Mutated Tao

Li Huowang shook his head, declining the white-frosted persimmon biscuit placed before him. “Don’t eat too much right now; otherwise, when we go to the inn and have a proper meal, you might not have any space left for it.”

However, Li Huowang’s reminder did not slow them down.

“No problem. I can still eat more after finishing these,” said one of the guiding drug ingredients.

“That’s right! We will still eat even if we’re stuffed! Being hungry is very uncomfortable. Ah, Senior Li, aren’t you hungry?” said another one of the guiding drug ingredients.

Li Huowang just silently smiled and continued to lead the horse forward. There was an inn not too far ahead.

“Senior Li, would you like to try these clothes I bought for you?” asked Bai Lingmiao.

Li Huowang shook his head again, “Forget it. I’ve grown accustomed to wearing these Taoist robes while just having to change the inner layers. Also, you should cover your eyes up, or you’ll start to feel pain soon.”

The two horse carts squeezed through the dense crowd for a long time before finally arriving at the inn.

Once there, Puppy excitedly raised the gold beans in his hand and rushed in. “Waiter! Prepare the best private room for Lord Cao Cao! Also, bring me braised pork! Only fatty meat, no lean meat! Four large bowls!”

Li Huowang walked in and pushed him aside, then looked at the townspeople who were eating away and chatting. Then, he told the approaching waiter, “No need for a private room; we’ll eat in the main hall. I like the liveliness.”

“Senior Li, we have money now. Why are we eating in the main hall? It’s noisy and-” protested Puppy.

However, the jumpy Puppy wilted like an eggplant as soon as Li Huowang glared at him.

They sat down at a wooden table, and Li Huowang started listening in on the surrounding conversations.

“Be careful of people making things hard for you. Your grandmother is really saying these things behind your back,” said a man.

“If you ask me, others not respecting your boundaries calls for a fight! Our kingdom of Si Qi has never feared anyone in battle. Though I’ve retired from the military, I’ll report back without question if orders are sent for me to come back!” said another.

“Kekeke, Zi Qi, forgive me for being late. My wife nagged me for a bit. As a punishment, I’ll down three cups first,” said another.

“Ah! Look there, that Taoist looks quite strange. His robes are red…” said another man, pointing at Li Huowang.

Li Huowang did not hear any information he wanted to hear while waiting for the food to be served. Based on his understanding, this town was quite close to the Nunnery, and there should be some form of influence on the people nearby, be it good or bad.

However, from what he saw, the presence and influence of the Nunnery were quite low among the townspeople.

Since this approach did not work, Li Huowang began to think of other ideas to gather the information he needed.

“Twin Dragons Chasing the Pearl~ Three Suns Prosperity~ Fish Leaping over Dragon Gate~ All the dishes are here~ Esteemed guests, please enjoy!” said the waiter, carrying in all their dishes.

Just as the waiter had finished placing the dishes and was about to leave, Li Huowang grabbed his arm and stopped him.

“Oh, Taoist, you can see how busy it is in this inn, I’m very sor—” the waiter tried to quickly apologize and leave.

However, before the waiter could even finish his sentence, Li Huowang stuffed a golden bean into his hand.

“Do you know about the Henghua Mountain over there?” asked Li Huowang.

“Yes!” the waiter replied happily.

“There’s a Nunnery at the top of that mountain. I have heard that their incense is very prosperous? Is their Bodhisattva very efficacious?” questioned Li Huowang.

A look of bewilderment crept onto the waiter’s face. “Prosperous incense? But the Benevolent Nunnery’s incense isn’t even as popular as the local deity.”

“Eh?” Li Huowang looked toward Xiaoman; this was different from what she had told him before.

“My neighbor said that they were very popular,” Xiaoman said, putting down her chopsticks in embarrassment.

“Ah, then your neighbor must be bragging. The Benevolent Nunnery’s Bodhisattva has even started to gather dust. Even if they have an incense burning, it must be haunted there,” said the waiter. “Taoist, I’m not wrong. After all, a widow from the village my elder sister’s nephew lives at went to become a nun at Benevolent Nunnery.”

This got Li Huowang interested. “Oh? Why did she become a nun there? Are there any requirements?”

Hearing this question, the waiter looked around hesitantly.

Li Huowang passed another golden bean into his hand, leading the waiter to lean in and answer in a low voice.

“Her husband died, the rest of her family lived far away, and she couldn’t bear any sons. Thus, she was deemed useless by the people of her village and had no other options. Otherwise, nobody would willingly become a nun,” explained the waiter.

“Oh… So it’s like that.” Li Huowang nodded thoughtfully.

From the information he had gathered so far, these nuns should be quite normal and not too different from what Li Zhi had said before his death.

“Then do you know why the nuns there need to wear black clothes?” Li Huowang asked as he took out yet another golden bean.

“Ah, those aren’t supposed to be black clothes. The nuns are supposed to wear blue robes. But I don’t know if it’s because they have no wells up the mountain, or because they don’t take baths or because they don’t change clothes, their robes turn black over time,” explained the waiter. His face was filled with disgust at this point.

“Some time back, a few nuns came down to sell some pigs, and I saw one of them rub her neck. Guess what?! She rubbed out a black mudball about the size of a jujube!” continued the waiter.

The others nearby had uncomfortable looks on their faces as they placed down their chopsticks.

Smack!

At that moment, a palm smacked the back of the waiter’s head.

“There are guests eating here! What are you talking about?! Are you trying to ruin the reputation of my Penglai Inn?” asked the innkeeper.

“Innkeeper, that was not my intention! I only answered this Taoist’s questions!” defended the waiter.

The fat innkeeper apologized and led the waiter away.

Meanwhile, Li Huowang picked up his chopsticks and began to eat.

“Senior Li, we can help you if you want to ask something,” Puppy said as he picked up a fatty piece of meat and placed it into his mouth.

“Alright, don’t go around frightening the people with your speckled face. Baolu, when you’re done, go to the town and try to gather some information about the Benevolent Nunnery,” said Li Huowang.

Amongst the guiding drug ingredients, this was the only man who was adept in swimming and also had a completely normal appearance, at least on the outside.

Sun Baolu had always maintained a low profile. Hearing Li Huowang’s command, while he was momentarily surprised, he quickly nodded in silence.

Li Huowang glanced at him, and then continued to eat his meal. Having a normal outer appearance did not mean that he was normal. This man, Sun Baolu, had never taken off his clothes when they went to sleep and would always avoid people when going to the bathroom, be it male or female.

His clothes definitely hid the reason behind why Dan Yangzi chose him as a guiding drug ingredient.

But Li Huowang did not wish to pry. Similarly, he did not want others to discuss his mental state and hysteria.

Li Huowang decided to stay at this inn for some time.

Meanwhile, he sent some of the assistants and Baolu to gather information about the Benevolent Nunnery.

Li Huowang did not want a repeat of the events that occurred back at the Righteous Monastery. This time, he had even told Baolu to make a trip up the mountain.

After some time, Li Huowang reluctantly concluded that these nuns should not pose too much of a threat to himself. The most common adjectives used by the townsfolk about the nuns were dirty, lazy, and fat.

“If I don’t return the next day, then you guys should leave this place immediately. Got it?” Li Huowang was standing at the mountain path as he instructed the rest of the guiding drug ingredients.

“Senior Li, let’s go there together,” suggested one of them.

“Go there together? To become a burden? Do you think this is just an outing?” reprimanded Li Huowang. However, he regretted his harsh words as soon as he said them. Even so, he did not explain anything to them. He just turned around and started heading up the mountain alone.

As she watched his figure gradually grow distant, Bai Lingmiao bit her lips. Tears welled up in her eyes as she seemed to want to say something. But in the end, she did not speak.

Meanwhile, Li Huowang vanished up the mountain path.

Chacha and Char's Thoughts

And here we have a look at Simpleton (Gao Zhijian) by @格子的乱七八糟