Steamed Buns

Li Huowang curled into a ball like an unborn infant, motionless as he shut himself away in a corner of the Material Room.

The other Medicinal Guides neither dared nor wanted to disturb him, quietly going about their work.

Night fell without anyone noticing. The oil lamps on the walls all went out, and darkness covered Li Huowang like a quilt.

He lay there like a corpse, showing no reaction to the changes around him.

At the third watch of the night, a faint candlelight glowed at the doorway, illuminating the nearby shelves and driving away the darkness shrouding Li Huowang.

Timidly, Bai Lingmiao carried over a bundle of dry grass and carefully spread it over Li Huowang.

Then she took a coarse-grain steamed bun from her robe and placed it by his mouth.

Seeing that Li Huowang still did not move, she pressed her lips together and gently nudged him. "Senior Brother, have something to eat. You haven't eaten all day."

Li Huowang's eyes were open. His eyes, which had not blinked for several hours, stared numbly at the cold ground without shifting toward Bai Lingmiao in the slightest.

Bai Lingmiao wanted to leave, but after hesitating for a moment, she finally took a Jade Pendant from her robe and set it beside Li Huowang's hand.

"Senior Brother, this is yours. Take it back."

This time, Li Huowang finally reacted. He looked at it and found that it was the Round Jade Pendant he had stolen from the previous Xuan Yang.

Li Huowang remembered giving this thing to Yang Na to exchange for money. At the thought of Yang Na, his heart, already riddled with a thousand wounds, began to bleed again. "How did this end up with you?"

"You gave it to me, Senior Brother Li. I said I didn't want it, but you insisted on stuffing it into my hands."

Li Huowang slowly sat up and carefully examined the cloud-patterned Round Jade Pendant in the dim candlelight.

At that moment, he had never felt everything to be so real. Yet within that reality, there was only real despair and real pain.

If he had a choice, how he wished he could remain forever trapped in that beautiful illusion.

Seeing that Li Huowang had responded, Bai Lingmiao softly asked, "Senior Brother Li, where did Master capture you from? I'm from the Liang Kingdom. Where are you from?"

After staring blankly for a while, Li Huowang dejectedly shook his head. "I don't know."

He truly did not know. He did have memories of the past, but after what had happened during the day, even Li Huowang himself could not tell how much of those memories was real and how much was illusion.

Even here, he was still a madman—a madman unable to distinguish reality from illusion.

As he shook his head, Li Huowang suddenly felt something strange on his scalp. He touched it and found that blood scabs had matted his hair together. He had been injured before.

Seeing Li Huowang touch his head, Bai Lingmiao explained, "Senior Brother Wang did that."

Li Huowang knew that Senior Brother Wang was the hare-lipped fat man who had tried to lay hands on Bai Lingmiao earlier. "Where's the one surnamed Wang?"

"You... you kicked him to death."

Hearing that, Old Liu, whom he had kicked flying in his illusion, flashed through Li Huowang's mind. He lowered his head and smiled soundlessly. He really was crazy enough.

Li Huowang reached into his robe, took out a Golden Anklet wrapped in red thread, and held it out to Bai Lingmiao. "This is yours, right? Take it back."

Bai Lingmiao looked at her anklet and pushed it back with both palms. "Senior Brother Li, you were right before. This thing is useless here. Keep it."

Li Huowang stared blankly at the golden ring. But it was of no use to him now either. Everything he cared about had vanished.

"Um, Senior Brother Li, can I use this as payment and ask you for a favor?" Bai Lingmiao's words drew Li Huowang's gaze to her.

"If you can get out of here alive, can you help me pass a message to my parents? They live at the foot of Oxheart Mountain in the Liang Kingdom. Tell them their daughter has been unfilial and cannot care for them in their old age or see them through to the end." As she reached the sorrowful part, Bai Lingmiao's voice choked up.

"Senior Brother Li, I really don't want to trouble you, but I truly have no other way. They'll probably take me to the Pill Refining Room soon, and I..."

At those words, Li Huowang, whose face was full of dejection and numbness, felt his heart tighten. Light returned to his lifeless eyes.

He looked at the dry grass covering him, then at the steamed bun beside him. With a pull of his hand, he stuffed the Red Thread Golden Ring back into his robe.

"I keep my word. Since I took your things before, I'll help you."

The sorrow in Bai Lingmiao's eyes instantly brightened, but soon dimmed again. "Senior Brother Li, that won't do. It'll drag you into trouble too."

"Heh... Do you think I'm still afraid of that now?" Li Huowang had already come to terms with it. He had completely thrown caution to the winds. Since everything he cared about was gone, what was there left to fear?

"Excellent, Senior Brother Li! Mighty indeed!" A male voice suddenly rang out from outside the Material Room, startling both people inside.

As the candlelight illuminated the man, they saw a grinning face with a pointed mouth and monkey-like cheeks. Yellow and white patches mottled his face, making him look as though he had some skin disease like vitiligo.

The man took out two coarse-grain steamed buns and fawningly placed them beside Li Huowang.

"Hehehe, Senior Brother Li, have some buns. When dinner was served, I remembered that Senior Brother Li hadn't eaten, so I specially saved two for you."

"You might not know this junior brother. I was born of heaven and raised by earth, without a proper name. Just call me Gouwa, hehehe. Just yesterday, I even offered you seventeen copper coins."

Gouwa sat there restlessly rubbing his hands, practically wearing his flattery on his face. Clearly, he wanted to treat Li Huowang as a backer so he would not be sent off as a Medicinal Guide. Clever people could be found anywhere.

Li Huowang said nothing. He grabbed the three somewhat hardened steamed buns and wolfed them down. He had been hungry for an entire day.

He ate too quickly and nearly choked. Gouwa immediately understood and ran out to bring Li Huowang a cup of water.

Washed down by the icy underground water, Li Huowang crammed all three coarse-grain steamed buns into his stomach.

He swayed and struggled to his feet. Having lain on the ground for so long, his legs had gone numb from being pressed beneath him.

Bai Lingmiao reached out to support him, but Li Huowang pushed her away.

His gaze locked onto the pitch-black exit of the Material Room in the distance as he staggered out.

His enemy was no longer his suddenly worsening illness, but Danyangzi, the Leper Head Daoist who used people to refine pills.

When Danyangzi's ugly, revolting face surfaced in his mind, thick malice gradually rose in Li Huowang's eyes, and his teeth began to grind with creaks.

Just moments ago, he had been utterly without the will to live. Now he was filled with drive. The only thing left to do was find a way to kill him!