Mutated Tao

Clop, clop, clop!

The sound of horse hooves seemed incessant as Li Huowang's carriage traveled along with the other passersby. Li Huowang could see many peddlers and wheelbarrows[1] as they closed in on the largest and most prosperous city in the Liang Kingdom, Shangjing.

Bai Lingmiao sat on top of the carriage while staring at the castle walls. The castle walls looked ancient, seemingly standing for more than a thousand years. The castle walls were made from black bricks, and they stood as tall as small mountains.

Meanwhile, the moss that had covered the walls indicated its old age.

“So this is Shangjing? It’s very unique.” Bai Lingmiao was looking at the capital with excitement.

Li Huowang stood up and carried Bai Lingmiao down before covering her eyes with a silk cloth. “It's so bright, so don't open your eyes. You're going to hurt them.”

The headquarters of the Surveillance Bureau was here—in Shangjing. If it hadn't been for the black spindle, Li Huowang wouldn't have dared to ever come here.

Bai Lingmiao felt annoyed, but she didn't remove the silk cloth.

Bai Lingmiao sat on Li Huowang's lap and stretched lazily. “I'm definitely going to change these useless eyes of mine one of these days!”

Li Huowang stifled Bai Lingmiao's excitement by saying, “Stop the nonsense. We're entering the capital now, so be quiet.”

Li Huowang's carriage followed the travelers and soon arrived at the gates. The guards took just one glance at Li Huowang’s carriage, which resembled a coffin, and they instantly knew that something was up.

Upon seeing Li Huowang’s identity token as a member of the Surveillance Bureau, however, they didn't say anything and simply allowed Li Huowang entry.

Li Huowang suddenly felt happy with his decision to join the Surveillance Bureau.

If it hadn't been for his identity as a member of the Surveillance Bureau, he would have had issues entering and exiting cities.

When the carriage entered the capital, Li Huowang was surprised to see the sheer number of people beyond the gates. There were people as far as Li Huowang's eyes could seem, and they stretched all the way to the watchtower in the distance.

“Let’s find a place to stay first,” Li Huowang said, guiding the carriage to move slowly amidst the crowd.

The sun was starting to set, and the rays of sunlight reflecting off of the blue roof tiles and red walls were starting to dim. The buildings were tall, and each of them showcased large banners. Meanwhile, there seemed to be an infinite number of people and carriages moving to and fro along the street.

This was a testament to the Liang Kingdom's strength. It looked similar to Yinling City, but there was a stark difference between them.

If one word were to be used to describe the difference, it would be the word "history."

After all, Shangjing was one of the surviving cities of the previous dynasty, the Qi Kingdom.

While Li Huowang was busy looking around the capital, the crowd abruptly moved toward the left of the street. Everyone wore excited looks, and they seemed to be waiting for something.

Li Huowang followed the crowd and soon arrived at an empty crossroad. There were three white towers several meters tall while a group of topless youths were carrying pouches in their hands. They were warming themselves up around the white towers.

While Li Huowang was thinking about what was going on, a short man walked out of the crowd.

The short man was carrying a gong on his back, making him appear like a tortoise, which elicited quite a few peals of laughter from the crowd. The short man ignored the laughter and raised three incense sticks toward the three white towers. Then, the short man closed his eyes and prayed.

Is this a prayer ceremony for the people of Shangjing? Li Huowang was intrigued, but it wasn't an unusual sight in this crazy world.

Just as Li Huowang was in the middle of his speculations, the short man took off the gong from his back and struck it hard, shouting, “Grab the Bun Mountains!”

The youths leaped onto the three white towers with their pouches. They used both their hands and feet to grab something off the white tower before storing it in their pouches.

Hm? Li Huowang did a double take at the three white towers and saw that the white towers were made out of white buns. As the youths climbed up the three towers of buns, the white towers became human towers as the youths climbed onto each other to climb even higher.

The youths fought each other to seize the buns, and as they fought, the buns at the top of the tower fell to the ground. The nearby onlookers wasted no time, rushing over to the fallen buns and ignoring everything, even manure, just to grab a bun.

Meanwhile, Bun poked its head out from under the carriage and snatched one of the white buns on the ground. Bun chewed the bun with delight, attracting Li Huowang's gaze.

Li Huowang saw that the white bun had the character for "longevity" stamped on it.

Bai Lingmiao swept his gaze across the wasted buns on the streets and chuckled sarcastically. "Hahaha, looks like the people of Shangjing are just different. To think they would waste white buns made out of wheat flour.

"There are regions where the people can't afford to eat such buns even during the New Year.”

Li Huowang turned his gaze somewhere and asked, “Don’t you think those towers looked like three incense sticks? I think they're praying to something.”

“Prayer? You should stop guessing,” Bai Lingmiao replied.

Li Huowang went silent as he looked at the crowd before guiding the carriage away.

There were so many people, and Li Huowang wasn’t familiar with the place, so it took him quite a while to find a suitable inn for them to stay in.

It was already night when they arrived at the inn, and it looked so much better than the others. There was even a stage in the middle of the inn's main hall, clearly to attract customers using plays.

Everyone ate and drank happily; no one really paid any attention to Bai Lingmiao.

However, the waiter was an exception. Upon seeing Bai Lingmiao and his group, he immediately ran over to them and asked, “May I know what you would like to order, esteemed guests?”

“Two seasonal vegetables and two meat dishes.”

“All right, please sit and wait. Your meal will be served soon," said the waiter before turning around and leaving.

Li Huowang placed both of his swords on the table, and he instantly felt like a massive weight had been taken off of him. “You should go ahead and rest once we're done eating. I still need to find Ji Xiang.”

“Why are you looking for that old eunuch? Do you need any help?” Bai Lingmiao asked.

Li Huowang glanced at Bai Lingmiao and patted her head without answering her.

“Fine, fine, you are the head of the household. Your words are the rules, and you don’t need to discuss things with me,” Bai Lingmiao said, looking away and pouting.

The two went silent and waited for their meal. Eventually, the food was served; they chose to feed Bun first before enjoying their meal. Li Huowang wasn’t sure whether it was because he had been traveling for a long time or the cooks of the inn were simply amazing, but he ate a lot.

Li Huowang wolfed down his food while watching the performers on the stage. Just then, the performers jumped down the stage and moved around the main hall to greet the customers.

One of the performers came to Li Huowang’s table and performed. However, Li Huowang’s face remained indifferent, and the sight made the performer feel like his pride was being trampled upon, so he went all out.

The performer closed in on Li Huowang and shook his head; the makeup on his face changed instantly. The performer waved his hand in front of his face, and his makeup changed once again.[2]

The performer thought that the customer would surely be impressed, Li Huowang grabbed his sword instead and pressed it on the performer's neck.

“Who told you to change your face?! Why the fuck are you changing your face?!” Li Huowang snarled.

1. Quite literally a wooden wheelbarrow used to move objects in ancient China ☜

2. This is a reference to the face-changing show, a subgenre of Chinese Sichuan opera ☜

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