Mutated Tao

Li Huowang was about to keep walking when a large-framed guard towering three meters tall stopped him.

“No weapons!” the large-framed guard exclaimed. He had a huge torso, but his lower half was comically small. The guard’s face was also covered with a rusted bronze mask. Li Huowang couldn’t see through the mask.

The guard took away Li Huowang's purple-tasseled sword and his bronze coin sword before retreating into a corner and standing motionlessly like a statue.

Li Huowang soon saw the bed chamber with numerous red pillars that had engravings of golden dragons.

The place was more like a hall rather than a bed chamber.

Li Huowang barely had time to look around when a surprised voice entered his ears.

“Come here, quick!” It was the young emperor of the Liang Kingdom. He was wearing a red and black robe and was waving at Li Huowang. If it weren't for the eunuch holding him back, he would have run over to Li Huowang.

Li Huowang stopped a few meters away from the young emperor and greeted, “Er Jiu greets the emperor!”

Ji Lin ignored the eunuchs and approached Li Huowang. “Er Jiu, you must help me!”

“My father was right! My brothers are scheming to take the throne!”

Ji Lin’s eyes revealed thick fear. “I didn’t want to become the emperor, and I would’ve been fine with living somewhere else without any pressure. However, they still want to kill me even though I wanted to offer them the throne!”

Of course. Do you really think that they'd let you live even though you're brothers with them? Li Huowang thought. He was not worried at all, as this issue wasn't his problem to handle.

“Your Highness, Er Jiu is a Surveillance Bureau member and cannot take part in the matters of the palace.”

“Liar! Why did my third brother have people from the Surveillance Bureau, then?!” Ji Lin exclaimed. Then, he lowered his voice as he said, “The officials told me that you're strong. You came back with the corpse of a spiritual sin, and you also have a respectable rank in the bureau, right?

"You know that I can't trust anyone anymore, right? Everyone is scheming for their own profit, and I don't even know who is on whose side!” Ji Lin's voice trembled in fear. You helped me see through that scam during that festival, so I’m sure you're a good man. Please help me! I have no one else to help me!

"Do you know anyone from the Surveillance Bureau? If they can help me, I'll make sure that they become officials!”

Li Huowang frowned. He wasn’t well versed in the politics of the palace, but he knew that the current emperor was too useless.

Li Huowang truly did not expect that Ji Lin didn't have a group of loyal officials by his side and had to start looking for external support. It was certain that Ji Lin would most likely die in the midst of this succession war.

“Your Highness, I’m afraid that I might not be able to help you.”

Ji Lin was furious at Li Huowang's rejection. “I am the emperor, so you must listen to me! Otherwise, I will have you executed!”

Li Huowang was enraged. Should I swear allegiance to his brothers and kill him with them?

Just as Li Huowang was entertaining the idea, Ji Lin grabbed Li Huowang’s hands and begged in a low voice, “Er Jiu, please help me… I really don’t know what to do! I don’t want to die!”

In the face of the emperor's begging and crying, Li Huowang had no choice but to give in for now. Li Huowang knew that a succession war was a dangerous event that would kill him if he made the wrong move. More importantly, Li Huowang was using a fake identity, so he'd certainly die if he ended up revealing his true self.

“Your Highness, this is an important matter. Please let me go back and think about it.”

Ji Lin sighed in relief upon seeing that Li Huowang did not reject him outright. “Okay! Go back and think about it. I'm not going to rush you. Help me become the emperor, and I will give you as much gold as you want.”

Li Huowang walked out from the bed chambers and saw the emperor talking to the old eunuch. The latter nodded and drew a circle on a book. It seems that I’m not the only one on his list of possible supporters. I guess he’s very desperate.

Of course, Li Huowang didn’t want to participate in the succession war. He had simply compromised to get out of the place. Ji Lin could take revenge on him, but he had to survive the succession war first.

Li Huowang felt that Ji Lin would most likely die and that he'd barely have any supporters.

When Li Huowang found his way to his house, it was already daybreak. He decided to find a beggar on the streets and placed his face on the beggar. He then tossed the beggar into his house to masquerade as himself before leaving Shangjing with Miaomiao.

Li Huowang was still pretty confident in his methods as a Sitting Oblivion Dao member.

As expected, nothing untoward happened as they approached the city gate.

“Sit here, and I will buy breakfast. We will eat along the way,” Li Huowang said, approaching one of the breakfast stalls.

The cook was frying thin strips of dough in oil. The dough expanded and quickly became golden brown. The chubby cook was also making mochi balls. He rolled them in black sesame and coarse sugar, coating them in the mixture.

The crispy fried dough sticks and the sticky sweet mochi gave rise to a pleasant combination—the soft mochi covered the crispy fried dough stick, and the delicious scent of the sesame combined with the salty dough stick to create a flavor bomb.

“Give me six.” Li Huowang threw some coins into the bamboo basket.

The chubby middle-aged man smiled at the sight. The next moment, his eyes abruptly sunk into his face.

“All right~ Six dough sticks with mochi. Here, be careful because It’s hot.”

Li Huowang turned around and walked away. Upon biting a dough stick, Li Huowang came to a halt. Then, he turned around and walked up to the chubby man. He spat the dice in his mouth and stared at the chubby stall owner busy serving customers.

“Is there something to do, leader?” asked Li Huowang.

The chubby man wiped away the sweat on his neck while nodding and talking to the customers.

“I just want you to do me a small favor."

Chacha and Char's Thoughts

Shai Zi working at the food stall after that whole fiasco. Credits to 格子的乱七八糟on douyin!

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