Qingfeng Temple

1,312 words

Li Huowang lay on the bed in a hospital restraint suit, silently staring at the IV drip hook above his head, as if waiting for something.

With a creak, the ward door opened. "Hey, Xiao Li, you were recovering pretty well before, weren't you? What's this all about?"

His attending physician entered, looking at him with disappointment.

Hearing this, Li Huowang, whose head was wrapped in white gauze, became anxious and quickly explained, "Doctor, they made the first move on Yang Na! I was just protecting her—I had to fight back!"

The doctor pushed up his glasses with a bent index finger. "You call that fighting back? That was attempted murder! Liu Jianye is still in the ICU because of you. That kick of yours nearly sent him to the afterlife. You've been here long enough; everyone knows the situation. Didn't you think about Old Liu's condition before you acted? I thought you were a sensible kid."

Thinking of Yang Na's tear-streaked face, Li Huowang looked unconvinced. "So what if he's mentally ill? Does having a mental illness mean he can do whatever he wants? If it's between Yang Na getting hurt and me going to jail, I'd choose the latter."

"You—" The doctor was rendered speechless.

He finally sighed and shook his head. "Forget it, forget it. The hospital director has already called both families' guardians. You don't need to worry about these matters."

Hearing this, Li Huowang curled up slightly, turning to the vacant side of the bed, and began calculating in his mind whether the jade pendant worth four hundred thousand yuan would be enough to cover the compensation.

But at this moment, he wasn't panicking at all. When he saw that the elixir pill really worked, Li Huowang suddenly realized that many new choices had opened up in his life.

Sensing his young patient's low spirits, the doctor comforted him, "Xiao Li, don't worry. You won't go to jail. The hospital can issue you a certificate. Don't think about these things. Rest easy, and we'll handle the rest."

Li Huowang sensed the concern in the doctor's words. "Thank you, Doctor."

"For what? I'm your attending physician. You're still so young; of course I need to take care of you." Li Huowang felt the doctor's hand pat his shoulder.

"But, Xiao Li, tell me honestly: how did you manage to injure them like that? That's not something an ordinary person could do. Were you in a normal state at the time, or did you fall into some new stress hallucination?"

Hearing this, Li Huowang's heart tightened, and his attention immediately focused on his shirt pocket. "That... I..."

"I'm a psychologist, and I have considerable expertise in this area. Don't try to hide your condition. Think carefully before you answer. I hate it when my patients deceive me."

Though the doctor's tone was kind, Li Huowang felt an invisible pressure in the room. "What should I do? I can't let him know about the elixir pill."

Just as Li Huowang was anxiously searching for a way out, everything around him began to destabilize, and the doctor's voice grew increasingly hazy.

Within a few seconds, he found himself once again sinking into a hallucination, lying on the stone bed of a solitary cave chamber, Xuan Yang's quarters.

Holding his head, Li Huowang sat up and looked at the crude furnishings around him, then laughed. "Heh, well, at least that's one way out."

He didn't plan to go back so soon this time, in case the doctor was still lingering nearby.

Walking out of the room, Li Huowang watched the senior and junior brothers bustling in and out of the cave tunnel, calculating his next moves.

Since those elixir pills were real, he couldn't be as careless as before. He needed to manage this place well and squeeze as much benefit out of it as possible.

Fortunately, his identity had changed from being an ingredient in the ingredient room to a registered disciple of Master Lai Zi Tou, giving him much more freedom.

When he saw a bearded Daoist in a similar robe walk past him, Li Huowang's eyes lit up, and he hurried after him. "Senior Brother! Senior Brother!"

The bearded Daoist turned his head and, seeing it was Li Huowang, spoke with a flat tone. "Junior Brother Xuan Yang, what is it?"

Li Huowang imitated their manner of speaking and replied, "Junior Brother has just been accepted by the master as a disciple. I'd like to ask Senior Brother for guidance on what I should do next."

"Don't blame me for speaking bluntly. Although you were personally taken under the master's wing, you have the least seniority here. For now, all you can do is run errands around Qingfeng Temple."

"If you want the master to teach you the Dao of Immortality, that's a privilege reserved for the closed-door disciples. You're not qualified yet. For now, come with me and wait outside the alchemy hall."

"Immortality...?" Li Huowang muttered to himself. He had never heard of any immortal achieving enlightenment by using humans as ingredients in alchemy.

"Can the master really become an immortal?"

The bearded Daoist revealed a hint of self-satisfaction. "Of course. The master possesses great supernatural powers. Just serve him well."

From this senior brother, whose name was Xuan Yin, Li Huowang learned the full composition of personnel in the cave Daoist temple: there were five registered disciples, one inner disciple, and one temple master, Danyangzi.

Aside from these, everyone else were peripheral personnel—cooks, ingredients in the ingredient room, and Daoist boys doing odd jobs. In total, there were about eighty to a hundred people.

This was Li Huowang's first comprehensive understanding of the entire temple. The temple was small in number, even rudimentary, especially after a large number had died not long ago.

As they talked, the oppressive alchemy furnace appeared before Li Huowang again, with faint white smoke drifting out of it, as if something was being refined.

This time, beside the furnace stood not only Danyangzi but also his closed-door disciple, a gloomy young man.

After waiting by the side for a while with Xuan Yin, Li Huowang received his task: take the ingredient list to the ingredient room to count supplies—exactly the same job as Xuan Yang had done before.

When Li Huowang, holding a white horsetail whisk, arrived at the ingredient room, everyone working there looked up at him, their nervous expressions tinged with fear.

The albino girl bit her lip and stepped forward eagerly twice, but in the end said nothing and retreated timidly.

Her role had shifted from oppressed to oppressor.

Looking at them, Li Huowang's thoughts began to stir. Since the power dynamic had changed, maybe he could gain something from this.

"Hey, do you guys have any money on you?" Everyone was stunned by the question. "Money, understand? Silver, gold, jade pendants will work too."

To be honest, Li Huowang really needed money right now. He didn't know how much compensation Old Liu's family would demand. His own family was just ordinary; if the compensation was huge, his mom might have to sell their house. That was what he urgently needed.

"Since you can't get out of here anyway, give it all to me. Consider it protection money. From now on, I've got your backs."

The words were straightforward, and everyone understood. People in the ingredient room began fumbling through their belongings.

They didn't expect Li Huowang to protect them; they just hoped that by handing over their possessions, he wouldn't bully them.

Half a thumb-sized piece of blackened silver, a copper hairpin, and forty-some copper coins with square holes—that was everything he got.

Looking at these things, Li Huowang sighed. He seemed to have miscalculated. These guys had nothing left. The value of these items probably wasn't even more than what was on his medical insurance card.

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Reading Guide Decoding

Power Play: Li Huowang’s First Exploitation of the Dao-Twisted World

Cultural / Xianxia Notes

Registered disciple (记名弟子): In Chinese Daoist sects, registered disciples are formal students who receive basic instruction and perform chores but are not entrusted with core teachings. They have higher status than laborers but lack the privilege of inner or closed-door disciples. The term reflects a hierarchical structure where advancement depends on seniority and master's favor.

Ingredient room (料房): A disturbing feature of Danyangzi's temple, this is where living humans are kept as alchemical materials. The term "ingredient" (药引) underscores the dehumanizing logic of corrupted Daoist alchemy—people are reduced to raw components for elixir refinement.

Dao names (道号): Disciples receive religious names upon joining. In this temple, they follow the generation character "Xuan" (玄) meaning "mysterious" or "profound"—a common Daoist naming pattern. Xuan Yang and Xuan Yin are examples, with "Yang" (sun) and "Yin" (shadow) contrasting elements that hint at duality.

Alchemy furnace (丹炉): A central fixture of Danyangzi's practice. The white smoke suggests ongoing refinement, likely using human ingredients. This perversion of traditional alchemy (外丹) transforms a legitimate Daoist practice into body horror.

Chapter Overview

In this chapter, Li Huowang faces the immediate aftermath of his violent defense of Yang Na. The attending physician interrogates him, revealing the severity of the injuries he inflicted—Liu Jianye is in the ICU. During the conversation, Li Huowang's focus shifts to the elixir pill in his pocket, and he begins to realize that his access to the hallucinatory world may offer him valuable resources. Unable to answer without revealing his secret, he deliberately slips back into the hallucination. Back in the cave temple as a registered disciple of Danyangzi, he meets Senior Brother Xuan Yin, learns the hierarchy of Qingfeng Temple, and seizes the opportunity to extort money from the ingredient room workers. This marks a significant turning point: Li Huowang is no longer a passive victim but an active player in both worlds.

Key Plot Points

The attending physician questions Li Huowang about the fight, revealing that his kick nearly killed Liu Jianye. Li Huowang insists he was protecting Yang Na and shows no remorse.
The doctor tries to comfort him but presses for details about his mental state. Li Huowang panics, focusing on the elixir pill in his pocket and fearing exposure.
Li Huowang escapes the interrogation by voluntarily sinking back into the hallucination, demonstrating growing control over the transition.
In the cave temple, Li Huowang finds himself in Xuan Yang's old quarters. He decides to stay away from the hospital a while longer.
He approaches a bearded Daoist (Xuan Yin) and learns the temple hierarchy: five registered disciples, one inner disciple (the gloomy youth), and Danyangzi as master, plus peripheral staff.
Xuan Yin assigns Li Huowang to take inventory in the ingredient room—the same duty Xuan Yang had.
Li Huowang arrives at the ingredient room; the workers, including the albino girl, cower in fear. He demands protection money, and they reluctantly hand over a few coins and trinkets.
He reflects that the take is pitifully small, but the act solidifies his shift from victim to predator.

Reading Guide

Li Huowang's psychological arc in this chapter is critical. He begins in a defensive, anxious state—fearing legal consequences and struggling to hide his secret. Then, rather than being dragged into the hallucination against his will, he chooses to go there, laughing at his escape. This marks his first active manipulation of the boundary between realities. His confidence grows: he uses his new identity as a registered disciple to extract money, showing early signs of ruthlessness. The protection money scene is both pathetic (the victims have almost nothing) and revealing—Li Huowang is still thinking in terms of modern financial pressure (compensation, selling the house). The chapter leaves him with a meager haul but a lesson: he needs to aim higher. Readers should note that every action in the hallucinatory world has consequences in modern reality (the elixir pill is real proof), and his exploitation of the ingredient room workers mirrors the abuse he himself suffered. The parallel is uncomfortable but deliberate.

Registered Disciple and Temple Hierarchy

Daoist temples in xianxia fiction often use a layered disciple system. The registered disciple (记名弟子) is the lowest tier of formal disciple—taken under the master's name but given only superficial training. Above them is the inner disciple (亲传弟子) who receives direct transmission of the master's core arts, and the closed-door disciple (关门弟子) who is essentially an apprentice living with the master. In Qingfeng Temple, there is only one inner disciple—the gloomy young man beside Danyangzi. The five registered disciples (including Li Huowang) are effectively errand runners. This hierarchy creates clear class divisions: registered disciples can boss around ingredients and laborers, but must grovel before the inner disciple and master. Li Huowang's newfound status, though low, gives him authority to demand protection money—a cynical but practical exploitation of the pecking order.