Mutated Tao

“You can talk about anything. Just think of it as a casual conversation. Since becoming the Emperor, I haven’t had anyone I can converse casually with.” Gao Zhijian said, expressing his complaints to Li Huowang.

Li Huowang threw the stone and dusted his palms. “Heh, you think I’m here just to talk.”

“No, but you can think of it as just talking to me before we enter the main conversation. After all, I have to watch what I say when I’m in the palace.”

“You are the Emperor. Who’s controlling you?”

“As I am the Emperor, there are rules that I need to follow. How I eat, how I speak, and how I greet someone.”

As he talked, his consorts and wives approached him and complained flirtatiously about how tired they were.

Gao Zhijian shooed them off. He pointed his rough fingers at the women walking away and said, “I don’t like them. All they want is to sleep with me. I feel like puking when I look at them.”

“You are going to make every man in the world mad with that statement.”

“Senior Li, you don’t understand. You would probably understand me if I threw you into their hands for three months.”

“Gao Zhijian, it’s best if you talk like an Emperor now. Otherwise, the old eunuch will cough his lungs out.”

“Hahaha!” Gao Zhijian laughed as if it was the best joke he had heard. He slapped his knees and raised his head as he laughed.

His laughter faded and he became serious again. With a wave of his arm, everyone around him took several steps back.

Li Huowang sighed and took out two spine swords from his back before throwing them onto the ground.

“Senior Li, will you still send food to the Qi Kingdom?”

“Yes,” Li Huowang said frankly.

“Wait, listen to me first,” Li Huowang interjected before Gao Zhijian could say anything. “Do you still remember how the Qi Kingdom and the Liang Kingdom lived prosperously even though both of them existed simultaneously?

“I don’t want the Qi Kingdom or the Liang Kingdom to disappear. Can’t they exist at the same time? They coexisted for a thousand years. Were there any negative effects on the Liang Kingdom? I don’t want much. I simply want things to return to how they were before.”

Gao Zhijian remained silent, and Li Huowang continued, “Who told you that only one of the kingdoms could exist at a single given time?”

“My ancestors of the Dragon Vein.”

“Are you sure what they say is always the truth? Could they not lie? I had a friend who was a gentleman and a storyteller. He wanted to tell the Liang Kingdom that the Qi Kingdom existed. If what you’re saying is true, that they cannot exist simultaneously and one of them must fall, then there must be something wrong with him! He wouldn’t be a storyteller!”

Gao Zhijian looked at the fields and then at the eunuchs cleaning up after him. He slowly opened his mouth. “Senior Li, you said that the Dragon Vein can lie to me. But would your friend not lie to you? Is everything that he told you the truth?”

"You!" Li Huowang clenched his fists, causing the eunuchs to prepare for action. The tension in the air was palpable, but ultimately, Li Huowang released his grip.

“He’s dead. My friend is dead. He could trick me, and I can’t verify his claims, but,” Li Huowang’s tone became serious, “I know he wouldn’t trick me about this. He would never do something that would result in the death of an entire timeline! He wouldn’t have tricked me for the sake of the world, nor would he have sacrificed his life for me! So!”

Li Huowang was panting at this point. “Could you just give me some time? Think of it as me begging you. You’ve starved before. Do you know how many people are starving in the Qi Kingdom? Do you know that even a child at just six years old had to eat her mother’s flesh to survive? Do you know how tragic that was? She didn’t even know that her mother had died. I had to use my techniques of the Sitting Oblivion Dao to trick her into thinking that her mother was alive!”

Gao Zhijian was silent for a very long time. “Senior Li, if something were to threaten the Liang Kingdom, as a good Emperor, I must do my best to stop it.”

“I know, I know, but there’s still time for things to change. The Qi Kingdom might not threaten the Liang Kingdom. Don’t worry about the food I’ve sent there. Once the Qi Kingdom is self-sufficient, I will slowly return the food, catty by catty. I won’t let the Liang Kingdom lose a single penny! In fact, the Qi Kingdom might even help the Liang Kingdom in the future! We could establish trade between the two kingdoms!”

Gao Zhijian stood up and patted the dirt on his butt. “Senior Li, your friend is not a god. What he thought might not be true.”

“Then is the Dragon Vein always right? They were humans when they were alive! They weren’t gods either!”

Gao Zhijian shook his head and left.

Everyone slowly left the place, leaving Li Huowang alone in the unsown field.

A familiar voice came from behind Li Huowang. “Don’t worry, I’m still here.”

He knew who the owner of the voice was without even needing to turn back. “I doubt that the Chief of the Surveillance Bureau could stop the Emperor. No need to butt in. This is a fight between adults.”

Li Huowang didn’t want Li Sui to get involved. If the Liang Kingdom’s Surveillance Bureau and the Liang Kingdom’s palace were to fight, no one would gain anything.

Li Huowang stood up and patted Li Sui’s head, concealed within her red robes. “Don’t worry. This is my own problem and I will handle it myself. No need to involve yourself.”

“Even if he wants to kill you?”

“Even if he wants to kill me.”

Li Huowang swung the spine sword and returned to the Qi Kingdom through the rift. The fields of the Liang Kingdom were where the Qi Kingdom’s Righteous Monastery was. The monks recognized him, so there was no commotion when he returned.

However, what Li Huowang had said just before leaving caused them to worry. Once Chan Du learned that Li Huowang was back, he immediately rushed over.

“Benefactor, how was it? Did you manage to talk with them and learn why they are attacking you?”

Li Huowang answered bitterly, “We talked. As for why, the Liang Kingdom’s Emperor thought that once you guys are prosperous again, you would threaten them instead.”

“The Liang Kingdom’s Emperor? Benefactor Li, is it really him?!”

Li Huowang didn’t understand why Chan Du was confused. “Didn’t you already know that? Why are you reacting so loudly?”

Chan Du clasped his hands and turned the prayer beads in his palm. “Amitabha. I have never once suspected him. I thought that the assailants came from another world.”

“What? Other worlds?” It was Li Huowang’s turn to be confused. He felt that a bomb had just gone off in his head. “Why didn’t you tell me this important?”

“Uh… did we really need to tell you? Didn’t you already know about it?” Chan Du pointed at the five glittering Buddha statues in the hall.

“Vaicorana from Vajradhatu, the Diamond Realm. Akshobhya from Abhirati, the Eastern Pure Land. Ratnasambhava from Śrimat, the Southern Pure Land. Amitābha from Sukhavati, the Western Pure Land. Amoghasiddhi from Prakuta, the Northern Pure Land. Together, they form the Five Dhyani Buddhas because they control the five different worlds.”

Li Huowang stood there, his mouth hanging open in shock at Chan Du’s words.

“Benefactor Li, why are you so surprised? I thought you knew about it?”

Li Huowang was practically fuming with anger. “You sects and your fucking contradicting worlds! How would I know which is real and which is fake?!”