Tao: The Uncanny Immortal

When Li Huowang was certain that the candy in his chest was indeed real, his heart pounded wildly. The first thought that popped into his mind instinctively was, "I have to tell Dr. Li!"

However, as soon as he lifted his right foot, it hung in mid - air. Other thoughts flashed through his mind.

He knew that there were not only candies in his hallucinations but also other things, some of which were even more valuable!

As he savored the sweet taste melting in his mouth, Li Huowang paced slowly around the ward.

"This is an opportunity! An opportunity that might make Yang Na and me suddenly rich overnight! It could even be my chance to turn my life around!" Excited, he quickly came to this conclusion.

"I can't tell Dr. Li. I don't want to be sent to the lab and sliced up. Besides, this kind of thing isn't his concern anyway," Li Huowang murmured to himself.

"However, I can't jump to conclusions about this so quickly. I need to figure out exactly what's going on," he silently determined what he wanted to do.

Just as he was thinking this, the surrounding environment began to distort and change. The clean and tidy ward started to fade away.

Li Huowang was already used to such things. First, he quickly stuffed his test papers and books into his satchel and threw it into the far corner to prevent his hallucinating self from tearing them up.

Then he pressed the red button beside the bed. A few seconds later, the last thing he saw was several nurses coming in and tying him to the bed with a wide cloth bag.

When he opened his eyes again, the shabby and cold cave environment had returned. The "junior brothers and sisters" with physical disabilities beside him were looking at him curiously.

Li Huowang sat up from the cold stone floor and once again surveyed the incredibly real surroundings from a special perspective.

Although this was a hallucination, in his eyes, it was now a treasure trove full of treasures.

Maybe he wasn't sick at all. Instead, he had an extremely rare special ability that those quacks just couldn't detect.

"Maybe I'm not ill at all. Yes, that's right. I'm not sick."

Over the years, he had really had enough of the title of "mental patient". Everyone looked at him with strange looks.

It was as if the moment he got sick, he was no longer human but had become an outcast.Just thinking that he might be able to get rid of this title in the future made Li Huowang extremely excited.

In a very good mood, he reached out and playfully ruffled the big bald head of a person who had come closer. "Haha, this is really interesting."

"What are you all gathered here for? Hurry up and get to work! If you don't prepare the medicinal ingredients the master needs and ruin his great cause of becoming an immortal, he'll skin you alive!" An extremely annoying voice came from the cave entrance.

Li Huowang turned his head and saw that it was the aloof Taoist priest who had delivered the message before. There was still an air of arrogance on his face, as if just talking to Li Huowang and the other medicinal ingredients would dirty his eyes.

Li Huowang remembered his name. This hallucinatory figure's Taoist name seemed to be Xuanyang.

Feeling provoked by Li Huowang's blatant scrutiny, Xuanyang shook the whisk in his hand and walked up to Li Huowang. "Junior Brother Li, it's really a pity that you didn't become the master's medicinal ingredient this time."Li Huowang couldn't be bothered with his sarcasm. His attention was focused on the round jade pendant hanging from Xuanyang's waist.

"This thing should be an antique, right? If I sell it in the real world, it must be worth a lot of money, right?"

"But how should I do it? Just like with that piece of candy, grab it and put it in my chest?"

After saying a few words and getting no response from Li Huowang, Xuanyang thought the other was scared. He disdainfully tilted his head back and turned away from the place where the medicinal ingredients stayed.

Looking at his back, Li Huowang made up his mind. This jade pendant would be his next test object for trying to transport things.

As for how to get it, it was as simple as stealing it at night. "That jade pendant is nice, but it will soon be mine."

A small, almost blindingly white hand reached out from the side and gently tugged at Li Huowang's hemp cloth sleeve. A soft voice sounded in his ear.

"Senior Brother Li, hurry up and get to work. If you don't finish, you won't get any food."

Li Huowang turned his head and saw it was the albino girl he had helped before.After thinking for a while, he reached into his bosom and took out the remaining half - melted black sugar and put it in her hand. Then he turned around, went to his place, and picked up the pestle to start working.

For the time being, whether it was here in the cave or at the hospital, he decided not to do anything too extreme.

It wasn't appropriate to tell anyone about this earth - shattering thing. He had to slowly figure out the rules before making other plans.

The day's work ended in the dull sound of pounding medicine. Late at night, listening to the snores and teeth - grinding sounds around him, Li Huowang slowly opened his eyes on the large bunk.

It was pitch - black in the windowless cave. Li Huowang groped his way towards the door.

He first went to his work area and picked up a piece of bluestone he had ground. The faint fluorescence it emitted allowed Li Huowang to avoid walking blindly in the dark cave.

Although carrying such a stone in the dark was a bit too conspicuous, Li Huowang didn't care at all.

"If I'm discovered, at worst, I'll just go back to the hospital. I have a way out, so what am I afraid of?" Li Huowang boasted to himself as he walked alone in the cave.This entire hallucination appeared because of him. How could he be afraid of the hallucination he created? Even if he couldn't control it yet.

The whole cave was quite large. Li Huowang had been here for some time and was very familiar with it.

Soon he slipped into Xuanyang's cave. Although it was still shabby, the big bed for a single person was enough to prove the fundamental difference between him and Li Huowang and the other medicinal ingredients.

However, to Li Huowang's surprise, Xuanyang wasn't in the cave. His clothes were there, but he wasn't. Li Huowang didn't bother to think too much. He reached into the Taoist robe with his right hand and pulled out the jade pendant.

After sneaking out of the cave, Li Huowang carefully examined the round jade pendant in his hand under the glow of the fluorescent stone.

The jade pendant was crystal - clear and smooth, with very delicate cloud patterns carved on it. Even someone like Li Huowang, who didn't know much about jade, could tell that it was a fine piece of jade.

The more Li Huowang looked at it, the happier he became. If he could really take this thing to the real world, this single jade pendant could at least cover the four - year college tuition for him and Yang Na.

"Hehe~ Yang Na, Yang Na, get ready to be a little rich woman," Li Huowang said as he stuffed the jade pendant into his bosom and walked back.

Everything went smoothly, but some things can't always go that way. Just as he was about to reach the door, around a turn on the stone steps, he bumped into a group of people.They were a group of boys and girls about Li Huowang's age. Their terrified faces flickered in the light of the fire torches in their hands.

Both sides were startled by each other and stood there stunned for a long time without saying a word.

Finally, Li Huowang spoke up. He pointed at Xuanyang, who was wearing a hemp robe, in the crowd with his fluorescent stone and asked, "Senior Brother Xuanyang, with this outfit, have you been sent to the ingredient storage room?"

Among these people was not only Xuanyang but also some young Taoist boys in charge of other things. One of the boys who had fanned the alchemy furnace before was also there.

Regardless of what they had done before, they were all now wearing hemp robes and trousers and had nothing else with them.

At this moment, Xuanyang didn't have the arrogant and smug look he had during the day. After his expression changed rapidly several times, he walked up to Li Huowang and lowered his voice.

"Come! Come with us! Let's escape from this hellhole! The senior brother guarding the door has been bribed.""Escape? Oh! So you all are going to—"

Before Li Huowang could say the word "escape", Xuanyang covered his mouth tightly with his hand.