The Cage of Kindness

It was a bitterly cold day, and Gao Zhijian, dressed in a short tunic, his head steaming with rising heat, walked up to Li Huowang. He pointed excitedly at the military text. “Train.”

Li Huowang understood what he meant. Gao Zhijian wanted him to cultivate this military profession’s technique. He shook his head slightly. “No need. You train it yourself. I can’t use it anymore.”

If he had gotten his hands on this back when he first left Qingfeng Temple, he would have treasured it like a priceless jewel.

But compared to the cultivation technique he was currently practicing and the divine powers of the Zuowandao that Hong Zhong had used, this crude, straightforward military stuff felt rather useless.

As for the ability to survive decapitation? He could already do that. He just had to avoid realizing his own head had been cut off.

“Speaking of which, when you train this technique, won’t it change your personality?” Remembering Peng Longteng’s temperament, Li Huowang couldn’t help but feel worried for Gao Zhijian.

“No.” Though Gao Zhijian answered crisply, Li Huowang could still sense a change in him. He remembered the fool had once done something as stupid as squatting beside someone else’s grave with a monk, eating wild rice.

If the old Gao Zhijian had struck him as simple-minded and foolish, this Gao Zhijian was now filled with a certain sharpness from head to toe.

“Okay. Train hard then. This technique is a good thing for you, I suppose.”

At least for now, while a soldier’s killing intent made one more extroverted, it might not be as serious as all that.

After chatting with Gao Zhijian for a bit, Li Huowang prepared to head back to the Bai family compound for dinner.

Just as he reached the gate, he suddenly thought of something. He turned to Gao Zhijian and said, “This body-tempering divine power of the military path isn’t very effective when practiced alone. It’s meant for an army of thousands. There are plenty of tenant farmers in the village, aren’t there? You could try teaching them. Screen out the ones with potential.”

If White Family Village had such a small squad of military guards, Li Huowang wouldn’t have to worry about trouble back home no matter where he went.

Gao Zhijian, who had seemed somewhat dejected because Li Huowang hadn’t accepted the military technique, brightened instantly. He clutched the text tightly and nodded emphatically.

When Li Huowang returned to the Bai family compound and brought up the matter at dinner, Bai Lingmiao said, “Sure, that’s even better. It’ll give them something to do during the slack season.”

“We should give them a bit more pay. Even if they are our private slaves, we still need to buy their loyalty.”

Bai Lingmiao, holding a ceramic bowl, shot him a look. “What nonsense are you talking about? They’re our godson. Would I mistreat them?”

With that, she stood up and went to get more rice.

“What happened to your foot?” The sharp-eyed Li Huowang immediately noticed something odd about the way she walked.

“Nothing. I just tripped over a hole in the ground.”

“Don’t go running around outside when you’ve got a gauze over your eyes.” Li Huowang ladled half a bowl of soup with the ceramic spoon, downed it to wet his throat, then stood up and headed outside.

“Hey! Li Huowang! Where are you going so late at night? Can’t you just take it easy for once?” Bai Lingmiao hurried after him.

“Don’t wait up for me. Just leave a window open.”

Li Huowang leaped and bounded quickly across the rooftops, making straight for the tall Ox-Heart Mountain behind the village.

As he passed an empty house, he called down, “Li Sui, follow me!”

“Okay.” Li Sui’s tentacles quickly released the struggling mantou and followed.

The two of them followed the path all the way up to the mountainside before stopping. Li Huowang looked in surprise at the dense clusters of graves before him. “How did so many people die?”

The entire mountainside was a thicket of burial mounds. Wisps of green will-o’-the-wisps flickered here and there, an unsettling sight in the dim light.

But Li Huowang didn’t care. After all this time in this godforsaken place, he had seen plenty of things, but he had yet to actually see a ghost.

He looked around, then walked into an empty patch of ground. It seemed this spot had been prepared for more burials too, but had been left vacant because they had already filled enough graves.

He said to Li Sui, who was nearby, “I’m going over there. Keep an eye out for me. If any stranger or danger shows up, burrow into my belly and wake me up.”

Things were temporarily stable here, but over on the other side, the real world, he had a mountain of trouble.

“Okay.” Li Sui held up her two pupils, a slit forming a mouth on her slick body.

Li Huowang took a deep breath, sat down cross-legged in the open space, and carefully exposed a sliver of his Innate Pneuma, which was wrapped in his own divine light.

As the surroundings twisted and collapsed, his pupils gradually lost their focus. He calmly looked around.

While Li Sui was earnestly keeping watch from the bushes, she suddenly heard footsteps approaching.

But when she raised her eyeballs and saw the newcomer’s face, she relaxed her guard.

“Mom, it’s so late. Why aren’t you back in bed yet?” Li Huowang said softly to the wooden grave marker in front of him.

A hand, as pale and smooth as jade, slowly reached out and gently stroked his cheek.

“Li Huowang, oh, Li Huowang. Is this what you call your delusion being cured?” Bai Lingmiao crouched in front of him, staring at his face, her voice tinged with helplessness.

“Mom, it’s clean enough. Stop wiping.” Li Huowang’s words were cut short as a damp washcloth was pressed over his face again.

“What’s wrong with a few more washes? It’s not like I’m going to peel off your skin. Since you’re lucid now, even better. Go brush your teeth.” A tube of soft plastic toothpaste was shoved into Li Huowang’s mouth.

Though this drew another round of complaints from Li Huowang, the smiles on both their faces couldn’t be hidden.

Watching Sun Xiaoqin wipe his hands, Li Huowang thought for a moment, then spoke. “Mom, what do the doctors here say? When can I get out of here?”

This place was called a hospital, but it was really just a prison. A special prison for the insane. Locked up in here, he had no personal freedom. It was hard to even move a finger.

Since he was certain he was going to make this place real, he had to treat it like the real thing.

If he wanted to do anything over here next, the first step was getting out. Even if it just meant being sent back to the private hospital.

“Are you feeling cooped up in here?” Sun Xiaoqin looked up at him.

“Not really. I’m just a little worried about Yang Na. I don’t know how she’s doing.”

Without another word, Sun Xiaoqin picked up the washcloth and basin and headed for the door.

The night ward was so quiet that he could make out some of the argument between his mother and someone else.

“Comrade, you must be joking… Do you think…?”

“Look, my son’s illness is already… He could definitely be transferred to a better environment… This… Locking him up here is inauspicious…”

As footsteps approached, the voices drew nearer and grew more intense.

“If you don’t let my son out, then I’m not paying anymore! Let them just keep you here!”

“That’s a fine thing to say. This prison is all state-run. It’s all funded from above. One more or one less won’t go into my pocket. Even if you don’t pay, we won’t let him leave!”

The speaker softened his tone. “You have to think of others too. I don’t know what your son is made of. He’s as tough as iron. He doesn’t feel pain. Ordinary people are no match for him. If he goes crazy out on the street, just imagine…”

“If your son could kill seven bandits, he could kill seven students!”

“My son wouldn’t do that!”

A large hand pointed in through the window in the door. “Wouldn’t do that? Do you think he can tell the difference right now? Your son is a mental patient!”

At that, the ward fell silent for a moment.

Li Huowang thought it over, then asked in the direction of that large hand, “Then what exactly do I need to do to get out of here fair and square?”

But the owner of that large hand had no intention of acknowledging the crazy man. He led Sun Xiaoqin out the main door. Their voices, now more conciliatory, gradually faded away.

With a clatter, the lights in all the wards went out.

Frowning, Li Huowang looked at the twitching night-vision camera in the corner of the wall, mulling over the same question in his mind: How was he going to escape this trap?