Mutated Tao

“I’m awake?” Li Huowang woke up in the darkness and looked around.

He found himself lying in the courtyard of the house he owned in Shangjing. He sighed in relief because he didn't find himself in a hospital bed.

He struggled to get up and shook his heavy head. His vision was still blurry.

That day, he returned from the Qi Kingdom back to the Liang Kingdom and found himself in a hot kitchen. He immediately ran to the Surveillance Bureau and reported how Prince Ren was colluding with the Dharma Sect.

The Surveillance Bureau's reaction was according to his expectations. He learned from Nangong that the mission related to Prince Ren had been accepted by someone else.

Clearly, his mission from Ji Lin was as good as done. All he needed to do was to wait.

Li Huowang took advantage of the downtime to rest and recover. He had injured himself badly, and the splitting headache was still refusing to go away.

It seemed that forcefully materializing Zhuge Yuan had affected him both physically and spiritually.

To make matters worse, he had also lost control over his primordial breath, causing him to wake up in the White Tower Hospital. He hated it—he hated not having control over himself.

Li Sui had made the bun. Even though she couldn’t make fluffy buns without yeast, it was still considerably better than the burnt ones she had made last time.

Li Huowang enjoyed his breakfast while listening to Li Sui practicing with the talisman and chanting on the lower floor.

After his breakfast, Li Huowang looked at Zhuge Yuan and asked, “Senior Zhuge, I have some questions. Would you mind answering it?”

“Please, ask away.” Zhuge Yuan's calm demeanor had returned as if he had never panicked in the Qi Kingdom not too long ago.

Li Huowang thought about how to ask the question. “Senior Zhuge, there's a chance that Shai Zi is trying to take advantage of the succession war, despite being hunted down by the Surveillance Bureau. is it because he wants to do something to the Dragon Vein?”

Li Huowang had no choice but to consider this possibility, especially upon recalling the Dragon Vein's value and that doctor's words.

As much as he hated Yi Donglai, he had to admit that the latter's questions were logical. If Yi Donglai's assumption was true, then Li Huowang couldn't help Ji Lin ascent to the throne.

Zhuge Yuan did not answer immediately. He tapped his fan on his palm and fell into deep thoughts before giving an answer, “You are not wrong, but Junior Li, you need to understand that the officials and Surveillance Bureau would definitely think of the possibility if even you can link the clues together. The Dragon Vein is important, and it's not as fragile as you think. It’s actually the opposite. The reason the Dragon Vein is in the imperial temple isn't to protect it but to protect the palace. In short, the emperor is the son of the Dragon Vein. Shai Zi cannot defeat the emperor in the palace.”

“The Dragon Vein is that strong? Even Shai Zi can't defeat the emperor if the latter is under its influence?” This was news to Li Huowang.

That’s true. How could the anchor of the history of a timeline be weak?

“Senior Zhuge, since the Dragon Vein is so strong, how did the one in Great Qi get severed?”

Zhuge Yuan's face fell when he heard that. He shook his head, “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“I’ve been dead for quite some time, and while I was alive, the Qi Kingdom was still fine. There was no news about the Dragon Vein being severed. I have no idea what happened there after I died, too. There are too many possibilities.”

The room fell silent, and the two of them looked at each other.

Zhuge Yuan broke the silence first. “Junior Li, there’s no need to ponder over Shai Zis' thoughts. We should first think about how to counter him. If we want to fight him, we need to do what I told you.”

“Now?” Li Huowang could still recall Zhuge Yuan's words. He could find someone in the Great Qi who could track down Shai Zi!

“Now that the omen has been read, who knows what would happen to the Qi Kingdom? If we don’t act now, there might not even be a Qi Kingdom next time...” Zhuge Yuan said, “I-If the Qi Kingdom vanishes, then you'd have a hard time tracking down that Shai Zi.”

Li Huowang was flustered. He finally managed to come up with a decent plan against defeating Shai Zi, so he couldn't give up now. This was much more important than helping Ji Lin to succeed to the throne. “Senior Zhuge. What should I do?”

“Go to the Great Qi and find Shangji Guankou. They have the method to find Shai Zi.”

“Really?” Finding Shai Zi had always been a difficult task, but Zhuge Yuan made it sound easy. Li Huowang was suspicious of the method.

“We are talking about Shai Zi here. Even the entirety of the Surveillance Bureau hadn't been able to Shai Zi. How can Shangji Guankou do that? If it were that easy, why was it that the Surveillance Bureau hadn't looked for Shangji Guankou even once?”

Zhuge Yuan stared deeply at Li Huowang and replied, “Junior Li, that’s because only the Great Qi has Shangji Guankou. They do not exist in the Great Liang.”

Li Huowang immediately understood. He took his weapons below his pillow and got ready to move out. “I see. Let’s go then!”

“Wait, don’t do it here. We should leave the city first. If we enter the Qi Kingdom here, we will appear in the You Capital, and we might kill someone accidentally.”

“Alright.” Li Huowang wore his red Daoist robes and took his two weapons as he went downstairs. “Senior Zhuge, what is Shangji Guankou? Is it a person or a sect?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

“Why not?” Li Huowang told Li Sui to wear her veil as he asked.

“To some, they are humans. To others, they are evil beings. But there are people who had seen Shangji Guankou as a temple.”

“Is it that profound? Doesn’t that mean they would request some sort of payment to find Shai Zi?”

“Don’t worry. I will deal with that. Even if I’m dead, my reputation in the Great Qi has not. I still have some connections.” Zhuge Yuan became confident again.

Li Huowang sat on his horse and urged it to exit the capital as soon as possible.

“But, Junior Li, even though Shangji Guankou can find Shai Zi, they cannot help you fight him. You need to deal with Shai Zi on your own.”

“I understand!” Li Huowang swore to kill Shai Zi on his own.

He finally had a chance to defeat Shai Zi, and he had to take advantage of that opportunity no matter what!

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