Mutated Tao

There weren’t any inns near the city gate. They continued to ride down the street that was wide enough to allow sixteen horses to move side to side. Li Huowang’s group had to travel for almost an hour before they found their first inn.

“This place is crazy! If one of our oxen were to defecate on the street, then we would have to pay a fine of ten bronze coins! How the heck do I even go about controlling when they were to defecate?!” Zhao Wu grumbled about what had happened to them just now.

“Yeah! In fact, the ox feces can be used to burn as fuel! We are giving it to them for free here, but rather than thanking us they want to fine us! Fucking bastards!” cursed Lu XIucai.

“Enough. Since we are in a different place, we need to adhere to their rules. Enter the inn. Since we can finally get some proper rest tonight, we should do so,” said Li Huowang as he entered the inn.

Li Huowang was glad that he had asked the magistrate to write them those recommendation letters. To think that they would need them even to just stay in an inn!

“Yikes! Young Daoist, they are even charging us for water! They must be crazy! It’s not even tea, but just plain water!” said Lu Zhuangyuan as he carefully hugged the jug of water in front of him.

Li Huowang, who was busy checking the map and trying to get familiar with the geographical locations of the Liang Kingdom, didn’t pay him any heed.

“Hmph! To think that it's worse to stay here even though the Liang Kingdom is so big. Our old home was better; at least, there we didn't need to pay to get water.” Lu Zhuangyuan carefully placed the water jug back onto the table.

However, at that moment, his stomach suddenly started rumbling. Since they had rushed to enter the city before nightfall, they had yet to eat lunch.

Li Huowang turned around and looked at Bai Lingmiao who was busy dealing with the bedsheets. “Are you hungry? We can deal with the bedsheets later after we eat.”

“Young Daoist, why don’t we just eat our rations? If we need to pay for even water, then their food must be quite expensive!” suggested Lu Zhuangyuan.

However, Li Huowang just shook his head as he closed the map. “It’s fine. We’ve traveled for a very long time, and should relax every once in a while. Call your family. Tonight, we will have a good meal.”

Everyone perked up when they heard that they would be getting a good meal tonight. They soon walked out of the inn.

By the time Li Huowang and group arrived at the top floor of a five story restaurant, the sky had slowly turned dark. Everyone gasped when they saw that they could see the entirety of Yinling City from up here. The scenery was so pretty that they kept staring at it for a long time.

Since Li Huowang had already seen the modern world before on the ‘other side’, he wasn’t that surprised by the scene. However, he did note that for some reason there were no sects or monasteries here within this city.

“Senior Li, look at that! It’s so pretty! It’s as if the pagoda was made from porcelain!” exclaimed Bai Lingmiao.

A pagoda made from porcelain?

Li Huowang turned around and was surprised when he saw that Bai Lingmiao had not been exaggerating—there was indeed a pagoda built entirely from porcelain!

The roof of the pagoda was installed with rainbow tiles while the pagoda itself was completely white with streaks of blue. As the streaks went from the bottom of the pagoda to the top, they formed many different motifs. Even the bell at the top of the pagoda was golden in color. The bell swung with the wind, forming deep ringing sounds that gave the pagoda an air of exquisiteness and authority.

“It’s so beautiful…” Li Huowang admitted it. This was something that even the ‘other side’ did not have.

Hearing Li Huowang’s praises, a scholar wearing a blue robe opened his fan and said pridefully, “Of course! That is Yinling City’s Exquisite Pagoda. There is only one such pagoda in the entire Liang Kingdom.”

After speaking, the scholar turned to look at Gao Zhijian’s tattered shoes and the clothes worn by the rest of them. Instantly, his face was filled with contempt.

Ignoring the expression on the man’s face, Li Huowang pointed at the pagoda and asked, “Who stays there? Is someone cultivating there?”

The scholar laughed. “Hahaha! You are very interesting. You are right; there are indeed people ‘cultivating’ there.”

Hearing this, Li Huowang suddenly became nervous.

Oh no, is there something like the Righteous Monastery in this city?

Li Huowang squinted, allowing him to see the pagoda even clearer. Through the windows covered by a thin veil, he saw women inside the room.

The women were plump and wore translucent clothes. Their skin was as white as jade, but somehow, they had the blue veins and markings of porcelain vases.

All of them just stood there motionlessly, as if each of them were a beautiful porcelain vase.

Meanwhile, the scholar was desperately trying to hold his laughter back. “Within the Exquisite Pagoda, the men and women would all ‘cultivate’ together hahaha!! It’s a place where they seek pleasure.”

“Why did the Liang Kingdom build a brothel in a pagoda?” Puppy was confused.

At this point, the other people in the room joined their conversation.

“Hey, don’t call it a brothel. Also, why do you think they became the most famous out of all the other places? That’s because they are at the forefront of novelty.”

“As long as you have money, you could even choose one of the girls and decide what to tattoo on her body. I’ve heard before that someone drank too much and ordered the pagoda to tattoo an entire tortoise on a woman’s face.”

Soon, more and more people joined in on the conversation.

“That’s not even the end of it; I once had a chance to touch one of the ladies there. My god, their flesh was as smooth and soft as cotton! It’s amazing!”

As the conversation continued, it got more and more obscene.

Meanwhile, Li Huowang just stared at the Exquisite Pagoda with a hint of contempt on his face.

As expected of the Liang Kingdom, the place where they revel in excess. To think that they would even put so much thought into something like this.

Just then, Li Huowang looked down and saw a beggar lying on the side of the street. The beggar's robes were in tatters, but her face had the same marking as the porcelain vases, but rather than looking pretty and exquisite, the beggar’s markings looked like they were broken.

Everyone loved porcelain vases, but no one loved those that had been broken.

“Senior Li, the food is here. Let’s eat first.”

Li Huowang stared at the Exquisite Pagoda one more time before turning to the round table to eat.

At that moment, he realized that as long as you had money, you could do anything within the Liang Kingdom.

“Green Branches Hanging Over The Pond, White Heron Standing Amidst Calm Waters, Yellow Magpie On A Tree During Sunset, Phoenix Soaring Through The Heavens, Yellow Crane Final Farewell.”

The names of the dishes brought out by the waiters were also quite exquisite.

Gao Zhijian extended his chopstick before shrinking back when he saw the carrot that had been carved into the shape of a beautiful phoenix.

“What are you waiting for? Eat,” said Li Huowang as he started eating. Everyone else followed suit.

Soon, the table went completely silent with no one talking. Only the sound of munching remained. Even Li Huowang could not find any faults with the dishes today.

Everyone in the restaurant was looking toward them as they ate in a barbaric way, but Li Huowang couldn’t care less about their gazes.

Soon, it was nighttime. The stars in the skies were as numerous as the lanterns in the city.

“Senior Li, look! There’s lanterns in the skies!”

Chacha and Char's Thoughts

Ah yes, the 'porcelain girls'. They are sex workers unfortunately. Credits to 格子的乱七八糟 on douyin

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