Mutated Tao

Regardless of what had happened, with Li Zhi’s death, everything came to an end.

Even though it had been quite dangerous, after his near-death experience, Li Huowang had obtained many benefits.

First, Li Huowang now knew why the monks at Righteous Monastery had tried to trick him.

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.

This was what Li Zhi told him right before his death. In this world, he was a precious Strayed One.

Li Huowang had never really understood ancient literature, but he still tried to recall whatever he had learned in school, getting a rough understanding of it.

Based on his understanding, there was a certain primordial substance in the beginning, and that substance formed everything. However, Strayed Ones were formed even before this primordial substance was formed.

He deciphered what Li Zhi’s words meant, but instead of getting any answers to his questions, he was left with even more questions.

I’m a human. A mortal with blood and flesh. How could I be something that was formed before ‘the substance’ but still be incomplete? This makes no sense.

This was something so profound, and yet, it didn’t sound like it applied to him.

If something wasn’t even complete, then how could it move or think?

Facing this question, Li Huowang failed to comprehend it.

However, no matter what he thought, the actions of the cultivators of this world, including Dan Yangzi, Abbot Xin Hui, and even Li Zhi, told him a completely different story.

Ignoring what it means to be a Strayed One, I am a living treasure, just like Tang Sanzang. Everybody wants a piece of me, per se.

Li Huowang thought about it. At this point, he had lost any and all trust he had for the people of this world—anything said by anyone could be fake.

They could be trying to lie to him.

This made him doubt everyone as if everyone who approached him had some sort of agenda.

Even so, he still needed to survive here. He had no choice but to face his problems one by one.

For now, Li Huowang could tell that Li Zhi hadn’t been lying to him. Dying men had better things to do than spout lies, so what Li Zhi had said was most likely the truth.

Li Zhi had even requested Li Huowang to burn some money for him during the Qingming Festival. He couldn’t have gained anything from lying to Li Huowang about this.

“Hey! Wait up!”

Hearing this shout, Li Huowang and the rest turned their heads and saw an honest looking man catching up to them while holding something in his hands.

“Where are all of you going? Where is my Shaman friend? The one who was with you guys.” asked the man, panting.

Li Huowang could never tell him how Li Zhi had died. Thus, he lied, “Li Zhi had something to do and left with his wife.”

That man didn’t even doubt his words and just passed a heavy parcel to Li Huowang. “Oh. If that’s the case, these are his belongings that were in his room. He probably forgot to take them. Please send them to him for me. Thanks.”

Looking at the color of the parcel, Li Huowang recalled that it was the item that Li Zhi was carrying on his back when they first met.

After entrusting the parcel to Li Zhi, the man left without even waiting for Li Huowang to say anything.

Back on the road filled with many potholes, Li Huowang checked the items in the parcel. After all, the items would never be returned to Li Zhi, since he had died.

Just then, a sudden thought flashed through his head.

Wait, maybe there’s something precious in Li Zhi’s parcel?

Li Huowang didn’t even hesitate before opening it.

However, there was nothing new inside it; everything was old.

The first thing he saw was a piece of white drum leather; most likely a method to repair the drum used to summon the Immortals.

Li Huowang picked it up and threw it to the ground. He had a bad impression of the Shamans and felt that this item was a source of bad luck.

“Hey, don’t throw it away. It’s still good leather. Maybe we can use it in the future.” Bai Lingmiao picked it up with both her hands.

“What can we do with it? Patching stuff up?” Li Huowang realized that Bai Lingmiao was much more pragmatic than him.

“We don’t have any money left. We should save as much as we can,” said Bai Lingmiao.

Seeing Bai Lingmiao carefully placing the leather in the donkey cart, Li Huowang shook his head and continued to rummage through Li Zhi’s belongings as he picked up a string of coins. The coins were all new and shiny. It seemed that Li Zhi had been saving it up.

Shaking the coins in his hand, Li Huowang sighed.

He didn’t know what Li Zhi had been saving for, but it was clear that he had put in a lot of effort.

“Use it to buy some food.” Li Huowang threw the string of coins into Bai Lingmiao’s arms.

Seeing this, a smile instantly blossomed on the face of Bai Lingmiao who had been worried about their finances.

But her happiness didn’t last long. “Senior Li, we still need to find a way to earn money. These coins won’t last us long.”

“An income stream? What are you thinking of doing? Becoming performers like Lu Zhuangyuan?” Li Huowang asked as he continued to rummage through Li Zhi items.

Bai Lingmiao shook her head vigorously. “My father would kill me if he knew that I had become a performer. I was thinking of something more normal.”

At that moment, Li Huowang took out the jade pendant that was tied to a thread and placed it in her hands. “Don’t worry about money. Let’s find somewhere that’s more developed and sell this. Then, we would be able to buy anything we need.”

“I have something too! Here you go!” At that moment, Puppy took out a stack of red envelopes from within his shirt before passing them over.

Li Huowang was surprised. “Wait a minute, these are the red envelopes that Dan Yangzi had given to the now dead official disciples. When did you get your hands on them?”

“I took them when we were exiting the Zephyr Temple. I saw that no one had touched them so I took them instead, hehe.” Puppy was satisfied with his slyness.

Just then, Li Huowang’s hands stopped moving; he felt something spherical in Li Zhi’s parcel.

He took it out and saw that it was a gourd twice the size of his palm.

This looks like a gourd used to store pills. Do Shamans refine pills too?

Li Huowang wondered as he examined it.

He turned it upside down and shook it, but nothing came out. Li Huowang closed one of his eyes, intending to look inside the gourd.

Just as he was about to see what was inside, the top part of the ‘gourd’ suddenly opened. The mouth of the gourd was lined with rows of backward-facing teeth as it lunged toward Li Huowang.

Kachik!

Thankfully Li Huowang reacted quickly enough, otherwise half of his face would’ve been bitten off.

Even so, Li Huowang was visibly shaken when he saw the gourd reverting back to its original form.

It is a living thing and Li Zhi was using it to store something! Whatever is inside it must be very precious. But what is it?

At that moment, as if sensing something, the bell hanging at Li Huowang’s waist vibrated lightly.

“Wait a moment.” Li Huowang realized something and entered the forest.

Soon, the sound of a bell ringing was heard in the dense forest and a Wandering God was summoned.

Then, Li Huowang raised the gourd and showed it to the Wandering God before asking what was inside.

The Wandering God hummed in return.

Li Huowang was surprised at the answer and stared at the gourd incredulously. “What? Are you sure the item stored inside is… lifespan?”

Chacha and Char's Thoughts

Puppy is the comedic relief and the sly one in the group. Not bad at all. Good for him to swipe those red envelopes with money in them