Mutated Tao

Chapter 523: Letter

Chapter 523: Letter

When Li Huowang learned from Zu Yi that the Surveillance Bureau had invited the Ao Jing Sect to deal with the Sitting Oblivion Dao together, he realized that he might be looking in the wrong place for a solution.

If the Ao Jing Sect truly had a way to deal with a Shai Zi, that Shai Zi wouldn’t have threatened him.

Li Huowang sighed lightly while sitting on the bench. He then turned to Zu Yi and said, “Alright, you can go. We’ve settled our unfinished business at the time. From now on, we’ll go our separate ways.”

Zu Yi was momentarily stunned, and then he sounded nervous as he said, “Grand Elder, what about the secrets to Ascension…”

“There are no secrets!” Li Huowang exclaimed, sounding irritated upon recalling something. “Do you know how excruciating and desolate it is to reach extreme physical and mental agony? Yet, you masochists are actually chasing after it desperately!”

Li Huowang’s outburst made Zu Yi retreat slowly into the courtyard. He glanced at Li Huowang sitting on the bench inside the house. After a moment of contemplation, he said, “Grand Elder, did you encounter any issues today?

“As the esteemed Grand Elder of the Ao Jing Sect, please do not hesitate to give me any instructions if there’s anything that I can help you with.”

Li Huowang shook his head and waved his hand impatiently. “You can’t help. If you could, I would have already employed you.”

Zu Yi said no more and turned around to leave the courtyard. As he gripped the wooden door latch, a voice echoed from within his broad cloak. “Elder, forgive me for being presumptuous. All worldly troubles are meaningless before the pain of Ascension. And as disciples of the Ao Jing Sect... I believe we should focus only on the right path.”

Li Huowang couldn’t be bothered to argue with the masochistic lunatic. He turned around and ignored Zu Yi.

“Grand Elder.”

“Are you not done yet?!” Li Huowang exclaimed, turning around with his sword in hand. To his surprise, he saw Zu Yi bend down to pick up a folded beige envelope from the ground.

“Grand Elder, this seems to be a letter for you.”

“A letter?” Li Huowang walked over with his suspicions, and reached out to retrieve it and examine the contents.

“I’ll take my leave since you have your personal matters. I’ll send someone to report to you if there’s anything important from the temple. After all, you are the esteemed Grand Elder of the Ao Jing Sect.”

Li Huowang paid no attention to Zu Yi’s words as his eyes were fixed on the letter.

Bai Lingmiao? How did she manage to write a letter to me after being kidnapped by that Shai Zi?

Li Huowang’s fingers trembled slightly as he opened the envelope and pulled out the letter.

Senior Li, are you okay? I'm really sorry for the fact that I haven't made any contact with you for so long.

I wanted to contact you a long time ago, but they wouldn’t allow me until now. I can’t write who they are, as they might change it. They’ve been good to me, and they haven't been mistreating me at all.

You must be searching all over for me, but don’t worry, Senior Li. I’ll be back soon. It's not going to take two years like you said. By the way, the persimmon cakes here are really sweet; I’ll send you some of them.

From your wife, Bai Lingmiao.

Two years? Two years? How did Bai Lingmiao know about that promise? Li Huowang’s pupils constricted as he recalled Yang Na standing before him behind a wire iron fence.

“Yang Na, wait! Give me three years! No! Two years! Just give me two more years!”

That’s right! Bai Lingmiao left me back then, so the Yang Na at the time must've been the reflection of Bai Lingmiao from this world when she was taken away!

Li Huowang paced around the room; his emotions were tumultuous as he gripped the letter. This letter was of great significance!

Perhaps, this means that Shai Zi hadn’t kidnapped Bai Lingmiao! He must've been lying to me all this while!

It was an uplifting conjecture. Just as Li Huowang's imagination was about to go wild, a beggar stuck his head into the courtyard through the doorway.

“Boss Hong Zhong! Ah, I’m really sorry," said the beggar with an apologetic look." I almost forgot about the persimmon cakes while delivering the letter.”

The beggar carried the bamboo basket inside with his dirty hands, and he was panting as he walked into the courtyard.

After putting down the basket, he walked toward Li Sui and said, “Ah, it’s a pleasure to meet you! You must be Boss Hong Zhong’s dog, right? I’ve long heard of you.”

Li Huowang looked at the envelope in his hand and then at the beggar chatting away with Li Sui. His heart quickly cooled down.

What’s going on? Does Shai Zi think I’ve been making too many moves lately, so he’s decided to send a letter to warn me?

Maybe Shai Zi has deceived me! Maybe Bai Lingmiao isn’t by his side!

Thump!

Li Huowang reached and pressed the beggar’s neck against the wall.

He didn’t ask for the man’s name; he took out a dagger to lift the man’s face.

After flipping through a few faces, Li Huowang finally saw Jiu Wan[1] squinting at him.

“What are you doing here?!” Li Huowang gritted his teeth.

“Ah, what else can I do? I'm just here to deliver a letter. I didn’t steal any of the persimmon cakes; they only sent these few pieces...”

“Don’t worry, it’s okay if you don’t tell the truth. I’ll make you tell the truth! I’m skilled in both Ao Jing and Sitting Oblivion Dao! You choose!” Li Huowang said as he opened his bag of torture tools.

Amidst the clattering of metal, Li Huowang suddenly noticed that the man's mocking smile seemed a bit off.

He released the man’s throat, and he collapsed to the ground. The Jiu Wan before Li Huowang was dead.

***

“Officers, we're just a theater troupe; there’s nothing to investigate here. See, these are costumes. Hehehe,” Lu Zhuangyuan said to the city guards.

However, the guards only glanced at him once. They tossed the travel pass at Lu Zhuangyuan’s face before rummaging through the carriage.

Lu Zhuangyuan quickly caught the travel pass with both hands. The travel pass had to stay safe. Without it, it would be difficult to navigate through Great Liang.

More importantly, it was a gift from the young Daoist. It was going to be problematic if he ended up losing it.

He tucked the travel pass back into his pocket before leading the others through the thick city gates.

The unfolding scene was overwhelming to all of them. They had finally arrived at Shangjing—the largest city in the world.

They marveled at the towering wooden buildings that lined the streets, and the distinct architectural styles of the buildings here were especially shocking to them.

1. Nine Characters in mahjong ?