Li Huowang lay on the bed, dressed in the hospital-issued Binding Clothes, silently staring at the IV hook on the ceiling as if waiting for something.
With a creak, the ward door opened. "Hey, Xiao Li, weren't you recovering so well before? What happened this time?"
Li Huowang's attending doctor walked in, looking at him with a disappointed expression.
Hearing this, Li Huowang, whose head was wrapped in white gauze, grew anxious and quickly explained, "Doctor, they went after Yang Na first! I was only forced to fight back to protect her!"
The doctor pushed up his glasses with a bent index finger. "You call that fighting back? That was overkill! Liu Jianye is still in the ICU. With that one kick, you nearly killed him. You've been here for a while; you know everyone's situation. Didn't you consider Mr. Liu's condition before you acted? I thought you were a sensible kid."
Thinking of the terrified Yang Na with tears streaming down her face, Li Huowang seemed indignant. "So what if he's mentally ill? Does that give him the right to do whatever he wants? If I had to choose between Yang Na getting hurt and me going to jail, I'd choose jail every time."
"You—" The doctor was rendered speechless by Li Huowang's retort.
He finally sighed and shook his head. "Forget it. The director has already called both families. You don't need to worry about these things."
Hearing this, Li Huowang curled up slightly, turning to lie on his side facing the empty part of the bed. He began to calculate whether the Jade Pendant, worth 400,000, would be enough to cover the compensation.
But he wasn't panicked at all. After seeing that the Elixir actually worked, Li Huowang suddenly found his life was full of new possibilities.
Sensing his young patient's low spirits, the doctor offered some reassurance. "Xiao Li, don't worry, you won't go to jail. The hospital can provide a certificate of your mental state. Stop thinking about it and just focus on getting better. We'll handle everything else."
Li Huowang could hear the concern in the doctor's voice. "Thank you, Doctor."
"Don't thank me. I'm your attending physician, after all. And you're so young; of course, I have to look out for you." Li Huowang felt a hand pat his shoulder.
"But, Xiao Li, tell me the truth. How did you manage to hurt them so badly? That's not something an ordinary person can do. Were you in a normal state of mind, or did you fall into some new stress-induced hallucination?"
At these words, Li Huowang's heart tightened, and his attention immediately focused on the pocket of his shirt. "Um... I..."
"My field is psychology, and I have quite a bit of experience. Don't even think about hiding your condition. You'd better think carefully before you answer. I hate it when my patients lie to me."
Although the doctor's tone was gentle, Li Huowang felt an invisible pressure fill the room. What do I do? He can't find out about the Elixir.
Just as Li Huowang was desperately searching for an escape, his surroundings began to destabilize, and the doctor's voice grew increasingly muffled.
A few seconds later, he realized he had fallen into a hallucination again, now lying on the stone bed in Xuan Yang's private cavern chamber.
Sitting up and clutching his head, Li Huowang looked at the simple furnishings around him and started to laugh. "Heh, well, this is one way to solve the problem."
He didn't plan on going back so quickly this time, lest the doctor still be waiting by his bedside.
Walking out of the chamber, Li Huowang watched his senior and junior brothers coming and going through the grotto's tunnels, already starting to plan his next move.
Since those Elixirs were real, he couldn't act as casually as before. He had to manage his position here properly and squeeze out as many benefits as he could.
Fortunately, his status was no longer just a Medicinal Guide in the Ingredient Room. He was now a registered disciple of Scabby Head, which gave him much more freedom of movement.
When a bearded Taoist in a Daoist Robe walked past him, Li Huowang's eyes lit up, and he quickly hurried after him. "Senior Brother! Excuse me, Senior Brother!"
The bearded Taoist turned, and seeing that it was Li Huowang, his attitude was neutral. "Junior Brother Xuan Yang, what is it?"
Emulating their manner of speech, Li Huowang replied, "This junior brother has just become the Master's disciple. Could Senior Brother please offer some guidance on what I should do next?"
"Don't blame me for being blunt. Even though the Master took you in himself, you have the least seniority. For now, you can only run errands in Qingfeng Daoist Temple."
"If you want the Master to teach you an Immortality Cultivation Technique, that's a privilege reserved for closed-door disciples. You don't qualify yet. For now, come and wait with me outside the Pill Room."
"Immortality...?" Li Huowang muttered to himself. He'd never heard of any Immortal being created by using people in Alchemy.
"Can Master really achieve immortality?"
A trace of pride appeared on the bearded Taoist's face. "Of course. The Master possesses great Divine Skills. Just serve him well."
From this senior brother, whose name was Xuan Yin, Li Huowang finally got a clear picture of the grotto's personnel. There were five registered disciples, one personal disciple, and one Temple Master—namely, Master Danyang. Besides them, the rest were peripheral staff, such as cooks, Medicinal Guides for the Ingredient Room, and errand-running Daoist Boys. All told, there were about eighty to a hundred people.
This was the first time Li Huowang had a complete understanding of the Daoist temple. The number of people was small, one might even call it meager, especially after the large number of deaths not long ago.
As they talked, the oppressive Pill Furnace once again appeared before Li Huowang. Wisps of white smoke drifted from within, as if something was being refined. This time, in addition to Master Danyang, his closed-door disciple, a sullen-faced young man, was also present.
After waiting with Xuan Yin for a while, Li Huowang received his task: take an ingredient list to the Ingredient Room to inventory the supplies, the same job Xuan Yang used to do.
When Li Huowang arrived at the Ingredient Room holding a white horsetail whisk, everyone at work turned to look at him, their nervous gazes tinged with fear. The albino girl pursed her lips and took two urgent steps forward, but in the end, she said nothing and timidly retreated.
His status had flipped from the oppressed to the oppressor.
Watching them, Li Huowang's mind began to churn. His roles in both worlds had changed, and perhaps he could use this to his advantage.
"Hey, you guys have any money?" The moment he spoke, everyone froze. "Money, get it? Silver, gold, Jade Pendants, anything works."
Honestly, Li Huowang desperately needed money. The amount for Mr. Liu's compensation was still unknown, and his family was just an ordinary one. If the sum was large, his mother might have to sell their house. This was something he urgently needed to prevent.
"You can't spend it here anyway, so you might as well give it all to me. Call it protection money. From now on, you're under my watch."
Spoken so bluntly, the others understood. The people in the Ingredient Room began to rummage through their belongings. They weren't hoping for his protection; they just wanted to hand over their things to avoid being bullied.
His total haul consisted of a half-thumb-sized, blackened piece of silver; a Copper Hairpin; and about forty Copper Coins with square holes in the center.
Staring at these items, Li Huowang sighed. It seemed he had miscalculated. These people were broke. The money he could get from this stuff was probably less than the balance on his health insurance card.