Mutated Tao

When Lu Zhuangyuan saw Li Huowang eating in the mess hall, he decided to be modest while smiling to please him. “Young Taoist, that was just a joke. We didn’t fight. We were merely discussing the differences between our performances. Hehe, one has to learn even if they are old.”

Li Huowang chuckled. “So? Was there any major trouble, since they are the locals?”

Lu Zhuangyuan was so happy about his victory that as soon as Li Huowang asked, he sat down on a stool and started boasting about himself, “Young Taoist, as you know I’ve already been doing performances for more than thirty years. How could I be intimidated by young whelps in their twenties? They tried to intimidate me when I met them, but how would I be fazed from that? Since I am a performer, I am used to such intimidation. That’s when I sat on one of the boxes and shouted back. I told them that their singing tone was inaccurate. Guess what happened next?”

“What happened?” asked Li Huowang.

This question made Lu Zhuangyuan even more prideful as he continued to talk about the situation. “Ha! The three performers were stunned by my words. The youngest one even asked me at which point in time their tone was incorrect. He thought that he could get some free pointers from me, but why would I do that? I didn’t want to teach them, and so I just ignored him. Hmph! They didn’t even serve me tea. Hehe, you should’ve seen how quickly they changed their behavior. All three of them became much more respectful and even addressed me as Senior. Still, their tones were indeed too high and mighty. It wasn’t like I was coming up with some nonsense just to fight with them. As their senior, I have the obligation to look after them. Don’t you think this is true?”

As Li Huowang heard how well Lu Zhuangyuan boasted, he realized that Lu Zhuangyuan could’ve been a really good storyteller.

Li Huowang finished eating at the same time Lu Zhuangyuan finished his story.

By the time he finished his story, Lu Zhuangyuan’s face was flushed. Then, he drank a cup of tea and took a deep breath, feeling satisfied.

“Troupe Leader Lu, what kind of performance were they doing? It was very strange,” asked Li Huowang as he ate the final mouthful of rice.

“Oh, they were performing an old show called ‘Da Nuo Exorcising The Twelve Ghosts’. It seems to be a legend that has been passed on for thousands of years. The reason behind their strange singing tones was probably the fact that it’s an old show,” explained Lu Zhuangyuan.

“Who’s Da Nuo?” asked Li Huowang as he picked his teeth with the chopsticks.

“No idea. But according to the three performers, Da Nuo was an Immortal. They told me that at one point in time Hou Shu used to be a kingdom of ghosts where humans were nothing more than livestock that were destined to be eaten. Then, Da Nuo came and exorcized the twelve most powerful ghosts. He even taught the ancient people to stand, read, write, and even use fire,” said Lu Zhuangyuan.

“So it’s a mythical legend…” Li Huowang squinted as he recalled the three masked Nuo Opera performers.

Was the one who attacked me last night related to the performers?

Li Huowang felt that they were suspicious. He and his group had just entered the town and already managed to see the strange Nuo Opera and their teeth play.

“Wait, teeth play?” Li Huowang remembered the bronze coin veil worn by the assailant. It would’ve been perfect to cover up their teeth.

Li Huowang immediately asked Lu Zhuangyuan. “Troupe leader Lu, about the three Nuo Opera performers, did they remove their masks while talking to you?”

“Nope. In fact, they didn’t even remove their makeup when they saw me. They were too busy being respectful and pouring me a cup of tea,” boasted Lu Zhuangyuan.

Could it be them? But there are three of them… or, maybe they wanted to mislead me by sending only one of them last night.

Thinking up to this point, Li Huowang frowned.

“Taoist! Taoist!” At that moment, a clear voice broke Li Huowang’s train of thought.

Li Huowang looked over and saw that it was the disheveled looking Monk standing at the door while waving at him happily.

“Where were you? Why were you up so late? I’ve been looking for you since morning, but you were not here,” asked Monk.

Li Huowang placed his chopsticks down before turning to Monk. “You came looking for me? Is everything alright?”

“Yeah. Come on, I found a great place!” said Monk.

Hearing those words made Li Huowang remember something unpleasant—Monk had similar words when he brought Li Huowang to the place where the Righteous Monastery housed the flesh Buddha.

However, it was only thanks to this that Li Huowang had managed to see through the Righteous Monastery’s deception. In a way, Monk was technically half a savior to him.

Staring at the bright sun, Li Huowang walked outside. “Sure, let’s go.”

Just as he said that, he heard two people laughing at him.

“Hehehe …”

“Hehehe …”

Li Huowang turned toward the source of the laughter. It was none other than Dan Yangzi and Jiang Yingzi. Both of them were in a corner of the room, their four faces contorted in a sarcastic smile.

“Taoist, come quick!” shouted Monk who was already on the main street. Enduring the harsh sunlight, he kept waiting for Li Huowang.

“Is he really the Monk I know?” mumbled Li Huowang as he stared at Monk. Even though he had probed Monk multiple times yesterday, it was quite strange for him to suddenly appear here out of nowhere.

Could he also be an illusion? But that doesn’t work on me, especially after the recent heightening of my senses. I would’ve found out if he was fake. Wait, why should I let myself be affected by the two illusions? They are fake.

Li Huowang’s mind was a mess from doubting himself.

“Taoist! Come quick, why are you hesitating?” Monk’s voice was already hoarse from shouting his name.

After a moment, Li Huowang took a deep breath and followed him. He felt that he needed some more time to determine whether this Monk was real or not.

If he was, then that would be for the best. However, if he wasn’t, then it would be a good idea for Li Huowang to keep playing along. He needed to know whether the fake Monk had a motive and whether he had other helpers.

Li Huowang had become a lot more bold after chasing away the assailant from last night.

There were still a lot of people on the street during the afternoon. It was probably because this was a border town, but the number of mule carts, horse carriages, and camels in Li Huowang’s field of vision never reduced.

“Monk, where are we going?” asked Li Huowang as he secretly placed one hand on the Profound Records.

“It’s not far. We are almost there. It’s just over there,” said Monk, pointing in a direction.

Li Huowang looked toward the direction that Monk was pointing and saw the three masked Nuo Opera performers.

“Hehe, what do you think? You must’ve never seen them before right?” asked Monk excitedly.

“The Nuo Opera? Was this what you meant when you said you wanted to show me something good?” Li Huowang was speechless.

“You can always choose to watch their performance another time if you’ve already seen it. This performance can only be seen here. We might never get a chance to watch it again once we leave this place. Ah damn it! They are already closing for the day!” said Monk.

While Monk was sighing, Li Huowang was feeling excited; he saw the three performers preparing to remove their masks.

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