Mutated Tao

“Where were your Five Dhyani Buddhas? I thought they were guarding the five worlds. Why didn’t they show up when the Qi Kingdom was on the brink of destruction?”

Li Huowang’s tone was nothing short of offensive towards the Buddhas of the Righteous Monastery, but Chan Du wasn’t angry. In fact, he felt nothing.

He clasped his hands and prayed earnestly to the five Buddha statues. “Amitabha. Mercy on this one. As a disciple, I dare not talk in the stead of the Buddha. However, did the Five Dhyani Buddhas truly refrain from taking any action? If they did, would you have come to the Qi Kingdom to help us? Maybe your desire to save the Qi Kingdom was part of the Buddha’s cause and effect.”

Li Huowang became furious when he heard that. “What do you mean? I’m putting in a lot of effort, working tirelessly to bring food and revive the Qi Kingdom. Yet now you’re saying all the credit should go to the Five Dhyani Buddhas?”

Chan Du shook his head rapidly. “No, the credit naturally belongs to you, but the Five Dhyani Buddhas are the ones who take care of the five worlds, which are within their all-encompassing wisdom. While the credit is yours, the merits belong to the Buddhas.”

Li Huowang naturally would not accept that—it was an explanation without an explanation. “Come here and tell me directly! What do you mean by the merits belonging to the Five Dhyani Buddhas? What is the ‘all-encompassing wisdom’? Call for your Five Dhyani Buddhas to come and deal with this, then!

“Aren’t they the ones taking care of the five worlds? Now, another world wants to attack the Qi Kingdom, so why aren’t they showing up? I won’t bring food anymore if you can’t give me a satisfactory answer!”

Chan Du felt a headache coming when he realized that Li Huowang was going to argue with him, but he didn’t want to preach to Li Huowang, who was not a disciple of Buddhism. Winning or losing the argument brought no benefits.

Also, Chan Du was confident that it would be useless for him to talk about it since Li Huowang never read any scriptures.

Chan Du had no choice but to admit defeat. “Benefactor Li, I was wrong. Since you were the one who accomplished it, the credit and merits are all yours. No one can dispute that.”

Li Huowang became even angrier. If they hadn't been allies, he would have really liked to kill Chan Du.

“Let’s stop talking about unrelated things. We need to focus on figuring out who they are and which world they come from. I doubt that they will stop after today. Their attacks will only become fiercer,” Li Huowang said, clenching his fists tightly.

He didn’t care who was trying to murder him. He was determined to exact revenge on them, vowing to repay them a hundred times over!

Chan Du nodded and agreed.

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“Stop nodding and say something useful!”

Chan Du shook his head. “I don’t know. Still, I am certain that one of them must be a Twisted One. If they weren’t, they wouldn't have been able to make their way into the Qi Kingdom.”

“Twisted One… Twisted One…” Li Huowang muttered and recalled what had happened when he tried to take back his sword.

A forest sprung up in the middle of the field of grass. He thought they had used the powers of the spine sword to reenter the Qi Kingdom, but it now seemed more similar to a Twisted One using their powers to enter the Qi Kingdom instead. More importantly, it differed from Zhuge Yuan’s case—they could control their powers freely.

Li Huowang thought long and hard. He ultimately decided what to do based on his understanding of Bei Feng.

“It’s useless if we just sit still and think the whole day. If we want to know where they came from, we need to capture one of them alive. I’m sure that they will come here again.

“Since they dare to enter the Qi Kingdom, we need to ambush them. Call everyone and think of a plan to ambush them! We will eat them alive if they dare enter the Qi Kingdom again! Do not let them go back!”

Chan Du nodded and tapped his prayer beads lightly. A skinny monk near the door clasped his hands and left.

Li Huowang didn't have any time to waste while the others gathered. “Wait here. I need to settle something in the Liang Kingdom. I will return as soon as I can.”

He had to explain to Gao Zhijian what might’ve really happened.

He returned to the Liang Kingdom and ran towards the palace, but was soon stopped by a familiar face—Xuan Pin.

“Father, where are you going?” Li Sui cocked her head to the side and asked Li Huowang.

Li Huowang wasn’t sure how to explain to Li Sui. Do I tell her that I misunderstood Gao Zhijian and thought he had sent someone to kill me?

Li Sui didn’t press on after seeing that Li Huowang remained silent. Instead, she gave him something. It was clad in red cloth. “Father, this is for you. I made it myself.”

Li Huowang took it and saw that it was a red Daoist robe. It was intricate, with cloud motifs embroidered on the collars and sleeves. Li Huowang could tell by touch that the fabric used to make it was not ordinary.

He put it on and found that it fit him perfectly. “This is…?”

“I made it myself. It’s fireproof. Also, you can open up this place.” Li Sui extended her tentacles and pulled on the front, revealing Li Huowang’s abdomen. “With this, it’s easier for you to use the Profound Records.”

Li Huowang fell in love with the robes, especially since they were a gift from his daughter.

“Do you like it?” Li Sui asked.

Li Huowang nodded. A young girl’s face peeked out from Li Sui’s robes and smiled happily.

“As long as you like it.”

As Li Sui was about to leave, Li Huowang stopped her and said, “Since you’re the Chief of the Surveillance Bureau, there are some things that I need to let you know, even though they’re not related to the Liang Kingdom.”

Li Huowang brought Li Sui to a nearby tea shop and sat down. After reviewing all the evidence, Li Huowang explained what had happened.

“I misunderstood Gao Zhijian, so please apologize to him in my stead,” Li Huowang said sheepishly.

Li Sui sat quietly as if thinking about what was happening. After a long period of silence, she said, “Alright. I understand.”

“Thank you. I wanted to go, but I think everyone in the Qi Kingdom has gathered together by now. I need your help for this.”

Li Huowang drank a cup of tea. The bitterness made his body tremble a bit.

“Wait.” Li Huowang finally realized something and looked at Li Sui. “Since you’re the Chief of the Surveillance Bureau, you already knew about the five parallel histories, right?”

Li Sui nodded. “It’s not exactly a secret.”