Chapter 384: White Pagoda

Chapter 384: The White Tower

With an enemy at hand, pain was the last thing on Li Huowang's mind. From his chest, he pulled out two luminescent stones and hurled them into the dark water.

The glowing stones fell swiftly, illuminating a corner of the darkness where a creature resembling a dragon king appeared—its body like a long, hairless serpent.

“What is this thing!?” Li Huowang gritted his teeth and slashed his right wrist with his sword.

A grotesque bone spike burst from his severed arm, spinning rapidly toward the creature.

From the wound, black tentacles writhed out, forming a crude hand.

As his left hand thrashed within the black mass, seawater gradually turned black with blood, forcing the mass to scatter.

Faces began to emerge from the black hair—eyes dark green, filled with hostility and intent to kill.

“This isn’t a human face—it’s a monkey’s face. There’s no dragon king here. Just a bunch of water monkeys,” Li Huowang thought as he stared at the writhing limbs like seaweed.

Water monkeys were fine too; at least they could understand human speech.

With a clang, he drew his purple-sheathed sword, divine aura surging through him. He opened his mouth wide, bubbles rolling upward toward the surface. “Get lost!”

The horde of water monkeys fixed their gaze on him, but soon, their bodies swayed with the waves and faded into the depths, seemingly frightened away by his presence.

Having escaped the immediate danger, Li Huowang prepared to rise to the surface—but he didn’t see the bearded man with the bald head anywhere. “Where did he go? I never saw him.”

Li Huowang shot up from the water, took several deep breaths, then dove back in, searching for the missing man.

After several trips, he finally found him at the ocean floor.

But half his face was gone, and his left eye had been torn out by the water monkeys. His skin was pale as snow, washed white by the sea.

“You...” Li Huowang stared at the corpse, unsure what to say.

“Om mani padme hum, Om mani padme hum. You are bald, yet you do good deeds—you must be a great monk,” the monk said beside him, beginning to chant.

Li Huowang sighed helplessly in his heart, grabbed the beard floating in the bloodied water, and swam toward the surface.

“I should have tested his strength before letting him in the water.”

Just as Li Huowang pondered these thoughts, a sudden shout came from behind. “Daoist, watch out! Behind you—!”

Before the monk could finish, Li Huowang spun around. The last thing he saw was a monstrous mouth, larger than a house, lined with thick, dark tendrils.

“Hmm?” Li Huowang stared blankly at the dusty ceiling fan above.

A small white wildflower filled his vision. “Brother, you’re awake? Look, it’s beautiful, isn’t it? I picked it outside.”

Li Huowang moved his gaze upward along the chubby hand holding the flower, until he saw a round, kind face.

He looked old—fifty or more—but his mannerisms were childlike, his eyes pure and innocent.

Suddenly, all the muscles in Li Huowang’s body tensed. “No! I was just eaten by something underwater—how am I here now?”

He struggled to sit up, only to find his limbs bound tightly with wide restraints.

“Brother, this is White Tower Hospital. Some people call it White Tower Prison. I was found by a guard while dumpster diving on the street,” the man said.

“He said I wasn’t that stupid, so he let me feed you your meals and gave me extra candy.”

Looking at everything unfamiliar, Li Huowang’s mind raced. “Regardless of why Heitaishui’s power failed, if I can appear in this illusion, it means I’m still alive—I still have hope! No, this place is inside that monster’s belly! I’ve got to get out of here fast!”

After sorting things out, Li Huowang turned to the man beside him. “Can you help me? Untie these restraints.”

The man shook his head violently like a pendulum. “No way. The guard said not to untie them. If I let you loose, I’ll be locked in solitary confinement.”

The situation in reality was dire—maybe he’d already be digested entirely. Li Huowang had no time to waste.

He took a deep breath, suddenly twisted to the left, flipping the metal bed with a deafening crash.

This sudden move startled the man so much that he burst into tears, pounding on the iron door and shouting at the surveillance camera: “Guard! Waaah! Come quick! I’m scared!”

Li Huowang writhed his body, sending the bed flying high into the air, then slammed it down hard onto the floor.

Using the momentum, he crushed the bones in his left palm, then bit his teeth and yanked hard.

His left hand, now broken into pieces, slipped free from the restraints like noodles.

With his only free finger, he desperately tugged at the buckle, and soon, his right hand was free too.

At that moment, footsteps from outside the ward grew louder.

Just as a prison guard rushed in, Li Huowang drove his right knee into the man’s ribs, snapping three of them.

Before he could even catch his breath, two electric batons were plunged into his body, causing him to convulse violently.

Clutching the wires, he ripped them out with his teeth, glaring at the remaining guard with eyes full of hunger.

The guard trembled in fear. Though he still held other weapons, facing this man, he knew his chances were slim. He knew exactly why this man was locked up.

“Li Huowang? Li Huowang, right? I know you’re HIV-positive. You can hear me, right?”

“Stay calm, stay calm. Your girlfriend just finished visiting and hasn’t left yet. I’ll call her over so you two can meet.”

Li Huowang ignored him, grabbing a magnetic card and an electric gun from the fallen guard and rushing toward the exit.

“I don’t care what you are—I won’t let you digest me in your stomach! Not a chance!”

As Li Huowang continued opening gates and attacking guards, alarms blared throughout the psychiatric ward of White Tower Prison. Multiple teams rushed in from various exits.

Assessing the situation, Li Huowang acted rationally—no escape from the exit.

He glanced around, then charged into the guards’ office. With one foot planted, he leapt off the fourth floor.

“Cough cough~!” Li Huowang spat blood, staggering to his feet from the grass.

Ignoring the mentally ill inmates who came to check on him, he looked up at the towering gray prison block, a smirk spreading across his face.

“No matter what you are, you think you can eat me? Dream on!”