had been burned off, exposing his white teeth that clacked when he spoke.

Not only did the current Li Huowang look scary, his eyes were constantly staring at something distant as he continued to talk to himself. “Monk, do me a favor and ask him what other final wishes he had? I know that he’s very pitiful and I do want to help him, but why is he still following me around as an illusion? Shouldn’t he be following around Peng Longteng, the one who had killed him?”

At that moment, Li Huowang’s one remaining eye suddenly darted around before fixing itself on Yang Xiaohai.

Yang Xiaohai suddenly felt his scalp tingle from fear, almost causing him to run away. Now he knew why Li Huowang’s ox-cart was usually much further away from the others.

Li Huowang himself was almost as scary as an evil being.

“Is something the matter?” asked Li Huowang.

Yang Xiaohai was so afraid that he didn’t know where he should place his hands.

“Senior… senior… sen-senior… senior Li, is everything alright?” asked Yang Xiaohai. Even though he was terrified, he still cared about Li Huowang.

However, Li Huowang just ignored him and continued to talk to himself.

Yang Xiaohai quickly fled back to the fireplace, only to be stopped by Puppy.

“How’s Senior Li?” asked Puppy.

Yang Xiaohai shook his head. “I think Senior Li’s condition is slowly getting worse. Should we find a doctor?”

“How can a doctor possibly treat him? Even that Baldy could only suppress it in the past,” said Puppy as he stood there with a worried look on his face. He too wanted to cure Li Huowang. “I remember what the Black Taisui looked like. That Baldy used to feed those to Senior Li to suppress his illness. But the question is, where can we find one?”

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