Li Huowang raised the medicine pestle in his hand, crushing the mixed silt and flowing green stone in the medicine mortar into powder with disinterested strikes.
Although the grotto was damp and cold, he wore only a piece of rough cloth. Yet, his face showed indifference, as if he didn't care about any of it.
Inside the cave, he was not alone; there were other men and women, all tied their hair back and wore ropes of coarse cloth just like him.
The only difference between them and Li Huowang was that each of them had obvious physical disabilities, including albinism and polio.
All sorts of congenital and acquired deformities could be found here, turning the modestly sized storage grotto into a museum of malformations.
These people's jobs were like Li Huowang's, crushing things, ranging from metals and stones to medicinal herbs, but clearly, some were not focused on their work.
"Ah!" A woman's terrified scream caught everyone's attention.
Over by the side of the grotto, a fat boy with a hare lip was sporting a lewd smile, trying to pull an albino girl into his embrace.
"Don't be afraid, let me play with you for a bit. Just a little bit, hehehe~"
Li Huowang ignored the commotion, closing his eyes and continuing to dutifully crush over and over again.
Listening to the woman's cries grow more and more desperate, an irritated Li Huowang cursed under his breath and stood up with the stone medicine mortar in one hand.
"Thud"—the sound of rock colliding with bone resounded dully.
The cleft-lipped fat boy sat on the ground with a bleeding head, stunned; after two seconds, his expression twisted in pain as he covered his wound and started wailing.
The albino girl with snow-white hair and skin, having escaped her defiled fate, hid fearfully behind Li Huowang's back, clutching her clothes.
"I'm telling you! You're done for, you know who my master is? If he finds out, he'll kill you!" The cleft-lipped boy threatened with an exceptionally angry expression.
"He's nothing, he's less than a fart! He's f****** insignificant!" As soon as Li Huowang's words were out, shock silenced the entire crowd.
No one present had ever imagined that this man would dare to say something like that.
Watching the expressions of these so-called senior and junior brothers, Li Huowang took a deep breath to suppress the anger in his heart.
"What's come over me, getting angry with these things, my nature isn't to be this outspoken; I can't let these things affect my character. The way I acted just now wasn't the real me, calm down, calm down."
As Li Huowang was trying to calm his emotions, someone at the entrance called out to him.
"Junior Brother Li, Sister Wang, the master summons you," called the tall young man, who was clearly of a different status from Li Huowang; he wore a blue Taoist robe.
Even though the robe looked old, its cuffs washed white, it was still far better than the tattered burlap on Li Huowang.
With a horsetail whisk tucked under one arm, the young Taoist looked at his juniors with a trace of arrogance in his eyes.
Seeing the young Taoist's appearance, the bloodied fat boy immediately showed a gleeful expression. "Haha! You're done for!! It's your turn today."
But Li Huowang completely ignored him, turning around and about to follow a woman with a crooked mouth and drooling saliva toward the entrance, her complexion pale and sickly.
After taking just a couple of steps, he found someone tugging at his sleeve, holding him back from leaving. Li Huowang turned to see it was the albino girl he had saved.
Tears welling up in her eyes, she shook her head, her eyes filled with fear.
The indifferent Li Huowang was unmoved, shaking his sleeve forcefully and striding ahead resolutely.
Exiting the storage room, they came upon a larger grotto, with walls that held many smaller caves like the storage room, purposed for various other uses. Judging by the rough and irregular appearance, the creators of this place clearly lacked skill.
The entire grotto was sizable, with numerous tunnels leading in all directions, resembling an enlarged ant nest.
Decaying peach wood was nailed above each small grotto entrance, with the names of each cavern etched deeply into the wood: Spiritual Palace Hall, Old Statute Hall, Ancestral Celebration Hall, Four Emperors Hall.
This naturally-formed grotto was inexplicably dressed up to resemble a Taoist temple.
As the two continued to walk along the cave, the twisted-mouth woman next to them pulled out something black and grimy from her pocket and suddenly held it up to Li Huowang, saying in her silly, dazed voice, "Want some... molasses candy?"
Li Huowang furrowed his brows slightly, seeming to know the woman's simple-mindedness. He took it impatiently and stuffed it directly into his sleeve.
Seeing Li Huowang accept it, she too pulled out another piece from her pocket, stuffed it into her own mouth, and continued with a goofy grin, "Master's good... got candy to share with master..."
Li Huowang had no intention of saying anything, so they kept walking, and after about fifteen minutes, they came upon an ancient, dark, and towering alchemy furnace.
Billowing with green smoke, the furnace's spout reached the ceiling of the cave, and the pill furnace was so massive it looked like a small, metal mountain.
Watching the pill furnace grow larger as they approached, Li Huowang was eventually engulfed by its shadow, which made him feel extremely oppressed.
Besides the gigantic five-story alchemy furnace, another oppressive thing was the figure standing before it.
From the back, he wore a cyan-blue Taoist robe and a crown in his hair, his temples white, exuding an air of immortal grace.
Sitting cross-legged on the ground, he seemed to be doing what Li Huowang had done earlier, taking a medicine pestle and pounding away, except that his medicine pestle was significantly larger, resembling a massive column.
The sound of metal striking stone echoed continuously in the cave with each rise and fall of the pestle.
"Master... Master!" the woman with the twisted mouth awkwardly pinched her left thumb with her right hand, placing the four fingers of her left over the right ones, and brought her hands to her chest to salute the figure, her eyes full of reverence.
As she spoke, the jarring pounding noise ceased.
The figure turned around, and although Li Huowang was prepared, his pupils still sharply contracted in shock.
The front of the Taoist was starkly different from the back. Viewed from the rear, he seemed dignified, but from the front, he was a repellent old man with a leprous scalp, and the few sparse yellow teeth in his undershot mouth were exposed to the air.
"You've arrived? Good disciple, kept me waiting."
With a swish of his grimy Taoist robe, the old Taoist leaped into the air, grabbed the twisted-mouth woman's neck with one hand, and drew back.
Before the simpleton could utter another word, she was thrown into a stone jar half a person's height, and in the next instant, the master, with a vicious expression, gripped a large medicine pestle and slammed down heavily.
The screams stopped abruptly, coming from inside the stone jar.
Bits of flesh and blood splattered on the old Taoist's face and body, but undisturbed and feverishly excited, he rhythmically chanted something.
"The Yin Earth Ox extends my life, the Yin Earth Pig protects my soul, the Jia Wood Rat shields my body, the Jia Wood Dog maintains my form, the Jia Wood Monkey solidifies my destiny, the Jia Wood Horse guards my soul, the Jia Wood Dragon purifies my spirit!"
After thoroughly crushing the contents, he lifted the stone jar that weighed several hundred pounds with one hand and emptied it all into the alchemy furnace in front of him; then with an extreme excitement, he threw both hands into the air.
"Start the furnace, make the elixir!"
Two Taoist Boys with exaggerated rouge on their cheeks stepped out from the shadows, fanning the air while pouring various ingredients into the furnace, including various powders of metals and stones as well as many wriggling live creatures.
Shortly after, a strange and rich fragrance filled the air.
At this moment, the leprous-headed master closed his eyes and took a deep breath, stroking the barely-there beard on his chin. His filthy and ugly face revealed a satisfied expression.
As he slowly opened his eyes and placed his hands behind his back, he turned his head to look at Li Huowang. "I've heard you referred to me 'less than a fart'? Is that true?"
All at once, the air around seemed to solidify.
Gazing at his so-called master who killed without blinking, Li Huowang remained unmoved. He slowly closed his eyes to calm his somewhat rapid breathing and silently recited, "You can't fool me, this is all fake, all fake."
"Speak up! Are you mute or what? Huh?!" As the footstep sounds of the master grew closer, the stench mixed with the scent of blood hit him like a wall.
Trembling, Li Huowang clenched his teeth and with all his strength suddenly forced his eyes open.
The once gloomy and oppressive cave instantly vanished, and before him lay a bright, clean hospital room with fresh air.
His lower body was firmly strapped to the bed with bands of cloth...