Mutated Tao

The boy tied to a pillar kept screaming as his parents continued to torture him in the small and suffocating woodshed. The sound of his screams was so miserable that even Li Huowang couldn’t bear it.

After a while, the pulling force of the metal clamp eventually reduced. Taking advantage of this rare opportunity, the boy tilted his head to the side and gasped, taking in big gulps of air.

On the other hand, the brightly-dressed couple crouched down and carefully examined their son’s lower body.

“How? Is it helpful?” asked the woman.

Hearing the woman’s question, the man carefully used his fingers to measure a few times, his expression becoming increasingly disheartened with each measurement. “No good! We can’t delay any longer. We must lock it, or it will be too late!”

Hearing those words, the child, who was drenched with sweat, was taken aback. He pleaded with a quivering voice, “Dad, I don’t want to be locked! I don’t want to!”

The man was also hesitant, but eventually sighed as he softly touched the back of the child’s head. “Listen to me, Jing’er. A true man shouldn’t be afraid of pain. Once the lock is applied, everything will be okay. It may hurt a little, but at the very least, you won’t lose your manhood. Without it, you may not even be a man in the future.”

“That’s fine, then! I don’t want to be a man! I don’t want to be a man!” The boy continued to yell at his father as if trying to grasp a lifeline.

As he heard his son’s cries, the man broke down in tears, clearly feeling torn on the inside. Despite this, he still turned back and picked up an iron box from the ground nearby. After a moment, he opened the box and took out a small silver square lock with a silver chain.

“Dad!! Dad!! Please don't!!" The boy cried out in anguish, his terrified mind already anticipating the excruciating pain that was to come.

Just as the sharp lock was getting closer, the door suddenly burst open, and a gust of wind rushed in, making it impossible for the three of them to keep their eyes open.

Sensing the danger, the man holding the silver lock quickly turned around. With a panicked expression, he opened his hands to shield his son and wife as he shouted, “Who is it? Who is there? Help! Someone, quickly! Someone is trying to assassinate me!”

Upon hearing the commotion, it didn’t take long for several constables clad in green to hurriedly rush in. Holding their straight knives, they clasped their fists toward the man. “Lord Yang, what’s the matter?”

The county magistrate, Yang Hongzhi, pointed to the open door of the woodshed with trembling hands and fear in his eyes as he said, “The door just opened suddenly. It’s here! That thing is here!!”

Meanwhile, Li Huowang was walking on an empty street with an odd expression. His mind was jumbled from what he had just seen as he kept muttering to himself, “They... they…”

Just then, Li Huowang heard another sound coming from the courtyard beside him. He immediately went into stealth mode once again. Then, he climbed over a nearby wall, and once again used his hands to peel open the paper window.

Soon, Li Huowang noticed a thin man in the room. The man was sitting on the edge of the bed, tilting his head back while ripping open his garments like a bat being dissected. He shamelessly displayed himself to the woman in front of him.

The man’s expression appeared quite uneasy; it was as if he was awaiting some sort of impending judgment. “My wife… Darling... how is it? Has it shrunk at all?”

The woman carefully examined him for a moment, and then replied in an uncertain voice, “I think... it probably hasn’t gotten smaller.”

Hearing those words, the man instantly became agitated. “Liar!! I’ve measured it myself! It’s over! Tying it up with a rope won’t help! I’m going to become an eunuch soon!”

Upon hearing her husband say this, the woman couldn’t help but feel anxious. “Then... then what should we do? Does tying it up with a rope not help at all?”

Upon hearing those words amidst his desperation, the man suddenly pounced on his wife and knocked her to the ground. At the same time, anger replaced the sadness on his face. “Damn it! No way! I haven’t even gotten a son yet! You must give birth to a son for me right away!”

As Li Huowang watched this situation, coupled with the boy tied to the pillar he had seen earlier, he finally started to grasp what they were all up to. He stood back up with a strange expression on his face.

So, everyone in this county is afraid of that... No wonder they were forcefully using chains earlier. But… how is that possible?

Suddenly, he felt a chill run down his spine.

Wait a minute, is all this... really happening or is all this just an act?

“Ah! Dear! You hurt me! It’s locked now!”

The woman’s cry of pain made Li Huowang look back into the room once again. There was not much to see among the tangled masses of pale flesh and blood. However, after a moment, Li Huowang noticed the chain close to the woman's chest.

Compared to the silver lock and chain he saw earlier, this family could only afford iron ones.

The sharp chain was tightly wrapped around the woman’s chest, forcefully pulling at her bosom, causing abrasions and bleeding where the skin met the metal chain. Rust had started to form as the blood continued to erode the chain. This device was basically torture.

With this, Li Huowang finally understood where the scent of blood and rust on the woman from earlier came from. They'd all been locking up to stop their organs from shrinking.

“Dear, don’t panic. Look at me, I’ve locked it with a chain, so that it won’t retract. You should do the same—tie it up with a chain, just like me.”

Both the man and the woman are ‘retracting’ here. Just what kind of situation could have caused them to become like this?

Thinking about this, Li Huowang’s heart felt heavier. Even with his extensive knowledge, he had never seen this kind of strange change before.

Li Huowang suddenly felt lost. Though he now understood what the residents of the county were terrified of, he did not know exactly what had caused all of this. While he was capable of dealing with the other issues, when it came to something so illogical, he couldn’t even find a target to address.

Li Huowang stood on the roof, looking over the empty county. After a while, he stepped off the tiles beneath his feet and headed straight toward the inn.

No more dawdling! Who knows what caused all this. We must quickly find the reason!

In Li Huowang’s eyes, the entire county now seemed like a trap. Even if it meant having to use unconventional techniques, it would still be better than sitting around idly while waiting for catastrophe.

Although the people in the county knew that something was wrong, they were deliberately trying to keep it from him. Since diplomacy wasn’t working, it was time to resort to more forceful methods.

As soon as Li Huowang entered the inn, he noticed the members of the Lu Family Troupe singing a pink show in the inn's empty lobby. Even though there weren’t many people, there were still a few spectators.

Puppy was sitting with his legs crossed as snuggled with the pear-faced woman while watching the pink show with joy. Seeing Li Huowang, he waved his hand, signaling Li Huowang to come over. “Senior Li, come here! The Lu Family Troupe’s performance has grown considerably more fascinating!”

Li Huowang glanced at him, then turned and walked toward his room, his voice carrying a hint of coldness, “Puppy, have the waiter come to my room.”

“Alright!”

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