Mutated Tao

Chapter 488: Past

Li Huowang examined Lian Zhibei's injuries and said, “I’m sorry. I didn't expect it to go wrong. It’s my fault. Don’t move. I’ll treat your injuries for you, and then I'll compensate you with a few lifespan pills.”

Li Huowang supported Lian Zhibei and sat her down on a meditation chair. Then, he started preparing the Fiery Scripture.

“No, no, no, I can’t withstand that,” Lian Zhibei said. She pinched a talisman and used it to hold Li Huowang’s sword, which the latter was about to pull out.

“We had an agreement, but you violated it. You should just give me that jade plate, and we'll be even,” Lian Zhibei said amidst gritted teeth due to the extreme pain. Despite her plight, she was still more concerned about the pure lifespan rather than herself.

When Li Huowang handed her the jade plate that could be exchanged for pure lifespan, Lian Zhibei smiled despite the pain. She couldn't care less about anything else aside from the jade plate. She glanced at Bai Lingmiao before covering her wound with one hand and stumbling out.

Li Huowang looked up to see someone standing before him. It was Bai Lingmiao, and her expression was filled with sadness and concern as she stared at Li Huowang. She then walked to Li Huowang's side and opened her arms to embrace him gently.

Li Huowang trembled as he looked toward the ground. He saw only a pair of blood-red embroidered shoes and a red veil stained with blood.

“Senior Li, my connection to the Immortal families is gone, but the Second Deity is gone as well. I was too late..,” Bai Lingmiao muttered. Then, she sobbed as she hugged Li Huowang.

Late at night, Li Huowang sprawled out in bed, staring wide-eyed at the ceiling. He had achieved his goals. The Immortal families could no longer control Bai Lingmiao, but he felt inexplicably downtrodden despite the great result.

Li Huowang took a deep breath and sighed.

“Senior Li, I'm missing the Second Deity... no matter what painful things happened in the past, she had always shared some of my burdens. She was like a sister to me…”

Li Huowang couldn't help but feel doubtful about the decision he had made. Did I do something wrong? But if I hadn't dealt with the Immortal families, who knows what would have happened to Bai Lingmiao?

If he had known that getting rid of the Immortal families would make the Second Deity disappear, what would he have done?

As dawn approached, Li Huowang realized that there were right and wrong in important matters. For example, the Sitting Oblivion Dao had seized the Sacred Mountain Ghost’s eye and had caused a calamity to the world, which was wrong. It was right for the Surveillance Bureau to dispatch people to eradicate the Sitting Oblivion Dao—it was a "right" endeavor, as they were doing it for the sake of the world.

However, the boundary between right and wrong was ambiguous when it came to personal feelings. There were only appropriate choices rather than absolute "right" and "wrong."

Soon, the roosters crowed. Li Huowang had stayed up all night, and Bai Lingmiao also did not manage to get any sleep.

He got up from the bed and put on his Daoist robes, and then he started walking toward the main hall. As soon as he stepped out of his room, he saw Li Sui squatting in the center of the hall, staring at the drizzle in the courtyard outside.

“Dad.”

Li Huowang walked up to Li Sui and sat down. He looked down at the bloody wild-looking dog before Li Sui and asked, “What are you doing here?”

“I'm waiting for Second Mom. I caught this last night, and I’ve already eaten half of it. The other half is hers,” Li Sui replied.

Li Huowang's heart felt a pang of sharp pain at Li Sui’s words. He reached out and patted Li Sui before muttering, “Stop waiting for her; she’s gone and will never come back.”

“I know. Mom also said that Second Mom’s gone. I’m waiting for her to come back. Second Mom really loves eating this,” Li Sui nudged the bloody dog with his nose.

Li Huowang’s lips trembled slightly. “Did you not see her disappear? She… she's gone!”

“Yeah, I saw her disappear, but Second Mom has always been like that. She comes and goes as she pleases. Don’t worry about it, Dad. she’ll be back soon!”

Li Huowang did not reply. He opened his arms and hugged Li Sui tightly for a long time before standing up and heading back indoors.

　　***

Steam was rising from Gao Zhijian’s shirtless figure as he swung his colossal halberd up and down. His muscles were flushed red, seemingly as tough as iron, and were full of vigor.

Gao Zhijian swung his colossal halberd horizontally, kicking up a gust of wind that blew away the row of villages wielding wooden halberds before him. The villagers squinted and struggled to stand.

The colossal halberd pierced the ground. Gao Zhijian took a moment to catch his breath for a moment before exclaiming, “Practice!”

The dozen or so villagers looked at each other with puzzled looks. A short but stout man turned to the person next to him and asked, “How do we practice? Is what he's doing even humanly possible?”

“Just practice. He's been insisting on it, so just treat it as payment for the noodles that we are going to eat for lunch.”

With that, the villagers waved the wooden halberds in their hands in groups. The halberds were freshly made, and the moisture within the wood made them heavy. They trained until they could no longer lift their halberds.

However, Gao Zhijian didn’t care, and his calloused hands would teach those daring enough to be lazy a harsh lesson that they would never forget. The villagers waited painstakingly and worked hard until it was high noon, signaling the end of their training.

Yang Xiaohai’s call for lunch sounded like music to their ears. They rushed to the dining hall and directly went for the coveted steamed buns, which they immediately stuffed into their mouths.

They couldn’t hold their bowls steadily, but they ate with relish. They grunted nonstop as they ate, so the dining hall seemed like it was full of pigs fighting for food rather than hungry people.

Meanwhile, the disciples were busy discussing the issue of food supply somewhere in the Bai Family Estate.

“Senior Zhao Wu, we need to buy some grain soon. Senior Gao Zhijian said that we need at least a hundred soldiers. However, we're all going to run out of grain to feed them at this rate."

“I know, but now is not the time to buy grain. The prices are too high due to the Natural Disaster. Let's wait for the autumn harvest; it’ll be cheaper by then.”

Yang Xiaohai muttered, “But we'd have to hold out until then...”

“How about we... reduce their numbers? So many of us can use supernatural powers, so who would dare to provoke us?” Puppy suggested.

“No!” Gao Zhijian shook his head vigorously. “Se… Se.. Senior Li said... said... said, want... want—”

“Alright, alright, I give in, don’t finish it. It’ll be dinner by the time you finish your sentence,” Puppy interrupted.

Gao Zhijian frowned and glared at Puppy before lowering his head to eat his meal before him.

“Let's do that for now and stop quarreling about this issue. Senior Li has also left some gold for us to use. I’ll exchange some of it for silver later,” Chun Xiaoman said. Just like that, everyone ate with relish once more, as the matter was resolved so easily.

However, someone noticed Chun Xiaoman’s annoyed look throughout the meal.

After the meal, Chun Xiaoman decided to go to the shrine, but Gao Zhijian appeared before her and stammered, “I-I-I have money... if... if the... the... the... village... village... village... is short... short... short of money... look… look for… me!”

“You have money? Where did you get it?” Chun Xiaoman asked, looking surprised.

“I-I-I… in the past…”

“You used to be a rich man?” Chun Xiaoman asked.

Gao Zhijian’s face turned red out of embarrassment. He had no idea how to explain it through words, so he squatted and started drawing on the ground.