Mutated Tao

Chapter 587: Ji Zai

The emperor listened to what the Chief had to say as the two sat in the gazebo. “The Imperial Preceptor and I have been using our divination nonstop, but we still cannot ascertain whether Shai Zi is dead or alive.”

Gao Zhijian walked slowly toward the palace while the Chief followed him from behind.

“Let me see what happened on that day," Gao Zhijian said.

The Chief nodded. He then extended a frail finger covered in dry skin and his own shadow. Moments later, he hurled it toward the sky.

The black shadow blotted out the skies. The Chief and Gao Zhijian soon found themselves on a chaotic battlefield.

Gao Zhijian saw Senior Li in the middle of the bloody battlefield. Li Huowang was facing Gao Zhijian, who was under Shai Zi's control.

Li Huowang’s head was left with nothing but his mouth, but he was still alive and standing for some reason.

Gao Zhijian had a feeling that if Senior Li had a face, he'd look incredibly heroic.

Senior Li scratched at the empty space where his head was supposed to be before he started approaching the Dragon Vein.

Shai Zi wanted to run, but Senior Li was steadily closing the distance between them. His speed seemed irrelevant to the chase.

Senior Li would become even faster the faster Shai Zi moved, and the same was true vice versa.

Senior Li wasn't moving step by step, but the distance between him and Shai Zi was getting shorter in fixed intervals.

Soon, Senior Li reached the tail of the Dragon Vein. He grabbed the golden chains and climbed up. He was so slow in his climb that even an old man would look faster than him.

Despite that, Shai Zi could not shake Senior Li off, no matter how hard he struggled.

The past emperors extended their Dragon Claws and stabbed Li Huowang with their claws, but their figures abruptly froze like statues.

“Impossible! I’m the Dragon Vein! I'm real no matter where I go! You cannot control me!” Shai Zi roared, and his voice revealed his unwillingness to perish here.

Shai Zi was trying his best to attack Li Huowang, but the Dragon Vein had frozen up and could no longer move.

“I thought… the Dragon Vein… the luck of the Liang Kingdom… are immune to such techniques...” Gao Zhijian muttered.

Even the Chief had no idea what to say.

Soon, Senior Li reached the top of the Dragon Vein. He looked left and right before grabbing Gao Zhijian’s head.

Then, he easily twisted Gao Zhijian’s head off of his shoulders, but Shai Zi was still alive.

Shai Zi was trying to trick Li Huowang into thinking that he was dead.

However, Li Huowang seemed unaffected by the trick as he reached into Gao Zhijian’s brain to pull something out.

“There. Can you give me a closer look at that?” Gao Zhijian said.

The Chief obliged, and Li Huowang soon appeared in front of them.

However, Gao Zhijian was exasperated. Li Huowang had clearly reached into his head to take something out, but Li Huowang's hand was empty.

“Perhaps what he had pulled out at the time was so profound that my illusions cannot replicate it.”

Gao Zhijian pondered over it before asking, “Did you guys check… my head again? Was there really nothing in there?”

“Your Majesty, please rest assured. I swear with my life that there’s nothing in your head anymore. Shai Zi is no longer there. Moreover, we've woven a restriction on your dragon robes to make sure that something like that will never happen again. It’s a restriction created from the combined powers of me, the Imperial Preceptor, and Zheng Boqiao.”

However, Gao Zhijian didn't feel great even after the Chief's reassurance. His eyes were unwittingly transfixed on Li Huowang, who looked up at the sun and grinned.

The Dragon Vein collapsed to the ground.

“Junior Li, has the Great Qi been saved?” Zhuge Yuan asked.

Li Huowang looked at Zhuge Yuan and said, “The Great Qi is saved.”

Zhuge Yuan's face revealed a sense of liberation and relief before disappearing.

Just then, Bai Lingmiao, the Chief, the Imperial Preceptor, and the soldiers surrounded Li Huowang.

However, Gao Zhijian wasn’t sure whether they were there for the Dragon Vein or for Li Huowang.

“Senior Li, are you okay?” Bai Lingmiao asked, staring nervously at Li Huowang. Bai Lingmiao's figure was split into two, but she was still more worried about Li Huowang rather than herself.

“I'm fine. My illness has just been cured, so don't worry about me,” Li Huowang said curtly.

The next moment, radiant sunset-like light burst out of Li Huowang’s body.

The light flew upward and disappeared into the skies.

“What... is that? the thing that came out... of Senior Li.”

“I think that was the power of Doulao. I was right; he was being targeted by Doulao. Since Shai Zi had betrayed Yinyang Doulao, I wanted him to fight Shai Zi first so that I could make use of Doulao’s animosity toward Shai Zi, but to think that they'd make a move first.”

“Who is it?”

“Unspeakable. It’s a special Siming. They taught me my illusion techniques. You should know that a normal Siming cannot manifest in the world, all thanks to the Dragon Vein's existence, but they are different. Even though they taught me my illusion techniques, they had never concerned themselves with my well-being or the well-being of others. Two hundred years ago, the Liang Kingdom found itself on the brink of annihilation, and I swore to sacrifice everything in exchange for their help, but they did not even look at me.”

Gao Zhijian was confused at the Chief's words, and it was all because the answer he had heard was different from what the Dragon Vein had told him. “I thought… there are no more… Simings…”

“Did they tell you that? Listen to them, then. Since they said that the Simings don't exist, then they don't exist.”

Gao Zhijian decided not to pursue it any further as he changed the subject, saying, “Senior Li… should be feeling better by now… we can just… go and ask him… I might... understand it better if it's coming from him.”

The Chief said nothing and followed Gao Zhijian toward where Li Huowang was located.

Li Huowang was nearby, and Gao Zhijian could actually visit him any time he wished.

They saw Bai Lingmiao exiting the room with a food box in hand.

When Bai Lingmiao saw the Chief standing next to Gao Zhijian, her eyes widened in shock as he asked, “What’s happening? Why is there another one here?”

“Another one? What’s wrong?!” Gao Zhijian exclaimed.

“The Chief of the Surveillance Bureau entered the room while I was feeding Senior Li some congee.”

At the remark, the Chief made a seal with his three pairs of arms and charged at the heavily guarded door as fast as possible. He moved so quickly that he left a trail of afterimages.

However, the Chief heard Li Huowang talking to someone in the room. There really was someone else aside from Bai Lingmiao.

The Chief pushed the door open and saw Li Huowang staring at him with his lotus root head.

Shockingly, no one else was in the room.

“Who were you talking to?”

Li Huowang frowned and tried his best to remember before answering, “Ji Zai.”

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