Li Huowang curled up in a corner of the storage room, motionless and withdrawn, like an unborn baby.

The other apprentices dared not disturb or bother him, quietly going about their own tasks.

Unbeknownst to them, night had silently descended. The oil lamps on the walls had all gone out, leaving the darkness to envelop Li Huowang like a blanket.

He lay there like a corpse, unresponsive to the changes in the outside world.

In the middle of the night, a faint candlelight flickered to life at the door, illuminating the nearby shelves and dispelling the darkness shrouding Li Huowang.

Timid Bai Lingmiao approached him, carrying a bundle of dried grass, and carefully laid it over him.

Then, she took out a piece of steamed bun from her pocket and placed it near his lips.

Seeing that Li Huowang remained motionless, she pursed her lips and gently nudged him. "Senior Brother, please eat something. You haven't eaten anything all day."

Li Huowang's eyes were open, staring numbly at the cold ground without moving towards Bai Lingmiao.

Bai Lingmiao thought about leaving, but after hesitating for a moment, she ultimately took out a jade pendant from her pocket and placed it beside Li Huowang.

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

This time, Li Huowang finally reacted. He looked at the object and realized it was the round jade pendant he had stolen from the previous Xuan Yang. Li Huowang remembered giving it to Yang Na to exchange for money. The thought of Yang Na made his wounded heart ache again. "How did this end up with you?"

"It... Senior Brother, you gave it to me. I said I didn't want it, but you insisted on giving it to me."

Li Huowang slowly sat up, carefully examining the cloud-patterned round jade pendant under the dim light of the candle.

At that moment, everything felt incredibly real to him. But within this reality, there was only despair and pain.

If he had a choice, how much he wished to remain trapped in that beautiful illusion.

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Seeing Li Huowang's response, Bai Lingmiao softly asked, "Senior Brother, where were you captured by our master? I am from Liang Kingdom, where are you from?"

Li Huowang hesitated for a moment before shaking his head dejectedly. "I don't know."

He truly didn't know. He had memories of the past, but after what happened during the day, Li Huowang couldn't discern how much of those memories were real and how much were illusions.

Even now, he felt like a madman, unable to distinguish between reality and illusion.

As he shook his head, Li Huowang suddenly felt something strange on his head. He touched it and realized his hair was matted with dried blood from his previous injury.

Seeing him touch his head, Bai Lingmiao explained, "That was done by Senior Brother Wang."

Li Huowang knew the person she referred to was the fat guy with rabbit lips who had tried to harm Bai Lingmiao. "What happened to him?"

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

Hearing this, images of kicking Old Liu's head off in his hallucination flashed through Li Huowang's mind. He lowered his head and chuckled silently. He truly was insane.

Li Huowang reached into his pocket and pulled out an anklet wrapped in red thread, offering it to Bai Lingmiao. "This is yours. Take it back."

Bai Lingmiao looked at her anklet and pushed it back with her palms together. "Senior Brother, you were right before. This item is of no use here. You keep it."

Li Huowang stared at the golden anklet, but it was useless to him now. He had lost everything he cared about.

"Well, Senior Brother Li, mighty noble!" a male voice suddenly chimed in from outside the storage room, startling both individuals inside.

As the candlelight illuminated the person, they saw a face with a mischievous grin and pointed features, yellow and white patches on the skin resembling vitiligo.

This person presented two steamed buns, placing them beside Li Huowang in an attempt to ingratiate himself.

"Hehehe, enjoy the buns, Senior Brother Li. I knew you hadn't eaten dinner, so I saved two for you."

"You probably don't know my name, I'm a naturally born genius, no need for a formal name. Just call me Guowa, hehehe. Just yesterday, I even gave you seventeen copper coins as a tribute."

Guowa fidgeted nervously, rubbing his hands together, clearly seeking Li Huowang's favor to avoid being sent to become a medicinal ingredient. Clever people can be found anywhere.

Li Huowang said nothing, grabbing the three slightly hardened steamed buns and devouring them hungrily. He had been hungry all day.

Eating too fast, he choked on a piece of bun, and Guowa quickly ran out to fetch him a cup of water.

As the cold water washed down his throat, Li Huowang stuffed the three steamed buns into his stomach. He had been hungry all day.

He swayed as he struggled to stand up; lying on the ground for so long had numbed his legs.

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

His gaze fixated on the pitch-black exit of the storage room, Li Huowang staggered out.

His enemy was no longer his sudden ailment; his enemy had transformed into the leprous Taoist Da Yangzi, who used people to concoct elixirs.

As Da Yangzi's ugly and disgusting face appeared in his mind, a thick aura of murderous intent started emanating from Li Huowang. His teeth began grinding loudly.

Just moments ago, he had been resigned to his fate, but now he was filled with determination. The only thing he had to do was find a way to kill him!