As Li Huowang turned to leave, he caught sight of the albino girl shyly removing a shoe. She knelt and unwound a delicate gold anklet tied with a red string from her pale, almost translucent ankle.
Wide-eyed, Li took the anklet and weighed it in his hand. Though it was slim, it was undeniably gold—likely worth a decent sum.
Satisfied, he tucked the anklet and other trinkets into the wide sleeve of his Daoist robe. Pointing at the albino girl, he declared, "Listen up, from now on, she's in charge of the storeroom. Do as she says."
The other workers exchanged hesitant glances but eventually nodded in agreement. With that settled, Li picked up the prepared alchemy ingredients and made his way to the furnace room.
As he walked, his eyes darted toward the waists of other disciples, hoping to spot another jade pendant. But to his disappointment, there was none to be found.
When he arrived at the furnace room, the oppressive alchemy cauldron stood open.
With a grand wave of his sleeve, Dan Yangzi sent a handful of dark blue pills floating neatly into a mustard-yellow gourd at his waist.
The display left Li Huowang in awe. So this is the "divine ability" Xuanyin was talking about, he thought, his mind racing. I've been thinking too small. If I could learn this skill and bring it back to reality...
Li placed the alchemy ingredients on the floor and positioned himself off to the side, deciding to observe quietly. With no clear understanding of the processes here, it was better to watch and learn.
"Xuanyang!" Dan Yangzi's voice echoed.
More errands? Already? Am I just the sect's errand boy now? Li sighed internally. I can't keep running errands forever. I need to find a way to make that scabby-headed master teach me his abilities.
Clasping his hands respectfully, Li bowed. "Master, what are your instructions?"
"Go to the storeroom and bring me a medicine extractor named Bai Lingmiao."
Li's heart sank, his hand instinctively brushing the gold anklet hidden in his sleeve. Bai Lingmiao... That's the albino girl's name.
"Hmm?" Dan Yangzi turned, his gaze sharp.
Li hesitated, his teeth clenching. Just moments ago, he had promised to protect her, and now he was being asked to send her to her death. It felt like a betrayal he couldn't stomach.
"Did you not hear me?" Dan Yangzi's tone grew colder, the weight of his authority pressing down on the room.
Suppressing a sigh, Li closed his eyes, trying to calm his thoughts.
When he opened them again, he found himself back in the sterile white hospital room. "What am I going to do?"
In the past, he wouldn't have hesitated to follow orders, knowing it was all just a hallucination. But now, with the increasing likelihood that this other world was real, handing her over would mean committing actual murder—something his conscience struggled to accept.
Once the nurses unfastened his restraints, Li began pacing the room, biting his thumb nervously. "What do I do? What do I do?"
Before he could come up with a solution, the door to his room swung open. His attending doctor stepped inside, wearing a stern, disapproving expression.
"You. We're having a private conversation as soon as visiting hours are over," the doctor said, pointing at him.
"Visiting hours?" Li echoed, confused.
Before he could process the situation, his mother hurried into the room, her face weary, clutching a bag of oranges.
"I heard you got into a fight at the hospital? What happened to your head? Does it hurt?" she exclaimed, rushing to his side to inspect him.
"It's fine, Mom, I'm fine! Really, it's nothing. The other guy's worse off than me," Li reassured her.
It took some effort, but Li managed to calm his mother down and keep her tears at bay.
In front of his family, all the worries from the other world momentarily faded into the background.
"Don't worry about me, Mom. I'm doing much better. My studies are on track, and I'll be ready to take the college entrance exams as soon as I'm discharged," he said, trying to sound as optimistic as possible.
"Stop hiding things from me. The doctor already told me everything. Now, tell me the truth—what really happened that day? Who started it?"
Li carefully recounted the events in the calmest tone he could manage, but his explanation didn't seem to ease his mother's anger.
"If we were in the right, then why on earth would we pay a cent? It's their fault! Even if he's mentally ill, that's the hospital's responsibility! We've never bullied anyone, but we won't let anyone bully us, either! If they want to take this to court, fine—we'll win!"
Her voice rose with every word, and she punctuated her frustration by slamming the table repeatedly.
Seeing the doctor standing awkwardly in the corner, Li quickly tried to diffuse the situation. "Mom, please, calm down. You're finally here—why don't we just spend some time together?"
Taking a deep breath, his mother bent down to unpack the bag of fruit. "Don't worry about this. I'll handle it. Here, have some of your favorite Buddha's Hand fruit. Look at you—you've gotten so skinny. The hospital food isn't good, is it?"
"No, no, the hospital food is fine," Li said, sitting beside her and eating a piece of fruit.
The sweetness of the fruit and his mother's presence brought him a sense of peace. It had been a long time since he'd felt the warmth of family.
For a moment, he considered telling her everything—the truth about the other world, the elixirs, and the jade pendant. But as the words formed in his mind, he swallowed them back.
No, she's not like Yang Na. She'd just think my condition is worsening. I can't make her worry more. I'll tell her once everything is stable.
As the two chatted warmly, the doctor's phone rang. "Mrs. Sun, Liu's family has arrived. Can you come with me?"
"Son, stay here and eat. If you finish it all, I'll buy you more later."
With a reassuring smile, his mother left the room, her back straight and her expression fierce, like a mother hen preparing for a fight.
Watching her leave, Li felt an immense sense of security.
She might be strong-willed, but whenever she was around, he felt protected, as though nothing could touch him. The anxieties and troubles of the past few days seemed to fade away.
"Heh, the lobby's going to be lively," Li muttered, popping another piece of fruit into his mouth.
As he bit into the sweet, juicy flesh, the world around him suddenly wavered. "Crap. I got so caught up with Mom I forgot to think about how to deal with Dan Yangzi."
When the surroundings stabilized, he found himself back in the storeroom of Qingfeng Temple.
Dan Yangzi stood nearby, his expression dark. Around him, the other medicine extractors stood with their heads bowed, forming a silent, nervous circle.
In Dan Yangzi's grimy hand, a writhing black mass of goo appeared, its movements accompanied by a nauseating squelching sound, like a toad licking its own eyeball.
"Hmm? Weren't you going to use Bai Lingmiao for the elixir? Have we turned the page?" Li asked, his voice tinged with sarcasm.
Dan Yangzi's eyes narrowed, but he didn't respond to the jab. Instead, he grinned, holding up the mass.
"This," he said, "is a treasure—Black Taishui."