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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: Black Tai Sui
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"Tai Sui, Black Tai Sui." Danyangzi's icy voice echoed in the cramped Material Room.
Li Huowang tilted his head back slightly and glanced once more at the disgusting thing in his hand.
Upon closer inspection, he realized it bore some resemblance to the stuff in the black cauldron. No, the thing in his hand was exactly that man-eating stuff from inside the black cauldron.
"This thing is called Black Tai Sui? Is he planning to refine pills with it? What heavy taste." Li Huowang thought to himself.
With a flick of Danyangzi's wrist, the wriggling mass of Black Tai Sui arced through the air and smacked right onto the top of his foot.
The sticky, squishy sensation made Li Huowang's scalp crawl. His legs trembled as he backed away nonstop.
Staring at the Black Tai Sui now on the ground coated in dust, Li Huowang looked up at Danyangzi in front of him in stunned disbelief, unable to grasp what the man meant for a moment.
"It's a reward for you. Pick it up and swallow it. Before, as a drug primer, it didn't matter, but now you're this Daoist's disciple. You can't be so careless anymore. It'll suppress your hysteria."
Li Huowang seemed not to understand what he was saying. He didn't want to understand either. The boy's face drained of color as he kept retreating. "I won't eat it! I'm not sick!!"
"Not eat it? Hmph, that's not up to you. Changming, Changren."
Danyangzi raised his chin slightly. Two Daoists with swords strapped to their backs strode quickly to Li Huowang's side and grabbed his arms, one on each side.
Then, with a beckoning motion from Danyangzi's right hand, the Black Tai Sui wriggling toward the wall corner on the ground flew straight into his grasp.
As he watched Danyangzi approach with the nauseating thing held out, Li Huowang's body began trembling uncontrollably. A bone-chilling cold seeped through him from inside out.
He instinctively wanted to struggle and flee, but the hands of the two senior brothers beside him clamped his shoulders like iron shackles.
Fortunately, he still had one last resort. With Li Huowang's rapid breathing, his chest heaved violently. In his terror, he clenched his teeth, squeezed his eyes shut, and mustered every ounce of strength in his heart and body to contract inward toward the center.
"Huowang? Huowang! What's wrong? Are you feeling bad?" Yang Na's gentle voice sounded like heavenly music to Li Huowang at that moment.
He opened his eyes to see the girl in a high-necked white sweater and lunged at her in agitation, clutching her tightly like a lifeline.
A blush crept across the young girl's cheeks. She struggled lightly while advising him in a mosquito-like whisper, "Huowang, Huowang, let me go quick. Auntie and the others are watching from behind."
Li Huowang looked up and saw his mother standing beside the Attending Physician, beaming at them with an auntie's smile. "Aiyo~ My son's doing great."
Gazing at the clean, tidy hospital room, the bright sun shining through the window, and his closest, most beloved family, Li Huowang's fear-shrouded heart gradually calmed.
The Attending Physician adjusted his glasses with a hand, frowning slightly as he stepped forward. "Little Li, what did you see in the hallucination? Your emotions are fluctuating a lot. What's been going on lately? Have you been following my instructions or not?"
Recalling everything he'd just gone through, Li Huowang's heart clenched hard. He spoke anxiously to his attending physician. "Doctor, is there any medicine that can temporarily suppress those hallucinations? I really can't take it anymore. I just want to rest for a bit."
"Sigh, alright. I'll prescribe you some haloperidol and chlorpromazine. But Little Li, medication is only supplementary. To fully escape the hallucinations, you still need to follow my method." With that, the doctor tapped away on his tablet to order the meds.
When he saw the few blue capsules the nurse brought over, Li Huowang rushed forward. He didn't even bother with water and popped them straight into his mouth.
Whatever master, whatever pills—he didn't want to think about any of it. Right now, he just wanted some peace and quiet. That last scene had truly scared him badly.
The capsules had a sticky, gritty texture that was utterly revolting to swallow, but he forced down the nausea anyway.
"Little Li, tell me—what scared you so much in that hallucination just now?"
With the medicine kicking in, Li Huowang felt much more at ease. He smiled as he replied, "Nothing much. It was just that guy over there speaking in a weird tone. From the sound of it, he was saying that side is reality and this side is the hallucination. Hahaha."
At those words, the air around him froze solid. The vividly bright colors dulled to nothing. Yang Na, her mother, the Attending Physician, and the nurse delivering the meds all stiffened in place at that instant.
The sudden change made Li Huowang's body start to tremble again. His breathing grew more rapid. Helplessly, he looked out the window. The once sunny sky had turned pitch black, and the safe, peaceful environment vanished.
A tangible fear enveloped him. Panic overwhelmed all his emotions. On instinct, Li Huowang grabbed Yang Na and lunged toward his mother's embrace.
But the moment he touched his mother, her body burst like foam. The reliable, strong figure who'd always shielded him from wind and rain was gone.
"Huowang." Li Huowang jolted. He whipped around to watch Yang Na's body fade into nothingness right before his eyes. The one he loved most was completely gone.
In that moment, every positive, beautiful thing Li Huowang cared about vanished from his heart, leaving only despair, oppression, and agony.
The hospital's pristine white walls receded like a tide all around him. He was back in the dim cave amid the mountains.
Eyes bloodshot, forehead veins bulging, Li Huowang wanted to scream, to howl, to pour out all the despair and suffering in his heart.
But he couldn't. His throat was stuffed full with Black Tai Sui, blocking any sound. All the despair and pain rebounded back at him, forcing him to bear it all in full.
Watching his disciple kneel on the ground shuddering and dry-heaving, Danyangzi shook his head and walked toward the door of the Material Room with hands clasped behind his back.
"Tsk tsk tsk tsk, you're this insane and still claim you don't have hysteria? Out of everyone in this Material Room, you're the sickest. You think this Daoist picked drug primers at random before?"
"Alright, your hysteria's suppressed now. Time to work properly. Remember, Clear Wind Temple doesn't keep idle hands. Come to me at the start of every month to collect your meds."
With that, Danyangzi's other disciples followed him out. Aside from Li Huowang on the ground, only the other drug primers around the room remained.
The drug primers, each with their bizarre looks from congenital or acquired ailments, glanced at one another, unsure what to do.
After about half a stick of incense had burned, the Black Tai Sui in Li Huowang's mouth finally slid down. His heart-wrenching wails echoed endlessly through the cave.
"Why!! Why even after I've come to this hellhole, this illness still won't let me go!!"