Just as Li Huowang turned around to head back, he saw the albino girl shyly remove one shoe and unhook a gold anklet wrapped with a red thread from her pale, almost transparent ankle.
Li Huowang's eyes widened as he received it, flipping the gold anklet in his palm. Although the anklet was a bit thin, it was still made of gold and probably worth quite a bit of money.
After stuffing these items into the wide sleeves of his Taoist robe, he pointed at the albino girl and said, "Listen up, from now on she's in charge of the ingredient room; whatever she says goes."
Seeing everyone's hesitant nods, Li Huowang, carrying the prepared alchemy ingredients, hurried towards the Pill Room.
As he walked, he sneaked peeks at the waists of the others, hoping to find another jade pendant. Unfortunately, he was disappointed to realize that he had not found one.
When Li Huowang returned to the Pill Room, he saw the oppressively heavy pill furnace slowly opening up.
Several dark blue elixirs were promptly and neatly arranged into Master Danyang's earthy yellow gourd with a sweep of his large sleeve.
Li Huowang watched with envy. This must be the "Divine Skills" Xuan Yin had mentioned. He wondered if he could find a way to learn them. "Making money is too small-time for me. If I could take this ability to the real world, then..."
Li Huowang bent down to place the alchemy ingredients on the ground, intending to stand to the side and observe quietly; he still had a lot to learn and it was best to watch and listen.
"Xuan Yang~"
"Got more tasks already? That was quick. Have I really become just a runner? I can't be running errands all the time, I have to find a way to get that leper to teach me his Divine Skills."
Li Huowang clasped his hands together and bowed to Master Danyang, who had called out. "Master, what are your orders?"
"Go, bring me a Medicinal Guide named Bai Lingmiao from the ingredient room."
Li Huowang's heart skipped a beat, and his bowing right hand slipped into his sleeve to touch the gold anklet tied with a red thread. Bai Lingmiao seemed to be the name of that albino girl.
"Hmm~?" Master Danyang turned his head to look at the new disciple who had not responded for a while.
Li Huowang suddenly felt a toothache. To be honest, he had just mentioned he would take her under his protection, and now he was about to go back and send her to her death. He could not justify it to himself.
"Did you not hear what I said?"
Feeling Master Danyang's tone become unfriendly, Li Huowang sighed helplessly and closed his eyes.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself back in the sterile white hospital room. "What should I do now?"
If it had been before, he would have followed orders without a second thought, but now there was a real possibility that the other world was real. If he really took the girl there, he might actually end up killing someone, which he found too hard to justify to himself.
After the nurses let him go, Li Huowang bit on his thumbnail while pacing back and forth in the room. "What to do? What to do?"
Before he could come up with a solution, the door of the hospital room was pushed open from outside, and Li Huowang saw his attending physician walk in.
He instantly gave a wry smile. Great, now he was trapped on both ends, with no way to run away.
The doctor pointed at him with a look of exasperation, "You, you, after your visiting family leaves, we need to have a talk."
"Visiting family?"
Before Li Huowang could react, he saw his mother, looking haggard, rushing in with a bag of tangerines.
"I heard you got into a fight at the hospital? What happened to your head? Why is it wrapped up like that? Does it hurt?" The woman rushed over, her expression anxious as she surveyed him.
"Mom, it doesn't hurt, I'm fine, I'm really fine, it's them who have a problem," Li Huowang hurriedly soothed.
After a good while of comforting, Li Huowang finally managed to keep his mother's tears from falling.
In front of his dearest family, whatever trouble there was on the other side had to be put aside for now.
"Don't worry, I'm doing well, my illness has improved a lot, and I haven't fallen behind on my studies either; I'll be able to take the college entrance exams once I'm out of here," Li Huowang reported the good news while avoiding the bad.
"Stop hiding it, the doctors already told me everything. Tell me, what exactly happened that day? Who started it?"
Li Huowang told his mother in the gentlest tone possible, but it seemed to do little to ease the situation.
"We were in the right, why should we pay any money! It was their fault; even if there was a problem, it was the hospital's responsibility to look after patients! Our family never bullies others, but we absolutely won't let others bully us either! If they can fight it out, then let's go to court! We have the right on our side in the court as well!" Sun Xiaoqin slammed the table, making a loud banging noise.
Seeing the doctor standing awkwardly and touching his nose nearby, Li Huowang continued to soothe. "Mom, Mom, don't get agitated, you rarely come, so just keep me company for now."
Suppressing the anger in her heart, Sun Xiaoqin bent down to take the fruits out of the bag. "Leave this matter to me, I'll handle it. Here, these are your favorite milk bodhi fruits, eat more, look how thin you've become, the hospital food isn't good, is it?"
"No, no, the hospital food is actually quite good," Li Huowang replied as he began to eat next to his mother.
Listening to his mother's complaints and eating the sweet grapes, Li Huowang's heart calmed down.
He liked this feeling; ever since he'd been admitted to the hospital, it had been a long time since he'd experienced the warmth of family.
Looking at his mother, Li Huowang almost burst out with everything that had happened to him, but as the words reached his lips, he held them back.
No, she was different from Yang Na; if he told her, she would only think his condition had worsened. He couldn't worry her any more; he would tell her once everything settled down.
Just as mother and son were having a good time chatting, the attending doctor's cell phone rang. "Ms. Sun, the family of patient Liu has also arrived, what do you think..."
"Son, please rest, eat more, and I will buy you more once you've finished," Sun Xiaoqin said, her face beaming with kindness, as she straightened her chest and turned to walk toward the door like a rooster about to enter a fight.
For some reason, watching her departing figure, Li Huowang felt immensely relieved.
Although his mother was strong-willed, being by her side always made Li Huowang feel secure. She was like a large umbrella protecting him from the wind and rain, and all the anxiety from previous troubles disappeared at this moment.
"Hehe, the hallway is going to be quite lively in a bit," Li Huowang chuckled as he picked another green and yellow grape, biting into it and letting the sweet juice burst in his mouth.
Just as he thought this, Li Huowang's body suddenly shook, and everything around him began shifting color. "Oh no, seeing mom made me forget how to bluff that scab-headed guy, what now?"
When everything stabilized again, Li Huowang found himself standing in the Pill Room, and Master Danyang stood not far away with a displeased expression. The other Medicinal Guides hung their heads low, forming a circle.
Master Danyang's filthy right hand flipped over, revealing a sticky, wriggling black mass in his palm, making a sound like a toad licking its eyeballs with every twist.
"Hm? Wasn't he using Bai Lingmiao for alchemy? Has the story turned a new page?"
Li Huowang hesitated for a second before asking, "Master, what is that?"
"Hmph, something good, Taishui, Black Taishui."