Mutated Tao

“You may return. Let him come inside by himself.” An old-sounding voice echoed from behind the doors.

“Yes,” Nangong said. Then, he hinted at Li Huowang to be careful before leaving.

Li Huowang took a deep breath and entered the ajar wooden door.

The study room wasn't large, and it looked like a normal study room as well. There were numerous books on the bookshelves on the left. The walls were also covered in various caricatures and art pieces, reminding Li Huowang of Zhuge Yuan’s bamboo house.

If he weren't in the deepest and most remote part of the Surveillance Bureau's headquarters, Li Huowang would think that he was in a regular scholar’s study room.

“Er Jiu greets Lord Jian Zheng!” Li Huowang bowed toward the man in front of him.

“Are you Er Jiu? Raise your head.”

Li Huowang looked up, seeing Li Huowang’s disfigured face.

Li Huowang also saw Lord Jian Zheng, and it turned out that Lord Jian Zheng was a skinny middle-aged man with a goatee. His smile lines were so deep that it separated his face into three parts.

Lord Jian Zheng wasn't wearing anything flashy. He was wearing a regular purple robe with a jade hanging from his waist.

Lord Jian Zheng was in front of the study table, busy approving documents with a brush dipped in cinnabar. There was a pot of tea bubbling on a small stove, making the room much warmer than outside.

Li Huowang’s heart froze upon recalling Nangong's warning. He lowered his head and said, “Lord Jian Zheng, the entire Sitting Oblivion Dao is—”

“You entered the city with the Storyteller this morning, am I right?” Jian Zheng interrupted Li Huowang’s sentence and train of thought.

Jian Zheng placed the brush on a stand and used a seal the size of his fist to stamp the corner of a document.

Li Huowang's heart quivered, but he started talking. He told Jian Zheng about the dispute between Zhuge Yuan and the Sitting Oblivion Dao, as well as how he discovered the Sitting Oblivion Dao’s movement through Bei Feng.

Li Huowang told the truth and refrained from telling even a single lie. Of course, he skipped some of the details that the Surveillance Bureau didn’t have to know.

“Oh, I know.” Lord Jian Zheng sounded calm.

Li Huowang was surprised. After all, they were talking about the Sitting Oblivion Dao here, and they were all in the city.

“My Lord! The Sitting Oblivion Dao is here! They—”

“You don’t have to tell me what to do. Why are you in such a rush? Are you trying to use the Surveillance Bureau to take revenge on the Sitting Oblivion Dao?” Jian Zheng asked with cold eyes.

A mysterious pressure enveloped Li Huowang, and he hurriedly said, “Er Jiu dares not to say that.”

Li Huowang bit his cheek and took half a step back.

“Hmph! How uncouth.” Jian Zheng ignored Li Huowang and continued with his task.

Jian Zheng ignored Li Huowang for fifteen minutes before finally taking the pot of boiling tea away from the stove and pouring himself a cup of tea. He took a sip of the tea before looking at Li Huowang.

“Don’t worry about the Sitting Oblivion Dao. Someone else is going to deal with them. However, I need you to do something else. This is more important than the Sitting Oblivion Dao, so you need to be very careful about this.”

Jian Zheng's reaction was outside Li Huowang's expectations, but it didn't mean that he could afford to be careless. Li Huowang remained calm, knowing that he couldn't reveal anything suspicious.

“Yes, please give me your order.”

“I have no idea how you ended up knowing Zhuge Yuan, but I need you to go back to him. Someone will assist you at the right timing, and your mission is to steal the Six Divinations Almanac.”

Six Divinations Almanac? What's that? Wait, the almanac?! Li Huowang recalled the almanac that Zhuge Yuan had wielded. Jian Zheng wants me to take Zhuge Yuan’s almanac!

Li Huowang reeled in shock.

“This is an important mission, and I will personally oversee you. You must perform well. If possible, you should kill Zhuge Yuan. However, his death isn't mandatory," Jian Zheng added and frowned upon witnessing Li Huowang's silence. “Did you not listen to what I said?”

Li Huowang clasped his shaking hands together. “Yes, I heard and will obey.”

Jian Zheng didn't forget to promise Li Huowang some rewards.

“Succeed, and I'll ignore some of the things you’ve done in the Surveillance Bureau. In fact, I will allow you to become an official of the Surveillance Bureau. Consider it your honor.

"You may also choose three artifacts from the vault. I know that the SItting Oblivion Dao destroyed your entire sect, so it's only natural for you to hate them. Complete the mission perfectly, and I will allow you to join in on the mission to kill the Sitting Oblivion Dao members. You will also be in charge of those we end up capturing.”

Li Huowang nodded solemnly.

Jian Zheng seemed satisfied with Li Huowang's response. He picked up a stack of paper and gave it to Li Huowang. “You may return after you deliver these documents to the archive. The archive is beyond the third door on the left.”

Li Huowang walked up and accepted the stack of papers with both hands before leaving the study. Once he was out of the study room, Li Huowang frowned. What should I do?

He couldn't stop thinking about the best next course of action. Li Huowang's initial plan was to pit both parties against each other while reaping profits during the chaos, but his plan ended up failing before he could even start working on it.

Jian Zheng’s reaction was truly unexpected. After all, the entire Sitting Oblivion Dao was here. Li Huowang couldn't fight the entire Sitting Oblivion Dao on his own; he needed the Surveillance Bureau's help. Most importantly, he needed another plan.

Should I steal Zhuge Yuan's almanac for the Surveillance Bureau? That’s absurd!

Zhuge Yuan was a talkative lunatic, but he was one of the very few friends Li Huowang had in this crazy world.

Li Huowang was still thinking about what to do when he finally arrived at the third door on the left. He looked down at the stack of papers in his hand and was about to enter the room when he caught a glimpse of the words on one of the documents.

Feng Erniu? Li Huowang was familiar with that name. It was the name of the Ji Xiang, who gave him a house in Shangjing before leaving. Li Huowang proceeded to read the report. Former Ji Xiang Feng Erniu and his wife are dead? Their heads have been submitted as proof? Ji Xiang is dead? He worked for the Surveillance Bureau for so long, and he was killed just like that?

Li Huowang recalled the pallid-looking plump Ji Xiang, and his heart grew cold upon seeing the glaring red circle drawn on the piece of paper.

Li Huowang glanced at the study room and realized that this wasn't a coincidence. Jian Zheng knew that Li Huowang was familiar with the former Ji Xiang and had put the document at the top of the stack as a warning.

Li Huowang took a deep breath and entered the archive.

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