Chapter 684: Eight Sufferings

With his eyes closed, Li Huowang decisively drew his fire scythe across his skin the moment he felt he had injured the opponent, and towering flames engulfed his entire body.

Whatever this creature was, its massive size meant Li Huowang couldn't hold back.

With his eyes still closed, Li Huowang controlled his two arms and over a dozen tentacles, grabbing the edges of the wound. With a roar, he pulled hard.

With a tearing sound, Li Huowang, still ablaze, burrowed directly into the wound.

Wielding three swords with his three hands, and cloaked in fire, he rampaged through the creature's body. He repaid the unknown entity for his earlier frustrations a hundredfold, a thousandfold.

He soon heard sizzling sounds of burning, interspersed with agonizing, dragon-like roars. The violent tremors almost made Li Huowang open his eyes.

But the more the entity struggled, the deeper Li Huowang burrowed. When he finally felt the pressure ahead lighten, he realized he had pierced straight through it, whatever it was.

The sizzling sounds of burning eventually transformed into the roaring of intense flames, and Li Huowang began to feel himself falling.

The moment he landed, Li Huowang opened his eyes to see the sky full of dark clouds had completely turned into fiery sunset clouds, rapidly dissipating. He had won.

"Water!" With a splash, Li Huowang landed in mud. After a few breaths, he spat out mud and swam out of the ground.

When he stood up again, the rain had stopped, and the thin morning sunlight pierced through, bathing Li Huowang's scorched face.

The air after the rain was fresh. Whether the entity was dead or merely incapacitated, it seemed everything was over.

The three monkey children had never witnessed such a sight. They knelt on the ground, eyes wide with extreme reverence, kowtowing to Li Huowang as if he were a deity.

Li Huowang didn't care what others thought. At that moment, he was gazing at the vast, cloudy sky, lost in other thoughts.

Whatever that creature was, it was clearly no ordinary evil spirit. Yet, to call it a Fated One felt like an overstatement.

If forced to define it, Li Huowang felt that the creature was closer to a Joyful God, or perhaps similar to the beings outside Baiyujing.

This world wasn't simply black and white, nor was it just mortals and Fated Ones; there were many other entities in between.

"So, the Child God has even managed to recruit those kinds of beings now?" This thought further dampened Li Huowang's mood, as the opponent's influence seemed to expand even more in his mind.

If even a remote place like this had such entities, what would be protecting the Dragon Vein of Hou Shu?

Noticing everyone looking at him, Li Huowang shook his head. "It's all over now. Let's rest. Everyone's tired after a whole night of fighting."

At his words, everyone immediately felt a sense of relief, their anxieties lifting. They began to move, some tending to wounds, others preparing food.

As the steaming hot food entered their mouths, all their lingering fears quickly dissipated.

Li Huowang gently pulled back the bandage on Young Yang's injury, carefully examined it, and then covered it again. "Tell your wife to change the bandage. Water got in, and the wound looks pale."

"Senior Brother Li, these are just minor injuries for me, but your wounds..." Young Yang looked at the scorched Li Huowang, hesitating to speak.

"Just take care of yourself. Mine are minor too," Li Huowang replied, walking back to the campfire. He picked up a bowl of noodles and began eating them with some grilled salted fish.

"Senior Brother Li, don't move. I'll ask the Bai family to heal you," Bai Lingmiao said, picking up a drum and beginning to beat it.

"I don't have any Longevity Pills left. Don't summon the immortals."

"Senior Brother Li, they're very agreeable now; they don't even need Longevity as payment. Dong, dong, dong!"

As Li Huowang ate bite by bite, he felt something approaching, something watching him.

Tense, Li Huowang nonchalantly used his chopsticks to pick up a piece of braised fish belly, carefully removed the long, thick bones, and placed it in Yang Na's bowl.

He glanced out the window from the corner of his eye. Seeing it was Aunt Qi, he let out a slight sigh of relief. This time, it wasn't *them*.

Yang Na, now back to normal, noticed Li Huowang's actions. She said nothing, instead turning to Sun Xiaoqin to praise how delicious her cooking was.

After the meal, Li Huowang walked towards his bedroom. He sat on a stool, his expression gradually turning serious.

This couldn't go on. Shortly after Yang Na took her medicine, those people's gazes reappeared. He had even briefly encountered them, but unfortunately, he couldn't take a picture with his phone.

He didn't mind for himself, but he was worried about the impact on Yang Na and his mother.

Li Huowang opened his phone, dialed a number, and made the call directly. "Hello, it's me. Have you found the source of those two severed fingers?"

"It's been so long, and you still haven't found anything? Is your database really incomplete? Two severed fingers, and you can't even trace the person."

"What do you mean there are more important things than two severed fingers? Let me reiterate: I'm not crazy! Someone is definitely trying to abduct me!"

Hearing the door open behind him, Li Huowang hung up the phone and turned to face Yang Na, who was carrying a fruit platter. He asked gently, "How are you feeling?"

Yang Na gently shook her head. She walked over to him, placed the fruit platter on the table, and took his hands in hers, asking, "Huowang, what's wrong? Are the side effects of that medicine making you feel bad?"

"Not at all, haha, I'm fine. Just thinking about a few things," Li Huowang replied. After a moment of hesitation, he said to Yang Na, "Nana, I need you to do me a favor, okay?"

"Of course, tell me," Yang Na nodded.

"I need to go back to Kangning Hospital to visit an old friend. I don't want my mom to come along. Could you accompany me?"

Those people were always lurking around him. Regardless, he had to meet Qian Fu again.

Although Qian Fu was insane and spoke nonsense, his words had indeed proven true: surveillance footage had been tampered with, and there were people conspiring against him. These were real threats, and Li Huowang dared not ignore them.

Yang Na didn't ask many questions. Seeing that Li Huowang needed her help, she simply gave him a gentle hug and nodded, saying, "Okay."

Taking advantage of Sun Xiaoqin's absence, Li Huowang and Yang Na set off.

However, before he could even leave the complex, Aunt Qi, with her hands on her hips, and two other elderly people stopped him at the gate. "Little Li, where are you going? And your family?"

"To Kangning Hospital," Li Huowang answered truthfully.

"What are you doing at a mental hospital? Do you have a good reason?" Aunt Qi's eyes immediately showed deep suspicion.

Meeting Aunt Qi's gaze, which seemed to size him up like a criminal, Li Huowang retorted directly, "You know I'm a mental patient, so what do you think I'd be doing at a mental hospital? Of course, I'm going for a follow-up. What, is that not allowed either?"