Mutated Tao

Lu Juren’s voice immediately grabbed the attention of Lu Zhuangyuan. “Gongs? Is it a wedding or a funeral? Let’s go!”

They were very sensitive to the sound of gongs as performers.

They followed the sound as they walked through the main street of the village.

Lu Zhuangyuan could barely stop himself from grinning when they heard the sound of gongs coming from a massive estate, but his smile vanished when he saw what was happening.

The villagers were standing around a Daoist wearing yellow robes. He was wearing a black Daoist crown and was conducting a ceremony.

The Daoist was playing the gong while circling around a man being tied to a bed.

The man tied to the bed trembled and turned pale upon hearing the gong. It appeared that something was trying to get out of the man.

“Dad, let’s go. The Daoist is busy trying to exorcize the man. I think it doesn’t concern us,” said Lu Juren.

He was about to leave when his father stopped him. “Let’s just wait and see. If that man dies, we could perform at his funeral.”

Lu Xiucai pushed through the people and saw that the Daoist was equipped with a bronze coin sword at the back, just like Li Huowang.

“What a coincidence. The bronze coin sword looks the same as my master's bronze coin sword...” Lu Xiucai muttered to himself, which caught the attention of Puppy.

“Ha!” The man tied to the bed suddenly sat up straight like a corpse before breaking his restraints and hopping into the air.

The villagers shouted out of fear and ran away.

“You wretched beast! How dare you try to harm the innocents in front of my watch?!”

The Daoist slammed the gong into the man’s abdomen, causing the latter to curl up in pain.

“The ever-changing constellations! Tie up the evil beings and protect our bodies! Clear our minds and calm our hearts! Preserve our spirit and our souls!”

The Daoist grabbed a fistful of rice before waving his closed fist on the candle fire and throwing the rice at the man.

“AAAAAAAAAH!” The man screamed as black smoke rose from his body where the rice hit him.

A black smoke flew out of the man’s mouth and disappeared under the sunlight. The man slumped to the ground afterward.

A rich man wearing brocade robes ran over and cried when he found out that the man was still alive after the exorcism. The young man still had the strength to call him father. The rich man immediately kneeled and thanked the Daoist.

“What a legend. He’s a real immortal! He saved that man.”

“Thank the heavens. If it wasn’t because of the Daoist, the Zhang’s family only son would’ve died.”

Lu Xiucai scoffed when he heard the people talking around him. “This is nothing. If my master were here…”

However, everyone ignored Lu Xiucai. They were all attracted to the feast that the Zhang family patriarch had just announced.

“Everyone! We have dinner tonight! Also, we get to perform, too!” Lu Zhuangyuan immediately approached the patriarch.

After talking for a bit, he managed to convince the patriarch to hire him to perform tonight.

The Lu family immediately started their work by setting up the stage and doing their makeup. Time was of the essence.

On that same night, Lu Zhuangyuan performed vigorously with his son and disciples. The Zhang family patriarch and all of the guests were very pleased with their performance.

The feast lasted late till the night, and the guests eventually left.

Lu Xiucai looked at the Daoist at the main table with hesitation.

“Look properly. Does the sword on his back belong to Senior Li?”

“It’s too far away for me to see. I need to hold it in my hands to confirm it.”

Puppy rolled his eyes. “Can you be more reliable?”

“Should I ask him instead? If Master’s sword is in his hands, he might know where he is right now.”

“That’s stupid. What if he stole it from Senior Li? What if he has a grudge with Senior Li?”

While the two of them were arguing, they suddenly saw the Daoist whispering something to the patriarch. The patriarch followed the Daoist with a serious look on his face.

“They're leaving! Quick, follow him!” Lu Xiucai slowly tailed after them without hesitation.

They left the outer courtyard and entered the inner courtyard. The place was quiet, so Lu Xiucai overheard their conversation.

“Heavenly Master, the evil spirit is still not defeated?”

“Yes, that’s right. Your son’s possession and the evil spirit are connected. The evil spirit has to be destroyed, or your house will never know peace.”

“What should we do?”

“Don’t worry, I am here. The evil spirit might have possessed an object. We need to find it first.”

The Daoist waved, and an old bronze compass appeared in his hand. He made a seal with his other hand while staring at the compass.

Lu Xiucai was hiding behind a fake boulder in the courtyard when a hand patted his shoulder. He was so startled that he almost exclaimed.

He turned around and saw it was Puppy. He glared at Puppy in anger.

However, Puppy ignored him and pointed at the Daoist. “Zhang Yuanwai, be careful! The evil being is possessing that object!”

“Heavenly Master, how can it be? That’s the treasure of our Zhang family!”

The so-called treasure was a clay Bodhisattva that was sitting upside down. The Bodhisattva's face had melted off.

“Be careful!” A dark smoke fell from the ceiling and covered the patriarch.

The patriarch fell to the ground and was rendered unconscious.

Puppy and Lu Xiucai saw the black smoke entering a massive black robe that was hanging in a room.

After a while, the black robe stood up despite having no hands and feet. It walked out of the room and approached the Daoist.

The Daoist waved his arms, and the clay Bodhisattva flew into his robes. Then, he started scolding the black robe.

“The Daoist is rearing the evil spirit!” Lu Xiucai whispered furiously to Puppy.

Puppy pointed with his mouth toward where they came from, and they slowly left the courtyard.

“What did you say?! There are people in the courtyard?! How come you only told me that now?” the Daoist roared.

Lu Xiucai and Puppy heard the Daoist's roars. They barely managed to take two steps forward before the black robe stood before them.

Puppy took out his scepter and waved it at the black robe. The black robe crumpled to the ground, and then they started running away.

“Hahaha! To think it's the tongue of a Strayed One! This is a joyous day for me!”

Chacha and Char's Thoughts

There will be a minor correction here. Instead of wishwood, what Puppy holds should be a scepter like this one:

So the Strayed One's tongue scepter is quite literally the tongue nailed onto a wood, making it look like a scepter... Something like this

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