Chapter 4 - Black Cauldron

As Xuan Yang covered Li Huowang's mouth, the others holding torches swarmed up, staring unkindly at him.

“Aren’t you leaving? Then you’ll die here today! We’ll not allow you to report back to that Baldy!”

Li Huowang was surprisingly calm in the face of his life-and-death predicament. Rolling his eyes, he silently cursed the sudden turn of events in his hallucination. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself back in the hospital, bound by a wide belt onto the bed. The other disciples surrounding him had vanished.

“Nurse Wang, I’m awake, can you untie me?” Li Huowang called out into the microphone, calling for the nurse on the night shift. He eagerly wanted to see if that jade pendant was still in his clothes.

However, there was no response even after he shouted for some time. Li Huowang knew that Nurse Wang liked to slack off, and was probably engrossed in secretly watching Mary Sue TV dramas and not paying attention.

Li Huowang looked down at his chest under the blue-and-white hospital gown. He desperately tried to twist and turn, attempting to use the pressure to feel whether the jade pendant was still within his clothes.

Unfortunately, his body was restrained quite tightly, and while he felt it sometimes, at other times, he couldn’t feel it. After trying a few more times, he gave up.

Li Huowang yawned; he could only lie on the bed and pray that Nurse Wang would eventually glance at the surveillance screen after she had finished her drama.

It was already late at night, and even the second floor that housed the critically ill patients was very quiet. Amidst this silence, Li Huowang dozed off. When he woke up, he found himself lying on the ground inside the icy cave.

He was still in the same place, but the group of people plotting their escape was nowhere to be seen.

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

“Tsk... just this group of NPCs wanted to deal with me?” Li Huowang said as he pulled out the jade pendant from his pocket and gently flipped it over before putting it back.

After a while, he returned to the large dormitory and laid on a pile of dry grass, waiting patiently for the arrival of dawn. He was so excited that he couldn’t sleep, and so he spent his time contemplating the value of the jade pendant.

Li Huowang didn’t know how much time had passed, since there were no clocks around. When he saw the disciples beside him start stirring, he sat up as well.

It’s morning now, so Nurse Wang should have changed shifts as well. Should I go back and take a look first? Nurse Ai is a lot more professional than her.

Just as Li Huowang was sorting his thoughts, urgent footsteps were heard from the entrance.

A Taoist disciple frantically entered. He had a topknot and was dressed in a black Taoist robe.

“Hurry! Master wants everyone to gather at Hui An Palace!”

This sudden command perplexed everyone, but they had no reason to delay since it was Master who wanted them to be there.

Soon, all the disciples had gathered in the biggest cave in Hui An Palace. Torches illuminated the confusion on their faces.

Li Huowang noticed that there were a few people missing from the group. Even besides Xuan Yang, some of the Baldy Master’s personal disciples were nowhere to be seen.

Oh, they also tried to escape with Xuan Yang’s group?

Li Huowang thought, silently watching the spectacle unfold.

At that moment, an ugly person stepped out from a dark tunnel, and all the Taoist disciples besides Li Huowang instinctively lowered their heads.

This was their Master, Dan Yangzi.

“Ke~!” This cough caused everyone to tense up.

“There was an escape attempt late last night, and two of my very own personal disciples were involved in it as well. I am deeply saddened!”

His words expressed sorrow, but the hostility on his face was palpable.

Li Huowang scoffed inwardly.

They were discovered just like that? Xuan Yang and that bunch are really lousy.

“There cannot be any order without rules. Mistakes must be punished! This is the iron clad rule of my Xishan Donghua Sect! Follow me.”

No one dared to make any sound as they followed Dan Yangzi.

Following him, they traversed caverns large and small, and crossed a turbulent underground river. Soon, they arrived at a damp classroom-sized cavern.

Li Huowang saw those who had attempted to escape last night. Not a single person was missing, and they were all tied up in a corner.

Initially they were dejected, but started struggling agitatedly when they saw their Master. However, the pieces of cloth in their mouths prevented them from speaking.

Dan Yangzi couldn’t be bothered to listen to their pleas, and gestured with one hand, pointing forward with a finger. “Open!”

A large hole suddenly opened up in the smooth floor of the cavern, and those who had tried to escape last night instantly fell inside it.

This was followed with muffled shouts and hysterical cries echoing from within the hole, together with the sound of flesh being torn apart.

Faced with this terrifying scene, many of the Taoist disciples trembled with fear and wished that they could look away.

“Move closer and observe closely! This is the fate of those who try to escape!” Dan Yangzi’s words caused everyone’s faces to turn a few shades paler.

No one dared to disobey Master’s orders, and everyone came to the edge of the pit.

The inside of the pit was completely dark. The pitch-black circular hole was like a whirlpool that wanted to pull everyone in.

After observing carefully, Li Huowang saw a black cauldron within the hole, with twisted talismans on its rim.

There seemed to be something moving within the cauldron, but Li Huowang could not make out what it was.

The only thing he could distinctly take note of was a nauseating stench of blood.

Whatever was inside the cauldron, it was definitely extremely dangerous.

Logically, something belonging to this hallucination shouldn’t be able to harm me. Nothing like that has ever happened before.

He still felt anxious despite comforting himself, and prepared himself to return to the hospital at any time.

Whoosh!

At that moment, a wriggling shadow shot out from within the hole, swiftly coiling around a disciple beside Li Huowang and dragging him down into the hole.

Everyone was frightened, swiftly retreating back to the smooth walls of the cavern. They would have long since started running if not for the fact that Dan Yangzi was watching them.

The spectators were petrified with fear as they tried to make sense of what it was that they had just seen.

Meanwhile, Li Huowang, as the person who stood the closest, had clearly seen what it was.

It was a black mass with a fleshy texture. It had clusters of black tentacles extending from its sticky and slippery skin!

Just based on that, Li Huowang was certain that the organism that Dan Yangzi was rearing here was not something that existed in the normal world.

Even though Li Huowang could not guess what exactly it was, he did not want to go over for another look.

Li Huowang knew that all of this was his own brain’s imagination, but he had to wonder why would he dream up such a monstrosity?

As he was surveying his surroundings, a sudden but terrifying thought emerged in Li Huowang’s mind.

Wh-what if this horrifying and mysterious world was real?

Li Huowang’s body started to tremble. He realized this hallucination was unlike anything he'd experienced before. He thought of those people who had just died before. If they had been real and not a hallucination, then would he also die if that thing had grabbed him?

Li Huowang was starting to get overwhelmed by the suffocating fear. He forced himself to take a few deep breaths, then followed the self-soothing methods taught to him by Doctor Li.

These are all hallucinations, no matter how real they may seem. Li Huowang, you definitely cannot get lost in them once again; they’re all created by you, there’s nothing to be afraid of.

Yang Na is still waiting for me. I cannot let her down. I can beat all of this. I must!

Feeling composed, Li Huowang was ready to face the hallucination once more, determined not to let it overpower him.