Mutated Tao

Li Huowang's breathing quickened and his pupils constricted. He half-squatted and gazed at Qian Fu lying on the ground, spitting frothy blood.

He reached out and tried to press his hand against the bloody hole in Qian Fu’s chest. However, no matter how hard he tried to stop it, the blood continued to seep through his fingers.

He was injured, and it seemed like a fatal wound.

“Sister Wu, Sister Wu!” Li Huowang called out as he saw Wu Qi. Her face was also bleeding, but she ran over with a box to tend to Qian Fu’s injury.

Li Huowang drew two military knives and charged out from the corner of the wall. “I’ll hold them off! You guys go first!”

As soon as he came out, he saw that the enemy had already snuck to this side along the wall.

“Aaaah!” Li Huowang roared and rushed forward. He pinned an enemy against the wall and frantically plunged the knife into the man’s abdomen, stirring it around.

Bang! A powerful force struck Li Huowang’s shoulder and sent him flying. He had been shot.

As he got up, two bullets hit his helmet and knocked him down again.

Li Huowang struggled to his feet, using the wall as support. He glared viciously at the enemies hiding behind cover not far away. They were the Simings of the Dharma Sect!

The Simings wielded weapons and were crouching with cold, statue-like expressions.

“Damn you!” Li Huowang hurled one of his knives, which spun rapidly and lodged itself in the head of one of the enemies.

There was a brief lull in gunfire, which Li Huowang took advantage of. He dashed into their cover, yanking the knife from the man’s head and slashing it at the others around him.

Bang! Li Huowang was slammed against a wall. His head buzzed, and when he looked up, he saw a tall man raising the butt of his rifle to smash down on his helmet.

Li Huowang braced himself with his arms, enduring it before his head hit the ground.

“You dare to ambush us and kill Qian Fu!” Li Huowang shouted. He butted his head against the man’s chest and caused a dent.

A stick swung down forcefully from the side, bending Li Huowang’s left arm into an L shape.

Li Huowang screamed in pain as he slashed his knife across the attacker’s neck. Blood splattered everywhere, staining the bulletproof glass of his helmet and turning his vision entirely red.

Amid the chaos, a smoke grenade landed at Li Huowang’s feet and quickly spewed thick smoke.

The acrid smell seeped through the gaps in his clothes. It was clearly not an ordinary smoke grenade.

The pungent smoke made him cough violently. Soon, he felt dizzy, his head no longer feeling like his own.

“Huowang! Retreat!” Li Huowang quickly retreated while coughing violently, still using the wall for support.

At the stairwell, he saw Chen Hongyu carry Qian Fu down.

He lifted his knife and vigilantly watched for enemies through the smoke before quickly following them.

Their expressions became grimmer upon reaching the ground floor.

Three pickup trucks blocked the exit. Their enemies were using the vehicle doors for cover while aiming their black gun barrels at them.

Li Huowang heard the footsteps above them. He took a deep breath and charged forward. Bullets struck him, and he was soon bleeding from his abdomen.

He used his severed limb to cover the wound and kept pushing forward.

Bang bang! Two bullets hit his right knee and caused him to fall. Though the armor could deflect bullets, it couldn’t prevent the impact from breaking his leg.

He saw that they were about to be surrounded. A sudden explosion occurred—one of the pickup trucks burst into flames.

At that moment, the glass on the left shattered. The siblings Ba Shengqing and Ba Nanxu appeared on their motorcycles. “Over here!”

Upon hearing the siblings, Li Huowang and the others moved towards them. Li Huowang moved the slowest with his broken leg. Zhao Lei stepped in to support and help him move forward.

They heard footsteps behind them. Without turning back, Qing Wanglai took out three test tubes and threw them behind him.

When they reached the parking lots, they quickly got into their vehicles and sped away.

In addition to Wu Qi's RV, Qing Wanglai's sports car, and the motorcycles of Li Huowang and the Ba siblings, there was also a red sedan and an off-road vehicle present. It seemed like more help had arrived, beyond just the Ba siblings.

Li Huowang couldn’t think about so much now. He quickly mounted his motorcycle, revved the engine, and sped away from the abandoned building.

Just as they thought they were safe, a green truck suddenly appeared ahead and barreled towards them.

Li Huowang revved his engine and rode his motorcycle towards the front. He accelerated to the maximum, aiming for the truck’s left tire.

Li Huowang stood up from his motorcycle and prepared to jump. Finally, he saw the terrified driver turn the steering wheel in a panic to swerve away from his motorcycle.

When Li Huowang managed to scare away the truck, peace was finally restored.

The vehicles stopped at Orange Isle. Li Huowang dragged his injured body and rushed into Wu Qi’s RV. He saw Qian Fu lying there, with his blood flowing down and soaking the bed.

Li Huowang saw Wu Qi shake her head grimly through his blood-red helmet. Li Huowang questioned Qing Wanglai tremblingly, “What’s your backup plan?”

“You made us walk right into their trap! Whose side are you on?”

“Don’t worry, didn’t we get help? Otherwise, how would we have escaped?” Qing Wanglai replied with a faint smile.

Li Huowang strained to remove his shattered helmet and hurled it at Qing Wanglai’s feet. “Qian Fu is dead! Don’t you see? He lost his life!”

Qing Wanglai picked up the helmet and set it aside. “I’m pained by Qian Fu’s death, but we learned useful information from that half-hour talk. Our chances are good.”

Li Huowang stepped back in shock. He stared at Qing Wanglai as if he were a stranger.