Mutated Tao

It felt weird to worship her father as a god.

Still, Li Sui didn’t mind. She preferred it this way—it meant that her father was constantly watching over her.

“Father, wait for me! I will come back and meet you again as Li Sui! I swear!”

Li Sui’s intelligence was growing from the people she had assimilated. She started planning for when things went wrong, and she was no longer overly optimistic.

But Li Sui hated it. She preferred to remain as she once was, where everything was simple.

Looking down at the clay figurine, she murmured sadly, “If only... If I weren’t me... If I stop being myself in the future, I’ll hide it from you, Father. That way, you won’t have to be sad too.”

***

“Li Sui! Come back! May your soul return!” Li Huowang shouted, dressed in mourning robes.

Li Huowang tossed white paper money[1] high into the air.

The paper money floated before falling onto the massive black coffin behind him.

Bai Lingmiao continued to cry. She held a red thread and followed the black coffin.

On the other end of the red thread was a piece of meat. It was the flesh of Li Huowang, Li Sui’s favorite meal when she was still alive.

This was a custom of the Liang Kingdom. When people died, their loved ones tied a red thread to their favorite food or item while they were alive, carrying it until it was buried in the coffin.

Though the instruments played loudly behind the procession, Li Huowang remained unfazed. He was just walking in a daze, revealing no emotions. He continued scattering the paper money as they approached the mountain behind Cowheart City.

The grave had been dug prematurely, and the best Feng Shui master of the Liang Kingdom had decided on the burial site.

Everyone from Cowheart Village looked on solemnly as the coffin reached the grave. According to their customs, it would then be lowered down.

Bai Lingmiao, who had long regarded Suisui as her child after deciding not to have her own, collapsed in grief. Tears streaked her face as she cried. “Suisui!”

Bai Lingmiao tried to jump into the coffin, but Li Huowang held her back. He wanted her to stop from making a mess out of everything.

The Second Deity sprouted from Bai Lingmiao’s back and scratched Li Huowang, leaving deep wounds on him.

Despite his wounds, he remained silent, his gaze fixed on the coffin as it was lowered.

“Are you mute? Speak!”

In the end, Bai Lingmiao stopped the Second Deity. She sat down on the ground and wept silently beside Li Sui’s grave.

There was someone else crying aside from Bai Lingmiao. It was Qiu Chibao. She held onto her rotten baby as she repeatedly tried to drag Li Sui out of the coffin, but it was destined to fail.

The burial was completed—the coffin was lowered, the grave was filled, and the tombstone was set.

Li Sui could finally rest in peace.

Everyone returned to Cowheart Village. With the funeral over, the atmosphere relaxed a little.

Yang Xiaohai and the other chefs worked hard to serve a large banquet.

However, Li Huowang ate nothing. He sat at the main seat and continued to drink wine, cup after cup.

He used to have a low tolerance for alcohol, but now, regardless of how much he drank, he couldn’t feel anything. He couldn’t get drunk.

He drank a lot, but the wine in his pot never diminished. He could drink as much as he wanted. The more he drank, the more Qiu Chibao cried.

He drank from evening until late at night. Even after the banquet, Li Huowang was still drinking.

As he was about to drink more, Bai Lingmiao took Li Huowang's cup and smashed it on the ground.

“Stop drinking!”

Li Huowang nodded. “You’re right. We shouldn’t drink anymore. It’s time to deal with the official matters.”

Li Huowang stood up and took one step forward. He shortened the distance and instantly appeared in Shangjing.

He stepped into the palace and saw the Liang Kingdom’s Imperial Preceptor, Huangfu Tiangang, playing chess with Gao Zhijian. Huangfu Tiangang was still blind. ℞ÄℕО𝐁Ёs

Li Huowang sat between the two of them.

“Xuan Pin is dead.”

Huangfu Tiangang nodded. He picked up a black piece with two of his fingernails and placed it on the chessboard. “I know. The funeral is very grand.”

“She told me that you know something and requested me to ask you about it.”

Gao Zhijian noticed Li Huowang seemed different, placing a white piece down.

“Senior Li, are you alright?”

Li Huowang ignored Gao Zhijian and stared at the blind Huangfu Tiangang.

“It’s nothing major,” Huangfu Tiangang said. “Xuan Pin wanted to remind you that as long as there’s a Chief for the Surveillance Bureau, we can hold our ground. If Fu Shengtian’s Simings invade again, we’ll repel them, just as we did the day before yesterday.”

“Almost every soldier is dead,” Li Huowang said.

“No.” Huangfu Tiangang shook his head. “What do you think a soldier is?”

Huangfu Tiangang stroked his beard. “As things stand right now, we must sacrifice a lot to survive whenever the world is thrown into chaos due to the Simings.

“No matter how strong the soldiers are, they are still humans. All humans can be turned into soldiers. All we’d need to do is expose them to murderous aura. Then, everyone in the world could become a soldier.”

Li Huowang’s breathing changed when he heard that. He never thought that was one of their plans. “Then everyone would die.”

“Yes.” Gao Zhijian nodded before placing his white chess piece onto the board. “Senior LI, I know you are kind, but some people have to die. Even the royal family dies.”

A bulky young child laughed and ran over to them. Gao Zhijian grabbed the boy easily.

“This is my son. I chose him to be my successor. I have many sons, but only one can live. The rest must die.”

Gao Zhijian’s tone was so cold that it was as if he wasn’t talking about his son.

“Fu Shengtian’s Simings... The Baiyu Capital Simings... We cannot trust any of them. To survive, we can only trust ourselves. This is how the world works. Human lives are worthless. Everyone can die, and we can give birth to more people as long as we don’t go extinct.”

“Human lives… are worthless…? Do you know what this means to them?n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Li Huowang recalled many faces: Abbess Jing Xin, the Lu family, Zhuge Yuan, Suisui… Their faces flashed past his mind.

Li Huowang’s face twisted as his teeth cracked under the force of his bite.

“Enough! I’ve had enough! Why?! Tell me why!”

Li Huowang punched the chess board and shattered it.

1. Fake money used for ceremonies ☜