The Pills

Inside Kangning Hospital, in a padded restraint room where thick foam covered every surface—walls, ceiling, and floor—Li Huowang lay strapped to a bed, his gaze locked with Wu Cheng’s.

Hearing what Li Huowang had just said, Wu Cheng smiled. “You want to talk to the boss? Of course—just say yes first. Otherwise, you won’t be seeing him.”

Li Huowang’s expression twisted with fierce reluctance. But when Yang Na’s face flashed back to him from the tablet, he let out a helpless sigh.

“Fine. I agree. Let me talk to your boss on the phone. And I don’t let a single cent of my share go.”

Wu Cheng nodded in approval, tapped the tablet, and soon a sharp old man appeared on the screen—white buzz cut, short beard, a suit, and dark sunglasses that made it impossible for Li Huowang to tell whether he was being watched.

An old man... wanting Yang Life Pills. The logic behind that wasn’t hard to guess.

“Li Huowang.” The old man called him by name directly. “Let me introduce myself. I’m Xu Shou. You can call me Old Xu.”

Li Huowang fixed his stare on the man, memorizing every detail of that face, preparing for what came next.

This was the one pulling Wu Cheng and Wang Wei’s strings. If he wanted to end all of this, this was the man he had to deal with.

Right. Li Huowang had only pretended to agree. He had no intention of being their tool.

“Old Xu, is it? One question—why go through all this trouble to mess with me? What do you actually want?”

Xu Shou leaned slightly forward on his couch. “What I want is none of your business. First, you need to prove your worth.”

“I’ve seen the video of you turning out gold. But I don’t buy it—technology is good enough these days to fake anything. You need to demonstrate real value. I need to see you actually produce something.”

Li Huowang let out a cold laugh. The old man didn’t even believe in him. Afraid he was just a delusional psycho.

Didn’t believe him, yet still desperate enough to grasp at any straw. The old man must be on his last legs.

“Wu Cheng, take over. Remember—only when you’ve seen it with your own eyes do you call me back.”

With a click, the tablet went dark.

Wu Cheng set the tablet down, pulled a pill bottle from his white coat pocket, shook it, and tipped a handful of capsules into his palm.

He held the capsules out to Li Huowang. “Just agreeing isn’t enough. If you want to bargain with the boss, you’re going to have to show what you can do. Shall we start?”

Li Huowang looked at the pills, then up at Wu Cheng’s face. “You’re sure this stuff works?”

“Absolutely. This medication is very effective. Of course, there are a few side effects.”

“Now—forget everything Yi Donglai taught you. Let the old you come back. Prove your capability. Let’s see if you actually have supernatural powers, or if you’re just a paranoid schizophrenic.”

The iron restraint over Li Huowang’s mouth was removed, and the bitter capsules were shoved in.

He chewed the capsules with his teeth, then tilted his head back and forced down the bitter saliva mixed with the crushed medicine.

The moment the stuff entered his stomach, his consciousness began to blur. His thoughts slowed. His five senses faded one by one. Wu Cheng’s face split into double vision.

A fountain pen appeared in front of Li Huowang, swinging left and right. Wu Cheng’s voice reached his ears as if from the far end of the sky.

“When I say the word ‘now,’ close your eyes. ‘Now’.”

Li Huowang slowly shut his eyes. Everything in the room dissolved in his mind, leaving only pitch-black darkness.

That darkness, combined with the strange drug effect, made Li Huowang feel as if he were inside a dream.

“Now—you feel yourself returning to that bizarre world. You’re back in Daliang. Now tell me: what else do you see?”

From the darkness, new things appeared. Flickers of firelight and shards of vision slowly assembled around him, piecing together into a dim cave.

The Gu-Spirit mural on the wall—the twisted cross—told Li Huowang exactly where he was. Locked inside the Ao-Jing Sect’s Cross-Shrine.

He tried to move, but found he couldn’t. He was slumped in the center of a Blood-Charms formation. Worse: aside from his left hand—which only had three fingers left—both his legs and his right hand were gone.

“Er Jiu, have you made your decision?” Li Huowang looked up at the voice and saw a familiar face. Da Liang’s Imperial Preceptor, Huangfu Tiangang.

“You? Yeah, I should’ve figured. In a dump like this, there aren’t many people who use lightning techniques. Who else could it be but you?”

Li Huowang stared at that old face with disgust. “So you’re on the side of Doumu’s Heart-Pan! And you still dare claim you have nothing to do with Zuowandao?”

Huangfu Tiangang frowned at Li Huowang, who was acting very different from just moments ago. “What raving are you on about? The Zuowandao died out long ago. I’m the Imperial Preceptor of Da Liang. I answer only to the Emperor of Da Liang.”

“Get lost! You’re still trying to drive a wedge between me and Gao Zhijian even now? You think I’d believe that?”

“The Emperor of Da Liang may not want you dead, but not every emperor sitting on the Da Liang Dragon Vein feels the same way. You resolved the Da Liang Dragon Vein far too easily. Unless you’re willing to serve us, you’re a menace to the entire realm.”

“Can’t even make up a decent lie. Hah. Huangfu Tiangang, stay out of the Zuowandao—you’re dragging down their reputation.”

Li Huowang gave a cold laugh. He raised his single remaining arm with difficulty, pulled a small saw from the torture-implement pouch, and without a blink, drove it into the bloody flesh near his armpit.

“You want Yang Life Pills, do you? Fine! I’ll give you your Yang Life Pills right now!” Li Huowang raised his three-fingered left hand, but a spark of lightning arced through the air, and he was left with only a single stump.

Without hesitation, Li Huowang shoved the severed finger deep into his throat and pressed hard. “Urgh—!”

With a violent retch, Li Huowang’s mouth flew open, and he spat the mush of dissolved capsules directly onto Wu Cheng’s face.

Gagging, Wu Cheng wiped and shook his face, finally stripping off his lab coat to clean himself.

But the moment he looked up again, he saw Li Huowang—bleeding from the stomach, a small saw in his hand, staring straight at him with a cruel smile.

“W-Wait—!”

Wu Cheng barely got the word out before Li Huowang lunged at him, clamped a hand over his mouth, bared his white teeth, and bit down hard.

“Mmph! Mmm—mmhh—!!!”