Mutated Tao

Li Huowang could already guess what they were discussing. After resetting the timeline so many times, it was obvious—they were talking about how his condition had worsened.

But that worked in his favor. He could use it as a smokescreen to deceive Qing Wanglai.

Thankfully, he still held the initiative despite how much the situation had changed.

Li Huowang took a deep breath and approached them.

“You guys must think I’m lying, but I’m telling the truth. We need to work together to overcome this crisis.”

Chen Hongyu replied, “But where is your proof? We need more than words to believe you. We need evidence.”

“Proof?” Li Huowang pretended to think deeply before shaking his head. “I don’t have any, but I’m telling the truth!”

Ba Nanxu rolled her eyes. “You think you’re telling the truth? Every lunatic believes that.”

“Now, now. There’s no need to attack him like that. He’s our ally, after all. He must have his own logic,” Qing Wanglai said, surprising everyone by defending Li Huowang.

However, Li Huowang ignored him and turned his attention to Zhao Shuangdian. “Where’s your laptop?”

Zhao Shuangdian was confused. “What laptop? I don’t even have a phone. Why would I need a laptop?”

Qing Wanglai stood up and walked into the kitchen. “We can revisit this topic later. Our food will be ready soon. Wu Qi, come and help me in the kitchen.”

Li Huowang knew this couldn’t go on much longer. He needed Zhao Shuangdian’s help if they were going to kill Qing Wanglai. If he couldn’t convince her, there was a good chance Qing Wanglai would use Zhao Shuangdian against him.

Li Huowang had an idea. He motioned Yang Na to follow him. As Qing Wanglai entered the kitchen, Li Huowang and Yang Na made their way up to the third floor.

Once they were alone, Li Huowang unsheathed his blade and cut a piece of his flesh from his arm.

“Huowang!”

Yang Na’s face turned pale with shock. In a hurry, she used her hair tie to stem the bleeding on his arm.

“Don’t worry. I’m just separating the Heavenly Dao from my body. We need to return it to Zhao Shuangdian so she can understand what I’m saying,” Li Huowang said.

He handed his flesh to Yang Na. “Help me. I can’t do this myself since Qing Wanglai is monitoring me. I need you to put my flesh into one of the dishes. She loves spicy food, so I need you to mix it with the stir-fried meat and green chili.”

Yang Na hesitated, looking at the bloody flesh with teary eyes. “But… I don’t know how to cook.”

“Let me handle it,” a voice said.

Yi Donglai appeared, looking at Li Huowang’s wound with a complicated expression. He felt confused, unsure of what he was supposed to do in this situation. Eventually, he let out a sigh and decided to take Li Huowang’s flesh, making his way towards the kitchen.

As Yi Donglai entered the kitchen, Li Huowang called out to Qing Wanglai to distract him. “Qing Wanglai, come out. I need to talk to you.”

“Me?”

Qing Wanglai complied. He washed his hands and took off his aprons before heading outside.

Li Huowang needed to keep Qing Wanglai away from the kitchen for Yi Donglai to succeed.

Qing Wanglai flashed his trademark fake smile. “Is there something wrong? Is it about your girlfriend?”

Li Huowang looked at Qing Wanglai carefully, recalling every atrocious action he had taken in the past. Li Huowang had to suppress his anger to stop himself from killing Qing Wanglai on the spot.

He couldn’t kill Qing Wanglai just yet. Killing the Three Ancient Ones required extreme caution.

For now, he knew that the Three Ancient Ones had the Heavenly Dao of Secrets, the Heavenly Dao of Growth, and a part of Li Huowang.

More importantly, Li Huowang didn’t know if Qing Wanglai had other secret allies. Li Huowang had to be very careful now.

Li Huowang decided to distract Qing Wanglai with some obvious questions. “Why didn’t you save me when I was captured at White Tower Hospital?”

He wasn’t truly interested in the answer. His focus remained on Yi Donglai. He watched as Yi Donglai worked quickly in the kitchen, finishing the dish.

The dish was served, and Zhao Shuangdian ate it happily.

Chen Hongyu noticed the stir-fried meat with green chili and salivated. “Looks delicious.”

She tried to grab some, but Yang Na pulled her back. “Auntie, where did you buy those potato chips? They’re so tasty. I want to buy more.”

With the distraction from Li Huowang and Yang Na’s help, Zhao Shuangdian finished most of the dish herself.

Zhao Shuangdian stood up to head back with the others, but Li Huowang stopped her. “You should play some computer games when you get back. They’re really fun. A boring life without computer games would be a shame.”

Zhao Shuangdian stared at Li Huowang like he was an idiot before she left. But she had just walked past Li Huowang when he whispered a peculiar term to her, “Topology…”

Li Huowang sat back down after Zhao Shuangdian left. This time, he wasn’t worried.

He felt his phone vibrate and smiled. Someone had sent him a message.

A few minutes later, Qing Wanglai ran out of his room and shouted, “We need to move out now.”

“Where are we going?”

Qing Wanglai was abnormally serious. “To Zhao Shuangdian’s house. She encountered some trouble.”

Everyone hopped into their vehicles. Li Huowang even went down to the basement to rev his motorcycle. Soon, the RV, sports car, and motorcycle roared across the countryside.

They took a winding path before stopping in front of a mountain. The area was rural, with only a dirt path leading the way.

No one would have guessed that Zhao Shuangdian lived in such an isolated place. Li Huowang gripped his blade and began climbing the mountain with the others.

Climbing a mountain without a path was exhausting. After two hours, everyone was panting.

Chen Hongyu struggled to breathe because of her fatigue. “Are we not there yet? How tall is this mountain?”

Li Huowang, carrying Yang Na on his back, passed Chen Hongyu without saying a word.

Qing Wanglai answered, “We are almost there! She lives somewhere nearby! But something isn’t right… There weren’t this many trees when I came here last time. Can someone call her?”

Wu Qi pulled out her phone but quickly put it away. “There’s no signal here.”

Li Huowang made a decision. “Spread out! We’ll have a better chance of finding her this way.”

However, Qing Wanglai stopped him. “No. We’d be walking to our deaths if she’s in danger. We’re too vulnerable alone.”

Li Huowang huffed and glared at Qing Wanglai. “Then what do you propose?”

Qing Wanglai took out a tissue to wipe the sweat off his neck. “Retreat. It’s too dangerous here.”

“Aren’t we here to save Zhao Shuangdian?”

Li Huowang was about to argue further when he saw a red laser dot appear on Qing Wanglai’s forehead.

The next moment, a gunshot rang out, the bullet grazing past Li Huowang’s head and flying toward Qing Wanglai’s forehead.