You made all the streamers on the internet kneel before you when you were asked to make a game.

All eyes were focused on the half-broken brick.

The red cinnabar stood out starkly against the gray brick surface, the brushstrokes crooked and uneven, like a child's scribbling after just learning to hold a pen.

The green flames in the old Taoist's eyes contracted violently.

His withered, tree-bark-like body shrank back, and the fleshy tentacles that had been baring their fangs and claws, ready to tear the four of them to pieces, were now all stiff and suspended in mid-air.

There was no intention to attack; it was purely a defensive stance.

"Afraid?" Brother Long paused, glancing at his bleeding hand, then at the arrogant monster in the distance. "He's afraid of this broken brick?"

"Give it a try." Lancet didn't waste any words.

She stepped forward, raised the half-broken brick in her hand, and made a throwing motion.

The old Taoist priest let out a piercing scream.

No...don't come any closer!

A tremendous roar, mixed with the aura of death, erupted forth, but he dared not attack. Instead, he controlled the enormous ball of flesh beneath him to wriggle backward with all his might.

The blood vessels connecting his lower body were taut, and several small blood vessels broke due to excessive stretching, spurting out black pus.

He even raised his two withered arms to protect his face, which was nothing but bones.

This movement doesn't resemble that of a celestial being who has lived for hundreds of years; it's more like that of a scapegoat who's been cornered in an alley.

"Holy crap." Brother Long's eyes widened, the blood at the corner of his mouth still wet. "He really is a paper tiger."

The situation reversed instantly.

What was just a hopeless situation has turned into a one-sided threat of intimidation because of this half of a brick covered in graffiti.

Professor Chen clutched his back and staggered to the back of the scalpel.

He squinted and carefully examined the talisman.

"This is not a traditional Taoist talisman," Professor Chen said in a low voice.

"There is no talisman head, no talisman core, and no talisman foot."

"What is this drawing?" Brother Long asked.

"It's a circle." Lancet turned the brick at a different angle.

The red cinnabar was indeed used to draw a crooked circle.

There was a dot in the middle of the circle.

It looks like an eye.

It also resembles a... gun barrel.

"Whatever it is, this thing is his nightmare." Liu Yedao looked at the trembling old Taoist priest, "and it's also our talisman."

She took another step forward.

The soles of my shoes made a squelching sound as they stepped on the sticky coating on my tongue.

"Weren't you just about to refine pills?" Willow Leaf Blade looked coldly at the old Taoist priest. "Why did you stop?"

The old Taoist priest peeked out from between his arms, staring intently at the brick.

Take...take it away...

His voice echoed in everyone's minds, trembling.

That... madman...

He...promised...not to kill me...

"A madman?" Brother Long keenly caught the key word. He moved forward and, feigning intimidation, picked up the other half of the broken brick—although there was no talisman on it, it still made the old Taoist tremble.

"Which lunatic? What's his name?" Brother Long roared.

The old Taoist priest didn't speak, he just shook his head.

He seemed afraid to even mention that person's name, as if the nightmare would immediately descend upon him if he uttered it.

Professor Chen pressed down on Brother Long's shoulder.

"Don't push too hard." Professor Chen looked around. "This is still someone's stomach."

He turned to the old Taoist priest, clasped his hands in a gesture of respect as a peer.

"This... fellow Daoist," Professor Chen said carefully, choosing his address.

"Since you have your reservations, we don't want to push you too far."

"But now that the gates of the Earth Immortal Temple have been opened, there has to be an explanation."

The old Taoist priest slowly lowered his arm.

Its green eyes flickered erratically, as if assessing the situation.

That terrifying madman didn't come.

What arrived were just a few ants carrying that person's token.

But that talisman... the aura emanating from it cannot be faked.

As long as this brick is still there, he can't touch these people.

You...get out...

The old Taoist priest pointed to the staircase woven from black hair above.

[Leaving...my...view...]

"Get lost?" Liu Yedao sneered. "It's easy to invite a god, but hard to send him away."

She shook the brick in her hand.

"We're leaving, but we have to leave this brick behind." Lancet made a gesture as if to throw the brick into the fleshy mass. "To ward off evil spirits, how about it?"

The old Taoist priest suddenly straightened up, and his bones crackled and popped.

How dare you!

The red liquid around the fleshy ball boiled violently, and countless black hairs poked their heads out from the abyss, ready to pounce.

He was testing the limits of his life.

"Don't get agitated." Liu Yedao withdrew his hand. "We can take it."

"But we need compensation."

"Compensation?" Brother Long chimed in from the side, "Yes, compensation for emotional distress, lost wages, and the labor fee for that... that drug-using person."

The green flame in the old Taoist priest's eyes almost went out.

He has lived for so long and cultivated so many human essence pills, but he has always been the one who eats people.

Today I was actually blackmailed and extorted by a few "dregs" of medicine.

But when his gaze fell upon that red brick, he slumped down again.

What do you want...?

The lancet did not answer immediately.

She looked at Professor Chen.

Professor Chen nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over the huge ball of flesh beneath the old Taoist priest and the pained faces on its surface.

"We need to know the truth," Professor Chen said in a deep voice. "What kind of elixir is the Earth Immortal Temple refining?"

"Who is the alchemist? And who... are you?"

The three questions each hit the nail on the head.

The old Taoist priest remained silent for a long time.

Waves of heat surged up from the bottom of the pit, ruffling his tattered Taoist robe.

I am... the Abbot...

The old Taoist priest finally spoke.

[Also... a hearthkeeper...]

He looked down at his lower body, which was now engulfed in a ball of flesh.

[Also...firewood...]

Professor Chen frowned. "If you are the abbot, why do you call yourself 'firewood'?"

The old Taoist priest let out a strange laugh.

Because...becoming an immortal...is fake...

Immortality... is also a lie...

He raised his finger and pointed to the top of his head.

There was endless darkness there, leading to a grand hall on the ground.

Three hundred years ago... that thing... came...

It said... it was hungry...

It gave me... the recipe...

As long as I... fill its stomach... I can... live...

The old Taoist priest's voice was filled with a kind of twisted fanaticism and fear.

I filled in...

I filled in the names of my apprentices... I filled in the names of the villagers... I filled in the names of the passing merchants...

【I've filled it all in!】

But this fire... has never gone out!

He slammed his fist against the fleshy mass beneath him, which made a dull thud, and the face inside emitted a mournful wail.

This meat... it rots and then grows back... it grows back and then rots again...

I can't get out... and I'm afraid to go out...

If I leave this furnace even half a step... it will... wake up...