Danyangzi

When Li Huowang saw these two things prostrating themselves before Danyangzi, who was also writhing incessantly, a guess formed in his mind. "Are these two things here to help him find pill ingredients?"

Just as he was thinking this, Li Huowang watched Danyangzi bend down, scoop up a handful of mud from the ground, stuff it into his own mouth, and then start chattering away at the two masses in a strange tongue. The sounds were bizarre, utterly unlike anything a human could produce, yet the two things seemed to understand, bobbing up and down once before swiftly dispersing.

With their departure, the twisting, chaotic world of sky and earth gradually returned to normal.

"Child, don't worry. Though the things in the Heavenly Book are hard to come by, they're no trouble for your master. Out there, your master still has connections," Danyangzi said smugly.

"Of course, Master is practically an immortal already—there's probably nothing in this world that can stump you! But Master, what were those just now?"

"Heh heh, child, you still have much to learn. Those things are what the Heavenly Book calls 'Lord You.'"

The constant crises had kept Li Huowang's nerves taut, leaving him no time to ponder one question: just what kind of world was this place? Things like Grand Maternal Grandmother and Lord You—none of them seemed like ordinary beings. If not for the normal pork and sheep's head he'd eaten at meals, he might have thought nothing in this world was normal.

"Ah, these are fine treasures. This Daoist went through quite some trouble to snatch them back in the day," Danyangzi said, tucking the Copper Bell back into his sleeve.

"Snatch?"

"Of course you snatch! Would someone just give them to you for free? Hmph! If we don't have something and others do, what do you do? Snatch it!"

"I learned that when I was five, from a beggar older than me who snatched a moldy bun out of my hands."

"When I was young, I snatched women, horses, and silver. Later, I snatched techniques, artifacts, disciples—even the entire Qingfeng Temple was snatched by me! Did you see that clay Founding Ancestor say anything? Heh heh." As he spoke, a hint of pride crept onto Danyangzi's face.

"Child, when an elder speaks, you listen. This is teaching you to be clever, understand? I'm telling you this because I consider you one of my own."

"But Master, what if you can't win the snatch?"

"Can't win? If you can't win, don't you know how to team up? You've got a literate head, why is it so thick? If you can't win together, use poison! If poison doesn't work, go underhanded!"

These few words gave Li Huowang a clear picture of this Leper Head's way of doing things, and also explained why his methods were so disjointed—everything he had was cobbled together from snatching here and there.

"Master... Master lives with clarity."

"Hmph! So what if I can't read? So what if I have no insight? They call me Heretical Left Path, say I have no Dao Heart. When I become an immortal, I'll pry open those bastards' eyelids and make them see who really has no insight! Who has no Dao Heart!" Danyangzi's face twisted with gritted teeth as he spoke, his ugly features brimming with malice.

Li Huowang didn't know who "they" were, but he was certain the enmity ran deep.

For a time afterward, Li Huowang ate and lived with Danyangzi, devoting himself entirely to tinkering with the immortality method from the Heavenly Book. During this period, Li Huowang also secretly kept refining things, making the whole immortality method seem more and more credible.

The things Li Huowang described were quickly delivered.

Looking at the gray-white, slimy giant body covered in black soft fur, and the amorphous, faintly glimmering black tumor beside it, Li Huowang was not only disgusted by their repulsiveness but also amazed at Danyangzi's strength—he'd actually managed to get them.

"Master, shall we light the furnace?" Li Huowang asked.

"Not yet. There's still a while until New Year. Come, let's go eat the New Year's Eve dinner first."

Danyangzi's words caught Li Huowang off guard. Why were they eating the New Year's Eve dinner now? Was there a connection between the two? Still, seeing Danyangzi get up and leave the Pill Refining Room, Li Huowang quickly followed.

Arriving at the dining cavern, the other disciples were already there. Saying "other disciples," it was really just Chang Ren, Chang Ming, and Xuan Yuan—three people.

Seeing the large round table looking somewhat empty, Danyangzi's face instantly darkened. "Why haven't you set out bowls and chopsticks for the deceased disciples? Set them all up! Bring them back to celebrate New Year."

Soon, when all the dead disciples had their bowls and chopsticks, the round table looked full again. Danyangzi nodded, a satisfied smile returning to his face, and reseated himself at the head of the table. Li Huowang sat to his right; the other side was empty—that was Zheng Kun's spot. "Come on, bring out the dumplings."

A pot of steaming dumplings was carried in by the boy attendants, their fragrant aroma wafting through the air. With iron ladles, they carefully placed dumplings into everyone's bowls, including those of the dead.

"Heh heh, it's New Year, everyone relax and eat up," Danyangzi said, but including Li Huowang and the other three, no one touched their chopsticks until he did.

Danyangzi picked up his chopsticks, grabbed a white dumpling, and put it in his mouth, closing his eyes in bliss as he chewed. "Mm~ Pork Lard and Chive Filling, fragrant! Hey, what's this? A copper coin? Good omen, good omen, hahaha."

Li Huowang stared at the dumplings in his own bowl, frozen for a long moment, then gritted his teeth and began wolfing them down.

Danyangzi watched Li Huowang devouring the dumplings with a beaming smile. "You kids were born at a good time, getting to eat such delicious dumplings."

"When I was your age, I didn't even know what a dumpling looked like—I'd only heard how good they tasted. Heh heh."

"Later, one New Year, I smelled the aroma of someone else's cooking, barged in, and saw what dumplings really looked like. I didn't even bother with the family's pretty daughter—just chopped her down with one slash, squatted on the kang, and in a daze, polished off two whole catties of dumplings. Their family had made the same Pork Lard and Chive Filling."

The other disciples forced awkward smiles, but Li Huowang kept on wolfing down his food.

Seeing tears glistening in Li Huowang's eyes, Danyangzi carefully picked up his own bowl and poured his dumplings into Li Huowang's. "Ah, a child from a hard life too. Eat slowly, don't choke."

Amid the sounds of swallowing and the clatter of bowls and chopsticks, the New Year's Eve dinner for only five people came to an end.

Just as Li Huowang thought they would start alchemy, he saw Danyangzi pat his own leprous head, pull a stack of Red Envelopes from his sleeve, and hand them out to Chang Ming, Chang Ren, and beside the bowls of the dead.

"Come, come, it's New Year. Remember to put them under your pillows for New Year Money. Take them well. When I was your age, I never had any elders give me New Year Money."

Danyangzi placed the last Red Envelope beside Zheng Kun's bowl, then turned and said cheerfully to Li Huowang, "You don't need New Year Money. Master and disciple will ascend to immortality together, sharing the same lifespan as heaven and earth from now on!"

Li Huowang smiled, a very happy smile. "Master speaks the absolute truth."

"Let's go, back to the Pill Refining Room. Light the furnace and start alchemy! Child, you'll tend the fire!"

"Right away, Master!"