Chapter 123: Treatment

Chapter 123: Treatment

Watching Shou San speak these words with an utterly calm demeanor,

Li Huowang replied, "Fine! I'll trust you one more time! I don't ever want to see something like today happen again! Otherwise, if you push me too far, I might as well hand my body over to Danyang Zi, and we'll all go down together!"

Hearing Li Huowang's threat, a hint of displeasure flickered across Shou San's face.

Yet he cast a highly apprehensive glance at the Daoist before him, ultimately saying nothing.

Under the watchful eyes of the Zoroastrian congregation, Li Huowang reached down to help Ying Zi up from the ground, pulling her along step by step as they walked back.

After they had left, Shou San turned his head toward a completely unremarkable Zoroastrian beside him and asked in a hushed voice, "Elder Shen Benyou, you saw it too. Aren't you going to do something?"

The mysterious and unfathomable Grand Elder Ying Zi had spoken of was actually right there on the scene.

The man's gaze remained fixed on the direction Li Huowang had departed. "No, this Heart-Plain is not quite like the others. You've seen his abilities yourself; he's far more dangerous than the rest. Let's keep him stable for now. I'll take my time to observe him carefully and figure out his true strength before making a decision."

"Yes, I understand, sir."

Back inside the room, Li Huowang seemed to have exhausted every ounce of his strength, collapsing directly onto the floor.

Ying Zi, now down to a single arm, stood there hesitantly. Seeing that Li Huowang was still bleeding profusely, she carefully approached. "Benefactor, are you alright?"

"Heh... I'm fine. Not going to die."

Hearing this, Ying Zi's eyes grew resolute, and she walked toward the wax-sealed book lying on the ground nearby.

Holding the book with her one hand, she knelt before Li Huowang and said softly, "Benefactor, please endure it. I'm going to treat your wounds."

With that, she raised the book and began to chant. Her voice was exceedingly strange, as if a human voice were mimicking the crackling and popping of a blazing fire.

"Whoosh!" The entire wax book in Ying Zi's hands burst into flames.

The melted white wax, enveloped by the fire, dripped directly into Li Huowang's wounds.

A sizzling sound rang out, and Li Huowang caught that familiar scent once more.

As Ying Zi raised the book above her head, the burning wax on Li Huowang's body seemed to come alive. It began to writhe and crawl across his flesh, like a flaming slug.

As this thing crawled over Li Huowang's body, white smoke billowed from his skin, leaving behind streaks of scorched marks.

This was not merely to stop the bleeding; the burn scars, with flesh and skin fused together, sealed over those deep, bone-exposing wounds.

Crawling and crawling, the thing covered every inch of Li Huowang's body, sealing up most of his injuries.

The price, however, was that Li Huowang's pain receptors were doubled in intensity. The agony nearly made him bite his tongue in half, and sweat drenched him as if he had been caught in a downpour.

Yet that was not all. Watching this fire-slug-like creature slither along his skin toward his face, Li Huowang gasped and instinctively threw his head back.

"Heh, this method of healing is truly a killer."

Breathing heavily a few times, Li Huowang steeled his heart and opened his mouth.

He grabbed the fire slug from his chest and shoved it straight into his mouth.

In the next instant, Li Huowang experienced what it felt like to swallow a massive gulp of molten lava.

He could feel the lump of magma sliding down his throat, gradually creeping into his esophagus.

Sizzling sounds echoed continuously as thick white smoke billowed out from Li Huowang's mouth and nose.

The extreme burning sensation was so excruciating that Li Huowang clutched his own throat, rolling around on the ground in agony.

Feeling the thing nearing his stomach, the trembling Li Huowang hastily signaled to Ying Zi beside him.

"Stomach... no need! There's something inside; the fire slug can't fight it!"

Although Ying Zi didn't quite understand what Li Huowang meant, she complied nonetheless.

After crawling out of Li Huowang's mouth, the fire slug did not dissipate. Instead, it slithered onto Ying Zi and began to scorch her skeletal hand.

With a clatter, the bone of her hand fell limply to the ground. Enveloped by the fire slug, the gap in her severed arm began to heal gradually.

Having completed its task, the fire slug crawled back onto the book, re-wrapping its surface. As the flames dissipated, the wax rapidly solidified, and the book returned to its original state.

"Does it hurt?" Li Huowang asked, looking at Ying Zi, who was breaking out in a cold sweat.

"How could it not hurt? But compared to the day my younger brother and sister died, this pain is absolutely nothing..."

Li Huowang's gaze dimmed slightly, and then he nodded. "Yes, physical pain can be endured, but the pain of the heart is truly unbearable."

Ying Zi, now one-armed, gave him a silent look, said nothing, and helped him up to walk toward the bed.

Looking at the profile of Jiang Ying Zi beside him, Li Huowang really couldn't fathom her true intentions.

Some of the things she did were utterly contradictory.

Then he recalled what Shou San had said earlier. "I don't know how much of his words can be trusted, but since he said it, he probably won't make a move again, right?"

After the two lay back down, the injured Li Huowang fell asleep almost the moment his head hit the pillow.

In a daze, Li Huowang dreamed, dreaming of so very many things.

But when he woke up again, he couldn't remember a single thing.

When he opened his eyes, he saw Mantou excitedly circling Ying Zi, its whimpers full of fawning affection.

"How did you two get so close all of a sudden?" Li Huowang walked over to the stone table and began to eat his breakfast in large mouthfuls.

Ying Zi looked at Mantou with a deeply complex expression, gently stroking its pale white paws.

"I remember now. It was a dog from my neighborhood. That year, the old dog had seven pups, and it was one of them."

"I thought it was surely dead too, but I never expected it to have survived."

Watching Mantou excitedly lick Ying Zi's hand, Li Huowang sighed softly.

"Such a massive town, slaughtered until only one person and one dog were left. This damned world."

"Benefactor, why do you think he killed us? He is an immortal of boundless power, while we are less than ants in his eyes. Was it simply because we offended his sight?"

A tremor crept into Ying Zi's voice as she struggled to suppress the emotions surging within her.

Li Huowang sighed softly. "Who knows? That's just the way of this world. The good die young, while the wicked live for a thousand years."

Li Huowang and Ying Zi chatted idly, their relationship having grown slightly closer after the events of the previous day.

"By the way, what's the name of the book you used to heal me?"

Li Huowang found that thing was actually quite useful, even though the treatment process was excruciatingly painful, and the fire slug left horrifying scars wherever it crawled.

Li Huowang discovered that after a good night's sleep, he had actually healed quite substantially.

Ying Zi took the wax book from her robe and handed it to Li Huowang with her single hand. "The True Scripture of the Fire Zoroaster. If you need it, Benefactor, it's yours."