"Sentinel, Dark Sentinel," the icy voice of Master Danyang echoed in the small preparation room.<br><br>Leo Blaze slightly raised his head, once again gazing at the repulsive object in his hand. Upon closer inspection, he found that it bore some resemblance to the substance inside the dark cauldron—no, it was exactly the man-eating thing from within the cauldron.<br><br>"This thing is called the Dark Sentinel? Is he really planning to use this to refine an Elixir? What a heavy taste," Leo Blaze thought to himself.<br><br>With a slight flick of Master Danyang's wrist, the wriggling Dark Sentinel traced an arc through the air and landed squarely on Leo's foot. The slimy, soft texture made his scalp tingle, and his legs trembled as he continuously retreated.<br><br>Staring at the Dark Sentinel now covered in dust on the ground, Leo Blaze looked up in bewilderment at Master Danyang, unsure of what was intended by this gesture.<br><br>"It's a reward for you. Pick it up and swallow it. In the past, you were just an herbal activator, but now, as my disciple, you can't be so casual. It can suppress your nervous breakdown."<br><br>Leo Blaze seemed not to have understood what was being said, nor did he want to. His face turned pale as he kept backing away. "I won't eat it! I'm not sick!!"<br><br>"Won't eat it? Humph, that's not for you to decide, Changming, Changren."<br><br>With a slight nod from Master Danyang, two Taoists bearing swords briskly approached Leo Blaze, each grabbing one of his arms.<br><br>Master Danyang then beckoned with his right hand, and the Dark Sentinel, which had been inching towards the corner, flew directly into his hand.<br><br>As Master Danyang approached holding the nauseating item, Leo Blaze's body began to uncontrollably shiver, chills seeping from inside out. Instinctively, he wanted to struggle and flee, but the iron grip of the two senior brothers beside him firmly locked his shoulders.<br><br>Fortunately, he had one last resort. As Leo Blaze's breathing grew hurried, his chest heaved violently. Driven by fear, he clenched his teeth tightly and focused all his strength inward, shrinking his mind and body to a nucleus of resistance.<br><br>"Leo? Leo! What's wrong? Are you in pain?" Anna Yang's gentle voice sounded like a heavenly melody to Leo Blaze at that moment.<br><br>Opening his eyes, he saw a girl in a high-necked white sweater. Overwhelmed with emotion, he leapt forward, clinging to her like a lifeline.<br><br>A faint blush spread across the young girl's cheeks as she struggled slightly, whispering in a voice as tiny as a mosquito's, "Leo, Leo, let me go. Auntie and the others are watching."<br><br>Looking up, Leo Blaze noticed his mother standing next to the chief doctor, watching with an affectionate smile. "Oh my—my son is so brave."<br><br>In the clean and tidy hospital room, with the sun shining warmly outside and surrounded by beloved family, the fear enveloping Leo Blaze's heart gradually dissipated.<br><br>The chief doctor adjusted his glasses and frowned slightly as he stepped forward. "Young Leo, what did you see in your hallucination? Your emotional fluctuations are quite significant. What's been happening recently? Are you following my advice?"<br><br>Recalling the recent ordeal, Leo Blaze's heart contracted sharply. Anxiously, he addressed his primary physician, "Doctor, is there any medication that can temporarily suppress these hallucinations? I can't take it anymore. I just want to rest for a while."<br><br>"Sigh, very well. I'll prescribe some haloperidol and trifluoperazine, but remember, young Leo, medication only plays a supportive role. To completely eliminate the hallucinations, you must follow my methods," the doctor said, tapping away on his tablet to order the medication.<br><br>When the nurse brought in several blue capsules, Leo Blaze rushed over, not even bothering with water, and swallowed them immediately.<br><br>What master, what Elixir—he didn't want to think about any of it. He just wanted some peace. The recent events had genuinely terrified him.<br><br>The capsules were slimy and gritty, tasting revolting, but he forced himself to swallow them.<br><br>"Young Leo, tell us, what frightened you in your hallucination?"<br><br>Feeling relieved after taking the medication, Leo Blaze chuckled and replied, "I didn't encounter anything specific. It's just that the tone of the guy over there was strange. It sounded as if he was saying that the other side is the reality and ours is the hallucination. Hahaha."<br><br>With those words, the air around him seemed to freeze in place, the bright colors dimming. Anna, his mother, the chief doctor, and the nurse froze in their spots.<br><br>The sudden shift in his surroundings caused Leo Blaze's body to tremble, his breathing turning increasingly rapid as he looked helplessly out the window. The previously bright sky had turned pitch black, and the safe, peaceful environment vanished.<br><br>A tangible fear enveloped him, and panic overwhelmed all his emotions. Driven by instinct, he clung to Anna, trying to reach his mother's embrace.<br><br>But as he touched his mother, her form exploded like a bubble. The mother, always reliable and strong enough to shield him from any storm, was gone.<br><br>"Leo..." His body jolted violently as he turned around, watching helplessly as Anna's form vanished before his eyes. His only love was gone.<br><br>At that moment, everything positive and beautiful in Leo Blaze's heart disappeared, leaving only despair, repression, and pain.<br><br>The white walls of the hospital receded like an ebbing tide, and he found himself back in the dim cavern among the mountains.<br><br>His bloodshot eyes and bulging veins on his forehead cried out for release, trying to express all the despair and suffering inside him.<br><br>But he couldn't, as his throat was completely blocked by the Dark Sentinel, unable to make a sound, forcing him to endure all the despair and pain himself.<br><br>Watching his trembling, retching disciple kneel on the ground, Master Danyang turned away, hands behind his back, shaking his head as he exited the preparation room.<br><br>"Tsk tsk tsk, claiming you're not having a nervous breakdown when you're this deranged? Among everyone in the preparation room, you're the worst off. Did you think I selected herbal activators randomly before?"<br><br>"Alright, with the nervous breakdown gone, you can work properly now. Remember, Breezy Haven doesn't keep idle people. Come to me for medicine on the first of every month."<br><br>With those words, Master Danyang's other disciples followed him out, leaving the preparation room to Leo Blaze, surrounded by other herbal activators.<br><br>The herbal activators, bizarre in appearance and suffering from various congenital or acquired conditions, glanced at one another, unsure of what to do.<br><br>After half an incense stick's worth of time, the Dark Sentinel in Leo's mouth finally slid down, and his heart-wrenching cries echoed endlessly within the cavern.<br><br>"Why?! Why, even in this hellhole, can't I escape this illness?!")
