Mutated Tao

Chapter 260: Woman

Chapter 260: Woman

As if to emulate how intense a war could be, the red-faced general who was surrounded by several soldiers leaped onto a table with only three legs and spun it on its edges.

Jiang jiang jiang jiang~

The performer spun the table for minutes even though the table only had three legs. It was quite impressive. Even Li Huowang was shocked to see the performance.

Are the requirements to become performers in the Liang Kingdom this high?

Jiang~ Jiang~ Tai!

The general did a backflip and finally landed on the stage safely. At the same time, the soldiers around the performer all fell to the ground. Then, the general posed and the crowd cheered.

Even Li Huowang was clapping his hands. He was wrong. He had thought that performances were all more or less the same. But this one was amazing!

Even someone like Li Huowang, who was not into performances could enjoy it.

When Li Huowang was engrossed in the performance, the general’s body suddenly froze. The two pheasant tail feathers in his crown stood upright and shook violently. “Hm? Who’s~ There?”

Just as the general said those words, the lights on the stage were blown out completely. Everything became pitch black.

When Li Huowang was confused by what was happening, the lanterns suddenly lit up once more, but this time the lanterns were an eerie green color.

The general was still on the stage, but there was someone else besides him.

It was a woman. She had her back against the crowd while her long sleeves were shaking continuously, making them look like a waterfall.

The music had stopped. The only sound on the stage was a panting sound that grew heavier and heavier.

“Hehe~”

An eerie chuckle suddenly rang out from near Li Huowang, causing the hair all over his body to stand on end.

“Motherfucker! Can’t we catch a break?!” Li Huowang snarled and grabbed his sword. He almost launched himself toward the stage.

Bai Lingmiao suddenly held him back with all her strength and quickly explained, “Senior Li, it’s fake! It’s a show!”

“Fake?” Li Huowang started at the stage warily. He saw that the general was cautiously circling the woman.

At that moment, the woman suddenly turned around. At the same time, two bronze mirrors were raised from the sides of the stage. They reflected the light from the lanterns and shone onto the woman’s face… or rather the lack thereof.

Everyone was frightened by it. Even the children were crying from fear.

But Li Huowang sighed. It was indeed all a show. He could see that the faceless head was just a prop while the woman’s real head was hidden inside the dress.

After confirming this, Li Huowang released his grip on the sword and sat down once more. “Are the performances in the Liang Kingdom always so unique? Do you guys even add horror elements into the performances?”

“Senior Li, what’s a horror element? This is how the show has always been performed since a hundred years ago. Legends say that when General Yue was on the battlefield he met such a being,” said Bai Lingmiao.

Staring at the eerie stage, Li Huowang thought to himself that if this legend was true, then it would probably be even scarier than this.

As the performance continued, the general on the stage swung his mace and easily knocked off the woman’s head, causing her to fall flat onto the ground.

But the woman had just fallen when a man appeared on the side of the stage. He had a black face and two copper coins made of paper were stuck to his cheeks as he swaggered onto the stage.

“Wuhahahaha~”

Sharp fangs appeared and disappeared from his mouth! He was doing teeth play! While the drums continued to play, the fangs rubbed against each other and made fiery sparks that were easily visible in the dark.

“Hehe.”

Bai Lingmiao heard Li Huowang’s chuckle and turned to him, feeling confused. “Senior Li, why are you laughing? Is the show not interesting?”

“It is interesting, but I’m not laughing at the performers. I’m laughing at Troupe Leader Lu. Looks like he’s out of his depth this time. I don’t think he will be able to earn even a single coin here in the Liang Kingdom with his techniques,” explained Li Huowang as he looked at Lu Zhuangyuan’s increasingly frustrated face. “That said, the Liang Kingdom is indeed different from the other places. Everyone here has access to better materials and entertainment. This is indeed a very strong nation.”

That night, everyone was satisfied with the performance, including Li Huowang.

The performers also earned a lot of money. They chose to perform during the harvest season because the landlords had a lot of money on their hands and were very generous.

On the other hand, Lu Zhuangyuan came back defeated. He was no longer as arrogant as before—his pride as a performer has been crushed.

Compared to the others who were discussing the show, Lu Zhuangyuan brought his two sons into the granary before quietly heading to a corner.

“Father, they could even make sparks from their mouths! How can we compete with them?” Lu Xiucai was the first to break the silence.

“Why can’t we compete with them? The performer at the end didn’t sing as well as I could!” said Lu Zhuangyuan, trying his best to defend himself.

But it was futile. He soon deflated like a balloon. It was not enough to close the gap between them and the performers here.

After a while, Lu Zhuangyuan took a puff of the smoke pipe and walked over to Bai Lingmiao. “Young lady Bai, can I ask you a question? Is the performance of every troupe in the Liang Kingdom as entertaining as the one tonight?”

“Yeah, and it’s not just this particular story. They can perform numerous kinds of stories. This is not even the best one,” replied Bai Lingmiao.

When he slowly walked back to his sons, Lu Zhuangyuan's back was even more hunched than before.

That night, Lu Zhuangyuan couldn’t fall asleep. He kept thinking about how to improve his performances.

If we can’t perform and earn money here, then I will just become someone who’s nothing more than a parasite.

However, he was not the only one awake that night.

When the rooster’s call was heard in the morning, Lu Xiucai saw Puppy embracing Hong’er while walking out from a small forest.

Both of them were happily chatting and flirting with each other.

When Puppy saw Lu Xiucai carrying some water from the well, he left Hong’er and happily walked over to him.

“Hehehe~ Did you know what I was doing last night? Hehehe~” asked Puppy, chuckling lewdly.

Lu Xiucai remained silent and carried the pail of water into the granary, but Puppy was too excited to stop talking.

“Ai~ That feeling~ It feels good~ Hehehee~”

Puppy’s face was beyond obscene.