Chapter 263: Changes

Upon hearing his young son utter such defiant words after being hung for so long, Lu Zhuangyuan was instantly furious.

"You—!" As Lu Zhuangyuan raised the cane to strike his son's face, Li Huowang, who had walked over, caught it.

Li Huowang had known Lu Xiucai for a long time and understood him quite well. To his knowledge, the boy had always been weak-willed and would never say such things; there had to be an issue.

Li Huowang stepped forward and carefully examined Lu Xiucai, who was still hanging upside down. His wide, staring eyes were filled with hatred and murderous intent, like a wounded beast.

Having experienced so much, Li Huowang was well-versed in such matters. This kind of gaze could never come from a dull boy. For some reason, seeing these eyes gave Li Huowang a very familiar feeling.

Pondering this, Li Huowang abruptly turned his head to look at the tall, headless female corpse behind him. Peng Longteng, he suddenly realized. Lu Xiucai's current state was exactly like a miniature Peng Longteng.

With a hint of surprise on his face, Li Huowang held the purple-tasseled sword before him, examining it. Lu Xiucai had transformed like this simply by using this sword. While the sword was highly effective, Li Huowang had consistently underestimated its side effects, feeling nothing himself only because of his "heart element."

"The nun once said that while military artifacts possess malevolence, this malevolence cannot dispel the 'heart element's' confusion. But she never told me what the consequences would be for an ordinary person touching such a weapon."

Now, Lu Xiucai had answered that question for Li Huowang: what happens when an ordinary person touches this weapon. He turned to look at Lu Xiucai again, re-examining those eyes full of malice.

"Could it be that Peng Longteng wasn't always like that, but like Lu Xiucai, was influenced by something before becoming this way?"

Li Huowang tried to recall every detail about Peng Longteng. If one removed the elaborate blue tattoos on her face, she would appear, purely based on her features, to be a maiden ready for marriage. Yet, this very woman had slaughtered thousands without blinking an eye.

Through Lu Xiucai's transformation, Li Huowang gained a deeper understanding of the military faction. Clearly, individuals like Peng Longteng were ordinary people in the past. But to gain immense power, whether through cultivation or other means, their bodies were forced to acquire certain elements, and these elements were what drastically changed their temperaments.

Li Huowang recalled what the monks of Zhengde Temple and the Flesh Bodhisattva had done, as well as the stench-filled An Ci Nunnery.

"It seems no matter how they cultivate, they eventually absorb certain things that affect their personality and behavior."

"For the nuns, it's corruption; for the monks, it's lust. So what is it for the military faction? Tyranny? Bloodlust? Or slaughter?"

Seeing Li Huowang standing there, frowning in thought, Lu Ban Zhu clearly sensed something was amiss. He forgot his anger, and a trace of worry appeared on his aged face. His young son's condition seemed to be a far greater problem than mere disobedience. Even if Lu Xiucai hit and cursed him, he was still his son.

"Little Daoist? What's wrong with my son? Has he been possessed? Can you think of a way to cure him?"

Pulled back by the question, Li Huowang re-examined Lu Xiucai. Then he turned to Lu Zhuangyuan and spoke honestly. "I don't fully understand Lu Xiucai's condition, but generally speaking, if his temperament can gradually soften, there might be hope. If not, then Lu Ban Zhu, I advise you to be prepared."

Li Huowang's words implied an obvious meaning. Hearing this news was like a bolt from the blue, causing Lu Ban Zhu to stumble, nearly losing his footing. Before anyone could react, Lu Zhuangyuan directly knelt before Li Huowang.

Li Huowang quickly turned, his expression slightly displeased, avoiding the kowtow. "Lu Ban Zhu, you're trying to shorten my life."

"No, no, no!" Lu Zhuangyuan scrambled up, waving his hands repeatedly. He spoke with a hint of panic, "Daoist, it's all my fault! If I hadn't started it, he wouldn't have been deluded into trying to steal your sword!"

The onlookers listened in silence as Lu Zhuangyuan spoke, and the atmosphere grew heavy. Li Huowang sighed lightly, glancing at the still-hanging Lu Xiucai, then turned to Bai Lingmiao beside him. "Why don't you try?"

*Thump-thump-thump* – The rhythmic drumbeats began.

"The sun sets, the sky turns dark, every household bolts its door tight. Magpies and crows flock to tall trees, sparrows and pigeons rush to the eaves. The road shortens, the starlight brightens, the small house cuts off the hard journey. Nine out of ten homes are locked, only one still has its door unlatched..."

The divine tune began, and the "mourning master" was summoned. The incense, with its dark red fiery tip, was inserted into Lu Xiucai's throat. However, Lu Xiucai showed no reaction.

"Senior Brother Li, the immortal says Lu Xiucai is perfectly fine."

Li Huowang snorted. These immortals were useless; they had countless tricks for their own people, but when faced with real trouble, they were just for show.

The distraught Lu Zhuangyuan tremblingly turned and slapped Lu Xiucai across the face. "He deserves it! It's not your fault, Daoist, he deserves it! Such a big person, actually trying to steal! This is his retribution!"

Lu Xiucai's angry shouts grew louder.

Although there was an incident at night, the journey had to continue. During the day, Lu Xiucai remained bound, though not upside down from a tree, but tied to the ox cart.

While a shadow of gloom hung over the faces of everyone in the Lu troupe, for Li Huowang, who had endured countless battles, even Lu Xiucai's death would not be a major concern. Li Huowang already had enough troubles of his own; he had no spare time to worry about others.

Day by day, the journey progressed, and people gradually adapted to Lu Xiucai's new demeanor. Lu Xiucai was eventually untied because he wasn't Li Huowang. As long as a person was weak enough, their hatred seemed utterly ridiculous.

His personality change did not significantly increase his strength. Ultimately, he was still a scrawny boy, and facing Lu Zhuangyuan's pipe and his elder brother's fists, he could only obediently continue the journey.

Lu Ban Zhu discovered that while his young son had become much more irritable, he hadn't changed much in other aspects. For example, he still exchanged vulgar jokes with Gouwa and still teased his niece Xiuer, though his voice was much louder now.

However, he still hadn't forgotten the incident of his father hanging and beating him. He constantly stared at his father's back with a cold expression. Yet, he only glared at Lu Zhuangyuan and dared not even glance at Li Huowang, who had also beaten him.