Mutated Tao

"I believed you were strong! I believed you were cunning! Didn't you use me like a chess piece? I thought you could summon the dead! You even successfully summoned a dead Siming, the Divine Mountain Ghost Eye! And this is how your life ends? Just like that? Are you kidding me?!"

Li Huowang shouted and vented his frustration towards everyone. He didn't care if Xuan Pin heard him. He just needed to let it all out before his bottled emotions drove him crazy again.

“Weren’t you arrogant? Didn’t you say you were strong? You said you could help the Simings and uncover their secrets! I had thought you were someone amazing. But now? You’re dead, just like that? Embarrassing! Xuan Pin, you are a disgrace!”

Li Huowang’s angry face abruptly transformed into one of laughter. “Hehehe, you’re trying to trick me, aren’t you? You’re faking your death, right? Bullshit! I don’t believe that you are dead! You won’t trick me! Xuan Pin! Get over here! The Sitting Oblivion Dao has used this technique for ages!”

“Senior Li!” Gao Zhijian held onto Li Huowang’s shoulders, his grief evident in his voice. “Senior Li, don’t be like this. Calm down, I know you’re sad, but—”

“Hah! I’m sad? Who do you think he is? I won’t be sad because of his death! In fact, he’s just playing tricks on me again! This isn’t the first time he has done this. I had yet to make him pay for everything he had done, and now you’re telling me he’s dead?”

Li Huowang stood still as he laughed. “Do you think that’s plausible, Gao Zhijian? Do you think that’s plausible?! Why? Why do they keep throwing all the problems at me while they just kick the bucket?! Why?!”

He was not only referring to Xuan Pin.

Gao Zhijian didn’t know how to answer. He stood there and just looked at Li Huowang.

As Li Huowang slowly accepted the news, Gao Zhijian said, “Senior Li, I know you have reservations about Xuan Pin, but he was working really hard without rest. He did everything he could in places where you couldn’t see. You didn’t know this, but he was actually heavily injured. He didn’t even get to recover, and he refused to let you know because he was afraid of your powers.”

Gao Zhijian slowly explained, “When the Dharma Sect invaded us, their true goal was to destroy Xuan Pin. They had laid down plan after plan, ambush after ambush, all for Xuan Pin. Aiming for you was just a distraction. They knew you weren’t an easy target, but they didn’t care because their true goal was Xuan Pin.

“Xuan Pin was the one who unified all the soldiers and the other kingdoms to push back the Dharma Sect. He was the key individual in pushing the Dharma Sect back. That's why the Dharma Sect paid a heavy price to kill Xuan Pin and the others.”

“Others?” Li Huowang slowly raised his head. “People other than Xuan Pin died?”

Gao Zhijian’s lips quivered, seemingly afraid to utter the words, but he explained nonetheless. “The Liang Kingdom’s Imperial Preceptor, Hou Shu’s Imperial Preceptor, Qing Qiu’s Chief, and the Liang Kingdom’s Chief are all gone.”

Li Huowang thought he had misheard. “They are all dead?”

“Yes.”

Li Huowang refused to believe it, making his head buzz. No matter how much they had schemed and lied to him, they were still allies.

But now, they were all dead, just like that. The few remaining competent fighters had died.

Li Huowang felt a growing emptiness in his heart. He had always thought someone would stand and hold the Heavens up when they fell.

Now, he found himself alone as the tallest one.

Li Huowang might need to face the Dharma Sect by himself now.

He suddenly felt fatigued, more than he had been in ages. He sat down on the bloody battlefield and sighed when he looked at the sky.

Li Huowang didn’t want to do anything. He just wanted to return to Cowheart Village to live out the rest of his life. Why must the fate of the world be in his hands? He was tired.

He closed his eyes to try to forget everything. A long time passed before he took another breath.

“Since Xuan Pin is dead, who will inherit his position?” Li Huowang said, lying in a pool of blood.

“The Chief of Hou Shu is temporarily holding it. I haven’t told the others yet because it would demoralize them.”

Li Huowang opened his eyes and struggled to sit up.

He picked up a broken blade on the ground and stabbed into his abdomen. He shouted angrily as he twisted up his insides.

He only stopped when he felt his intestines had been cut into pieces. He dragged his bloody body up and looked at Gao Zhijian.

He had no choice. They were all dead, and he was the only living person that could handle it.

Thunder rumbled in the skies as they noticed someone was running towards them. It was a messenger on horseback.

“Report! Victory from Xu Zhong! Victory from Xian Yang! Victory from Hu Laoguan!”

An old eunuch took the scroll and read it before whispering to Gao Zhijian.

Gao Zhijian revealed a victorious expression. He turned and looked at Li Huowang. “Senior Li! Xuan Pin’s sacrifice was not in vain! Their sacrifices were not in vain! After you defeated that being, the Dharma Sect realized their defeat and retreated from Si Qi! We have reclaimed Si Qi!”

Anything that would demoralize the soldiers should naturally be kept hidden, but anything that would bolster their morale should be spread out far and wide! Soon enough, word of their triumph reached every soldier’s ears.

The soldiers who had fought against Ma Tuo shouted and cheered happily, regardless of their ranks. Their cheers came in waves.

Everyone thought that they were winning and could soon return home. This large battle was ending soon.

They were filled with confidence in the outcome of the war, but none of them knew that their leaders had been killed by the Dharma Sect.

Li Huowang just stood there, his body covered in blood, as if he didn't belong among them.