Mutated Tao

When Bai Lingmiao gave the two bowls of rice to the harvesters, they accepted them with trembling hands before thanking her.

Compared to Li Huowang and the others who needed wild vegetable soup to offset the oiliness of the rice, the harvesters had no such qualms and gulped down the rice with gratitude.

But they only ate the rice and picked out the cured meat before placing it within their pouch. They wanted to save it for later.

After eating, the harvesters washed the bowls by the creek and happily returned them to Li Huowang. Even though they were missing a few teeth, they were grinning happily.

The old harvester wanted to say something, but he wasn’t sure how. In the end, Li Huowang broke the silence first.

“Old man, the harvest season was so good this year. Why are you still working even though you are so old?”

“The… the fields all belonged to the landlord. The bountiful harvest had nothing to do with us. We can’t even eat any of it,” The old harvester smiled and explained Before continuing, “Thank you for the delicious meal, Daoist. That meal was enough to keep us full for an entire day.”

“No worries. It’s just a bowl of rice. Old man, are you working near the fields here? Have you been to Pi County before?” asked Li Huowang, finally revealing his intention.

“Of course! I have been there many times! After all, I’ve been harvesting the fields at Pi County all these years,” replied the old man. He was quite excited to be able to share his experiences and became confident. He used his calloused hands to gesture in the air. “Let me tell you this. Harvesting wheat is all about technique! Those youngsters don’t have the technique and can’t do as well as me! For example, you can’t hold your sickle too high or too low. You need to be just right!”

“Yes, I went there before. I came back here this time to bring my nephew or I might’ve already finished harvesting all of the wheat in Pi County by now. It takes technique—”

“You went there before? Have you seen anything wrong with the people there?”

While Li Huowang was not worried that nothing had happened there, he was worried that the problem wasn’t large enough. If the problem wasn’t serious, then the Surveillance Bureau would not send anyone there and he would just be wasting time by going there.

Seeing Li Huowang become serious, the old harvester got nervous. He scratched the back of his head and stuttered, “I do-don’t think there’s anything wrong with them. They always pay and feed me, but for some reason, they prefer to stay in their houses and never come out. They would just place the food and money outside and tell us to take it for ourselves.”

Panicky, looks terrible, and they love to stay in their own houses?

Li Huowang carefully pondered the three things and the relationship between them.

Regardless, it doesn’t seem like the Surveillance Bureau has solved the situation yet.

Li Huowang was cautious as he asked once again, “Is there anything else wrong with them? Did their faces or physical appearances change?”

“What do you mean? They looked the same to me. One nose, two nostrils, two eyes, two ears.”

Li Huowang knew that they might look human on the surface, but the people in Pi County might be something else entirely.

No matter what happened there, I hope it was serious enough.

Li Huowang prayed for the best.

Seeing how the Daoist did not talk to him anymore, the old harvester walked back to his nephew.

But just as he was halfway there, he turned back toward Li Huowang once again. “Oh, I nearly forgot. The people of Pi County apparently like to hit their children! I remember collecting the payment and walking past a window. Back then, I heard their children crying profusely. If I was in their place, I wouldn’t hit my child that badly.”

Li Huowang started analyzing what he had heard.

Are they hitting their children or are they using their children for something else?

Li Huowang recalled how the water bandits sacrificed the babies to summon a monster. After surviving in this bizarre world for so long, Li Huowang would now always think about the worst-case scenario.

This was also why he grew slightly more troubled when he heard what the harvester just said. He wanted the issue to be large enough that it would attract the Surveillance Bureau, but not large enough that they would be in danger.

By the time Li Huowang snapped back, he saw that the harvesters were gone and the sky was already dark.

Li Huowang shook his head and washed up by the creek. “It’s getting more and more confusing. Whatever… I will just see what the situation looks like later and decide what to do.”

The two harvesters bid farewell to them on the second day. Since the wheat in Pi County had already been harvested, they were going somewhere else to find work.

Days passed and they met other people along the way. Li Huowang always tried to gain information about Pi County through them.

Unfortunately, all they knew was that Pi County seemed to be suffering from a plague and advised Li Huowang to not go there. There was no new information. The only good thing they found out was that there were no bandits around here.

Perhaps the Liang Kingdom is very good at dealing with them.

Soon, they reached Pi County.

“Is this Pi County?” Li Huowang stood atop a hill and observed the town surrounded by walls. His other eye had grown back completely.

The day was gloomy with dark clouds hanging low. The entire town looked desolate and creepy.

Staring at how the town was built, Li Huowang finally knew why they called it Pi County.

It was because the town was built in the shape of the character “Pi”.

“This place seems ominous. Everyone, be careful,” Li Huowang warned them before walking into the town.

When they entered the town, Li Huowang was visibly uncomfortable; there were too few people in the town. The streets were empty and devoid of life, with only some passersby quickly passing by them from time to time.

At the same time, Li Huowang felt a lot of people were staring at them. The gazes were coming from behind the windows. He could feel a lot of the townsfolk staring at them through the windows.

Just then, a woman carrying a baby walked toward them with a haggard face. When she got close, she was visibly surprised by the appearance of Li Huowang and everyone else. She bit her lips, hugged her crying baby closer, and quickly ran past them.

When the woman passed by them, Li Huowang closed his eyes and smelled the air.

“Awoo.” Bun sat down and nudged Li Huowang with its paws.

In response, Li Huowang patted Bun’s head. “You smelled it too? That’s right. There’s the scent of blood and rust on that woman.”

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