Mutated Tao

“Oh?” Her words managed to get Li Huowang to refocus his scattered attention. “Why do you say that? I’ve heard that the Liang Kingdom is the most affluent place here. While the people from other places have to endure droughts and hunger, the people of the Liang Kingdom never go hungry.”

“Everyone says that the Liang Kingdom is good, but how can those who haven’t been there truly understand how they treat their people?” asked Wu Yue agitatedly. She seemed to have recalled some unpleasant memories as she almost started retching and had to cover her mouth in distress.

“Hmm?” Li Huowang furrowed his brow at her words. Her description contradicted what Bai Lingmiao had said. She had once described her hometown as a carefree paradise.

After a moment, Li Huowang signaled for Bai Lingmiao to come over. Seeing his signal, she promptly set down her cup beside Xiaoman and joined them.

Taking Bai Lingmiao’s hand, Li Huowang turned to the lady beside him and asked, “Madam, can you tell us some more?”

Wu Yue lowered the hand that had been covering her mouth as she looked at Bai Lingmiao, who was leaning forward, and eventually shook her head. “I was thoughtless. We shouldn’t talk about such things during mealtime as it might ruin your appetite. Benefactor, if you want to know more, we can talk about it tomorrow.”

With that, she turned around and left, leaving both of them puzzled.

“Miaomiao, did you live comfortably in the Liang Kingdom? Did people bully your family? How are the local authorities there?” After a moment, Li Huowang began questioning Bai Lingmiao.

In fact, Li Huowang knew very little about the Liang Kingdom, the place where he envisioned living in the future. He knew that the Liang Kingdom was quite large and was the strongest among all these countries, but that was about it.

“We’re living very well! Nobody dares to bully us! I have quite a large family, and my grandfather is the village chief. All the other uncles and aunts are very kind to me, and even my elder brothers and sisters treat me quite well. In fact, what Puppy and Xiaoman said about looking down on or disliking someone based on their appearance doesn’t happen where I come from at all,” said Bai Lingmiao.

“Have you only ever stayed in Cowheart Mountain? What about the other parts of the Liang Kingdom? Have you been there?” Li Huowang asked again.

“I don’t know… I haven’t been to other places,” replied Bai Lingmiao.

Bai Lingmiao’s words made Li Huowang slightly concerned about what Baolu’s mother had just said earlier. Now, he was genuinely curious about what she had wanted to say.

At that moment, Li Huowang noticed Sun Baolu puking in the distance. He walked over and helped him exit the tent.

Realizing that he couldn’t wait until tomorrow, Li Huowang decided to ask Sun Baolu. After all, since he was her son, he should know some things about his mother.

“Stop drinking and sober up. I’m here to ask you some questions about your mother,” said Li Huowang to the drunken Sun Baolu, who was leaning against a water bucket.

“Drink! More!” Sun Baolu had a silly grin on his face as he raised the empty cup in his hand and aimed it at Li Huowang’s chest.

“Ah…” Li Huowang sighed as he reached for the hilt of his sword behind him, gently unsheathing a fraction of the blade. In an instant, the rising murderous intent made Sun Baolu start trembling uncontrollably, while the haziness in his eyes was replaced by extreme fear.

Clang!

Li Huowang sheathed the sword and reached for Sun Baolu’s empty cup, then scooped up some cold water from the nearby bucket and poured it over his face. “Are you awake now?”

Sun Baolu nodded repeatedly as he took quick, shallow breaths and wiped the water off his face. “I’m awake, I’m awake!”

“Is your mother from the Liang Kingdom? Did she tell you anything about the Liang Kingdom?” Li Huowang asked.

Sun Baolu’s expression became somewhat peculiar upon hearing this question. “Senior Li, what’s going on? We were all having a good meal, so why are you suddenly asking about this?”

Feeling that there wasn't anything that needed to be kept hidden, Li Huowang told him about what his mother said and his own concerns. “If the Liang Kingdom is truly as bad as your mother says, then the rest of us might need to consider finding another place to settle down.”

With a flushed face, Sun Baolu raised his head and looked at the round moon in the sky. “Senior Li, can I choose to not say anything?”

Hearing this, Li Huowang was slightly displeased. “Does your family really have these many secrets? You act like you can't tell anyone anything, almost as if you're the emperor’s illegitimate child or something…”

Sun Baolu gritted his teeth. “Fine! You saved my life and brought me back home. If you want to know, then I’ll tell you. What do you think of my mother’s appearance?”

“Hmm?” Li Huowang didn’t quite understand where this topic was heading. How was this related to the question he had asked earlier?

“My mother is quite good-looking, right? When she was younger, she was even more beautiful than she is now, almost ethereal!” continued Sun Baolu.

“That doesn’t sound like something a son should say about his mother. It’s better to be more discreet in front of outsiders,” Li Huowang reminded him. From the looks of it, Sun Baolu still wasn’t entirely sober.

“Senior Li, if my mother was as beautiful as I said, then what do you think she did in the Liang Kingdom before?” Sun Baolu looked at Li Huowang with a bitter smile.

Hearing this, Li Huowang’s heart skipped a beat. He chose to remain silent as he waited for Baolu to continue explaining.

“My mother was only fourteen when she was dressed up and hired at a noble's mansion to serve as a ‘beauty paper’,” Sun Baolu shivered as he uttered a phrase that Li Huowang couldn’t comprehend.

“What’s a ‘beauty paper’?” asked Li Huowang.

“My mother used to clean people’s buttocks with her tongue. That’s what it means to be a ‘beauty paper’!” Sun Baolu gnashed his teeth as he finished the sentence.

This revelation stunned Li Huowang. He finally understood why Baolu’s mother felt ill when discussing the Liang Kingdom and why she believed that they treated people inhumanely.

Previously, he had thought that being a concubine or a prostitute still implied a sense of humanity. However, in the Liang Kingdom, these beautiful women were valued solely to wipe people’s buttocks.

“You think that’s too disgusting? Wrong! That is just the beginning! What do you think ‘beauty pots’ refers to? Those Liang Kingdom people have all sorts of twisted ways to dehumanize people!” shouted Sun Baolu as he stormed away, leaving Li Huowang standing alone in the cold outside.

As he watched Sun Baolu’s departing back, he felt a little regretful; however, that regret soon turned into disgust.

Compared to what he had just heard, even the Abbess of Benevolent Nunnery seemed clean and pure.

But just as the feeling of disgust settled in, he also felt a profound sense of helplessness.

He should have known that there was no utopia in this insane world.

Why did I even bother traveling thousands of miles? I should have just taken over the Zephyr Temple when I had the chance.

However, this was just a passing thought. After all, he still needed to think about those who needed to go back to their homes.

“Senior Li, are you okay?” Bai Lingmiao poked her head out of the tent, feeling concerned. She was worried about him having another episode.

“Yes, I’m heading in soon,” replied Li Huowang.

The party within the tent continued, but at this point, Li Huowang had completely lost his appetite.

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