Seeing Li Huowang's sudden movement, Yang Na took a small, panicked step back. "What are you doing? The nurses at the station can hear us from here."
As soon as her voice fell, the speaker above the bed crackled with the nurses' snickering. "Hee hee, it's fine! We can't hear a thing. You've got this, Little Li~"
"Ladies, can you not be so gossipy? You should focus your attention on the intensive care unit!"
After shouting at the speaker on the headboard, Li Huowang grabbed Yang Na's hand and pulled her to another corner of the room.
He took the Jade Pendant from his pocket and shoved it into her palm, then leaned close to whisper in her ear. As he spoke, Yang Na's eyes grew wider and wider.
"How is that possible? That—"
Before she could finish, Li Huowang clamped a hand over her mouth. Their eyes met, Li Huowang staring at Yang Na with fierce longing.
"Help me. Everything I told you is true. No one on the outside trusts me, not even my own parents. They all think I'm crazy. You're the only one I can turn to. In the whole world, you're the only one I trust. I'm really not insane!"
Yang Na studied Li Huowang for a few seconds before finally biting her lip and nodding. When she left, her eyes were red. She kept looking back, clearly worried about his mental state.
Li Huowang's emotions were a tangled mess as he watched her retreating figure. He no longer cared what others thought of him, but Yang Na was different.
Nana, just trust me this once. Just once!
The wait was agonizing. Li Huowang paced anxiously back and forth inside his room.
He experienced hallucinations again during that time but forced himself to snap out of them as quickly as possible. According to the doctors, this was a very bad sign, but he was terrified of missing Yang Na.
One day passed, then two, then three. As time ticked by, Li Huowang grew increasingly anxious.
"Little Li, your little girlfriend is here to see you~"
Hearing the nurse's announcement, Li Huowang sprang from the bed and bolted for the courtyard entrance.
Li Huowang and Yang Na met in the hospital garden. They immediately fell into an excited embrace.
Yang Na suppressed her voice, crying out in his ear, "Huowang, it's real! The Jade Pendant is real!"
"I'm not sick! HAHAHA! I'm not sick!" Overjoyed, Li Huowang lifted the girl by her slender waist and spun her around and around in the air.
After a long while, the pair finally managed to calm themselves.
"Did helping me cause any trouble for you? With your life or your studies?" Li Huowang asked with concern, looking at Yang Na as she sat on the edge of a flowerbed.
But Yang Na didn't answer directly. She changed the subject, holding up four delicate, pale fingers. "Do you know how much that Jade Pendant is worth? This much!"
"Forty... thousand?"
"Four hundred thousand! And I'm sure the guy lowballed me. If we asked a few more places, the price could be even higher."
"Four hundred thousand... Four hundred thousand..." Li Huowang grinned foolishly. That was enough to pay off years of medical bills with plenty to spare. More importantly, this was just the beginning.
"Yang Na, are you ready to be a little rich girl?"
Li Huowang's teasing brought a faint blush to Yang Na's cheeks. "Stop being ridiculous. This whole thing is too strange. Are you sure it won't have any negative effects on your body?"
"I'm fine! What could possibly happen? I feel great. In fact, if this is how it works, I might have to slow down my treatment. This thing is a treasure—I can't afford to be cured too quickly."
Hearing this, Yang Na's expression grew tense. She pleaded with him worriedly, "Huowang, those are two different things. I don't care about the money! Your treatment absolutely cannot stop, and you can't stop taking your medicine. Promise me. Otherwise, I'm not helping you anymore."
Li Huowang could think of many arguments to refute her, but seeing the genuine worry in her eyes, a warm feeling spread through his chest. "Alright, I promise."
Yang Na smiled and reached out to pat his head gently. "That's more like it, you silly little brother."
Just as the two were discussing how to convert the Jade Pendant into cash, several burly, middle-aged men carrying riot forks hurried past.
"Master Zhao, what's going on? Did something happen?" Li Huowang asked in confusion, addressing one of the men he recognized.
"Don't ask so many questions, Little Li. Get back to your room, now. And if you see Old Man Liu, report it immediately! That guy must have spit out his meds again." The man spoke hurriedly before turning and rushing toward the stairs.
"Isn't the intensive care ward surrounded by two layers of iron bars? How could a scrawny guy like Old Man Liu escape?" Li Huowang wondered, glancing in that direction.
He had stayed there for a while back when he couldn't distinguish hallucinations from reality. It was not a pleasant memory.
Seeing nurses rounding up the other patients and leading them back to their rooms, Li Huowang turned to Yang Na. "It's getting a little chaotic here. You should go home. Call the hospital tonight, and we can talk on the phone."
"Okay. You take care of yourself, and don't forget what you promised me," Yang Na said before turning and walking toward the distant hospital gate.
"Four hundred thousand..." Li Huowang murmured to himself as he walked back toward his ward. Now that he knew the Jade Pendant was truly worth so much, his mind began to flood with new ideas.
What does it matter if it's a hallucination or reality? If things from that other place are worth this much money, who cares if it's real or not?
He had barely taken a few steps when a familiar, piercing scream rang out from behind him. Li Huowang spun around to see a bald, shriveled old man tackling Yang Na to the ground.
At the sight, blood rushed to Li Huowang's head. His face twisted with rage as he bared his teeth and charged. "Old Man Liu! That's my girlfriend! Get off her!"
WHOOSH!
A dislodged hexagonal paving stone flew through the air and smashed into the side of Li Huowang's head.
The world spun. Li Huowang crashed heavily to the ground, his vision flooding with red. His head had been split open.
Through the crimson haze, Li Huowang saw a pair of bloated feet in a patient's uniform shuffle past him, moving toward the struggling, screaming Yang Na.
As the heavy footsteps grew closer to Yang Na, Li Huowang's mind went blank. Only a single thought remained.
I can't let them hurt Yang Na!
His hands trembling, he fumbled in his pocket, pulled out a pill his Master had given him, and shoved it into his mouth along with his own blood.
Instantly, an intensely hot current surged from his stomach and into his limbs, flooding him with power. In a heartbeat, his foggy mind became crystal clear.
CRACK!
He swung his fist, smashing it into a fat jaw. A shower of yellow teeth flew out, leaving only a few behind.
Covered in his own blood, Li Huowang ignored the downed fatty and strode toward Old Man Liu, bringing his foot down hard on the old man's bony chest.
CRACK! CRACK!
With the continuous sound of snapping bones, Old Man Liu's body went limp like a noodle and flew backward, spitting blood.
Looking down at Yang Na, who was crying into her torn sweater, Li Huowang clenched his teeth so hard his gums began to bleed.
His bloodshot eyes stared death at the two collapsed figures on the ground. Stomping a foot on the concrete, he lunged toward them like a cheetah.
"Huowang!! Stop!! What are you doing!"