NOVEL NEXT
Chapter 608 - Lies and Truth
“Xu’er...”
It had been a long time, but Li Huowang could still remember the name that Abbess Jing Xin had given to her son.
However, he had never imagined that Xu Shou was actually Xu’er!
The Abbess’ son was a Strayed One, but to think that he'd have another body on this side!
The implications were unmistakable, and Li Huowang felt overwhelmed by the deluge of information inundating his mind.
However, all of it could wait...
Li Huowang needed to ask what Xu Shou was trying to do with him.
“Xu Shou! Why did you do this to me?! What are you planning on doing to me?!” Li Huowang exclaimed, staring at the old man.
“Cough, cough... '' Xu Shou coughed up blood as Li Huowang helped him up. Xu Shou then stared at Li Huowang with his glazed but determined eyes.
His pale lips quivered to say something, but...
“... “
Li Huowang looked up and glared at the helicopter, “Scram! You are too noisy! I can’t hear him!”
With that, he pulled Xu Shou closer to him and pressed his left ear against Xu Shou’s mouth to hear what the latter had to say.
Xu Shou parted his mouth once again, and a familiar voice entered his ears.
“Huowang? Huowang, focus now. It’s your turn.”
Li Huowang snapped back to reality and looked around him.
His surroundings had changed.
The boat, Xu Shou, and even the helicopter had disappeared.
The chaotic surroundings had been replaced by a tranquil one. The shift was so drastic that he found it extremely uncomfortable.
He looked down at himself and saw that his wounds, even his missing arm, had vanished. It seemed like he had traveled back in time to just a few days ago.
Li Huowang realized that he was back on his plastic chair. He was sitting in a circle along with the other patients back in Kangning Hospital.
The hall was quiet and peaceful.
“Li Huowang? What’s wrong?” Wu Cheng asked. He was in his white robes and was staring at Li Huowang.
Li Huowang stared at Wu Cheng and saw that the latter's face was unscathed. Li Huowang could still remember how he had bitten off a chunk of Wu Cheng's face, but now, there wasn't even a scar left.
Li Huowang had tortured Wu Cheng, but the latter's eyes reflected no emotions except for concern. It seemed like nothing had happened between him and Li Huowang.
“Have you discovered anything strange with your illness? I'm your doctor, so feel free to talk to me. I will do my best to help you while you're here.”
Li Huowang looked at him with a conflicted feeling before opening his mouth, saying, “Doctor Wu, I feel like something has happened just now.”
Then, Li Huowang recounted what had happened to him.
After listening to Li Huowang's recount, Wu Cheng crossed his arms and frowned. “It’s normal for you to have hallucinations since it’s written on the report, but usually, only those with autism suffer from fragmented perception. Actually, it's strange that your fragmented perception happened in your hallucination."
Autism? Fragmented thoughts? Li Huowang looked around in confusion before looking at the autistic boy nearby.
The boy smiled, but he froze all of a sudden and stared out into space. He looked just like Li Huowang earlier, seemingly stuck in an endless cycle.
Was everything fake just now? Was it all my imagination? Impossible! It was too real to be fake! A hallucination couldn't be that real!
Li Huowang knew that there was something wrong going on here, so he needed to investigate it.
“Doctor Wu, lend me your phone. I need to call Doctor Yi.”
“All right. The rules actually don't allow me to do so, but I'll make an exception today," Wu Cheng said. He unlocked his phone and passed it to Li Huowang.
Li Huowang’s suspicion vanished at Wu Cheng's reply. Wu Cheng has actually changed...
Li Huowang took out the slip of paper that Yi Donglai had given him and called the number written on it.
The phone was ringing, but no one was picking it up.
The tiny pond in front of him looked familiar. It was a certain pond in Cowheart Village.
The battle with Doulao’s Twisted One, the boat, and even his belly full of maggots were gone. It truly felt like he had gone back in time and entered a timeline where the Imperial Preceptor hadn't done anything to him.
The ringing of a phone vanished. Li Huowang turned to the skies and exclaimed, “Come out here! Did you do this to me?! What did you do to me?”
And that was when something bizarre happened...
Li Huowang watched as his own reflection emerged from the pond before him.
“What’s wrong? Isn’t this great? Everything is back to normal.”
“Good? What do you mean 'good'? What happened? What happened to the boat? Why did it disappear? Are my thoughts fragmented?!” Li Huowang shouted at Ji Zai.
Ji Zai pondered over his answer before replying, “I’ve taken the Heavenly Dao of Truth and Lies from Yinyang Doulao. And I turned everything that had happened into a ‘Lie.'”
Li Huowang was frustrated. “What are you talking about?”
"I told you that everything you care for might become fake, while everything that is fake might become real. Did you think I was lying?”
Li Huowang's frustration intensified at Ji Zai's words, “But what happened just now was real! How could it just disappear?”
“What is real and what is fake? Are you sure that everything you're touching is real? What about everything you've experienced so far? Are you sure they're real? If so, then how are you going to prove it?" Ji Zai asked; his questions stumped Li Huowang. “Stop thinking about the past. What’s done is done. Start looking forward.”
Ji Zai returned to the water and merged with Li Huowang’s reflection.
“I forgot to inform you of a good news. I’ve taken control of three and a half Heavenly Daos—Bewilderment, Truth, Lies, and the Heavenly Dao of Chaos from the Sacred Mountain Ghost. You don’t have to worry about anything else. I can finally defend myself.”
“Stop talking in riddles! You have to tell me what happened just now! I still have no idea what happened!”
"Great. Just keep moving forward," Ji Zai replied, refusing to answer Li Huowang's question.
“Screw you!” Li Huowang swung his spine sword at Ji Zai upon realizing that the latter had made a fool of him.
This was the first time Li Huowang detested his future self.
Unfortunately, the reflection of himself in the water sustained no injuries, no matter how many times he slashed his sword at the pond.
“You should be happy as my Twisted One. Since I've gotten stronger, you should have reaped some profits as well.”
“I don’t want any of those!” Li Huowang exclaimed and swung the spine sword, parting the water in the pond.
Once the parted water returned to normal, Li Huowang shouted, “I’ve done all of your requests! You better stop bothering me from now on! Scram! I feel irritated just looking at you!” Surprisingly, the reflection in the water replied, “You know that one day, you'll stand here and listen to yourself saying those words. You know that, right?”
The reflection in the water disappeared afterward.
Li Huowang stared deeply at the water, and he couldn’t shake off the feeling that Ji Zai was still looking at him.