Mutated Tao

Upon hearing those words, Li Huowang held his burning shoulder and looked at Li Zhi, who lay on the ground.

Is he… apologizing to… me?

“You are on the verge of death. No need to fake it and try to gain my mercy. After all, it was you, not someone else, who wanted to kill me, right?” asked Li Huowang.

Li Zhi’s face slowly turned pale as he smiled bitterly. “I had no choice. I really didn’t. They forced me to do it. You can run, but I can’t do that. The moment I became a Shaman, it was destined that I would never be able to run away anymore,” said Li Zhi weakly.

Crimson blood continued to flow from Li Zhi’s body, dyeing the ground a deep shade of red. His time was almost up.

Li Huowang stood there with a complicated expression. He wasn’t even sure if the Li Zhi in front of him was real or fake.

“This… This ain’t too bad. At the very least, my mind is finally quiet now,” Li Zhi lamented.

“Just now, did the Immortals force you to do everything?” Li Huowang asked.

“Hoho… It doesn’t matter if you don’t want to believe me. Ever since I became a Shaman, I have been nothing more than their puppet. I tried to fight back, but it was useless. A human could never hope to win against Immortals,” explained Li Zhi.

At this point, Li Huowang had stopped caring about whether it was the truth or not. He walked toward Li Zhi and tried to pull his sword out from Li Zhi’s abdomen. But no matter how hard he pulled, it didn’t come out. He then saw that Li Zhi was tightly holding onto the sword with his hands. Some of his fingers were already sliced off.

Li Zhi flashed a bloody smile. “Taoist Li, if you happen to meet someone like me in the future, do be careful. You are a Strayed One and that quite literally makes you a walking treasure in the eyes of others. The people who don’t have bad intentions toward you will be few and far between.”

Hearing him say that, Li Huowang’s heart skipped a beat. He had never thought that he would get such information from Li Zhi, but now the man himself was telling him all of it.

Looking at the dying man in front of him, Li Huowang spoke slowly, “What exactly is a Strayed One?”

“Strayed Ones. In the beginning, everything starts to take form, and when there is form, there is essence, and yet, it is not complete. That is a Strayed One; one who has both form and essence, but at the same time is still incomplete,” explained Li Zhi.

“What?” Li Huowang did not understand what he was trying to say.

“This was all that the Immortals told me. I am just an uneducated man, and so I do not understand what it means either. But this was the first time I had seen them this happy, and that’s why I thought… I thought that it must be something good.”

Li Huowang raised his hands, staring at them in shock.

When he thought back to what happened with the monks at the Righteous Monastery, he was certain that Li Zhi was not lying to him.

Am I something precious in this world? But I’m no different from the others except for my hallucinations. What does it mean for me to be a Strayed One?

Li Huowang silently memorized what Li Zhi had said. He had a feeling that this was something important.

At the same time, he remembered his dead Master, Dan Yangzi.

Li Huowang realized that there had always been hints ever since the beginning. Dan Yangzi, that cheapskate, would never simply find someone random to be used as a guiding drug ingredient.

Once he realized that the cultivation methods of the others he had met were just as bizarre as Dan Yangzi’s, he could deduce that they too would likely need something akin to a guiding drug ingredient on their path of cultivation.

Li Zhi’s voice slowly became softer and softer, his eyes starting to glaze over.

“Taoist Li, can you do something for me?” asked Li Zhi.

Li Huowang turned to the dying Li Zhi. “What is it?”

“The 22nd day of the next month happens to be the Qingming Festival. On that day, can you burn some extra money for me? I’ve been poor throughout my life, but I don’t want to die and become a poor ghost,” said Li Zhi.

After saying that, Li Zhi smiled as blood flowed out of his mouth.

“If I am to be reincarnated, then I would rather be livestock than become a Shaman. It’s way too suffocating and… tiring. It’s even worse than becoming the manager of a brothel. Taoist Li, whatever you do, don’t ever become a Shaman. This is not something that a normal person should do. It’s way too hard and suffocating.” Tears streamed down Li Zhi’s eyes.

Li Huowang looked at him with complicated feelings. But then, everything that Li Zhi had done before flashed through his mind. Li Huowang might think of himself as virtuous, but in the end, it was not something that he could define himself with.

Li Zhi was just someone unlucky who was controlled by the Immortals.

This cruel world had taught him that those who used supernatural powers might not just be skilled people like Abbot Xin Hui or Dan Yangzi—they could also be people who were just pawns of supernatural beings.

“Thank you for your reminder, Li Zhi,” thanked Li Huowang.

Li Zhi was on his last breaths. He took one last deep breath as he said his final words, “One more thing. You asked before that you needed help with repelling something evil, right? Go south. Find the nuns in black. They can be… counted… as… nice… people. They… should… be able to help you.”

Li Huowang had never thought that he would be able to get hold of such precious information today. This was closely related to the matter of getting rid of Dan Yangzi, who was somehow possessing him. He quickly asked, “Nuns? What is the name of their sect? Are they specialized in repelling or exorcizing evil beings?”

Li Huowang waited for Li Zhi’s reply, but to no avail.

Soon, he realized that the light in Li Zhi’s eyes was gone. He was dead.

Staring at Li Zhi, who had died with his eyes wide open, Li Huowang felt bitter in his heart.

If Li Zhi hadn’t been a Shaman, they could’ve become friends.

Just then, the rest of them came over. “Senior Li, once the drum beats stopped, that weird thing stopped moving as well. Oh? What happened to him?”

Puppy and the rest looked quite disheveled after fighting the Second Deity for so long. However, at the very least, they had only suffered minor injuries.

Li Huowang sighed as he pulled his sword out from Li Zhi’s body and returned it to the sheath. “Find a place and dig a grave for both of them. We don’t want the animals to nibble on their flesh.”

“Why should we do that, Senior? He’s just a cold-blooded murderer!” Puppy did not understand Li Huowang’s intention.

Li Huowang did not explain, merely gently closing Li Zhi’s eyes.

Li Huowang did not erect a gravestone for Li Zhi. After all, no one would be coming to pay their respects to him anyway. At the same time, if he did erect gravestones for them, there might be even more trouble down the road.

The roosters were already crowing by the time they dealt with the aftermath and returned to the village.

They had just arrived at the door when they saw a thin figure by the well. It was Bai Lingmiao. Previously confined to the bed due to her fatigue, she was now fetching water from the well.

“Senior Li! Where did you go? Why are all of you injured? Is everything ok?” Bai Lingmiao asked anxiously.

Meanwhile, Li Huowang frowned as he grabbed the bucket from her hand and threw it aside, “You have a fever. Why are you out here fetching water from the well? Quickly go back to your room and rest.”

“I’m fine. Here, feel my forehead,” said Bai Lingmiao.

When Li Huowang touched her forehead and realized her fever had dissipated, he was surprised. “The pills I made weren’t that potent. Are you sure you are alright?”

Bai Lingmiao’s looked stunned for a moment before she hurriedly smiled. “Yes, I am fine. My illness is gone. Isn’t that good news?”

“You should still rest even if you are healed. You’ve just recovered from the illness, so don’t touch the water unless necessary!” said Li Huowang.

Chacha and Char's Thoughts

So Li Zhi was essentially forced into slavery by the Immortals. It's really a sad life to lead