Mutated Tao

Chapter 541: Secret

It had been ten minutes since Li Huowang had started sinking in the cold river. His face had already become red from trying to hold his breath, and his lips were becoming purple from the lack of air.

However, he was still sinking as if the river had infinite depth.

Li Huowang cast a worried look at Li Sui with worry but saw that she was enjoying it. She was swimming around with her swaying tentacles as if she were a fish. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom

“Junior Li, hold on! We're almost there!” Zhuge Yuan looked around in the darkness.

Li Huowang was just about to run out of air when a temple appeared in the dark.

“There!”

Li Sui grabbed Li Huowang and used her tentacles to swim toward the temple.

When Li Huowang crashed into the temple, the temple disappeared and was replaced by a black rift.

He threw the stone in his arms away and entered the rift. He swam up and popped out from the water. He panted and looked around to realize that there was air in the underwater cave.

He didn’t even rest as he raised a stone and examined the cave.

He saw nothing but gray walls.

“Junior Li, turn around.”

He turned around and saw the ripples on the surface of the water where he had come from. The water reflected himself, but...

That’s not my reflection! Li Huowang felt a shiver down his spine.

His reflection looked similar to him. It wore the same red Daoist robes and the bronze coin veil, but the surface of the color looked strange. If he had to describe it, the reflection looked like painted pottery.

“Throw a stone at it,” Zhuge Yuan said.

Li Huowang followed Zhuge Yuan’s instructions, and a ripple appeared from where the stone landed.

A cracking sound echoed, and his reflection’s forehead cracked open. The crack spread across the reflection, and a single eye popped out from the hole in the forehead.

Is that Shangji Guankou? Li Huowang wasn’t sure what he was looking at.

Without waiting for him to speak, his reflection within the third eye spoke, “A secret for another secret.”

A secret to trade for another secret?

Shangji Guankou required nothing else but more secrets. As long as Li Huowang had enough secrets, he could exchange them for any secrets, including Shai Zi’s location.

There was no reason for him to be that wary of the Great Qi, so he immediately exclaimed, “I’m a Strayed One!”

The cracks on Shangji Guankou healed slightly.

This is great! Li Huowang was thrilled. “I’m not from this world! I'm from another world!”

However, nothing happened. The cracks didn't heal. Shangji Guankou stared at Li Huowang as if he was a weird person.

Huh? That's not a secret? Li Huowang wanted to try once again when Zhuge Yuan raised his hand.

“Junior Li, don’t worry. Let me handle it,” Zhuge Yuan said.

Li Huowang looked at him with a complicated expression. “I already owe you a lot. If I still need to rely on you even though you're already dead, I fear that I won’t be able to repay you in this lifetime.”

“Junior Li, no need to be so sentimental. We're sworn brothers, aren't we?”

Li Huowang decided not to waste any more time and tried to materialize Zhuge Yuan again.

“No need. You can just materialize my fan. I’ve used some of Peng Longteng’s blood to write some secrets on it.” Zhuge Yuan passed the fan to Li Huowang.

“Only the fan?” Li Huowang was confused, but he decided to do it anyway.

And he was stupefied to find that it took almost all of his strength to materialize just Zhuge Yuan's fan.

Zhuge Yuan’s fan fell to the ground, and he was covered in his own sweat as he picked it up.

He looked at the fan, and a thought popped into his mind. What kind of secret was it that required so much of my energy?

He opened the fan and looked at the first two words when Zhuge Yuan stopped him. “Don’t look at it!”

Li Huowang hurriedly looked away.

Zhuge Yuan sighed in relief and said, “Junior Li, I can’t let you read it because the karma of the Simings would stick to you if you do so.”

Even the secrets of a Siming actually hold so much power? Li Huowang closed the fan and dared not to take a peek. He already had enough issues on his plate.

He threw the fan into the water, and Shangji Guankou’s cracks healed rapidly.

Once the cracks had healed, everything became normal once again. Li Huowang’s true reflection appeared in the water, but his reflection had a third eye for some reason.

“Junior Li, if you want to know Shai Zi’s location, just take the eye out from your reflection and place it on your forehead.”

“Is that the secret that Shangji Guankou had left for me?” Li Huowang was thrilled upon realizing that he finally had a reasonable method to deal with Shai Zi.

It wasn't good enough for him to be satisfied, but at least he now had a chance.

“Li Sui, let’s go back!” Li Huowang dove into the water once again.

He could use the spine sword to return to the Liang Kingdom, but he was currently underwater, so who knew where he'd pop out on the other side? What if he was somehow transported beneath the ground on the other side? Wouldn't that be a laughable death? Li Huowang entered the cold water once again. He took a deep breath this time and got ready to swim all the way up to the surface.

While he was on his way to the surface, the cogs in his mind turned rapidly, thinking of a way to use the secret that Shangji Guankou had left behind for him. Now that I can find that Shai Zi, I just need to find someone to deal with him. They must also be stronger than him. I can go and look for the Chief of the Surveillance Bureau, but would he even trust me if I tell him that I can find Shai Zi? Of course, there's the Imperial Preceptor, too! I remember him standing his ground against four Shai Zis.

Just then, something white floated past Li Huowang.

What was that?! Li Huowang grabbed his sword and saw the fan that he had thrown earlier into the water. To make matters worse, the fan was open!