Mutated Tao

Li Huowang felt something was wrong the moment he saw the puppet.

And that was when he heard something behind him.

Li Huowang turned around and saw a saber flying toward it. However, Li Sui managed to block it with his tentacles and his array of torture tools.

The wooden floor cracked under the pressure, and Li Huowang’s leg sank into the floor. The saber contained a terrifying force that sent him plummeting downward. Li Huowang recovered quickly and stood up to see two Sitting Oblivion Dao members waiting for him.

Ba Tiao and Jiu Tiao[1].

The two of them were burning just like Li Huowang. Their skin and flesh were bubbling, slowly becoming charcoal. However, the both of them didn't even wince from the pain.

The almanac was still active, as the two didn't speak to Li Huowang.

The two Sitting Oblivion Dao members were tall, and they each wielded a huge saber. They emitted a domineering aura akin to deities as they stood quietly, staring at Li Huowang.

“Where did you steal those weapons? Which military family did you deceive?!” Li Huowang roared.

Clang!

A resonant clang echoed, and Li Huowang was blasted away by the impact.

However, Li Huowang was delighted when he saw the damage on the sabers of the Sitting Oblivion Dao members. It made one thing clear for Li Huowang—their weapons weren't as sharp as Li Huowang's!

“Li Sui, take this!” Li Huowang handed Li Sui the bronze coin sword and ran toward one of the Sitting Oblivion Dao members with his purple-tassel sword. The two exchanged blows, but Li Huowang suddenly cut off three of his fingers.

The Sitting Oblivion Dao member was distracted by the fingers.

Li Huowang took advantage of that opening to send a flurry of attacks toward the Sitting Oblivion Dao member.

The other Sitting Oblivion Dao member ran toward their comrade to help, but Li Sui's bronze coin sword and his array of torture tools stood in their way, stopping him from approaching Li Huowang.

The other Sitting Oblivion Dao member sliced off some of Li Sui's tentacles to no avail, as tentacles bursting out of Li Huowang would simply replace the tentacles that had fallen to the floor.

Sparks flew everywhere as Li Huowang attacked with the ferocity of a deluge. His enemy's saber shattered just then, and Li Huowang twisted his wrist, slitting the throat of the Sitting Oblivion Dao member.

Then, he turned to the other Sitting Oblivion Dao member and shouted, “Put down your saber, and I'll spare you!”

The other Sitting Oblivion Dao member ceased all movement and stood still. In the next moment, he fell backward and collapsed to the ground.

Li Huowang rushed to the check on Sitting Oblivion Dao member's condition, but the Sitting Oblivion Dao member was dead. He had died of extensive burns. It turned out that they weren't immune to fire. They had simply decided to fight till their last breath.

Li Huowang had wanted to interrogate one of the two, but they all ended up dead.

Li Huowang was so frustrated that he kicked the corpse out of spite. He initially thought that the Sitting Oblivion Dao member masquerading as the Emperor of the Qi Kingdom would be a high-rank Sitting Oblivion Dao member, but the fact that they died so easily meant that they were nothing but mere pawns.

Clang!

The bronze coin sword fell to the ground, and it had taken on an orange hue due to the surrounding flames. Li Sui retracted his tentacles into Li Huowang and cried out, "Father, it's hot… it hurts."

“I know, I know. I’m sorry. Next time, don't come out if I'm on fire,” Li Huowang replied. He put away the bronze coin sword and emerged from the flames. He needed to kill the other Sitting Oblivion Dao members before the flames were gone.

However, the group of eunuchs and even the red-robed guards had vanished. If it hadn't been for the blazing fire behind him, he would have thought that he was hallucinating.

Li Huowang walked up to Zhuge Yuan and saw that the latter was rolling one of the art pieces he had taken with him into a scroll.

“Junior Li, how did you know that he's a member of the Sitting Oblivion Dao? He was too far away, so I almost ended up getting fooled by them,” Zhuge Yuan said, sounding impressed.

“I didn’t. There were only two options: either he was a member of the Sitting Oblivion Dao or the real zombie emperor of the Qi Kingdom.

"Regardless, we have to deal with the Sitting Oblivion Dao members. It’s either we are right that he's a Sitting Oblivion Dao member, or the real emperor has truly come here to kill all of you after learning of your plans. Either way, we'd have to fight.”

“Oh! You are so smart. I truly am impressed," Zhuge Yuan said, putting away the scroll and praising Li Huowang.

Li Huowang looked around and saw that everyone else had vanished. He then cast a confused gaze at Zhuge Yuan, asking, “Senior Zhuge, where are the rest of the Sitting Oblivion Dao members?”

“Them? They're gone.”

“Gone? We finally stumbled upon them after such a long time of waiting, so how could you just let them escape? You should've at least forced one of them to stay for me to interrogate!” Li Huowang exclaimed, and his figure shone brightly.

The smell of flesh wafted over to Zhuge Yuan, telling him that Li Huowang was once again.

“Junior Li, calm down. Why don’t you stop your technique first? It looks painful,” said Zhuge Yuan as the flames illuminated his face.

Li Huowang was angry, but he still listened and jumped into the nearby pond.

When Li Huowang poked his head out of the water, he saw Zhuge Yuan extending an arm toward him. Li Huowang sighed and reached out for Zhuge Yuan's arm. The latter then pulled him out of the pond.

“Just tell me, where did the members of the Sitting Oblivion Dao go?” Li Huowang asked. Then, he sighed as he looked around. There wasn't anyone else around him.

“I’ve used the art scroll made out of a Muddled One to erase their memory of the Liang Kingdom before replacing that memory with their memory of the Qi Kingdom. Then, I sent them back.”

“Hm?” Li Huowang was shocked. “Wait, what did you say? Where are they right now?”

“They're heading back to the Qi Kingdom. There's a curfew, but they insisted on going back. I think they'd soon reach the western gates.”

Li Huowang looked around and quickly climbed a wall. Then, he ran across the wall and hopped onto roof after roof until he reached the highest roof in the estate. It was night time, but Li Huowang's eyesight was superb.

He could see the massive gates and the wide streets, but the place was empty with not a single person in sight.

No one was at the western gates. Zhuge Yuan was telling the truth! The members of the Sitting Oblivion Dao had gone to the Qi Kingdom!

“Junior Li, what are you looking at?” Zhuge Yuan said from next to Li Huowang.

Li Huowang took a few steps back and looked at Zhuge Yuan with shock. “Does that mean the Qi Kingdom actually exists somewhere? It doesn't just exist around you. Once someone forgets about the Liang Kingdom and trusts your nonsense, they'll end up finding themselves in the Qi Kingdom?!”

Zhuge Yuan revealed a displeased look while fanning himself.

“Junior Li, what are you talking about? What do you mean by 'nonsense'? I’ve always told you that the Qi Kingdom exists. Did you not listen to what I’ve said?”

“But…” Li Huowang trailed off, confused. If the Qi Kingdom existed, then where was it? Was it in a parallel world? Were the Twisted Ones capable of connecting the parallel worlds?

If it were a parallel world, would that mean that the male prostitutes in the Qi Kingdom simply transformed into female prostitutes in the Liang Kingdom and were the same individual all throughout?

The Twisted Ones were utterly bizarre, and Li Huowang couldn't quite wrap his head around their ability.

While Li Huowang was trapped in his own thoughts, Zhuge Yuan explained, “Is it that hard to understand? I said that the Great Qi is real, while the Great Liang is fake. I think this issue is more about you—you can’t differentiate the truth from the lies.”

“No, no, no…” Li Huowang trailed off, taking a few steps backward. Moments later, he calmly explained, “Senior Zhuge, let's not talk about it anymore. Even if the Great Qi exists, you should have left at least one of the Sitting Oblivion Dao members alive. You could have just sent them to the Great Qi once I was done with them.”

“Why would I leave one for you?” Zhuge Yuan asked, smiling cheekily.

“What do you mean, 'why'? I have to Bei Feng's strength and their whereabouts!” Li Huowang exclaimed and sighed in frustration. “Senior Zhuge, I'm sorry for that outburst. I really don’t have a single clue right now, and I'm running out of time.”

Zhuge Yuan nodded. He took out a scroll of art and unfurled it. Then, he shook it vigorously until a dying individual rolled out of it.

“Junior Li, this is Bei Feng,” Zhuge Yuan introduced.

1. Eight and Nine Bamboos respectively. ☜

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