The Unruly Immortals

"Crazy is the best outcome for Xinsu?" Is this really what awaits me in the future?"

Li Huowang had always thought that when others referred to him as Xinsu, they were merely saying he was some rare material, just like the rare root bones in the immortal cultivation novels of the past.

But the old nun before him told him that was not the case; the name Xinsu itself contained a significant problem.

Li Huowang took a deep breath to calm his heart and spoke again, "Master Jingxin, I once used Black Taishui to treat my hysteria, and it was quite effective. Have you ever used it for your son?"

Li Huowang really wanted to hear her say the word "never," but he was immediately disappointed.

"Used it, of course, I've used it, but Black Taishui must not be taken recklessly. It's easy to consume but difficult to expel. It will just nest in your stomach, sucking your blood and eating your flesh."

"In small amounts it's still okay, but if you consume too much, it could occupy your entire stomach and bore out from your body." Master Jingxin described vividly, as though she had personally witnessed it.

Li Huowang touched his own stomach, his complexion growing even uglier, for there was indeed a clump of Black Taishui with growing tentacles residing in his belly.

Master Danyang never had any good intentions; even the medicine he gave had serious side effects.

However, these minor issues could be pushed aside for now. He had a more important question to ask.

"Master Jingxin, could you tell me what exactly is Xinsu? And why does every Xinsu end up falling into madness?"

Li Huowang continued to press anxiously. He desperately needed the answer now as it concerned his future survival.

Swallowing food, Jingxin heard the voice and once again lifted her head, fixing her pitch-black, hole-like eyes on Li Huowang.

"What is Xinsu? You are Xinsu, and you're asking me? Can't you see how you're different from others? But let me ask you, where do you come from?"

Li Huowang instinctively opened his mouth to respond but then stopped, guardedly holding back.

The fact that he had transmigrated from the modern era was extremely private and significant, and he couldn't simply reveal it without any guard to this strange old nun whom he had only met once.

Nobody knew what this corpulent old nun might think when she learned this secret.

"Hehehe, let me guess, you must think that you're not from here, right? That you hail from another world, one entirely different from this realm?"

Jingxin's seemingly casual words instantly shattered Li Huowang's psychological defense. "You actually know?!"

Jingxin continued with her meal, her head bowed toward the bowl of yellow, sticky substance, unconcerned with his surprise.

"What's there to panic about, child? You're simply lacking in stability. Wondering how I know all this? Haven't I told you? My son is Xinsu; he thought the same initially."

These words led Li Huowang to move closer subconsciously, his voice trembling slightly as he asked, "Your son is also from the modern era? Is he a transmigrator too?"

At that moment, his heart was beating extremely fast. When Li Huowang suddenly realized there might be others like him in this eerie and dangerous world, he felt an extraordinary surge of excitement.

No matter who they were, no matter if they were male or female, as long as they came from the same world, he would no longer be alone.

This overwhelming pressure that had been solely his to bear, finally had someone to share it with.

Most importantly, he couldn't remember how he had come to this world, perhaps they remembered, and maybe through them, he could even return to the original world!

Master Jingxin didn't immediately answer the question but wiped the yellow liquid from the corner of her mouth and, once more, with a smile, "looked" at the young man before her.

"No, he isn't. He was born from my womb, that is a certain truth. Also, young man, Zhuangzi dreamt of a butterfly, the butterfly dreamt of Zhuangzi. Don't be so certain about everything, including whatever is in your head."

"What do you mean?" Li Huowang found that he couldn't understand what the other party was trying to say.

"Why do you assume you certainly came from 'over there'? Why couldn't you consider that you might actually belong to this world? What if those bizarre and varied worlds were all false, and everything you recall is just your own imagination?"

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!! I know that what happened at Qingfeng Taoist Temple was an illusion, but I'm sure I lived in the real world before! I transmigrated from there!! I am a transmigrator! I am not someone who imagines another world out of madness!!!!"

At that moment, Li Huowang's eyes turned bloodshot, his hands trembled as he clenched his fists tightly, loudly refuting the old nun in front of him, as if his deepest vulnerabilities had been touched.

Jingxin didn't argue any further, her face slightly tilted, seemingly recalling something.

"Hehe, my son said the same thing. Sometimes lucid, sometimes unclear, babbling nonsense to himself."

"But as his mother, I know. He came out of my belly and has never left my side. He has never been to any other grand world; it was all his wild imagination."

Upon hearing these words, Li Huowang stood frozen as if under a spell, his breathing becoming erratic.

Yang Na, mother, hospital, school, everything from the past flashed rapidly through his mind. Could all these be nonexistent? Was there even a chance that the other world didn't exist? Could there be no such thing as the modern world?

In that instant, Li Huowang felt everything around him lose its reality, becoming ethereal, "What is true? What is false?!"

"I didn't transmigrate? I've actually been from here all along, and there was never a modern world? Everything in my mind about reality is a figment of my imagination? No, this isn't right, there must be a mistake somewhere!"

Li Huowang's emotions began to spiral out of control, his breathing more and more rapid, his expression growing fierce.

Facing a mountain of pressure within, the severely shaken Li Huowang needed to find an outlet.

Suddenly, his gaze sharpened, glaring viciously at Master Jingxin before him.

Before he could speak, he saw the fat woman in front of him reaching out with her greasy fingers, mimicking his speech in a high-pitched voice.

"No! You're lying~! You have ulterior motives against me!! Everything you say is fake! You're trying to hurt me, aren't you~! It won't be that easy!!"

After saying those words, Jingxin reappeared with a kindly smile on her plump, swollen face, looking at Li Huowang who stood stiff in place.

"Hehe, you were just about to say that to me, weren't you? My son told me the same thing. Ah, now that I think of it, it feels like it was only yesterday. It's truly nostalgic."