Mutated Tao

“Heh, Li Huowang, be careful. He is trying to deceive you.”

Li Huowang lifted his gaze, and looked toward Hong Zhong who uttered those words.

Hong Zhong, who had no facial skin or eyes, sat atop Peng Longteng’s shoulder as he grinned to reveal his white teeth.

As he looked at this scene, Li Huowang’s lips twitched slightly. He did not say anything as he looked around at the crowd.

He was still not composed enough. He couldn’t remain completely calm in the face of this illusion’s words.

After that, Li Huowang completely ignored the words spoken by Hong Zhong. He wouldn’t even believe the punctuation marks of whatever came out of that fellow’s mouth.

Li Huowang’s gaze shifted from Hong Zhong to Bai Sai beside him. He wanted a more detailed explanation about what he had said previously. “Chief Bai, you mentioned that your son picked up a stone and then they came to cause trouble for you guys. Could you tell me more about the stone?”

Bai Sai tried to think back and then gestured with his hands to illustrate the size. “It was an orange-colored stone. It was about this big, and was warm to the touch. The kid picked it up from the fields and brought it home, planning to give it to his grandmother to help her warm her knees.”

“Is the stone still around? Can I have a look?” asked Li Huowang.

Bai Sai sighed in frustration. “Our whole family was taken away, so that thing didn’t manage to escape either. It was taken away long ago by that person with the wooden mask.”

A fist-sized stone that generates its own heat?

If that stone was some kind of natural treasure, then this could just be a matter of someone impersonating the Surveillance Bureau to try and seize treasures for themselves. However, that didn’t quite make sense to him either. Li Huowang tried to place himself in the shoes of the thief. If he were the thief, then he would either steal it or openly rob them, and then exterminate all these people.

It was simply not logical to keep all these people bound with wooden shackles and drag them on such a long journey toward the capital. There must have been some purpose behind these actions.

After consolidating his thoughts, Li Huowang faced Bai Sai once again and asked, “Chief Bai, how tall was the person with the wooden mask that you mentioned?”

He had a feeling that this person was the one responsible for the illusion of the White Impermanence that he had seen earlier.

“About the same as you. They had a young voice. Along the way, if someone didn’t obey their instructions, that wretched thing just caused them to see terrifying things in their head,” replied Bai Sai.

As they heard him, some of the people in the crowd showed a hint of fear. From the looks of it, they had previously been tormented by that masked man’s ability.

Li Huowang nodded silently. It seemed that the White Impermanence he had seen earlier was fake, and something fabricated by that person through some method. However, calling it an illusory technique didn’t seem right either. After all, ordinary illusory techniques shouldn’t be able to deceive him now.

As it was, there was too little information available right now, and Li Huowang was still puzzled about what had happened earlier.

“Benefactor, since we’ve escaped, let’s not care too much about it. For now, we should focus on leaving. If that person holds a grudge and comes back, then we’ll be in big trouble,” said Bai Sai, worried for the well-being of the entire Cowheart Village.

Li Huowang still wanted to continue questioning, but stopped upon hearing Bai Sai’s words.

Anyway, these people were Bai Lingmiao’s family, and he definitely had to save them.

Without the wooden shackles to bind them, everyone walked much more effortlessly. Now that they had survived their ordeal, their faces were much more relaxed.

Just like this, they walked all the way until noon; by then, the elderly and children among the crowd couldn’t continue any longer, and so they decided to take a break.

“Mom, I’m hungry,” said a child as he tugged on his mother’s clothes.

The adults were hungry as well, just that they were not saying anything.

While Li Huowang did have some dry rations on his horse, with with so many people to divide it, that wouldn't even be enough to fill the spaces between their teeth.

As Li Huowang looked at their empty hands, it was obvious that they had no food. He thought about it for a moment, and then said, “We should be able to reach a village tomorrow and buy some food there. As for today…”

He paused for a moment as patted the slender neck of the horse before continuing, “…let’s kill the horse first.”

One horse would provide enough meat for quite a few people.

However, Bai Sai immediately shook his head. “Benefactor, there’s no need to do something like that just to fill our stomachs a little. There’s no need for Benefactor to kill your own steed.”

After that, Bai Sai turned around and barked orders toward the crowd, “That… Liang Zi! Bring the members of the third and fourth houses with you to the forest and find something to eat. Hurry!”

“Yes!” replied a sturdy youth. Then, he led a few people toward the forest.

Li Huowang was about to go and help them, but was stopped by the others. “Benefactor, please sit down first. Let the juniors handle this. Feng, look at how much he is sweating. Go and grab some big leaves to fan him!”

Unable to push away their help, Li Huowang was forced to sit down as he was fanned by a plump lady.

Originally, Li Huowang had thought that Liang Zi’s group had gone into the forest to find some wild fruits or vegetables. However, after an hour, when he heard the rustling of the leaves, he saw that they were actually carrying back two flower deers and several smaller roe deer.

When Bai Sai noticed Li Huowang’s surprised look, he was very pleased as he said, “We rely on the mountains for sustenance. Our Bai Family is naturally good at hunting. Catching these wild animals is nothing astonishing.”

After that, he immediately shouted for some people to start a fire. Soon, the best parts of the deer were served to Li Huowang on a flat stone.

As he looked at the expectant faces around him, Li Huowang felt a bit awkward; he had never been treated like this before.

The others only began to eat the reminder of the deer after they saw Li Huowang pick up his portion and stuff it into his mouth beneath the bronze coin veil.

That night, when he was on night guard, Li Huowang once again enjoyed special treatment.

“Benefactor, you can go and rest. Let the younger generation keep watch. They have a strong spirit, and the ordinary supernatural beings won’t dare to approach them,” said Bai Sai.

“Young people have a strong spirit?” Li Huowang glanced at the youths beside the fire and asked, “Chief Bai, what type of saying is that?”

“Ah… saying? There’s nothing like that. My dad taught me this,” replied Bai Sai.

Hearing this, Li Huowang sighed in disappointment. In the end, it turned out to be something he had just heard and was without any foundation.

Why are the people here all so superstitious?

When Li Huowang slowly closed his eyes, the surroundings gradually became quiet. Aside from the crackling sound of the burning wood, the breathing sounds of the people also became slower.

After some time, in a daze, Li Huowang suddenly felt something approaching him. When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a hazy mist. There was also no sign of Hong Zhong or Monk, allowing him to immediately realize that this was not a real place.

“Who?” shouted Li Huowang, his voice echoing within the misty world.

‘Who?

‘Who?’

Through the mist, he caught a glimpse of the giant White Impermanence he had seen earlier. It did not walk out, and was hung by a rope around its neck.

“Who are you?” a creepy voice rang out in response to Li Huowang’s question, echoing through the mist, “Why did you ruin my plans?”

‘Who are you?’

‘Who are you?’

‘Why did you ruin my plans?’

‘Why did you ruin my plans?’

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