Mutated Tao

“Hahaha!” Hong Zhong’s laughter echoed within Li Huowang’s head incessantly. “Strayed One! Li Huowang, hahaha!”

Meanwhile, Li Huowang held the cup in his hand and just sat there, dumbfounded. He looked at the half-corpse in Tuoba Danqing’s hands, at half the head of the half-dead person and the internal organs hanging from the head. After a long pause, his eyes gradually widened, and shock appeared on his face, “So… this is a… Strayed One..”

At that moment, his clenched fist under the table tightened, but his face showed no emotions.

The drunken Tuoba Danqing was quite satisfied with Li Huowang’s surprise, and replied with pride, “How’s it? You haven’t seen it before right? Truthfully speaking, it’s also my first time seeing a living Strayed One!”

Li Huowang reached out a trembling finger to touch that Strayed One’s face. It was a square-faced middle-aged man with a beard. He seemed to be around forty years old. Just based on appearance, he had an average-looking face. However, his five organs were extremely distorted. The sorrow and despair in the eyes was something that was frozen in death.

Li Huowang understood his agony very well. He knew that only those that died under extremely painful situations would sport such an expression. This person, who had an identity extremely similar to his own, had suffered a pitiful death.

“Ah, touching him once is good enough. In fact, normally you wouldn’t even be qualified to see such a treasure. Even letting you have a glance of him is already making a huge exception. After all, this is a coveted treasure that is about to enter the treasury,” said Tuoba Danqing.

Hearing this, Li Huowang numbly raised his arm and poured the contents of his wine-cup into his mouth. His expression and body gradually became relaxed as he asked, “Brother Tuoba, why… does this Strayed One only have a brain and his organs left?”

This question seemed to strike something within Tuoba Danqing’s heart, and he slammed the table in frustration. “Ah! We wanted to keep him alive, since Strayed Ones are much more useful alive than dead. But guess what? When Lord Jixiang and I got close to the border, we were unexpectedly intercepted! We tried our best, but only managed to seize this much. It’s quite a pity.”

Li Huowang nodded. The strong smell of alcohol covered the astonishment on his face. “Ah, Brother Tuoba, it’s a pity indeed. If only this Strayed One was still alive. I heard that the bewilderment within the Strayed Ones’ brains is very useful.”

Tuoba Danqing continued, “That’s not all! The physical body of a Strayed One is also a treasure! Brother Er, the Strayed One’s flesh, organs, and bones are all precious materials! Let me tell you something: Lord Jixiang has a powerful artifact made from the Strayed One’s wealth attraction. It can immerse the consciousness of others into bewilderment when they least expect it. Apparently, he did not sell it even when someone offered two hundred years of lifespan!”

“Wealth attraction?” questioned Li Huowang.

“Wealth attraction is the tongue, and the tongue is the wealth attraction. Brother Er, you don’t even know such euphemisms. You still have a lot left to learn,” said Tuoba Danqing.

“Regarding Strayed Ones, I’ve only ever heard about them, and never seen one. I didn’t expect there to be so many intricacies to the whole thing. Brother Tuoba, you’ve truly broadened my horizons,” said Li Huowang as he raised his wine-cup to toast Tuoba Danqing.

“Broadened your horizons, right? Hehe, follow me more in future, and there’ll be even many more eye-opening things to see. Come, drink some more!” said Tuoba Danqing as he casually stuffed the Strayed One back into his cloth bag before continuing to drink.

They drank from the second section of the night all the way until dawn before Tuoba Danqing finally fell asleep and they called it a night.

Li Huowang supported the mumbling Tuoba Danqing to the guest room and onto his bed. Then, he gently shifted the yellow cloth bag containing the Strayed One and placed it beside the man’s pillow.

Creak~

As Li Huowang closed the door and left, Tuoba Danqing, who had been snoring with his mouth open, suddenly opened his eyes. At this point, there was no trace of sleepiness in his eyes. He propped up his head and first looked toward the door, then reached for the yellow bag beside his pillow. He had a look of admiration on his face.

Not bad. This person saw the Strayed One, but did not reveal even a single trace of greed. This person that Hong Da brought this time around is much more trustworthy than the one from before.

Meanwhile, Li Huowang swayed down the large street, reeking of alcohol. Apart from the two swords on his back, he was also carrying a large bag of items.

Basking in the early morning sun, Li Huowang's expression was neither happy nor sad as he silently walked on.

When the other people on the road smelled the pungent odor of alcohol and saw his strange attire, they instinctively covered their noses and avoided him.

“Where did this drunkard come from? Drinking so early in the morning.”

“Exactly! The younger generation nowadays is more and more unbecoming.”

As he listened to these voices, Li Huowang soon arrived at his own inn. When he pushed open the door, Bai Lingmiao, who had been anxiously pacing around , immediately came forward.

“Senior Li, why did you leave without saying a word? You made me so nervous! Did you drink?” asked Bai Lingmiao.

On the other hand, Li Huowang just opened the items in his hand, revealing food boxes woven with bamboo. “I went out for dinner with someone. Let them all come out and taste some of this delicious food.”

After saying that, he lay down on the bed and took a deep breath.

Seeing Li Huowang’s low spirits, Bai Lingmiao couldn’t care less about eating. She sat on the bedside and looked at his back as she asked, “Senior Li, what happened to you?”

Li Huowang once again sighed deeply. “Nothing much. It was just that some things were not as I had expected. Miaomiao, I once again realized that nothing is reliable in this damned place. We can only rely on ourselves for everything.”

As he spoke, he recalled that twisted face once again.

Aside from the Abbess’s son, this was Li Huowang’s third time encountering a Strayed One. And this one was forcibly torn into two halves due to being contested by different parties.

As he remembered that face, Li Huowang understood that the Surveillance Bureau, a powerful organization, was not his backing, and it never could be. On the contrary, they might become his enemies at any time. It was wishful thinking to rely entirely on the Surveillance Bureau to find his footing in this dangerous world. He realized that these dangerous people could only be used from a distance and should never be approached with good intentions. As long as he tore off his mask, a friend who was drinking with him just a moment ago might bind him up to sell him.

He was a Strayed One, and that was an original sin. As long as he carried this identity, he would be a piece of meat which everyone would want to take a bite out of.

Bai Lingmiao seemed to sense Li Huowang’s gloomy mood as she knelt down beside him. She reached out her hand and gently patted his back to make him feel more comfortable. “Senior Li, don’t worry. No matter what, you still have us.”

Chacha and Char's Thoughts

This is a good fan art of Tuoba Danqing! Credits to 格子的乱七八糟 on douyin

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