Mutated Tao

Not long after, the waiter knocked on Li Huowang’s door. When he entered, he saw the guest with the copper coin mask sitting at the round table while sipping tea.

“Yes? I heard that you were looking for me?” The waiter hunched his back as he approached the round table and asked cautiously.

“Sit,” Li Huowang said as he poured a cup for the person in front of him.

“You’re too kind; it’s fine, I’ll just stand. Do you have any instructions for me? Is there anything our inn hasn’t taken care of properly?” asked the waiter.

Having been in the presence of foreigners for so long, the waiter no longer seemed to be so apprehensive of them.

Soon, a pinky-sized gold ingot was placed in front of the waiter as Li Huowang said, “I have some questions for you. If you can answer them, this gold is yours.”

Before the waiter could fully comprehend what was happening, Li Huowang went straight to the point. “Why are the people in the county so afraid of genital retraction? What is the cause of it?”

Hearing this, the waiter, who had a forced smile on his face, was stunned before immediately turning around to flee.

But as soon as he turned around, his head collided with the stone slab on Gao Zhijian's chest. Seeing stars, his body lost all its strength as he staggered backward before falling onto the ground.

When he came to his senses again, he found himself bound tightly with tough ropes made of cow tendons. At the same time, a tall man was standing by, eyeing him fiercely.

Whoosh…

Accompanied by the sound of metal clanging, Li Huowang’s set of torture tools slowly unfolded in front of the waiter.

As the waiter saw the sharp tools stained with dark red blood, he shuddered.

“I’m sorry, but I’m not very good with words. When I want to know something, I often tend to resort to my best skill set. I apologize for my lack of manners. After all, I haven’t learned much else ever since arriving into this world. But I appear to be quite skilled at torturing people in a variety of ways,” said Li Huowang.

As he heard Li Huowang’s calm voice, the waiter felt like he had suddenly entered an icy cave, causing him to shudder.

“This thing is used for gouging out a person’s eyeballs. Let me tell you something interesting—the eyeballs don’t actually feel any pain. If you don’t believe me, try prying open your eyelids and touching them. Any pain that you end up feeling will be from the flesh surrounding your eyeballs.”

Goosebumps rose all over the waiter’s body as the round iron instrument in Li Huowang’s hands grazed the edge of his face.

The waiter was terrified by Li Huowang’s words. But despite his pale face, he tightly pursed his lips, showing no intention of answering any of Li Huowang's questions.

Seeing that this approach wasn’t working, Li Huowang put down the round iron clamp and picked up an iron spindle, displaying it in front of the waiter. “Do you know what this is? This is used for winding intestines, not threads. It’s quite easy to use. You just need to make a small incision at your belly button, pull out one end of the intestine from within, wrap it on this spindle, and then continue pulling and pulling… Do you know how that feels? Close your eyes and think about it. If you don’t want to think about it, that’s fine too. After all, in a while, you’ll personally get to experience it. Spoiler alert, it’s not a pleasant feeling, and it makes you feel quite empty inside.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Huowang ripped open the waiter’s clothes, revealing his withered abdomen.

The waiter finally broke down just as Li Huowang’s fingertips reached his navel.

“I’ll talk! I’ll talk!!” The waiter exclaimed as an unpleasant smell of urine slowly seeped out from his lower half.

Seeing all this, Gao Zhijian scratched the back of his head. He was quite impressed that Senior Li could intimidate people like this just by using words.

On the other hand, Li Huowang slowly removed his hand from the man’s stomach. “Tell me! What’s the reason behind the Pi County’s people suffering from genital retraction?”

“Ghost! There are ghosts!” The waiter sounded extremely miserable and wretched, with tears and snot all over his face. “The wandering spirits and ghosts travel to the human world to take advantage and reincarnate as men! That’s why they want to steal our manhood!”

Li Huowang found the waiter’s words to be utterly absurd. “What kind of nonsense is this?”

This wasn’t what he had in mind. Originally, he had thought that the genital retraction was caused by evil spirits.

Could they be mistaking certain evil forces for ghosts? Maybe they are being attacked by some strange evil force? But… wouldn’t the Surveillance Bureau send someone to investigate such a case?

Li Huowang furrowed his brow in contemplation. Then, he looked at the waiter and asked again, “Have you ever seen these so-called ghosts? What do they look like? Are they the sort you can touch with your hands or the kind that you can’t?”

He would be able to be more prepared if he encountered them after learning more about them.

When the waiter heard this, he shook his head vigorously. “No! People can’t see ghosts! Their genitals just keep retracting, ultimately shrinking until they are completely gone!”

After seeing that he was now willing to communicate properly, Li Huowang untied the waiter. Then, he helped the terrified man onto a chair.

When he asked again, Li Huowang’s tone was much gentler compared to before, “Alright, isn’t it just a simple matter of answering a few questions? Was it really necessary to hide or run away? Why didn’t you tell me anything sooner? Whether you believe it or not, we are here to help you.”

Hearing Li Huowang’s words, the waiter burst into tears and hid his face. He sounded terrified, with a trace of despair in his voice, “You can’t talk about it! Now, both you and I will be haunted by the ghost because we discussed it!”

Li Huowang felt a shiver run down his spine when he heard this. Instantly, he gazed around with heightened vigilance as one of his hands grabbed the hilt of his sword tightly.

Li Huowang examined everything in the room, from the window to the wooden door and even under the bed. However, in the end, he didn’t find anything unusual; everything appeared to be perfectly normal.

Li Huowang recalled all the strange things he had experienced in the past; this was the first time he had heard that such evil spirits could spread to others through word of mouth!

Despite the numerous loopholes in the waiter’s story, Li Huowang chose to believe that there was some truth to it and not dismiss it entirely.

Li Huowang immediately looked up at Gao Zhijian, who was guarding the main door, and said, “When we leave later, remember not to mention this to anyone else!”

Hearing this, Gao Zhijian vigorously nodded. He too, had no intention of exposing his peers to this danger.

Paying no attention to the danger, Li Huowang stretched out and forcibly released the waiter’s hands, his expression unusually grave as he peered at the man’s misery. “Who told you all these things? Who said that talking about it would attract ghosts? Did they mention any ways to deal with these evil spirits?”

Though he was carrying two swords capable of exterminating evil spirits on his back, the entity he was faced with this time seemed quite unusual.

“I… I don’t know! That’s what everyone says!” After saying that, the waiter hesitantly leaned down to untie his belt and cautiously glanced inside, ignoring Li Huowang beside him.

The next moment, the waiter froze in place as if struck by lightning.

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