Mutated Tao

“It hurts! You’re hurting me!” Li Sui tried to push the old Daoist and the sword away. “Go away! I don’t want to kill people! Leave me alone!”

The two Daoists, in contrast, were excited when they heard her. “The evil entity is getting weaker! It’s trying to run away! My disciple, get ready to use the Soul Plunging Into Ocean Formation!”

“Yes, master!”

The two Daoists encircled Li Sui with synchronized hand seals and precise, deliberate movements.

Their shoe prints left a strange Daoist array on the ground, and the Feng Shui around them started to change.

Li Sui felt something was amiss and didn’t want to die here, so she took out some yellow talisman papers and began inscribing them with her own blood.

“Ma… Master. Am I seeing things right? Is the evil entity… is the evil entity drawing a talisman?”

Li Sui placed three talismans onto her tentacles and jumped up forcefully. She soared through the air and aimed for the river.

She wanted to avoid them by swimming away.

But as she was just about to land in the river, she saw several white flags embedded in the riverbed.

The Daoists had expected her to escape through the river and left traps there!

Bai Lingmiao felt her heart tense as she listened to Li Sui’s story. She leaned forward in anxiety as she held onto her teacup.

“And then what happened? Were you alright?”

Li Sui placed her teacup down lightly and chuckled. “Of course, everything was fine in the end. I wouldn’t be here today otherwise.

“The Daoists weren’t my match. I only panicked because it was the first time I was separated from Father. I won, but I was injured.”

Li Sui continued her story, recalling what had happened over a hundred years ago.

“Uuuu…” She dragged her bloody and tattered body from the river as she escaped.

Most of her tentacles had been snapped, and her body was filled with holes. She was almost blinded, and black fluid continued to leak out from a large hole on her head.

“Uuuuu… Father, where are you…? They are bullying me… It’s so painful…” Li Sui cried towards the sky as she ran.

She was heavily injured. Her instinct was driving her to find a new host to recover.

Li Sui returned to the river and discovered the Daoists who had been swept downstream. She dragged them out of the water and prepared to leave.

However, someone was blocking her path. It wasn’t the city guards or the guards from the You family. It was the wife of Master You.

“Oh great Immortal!” The woman practically broke down in tears as she kneeled before Li Sui.

“Oh great Immortal! Please, let go of my son! Let him go, please! He had just passed his village exams! He’s going to be a scholar in the city soon! Please, let him go and eat me instead!”

“Sorry…” Li Sui sobbed and bowed to her before walking past the woman.

“Great Immortal!” Her sorrowful cries made Li Sui stop.

Four plump children wearing dudous were presented in front of Li Sui.

“Great Immortal! I’ve bought these four children! Let’s exchange them, please! Four of them for my son! You won’t get cheated by me! It’s a fair deal!”

“I… I don’t want… I want to go back… I want my father…” Li Sui dragged the corpses as she continued to trudge onwards.

A sharp pain suddenly shot through her back. She looked back and saw the crazed woman stabbing her with a hairpin!

The woman was looking at Li Sui with deep hatred. “Give me back my son!”

Such small wounds did nothing to Li Sui, but with each stab and each time she met the woman's eyes, the guilt in Li Sui's heart intensified. It made her feel like a child being scolded for making a mistake.

In the end, Li Sui threw down the corpses and ran into the forest.

The skies turned dark and it started raining. She was tired and wanted to find a place to rest, but no such place existed.

Li Sui was cold, hungry, and wounded. She squatted down under a large tree and cried in despair.

“Father! Mother! Where are you?”

Wisps of steam floated out from the teacup in Li Sui’s hands. Under her watchful gaze, the steam dissipated in the air.

“Afterwards, the woman did not blame me. She was a rational woman who forgave me because it was an accident. After establishing a foothold in the Qi Kingdom, I even helped the You family and gave one of them the title of a fourth-rank official[1]. I suppose it’s compensation for them.

“Still, even though it was an accident, the reality is that I crushed their son.”

Bai Lingmiao sighed when she heard the story's ending. “I suppose it’s alright to let it go since everything ended well.”

“I never held onto the guilt. It’s just a story I thought would be suitable to talk to you, mother,” Li Sui said, picking up the gifts she had made. “Mother, these are red sugar cubes with gum and honey dates. Put them in hot water and drink them when you have your period. They should help you relieve pain and cramps.”

Bai Lingmiao felt a warmth in her heart. No one had taken care of her so well in the past.

“Also, I made some clothes for you. I know you prefer simple clothes, so I didn’t choose brightly colored fabric. This one opens up at the back so Second Mom can come out from there.”

The Second Deity felt the smooth silk and chuckled. “It’s good that I treated you so well when you were younger.”

They were talking when urgent footsteps came from outside.

It was Li Huowang. Bai Lingmiao had been trying on her new clothes when Li Huowang asked her hastily, “Miaomiao, where are the books kept in the secret underground chamber of the ancestral hall? I need them!”

“You mean the books with the techniques of the White Lotus Sect? They’re all in the White Lotus Hall for copying and distribution. They’re not here anymore.”

“No, not that. I need the books recording the various nonsense about the White Lotus Sect!”

“Oh, they are on the second shelf of the east wall.”

After hearing Li Sui’s answer, Li Huowang ran inside and started rummaging around.

Li Sui checked the new clothes that Bai Lingmiao was trying on. “Does it fit? If it doesn’t, I can change it for you now.”

“It does fit. Suisui, what’s happening to your father?”

“Don’t worry. He will tell us what’s happening later. Mother, there’s actually something important that I need to tell you today.”

Bai Lingmiao looked at Li Sui and sat down. “Oh? What is it?”

“Mother, do you still remember why you were chosen to become the Saintess?”

“The Heavenly Mater chose me. I didn’t want to do it willingly.”

“Then, if I gave you the chance, would you give up on being a Saintess? I remember that becoming a Saintess wasn’t your dream, right?”

“Suisui, what’s going on? Why are you telling me this?”

Thump! One of the books fell on the ground.

Li Sui paused and stared at Li Huowang, who was busy going through all the books. “Father, could you be quieter? I’m talking with Mother.”

1. Officials in ancient times were ranked from one to ten, with one being the highest rank ☜