Chapter 452
Chapter 452
-----------------------------------------------------------------
>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 452
>Chapter Title: Hospital
>-----------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 452: Hospital
In the biting cold, Gao Zhijian, dressed in short training clothes with steam rising from his head, walked up to Li Huowang. He excitedly pointed at the military manual and said, “Practice.”
Li Huowang understood what he meant. This was an offer to have him cultivate this military school technique. He shook his head slightly. “No need. You practice it yourself. I can’t use it right now.”
If he had just come out of Clear Wind Temple, he would have absolutely treasured something like this.
But compared to the cultivation method he was currently practicing, as well as Hei Feng’s various Sitting Oblivion Dao divine abilities, this straightforward military school technique seemed a bit redundant.
As for headless immortality, he could already achieve that himself now—as long as he didn’t notice his own head was gone.
“By the way, after practicing this technique, will your personality change at all?” Thinking back to Peng Longteng’s temperament back then, Li Huowang couldn’t help but worry for Gao Zhijian.
“Nope.” Although Gao Zhijian answered crisply, Li Huowang still sensed his changes. After all, this guy had once done something as stupid as squatting at a grave with a monk to eat wild rice.
If past Gao Zhijian had come across as honest and foolish, the current Gao Zhijian had a certain vigor about him.
“Alright then, practice it well. This technique is a good thing for you.”
At the very least, from what he could see so far, while the military school’s baleful aura made one’s personality more outgoing, it wasn’t necessarily that severe.
After chatting idly with Gao Zhijian for a bit, Li Huowang prepared to head back to the Bai family estate for dinner.
Just as he reached the door, something occurred to him. He turned back to Gao Zhijian and said, “Military school body refinement techniques like this aren’t very effective when practiced alone. They’re meant for use by thousands of troops. There are plenty of tenant farmers in the village, right? You could try teaching them, and pick out a few with good aptitude.”
If Bai Family Village had a small squad of military school guards, then no matter where he went, he wouldn’t have to worry about trouble brewing at home.
Gao Zhijian, who had looked a bit dejected because Li Huowang hadn’t accepted the military manual, instantly perked up. He gripped the manual tightly and nodded vigorously.
When Li Huowang returned to the Bai family estate and mentioned this at dinner, Bai Lingmiao said, “Sure, that’s even better. They’ll have something to do during the slack farming season.”
“Pay them appropriately more. They may be our bondservants, but you still need to win their hearts.”
Bai Lingmiao, holding her ceramic bowl, rolled her eyes at him. “What nonsense are you spouting? Those are our adopted sons. How could I mistreat them?”
With that, she stood up and went to refill her rice.
“What happened to your foot?” The sharp-eyed Li Huowang immediately noticed Bai Lingmiao’s odd gait.
“Nothing, I just stubbed it in a pothole on the ground.”
“Don’t go running around with that gauze over your eyes.” Li Huowang scooped up half a bowl of soup with a ceramic ladle, threw his head back to drink and moisten his throat, then stood and headed outside.
“Hey! Li Huowang! Where are you going this late at night? Can’t you stay put for once?” Bai Lingmiao chased after him and asked.
“Don’t wait up for me. Just leave a window open tonight.”
Li Huowang leaped and dashed across the tiled roofs, charging toward the tall Oxheart Mountain behind the village.
As he vaulted over an empty house, Li Huowang shouted down below, “Li Sui, follow!”
“Got it.” Li Sui’s tentacles hurriedly set down the struggling mantou and followed.
The two followed a small path up to the midway point on the mountainside before stopping. Li Huowang looked in surprise at the densely packed graves before him. “How did so many people die?”
The midway point was covered in grave mounds, with faint green will-o’-wisps flickering among them. In the dim surroundings, it looked extremely eerie.
But Li Huowang didn’t care. He’d been in this damned place for so long, seen all sorts of things, but he still hadn’t seen a single ghost.
He glanced around and walked into an open clearing. It seemed prepared for burials too, but left empty once it was full.
He turned to Li Sui beside him and said, “I’m heading over there. Keep watch for me. If any strangers or danger shows up, crawl into my gut and wake me.”
Things here had stabilized for the moment, but on the other side of reality, troubles were piling up.
“Got it.” Li Sui spoke, holding up its two-pupiled eyeballs, its slick body cracking open a mouth slit.
Li Huowang took a deep breath and sat cross-legged on the clearing. He gently revealed a thread of his innate one qi, wrapped in his divine light.
As the surroundings warped and collapsed, his pupils gradually lost focus. He calmly looked around.
While Li Sui seriously carried out its task amid the bushes, it suddenly sensed footsteps approaching.
But when it lifted its eyeballs to see the newcomer’s face, it immediately relaxed.
“Mom, it’s so late. Why aren’t you back sleeping yet?” Li Huowang said softly to a wooden stele before him.
At that moment, a fair, jade-like hand reached out and gently stroked his cheek.
“Li Huowang, oh Li Huowang, is this what you call your hysteria being cured?” Bai Lingmiao squatted in front of him, staring at his face, her voice carrying a hint of helplessness.
“Mom, it’s clean enough already. No need to wipe anymore.” Li Huowang’s words cut off halfway as a damp towel covered his face again.
“What’s wrong with wiping a few more times? It’s not like it’ll scrub off a layer of skin. You’re clear-headed now, so brush your teeth too.” A soft plastic tube of toothpaste was shoved into Li Huowang’s mouth.
Though this drew another round of complaints from Li Huowang, both their faces broke into irrepressible smiles.
Looking at Sun Xiaoqin wiping his hands, Li Huowang thought for a moment before speaking. “Mom, what did the doctors here say? When can I get out of here?”
They called this a hospital, but it was really just a prison—a special prison for the mentally ill. Here, he had no personal freedom; not even moving a finger was easy.
Since he’d decided to treat this side as real from now on, he naturally had to act accordingly.
If he wanted to accomplish anything here next, the first step was getting out—even transferring to a private hospital would do.
“Do you find it stifling staying here?” Sun Xiaoqin looked up at him.
“Not really. I’m just a bit worried about Yang Na. I don’t know how she’s doing.”
Without another word, Sun Xiaoqin grabbed the towel, picked up the basin, and headed out the door.
The nighttime ward was deathly quiet, so much so that he could make out bits of his mother arguing with someone.
“Comrade, are you kidding? Do you think...”
“Look, my son’s illness is already... He can transfer to a better environment. Locking him up like a criminal is bad luck...”
As footsteps approached, their voices grew nearer and more heated.
“If you won’t let my son out, then I won’t pay! You can feed him for free!”
“What kind of talk is that? These prisons are all public, funded from above. One more or one less won’t line my pockets. Even if you don’t pay, we won’t let him go!”
The man’s tone softened. “You have to think of others too. Your son doesn’t know what he’s doing. He’s tough as iron, feels no pain. Normal people aren’t his match. If he goes berserk on the street, what then?”
“Your son killed seven robbers, so he could kill seven students!”
“My son wouldn’t do that!”
A large hand pointed in through the door window. “Wouldn’t do that? Can he even tell right now? Your son’s a mental patient!”
At these words, the ward fell silent for a moment.
Li Huowang, lying on the bed, thought for a bit before asking toward the large hand, “So what exactly do I need to do to get out of here fair and square?”
But the large hand ignored this lunatic and led Sun Xiaoqin out the door. Their now-calm conversation voices gradually faded.
“Snap.” All the ward lights went out.
Li Huowang, brow slightly furrowed, stared at the flashing night-vision camera in the corner as he pondered how to escape this bind.
(End of chapter)