Chapter 6: Value

Chapter 6: Value

Seeing Li Huowang's sudden move, Yang Na took a nervous half-step back. "What are you doing? If we talk here, the nurses' station can hear every word."

Hardly had she finished speaking when the intercom by the bed crackled with the nurses' muffled giggles. "Hahaha, don't worry, we can't hear a thing. Keep it up, little brother Li~"

"Sisters, could you please stop being such gossips? Focus that spare attention on the intensive care ward instead."

After shouting toward the headboard, Li Huowang took Yang Na by the hand and pulled her to the far corner of the room.

He fished the jade pendant from his pocket and pressed it into her palm, then leaned in to whisper urgent instructions by her ear; as he spoke, Yang Na's eyes widened in sheer disbelief.

"How is that even possible? This—" Before she could finish, Li Huowang reached out and clamped his hand over her mouth.

Their gazes locked, and Li Huowang stared at Yang Na with eyes burning with desperate yearning.

"Help me. Everything I'm saying is true. Out there, no one trusts me, not even my parents. They all think I've gone mad. You're the only one I can turn to. You're the only person in the whole world I trust. I'm really not crazy!"

Yang Na looked at him for a few seconds before finally biting her lip and nodding; as she left, her eyes were red, and she glanced back every few steps, seemingly deeply worried about his state of mind.

Li Huowang watched her retreating figure with a tangled heart; he no longer cared what others thought of him, but Yang Na was different.

"Nana, trust me just this once, just this one time!"

Waiting always stretches time into an eternity, and Li Huowang paced the room in restless anxiety.

Hallucinations flickered before his eyes again during this time, but Li Huowang snapped back to reality as fast as he could; the doctors said such rapid shifts were highly detrimental, but he was terrified of missing Yang Na.

One day, two days, three days—as the days slipped by, Li Huowang's mood grew increasingly fraught with hope and dread.

"Little Li, your little girlfriend is here to see you~" Hearing the nurse's announcement, Li Huowang sprang from the bed with a carp-like flip and dashed toward the courtyard gates.

In the hospital's garden, Li Huowang and Yang Na met and threw themselves into a passionate embrace.

Lowering her voice, Yang Na whispered fiercely into his ear, "Huowang, it's real. That jade pendant is real!"

"I'm not sick!! Hahaha!! I'm not sick!!" Overjoyed, Li Huowang wrapped his arms around the girl's slender waist and spun her round and round in the air.

After a long while of exhilaration, they finally managed to calm their racing hearts.

"Did asking you for help disrupt your life or your studies?" Li Huowang asked with concern, looking at Yang Na as she sat sideways on the edge of the flowerbed.

Instead of answering directly, Yang Na changed the subject, holding up four pale, slender fingers. "Do you have any idea how much that jade pendant is worth? This much!"

"Four... ten thousand?"

"Four hundred thousand! And I think he definitely lowballed it; if we asked around more, it would surely fetch even higher."

"Four hundred thousand... four hundred thousand..." Li Huowang chuckled foolishly; not only would this cover his medical bills from all these years, but there would be plenty left over, and more importantly, this was only the beginning.

"Yang Na, are you ready to become a little rich woman?"

Li Huowang's teasing brought a faint blush to Yang Na's cheeks. "Stop the smart talk. This whole thing is just too bizarre. Are you sure it won't harm your body?"

"I'm fine, what could possibly happen to me? I'm in great shape. But if this is the case, I'm afraid my treatment will have to be put on hold. This is a treasure, and I can't be cured too quickly."

Hearing this, Yang Na's expression tightened with anxiety, and she said to him with deep concern, "Huowang, those are two different things. I don't want the money. Your treatment absolutely cannot stop, and neither can your medication. Promise me, or I'll never help you again."

A dozen reasons to argue surged in Li Huowang's mind, but looking into her caring, worried eyes, a warm current flooded his heart. "Alright, I promise."

Yang Na smiled and reached out to gently pat his head. "That's a good boy, you stinky little brother."

Just as the two were discussing how to cash in the jade pendant, several burly middle-aged men hurried past, wielding riot forks.

"Master Zhao, what's wrong? Did something happen?" Li Huowang asked one of the familiar faces in confusion.

"Don't ask so many questions. Little Li, get back to your ward right away, and if you run into Old Liu, report it immediately. That old fool must have secretly spat out his meds again," the man said in a rush before turning and hurrying toward the stairs.

"Isn't the intensive care zone enclosed by two layers of iron bars? How could a frail old man like Old Liu escape?" Li Huowang looked over in that direction, puzzled.

Back when he couldn't tell hallucinations from reality, he had stayed there for a while, and it was far from a pleasant memory.

Seeing the other patients being escorted back to their wards by the nurses, Li Huowang turned to Yang Na and said, "It's getting a bit chaotic here. You should head back first. Call the hospital tonight, and we'll talk on the phone."

"Mhm, take good care of yourself here, and remember what you just promised me," Yang Na said before turning and walking toward the distant hospital gates.

"Four hundred thousand..." Li Huowang sighed as he turned back toward his ward; now that he knew for certain the pendant was truly worth that much, a multitude of new ideas began to bloom in his mind.

What did it matter if it was a hallucination or reality? If things from over there could be worth so much money, who cared whether it was an illusion or the real world.

He had only taken a few steps when a familiar scream pierced the air from behind; turning around, Li Huowang saw a bald, gaunt old man tackling Yang Na to the ground.

Blood rushed to Li Huowang's head at the sight; gnashing his teeth with a ferocious scowl, he charged toward them. "Old Liu! That's my girlfriend, let her go right now!!"

"Whoosh~" A sudden whistling sound tore through the air as a pried-up hexagonal paving stone tumbled through the sky and smashed squarely into Li Huowang's head.

The world spun violently, and Li Huowang crashed heavily to the ground; his vision was gradually swallowed by a crimson haze as his head split open.

Through the red-tinted blur, Li Huowang saw a pair of bloated feet, constrained by a hospital gown, stride past him and march toward the struggling, screaming Yang Na.

Hearing those heavy footsteps drawing closer to Yang Na, a loud buzz erupted in Li Huowang's brain, leaving only a single thought: they must not be allowed to hurt her!!

With trembling hands, he pulled a pill given to him by his master from his pocket and shoved it into his mouth, swallowing it down with his own flowing blood.

In an instant, a scorching stream of heat surged from his stomach and flooded his limbs; he felt an immediate rush of immense power, and his groggy mind became crystal clear.

"Bang!!" He swung a fist, smashing it ruthlessly into the fat man's heavy jaw; in a flash, a mouthful of yellowed teeth loosened and flew out, leaving barely a few intact moments later.

Drenched in blood, Li Huowang ignored the collapsed fat man and strode up to Old Liu, driving a heavy kick into his bony chest.

"Crack, crack." The sound of snapping bones echoed continuously as Old Liu, coughing up blood, was sent flying like a limp noodle; seeing Yang Na on the ground, tearfully clutching her torn sweater, Li Huowang clenched his teeth so hard his gums bled.

His bloodshot eyes glared fiercely at the two men lying motionless nearby; planting his foot heavily on the concrete, he launched himself at them like a hunting leopard.

"Huowang!! Stop!! What are you doing!"

(End of Chapter)