CH 23

“Senior Brother Li!” Bai Lingmiao cried out with a sobbing voice. The sound made Li Huowang, who was holding a lantern in the darkness, turn around to look at the others standing outside in the sunshine.

He waved his hand at them again and said, “Go home, all of you.”

“Senior Brother Li, why don’t you come with us? We can walk together on the way, and it’ll be safer. Did you forget something?” Zhao Fifth, who was lying on Plonker’s back, said nervously, sensing that something was wrong.

“Heh, where am I supposed to go?” Li Huowang turned around, hiding his face back into the darkness.

“Going home to celebrate the New Year together. Senior Brother Li, where is your home?”

Li Huowang silently smiled in the dark and walked towards Qingfeng Temple holding the lantern. “Home? I don’t have a home now. I can’t go back to my home anymore!”

Li Huowang walked silently in the darkness, and at this time Qingfeng Temple was very quiet. The only thing that accompanied him was the sound of his footsteps.

Suddenly, Li Huowang began to hum a tune, and his footsteps became light and brisk. The lantern in his hand swayed rhythmically from side to side.

With the accompaniment of his own singing, Li Huowang returned to his dwelling. He closed the door and put the lantern on the table. He didn’t bother to clean the blood on his face and clothes. He slowly lay down on the stone bed and closed his eyes.

“Today is the first day of the New Year,I haven’t eaten that nauseating Black Ganoderma this month, so I should be able to see Yang Na again soon, right?” Li Huowang’s lips curled up slightly at the thought.

He quietly waited, waiting for his best childhood friend to take him back to his own world.

Li Huowang, who had not slept all night, started to gradually lose consciousness. But just as he was about to fall into a pleasant dream, the door suddenly opened.

Li Huowang rubbed his eyes and sat up, only to find Doggie and Zhao Fifth and others standing at the door. Bai Lingmiao stood there uneasily, her gaze shifting for a while before finally becoming firm.

“Senior Brother Li, if you can’t go back home, then come to my house. My house is big, and the east wing is also empty…” Bai Lingmiao said kindly.

Li Huowang looked at the kind-hearted girl in front of him and shook his head slightly. “Thank you, but this place is fine. I’ve already gotten used to staying here.”

As a lunatic who talked to himself and danced around, Li Huowang could only stay in such a dark place so as not to scare others. Bai Lingmiao’s lips trembled slightly, seemingly unable to believe what Li Huowang said.

“I once had a home and family, but…” Li Huowang looked up at the pitch-black ceiling, his expression complex as he began to recall something.

After pondering for a while, Doggie gestured to the others with his eyes, whispering softly, “Since Senior Brother Li says he wants to stay here, why don’t we go first?”

“You shut up!” Bai Lingmiao’s roar startled Doggie. This was not the same timid girl from before.

Bai Lingmiao quickly approached, her expression stubborn as she stepped forward. “Do you think you’re doing right by your family? If your past family knew what you are like now, what would they think?”

Li Huowang’s face showed a bitter smile. “How they think, how would I know? I can’t even be sure if they really exist!!

“I may just be a penniless lunatic, I have nothing, everything is entirely my own delusion!” Li Huowang’s expression became extremely painful.

Bai Lingmiao’s pale that almost transparent hands reached out, holding Li Huowang’s hand. “Senior Brother Li, you are not penniless, you still have us.”

Li Huowang stared blankly at the girl in front of him. Suddenly, everything around him began to change. The cave’s wall and the hospital’s white walls began to exchange places with each other.

Bai Lingmiao’s facial features began to melt, then reformed into Yang Na’s appearance. Tearful and full of concern, she looked at him.

“Nana!” Li Huowang rushed over, holding her tightly with an extremely painful expression on his face.

(Note:I don’t know if this is considered common sense. In Chinese, when addressing familiar people, especially couples or parent-child relationships, the last word of the person’s name is overlapped to indicate the intimacy of the relationship)

“Huowang, you can’t give up on yourself. You have to live, no matter what happens, you have to live well, okay?” Yang Na’s voice was filled with entreaty.

Then that face changed back to his mother’s face. “Son, you can’t die. If you die, how can I and your father live……”

That face continued rapidly changing, appearing as various people Li Huowang knew.

Suddenly, everything around him froze, and the bright hospital room quickly dimmed down.

Li Huowang slowly loosened his embrace and found he was holding onto Bai Lingmiao.

The girl who was hugged by him appeared a bit shy at the moment, but her gaze did not evade his. “Senior Brother Li, let’s go. I feel uncomfortable staying here.”

Immediately after, she took out the paper notes from her waist pouch and placed them in his embrace. “Senior Brother Li, these are of no use to me,we can’t read or write.”

“Yes, Senior Brother Li, only you can do this. Others can’t.” The others also echoed in agreement at the door.

“I…I…I can…” Plonker had just spoken when Zhao Fifth covered his mouth. He leaned in and whispered into Plonker’s ear, “Even if you know how to read, you have to pretend that you don’t!”

Li Huowang silently looked at the farewell letters written by dead people.

Bai Lingmiao pushed the paper notes forward. “Senior Brother Li, you promised them with your own words. A man cannot go back on his word.”

Reality and illusion kept switching in his mind, but Li Huowang finally reached out and took the paper notes. “Let’s go.”

Li Huowang had made up his mind. No matter where he was, he would try his best to live well. This was not only for himself, but also for the family members who might exist or might not.

As soon as he said this, everyone smiled with relief. They didn’t know what Li Huowang was thinking, but as long as he didn’t stay in this place anymore, it was good enough.

A group of people surrounded Li Huowang and walked out of the dim room towards the cave entrance. However, after taking a few steps, Li Huowang stopped them.

“Wait, if we’re leaving, we need to search this place thoroughly. Plonker, you carry Zhao Fifth on your back and take the others to the kitchen. Get some food for us to eat on the way, we can’t go without any food.”

Then, Li Huowang took Bai Lingmiao to the alchemy room and picked out some elixirs he knew about. He had been practicing alchemy for some time now and with these elixirs, he was half a doctor. The journey home was long, so having these elixirs would be helpful.

However, he only took the ones he recognized, and didn’t dare touch or take any other unfamiliar elixirs that Dan Yang Tzu had made.

After meeting in the Zhengyi Hall, Li Huowang continued to speak up: “Wait a minute, there is one more thing I need to get.” Holding the oil lamp carefully in his hand, he walked towards the cave where the Black Ganoderma was imprisoned.