Just as Li Huowang turned around to walk back, he saw that albino girl shyly slip off one of her shoes, taking off a gold anklet tied with a red string from her almost translucent pale ankle.
Eyes wide, Li Huowang took it and weighed the gold anklet in his palm. Though the anklet was a bit thin, it was made of gold after all, probably worth quite a bit of money.
Satisfied, he stuffed these things into the wide sleeves of his Daoist robe and pointed at the white-haired girl with his finger: "Listen up, from now on, the ingredient room is under her control, anything to do with it goes through her."
Seeing everyone nod hesitantly, Li Huowang picked up the prepared alchemy ingredients and hurried toward the pill room.
As he walked, he snuck glances at the others' waists, trying to spot another jade pendant. Unfortunately, he was disappointed—he didn't find one.
When Li Huowang returned to the pill room, he saw the stifling pill furnace slowly opening.
Several dark blue elixirs were arranged neatly in a flash, swept by Master Danyang's wide sleeve, and swiftly entered the earth-yellow gourd at his waist.
Watching this made Li Huowang's eyes burn with envy. This must be the divine skills Xuan Yin mentioned. He wondered if there was a way he could learn it himself. "Making money—my vision's too small. If I could bring this ability into reality, then..."
Li Huowang bent down to set the alchemy ingredients aside, then prepared to stand quietly to observe. Since he didn't understand anything yet, it was better to listen and watch more for now.
"Xuan Yang~"
"Another errand already? That fast? Am I really just the errand boy now? I can't keep running errands—gotta find a way to make that scabby old man teach me divine skills."
Li Huowang clasped his hands and bowed to Master Danyang, who called out to him. "Master, what are your orders?"
"Go, bring over a medicinal guide called Bai Lingmiao from the ingredient room."
Li Huowang's heart skipped a beat. As he bowed, his right hand reached into his sleeve to touch the red-string anklet. So Bai Lingmiao must be the name of that albino girl.
"Hmm~?" Master Danyang turned to look at the new disciple, who hadn't reacted for a while.
Li Huowang's teeth suddenly ached all over—really, he'd just said he'd watch over her, and now he was supposed to go tell her to walk to her death? He really couldn't bring himself to do that.
"Didn't you hear me?"
Feeling Master Danyang's tone turn sour, Li Huowang sighed helplessly and closed his eyes.
When he opened his eyes again, he was back in the pristine white hospital room. "Now what do I do?"
In the past, he'd have done whatever he was told without a second thought. The problem was, that other world might actually be real now. If he actually took her there, he might really be sending someone to their death—he just couldn't get past that in his heart.
As the nurses finally let him go, Li Huowang paced the room, biting his thumbnail. "What should I do? What should I do?"
Before he could think of a solution, the ward door was pushed open from the outside, and Li Huowang saw his attending doctor walk in.
He could only force a bitter smile—great, now he was stuck on both sides, no chance to run away.
The doctor, with an expression of exasperation, jabbed a finger at him: "You, after your visitors leave, we're having a chat—just you and me."
"Visitors?"
Before Li Huowang could react, he saw his mother, looking haggard, hurry in with some tangerines in tow.
"I heard you got into a fight at the hospital? What happened to your head? Why's it wrapped up like that? Does it hurt?" His mother rushed forward, anxiously scrutinizing him.
"Mom, it doesn't hurt, I'm fine, really, I'm fine—they're the ones with the problem," Li Huowang hastily tried to reassure her.
After a long while soothing her, Li Huowang finally managed to keep his mother's tears at bay.
In front of his family, no matter how much trouble waited elsewhere, it all had to be put on hold for now.
"Don't worry, I'm really good. My illness is much better, and I haven't fallen behind on my studies. Once I'm discharged, I can take the college entrance exam." Li Huowang tried his best to say only nice things and not share the bad news.
"Enough hiding, the doctor already told me. Tell me, what actually happened that day? Who started the fight?"
Li Huowang explained as gently as he could, but it didn't seem to help much.
"Why are we paying for something that's not our fault? We did nothing wrong! Even if they're sick, it's the hospital's responsibility to watch them! Our family never bullies people, but we can't let anyone bully us! If they want to sue, let's go, we're in the right!" The agitated Sun Xiaoqin slapped the table hard, making it thump loudly.
Seeing the doctor awkwardly rub his nose, Li Huowang kept trying to calm his mother. "Mom, mom, don't get worked up, please, you rarely get to visit. Just stay with me for now."
Sun Xiaoqin tamped down her anger, bent down, and took out some fruit from her bag. "Don't worry about this anymore, Mom will handle it. Here, your favorite raisins—eat up. Look at you, you're all skin and bones, hospital food must be awful, right?"
"No, no, the hospital food's actually pretty good." Li Huowang sat beside his mother and started eating.
Listening to her complaints and eating the sweet raisins, Li Huowang's mind began to calm down.
He liked this feeling—ever since he was admitted, it had been a long time since he'd felt the warmth of family.
Looking at his mother, Li Huowang nearly blurted out everything he'd been through, but the words stopped at his lips and he swallowed them back down.
No, she's not like Yang Na. If he told her, she'd only think his illness had gotten worse—he really couldn't worry her more. He'd tell her everything once things calmed down.
Just as the mother and son were having a good time talking, the attending doctor's phone rang, "Ms. Sun, the family of patient Liu has arrived too, so..."
"Son, sit tight, eat more, if you finish it I'll buy more for you."
Sun Xiaoqin spoke kindly to Li Huowang, then straightened her back and strode out like a rooster about to duel.
For some reason, watching her leave made Li Huowang feel incredibly at ease.
His mother might be forceful, but as long as she was nearby, Li Huowang felt so safe—like she was a big umbrella sheltering him from the wind and rain. All the anxiety from his other troubles vanished in this moment.
"Heh, bet the lobby'll be lively in a bit." Li Huowang picked another yellow-green raisin, popped it into his mouth, and bit down—the sweet juice exploded across his tongue.
Just as he thought that, Li Huowang suddenly staggered. Everything around him started shifting colors again. "Damn, having Mom visit made me forget all about tricking that scabby old guy. Now what?"
When everything stabilized again, Li Huowang saw he was back in the ingredient room. Master Danyang was standing not far away, his expression sour. The other medicinal guides all kept their heads down, standing in a circle.
Master Danyang flipped his filthy right hand, and a mass of wriggling, viscous black stuff appeared in his palm. Every squirm made a noise like a toad licking its eyes.
"Hmm? Weren't we using Bai Lingmiao for alchemy? Did we move on already?"
After a brief hesitation, Li Huowang spoke up: "Master, what's this?"
"Hmph, good stuff—Taishui, Black Taisui."