Chapter 121 - Yang Na
Li Huowang was shocked when he saw the state her body was in.
“These... Did they do all this to you?” Li Huowang’s voice was trembling; at the same time, his hatred for the Ao Jing Sect became even stronger.
“They only did a part of it in the beginning. Later, I did most of it myself in order to assimilate into the sect and become one of them,” Yingzi calmly wore her robes back before continuing in a voice filled with ridicule, “I’ve already sacrificed so much and had thought that I was already one of them; however, turns out that’s not the case. In their eyes I’m nothing more than a disposable pawn.”
Li Huowang wanted to console her but didn’t know what to say. He could lie back down on the bed.
“Don’t worry. I will take you out of this accursed place. You can start over,” said Li Huowang.
However, Yingzi did not answer him.
Li Huowang knew that his words didn’t have any power; if she didn’t will it herself, her life would never get better.
Splat~
At that moment, a wet tongue started licking Li Huowang’s face—it was Bun who had been lying on his chest.
Li Huowang patted Bun and stared at the dark ceiling.
When he woke up on the second day, someone had already sent in their breakfast which consisted of sweet potato congee paired with multigrain biscuits.
First, Li Huowang fed some of the food to Bun. After he confirmed that it was not poisoned, Li Huowang ushered Yingzi to eat alongside him.
Li Huowang had decided not to ask her anything else today. Her position within the Ao Jing Sect was relatively low, and so she would only know some of the things that would be considered common knowledge anyway. He probably had a higher chance of learning new information if he went out on his own.
He had even thought about an excuse in case Shou San asked what he was doing outside. He would just say that he wanted to learn how the members of the Ao Jing Sect inflicted pain onto themselves.
Under Yingzi’s guidance, Li Huowang started roaming around inside the cave system.
Li Huowang was able to roam freely without any sect member intercepting them. All they did was stare at him. He wasn’t sure if this was because of their adherence to their rules or the Flesh Book given to him by Abbess Jingxin.
With his heightened senses, Li Huowang was able to detect a sense of alertness and curiosity from the sect members. There were also some unidentified emotions intertwined with that curiosity.
However, Li Huowang soon decided to ignore them; he was more and more repulsed by the things he had seen within the cave system.
If the Eighteen Layers of Hell described in Buddhism truly existed, then this place was precisely it.
Flaying, chopping in half, dismemberment, lopping off body parts, death by thousand cuts, and various other torture methods that he had never seen before.
Li Huowang’s stomach started to churn due to the intense stench of blood assaulting his nose.
Soon, he walked out from the area filled with the sound of flesh being torn apart and screams. He had barely caught his breath while leaning onto a wall when he saw a small figure run by with a pinwheel in his hands. The little boy was wearing a pair of shoes and a hat made from tiger skin as he happily raised the pinwheel in his hand.
“Dad, you are so slow,” said the young boy.
Behind the boy was one of the sect members. He raised his scarred hands as he chased after the boy. “Son, you are just a fast runner.”
Seeing the both of them leave, Li Huowang’s face contorted with disgust. “These damned lunatics! Don’t they have any conscience?”
Yingzi, who had been leading the way, took a glance at Li Huowang before continuing on her way. “Sir, you seemed like you were interested in the other books of the Ao Jing Sect. If you want, I can give you my book. How about it?”
Yingzi had expected a reply but there was none. When she turned around, she saw that the Taoist in red robes was holding onto his head with a pained look on his face.
“Damn! It’s here again!” Li Huowang suddenly felt everything around him disappear. He knew that the hallucination was starting once again.
“Sir? Sir, what’s wrong?” Yingzi quickly approached him.
At that moment, Li Huowang saw with his very eyes as Yingzi’s figure turned into that of a nurse.
“Roll your tongue back in. Don’t bite on it,” instructed the nurse.
When the nurse saw how Li Huowang was staring at her in a daze without talking, she sighed and left.
Meanwhile, Li Huowang was looking at the sun high in the sky, blanking out and not knowing what to do.
“Wait! I’m still outside back in reality! It’s extremely dangerous!” Li Huowang blurted out.
Realizing the danger he was in, he spoke urgently, “Yingzi, listen to me; quickly bring me back to the room and tie me up—”
“Huowang,” a voice interrupted Li Huowang.
Hearing this voice, Li Huowang raised his head and saw Yang Na’s crying face. She was still wearing the same simple outfit which consisted of a white sweater and a pair of jeans along with a small satchel on her waist.
“Huowang, can you react to my voice now? Are you awake? Do you recognize me?” Yang Na ran over and grabbed his hands.
Li Huowang was thrown into confusion when he felt the familiar warmth. He instinctively froze up and pretended that he still hadn’t come back to his senses.
Seeing this, the excitement in Yang Na’s eyes soon turned to disappointment; even after calling out his name a few more times, there was no response.
Tears welled up from her eyes and stained her long lashes. Her soft voice was trembling, “Huowang, you big liar. You had said that we will go to university together! I'm already in the first year and yet you haven’t even woken up!”
When he heard this, Li Huowang felt a pang in his heart. Even though he knew that this was a hallucination, he couldn’t help himself from speaking. “Nana, I’m sorry.”
When she heard those words, Yang Na was ecstatic and launched herself into his embrace while crying. “I’m so sorry. I really wanted to visit you earlier, but ever since you appeared on the news, my parents forbade me from coming to meet you. Today, I finally had a chance to come and see you.”
Li Huowang gently hugged her before pushing her away. “Nana, your father is right. Don’t come here anymore. I’m afraid that I...”
The second half of his sentence was something he had previously buried deep in his heart; even so, he still had to say it. “...I am afraid that I might end up thinking that this side is the real one.”
When Yang Na heard what he said, she couldn’t believe her ears. She felt like she had been plunged into a frigid lake. She had never thought that when Li Huowang finally became coherent after a long time, these would be the first words out of his mouth.
Amidst her frustration, she took her satchel and swung it at Li Huowang numerous times while crying and screaming, “Did you ever consider my feelings before you said those words? Why do you want me to leave you as well!? My parents, my brother, my friends, and now even you! I’m so tired from trying to persevere for so long, so why did you have to say it as well?! Didn’t you say that you loved me and that you never wanted me to give up on you?!”
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