Mutated Tao

Li Huowang chose the weapons he liked the best before leaving the RV.

Since they are our enemies, we should always be prepared for the worst-case scenario. We can’t even be sure that Qing Wanglai will successfully negotiate with them.

Qian Fu panicked when he saw Li Huowang leaving the RV. “Li Huowang! It’s fine if you don’t trust me, but please go and ask the others! They all know what Qing Wanglai has done! They just didn’t tell you!”

Li Huowang turned around as he held the door knob. “Then answer one question. If they already know what Qing Wanglai did in the past, why are they still following him?”

Qian Fu remained silent.

Li Huowang continued, “I don’t care what Qing Wanglai did in the past. It’s not my job to bring him to justice, even if he killed someone. I don’t care what he did before.

“I can assure you that I do not think of them as a family. I am only working with them to take care of the external threats I’m facing. Do you understand? Do you really think I like mingling with mentally ill people like them?”

Li Huowang was about to leave the RV when Qian Fu shuddered and twitched.

“Hm?” Li Huowang stopped.

“Oh? You are back?” Li Huowang approached him to release the ropes.

“You have a really good time here. We did all the dirty work while you were staying here.”

“Really? What did you do?” Qian Fu was surprised and asked Li Huowang for more details.

“We followed your instructions and destroyed the UFO of the aliens.”

“Really? Aliens? What happened?”

Li Huowang stopped suddenly. He took two steps back and examined Qian Fu again. He then realized something was off.

“No, you’re not the other Qian Fu. You’re pretending to be him. It’s a shame that you’re not convincing enough. Just stay here quietly.” Li Huowang left, ignoring Qian Fu’s angry shouts.

He returned to the underground basement to tell the others about Qian Fu so that they wouldn’t get tricked by him.

But then, he saw someone unfamiliar speaking with Qing Wanglai near the entrance to the basement.

The person was dressed strangely and had a buzz cut. His entire body, neck, and half of his face were tattooed with thorny vines. His ear lobes were pierced with a huge hole capable of fitting two fingers in. As he talked to Qing Wanglai, Li Huowang also saw a tongue piercing in his mouth.

Li Huowang observed Qing Wanglai’s expression and deduced that the strange newcomer was someone they knew. His grip on the knife behind his back loosened slowly.

The man was very cautious, however. He shut up the moment he saw Li Huowang getting close to him.

“This is…?” Li Huowang wanted to ask who it was, but before he could, the man glared at Li Huowang warily and left.

Li Huowang looked at the man’s back and saw that the hair on his head was also a tattoo. The man was originally bald and had a buzzcut tattooed on his head!

“Who is he?” Li Huowang asked.

“Do you remember when I said that there were other people who realized that we are mere projections? Other than us, there are others who couldn’t be reasoned with, and others who wouldn’t join us. He’s the latter.”

“Then why did he find you today? Does he want to work with us?”

“No. He was confident that he could deal with the problem alone. He just noticed we were taking action and came here to confirm it with us.”

“That’s strange. I never imagined someone would refuse to join us after learning about what had happened.”

“Everyone has their own thoughts. He’s almost like a hermit. We can’t force him to join us.”

“What’s his name?”

“His surname is Ba. Ba Shengqing. He opened a tattoo shop and is quite skillful. You can find him if you need a tattoo.”

“Ba Shengqing? What a stupid name.”

“There are people with that surname, but it is very rare. I suspect he’s from an indigenous tribe and doesn’t want to tell us about it,” Wu Qi said.[1]

Li Huowang committed the name to memory and checked the time. “I need to go back first. My family will be suspicious if I keep staying outside. Let me know immediately if you have any progress.”

Li Huowang took one last at the prisoners before he left.

“Hey, remember to bring some snacks for us next time you come here. There’s nothing at this dump,” Chen Hongyu grumbled.

“I understand.” Li Huowang hopped on his bike before realizing he had heard something familiar a long time ago.

Yang Na noticed Li Huowang’s confusion. “Huowang?”

Li Huowang shook his head and left.

He had just exited Orange Isle when his phone rang. He saw the name and was surprised because it was none other than Yi Donglai.

“Doctor Yi? Is something wrong?”

—I just called to make sure you are fine. How is everything recently? Are there any new hallucinations? Or maybe new symptoms?

“No, I’m fine right now. I’m completely cured. Thank you for your help, Doctor Yi! It seems that my mom sent the brocade to the right person.”

Just then, Li Huowang saw a motorbike parked just off the street. The person beside the motorbike was none other than Ba Shengqing.

They locked gazes, and Li Huowang noticed another interesting detail. It appeared that Ba Shengqing’s eyeballs had tattoos too.

It was the first time Li Huowang had seen eye tattoos.

—Li Huowang? Can you hear me?”

“Oh, yes, I’m listening. Please continue.”

—I’m asking if you are still taking your medicine on time.

“Yes, I’m still taking it on time.” Li Huowang lied. He hadn't done so.

He stopped taking his medications after he captured the prisoners.

Now that it was certain that someone was stalking and trying to kidnap him, Li Huowang did not need to take his medicine. He thought that he was fine.

His medications had severe side effects. If he continued taking them, he could get a new disease soon.

—Then that’s good. Remember to take it on time to avoid relapsing. More importantly, it will prevent you from hallucinating again.

Li Huowang saw Ba Shengqing approaching him and nodded. “Alright, I understand. Doctor Yi, I still have some things to do, so I need to hang up now.”

1. The surname Ba has four possible origins. One hypothesis suggests that the surname Ba came from a place called Ba Shui, currently somewhere on the eastern side of Sichuan. Back then, there were five tribes, and the Ba tribe was one of them. ☜

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