Hearing Li Huowang's question, Bai Lingmiao's eyes widened. "Yes, yes! My grandpa told me not to run outside the village because the people out there are wicked as hell. He said if they catch a kid, they'll skin you alive, drape you in a dog's hide, and train you as a dog. Because kids are clever, their owners can use these dogs that understand human speech to perform tricks on the street. But the poor kid, fused to that dog's hide, can never grow up again."
Li Huowang frowned and shook his head. "No, I don't mean those stories old grannies use to scare their grandkids. I mean tales like that of Old Master You."
"Like Old Master You? Let me think..." Bai Lingmiao's brows furrowed in thought. "My grandpa's stories are usually all jumbled up, but they're mostly about giant snakes in the mountains eating people. Stories like Old Master You's are actually pretty rare."
"Then who told your grandpa about Old Master You?"
Bai Lingmiao blinked innocently with wide eyes. "Well, obviously it was my grandpa's grandpa who told him! Then my grandpa told me, and someday I'll tell my own grandkids."
Li Huowang scratched his head. So these stories are passed down for generations. I've miscalculated.
"Brother Li, I know one," a frail youth leaning against the wall suddenly spoke up.
The man's joints were deformed, with one shoulder higher than the other, giving his whole body a twisted appearance. He stood out, even among the others in the supply room.
"Brother Li, my surname is Zhao. I'm the fifth son in my family, so you can just call me Zhao Wu."
It didn't matter who told the story. Li Huowang approached him and said, "Alright, go ahead."
Zhao Wu glanced around and deliberately lowered his voice. "That kind of sinister thing you're talking about... I've heard the elders mention one. It's called the Da Laolao."
"Da Laolao? What does it look like?" Li Huowang quickly searched his memory but couldn't find any matching image. The name itself offered no clues.
"Shh—Brother Li, not so loud! Quieter. This thing is incredibly sinister. They say the Da Laolao can hear you. If you talk about them too much, they'll come looking for you!"
"Oh?" Hearing this, Li Huowang's interest was piqued.
"My maternal uncle told me that they look different to everyone. To some, they look like long-eared spirits; to others, they take the form of one's own deceased elders. But the one thing that stays the same is that anyone who spends some time next to them will also become a Da Laolao!"
Li Huowang rubbed his chin thoughtfully. This place really is weird. All sorts of bizarre things... "Alright, anything else?"
"Yes, there is. There's also the Old-Married Fish. That's a strange one, too..."
From Zhao Wu, Li Huowang learned quite a few strange and curious names—all of which he planned to use as materials for the Immortality Alchemy Pill. If I only mention poisonous Alchemy Ingredients, Master Danyang might get suspicious. But if I mix in things that even he can't identify, it will seem far more credible. That's the key—anything that's incomprehensible sounds profound.
"You sure know a lot," Li Huowang said. "Thanks, this is all helpful."
Hearing Li Huowang's words, Zhao Wu smiled with delight. "This all comes from my uncle. He's a traveling peddler, so he's been all over and knows a lot."
"Alright, it's about time. I have to go. You all stay quiet and wait for news from me." Li Huowang took a deep breath, stood, and headed for the door.
He had barely taken two steps when a looming figure—at least 1.9 meters tall—blocked his way. "M-m-me..."
Li Huowang recognized the bald man. The others in the supply room all called him Simpleton—the kind who was cross-eyed and always drooling. Calling him an absolute fool wasn't entirely accurate; he just had a stutter, was slow to react, and was somewhat dull-witted. "M... m... me... know too!"
Li Huowang sighed, patted the man's large bald head, and turned toward the door to leave.
「The next morning」
Master Danyang summoned Li Huowang early to his residence. "The inner and outer grand-circulation Cultivation Techniques you told me about—I've nearly perfected them. Now, tell me the elixirs that are to be consumed with them."
"Yes, Master." Li Huowang walked to the stone slab, once again pretending to study it closely. "Hmm... 'Two Da Laolao hearts, refine their essence?' Master, what does that mean?"
Master Danyang paced back and forth, his expression shifting as he muttered to himself, "So that's how it is? The path to immortality actually requires such unholy things?"
"Master, what is a Da Laolao?"
"Never mind that. Continue."
"One Old-Married Fish: take the gills and soak them in two taels of Arsenic Trioxide..."
The information from Zhao Wu, combined with Li Huowang's modern knowledge and fueled by a sleepless night, coalesced from his lips into a systematic, albeit completely fabricated, method for achieving immortality.
After Li Huowang finished reciting everything he had invented, he saw that Master Danyang was positively elated, muttering feverishly to himself.
When Li Huowang managed to make out the words, however, he was stunned.
"Yes, this must be it. Arsenic is cold-natured, so it must be balanced with a hot-natured substance like the Old-Married Fish. Brilliant! And to use Da Laolao in an elixir... why didn't I think of this before? If humans can be used to make Elixirs, why not these unholy creatures?" The man was actually starting to invent a whole pharmacological system to justify the concoction.
Li Huowang realized that Master Danyang could be incredibly shrewd at times, but utterly ignorant at others. He trusted no one except for the convoluted theories he constructed in his own mind.
If there was a word for it, it would be 'superstition.' In a world without gods or ghosts, superstition is just ignorance. Yet even in a world where gods and ghosts are real, superstition is still ignorance—just with a different object of delusion.
Just then, Master Danyang reached into his sleeve and produced a chipped Copper Daoist Bell—the kind Li Huowang had only seen in zombie movies, used to control the undead.
As he began to shake it forcefully, a piercing ring shattered the air. Li Huowang's head throbbed in agony. He instinctively clutched his skull and clenched his jaw.
This strange metallic ringing didn't just affect his hearing; it also distorted his vision. Everything around him began to writhe and warp, the entire world shuddering as if in an earthquake.
What's happening? Master Danyang, what kind of trick is this? Did I make a mistake? Did he see through my lies?
Just as Li Huowang had this thought, he saw the corners of the table, the hem of Master Danyang's Daoist Robe, and even the edge of the Heavenly Book. All around the room, every visible corner and edge began to writhe as if alive, slowly squirming together to coalesce in front of Master Danyang.
The entity forming from the edges and corners of the room was impossible to describe, but one thing was certain—it was alive.
Am I seeing things? He shook his head hard, but that was a mistake. As he shook his head, the entity split and became two.