The Unruly Immortals

Li Huowang looked at the attending physician in front of him, pondering over the question he had just asked, "Which world is irrational?"

His handcuffed right hand pointed to the hospital floor, "This world is irrational, this side is fake!"

Doctor Li, upon hearing Li Huowang claim such a thing, did not show any surprise on his face. Instead, he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose with his index finger and continued to ask, "Alright then, why do you think this world is irrational? There must be a reason, right?"

Li Huowang did not answer immediately, but instead stared listlessly at the white ceiling above.

"Before, when I was holding that child hostage, the police shot at my head, didn't they? So why am I not dead? Am I Vajra invulnerable? Doesn't this prove that this world is all fake?"

Li Huowang suddenly felt that discussing this with the people in this illusion was utterly meaningless.

"Little Li, it's just that you were lucky, that's all. Someone missed their shot, after all, who decreed that every shot must hit its mark?"

"Hmph, lucky, you believe such an irrational thing?" Li Huowang scoffed coldly.

"Some people are struck by lightning, others win the lottery, some people have good luck and some have bad luck, why do you think the real world is fair and reasonable?"

"This world has never been reasonable, but why don't others who encounter these unreasonable things doubt this world is an illusion like you do? Because you're not like them."

At this, the doctor took out his cell phone from the pocket of his white lab coat and started to play a video for Li Huowang.

"Why do you so firmly believe that the other side cannot be an illusion? Actually, if we're talking about it, the things you encountered there should be even more unreasonable, right?"

"Master Danyang is dead! Master Danyang is dead! You're free now! Come out, everyone!" On the phone screen, Li Huowang, his body bound in Binding Clothes, was shouting loudly to the empty room.

Seeing that Li Huowang had been drawn into watching, the doctor swiped a finger across the screen, and a new video began to play, still featuring Li Huowang in Binding Clothes.

"Fake! It's all fake! Whether those statues or the big Buddha, all of it is a trick, they can't fool me!!"

"How about talking to my master?" "Heh heh... Didn't understand? I'm saying you should talk to my master in person."

One after another, the videos all featured past statements made by Li Huowang.

As the last video played, Li Huowang's pupils contracted slightly. He saw his deranged expression while wearing a hospital gown, holding a wrench in his hand, shrieking madly as he rushed toward a bustling mall.

"Master Danyang! Don't kill the child! You can't kill children!!"

There was a lot more to the video, but the doctor didn't play it. He pocketed his phone again.

"Look, compared to all the things you've experienced on that side, not being shot in the head is nothing, right?"

Li Huowang's mind was thrown into disarray once more, his breathing quickened, but he did not want to explain anything and closed his eyes again, "Fake... it's all fake..."

"Alright then, since you think this side is fake, why did you hesitate when faced with your mother's pleading? Since it's all fake, why not just plunge the shard of glass downward?"

Doctor Li's tone gradually became more intense.

"If it's all fake, why should you care whether Yang Na has a new boyfriend?"

He poked Li Huowang's chest repeatedly with his finger.

"If you keep being crazy like this, how long can she hold on? Even if she doesn't change her heart, do you really have the heart to watch her silently waiting like this? Can you give her happiness? Do you even deserve to be her boyfriend?"

Li Huowang suddenly opened his eyes wide, staring fiercely at the doctor in front of him. "They are fake!! But my feelings for them are real!! Even though I know they are all hallucinations, I just can't abandon my feelings for them!!"

"Do you think I don't want to go back to them?? Because I can't go back!! I have traveled through time!! I have been traveling for a long time!!"

"You say this world is real, well then, let me ask you, why is there a machine for stomach washing in a mental hospital?"

When Dr. Li heard this, he spread his hands with a helpless look on his face, "What's there to be puzzled about? You patients often swallow things by mistake. This kind of machine is almost standard equipment in all mental hospitals. If it wasn't for this machine last time, those disgusting things you swallowed would have claimed your life already."

"Then why does eating Black Taisui from that side suppress the hallucinations on this side?"

"What you ate wasn't any Black Taisui, you ate a rat, and your condition has worsened!"

"Just happen to worsen right after I ate that? How do you forcefully explain that?!"

"Li, you've got the cause and effect wrong. It's precisely because your condition worsened that those corresponding hallucinations appeared. Those hallucinations change with your condition. That's why they are hallucinations."

Hearing this, Li Huowang's expression turned ferocious, as he threw out his most crucial piece of evidence. "Fine! Let's assume you're right, then tell me, why can I bring things from that side to this one? How do you explain this!?"

"Oh? A new symptom has emerged? Tell me how you managed to bring it, where is that item? Show it to me."

Li Huowang was just about to speak of how he had given Jade Pendant to Yang Na when he suddenly stopped.

"No, I can't involve Yang Na, not even her hallucination."

Li Huowang feared that after facing Yang Na's hallucination, he wouldn't be able to hold on and would again consider this side to be reality. He had to sever all connections to the hallucinations as much as possible.

"Just wait, when I come back next time, I'll show you real good what things from that world are like! Then I'll see how you're going to forcefully explain it, you damn hallucination!"

Hearing the disjointed ramblings of the young man before him, Dr. Li sighed helplessly.

"Li, I'm afraid there won't be a next time. You've caused trouble several times already, and our hospital is equally liable. We've faced a lot of lawsuits because of you, so the director personally ordered your transfer to another hospital."

"Transfer? To where?" Li Huowang asked in astonishment.

Dr. Li patted Li Huowang's shoulder, "Since you consider this side to be a hallucination, why do you care where you're transferred to? All I can say is, because of your situation, your family's financial condition is very bleak."

"This is my last consultation with you. I originally wanted to make one last effort, but it seems destined to be futile. To be honest, as your primary physician, I really feel a sense of defeat, hehe."

Dr. Li took off his glasses from his face and looked carefully at the young man before him, extending his right hand to touch his head, his facial lines softening significantly.

In this moment, they were no longer just doctor and patient. "Li, you're a good kid, even though your illness is very erratic. I hope that in the future, whatever you encounter in your hallucinations, don't give up on yourself easily, especially like the time you cut open your own belly."

"Do you know? You almost died. Some of your intestines were cut out, and you needed a stoma for half a year to recover."

"If there's anything that matters more to the people who care about you than a crazy version of you, it's your death. As long as you are alive, there is hope, understand?"