Mutated Tao

After a while, the blood flowing from Lu Xiucai’s forehead covered his entire face as he rapidly recited an incantation.

“Disciple sincerely comes to worship. May the deity of this altar descend swiftly. Transform the body into the spirit, and the spirit into the body, and open the path of enlightenment! Guide us, step by step! Support the medium, inch by inch! Awaken the medium with divine light, speak clearly with a golden mouth, command the urgently divine soldiers and fire!”

While Lu Xiucai was invoking the spirit, the torches had already approached Li Huowang and his companions. The figures were now clearly visible.

They were the same people who had fled before. They had dared to return despite losing so many of their own. Li Huowang quickly noticed the source of their confidence—several elders dressed in fish-skin Daoist robes that stood at the front of the crowd.

These elders were unlike the others in both appearance and attire. They solemnly held thick incense sticks and offered sacrifices in all directions while murmuring incantations.

It was in a dialect that Li Huowang could hear but not understand.

The white incense smoke did not disperse. Instead, it gathered, forming densely around them.

The crowd carried a large mural behind them. No, to be precise, they had dismantled an entire wall.

“What kind of evil spirit is this?”

When Li Huowang saw these fishermen with dragon scale tattoos, he couldn’t help but be reminded of the water bandits he had encountered on the lake before.

“Forget it, whatever!” Li Huowang didn’t care anymore. He lunged forward and charged at them with his sword, while the blood-covered Lu Xiucai followed closely behind.

As Li Huowang approached, the elder boat people in fish-skin robes raised their giant incense sticks and thrust them into the ground. The smoke above them instantly formed a dragon’s head that lunged towards Li Huowang.

Li Huowang didn’t flinch. He gripped the purple-tassel sword in one hand and the bronze coin sword in the other. As the dragon-shaped smoke contacted him, he crossed the two swords, which could dispel evil, and pushed them forward.

The dragon-head-shaped smoke was instantly split into a cross. Li Huowang did not hesitate as he pounced on the boat people. The mural and the entire wall behind it came crashing down towards him.

Boom! The wall shattered into pieces and buried Li Huowang underneath.

As the dust settled, Li Huowang emerged from behind the towering figure of Peng Longteng, who had acted as a shield at the critical moment.

He held his two swords and glanced at the shattered mural on the ground, then at the boat people kneeling and bowing towards the sea. “Is that all? Just like that?”

He noticed the distant dark sea seemed to grow even darker, as if an oppressive mountain range had risen there.

Mountains? The thought barely appeared in Li Huowang’s mind before cold sweat broke out on his body. No! That’s not a mountain, it’s a tsunami!

The next moment, the tsunami carried the boat people’s boats and their stilt houses, and it surged towards Li Huowang with overwhelming force.

“Watch out!” Li Huowang quickly grabbed the bucket from Yang Na’s hands as she staggered. Fortunately, the dirty water inside was barely prevented from spilling.

“Hey, young lady, can you just stay put? Stop trying to help.” Li Huowang carried the bucket to the toilet and emptied it.

Yang Na pouted and said, “I... I just wanted to help. Why are you being so harsh on me? I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Look, I’m just casually saying. Why are you so upset?” Li Huowang put down the bucket, then walked over and gently hugged her.

“It’s okay! Everything’s okay! You all need to leave this place. Something’s not right here!” Li Huowang shouted to the others in the pouring rain.

“Senior Li, you should come too!”

Half of his body was in the water as he wiped his face with his hand and shouted again, “Stop talking nonsense! This rain is too strange! I’ll cover the rear! You all leave now!”

Suddenly, Li Huowang felt a sharp pain in his legs. There was something in the water!

He threw several glowing stones into the water. The faint light dispersed and scattered the surrounding shadows. He saw some shadows move towards the carriage, then reached into the water and pulled hard.

The rainwater, which reached up to their waists, rolled up like a blanket and was unable to approach the carriage.

Li Huowang’s ‘Truth’ cultivation had advanced to the third level, and naturally allowed him to learn new techniques.

Although his abilities had improved, they were ineffective if he could not pinpoint the enemy’s location.

What are these things? Li Huowang frowned while he scanned the surroundings, unable to figure out the enemy’s tactics.

The situation seemed too intense for them to be ordinary evil spirits. Could the Dragon King really be the one causing the heavy rain?

From the light of the glowing stones, he saw several shadows that crept along the bottom and headed towards him again.

“Suisui! Ribs!” Li Huowang crossed his arms, and inserted his rib bones into his chest. The shadows stopped advancing and they writhed in place.

A tentacle pulled out the bronze coin sword and flung it at a shadow in the water. The bronze coins pulled further apart, and finally dragged a man out from within the water.

The tattoos on his bare upper body showed he was with the previous group, but he was now wearing a wooden dragon mask.

“Who’s behind this? Where are they?!” Li Huowang choked and questioned him.

The man retorted angrily, “The Dragon King has appeared! You dare offend the Dragon King, so you’re dead meat!”

“Damn you!” Li Huowang roared. His throat released a barbed tentacle that tore out a chunk of the man’s neck.

“You Dharma Sect scum! Come out!” Lu Xiucai stood in the water and shouted angrily.

At that moment, the boat people climbed out of the water, and stood scattered in the rain as they cursed Li Huowang and Lu Xiucai.

The pouring rain mixed with their curses only fueled Li Huowang’s rage. All he could think of was killing these scumbags. He tightened his grip on his sword and prepared to charge forward while the rhythmic sound of drums began.

The rhythmic drumbeat began to overpower the rain and curses. Bai Lingmiao, who was beating on a drum, came to stand back-to-back with him.

“Li Huowang! What the hell is going on?! I told you to leave! Why are you still wasting time?”

Li Huowang’s heart sank at Bai Lingmiao’s scolding. He realized something was wrong.

At some point, everyone’s hearts, including his own, were overtaken by rage. It felt as if this emotion controlled them. Something was manipulating their ten emotions and eight sufferings!