The Unruly Immortals

Looking at the map that belonged to himself, Li Huowang's mind became a complete mess; he simply couldn't figure out what on earth was going on.

It was one thing for people to change, which he could attribute to Heart Pan's ability being some kind of localized hypnotism, but how could his own map now become that of Da Qi? How could Heart Pan's ability be so strange? Why couldn't he understand it?

Was Da Qi another parallel world? Or was there no Da Qi at all, and everything was a distortion caused by Heart Pan's ability?

"Brother Li, the day is getting late, let's hurry on our way, or else we'll have to spend the night outdoors," seeing Li Huowang standing still in a daze, Zhuge Yuan began to urge him.

Li Huowang shifted his gaze away from the map and looked again at the pale-faced scholar in front of him, speaking very seriously, "Brother Zhuge, can you tell me the truth? What exactly is this Heart Pan? I really don't want to guess anymore."

"It's indescribable, indescribable," Zhuge Yuan, appearing very calm, once again pointed his folding fan towards the sky.

"I'm not asking about the origin, I'm saying what anomalies happen around you! I really can't adapt to this."

Hearing this, Zhuge Yuan seemed to take it for granted as he said, "Around me? Around me, there always seem to be people who claim to be from Da Liang, claiming that the so-called Da Qi was annihilated a thousand years ago, just like Brother Li here. I naturally know that they come from Da Liang, but Da Liang is false, Da Qi is the truth."

"But Da Qi is clearly—" Li Huowang began, but then he stopped talking. Arguing with him any further would likely just repeat the same circular conversation they had before, and neither could persuade the other.

"Fine, I won't ask anymore." Li Huowang rolled up the map in his hand, "Let's set off, I will follow you to Youdu, the capital city of Da Qi!"

Still, there was no trace of Oblivion Path on the way, and if it weren't for that time on Apricot Island, Li Huowang almost thought that Oblivion Path had completely given up on seeking revenge against Zhuge Yuan and gone to do something else.

With the carriage from the shady inn, and as the injuries of those from Da Qi's Astrological Bureau healed, their speed began to increase.

Even though they took back roads, it didn't take long before they finally reached their destination,

The crimson sun rose slowly over the towering, thick city walls, and standing on the roof of the carriage, Li Huowang let out a slow breath of white air. "At last, we have returned to the Capital City, or should I say... Youdu."

Turning his head to glance back, he saw a group of people in the distance, their faces brimming with tears and their hands outstretched in welcome. Standing there, Li Huowang seemed so out of place.

"Taoist, it's the first day of the lunar month, remember to eat Black Taisui, or you'll go mad again," said the illusion of the monk, reminding him.

"I know." Li Huowang took out a dagger, reached into the carriage, and chewed on a large chunk of Black Taisui he pulled out.

"Elder, what are you eating? Can this thing help with your cultivation?" At that moment, Curious Summer, who couldn't help spying on Li Huowang's actions, came closer and asked cautiously.

Li Huowang, not bothering with the man, jumped back onto the carriage and shook the reins lightly; the horses started pulling the carriage towards the huge city gate to join Zhuge Yuan and his group.

After entering through the city wall, Li Huowang carefully took in his surroundings, trying to find any changes from when he had left.

He noticed that the so-called Youdu still looked just like Da Liang used to, with the wide road bustling with people coming and going, and the shops around the road were still the same, although there were some changes in the details.

"Young master~! Come have fun," a soft, sweet voice reached Li Huowang's ears.

Following the sound, he saw that the speaker was actually a femininely featured youth, dressed in a thin gauze that was barely anything, standing inside a bamboo cage adorned with red flowers, striking poses and scratching his head coquettishly.

"This...." as he looked at those heavily made-up men locked up in cages one by one, Li Huowang's brows gradually furrowed. He remembered this place, but it used to sell women, and now they had started selling men.

"Humph!" A cold snort came from Elder Qin's mouth, his hands clenched tightly, quivering with rage.

Just at this moment, two plump men with fair skin walked hand in hand down from a horse-drawn carriage. Despite the distance, Li Huowang still smelt on them the same scent as remembered from the Record of Appearance—an intense aroma of perfume mixed with a strong stench of urine.

These two eunuchs completely ignored the gazes of others, sharing an ambiguous smile as they held hands and made their way into the Flavor Seeking Pavilion.

Furthermore, coincidentally at this time, an elderly scholar-official emerged, his hair white as snow. Two exquisitely handsome youths, identical in looks, flanked and supported him—one on each side—as they walked toward an ox-cart.

When one of the youths lay on the ground to serve as a stirrup for the scholar-official to step into the ox-cart, they didn't leave; instead, they dipped their heads into the cart, following the scholar-official as they departed together.

"Outrageous! Outrageous! All these are the doings of those castrated dogs, turning the entire Capital City into this hell of smoke and poison! Male favorites everywhere! Truly outrageous!"

"And these people still claim such sordid affairs to be ever so elegant. Pah! A bunch of weaklings siding with the eunuchs, they must have read the sages' texts into a dog's belly!"

Elder Qin, freshly recovered from a serious injury, was so agitated that he started panting again. The surrounding people quickly gathered around him to hurry away from this place, lest he was upset further and injured.

Watching them gradually leave, Li Huowang stood still, seemingly waiting for something.

As Zhuge Yuan and the others walked away, it didn't take long before Li Huowang unexpectedly discovered that those men preening and posing had all transformed into women.

Their appearances had not changed, only their facial features softened greatly, completely changed into women.

Li Huowang frowned, reached out and directly grabbed an old man who was heading into town to sell firewood on his back. "Is it Da Qi now, or is it Da Liang?"

The old man looked at Li Huowang as if he were a fool. "This city is Da Liang's Capital City, Shangjing. What do you think?"

"Heh heh..." Li Huowang chuckled lowly. Clearly, he could now be sure that this change only existed within tens of yards around Zhuge Yuan.

Anything within a few dozen yards of him would morph into another realm, Da Qi.

As for the other details, Li Huowang could feel the strangeness within, but expressing it in detail was indeed beyond him.

As to why this was happening, whether Da Qi was real, Li Huowang did not know yet; he guessed it might be connected to the matter of the Three Bodies.

Luckily, he didn't need to understand too much, just knowing that Zhuge Yuan's peculiar ability was not harmful to him.

"Go!" Li Huowang forcefully whipped the reins in his hand against the horse's rump, quickly galloping in the direction Zhuge Yuan had left.