The Change

Having been suspended by his own father for so long and still uttering such heretical words, Lü Zhuangyuan was immediately furious beyond measure.

“You—!” Just as Lü Zhuangyuan raised his rattan cane to strike his son’s face, Li Huowang stepped forward and caught his arm.

Li Huowang had known Lü Xiucai for quite some time and had come to understand him somewhat.

As far as he knew, this kid had always been soft and timid; he would never speak like this. There had to be something wrong.

Li Huowang stepped closer, carefully examining the upside-down Lü Xiucai. The young man’s wide eyes were filled with hatred and murderous intent, like a wounded beast.

Having been through so much, Li Huowang had seen plenty by now. This kind of look was not something a dull, timid boy could muster.

For some reason, seeing those eyes gave Li Huowang a very familiar feeling.

He thought hard, then suddenly turned his head to look at the tall, headless female corpse behind him.

Peng Longteng, he suddenly realized. Lü Xiucai right now was a perfect little Peng Longteng.

A hint of surprise on his face, Li Huowang placed the Purple-Tasseled Sword before him and examined it.

Lü Xiucai had become like this just from using the sword once.

The sword was good, but Li Huowang had long underestimated its side effects. It was only because of his Heart-Element constitution that he couldn’t feel them at all.

That abbess said the military path’s killing intent could not pierce the Heart-Element’s bewilderment, but she never told me what would happen if an ordinary person touched a weapon like this.

And now Lü Xiucai had answered that question for him: what happens to an ordinary person when they touch this weapon.

He turned again to look at Lü Xiucai, studying those eyes full of brutality.

Could it be that Peng Longteng wasn’t always like that? That she became this way only after being influenced by something, just like Lü Xiucai?

Li Huowang tried hard to recall every detail about Peng Longteng. If you removed the flowing, green tattoos from her face and just looked at her features, she was nothing more than a young woman of marriageable age.

And yet that same woman had butchered thousands of people without even blinking.

Through Lü Xiucai’s transformation, Li Huowang gained a deeper understanding of the military path.

It was clear that people like Peng Longteng had once been ordinary as well.

But in order to obtain power—whether through cultivation or some other means—their bodies were forced to acquire something, and it was that very thing that had twisted their natures.

Li Huowang recalled what the monks of Zhengde Temple had done with the Flesh Buddha, and the stench-filled Anci Nunnery.

It seems no matter how they cultivate, in the end they all absorb something that affects their personality and behavior.

The abbesses had rot and decay. The monks had lust. What does the military path have? Cruelty? Bloodlust? Or just slaughter?

Seeing Li Huowang standing there frowning in deep thought, Lü Ban Zhu seemed to sense something was wrong. He forgot his anger, and a look of worry crept onto his aged face.

This wasn’t just a rebellious son. The problem seemed much bigger.

Even if Lü Xiucai had hit and cursed him, he was still his son.

“Little Daoist? What’s wrong with my son? Is he possessed? Can you think of a way to cure him?”

Pulled back by the question, Li Huowang studied Lü Xiucai once more, then turned to Lü Ban Zhu and spoke plainly.

“I don’t fully understand Lü Xiucai’s condition either, but from the looks of it, if his personality can gradually soften, there might still be hope. If not, then I suggest you prepare yourself, Master Lü.”

The implication was clear.

Hearing this news, as if struck by a thunderbolt, Lü Ban Zhu staggered, barely able to stay on his feet.

Before anyone could react, Lü Zhuangyuan fell to his knees before Li Huowang.

Li Huowang quickly sidestepped, frowning as he avoided the kowtow. “Master Lü, you’re trying to shorten my life.”

“No, no, no!” Lü Zhuangyuan scrambled up, waving his hands frantically. “Dao Master, this is all my fault! If I hadn’t started it, he wouldn’t have been bewitched and tried to steal your sword!”

The onlookers listened in silence, the atmosphere growing heavy.

Taking another look at the upside-down Lü Xiucai, Li Huowang let out a breath and turned to Bai Lingmiao. “Want to give it a try?”

“Dong dong dong…” The rhythmic sound of a drum rang out.

“The sun sets in the west, the sky turns black~, every household closes its doors, magpies and crows fly to the big trees, sparrows and chicks head for the eaves, the long road grows short under the stars, the small hut blocks the way forward, nine out of ten doors are locked, only one door is still open…”

The spirit-tune began to sing. The Bei School was summoned. The incense with its faint, dark red embers was inserted down his throat. But Lü Xiucai showed no reaction.

“Brother Li, the Immortal says Lü Xiucai is perfectly fine.”

Li Huowang let out a cold snort. The Immortal was just that. It was good at tormenting its own people, but when faced with a real problem, it was just a showpiece.

Enraged and aggrieved, Lü Zhuangyuan turned and slapped Lü Xiucai across the face.

“He deserves it! This isn’t your fault! It’s his own doing! A grown man, stealing and sneaking around! This is his retribution!”

Lü Xiucai’s angry curses grew louder.

Despite the incident that night, the journey continued.

During the day, Lü Xiucai was still tied up, no longer hanging upside down from a tree, but bound to the oxcart.

Although a cloud of gloom hung over everyone in Lü’s Troupe, to Li Huowang, who had been through countless battles, even Lü Xiucai’s death wouldn’t be a big deal.

He had enough problems of his own. He didn’t have the spare heart to worry about others.

Day by day they traveled, and people gradually grew accustomed to Lü Xiucai’s new demeanor.

In the end, Lü Xiucai was untied. He wasn’t Li Huowang. As long as a person was weak enough, his hatred was nothing but a joke.

The change in his personality didn’t increase his strength much. At the end of the day, he was still a frail youth. Faced with Lü Zhuangyuan’s tobacco pipe and his elder brother’s fists, he could only obediently keep moving.

Lü Ban Zhu noticed that although his youngest son had become much more irritable, he hadn’t changed much in other ways.

For example, he still cracked vulgar jokes with Gouwa, and he still teased his niece, Xiuer—just louder.

However, he still hadn’t gotten over being hung up and beaten by his own father. He kept staring at the old man’s back with a cold expression the entire time.

But he only stared at Lü Zhuangyuan. He didn’t even dare look at Li Huowang, who had also hit him.