Mutated Tao

“What did you say?” Nangong looked at the disfigured man in front of him. The man had lost all of his skin, but his identity token and the bronze coin veil made the man's identity clear to Nangong.

A few months ago, Li Huowang appeared, and he had never appeared again. Nangong was starting to think that perhaps something untoward had happened to Li Huowang until he returned for the first time in ages and said something outrageous like the how entire Sitting Oblivion Dao was in Shangjing.

“Er Jiu, you can't make any jokes about that. Do you know the gravity of your words? If your information turns out to be inaccurate, you will be incarcerated!” Nangong warned Li Huowang.

“Of course! Senior Nangong, I'm telling the truth. I caught Bei Feng myself and interrogated him,” Li Huowang said. He decided to tell Nangong the truth.

Indeed, he had captured Bei Feng, and the latter had told Li Huowang that all of the Sitting Oblivion Dao members were here except for Wan Tiao. The 108 normal mahjong tiles—the sixteen Dong Feng, Nan Feng, Bei Feng, Xi Feng, the twelve Hong Zhongs, Fa Cai, and Bai Ban were here.

A total of 136 Sitting Oblivion Dao members were in Shangjing!

The ordinary members of the Sitting Dao Oblivion were already a headache for the Surveillance Bureau, not to mention the Three Officials and Four Joys.

Most importantly, the Sitting Oblivion Dao leader Shai Zhi was in Shangjing as well.

Li Huowang had no idea how to play mahjong, but he could still remember seeing his mother play it during the New Year. Li Huowang recalled needing two dice to play mahjong.

It was difficult for him to face such strong opponents on his own. He needed to use the Surveillance Bureau. Li Huowang would then reap profits while the two were busy fighting each other.

“Senior Nangong, I know how important this news is, so I dare not lie! They must have a scheme going on, as they're all here. You know they're willing to destroy even a kingdom just to deceive!”

Nangong agreed with Li Huowang. The information was indeed extremely important, so Li Huowang was most likely telling the truth. “Wait here, I need to report this to the higher-ups. The risk is just too heavy, so I have to give them a report.”

Nangong walked into the door on the left side of the hall with a frown.

Li Huowang watched as Nangong left and sighed. The matter wasn't over yet. Nangong was just the messenger, and he could never make a decision about such a monumental matter. Li Huowang had to convince the higher-ups to spur the Surveillance Bureau into action.

Li Huowang paced back and forth, thinking about how to convince the higher-ups.

“The Sitting Oblivion Dao is here?” A deep voice echoed from a screen on Li Huowang's left. He turned around and saw a large shadow on the screen. Li Huowang didn’t reply because he wasn’t sure whether the person was friend or foe.

“Hehe, seems like something is going to happen to Shangjing soon. I may have to hide in Hou Shu. Great, it seems that I still have time.”

The figure behind the screen reminded Li Huowang of Tuoba Danqing and Ji Xiang’s actions. Those veterans somehow sensed that something big was going to happen soon and had left before it could happen.

Tuoba Danqing had said that he was going to go hide in Qing Qiu once they had captured a Muddled One, but he ended up not making it back from the mission.

Meanwhile, Ji Xiang just gave Li Huowang a house in Shangjing and ran away.

“Do you know why the Sitting Oblivion Dao has gathered in Shangjing?” Li Huowang asked the figure behind the screen.

“Hehe. You don’t know? Then it's better that way. This world is a crazy world indeed,” the figure replied and stopped talking afterward.

Li Huowang felt anxious. Something big was about to happen, and he remained clueless about it. He walked toward the screen and looked behind but saw no one.

There was a wooden sculpture on the table, and it depicted a monk carrying a rucksack.

The monk's upper body seemed vibrant and full of energy. The monk looked cheerful as well and was all smiles; his large belly was comical, too. However, the monk's lower body was incomplete and was a tangled mass of black roots that made the carving look bizarre overall.

“Er Jiu! Where are you?” Nangong shouted from afar.

Li Huowang gave one glance at the wooden sculpture before walking out of the screen.

”Senior Nangong, I'm here!”

“Follow me! Lord Jian Zheng wants to see you!” Nangong exclaimed, and he looked quite anxious.

Li Huowang followed closely behind Nangong.

Li Huowang had yet to fully understand the hierarchy within the Surveillance Bureau, but Li Huowang knew that Lord Jian Zheng was definitely someone special if they were dealing with matters regarding the Sitting Oblivion Dao.

“Here, wear this. You look terrible without it. You shouldn’t meet Lord Jian Zheng with that appearance,” Nangong said, handing over a gray robe for Li Huowang to wear.

Li Huowang accepted it and wore the large, gray robe to cover his wounds.

“Remember, don’t say anything stupid or lie to Lord Jian Zheng. He's going to know whether you're lying or not.”

Does that mean he can read minds? Will he know that I’m a Strayed One if I even think about it? Li Huowang was shocked, and he couldn't help but ask, “May I ask which sect Lord Jian Zheng comes from?”

“Lord Jian Zheng is different from the both of us. He’s a disciple of Confucianism. They distance themselves from the superstitious, and they do not cultivate anything at all."

“Doesn't that mean he’s just an ordinary person?” Li Huowang asked, sounding doubtful. How could a higher-up managing the Liang Kingdom be a normal man?

“Do you really think that you can solve everything with your cultivation techniques? You're too naive. There are some people who are born special. Even without cultivation techniques, they're still capable of solving problems with their brain. Lord Jian Zheng even managed to deceive a Sitting Oblivion Dao member.”

Li Huowang was astonished. He had encountered members of the Sitting Oblivion Dao quite a few times now, so he knew what would it take to deceive one of them. Li Huowang reckoned that Lord Jian Zheng had to be a monster in the brain department.

Li Huowang felt giddy with anticipation. He couldn't wait to meet someone like what Nangong had described. Of course, Li Huowang was also a bit nervous as to how he was supposed to negotiate with Lord Jian Zheng.

Li Huowang followed Nangong and walked down the wooden corridor until they reached a set of stone doors. There were two guards standing beside the gate like guardian deities.

Their killing intent told Li Huowang that they were from a military family.

Li Huowang followed Nangong through a maze-like room until they finally reached the doors of what looked like a study room.

“Lord Jian Zheng, Er Jiu is here,” Nangong said, bowing toward the wooden door.

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