Value

Yang Na took a half-step back, flustered. “What are you doing? If we talk here, the nurse station can hear us.”

As soon as she said that, giggles came from the speaker by the bed. “Hehehe, don’t mind us, we can’t hear a thing. Little Li, you’ve got this~”

“Can you guys stop being such gossips? Focus on the ICU, will you?”

Li Huowang yelled toward the speaker, then pulled Yang Na to the far corner of the room. He took the jade pendant from his pocket and pressed it into her palm, then leaned close to her ear and whispered instructions. Her eyes grew wider as he spoke.

“How is that possible? That—” Before she could finish, Li Huowang reached out and covered her mouth.

Their gazes met. There was a desperate intensity in Li Huowang’s eyes as he stared at her.

“Help me. Everything I said is true. Outside, even my parents don’t believe me—they all think I’m crazy. You’re the only one I can turn to. I trust only you in this whole world. I’m not crazy!”

Yang Na looked at him for a few seconds, then finally bit her lip and nodded. When she left, her eyes were red. She kept looking back over her shoulder, clearly worried about his mental state.

Li Huowang watched her retreating figure with mixed feelings. He didn’t care what anyone else thought, but Yang Na was different.

“Nana, just trust me this once. Just once!”

Waiting was always the hardest part. Li Huowang paced nervously inside the room.

Hallucinations flickered before his eyes from time to time, but he always snapped back as fast as he could. The doctors said that was bad, but he was afraid of missing Yang Na.

One day, two days, three days. As time passed, Li Huowang’s mood swung between hope and fear.

“Xiao Li, your little girlfriend is here to see you~” At the nurse’s announcement, Li Huowang sprang out of bed like a leaping carp and dashed toward the hospital gate.

In the courtyard, Li Huowang met Yang Na. They embraced excitedly.

“Huowang, it’s real! That jade pendant is real!” Yang Na whispered, her voice trembling.

“I’m not sick!! Hahaha!! I’m not sick!!” Li Huowang wrapped his arms around her slender waist and spun her around in the air.

It took them a long while to calm down.

“Did this cause any trouble for you? For your studies?” Li Huowang asked, concerned, as Yang Na sat sideways on the edge of a flower bed.

Instead of answering directly, she changed the subject. She held up four slender fingers. “Do you know how much that jade pendant is worth? This much!”

“Forty thousand?”

“Four hundred thousand! And I think he lowballed it. If we ask around more, we could probably get even higher.”

“Four hundred thousand… four hundred thousand…” Li Huowang grinned goofily. This would not only cover his medical expenses but also leave some left over. More importantly, this was just the beginning.

“Yang Na, ready to be a little rich girl?”

His teasing made her cheeks flush. “Stop being silly. This is too strange. Are you sure it won’t harm your body?”

“I’m fine. Nothing’s wrong with me. I’m great. If this keeps up, I might have to slow down my treatment. This is treasure—I can’t get cured too fast.”

Hearing that, Yang Na’s expression turned anxious. “Huowang, those are two different things. I don’t care about the money. You must not stop your treatment, and you must take your medicine. Promise me, or I won’t help you anymore.”

Li Huowang thought of many arguments to counter her, but looking at her worried eyes, a warm current flowed through his heart. “Alright, I promise.”

Yang Na smiled and reached out to pat his head. “Good boy.”

Just as they were discussing how to cash in the jade pendant, several burly middle-aged men rushed past with riot forks.

“Foreman Zhao? What’s going on?” Li Huowang asked one of the familiar faces.

“Don’t ask. Get back to your room, Xiao Li. And if you see Old Liu, report him immediately. That guy must have secretly spit out his medicine again.” The man hurried off without another word, heading for the stairs.

“The ICU has two layers of iron fencing. How did Old Liu—a scrawny guy like him—get out?” Li Huowang frowned, looking in that direction.

Back when he couldn’t tell reality from hallucination, he had stayed there for a while. Not a good memory.

Seeing other patients being led back to their rooms by nurses, Li Huowang turned to Yang Na. “It’s a bit chaotic here. You should go home first. Call me tonight.”

“Mm. Take care of yourself. And remember what you promised.” Yang Na turned and walked toward the hospital gate.

“Four hundred thousand…” Li Huowang murmured as he headed back to his ward. Now that he knew the jade pendant was worth that much, new ideas began to form in his mind.

Hallucination or reality, so what? The things from that world could bring real money. Hallucination or reality—who cared?

He had only taken a few steps when a familiar scream rang out behind him. Li Huowang spun around and saw a bald, scrawny old man pinning Yang Na to the ground.

Blood rushed to his head. Clenching his teeth, his face twisted with rage, he charged. “Old Liu! That’s my girlfriend! Let her go!!”

A whoosh cut through the air. A hexagonal paving stone hurtled toward him and slammed into his head.

The world spun. Li Huowang hit the ground hard. His vision slowly turned red—his head was split open.

Through the red haze, he saw a pair of swollen feet bound in hospital slippers step past him, moving toward Yang Na as she struggled and screamed.

The heavy footsteps grew closer to Yang Na. A single thought roared in Li Huowang’s mind: I can’t let them hurt her!

His trembling hand reached into his pocket and pulled out a pill his master had given him. Mixing it with his own blood, he shoved it into his mouth.

Instantly, a blazing heat surged from his stomach, flooding his limbs. He felt a surge of power, and his dizzy mind became razor-sharp.

Bang! His fist slammed into a fleshy jaw. Yellow teeth flew loose, leaving only a few behind.

Covered in blood, Li Huowang ignored the fat man who had collapsed. He strode over to Old Liu and drove his foot into the old man’s bony chest.

Crack, crack. Bones snapped. Old Liu vomited blood, his body going limp like a noodle.

Looking down at Yang Na, who was crying and clutching her torn sweater, Li Huowang clenched his teeth so hard his gums bled.

His bloodshot eyes fixed on the two men on the ground. He stomped the concrete floor and lunged like a hunting leopard.

“Huowang!! Stop!! What are you doing!”