The Unruly Immortals

The flames continued to burn, consuming all of Li Huowang, his appearance gradually morphing closer to that of the charred Shou San.

Li Huowang wasn't sure if it was due to the Elixir he'd ingested or the surrounding flames, but everything he saw began to distort.

The skeletons that should have lain motionless around him started to grow like trees, twisting bizarrely as they extended.

"Ah... Ah... AH!!!"

With Li Huowang's screams, the fire seemed to find an entrance, burrowing in instantly, beginning to scorch his internal organs from the inside.

"Xuanyang, my friend, it is time," said Shou San, walking over and spreading the Great Thousand Record in front of Li Huowang on the ground.

Tortured by dual agonies, to the point where death would have been kinder, Li Huowang looked through the layers of flames.

In this moment, he saw that the Great Thousand Record in front of him no longer consisted of neatly aligned bamboo slips but had transformed into squirming flesh worms, carrying strange characters on their bodies as they aligned neatly, forming a bizarre array of flesh strips.

"What the hell is going on!"

Li Huowang felt his mind was a complete mess, or perhaps under the high temperatures of the raging flames, his brain had already turned to mush.

The robed followers of the Ao Jing Sect, having already disrobed, slowly surrounded him.

They dragged their battered bodies, sitting in a circle around Li Huowang according to some pattern.

But in Li Huowang's eyes, all of them were now indistinct monsters made of blood and flesh.

Shou San looked at Li Huowang in the midst of the flames and took a step back.

"My friend, don't forget the purpose of your visit to our sect; the time is ripe. Open the door to the Sea of Suffering and meet Bahu again," he said.

Li Huowang, using his eyes which were also ablaze, stared at him, "You lied to me!? Was all this a lie!?"

"No, I did not deceive you. It just so happened that this was an opportunity, so I used it. Don't you wish to rid yourself of your Master? Just summon Bahu and the Elders will have a way to deal with Master Danyang clinging to you," Shou San replied.

In immense pain, Li Huowang howled, lifting his charred hands to lightly touch the flesh worms inscribed with the characters.

This moment, both the physical and mental pain began to transform into something else for Li Huowang, just like before.

An extremely fearful sense of despair spread from Li Huowang, causing everyone present to shudder at this power that surely did not belong to the Mortal Realm.

Li Huowang was very familiar with this scene; it was the prelude to Bahu's arrival. His senses and facial features began to twist and merge, and the previously clear sky suddenly changed color.

Seeing this, Shou San grew excited. His body began to tremble, as if anticipating something. "After all this time, at last, it comes."

However, soon things did not progress as he expected. Although the anomalies started off intense, they quickly quieted down.

"What's happening?" An agitated Shou San instinctively glanced at Li Huowang, realizing in that moment that something about him seemed different.

At the same time, Li Huowang was slowly lifting his hands from the Great Thousand Record.

His voice lost its pain and took on a hint of confusion.

"Why should I… suffer so much? What does their death have to do with me? Now, nothing is binding me; what does it matter if I kill a few people? Who can say anything about it?"

"It's a dog-eat-dog world here - if they are weak, they deserve to die. It's either I kill them or someone else does. It's really funny, why should I feel guilty?"

"Moreover, all of this might just be a deception by those self-flagellating maniacs from the Ao Jing Sect!"

As soon as he uttered these words, Li Huowang felt the mountainous pressure lift off his shoulders as if it had wings.

Looking at Li Huowang, who seemed to have transformed into a different person, Shou San asked tentatively, "Young friend? Have you been too deeply influenced by your master? Stay true to your heart, young friend. Do you really want to be completely overtaken by your master?"

After saying this, Shou San saw Li Huowang in the midst of flames suddenly clasp his head with both hands, his expression one of agony as he struggled and began to argue with himself.

"So what if they're dead! What's it to us? Are you some saint? With your own life a pile of dogshit, you still have the energy to care about others!"

"Master Danyang! Get out of my head!! I'll decide my own values!! You won't influence me anymore!!"

With his shouts, the strange phenomena in the sky and the terrifying aura expanded and then contracted.

As time went on, the changes finally trended toward the minor.

At this critical juncture, Li Huowang once more felt everything around him dramatically change, as the ultimate physical and emotional agony rapidly receded, leaving him enveloped in tranquility and peace.

When he came back to his senses, he found himself wearing Binding Clothes, lying in a wheelchair, being pushed by his mother into the hospital courtyard to bask in the sun. The pain and anguish vanished in an instant.

"Huff... huff... huff..." Li Huowang panted heavily, unsettled.

Tormented by various ordeals, he finally had a moment to catch his breath.

Right now, he just wanted to do nothing and quietly rest for a while.

"Son? Son, are you awake now?" Sun Xiaoqin noticed with joy that her son seemed different from his previously crazed state and was able to look at things with his eyes.

Li Huowang looked at his mother with a very complex expression. "Mom, do you know? I really don't want to go there. It's so exhausting to live there."

Sun Xiaoqin hugged him tenderly. "It's okay, don't be afraid. Those were all illusions, all fake."

Li Huowang closed his eyes and took a deep breath; honestly, right now, he really wanted to run away. He didn't want to suffer anymore.

Compared to the peace and tranquility here, and being with his family and Yang Na, that place was like hell.

The events that had just transpired seemed to catch up to him at that moment, piercing into Li Huowang's mind, and his expression turned to one of anguish.

"Mom... who am I?"

"You are Li Huowang! You are my son."

"And what kind of person is your son?" Li Huowang's voice carried a touch of pain and confusion.

Sun Xiaoqin's hands lovingly stroked her son's head. "Li Huowang is a good kid. He's sincere, considerate, and studies hard. Do you remember that afternoon in your second year of middle school? That day on the bus..."

Listening to his mother's words, Li Huowang recalled his past and the things he had done.

He had experienced so much here that he had forgotten what kind of person he was.

He had changed, and much for the worse, not just under the influence of Master Danyang but also that of the world itself.

Gradually, his gaze began to firm up. "Yes... this is me, this is the real Li Huowang."

"That paranoid and foolish person, easily deceived, lacking any sense of good and evil, that's not me, that's Master Danyang, that's not me!"