The Unruly Immortals

Wang Wei spoke in segments, and his tone gradually became heavier.

"Of course, besides your mother, there's your girlfriend! They will ultimately grow to hate you, because no one enjoys being around a lunatic."

Seeing Li Huowang glaring at him from the bed, Wang Wei continued, "Do you know how long she has to take the train to get here? How many transfers she needs to make? How many excuses she has to come up with to avoid her parents? No, you don't know, you only care about yourself."

"That girl named Yang Na has been sacrificing so much for you, but what about you?"

"You keep resisting treatment, preferring to hide in your comfort zone, refusing to take even one step for her, Li Huowang! What kind of man are you!!"

Veins bulged on Li Huowang's forehead.

"Li Huowang, you don't deserve her! Yang Na should have given up on you long ago to find someone better! In the end, she will have children with someone else, and you, you'll just lie on the hospital bed, imagining what they are doing in bed!"

"Shut your mouth!!"

The "creak" sound rose as the straps binding Li Huowang's body began to sway, and he stared at Wang Wei with a murderous gaze.

Wang Wei saw the hostility in his eyes but was not scared at all. Instead, he walked over to the bed and unfastened all of Li's restraints.

With a "whoosh," Li Huowang charged forward, grabbing Wang Wei's nurse uniform with one hand and delivering a punch with the other.

"What do you know! You hallucination! Do you know what I have experienced! You don't understand anything!!"

Wang Wei started fighting back, punching Li Huowang in the face and causing his nose to bleed.

At that moment, his expression became as crazed as Li Huowang's, grinding his teeth and glaring at him.

"Let me tell you, Li Huowang! I do know! You think you're the only one in the world lost in hallucinations? Wrong! I used to be just like that, but I made it through, and now I'm a qualified doctor! So I'm better than you! You coward!"

Just as their fight intensified, a syringe was suddenly injected into Li Huowang's arm from one side.

Li Huowang immediately felt his brain rust over, everything became excruciatingly slow, and his body felt weak.

Wang Wei, with the help of his student, propped Li Huowang up and tied him back to the bed.

Then, an out-of-breath and disheveled Wang Wei put his finger in his mouth, rubbing his slightly loosened tooth.

"This young man hasn't exercised his muscles for so long, yet he's still so strong."

"Teacher, this you..." the intern doctor next to him showed a troubled expression. Although he had heard about his unconventional methods, he still found it quite outrageous to start a fight with a patient right off the bat.

Wang Wei stood by the bed, looking down at Li Huowang's young face marred by a bullet wound.

Li Huowang dully watched the man in front of him, not even knowing what he was thinking.

Gradually, the two people in front of him morphed, becoming very tall and large. Their voices echoed, sounding vague as if accompanied by the beat of drums.

"His condition is quite special, and his psychological defenses are high, almost completely emotionally closed off. So our first step is to increase his interaction with the real world. Have him interrupt this world with his senses."

"But... this isn't what the book says."

"Not in the book? Are these types of cases even in the book? Don't just blindly follow the text, you have to learn to adapt, okay? Double the Valium."

Li Huowang didn't know what happened after that; he only remembered the chaos, and when he woke up again, he found the world upside down, the big round moon hanging beneath him.

After pondering for a while, Li Huowang realized, the moon hadn't fallen, he was upside down.

It seemed that during his unconscious moments, he had used the new ability he had acquired.

After he slowly readjusted his body, he began to trace his way back step by chaotic step along the ground.

Not long into his walk, Li Huowang saw a dog poking its head curiously from behind a rock.

"Didn't I tell you to bury me? How come I still ran away?"

Hearing this, the dog's face was full of innocence, "Brother Li, we did bury you, but you walked out of the ground again."

"Walked out? What do you mean?"

"It's just like that time when we were mourning at your grave, and then you crawled out of it."

The dog's words made Li Huowang's face turn a shade uglier; he hadn't considered this before.

Having that new ability indeed made him much stronger, which might be a good thing for others.

But not necessarily for himself, because Li Huowang knew he was a madman.

If there was anything more dangerous than a madman, it would be a martial madman with a knife in hand.

"The greater the power, the greater the responsibility," that's for others, but in his case, the more powerful he became, the more harmful he could be.

"No, no matter what happened on the side of the illusion, I must stay as calm and composed as possible from now on."

As Li Huowang thought about these things, he silently made his way back.

Along the way, Li Huowang saw others with torches; they had come to look for him, it seemed he had walked quite a distance.

In their faces, Li Huowang saw fear of himself. He said nothing and continued on his way back.

Upon returning to the previous location, he found that the others had all arrived.

Li Huowang said to Bai Lingmiao's back, "I'm back."

Bai Lingmiao's body trembled, and she slowly turned around, presenting the bruised right side of her face to Li Huowang.

When he saw this, a strong sense of self-reproach instantly enveloped Li Huowang's heart, making it difficult for him to breathe; clearly, it was his doing.

With tears in her eyes, Bai Lingmiao rushed over and held Li Huowang tight. "It's so good to see you, Brother Li. I thought I might never see you again just a moment ago!"

Li Huowang's hands trembled as he embraced Bai Lingmiao, as if he wanted to meld her into his body.

As his self-reproach somewhat subsided, a strong sense of dread surged back up. This time it was only a punch, but what if he had a knife in his hand next time?

Desperate images flashed through Li Huowang's mind, causing his pupils to quiver slightly.

Although Li Huowang said nothing, Bai Lingmiao could clearly feel what he was thinking as she tenderly stroked his back with her fair, jade-like hand.

"Brother Li, it's okay. I know you didn't mean it. It's just a swelling; it will subside in a few days."

Her words did little to ease Li Huowang's mood. He whispered in her ear, "Promise me, if there's a next time, you... stay as far away from me as possible."

"Okay." Bai Lingmiao nodded obediently, but what she truly thought, only she knew.

Li Huowang's gaze moved slowly over Bai Lingmiao's shoulder, becoming more resolute.

Finally, his gaze settled on a line of characters he had carved into the ground with his own knife.

One of the senior figures of the Oblivion Path, also known as Xinsu, lived to be one hundred ninety years old and was completely free from illusions.(?)