"Taisui. Black Taisui," Master Danyang's cold, icy voice echoed in the small ingredients room.
Li Huowang tilted his head slightly, once again looking at the disgusting object in Master Danyang's hand.
Upon closer inspection, he realized this thing seemed somewhat similar to what was in the black cauldron. No, the object in Master Danyang's hand was the very same creature that devoured people from inside that cauldron.
This thing is called Black Taisui? He can't be planning to use it to refine elixirs, can he? What seriously messed-up taste. Li Huowang thought.
With a slight flick of Master Danyang's wrist, the writhing Black Taisui flew in an arc through the air and landed directly on Li Huowang's foot.
The sticky, squishy sensation made Li Huowang's scalp crawl, and his legs trembled as he stumbled backward.
Staring at the Black Taisui now covered in dust on the ground, Li Huowang looked up at Master Danyang in shock, utterly bewildered.
"A reward for you. Pick it up and swallow it. Before, when you were just a Medicinal Guide, it didn't matter. But now you are my disciple, so we can't be so casual. It will suppress your hysteria."
Li Huowang seemed not to understand what he was saying, nor did he want to. The young man's face turned deathly pale as he continued to back away. "I'm not eating it! I'm not sick!"
"Not eating it? Hmph. That's not up to you. Changming, Changren."
At a jerk of Master Danyang's chin, two sword-bearing Taoists rushed to Li Huowang's side, each grabbing one of his arms.
Then, with a flick of his right hand, Master Danyang beckoned, and the Black Taisui, which had been inching toward a corner of the room, flew directly into his palm.
Watching Master Danyang approach with that revolting mass, Li Huowang's body began to shake uncontrollably. A chill seeped into his very bones.
He instinctively tried to struggle and run, but his two senior brothers' hands were like iron clamps, locking his shoulders in place.
Fortunately, he still had one last way out. As Li Huowang's breathing quickened and his chest heaved violently, terror twisting his insides, he clenched his jaw, squeezed his eyes shut, and with all his might, pulled his consciousness and his very being inward, shrinking into himself.
"Huowang? Huowang! What's wrong? Are you in pain?" At that moment, Yang Na's gentle voice sounded like a heavenly melody to Li Huowang.
He opened his eyes to see the girl, now wearing a high-collared white sweater, standing before him. Overwhelmed with emotion, he lunged forward and threw his arms around her, clinging to her desperately like a drowning man clutching at a straw.
The young girl's cheeks flushed crimson. As she struggled, she whispered in a voice as quiet as a mosquito's buzz, "Huowang, Huowang, let me go... Your mom and the others are watching from behind us."
Li Huowang looked up and saw his mother standing beside the attending physician, a doting smile on her face. "Ohh~ My son is so amazing."
Looking at the clean and tidy hospital room, the bright sun shining outside the window, and his beloved family, the terror gripping Li Huowang's heart gradually subsided.
The attending physician pushed his glasses up his nose, walked over with a slight frown, and said, "Li, what did you see in your hallucination? Your mood swings have been a bit intense lately. What's going on? Have you been following my instructions?"
Thinking of what he had just been through, Li Huowang's heart clenched. He looked at his physician with desperation. "Doctor, is there any medicine that can temporarily suppress these hallucinations? I really can't take it anymore. I just want to rest for a little while."
"Alright," the doctor said, tapping on his tablet to write the prescription. "I'll prescribe some Haloperidol and Perphenazine. But Li, medication is only a supportive measure. To truly get rid of the hallucinations, you still need to follow my methods."
When the nurse brought over several blue capsules, Li Huowang lunged for them and swallowed them dry, not even bothering with water.
To hell with his Master and some elixirs; he didn't want to think about any of it. He just wanted some peace and quiet. That last scene had truly scared him witless.
The capsules had a sticky, gritty texture that was disgusting to swallow, but he forced them down anyway.
"So, Li," the physician asked, "what was it in your hallucination that frightened you?"
Having taken the medicine, Li Huowang felt much more relaxed. He answered with a laugh, "It was nothing. It was just that the fellow over there spoke in a strange tone. Listening to him, it was almost as if he was saying that *their* side is reality, and *our* side is the hallucination. Hahaha."
The moment the words left his mouth, the air seemed to freeze. The abnormally vibrant colors of the room dulled to a lifeless gray. Yang Na, his mother, the physician, and the nurse who had brought the medicine all froze in place.
This sudden transformation made Li Huowang begin to tremble again, his breathing growing rapid and shallow. He looked helplessly out the window. The bright, sunny sky was gone, replaced by utter darkness. The safe, peaceful environment had vanished.
A terror so real it felt tangible washed over him, and panic overwhelmed all other emotions. Acting on pure instinct, Li Huowang pulled Yang Na with him as he lunged for his mother's embrace.
But the instant he made contact, his mother's body burst like a bubble of foam. His reliable, strong mother, who could always shield him from any storm, was gone.
"Huowang..." Li Huowang's body shuddered violently. He whipped his head around, only to watch as Yang Na's form dissolved into nothingness before his very eyes. The one person he loved was also gone.
In that instant, every positive, wonderful thing Li Huowang cared for was annihilated, leaving him with nothing but despair, suffocation, and pain.
The pristine white walls of the hospital receded like an ebbing tide, and he found himself back in the dim cave nestled among the mountains.
With his eyes bloodshot and veins bulging on his forehead, Li Huowang wanted to scream, to howl, to unleash all the despair and suffering from his heart.
But he couldn't. His throat was completely blocked by the Black Taisui, preventing any sound from escaping. All the despair and agony rebounded, forcing him to bear the full, crushing weight of it himself.
Watching his disciple kneel on the ground, trembling and dry-heaving, Master Danyang stood with his hands clasped behind his back. Shaking his head, he began to walk toward the ingredients room's exit.
"TSK, TSK, TSK. You're this delusional and you still claim you don't have hysteria? In this entire ingredients room, you are the sickest of all. Did you really think I chose a Medicinal Guide at random?"
"There. The hysteria is gone, so you can work properly now. Remember, Qingfeng Pavilion does not support idlers. Come to me for your medicine on the first of every month."
With that, Master Danyang's other disciples followed him out, leaving Li Huowang on the floor with only the other Medicinal Guides for company.
The Medicinal Guides, a group of individuals with strange, twisted features and various congenital or acquired afflictions, simply stared at one another, unsure of what to do.
After the time it takes for half a stick of incense to burn, the Black Taisui finally slid down Li Huowang's throat. His heartbroken sobs echoed endlessly throughout the cave.
"Why?! Why, even in this godforsaken place, won't this damned illness let me go?!"