As Xuanyang clamped his hand over Li Huowang's mouth, the others holding torches rushed forward, surrounding him with hostile gazes.
"So you're not leaving? Fine, then die here tonight! We're not letting you warn that scabby-headed master!"
Faced with this life-threatening situation, Li Huowang didn't panic at all. Rolling his eyes, he inwardly cursed the nonsensical direction of his hallucination's plot. Then, with a deep breath, he calmly closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, he was strapped securely to a hospital bed by wide restraints. The group of "senior and junior brothers" who had surrounded him were nowhere to be seen.
"Auntie Wang, I'm awake. Can you untie me?" he called into the bedside microphone, eager to check if the jade pendant was still in his clothes.
However, there was no response. Li knew that Nurse Wang must have been slacking off again, glued to her favorite melodramatic TV dramas during her night shift.
Frustrated, he squirmed against his restraints, trying to feel if the jade pendant was still tucked in his hospital gown. But with his body bound so tightly, he couldn't be sure.
Sighing in resignation, Li yawned and resigned himself to lying there, hoping Nurse Wang would eventually check the security cameras after finishing her show.
The quiet night enveloped the hospital. Even on the second floor, where critically ill patients were housed, everything was still. Li dozed off, only to wake up again on the cold, hard ground of the cave.
His position was the same as before, but the group of escapees had vanished without a trace.
"Ha! You NPCs think you can handle me?" Li scoffed. He pulled the jade pendant from his pocket, tossing it lightly in his palm before tucking it back inside his robe.
Returning to the communal sleeping area, he lay on the pile of straw, too excited to sleep at the thought of the pendant's potential value.
Without a clock, Li had no idea how much time had passed. But when he noticed his fellow "brothers and sisters" stirring awake, he sat up as well.
"Daybreak here probably means Nurse Wang's shift is over. Maybe I should head back to check—Nurse Ai is way more diligent," he thought.
Before he could act on his thoughts, hurried footsteps echoed from the cave entrance.
A young Daoist in a black robe, his hair tied neatly, rushed in with urgency.
"Hurry up! The Master wants everyone to assemble in Huian Hall!"
This abrupt announcement left everyone bewildered. However, since the command came from the Master, no one dared to refuse.
The largest cavern, Huian Hall, soon filled with disciples. The flickering torchlight illuminated the puzzled expressions on everyone's faces.
Li Huowang noticed something immediately—there were fewer people than before. Not only was Xuanyang missing, but so were several of the scabby-headed Master's personal disciples.
"Did they all escape together?" Li thought, finding the unfolding drama entertaining, almost like watching a TV show.
From the dark, writhing tunnels, the Master, Dan Yangzi, emerged. His mere presence made every other disciple instinctively lower their heads.
A single cough from him sent a shiver through the entire crowd.
"Last night, during the second watch, there was an attempted escape. Even two of my personal disciples betrayed me. This pains me deeply!"
His words claimed sorrow, but his face radiated fury so intense it seemed almost tangible.
"So they were caught already? Xuanyang and his gang are useless," Li thought, smirking slightly.
Dan Yangzi's voice grew colder. "In this sect, rules are everything. Those who break them must face the consequences. Follow me!"
No one dared breathe too loudly as they followed him through various caverns and past a rushing underground river. Eventually, they arrived at a small, damp cave the size of a classroom.
In the corner, the escapees were bound hand and foot, their faces filled with despair. Upon seeing their Master, they struggled violently, muffled screams spilling from their gagged mouths.
Dan Yangzi didn't even glance at their attempts to plead. Instead, he formed a mudra with one hand and pointed forward. "Open!"
The cave floor, once smooth from years of water erosion, suddenly split open, forming a dark, gaping hole.
The bound figures fell into the pit instantly.
What followed was horrifying—a cacophony of muffled screams, the sounds of flesh tearing, and the unmistakable crunch of breaking bones.
Many of the young disciples trembled, their knees giving way, eyes squeezed shut in terror.
"Step closer! Witness the price of defiance!" Dan Yangzi commanded.
His order drained all color from their faces, but no one dared to disobey. They shuffled forward reluctantly.
The pit was pitch black—a circular abyss that seemed to pull all light and hope into its void.
Peering in, Li Huowang could just make out a massive, black cauldron at the bottom. Its rim was adorned with twisted talismans, faintly glowing with ominous energy.
Inside the cauldron, something moved, but it was too dark to see clearly. The only clue was the nauseating stench of blood wafting up.
Whatever was inside the cauldron, it was undoubtedly dangerous.
"This is just a hallucination. It can't actually hurt me, right?" Li thought. "I've never been injured in one of these before."
Despite his reasoning, unease gnawed at him. He steeled himself, ready to retreat to the hospital at any moment.
Whoosh!
A writhing shadow shot out from the pit, snatching a disciple beside Li and dragging him back down.
The others screamed, scrambling to the cave walls. If Dan Yangzi hadn't been standing nearby, they would have fled.
Li, however, stood frozen, having been the closest to the incident. He saw it clearly—a mass of black, fleshy substance, its slimy surface bristling with twitching, short black tendrils.
Dan Yangzi was keeping something monstrous inside that cauldron—something that defied all logic and nature.
Staring at the horrifying scene, a chilling thought crept into Li's mind.
"Could this twisted, terrifying world be real?"
The idea made him tremble. If this world wasn't just a hallucination, then the people who died here—were they truly gone? If he'd been grabbed, would he have died too?
The weight of this realization pressed down on him, threatening to crush him. He closed his eyes, taking deep breaths to steady himself.
"These are just hallucinations. No matter how real they feel, they're fake," he reminded himself. "I created them. There's nothing to fear."
"Yang Na is waiting for me. I can't let her down. I will overcome this. I must."
Reassuring himself, Li Huowang opened his eyes, his resolve stronger than before.