The Unruly Immortals

"Heh heh, sir, if there's anything you need, just give the order," the Posthouse Official's obsequious smile reminded Li Huowang of his own superiors.

"Go to sleep, don't come near my room if it's not necessary."

"Then, I'll take my leave, sir. If you need anything, just holler for old Wu, and I'll be at your beck and call."

With a creak, the door closed. When Li Huowang secured the latch and started nibbling on the rain-soaked dry food he took from his bag,

Since Mantou wasn't there, he didn't dare to casually eat the food from outside, as one must always be wary of others—even at a posthouse in Liang State.

As he ate, Li Huowang suddenly stopped and looked at the back of his hand which was scabbing over, as if something was moving underneath.

Upon a closer look by the candlelight, Li Huowang realized it seemed to be a very thin black tentacle, which was wriggling through the veins like an earthworm.

The tentacle belonging to Li Sui had now reached the back of his hand, an occurrence that had never happened before.

"What did I say? Look, the signs are already showing. This is just the beginning, Black Taishui will gradually occupy all the meridians in your body! When that happens, you are as good as dead, not even a Da Luo Immortal could save you!"

"Do as I say, throw away whatever is for Black Taishui quickly!"

Li Huowang chewed on the swollen steamed bread in his mouth, staring coldly at Hong Zhong who was speaking.

"Dad?" Li Sui's voice echoed once more, this time with a tinge of grievance and uncertainty.

Li Huowang's gaze withdrew, he put the remaining dry food back into the bag, snuffed out the candle directly, and lay down on the bed without even bothering to wash up.

He was very tired, and he almost immediately fell into a dream the moment the back of his head touched the pillow.

Listening to the pitter-patter of the rain outside the window, Li Huowang had a rare good sleep.

In a groggy state, Li Huowang was suddenly woken up by a wave of intense nausea.

"What's happening?" Li Huowang went to his belongings, took out the Water Calabash, and was about to drink.

But as soon as he opened his mouth, before the water could be poured in, several tentacles emerged from his throat instead.

"What are you doing? Go back!" The more Li Huowang spoke, the more tentacles wriggled out from within.

"Li Sui! What are you doing!" Li Huowang shouted furiously in his mind.

"Dad, you... don't die!"

As Li Huowang bent over and vomited violently, Li Sui, formed from wriggling tentacles of various sizes wrapped in mucus, was expelled, and she quickly slithered under the bed.

Li Huowang, swallowing blood-tainted saliva with difficulty and extremely irritable, glared at Hong Zhong, "Can't you die if you don't speak?"

After speaking, he turned and headed towards the side of the bed, but halfway there, Li Huowang clutched his head in pain, and everything around him started changing rapidly.

When he regained consciousness, he found himself lying on the cold concrete floor, not standing as before.

Li Huowang looked around in astonishment; he was still under that bridge, only now it seemed dirtier than before.

"It's come back again..." Li Huowang sighed helplessly, turned over, and lay flat on the ground, looking at the cobwebs under the arch bridge.

The only relief was that there was no longer his mother or Yang Na here, so he didn't have to deliberately struggle with what was real or fake, he just needed to wait quietly for time to pass.

"Li Sui is learning to read faster and faster now, he can already understand what Hong Zhong is saying, but I have to teach him, not everything people say is true." Li Huowang, ragged and covered in dirt, lay in the bridge hole, looking up and talking to himself.

"Tap, tap, tap," footsteps sounded from the entrance of the bridge hole, he remembered, it was the sound of Huanhuan's steps.

Li Huowang turned his head and saw the cute little girl with a red backpack, holding meat buns in her hands, standing there uneasily. She seemed a bit taller than before, her clothes had changed, but the only thing that hadn't changed was the cherry hair clip on her head.

"Huanhuan, you don't need to bring me food anymore, I won't die of hunger, and it would be better if I did die of hunger."

Li Huowang's words made Huanhuan's eyes suddenly widened, "Uncle, you recognize me now! It's been such a long time since you recognized me."

He smiled silently, stood up, and walked toward the little girl. This time, Huanhuan, unusually, didn't run away and looked up at Li Huowang anxiously.

Li Huowang took the five buns from the bag in her hands and put them in his mouth. "I'm sorry about what happened last time at the kindergarten. You know I'm mentally ill, sometimes I can't tell things apart very clearly."

Seeing Li Huowang eating, Huanhuan smiled sweetly, then shook her head, and her pigtails swayed from side to side. "It's okay, I know you didn't mean to hurt me."

Li Huowang raised his hand, intending to pat her little head, but seeing his dirty palm, he thought better of it.

"Thank you for the meat buns, but remember not to bring me food in the future, I might hurt you when I go crazy." He had just said this when Li Huowang paused, why was he talking nonsense, this was clearly just a hallucination.

"Okay! I got it! Bye, uncle, I'm going home now!" Huanhuan gave Li Huowang a big hug and then turned to leave.

Li Huowang walked to the edge of the bridge hole and stood in the shadow, watching the small figure run away in the sunlight, his eyes showing a touch of warmth.

The kindness he dreaded so much over there was everywhere in the hallucinations, and if it were up to him, he really wanted to believe this side was real.

Just as he was about to turn back into the darkness of the bridge hole, a corner in the distance revealed a fat man smoking, with a big gold chain around his neck, immediately making Li Huowang's expression tense.

The sleazy look he occasionally cast this way turned the warmth in Li Huowang's eyes into coldness.

"What is he planning to do to Huanhuan?" Li Huowang immediately thought of a movie called "Hope." This made his skin crawl.

Even in his own hallucinations, he would never let such disgusting things happen.

Glancing around, he fished out a handy-sized cobblestone from the river and approached the fat man stealthily.

Just as the fat man turned around and saw Li Huowang, the stone in Li Huowang's hand had already smashed down on his head.

By the time the fat man, his head cracked and bleeding, was woken by the intense pain in his hands, he had already been dragged by Li Huowang into the depths of the dark bridge hole.

When he looked down and saw a piece of broken glass piercing through his left palm, he started to scream in pain, his cheeks trembling.

Li Huowang slammed a fist into his chest, instantly silencing the fat man's screams, leaving him breathless for a long while. "What are you screaming for? I haven't even started yet!"

Once the fat man caught his breath, Li Huowang stared at him coldly, "Spill it, what were you planning to do staring at that little girl?"

Hearing this, the fat man was close to tears, his face full of misery, "I wasn't staring at that little girl! I was clearly looking at you!"