The Unruly Immortals

Walking in the middle of the main road, Li Huowang clenched his teeth and desperately chased the redness around him.

In his pursuit, he felt that the distant "Eighteenth of the Twelfth Lunar Month" kept changing positions, sometimes turning into someone's red hat, sometimes into a signboard by the roadside.

But no matter how it changed, Li Huowang still clung tenaciously to its heels, not willing to give up so easily after finally seeing an opportunity. Whether or not he could obtain the "Eighteenth of the Twelfth Lunar Month's" eyes was related to whether he could break free from Master Danyang.

At this moment, he also noticed something strange about the "Eighteenth of the Twelfth Lunar Month"; it seemed to be a thing without eyelids, unable to even avert its gaze, it passively watched anything within its line of sight.

"How odd this thing is, what on earth does it look like in reality?" the running Li Huowang thought to himself.

Under such pursuit, Li Huowang finally made headway, getting closer and closer to the "Eighteenth of the Twelfth Lunar Month", five meters, three meters, one meter!

The frenzied Li Huowang suddenly raised his right hand, just as his feet kicked off the ground, he prepared to grab toward that mass of red.

Just as he was about to grasp it. A hand reached out from behind, grabbing his wrist.

"Li... Li Huowang? You're Li Huowang from class two-four, right?"

Li Huowang glared fiercely, finding that the man who spoiled his endeavor was a balding man in his fifties.

The man adjusted his square glasses and continued to speak to the young man in front of him, "Forgotten? I am your class teacher, where are your shoes?"

Li Huowang looked at the familiar face, somewhat dazed, and instinctively spoke, "Teacher Tong?"

"I remember your mother filed for you to suspend schooling for health reasons, right? How come you ran out here wearing a sick suit? Are you alright?"

Teacher Tong spoke with concern, reaching out his hand to pull out the collar hidden under Li Huowang's clothes.

Looking at the teacher who had helped him a lot in school, a struggle flashed in Li Huowang's eyes.

But he quickly calmed down, shaking off his hand and desperately chasing the redness in the distance.

"Huan Jue!! All of this is Huan Jue!! You can't fool me! It's all fake!!"

Watching Li Huowang's fading figure, Teacher Tong's face showed a hint of worry, then he took out his cellphone from his pocket.

"Hello? Is this Li Huowang's mother? I am his high school math teacher, yes, yes, yes, hello, hello, I saw your son on Lianhua Road, and he isn't wearing any shoes."

"Absolutely no mistake, it's him, I've been teaching for so many years, I would never mistake my students, mhm, mhm, mhm."

Li Huowang, his eyes bloodshot, crazily looked left and right on the street, searching for traces of the "Eighteenth of the Twelfth Lunar Month", holding a piece of broken glass he'd picked up. "Damn it! Where did it go?"

The sound of a distant police siren didn't affect him in the slightest because he knew it was all false.

In his frantic search, Li Huowang suddenly stopped; to his left, some children were lined up for morning exercises.

When he spotted a streak of red among the various clothes, an incredibly creepy smile appeared on Li Huowang's face. "Haha! Found you!"

The toy-like iron fence couldn't stop Li Huowang at all, he clambered over it in a flash.

He knocked down the female teacher who rushed at him with a punch, as screams and cries erupted around him.

However, Li Huowang paid no attention to the others and, like an eagle catching a chicken, he picked up one of the girls by lifting her up and then glared menacingly at the red cherry-shaped hair clips attached to her hair.

The girl was clearly terrified, tears in the corners of her eyes as she stuttered, unable to speak.

"Still pretending? You can't fool me!" Li Huowang roared.

Just then, the sound of police sirens rapidly approached, and the screech of tires braking on the pavement rang out, "Stop! Police, put your hands up!"

Li Huowang instinctively turned to look and saw two police cars up front, with several officers crouching, pointing their guns at him across the fence.

Li Huowang looked at the girl in his hands, then back at them, a cold smile appearing on his face. "Think you can fool me with this? Fake! It's all fake!"

The little girl in Li Huowang's hands started crying out loud, her sobs heavy.

Just as Li Huowang was about to finish off the girl, a figure suddenly burst through the crowd of onlookers, spread their arms, and resolutely stood in front of the guns.

"Don't shoot! Nobody shoot! That's my son! He... he's always been such a good boy, it was only after getting sick that he became like this. Let me talk to him, please? He listens to me, I know he will; he's a filial and good child."

Upon hearing that familiar voice, Li Huowang froze once more. He saw that graciously aging head of hair turn around— it was his mother, Sun Xiaoqin. However, she looked extremely haggard now, aged several years since he'd last seen her.

Looking at her son behind the iron bars, Sun Xiaoqin tried hard to force a smile, but ultimately failed.

Hot tears rolled in her eyes for a moment before streaming down her cheeks. "My good son, listen to mom, can you put the little sister down? Let's go home, you can play games for as many days as you want, I promise I won't stop you."

The conflicted Li Huowang stood there, not knowing what to do, glancing between his mother who appeared so real before him and the girl in his hands.

Sun Xiaoqin shakily made her way closer, while Li Huowang unconsciously began to step back, his expression becoming one of extreme pain.

"No, no, this isn't right, it's all fake, all of it! It's all made up by Huan Jue! The other world is the real one! I can't let illusions control me again!!"

Li Huowang tried hard to convince himself, yet his hand holding the sharp object did not plunge it down.

At that moment, his breathing became more labored, his pupils dilating and contracting rapidly.

When Sun Xiaoqin reached the fence, her body nearly pressed against it, she slowly slid to her knees in front of Li Huowang.

"My son, your mother is on her knees begging you, please. I sold our house for your sake; our family really can't afford to pay anymore."

This calm statement utterly broke Li Huowang, his face twisted as he held the girl in his arms and knelt on the ground, tears streaming down his face.

"Mom!!!"

At this moment, Li Huowang, his forehead bulging with veins, opened his mouth wide, silently wailing, drool mixed with his tears dripping onto the cartoon-patterned floor.

He looked at his distant mother, took a deep breath, and let out all the struggles and confusion in his heart in a deep cry to his deepest place of dependence.

"Mom! I can't tell the difference! I really can't tell the difference ahhhh!!"