Mutated Tao

Chapter 3: Jade Pendant

Once he confirmed that the piece of candy was the real deal, Li Huowang’s heart started pounding.

I need to tell Doctor Li!

However, as soon as he was about to take his first step, he stopped himself. Soon, other thoughts flooded his mind.

He knew that the piece of candy was not the only thing that he had seen within his hallucination. There were other items as well, and some of them were way more valuable!

As he savored the sweetness of the candy in his mouth, he shuffled around his ward.

This is a chance! Both me and Yang Na can become rich! Heck, I could even reach the peak of my life!

He quickly realized the implications of all this.

I mustn’t tell Doctor Li. The last thing I need right now is for me to be dragged into a lab to be dissected. Plus, this is not something that would fall under his jurisdiction.

But still… this is not something that I can be hasty about. I have to understand the logic behind this phenomenon.

A plan started to hatch within his mind.

Just as he was formulating a plan, the room around him started to distort, slowly fading away.

Huowang had already grown accustomed to this phenomenon. He quickly shoved his homework and textbooks into his bag and threw it toward a corner of the room to avoid it being torn apart while he was in the hallucination.

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He promptly pressed the red button beside his bed, and several nurses immediately barged into the room seconds later. They restrained him on the bed.

When he opened his eyes once again, he was back inside the cold and dark cave. The other malformed disciples were staring at him curiously.

He sat up from the cold stone floor and once again surveyed his surroundings to gain a new understanding.

Even if this was just a hallucination, everything around him felt like treasures placed within a vault.

Maybe he wasn’t sick. Maybe he had acquired a strange power that even the doctors did not know about.

Maybe I’m not sick. Yes, that’s right. I’m not sick.

He had long suffered from his ailment, facing discrimination from everyone no matter where he went.

It was as if ever since he was afflicted with hallucinations, he was no longer a human but a mutant.

Just the mere thought of finally being free from that stigma and discrimination excited him.

Li Huowang, now in quite a good mood, chuckled as he approached a bald guy near him. “Haha, this is interesting.”

“What are you guys gathering around and loitering for? Quickly go and get back to work! If the guiding drug that was requested by Master isn’t ready and ruins his chance at becoming an Immortal, he will skin all of you alive!” A spiteful voice echoed from the entrance.

Li Huowang turned toward the voice and saw that it was the same Taoist who had summoned him before, Xuan Yang. He was still arrogant as ever; it was as if it was a disgrace for him to speak to all of them.

Seeing Li Huowang’s fearlessness, Xuan Yang felt that his authority was being challenged. He shook the horsetail whisk in his hand and confronted him. “Disciple Li, to think that you did not end up becoming a part of the guiding drug for Master. It’s quite a shame.”

Meanwhile, Li Huowang couldn’t even be bothered to pay attention to his words. All his attention was placed on a jade pendant attached to Xuan Yang’s waist.

This must be an antique. If I were to get my hands on it and bring it back to the real world, it would be worth quite a lot of money, right? But how should I do it? Should I just take it and place it near my chest, just like I did with that candy?

When Xuan Yang saw Li Huowang remain silent, he mistook it to mean that Li Huowang was afraid of him. He scoffed and left the cave.

Staring at Xuan Yang’s back, Li Huowang thought about his plan. He wanted to take the jade pendant and see if he could bring it back to the real world. The easiest way to do so was to steal it at night.

That is a really nice jade pendant, and soon, it will be mine.

At that moment, a white hand, one that was slightly reflecting the dim light within the cave, gently tugged at Li Huowang’s sleeve. At the same time, a soft voice spoke to him, “Disciple Li, quickly get back to work, or you won’t be able to eat.”

Li Huowang turned and saw that it was the girl suffering from albinism that he had helped out before.

He thought about something before taking out the partially melted black candy and placing it in her hand. Then, he went back to his place and picked up the pestle, continuing with his work.

Currently, he couldn’t afford to do something out of character, be it at the hospital or within the hallucination.

He must not tell anyone about this shocking power. He planned to slowly explore the rules of this power before deciding on his next move.

The mundane task of grinding up drugs finally came to an end for the day.

It was soon late at night. Amidst the darkness and the sound of snoring, Li Huowang opened his eyes.

It was dark. There were no windows, nor were there any lights. He had to slowly feel the cave and navigate toward the exit.

He first came up to his workstation and picked up the powder of a green rock that he had ground earlier. It was glowing softly, providing just enough light to walk around the cave.

Even though he looked extremely conspicuous within the completely dark cave, he didn’t care.

Even if I am found out, I will just return to the hospital. I have a way to escape this, so there is nothing to fear.

He assured himself as he walked in the cave by himself.

The hallucination was something brought about by himself, so how could he be afraid of it? He was fearless even though he couldn’t control the hallucination.

The cave was large, but since Li Huowang had been here for quite some time, he could navigate it pretty easily.

He soon arrived in Xuan Yang’s small cave. It was simple, but the large bed that he had all for himself was enough to show how much authority he had compared to the rest of them.

Li Huowang was surprised to see that Xuan Yang wasn’t in the cave. However, his clothes were here. Li Huowang couldn’t care less and immediately grabbed the jade pendant from the Taoist robe.

He sneaked out of the cave and carefully examined the jade pendant under the dim light from the green stone powder.

The jade pendant was surprisingly smooth and clear. Images of clouds and intricate patterns were carved onto the jade. Even an amateur could tell that this was excellent quality jade.

As he carefully examined the jade pendant, Li Huowang grew happier and happier. If he could truly bring it back to the real world, both his and Yang Na’s university tuition fee of four years could be easily paid off!

“Hehehe~ Miss Yang Na, get ready to become a rich lady.” Li Huowang muttered those words before placing the jade pendant within his clothing and leaving.

Up until this point, everything had progressed quite smoothly. Just as he reached the entrance, he encountered a group of people going up a flight of stairs.

They were almost the same age as Li Huowang, and consisted of both boys and girls. Fear covered their faces as they were illuminated by a flickering torch.

Both parties were surprised and none of them made any noise for quite some time.

In the end, Li Huowang was the one who broke the silence first. He raised the hand that held the green rock powder and illuminated them. “Xuan Yang, your clothes… Were you assigned to the Preparation Room?”

It was not only Xuan Yang. The rest of them also had responsibilities assigned in different sectors. One of them was even the one who had fanned the furnace before.

But regardless of what their usual responsibilities were, they were all wearing clothes made from coarse fabric. None of them had anything else on them except their clothes.

Xuan Yang was not as arrogant as he was during the daytime. His expression quickly changed before he approached Li Huowang and whispered, “Let’s go! We need to leave, now! It’s time to leave this place! I’ve already bribed the disciple guarding the entrance to the cave!”

“Leave? Oooh! You guys are trying to—”

Before Li Huowang could even finish his sentence, Xuan Yang had already covered his mouth.

Chacha and Char’s Thoughts

Ooooh that’s one way to get rich quickly. Steal a jade pot and sell it for a bajillion dollars!