Mutated Tao

“Sister, can you come out? I need to ask you something,” Yang Xiaohai shouted to the boat as he stood on the platform opposite it.

Yang Xiaohai saw his sister walking out from the boat and led her away from it before he feigned hesitation. “Sister, do they still need workers in the palace?”

“Why? Are you saying you don’t want to see our father anymore and want to come with me? You’re not a kid anymore, so don’t be childish.”

As Yang Xiaohai remained quiet, the monkey children quickly ran into the boat with several stones. They planned to use the stones as a decoy for the silver they were stealing. Their agile and silent nature made it clear that they were used to the work.

The sister looked at Yang Xiaohai before she sighed and said, “You can come if you want, but you have to kowtow and apologize to our father. I know you’re still angry, but no matter how harsh his words are, he’s still your father. I will only take you with me if he forgives you. You’re my brother and you probably can’t be an official for now, but I think I can find some work for you to do. Don’t complain about it, alright? The Dharma Sect is still at war with Hou Shu. Everyone knows that Hou Shu is losing, so once we are victorious, you will also get a piece of the cake.”

Yang Xiaohai saw that the monkey children had stolen all of the silver, nodded, and walked toward his boat.

Back in his boat, he saw the silver in the monkey children’s clutches and sighed, “Alright, let’s pack up and leave now!”

There wasn’t much to pack up since most of it had been sold by Chi Baishui.

Taking advantage of the darkness of the night, they quickly moved toward the shore. It wasn’t a smooth journey.

Whenever someone woke up, Yang Xiaohai would swing the scepter so they wouldn’t make a sound. By the time they snapped out of it, Yang Xiaohai would be long gone and they would think that they were dreaming.

They finally escaped the wooden huts built on the sea and quickly up the path towards Hou Shu.

Even though he was tired and it was a cold night, Yang Xiaohai felt as if he had revived. He wanted to go back to his true home!

Zhao Xiumei said, “Xiaohai, let’s rest a bit. Even the children can’t keep up.”

Yang Xiaohai turned around and saw the monkey children panting as they carried the silver. The silver was too heavy to be transported by hand without a carriage. Yang Xiaohai looked at the dirt path, took the silver from the children, and placed it in his own stash.

“Alright, let’s rest for now, but we cannot sleep. The Dharma Sect is still fighting against Hou Shu, so we need to return to Qing Qiu as soon as possible.”

They were resting for a bit when he suddenly saw the path leading to the sea was lit up with torches, as if a fire dragon was slithering up the path.

“Oh no! They are awake!” Yang Xiaohai took the silver and prepared to run when he saw the path in front of him was also lit up. They were surrounded.

Yang Xiaohai soon saw the faces of those holding the torches. They were none other than his family and relatives with his father leading them.

But to his surprise, he saw his mother hiding behind his father. Yang Xiaohai felt as if his head had been hit by a hammer. Being discovered was one thing, but he never would’ve expected his own mother to betray him!

“You have guts to try and run with the silver!” Chi Baishui was abnormally angry and veins covered his forehead.

Yang Xiaohai’s eldest sister was also upset. She now knew why Yang Xiaohai spoken with her. It was so they could take the silver!

“Shit, beat him up! Don’t hold back and just kill him!” Chi Baishui shouted and Yang Xiaohai saw his own brothers approaching him menacingly.

“Scram!” Yang Xiaohai swung his scepter and the group was caught in a daze.

The other people shuffled backward from fear as they looked at the scepter in Yang Xiaohai’s hands.

“What is that?”

“It’s something used to harvest the souls of others! The Chi family’s Fifth Child knows how to do that!”

While they were discussing that, Yang Xiaohai’s eldest sister suddenly shouted, “It’s an artifact! It can be used to harvest the souls of others! It’s a treasure! The county magistrate told me that if we gave it to him, we could exchange it for an eighth-ranked[1] official position. The better the treasure, the higher the position we can get!”

The moment they heard that, everyone’s eyes lit up with greed. Yang Xiaohai knew they were in deep trouble when his family wasn’t intimidated by his actions.

“Follow me into the forest, then scatter! One of us must escape!” Yang Xiaohai waved the scepter to the group of people to the left, stupifying them temporarily.

“Now!”

Yang Xiaohai and the others quickly ran past the dazed people and rushed forward.

He waved the scepter repeatedly, so many of them were caught in bewilderment. Just as Yang Xiaohai almost escaped their encirclement, something metallic flew past in the air.

A fish harpoon with barbed hooks stabbed Yang Xiaohai’s hands. Due to the intense pain, Yang Xiaohai let go of the scepter. He endured the pain so he could pick it up, but another harpoon nailed his left leg.

Chi Baishui picked up the scepter with glee before slapping Yang Xiaohai. “How dare you keep a treasure like this to yourself?!”

“Xiaohai!” Zhao Xiumei shielded Yang Xiaohai and looked at Chi Baishui with despair. “We are all family! There’s no reason to do this!”

“Family? You are not one of us!” Chi Baishui slapped her too.

Chi Baishui chuckled when he saw Yang Xiaohai enduring the pain to shield Zhao Xiumei instead. “Fifth Child, your wife is excellent. We should be able to sell her for more money than the monkey children.”

“What are you trying to do?!” Yang Xiaohai glared back.

“Aiyo! You are acting as if we are causing an inconvenience to you! Look at what you did! You lied to your mother and father, and you also stole the silver in our family! You even hid this treasure from us! Are you still human?”

“Xiaohai?” A foreign voice interrupted them.

Everyone looked at the direction of the voice to find a Daoist in red robes with three swords on his back.

Li Huowang approached Yang Xiaohai. He saw Yang Xiaohai’s wounded hands and feet as well as the scepter in Chi Baishui's hands. He also saw Yang Xiaohai’s sister had a black cloth wrapped around her shoulder. He understood what was happening.

“Are you his friend?” Chi Baishui scoffed and pushed Li Huowang away.

“You are already old. Aren’t you embarrassed that you are mingling with a child? Scram! This is our business and you have no say in this.”

Li Huowang looked at Chi Baishui before he grabbed his purple-tasseled sword. “And who the fuck are you?”

A glimmer of steel flashed in the night before Chi Baishui’s head flew up high in the air.

1. Officials were separated by rank. There are Nine Ranks and Eighteen Tiers to be exact. ☜