Mutated Tao

The intense pain jolted Li Huowang back to a state of partial consciousness, but it wasn’t sufficient. As the anesthetic took hold, the pain slowly diminished.

He stumbled backward, faintly hearing Wu Qi’s voice. Finally, his consciousness slipped away, and he collapsed to the ground.

Li Huowang had no idea how much time had passed, but he gradually regained awareness. The flickering lights on the ceiling made him realize he was still in the factory, and the quiet surroundings indicated that everything was over.

The pain in his head was so intense that Li Huowang could barely lift his hand to touch it, feeling as if his skull might crack open.

“Here, drink some water. Don’t worry—this is just a side effect. It’ll pass soon,” Wu Qi said, helping him up.

“Is it over? Did we win?” Li Huowang turned to see corpses lying around in disarray.

“They escaped, but Zhao Shuangdian said we accomplished our objective. It’s time to retreat.”

“Retreat?” Li Huowang looked at the others. They were draining the engine oil from the machines and pouring it over everything in the factory. It seemed that they were preparing to set it all ablaze.

Li Huowang had many questions that he wanted to ask Zhao Shuangdian. However, now wasn’t the time for questions. He probably wouldn’t get any answers now.

With Wu Qi’s help, he stood up and retreated into the dark culvert. “Since it’s over, let’s get out of here.”

Li Huowang didn’t fully understand what this place translated to. Based on his experience, this underground factory was likely similar to the Baiyu Capital, and the people they had encountered were the Simings in charge of this place.

However, the more he thought about it, the less sense it made. God Yu’er is very powerful, so how come the Simings on its side were so weak? They couldn’t even take down a small group like this.

Am I wrong? Could they have torn down the Baiyu Capital? Li Huowang pondered while they retreated further into the darker part of the canal.

Wu Qi propped Li Huowang against the wall and went to help the others.

Li Huowang shook his head violently and glared at Qing Wanglai, who was rummaging through a freezer.

Before he could release his anger, he heard a strange sound coming from the left side of the tunnel. Looking in that direction, he saw many eyes staring at him from the darkness.

Suddenly, a light flickered on. A flashlight rolled across the floor, stopping at Li Huowang’s feet and illuminating him—just like what had happened to Chen Hongyu.

“Enemy ambush!” Li Huowang shouted with all his might and threw himself toward the door. At that exact moment, Ba Nanxu flicked a cigarette butt, igniting the factory in flames.

With enemies behind and fire ahead, Li Huowang and the others were trapped.

Li Huowang picked up a helmet, quickly putting it on as the enemies burst through the iron gate.

They were all black people dressed in camouflage uniforms. They erupted in fury at the sight of the burning factory, raising their guns and shouting in a language Li Huowang couldn’t understand.

Gunfire erupted, and someone tossed ten grenades toward Li Huowang and his group.

Li Huowang’s heart skipped a beat as he watched the black balls of death flying through the air toward him. He was sure he was done for.

Li Huowang lunged forward without hesitation, grabbing two of the grenades before sprinting toward the enemies.

They spotted him holding the grenades and panicked, shooting at him as they retreated toward the door.

Thump! The door slammed shut. Li Huowang looked down at the grenades in his hands and ran toward the door.

As he did, the grenades cracked open, revealing something yellow inside of them.

At that moment, everything came to a standstill. Li Huowang stared in disbelief at the mooncake in his hands, momentarily unable to comprehend what was happening.

“Eat it! This is the result of everyone’s hard work,” a nurse said, lightly patting Li Huowang on the back.

Li Huowang glanced around at the peaceful break room. Mooncake? White Tower Prison? I’m back here again? What’s going on...

Suddenly, he recalled something. He took a bite of the purple yam mooncake and discovered another piece of paper inside. He unrolled the paper and saw the same words as before.

Smack! Li Huowang slapped himself hard across the face. The stinging pain confirmed that this wasn’t a dream, and he began to understand something.

Forcing himself to stay calm, he swallowed the paper and headed to the restroom, where he once again saw a person disguised as himself.

Li Huowang found that everything that followed was exactly as he remembered. The rubber gloves were the same, and Yi Donglai questioned him again.

After Li Huowang used the access card to leave White Tower, he immediately got into Ba Nanxu’s car. “Take me to Zhao Shuangdian! Hurry!”

“Oh? You in a rush? I thought you’d want to visit your little girlfriend first.” Ba Nanxu kicked the driver’s seat, making her brother speed up.

Before long, Li Huowang found Zhao Shuangdian at the Bloody Bonfire tattoo parlor again. “What’s going on here? Why am I back again?!”

Zhao Shuangdian looked puzzled. “Sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Li Huowang suppressed his unease and recounted everything that had happened. Only then could Zhao Shuangdian explain it all.

Zhao Shuangdian looked surprised. “I don’t know how you found out, but I did want to recruit you for a counterattack. However, what you’re describing doesn’t make sense.”

She continued, “The timing is off. We acted on February 6, not February 3. According to our calculations, we wouldn’t need a flight to reach the other elephant. It’s at sea—we would have taken a boat.”

“How can this be?!” Li Huowang was utterly shocked. He stumbled back half a step. “No! Something’s not right!”

The shock on Li Huowang’s face turned into confusion. “This isn’t the first time... There was the ship! The Abbess’s son really exists! And... there was another time! What was the second time? I forgot! But there was definitely a second time! This is the third!”

His expression twisted into a mix of fury and struggle. He clenched his fists and began to pound his head, trying to force out the details he had missed.

“Big… big...[1].”

Zhao Shuangdian watched Li Huowang with great interest. “The elephant is formless?”

Li Huowang shook his head violently and rejected that idea. Then, his eyes suddenly lit up.

“No! That’s not it! It’s not the formless elephant—it’s the Grand Siming! There are no boundaries! I finally get it!

“There is no before or after! It’s all happening at the same time! The reason you changed the plan now isn’t because that place doesn’t exist anymore—it’s because we have already destroyed it in another timeline! That factory! That factory was the projection of the Siming!

“We destroyed the factory, so everything about it—its related time and history—has been erased! Everyone forgot, except for me! Just like the last two times!”

1. In Chinese, “elephant” (大象 dàxiàng) begins with the character 大 (dà), which means “big” ☜

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