Mutated Tao

“Ouch.” Yang Xiaohai only felt pain and no other sensations as the fish spines stabbed into his skin. The pain was so deep that he could feel it in his bone marrow, but no matter how bad it got, he couldn’t faint at all.

Yang Xiaohai’s consciousness started to fade in and out as time dragged on. As his consciousness wavered, Yang Xiaohai saw the Dragon King slowly move.

It wasn’t until the mural moved that Yang Xiaohai realized the black snake was not the Dragon King—it was his shadow! The real Dragon King was behind the shadow.

As time passed, the shadow moved faster. The Dragon King’s whiskers stretched out like the legs of centipedes from the shadow.

At the very least, Yang Xiaohai thought those were whiskers since they were the only thing that resembles that shape on a dragon. But on closer inspection, he thought it looked more like antennas of numerous insects, or some kind of thread.

The dragon’s whiskers wriggled in the air along with the smoke and incense. As they wriggled, Yang Xiaohai’s eyes widened—he felt an oppressive feeling on his chest that he couldn’t shake, no matter how hard he breathed.

In between the space of the dragon’s whiskers, Yang Xiaohai saw a small section of the Dragon King’s real body covered in scales.

The scales were swimming in water as they slid easily back, revealing a gray eye.

The moment Yang Xiaohai locked eyes with the Dragon King, his consciousness faded immediately and he was drowned in the abyss.

He didn’t know how much time had passed when he was woken up by an ancient voice. “Kowtow~”

Yang Xiaohai shivered and quickly looked at the mural to find that the Dragon King was back to normal again. He was no longer suffocating, and nothing had changed.

He quickly looked around and saw his parents were signaling him frantically for him to kowtow.

He looked down on his body and saw the bloody tattoos resembling dragon scales before he realized what was going on. It was part of the procedure to enter the family and not them trying to harm him.

Yang Xiaohai quickly followed their instructions and kowtowed to the mural again.

The ceremony passed without any issues. Ten minutes later, Yang Xiaohai exited from the temple with the scent of incense stuck to his body.

“Mom, why didn’t you tell me they were going to do that? It hurts so much,” Yang Xiaohai said as he touched the bloody tattoos on his body.

He also wanted to tell his mother about how the Dragon King moved but he didn’t know what to say.

“You are so weak. You are already an adult, so why are you so afraid of being in pain?” Chi Baishui scoffed at his own son with disgust before he walked away.

Yang Xiaohai felt humiliated when he saw how his father had reacted.

He wasn’t afraid of pain, but he hated how his feelings had been invalidated. Even though it was his own father, he knew that it was not right. He had seen how Lu Zhuangyuan acted as a father.

Yang Xiaohai suddenly felt a cold sensation on his arm. He looked down and saw his mother carefully scattering some incense ash onto his arm.

“Fifth Child, don’t cry. The ashes will stop your bleeding. I will cook two eggs for you to recover later.”

Yang Xiaohai felt a warmth entering his heart. Even though his father was cold, his mother was as kind as he had imagined.

“Mother, I’m not in pain.” Yang Xiaohai shook his head and helped her out.

Even though the process was painful, he felt that it was worth it since he finally joined the family properly.

Back in his boat house, he saw his own father was already in the water. Without waiting for him to react, Chi Baishui pulled Yang Xiaohai into the sea without any warning. Yang Xiaohai struggled to swim up, but Chi Baishui continued to push him down in the water.

Yang Xiaohai struggled until he felt tired, but for some reason, he was not struggling to breathe. He quickly reacted and moved his arm into the water. He then saw his father swimming in the water effortlessly.

Yang Xiaohai finally understood what the teacher in Cowheart Village was trying to explain about the phrase “like a fish in water.”

He felt that he had truly become a fish, swimming without any difficulties. He played in the water until he felt his breath running out. He surfaced and took deep breaths afterward.

Yang Xiaohai was treading on water as he looked at his tattoo with surprise. He knew that the reason why he could swim so fast underwater was due to the tattoo.

“Hmph! Did you really think that your own father would harm you?” Chi Baishui was looking at him with pride before he crawled up onto the boat.

“Father, can everyone swim this fast once they join the family?” Yang Xiaohai swam to the side of the boat and climbed up too.

“Of course. The blessing of the Dragon King is a good thing. We don’t let outsiders know about this and will only give it to the family.”

Yang Xiaohai touched his swollen tattoos and didn’t know what to say. Still, he thought that his father should have let him know earlier.

“Father! Father!” Both Yang Xiaohai and Chi Baishui turned to see who it was. Yang Xiaohai saw that it was his own sister as she sprinted at them with happiness.

“Father! Guess who just came back?”

She was going to excitedly tell the answer when a woman with short legs pushed her to the side gently. “Father, I am back. Are you doing well?”

The woman looked like Yang Xiaohai’s mother. He guessed her age and deduced that she was his elder sister.

But to his horror, he saw the black cloth wrapped on her shoulder!

Dharma Sect! Yang Xiaohai remembered them attacking Cowheart Village! They were even more evil than bandits. To think that his elder sister had joined them!

Yang Xiaohai was caught in a daze when he saw his father staring at her black cloth too.

But instead of being disgusted or angry, he was surprisingly happy. “Oh? You weren’t lying? Are you really working for the palace now? To think that they would accept women with bound feet[1] too!”

“Father, I just gave them some silver. They would accept anyone, regardless of whether they are elderly or children!”

The two of them laughed and entered the tent on the boat.

1. Footbinding was a custom in late imperial China where women would have their feet broken and tightly bound to change their shape and size. It was considered a status symbol and mark of feminine beauty, but it was very painful and resulted in physical impairments. ☜