Li Huowang shook his head after learning that Qing Wanglai was in the kitchen.
The familiar roar of an engine echoed from a distance. Li Huowang gave a signal to Yang Na and Yi Donglai.
BAM! The door was kicked open violently, revealing a completely transformed Zhao Shuangdian.
"Where is Li Huowang?"
Li Huowang was stunned. Zhao Shuangdian's usually smooth, lustrous hair now looked greasy, as if she hadn't showered in days. She looked disheveled, with baggy, ill-fitting clothes and no makeup.
He remembered her as a beautiful and intelligent woman, but now she appeared to be someone entirely different.
Zhao Shuangdian locked eyes with Li Huowang and laughed before approaching him.
Yang Na wanted to stop her, but Zhao Shuangdian pushed her away. "Li Huowang, why were you looking for me? Is there something that you can only say to me face-to-face?"
"Wha... What?"
Li Huowang was taken aback because her change had disrupted his plans.
But there was no time to waste. He needed to adjust his plans quickly, so he hastily brought Zhao Shuangdian away from Qing Wanglai's mansion.
They reached the bamboo forest, and Li Huowang turned to face her, his shock evident. "Why are you like this? How did you become like this?"
Zhao Shuangdian, clearly irritated, crossed her arms and scoffed. "What are you talking about, you crazy lunatic?"
Li Huowang understood what was happening when he recalled Yang Na's situation.
"Is it because I consumed your Heavenly Dao? Here, let me return it to you!"
Li Huowang attempted to cut into his flesh to offer it to Zhao Shuangdian, but she forcefully pressed down on his shoulder to stop him.
Li Huowang struggled. "Why? I'm trying to return it. Why don't you want it? Why don't you want your Heavenly Dao? I don't know how to use your Heavenly Dao!"
Yi Donglai ran over to help them. "Little Li, she won't understand what you're trying to do or say if you keep talking like this."
Li Huowang sighed when he observed Zhao Shuangdian's expression. "Fine. Let me go. I'll explain everything to you."
"Explain what?" A familiar voice cut in.
Zhao Shuangdian let go of Li Huowang and waved toward Qing Wanglai. "Don't worry. Li Huowang just wanted to explain something to me."
Li Huowang turned to see Qing Wanglai approaching them with his trademark smile.
"Let's talk in the mansion."
Once they had returned to the mansion, Zhao Shuangdian questioned Li Huowang again, saying, "What do you need to tell me? Go ahead."
Li Huowang looked at her and then at Qing Wanglai. He didn't know how to explain things right now.
The Three Ancient Ones were more vigilant than he had thought. Although Qing Wanglai didn't recall the events of the previous resets, he was still closely monitoring everyone.
Right now, Li Huowang couldn't reveal that Qing Wanglai intended to steal all of the Heavenly Daos. His previous efforts would be entirely wasted if he did.
Apart from alerting Qing Wanglai, there was the risk that Zhao Shuangdian wouldn't trust Li Huowang anyway, given how much she'd changed.
At that moment, the sound of the television caught Li Huowang's attention, and an idea struck him. He pointed to the screen. "Look! Fu Shengtian is coming!"
Everyone turned to see footage of the hurricane on the television. A shard of glass from a skyscraper fell and shattered on the ground, causing the reporters to flee in panic.
The others looked at Li Huowang in confusion. He explained, "Fu Shengtian is attacking us and heading closer. We need to find a way to deal with it as soon as possible!"
Qing Wanglai blinked and pushed his glasses up. "Is this the major news you were talking about?"
"Isn't it important? Fu Shengtian will reach us in eight days! I had to risk my life to get this information! We'll all be dead if we don't come up with a plan before it arrives!" 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶
"Six days." Someone interrupted Li Huowang.
He turned to see Chen Hongyu, who was staring at the television. "Huh?"
Chen Hongyu explained, "Not eight days, but six."
She turned up the volume, and the announcer's voice echoed across the room. "Weather reports say the hurricane will reach us in six days. We urge everyone..."
Li Huowang's face paled when he heard the news. Fu Shengtian hadn't been affected by the resetting timeline—it was still approaching them.
Qing Wanglai had said they had eight days, but now they only had six.
"Wait, doesn't that mean..."
Suddenly, Li Huowang recalled something. He pulled out his phone with trembling hands. His fear was palpable, but he dialed Sun Xiaoqin's number.
—Sorry, this number is no longer available.
The recording left him crestfallen. Refusing to give up, he tried Li Jianchen's number. However, he heard the same message.
"This... How... how could this be... Why..."
Li Huowang cried and called his parents repeatedly, but no one answered.
Fu Shengitan was immune to the timeline reset. Its actions affected future timelines.
Fu Shengtian had altered the past, so the deaths of his parents—Sun Xiaoqin and Li Jianchen—had been set in stone.
"Why! Why! Why involve them? Attack me instead!" With a cry of anguish, Li Huowang smashed his phone against the ground.
The others were surprised by his outburst, stepping back in shock.
Ba Nanxu worriedly approached Zhao Shuangdian. "Why don't we send him back?"
Yi Donglai clenched his fist and whispered, "Little Li! Calm down! Don't forget our plan! Things aren't over yet!"
Li Huowang took several deep breaths before collapsing onto the sofa with Yi Donglai's help.
Only then did he realize the others were seated at the dinner table, whispering among themselves while occasionally glancing in his direction.
Chapter 1016 - Clash
Li Huowang could already guess what they were discussing. After resetting the timeline so many times, it was obvious—they were talking about how his condition had worsened.
But that worked in his favor. He could use it as a smokescreen to deceive Qing Wanglai.
Thankfully, he still held the initiative despite how much the situation had changed.
Li Huowang took a deep breath and approached them.
"You guys must think I'm lying, but I'm telling the truth. We need to work together to overcome this crisis."
Chen Hongyu replied, "But where is your proof? We need more than words to believe you. We need evidence."
"Proof?" Li Huowang pretended to think deeply before shaking his head. "I don't have any, but I'm telling the truth!"
Ba Nanxu rolled her eyes. "You think you're telling the truth? Every lunatic believes that."
"Now, now. There's no need to attack him like that. He's our ally, after all. He must have his own logic," Qing Wanglai said, surprising everyone by defending Li Huowang.
However, Li Huowang ignored him and turned his attention to Zhao Shuangdian. "Where's your laptop?"
Zhao Shuangdian was confused. "What laptop? I don't even have a phone. Why would I need a laptop?"
Qing Wanglai stood up and walked into the kitchen. "We can revisit this topic later. Our food will be ready soon. Wu Qi, come and help me in the kitchen."
Li Huowang knew this couldn't go on much longer. He needed Zhao Shuangdian's help if they were going to kill Qing Wanglai. If he couldn't convince her, there was a good chance Qing Wanglai would use Zhao Shuangdian against him.
Li Huowang had an idea. He motioned Yang Na to follow him. As Qing Wanglai entered the kitchen, Li Huowang and Yang Na made their way up to the third floor.
Once they were alone, Li Huowang unsheathed his blade and cut a piece of his flesh from his arm.
"Huowang!"
Yang Na's face turned pale with shock. In a hurry, she used her hair tie to stem the bleeding on his arm.
"Don't worry. I'm just separating the Heavenly Dao from my body. We need to return it to Zhao Shuangdian so she can understand what I'm saying," Li Huowang said.
He handed his flesh to Yang Na. "Help me. I can't do this myself since Qing Wanglai is monitoring me. I need you to put my flesh into one of the dishes. She loves spicy food, so I need you to mix it with the stir-fried meat and green chili."
Yang Na hesitated, looking at the bloody flesh with teary eyes. "But... I don't know how to cook."
"Let me handle it," a voice said. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶
Yi Donglai appeared, looking at Li Huowang's wound with a complicated expression. He felt confused, unsure of what he was supposed to do in this situation. Eventually, he let out a sigh and decided to take Li Huowang's flesh, making his way towards the kitchen.
As Yi Donglai entered the kitchen, Li Huowang called out to Qing Wanglai to distract him. "Qing Wanglai, come out. I need to talk to you."
"Me?"
Qing Wanglai complied. He washed his hands and took off his aprons before heading outside.
Li Huowang needed to keep Qing Wanglai away from the kitchen for Yi Donglai to succeed.
Qing Wanglai flashed his trademark fake smile. "Is there something wrong? Is it about your girlfriend?"
Li Huowang looked at Qing Wanglai carefully, recalling every atrocious action he had taken in the past. Li Huowang had to suppress his anger to stop himself from killing Qing Wanglai on the spot.
He couldn't kill Qing Wanglai just yet. Killing the Three Ancient Ones required extreme caution.
For now, he knew that the Three Ancient Ones had the Heavenly Dao of Secrets, the Heavenly Dao of Growth, and a part of Li Huowang.
More importantly, Li Huowang didn't know if Qing Wanglai had other secret allies. Li Huowang had to be very careful now.
Li Huowang decided to distract Qing Wanglai with some obvious questions. "Why didn't you save me when I was captured at White Tower Hospital?"
He wasn't truly interested in the answer. His focus remained on Yi Donglai. He watched as Yi Donglai worked quickly in the kitchen, finishing the dish.
The dish was served, and Zhao Shuangdian ate it happily.
Chen Hongyu noticed the stir-fried meat with green chili and salivated. "Looks delicious."
She tried to grab some, but Yang Na pulled her back. "Auntie, where did you buy those potato chips? They're so tasty. I want to buy more."
With the distraction from Li Huowang and Yang Na's help, Zhao Shuangdian finished most of the dish herself.
Zhao Shuangdian stood up to head back with the others, but Li Huowang stopped her. "You should play some computer games when you get back. They're really fun. A boring life without computer games would be a shame."
Zhao Shuangdian stared at Li Huowang like he was an idiot before she left. But she had just walked past Li Huowang when he whispered a peculiar term to her, "Topology..."
Li Huowang sat back down after Zhao Shuangdian left. This time, he wasn't worried.
He felt his phone vibrate and smiled. Someone had sent him a message.
A few minutes later, Qing Wanglai ran out of his room and shouted, "We need to move out now."
"Where are we going?"
Qing Wanglai was abnormally serious. "To Zhao Shuangdian's house. She encountered some trouble."
Everyone hopped into their vehicles. Li Huowang even went down to the basement to rev his motorcycle. Soon, the RV, sports car, and motorcycle roared across the countryside.
They took a winding path before stopping in front of a mountain. The area was rural, with only a dirt path leading the way.
No one would have guessed that Zhao Shuangdian lived in such an isolated place. Li Huowang gripped his blade and began climbing the mountain with the others.
Climbing a mountain without a path was exhausting. After two hours, everyone was panting.
Chen Hongyu struggled to breathe because of her fatigue. "Are we not there yet? How tall is this mountain?"
Li Huowang, carrying Yang Na on his back, passed Chen Hongyu without saying a word.
Qing Wanglai answered, "We are almost there! She lives somewhere nearby! But something isn't right... There weren't this many trees when I came here last time. Can someone call her?"
Wu Qi pulled out her phone but quickly put it away. "There's no signal here."
Li Huowang made a decision. "Spread out! We'll have a better chance of finding her this way."
However, Qing Wanglai stopped him. "No. We'd be walking to our deaths if she's in danger. We're too vulnerable alone."
Li Huowang huffed and glared at Qing Wanglai. "Then what do you propose?"
Qing Wanglai took out a tissue to wipe the sweat off his neck. "Retreat. It's too dangerous here."
"Aren't we here to save Zhao Shuangdian?"
Li Huowang was about to argue further when he saw a red laser dot appear on Qing Wanglai's forehead.
The next moment, a gunshot rang out, the bullet grazing past Li Huowang's head and flying toward Qing Wanglai's forehead.
Chapter 1017 - Three Ancient Ones
Qing Wanglai somehow sensed the attack and twisted his body at an unnatural angle. Though he avoided a fatal wound, the bullet still ripped through his ear.
Qing Wanglai's shattered glasses had barely touched the ground when Li Huowang's blade swung toward his neck. The cold flash of steel reflected the broken glasses.
Li Huowang followed up his attack flawlessly after the first shot from Zhao Shuangdian. Li Huowang and Zhao Shuangdian orchestrated this ambush to kill Qing Wanglai.
Ding! Somehow, Qing Wanglai managed to use his watch to stop Li Huowang's blade.
But it was futile. With his left hand, Li Huowang unsheathed a second blade and slashed again at Qing Wanglai's neck.
Qing Wanglai stared at him in disbelief. Li Huowang was attacking even though Qing Wanglai hadn't set his plan in motion. Why?
Blood sprayed in all directions, but Qing Wanglai remained eerily calm, his mind racing for ways to fight back. He grabbed Li Huowang's wrist and shouted, "Help! Li Huowang's gone crazy!"
The other Simings rushed over to help, but Yi Donglai and Yang Na blocked them. "Qing Wanglai is fooling you all! Li Huowang is sane. Qing Wanglai is using all of you!"
Another gunshot rang out. Once again, Qing Wanglai miraculously dodged it.
Li Huowang roared and exerted more force to cut down Qing Wanglat's head. However, Qing Wanglai managed to withstand it, preventing Li Huowang from driving his blade closer.
Bam! Qing Wanglai kicked Li Huowang's abdomen. The blow caused his organs to shift around.
"Junior Li, what are you doing?"
To Qing Wanglai's surprise, his words had no effect whatsoever on Li Huowang.
"Everything is your fault!" Li Huowang jumped, aiming to bite Qing Wanglai's face.
Qing Wanglai wanted to evade but couldn't. Another red laser targeted the back of his head. Forced to choose, he dodged the bullet, allowing Li Huowang to sink his teeth into his face.
Li Huowang bit down forcefully and tore apart a huge chunk of Qing Wanglai's face.
The searing pain of the wound and the gash on his neck drove adrenaline through Qing Wanglai's veins. Summoning all his strength, he shoved Li Huowang back, stopping the assault for a moment.
Clutching onto the wounds on his neck, Qing Wanglai chuckled. "You've uncovered something with your 'special techniques,' haven't you? Disagreeing with my plan already?"
Li Huowang had no intention of negotiating with Qing Wanglai. He tightened his grip on the blades, still thinking about how to kill Qing Wanglai.
Noticing that Li Huowang had no intention of talking, Qing Wanglai turned to the hesitant Wu Qi. "Wu Qi, come and help me."
Wu Qi clutched onto her first aid kit and hesitated. Her gaze darted between Li Huowang and Qing Wanglai.
Qing Wanglai shouted, "Wu Qi, come here!"
At last, she drew a scalpel, fending off Yi Donglai before rushing to Qing Wanglai's side to treat his wounds.
"What are you doing? There's no reason to fight! We can sit down and talk!"
While Wu Qi stitched his wounds, Qing Wanglai used her as a shield against the gun aimed at him.
He turned to the others. "Do you all trust Li Huowang? I haven't harmed him at all—I've been helping him all this time. I won't take revenge on a patient, but we need to get him under control for now. He's being reckless, and he could injure other people."
"Is that so? Then tell us, what's in the three test tubes behind you? Who are you planning to kill with that poison?" Li Huowang replied.
Li Huowang stomped hard and charged at Qing Wanglai, firmly gripping his blades to kill Qing Wanglai for good.
Qing Wanglai naturally had different plans in mind. He shoved Wu Qi toward Li Huowang, creating a distraction.
Li Huowang had to catch Wu Qi. The brief moment of distraction gave Qing Wanglai the chance to flee.
"Zhao Shuangdian, he's getting away! After him!" Li Huowang roared, pushing Wu Qi aside to pursue.
Qing Wanglai was already wounded—Li Huowang couldn't let him escape, not when he'd finally gained the upper hand by resetting the timeline.
The mountain's dense forest made pursuit difficult. Thankfully, Li Huowang could track Qing Wanglai thanks to the blood-red secrets on the ground. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶
After chasing for some time, Li Huowang finally saw Qing Wanglai's back. He hurled one of his blades, unexpectedly lodging it in Qing Wanglai's leg.
Li Huowang pushed the branches away and inspected Qing Wanglai. At this point, Qing Wanglai panted while lying under a tree. The blade Li Huowang had thrown protruded from Qing Wanglai's leg, his blood seeping into the soil.
Li Huowang grabbed his other blade and snarled at Qing Wanglai. "Any last words?"
Qing Wanglai raised his right hand, still missing its pinky finger, and pushed his bloodied glasses up. "Hehehe... What are you thinking of doing?"
Despite his dire state, Qing Wanglai showed no fear.
Li Huowang bared his teeth. "I'm going to devour your Heavenly Dao."
The sound of approaching footsteps alerted Li Huowang. He knew it was Zhao Shuangdian.
"Li Huowang, are you sure this is the time to turn on our allies? The real enemy is right in front of us," Qing Wanglai said, pointing at the clouds approaching from the horizon.
"Stop trying to deceive me." Li Huowang said. "I learned what you're planning in the previous timeline. Your tricks won't work."
"Hehehe..."
Qing Wanglai continued to chuckle. This was the first time Li Huowang had seen him like this. An unexpected temperature plunge cast a chilling, eerie atmosphere over the forest.
"You think I'm afraid of you?" Qing Wanglai sneered. "You're just a deranged patient with some know-how. Do you really think you can win against me, even in an ambush?"
Clack. Qing Wanglai aimed his gun at Li Huowang's forehead and removed the safety.
"You're wrong, Li Huowang. Even like this, you can't win."
In Li Huowang's eyes, Qing Wanglai's body turned big and split into strands of invisible threads.
Li Huowang now stood in the chaos of the Baiyu Capital. After all his effort to find the Three Ancient Ones, he was now slipping away.
"Three Ancient Ones!"
Chapter 1018 - Eyes
Ji Zai roared, unsheathing his spine sword and swinging it furiously.
A gust blew past the area. Li Huowang's cultivation as a Strayed One affected the Three Ancient One's secrets. The chains of secrets started to distort.
Ji Zai seized three chains of secrets and severed them with a decisive strike. The fractured secrets split apart, disappearing into the Baiyu Capital.
As Ji Zai prepared to attack again, strands of secrets phased through his body, shaving away fragments of his Bewilderment.
Even so, Ji Zai did not relent. He continued severing chain after chain.
The scattered chains of secrets around them became denser. The edges of Ji Zai's body began turning into secrets, rendering him increasingly translucent.
"Not enough! This isn't enough. I'm too slow!"
Ji Zai grabbed a mirror and shouted at his reflection, "Help! I need as many allies as possible! Victory or defeat depends on this!"
A blood-red light erupted beneath him, drawing his attention. He looked down to see three Jiang Xiangshous fighting each other while five Dragon Veins towed them closer to him.
Ji Zai reached out to grab them, but the Three Ancient Ones cast a large net woven from secrets, seeking to trap the Jiang Xiangshous.
At the last moment, the Heavenly Mater intervened. As her sleeves brushed past, the living beings stained by the karma within the chains of secrets died rapidly.
The chains of secrets were now riddled with dead beings. Ji Zai capitalized on the opening, tearing through the weakened net and seizing the three Jiang Xiangshous. He devoured them in one swift motion.
His eyes turned blood-red, his teeth sharpened into fangs, and the spine sword in his grip turned even sharper. The essence of the Jiang Xiangshous coursed through him, altering his very nature.
Ji Zai roared and swung the spine sword covered in a solidified murderous aura.
The attack was so powerful that it nearly shattered the chaos in the Baiyu Capital. Not even the Three Ancient Ones would be able to survive it.
Sensing impending destruction, the Three Ancient Ones disassembled himself at the last moment. The chains of secrets comprising his body scattered like writhing gray snakes, narrowly evading Ji Zai's devastating strike.
The Heavenly Mater seized the opportunity and spread a large wave of Death, enveloping most of the Three Ancient One's secrets.
Ji Zai and the Heavenly Mater almost killed the Three Ancient Ones when an unexpected ally stopped them. It was the Five Dhyani Buddhas.
At the critical moment, she chose to help the Three Ancient Ones.
Under her aid, the Three Ancient Ones began to heal. Only then did Ji Zai notice chains embedded in the back of the Five Dhyani Buddhas.
The Three Ancient Ones used the Five Dhyani Buddhas as a shield.
"Stop hiding!" Li Huowang roared while the Three Ancient Ones changed again.
The Five Dhyani Buddhas liquefied, and her flesh covered the chains of the Three Ancient Ones. Soon, the Three Ancient Ones and the Five Dhyani Buddhas disappeared from the Baiyu Capital, replaced by a massive clump of flesh and chains.
The strands of flesh-covered chains interlocked with each other, pumping like a heart as sticky blood dripped down continuously.
"Damn! The Three Ancient Ones plundered the Heavenly Dao of the Five Dhyani Buddhas!"
At that moment, Li Huowang remembered that he once erected Zhuge Yuan statues, claiming he was the Buddha. That might have been how the Three Ancient Ones took over the Five Dhyani Buddha's Heavenly Dao.
At this point, the wounds he had inflicted on the Three Ancient Ones had healed.
The other Simings in Baiyu Capital arrived, floating around the place.
When they saw the Three Ancient Ones's appearance, they realized that Ji Zai had been telling the truth. Now, they chose to work with Ji Zai without hesitation.
"Attack from a distance! Don't let Qing Wanglai get close—he uses poison!" Ji Zai shouted, although he wasn't sure if the warning would be enough.
The Three Ancient Ones didn't run. Now covered in flesh, he rammed against Ji Zai and the others.
Ji Zai attempted to flee, but several scattered chains of secrets emerged from within his body. They were even denser than the ones on the Five Dhyani Buddhas.
The Three Ancient Ones chose not to fight against the other Siming and instead targeted Ji Zai. He wanted to devour Ji Zai's Heavenly Dao first.
He realized too late that the Three Ancient Ones had laid a trap inside him. The chains within Ji Zai's body rearranged themselves, forming the character "Wang."
The chains were pulling Ji Zai closer to the Three Ancient Ones. If this continued, Ji Zai would end up like the Five Dhyani Buddhas.
The Heavenly Mater tried to envelop the chains on Ji Zai with Death, but she stopped at the last moment.
She sensed that most of the karmic living beings within the chains belonged to Li Huowang and Zhuge Yuan. If she enveloped the chains with Death, she would be killing Li Huowang's real body as well.
The other Simings were attacking simultaneously, but their attacks proved ineffective. There appeared to be something blocking off the other Heavenly Daos.
Bam! Another bullet pierced through Qing Wanglai, yet it changed nothing. Qing Wanglai used the chance to propel himself closer to Li Huowang.
Ji Zai's anger rose as the Three Ancient Ones closed in on him. He ignored the chains on his body and tightly gripped his spine sword.
"Come here, Three Ancient Ones!" Li Huowang roared, charging toward the Three Ancient Ones without fear.
The two of them were on the verge of colliding when their bodies suddenly fragmented into pieces of varying sizes. They swiftly passed each other before reforming behind each other's backs.
Ji Zai turned around, opening his fanged jaws as he prepared to devour the Three Ancient Ones. He swore to swallow the Three Ancient Ones today.
The Three Ancient Ones used the flesh-covered chains to stop Ji Zai from biting down. As more and more chains appeared on Ji Zai's body, his body slowly liquefied, just like how the Five Dhyani Buddhas did.
"You want to swallow my Heavenly Dao? Dream on!"
Li Huowang raised his arm towards the chaos of the Baiyu Capital. "Eye!"
Chapter 1019 - Pollute
A bloodied eyeball appeared in Ji Zai's hands. It was the Divine Mountain Ghost Eye—the same one brimming with chaos.
Ji Zai crushed it, unleashing the Heavenly Dao of Chaos in a violent explosion. The chaos radiated outward with Ji Zai at its epicenter, affecting everything except him.
Even the Baiyu Capital, the place perpetually surrounded by chaos, was affected by it. Naturally, the Three Ancient Ones bore the brunt of it.
Due to the Heavenly Dao of Chaos, the Three Ancient Ones' karmic chains of secrets started to break as the flesh was separated from them.
The Heavenly Dao of Chaos caused the karmic chains of the Three Ancient Ones to snap, with the flesh connecting them being ripped away.
Li Huowang heard Qing Wanglai's anguished scream as the wounds on his body began to rot. Pain intruded into his body as the other Simings joined in.
"Fucker! So you can finally feel the pain!"
Li Huowang grabbed a rock and smashed Qing Wanglai's left hand. Qing Wanglai's fingers cracked open, leaving a thin veil of flesh clinging to his broken bones.
Qing Wanglai reached into his robes with his other arm, but Li Huowang anticipated the move. Swinging his blade, he severed Qing Wanglai's hand.
Li Huowang reached behind Qing Wanglai and grabbed the test tubes filled with poison before tossing them far away. Qing Wanglai no longer had any other methods of retaliating.
"Qing Wanglai, you are dead!"
Li Huowang stepped on Qing Wanglai's neck and smashed a rock onto his head forcefully.
Only when blood pooled beneath the rock did Li Huowang allow himself a breath of relief.
But a chill crept over him. Looking up, he saw droplets of rain falling from the dark clouds.
"Hahaha..."
A deep laugh came from underneath the rock. Ji Zai looked down to find that the Three Ancient Ones' scattered bodies were merging once more.
This was thanks to Zuoqiu Yong's Heavenly Dao of Growth. The Three Ancient Ones would continuously revive as long as that Heavenly Dao remained in his possession.
"Li Huowang, oh Li Huowang. Why must you get the way of my plans? Don't you see? You've become the villain—the destroyer of worlds!"
The body of the Three Ancient Ones started to expand once more.
"And you think you're righteous? Your plan was to murder everyone! Fuck you!" Li Huowang snapped back, bringing his blade down on the bloody tentacles of the Three Ancient Ones.
Even so, the Three Ancient Ones' body continued to heal, this time even faster.
Just then, Chen Hongyu appeared behind Qing Wanglai, holding onto a half-rotten corpse as she tried to push Qing Wanglai back down.
With a violent spasm, the dying Qing Wanglai's power returned.
"You don't understand! None of you understand what we're up against!" Qing Wanglai's voice cracked with desperation. "We'll all die if we do nothing! I tried to shoulder this despair alone, but you're leaving me no choice! Since you won't grasp what I've endured, I'll make you see it for yourselves!"
The chains of the Three Ancient Ones scattered again. After one brushed against Chen Hongyu, she released the corpse, trembling violently. Her eyes filled with an incomprehensible fear.
Ji Zai knew what was going on. The Three Ancient Ones had embedded some unfathomable secret into the Siming of Rot. He didn't know what it was, but it had to be deadly to terrify even a Siming.
"Stay back!" Ji Zai warned the others. "Attack from a distance!"
Despite his warning, Qing Wanglai lunged forward, nearly reaching Yang Na before Li Huowang intercepted him with his blade.
The bloody chains snapped again, but this time, instead of dispersing, they converged on Ji Zai. It had been a ruse—the Three Ancient Ones had been targeting Ji Zai all along.
As the secrets invaded Ji Zai's body, horrifying knowledge flooded his mind.
Fear. A primordial fear from an unknowable source. Fu Shengtian was no ordinary Siming; he wielded the Heavenly Dao of Fear.
The Heavenly Dao it controlled was not ordinary either—Fu Shengtian was a Grand Siming.
No—it was something beyond the Heavenly Dao of Fear. It was a pure, primordial terror that nurtured the other Heavenly Daos.
Even the Three Ancient Ones couldn't comprehend it fully. And from that ignorance, fear was born.
Li Huowang could feel fear welling up uncontrollably in his heart the moment he obtained the secret. For the first time, he was afraid.
The fear he felt was suffocating, clinging to his bones and resisting any attempts to shake it off. It washed over him in relentless waves, a constant presence that never ceased.
Qing Wanglai grabbed Ji Zai by the head, glaring at him with bloodshot eyes. "Do you see now? Do you understand what I'm up against? Do you think you can face this alone? You're wrong! The only way we can survive this is by following my plan! Ji Zai, you need to die. Why are you still alive?"
Li Huowang watched despair and terror flicker in Qing Wanglai's gaze, and a memory surfaced—the tombstone he'd glimpsed in a half-dreaming state. The more he stared, the clearer it became. Qing Wanglai was like a single stroke from one of the tombstone's characters—one that another character had plucked for itself.
"I understand now!" Li Huowang shouted, reaching for one of Qing Wanglai's bloodied tentacles before chewing on it. As he consumed its karma, understanding dawned on him. "I finally understand now!"
Qing Wanglai laughed, offering another tentacle. "Do you? Do you truly understand now? Do you agree with my plan now? Do you finally agree to abandon the two projections to save our true selves?"
Li Huowang grabbed the other tentacle with glee and ate it. "No! I just learned why Da Nuo went crazy. It was all because of you! As the Siming in control of the Heavenly Dao of Secrets, you were polluted by Fu Shengtian a long time ago!"
Chapter 1020 - We Will
"NO!"
The Three Ancient Ones forced a multitude of tentacles into Li Huowang's head and squeezed his brain apart.
Qing Wanglai yelled, "You idiots! My plan is the only chance we have to escape this calamity!"
Li Huowang gripped Qing Wanglai's tentacles tightly, refusing to let go. "No! You were right when you said someone betrayed us—it was you! Qing Wanglai, your fear of Fu Shengtian made you mad! And in your madness, you've turned the entire world crazy! The Liang Kingdom, the Qi Kingdom, the Tianchen Kingdom—everything that happened to them is all your fault!"
Qing Wanglai froze, as though a memory had resurfaced.
Li Huowang continued, "Three Ancient Ones, you weren't always like this! Zhuge Yuan was your Twisted One, don't you remember? The compassion you once had was twisted into cruelty, and it was all because of Fu Shengtian's influence!"
Indeed, a Twisted One and a Siming were supposed to mirror each other, with the same personality. However, the Three Ancient Ones had taken a completely different path.
Qing Wanglai's pupils contracted as he stared at his bloodstained hands. A strange feeling tugged at his heart, but he quickly shook it off.
"You lunatic! You incomprehensible madman! Everything I've done has been to save the world! Why can't you see that?" Qing Wanglai roared.
Black karmic chains of secrets swiftly pierced into Li Huowang's body, gradually causing him to become translucent.
As more and more secrets about Fu Shengtian poured into Li Huowang, the fear within his heart began to bloom and impact his behavior.
The other Simings rushed to help, but the Three Ancient Ones self-detonated, scattering more karmic chains everywhere. Each chain carried secrets about Fu Shengtian, infecting the Simings with fear and despair.
Only then did Li Huowang realize that Fu Shengtian's attack had begun long ago, and Qing Wanglai was its agent. Every action he took had been a calculated move to spread the despair and fear of Fu Shengtian.
"No... I cannot," Li Huowang said.
Fighting back the suffocating dread, Li Huowang reached for the mirror, but the fear and despair shattered it into shards.
"Li Huowang, help me!" Ji Zai shouted at his reflection in one of the mirror's shards.
Li Huowang's reflection shouted back, "Promise me, Ji Zai! Promise you'll bring them all back! Too many have died. There's no one left down here!"
On the edge of being consumed by fear, Ji Zai replied, "I promise! I'll change everything! I'll fix everything! I'll bring them all back!"
From the depths of Baiyu Capital, a roar erupted. Tens of Jiang Xiangshous appeared, their murderous aura repelling the pervasive fear like lanterns piercing the dark.
It wasn't just the Jiang Xiangshous. Li Huowang saw several Dragon Veins flying towards him. All of the Dragon Veins were here.
"Senior Li, we're here to help!"
Gao Zhijian charged through the fear, crashing into Li Huowang and reinforcing him with solidified murderous aura. The Heavenly Dao of Order prevented Li Huowang from turning transparent.
However, Li Huowang still felt that something was missing.
He didn't know what it was, but he laid his eyes on the shards of the mirror. He sunk his hands into the shards of the mirror and pulled. At that moment, Ji Zai plundered everything from him.
The mirror vanished. Only Ji Zai remained in the Baiyu Capital.
As the fear disorientating him disappeared, Li Huowang regained his freedom, but it wasn't over. The Baiyu Capital was still shrouded in fear.
Li Huowang looked up at the Three Ancient Ones and understood that he wasn't fighting against the Three Ancient Ones. No, he had been fighting against Fu Shengtian from the very beginning.
Under his gaze, the bloody fleshy tentacles enveloping the karmic chain of secrets expanded and morphed into a fleshy hand. Li Huowang knew that this was Fu Shengtian's hand.
The hand reached out to grab him. Its numerous tentacles wriggled, attempting to instill fear into his very being.
The indomitable murderous aura scattered everything, but it merely delayed the inevitable. Ji Zai realized that if this continued, he would succumb to terror, just like the Three Ancient Ones did when the murderous aura emanating from his body dissipated.
Seeing how fear consumed the other Simings, Ji Zai had an idea. If he couldn't do it alone, he could use the powers of the other Simings. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦
Li Huowang, still shrouded in murderous aura, approached the Siming of Rot. Just as he was going to act, he paused.
There was a familiar face on the rotten corpse—Abbess Jingxin. The maggots had formed her visage. She smiled and nodded at him kindly.
"Abbess... Thank you..." Li Huowang cried and swallowed the Heavenly Dao of Rot whole. He tried not to chew and hurt her.
Jiang Xiangshou's murderous aura quickly dispelled the fear gripping the Heavenly Dao of Rot. Li Huowang absorbed the Heavenly Dao of Rot once it had returned to normal, and the wounds on his body started to rot.
Ba-Hui and the Sacrificial God stabbed into Li Huowang like two sharp blades, delivering the Heavenly Dao of Pain in a flood of agony.
He yelled, "Ba-Hui, you motherfucker! It hurts!"
Li Huowang turned and saw Zhao Shuangdian standing still. She passed the sniper rifle to him.
Zhao Shuangdian stood cold and calculated, just like her former self. "I accept your model. You are very special indeed."
He nodded and swallowed both the rifle and Zhao Shuangdian.
With this, he finally learned what Siming Zhao Shuangdian was. She was the Heavenly Immortal.
Still, he didn't know what kind of Heavenly Dao she held onto. He only knew that his body had become much more robust.
As he absorbed more Heavenly Daos, the entirety of the Baiyu Capital started to crumble. Li Huowang picked up the pace.
His body became bigger and bigger, to the point that even the Baiyu Capital could not contain him.
The fleshy tentacles oozed fear as they tried to suppress Li Huowang. The Three Ancient Ones made repeated attempts to pierce Li Huowang with his tentacles, but the murderous aura got in the way.
Li Huowang consumed all of the Heavenly Daos and finally laid eyes on the Heavenly Mater. He paused, but the Heavenly Mater smiled at him.
"Don't give up, Huowang. I believe in you. We'll bring Suisui back, and we'll go to university together."
Pain stabbed through his heart, amplified by the Heavenly Dao of Pain. Li Huowang's physical form started to crumble.
He didn't want to do it, but he had no choice. If he didn't, Fu Shengtian's fear would corrupt the Heavenly Dao of Death. Li Huowang had to prevent Fu Shengtian from obtaining the Heavenly Dao of Death, no matter what.
"Don't worry. I won't give up," Li Huowang promised, his voice trembling. "I will do it. I definitely will. I'll do whatever it takes."
He embraced the Heavenly Mater—and swallowed her whole.
Chapter 1021 - Past
The Baiyu Capital crumbled as Li Huowang chewed. The chaos started to tear apart, revealing the unending darkness before him.
Still chewing, he raised his sword and spat on it, covering his spine sword with Death.
Turning, he glared at the Three Ancient Ones, who continued scattering Fear around.
"Qing Wanglai!"
Li Huowang raised his blade and swung it down. Death swept away everything, cutting off the source of the fear and despair.
Li Huowang found the Heavenly Dao of Growth within the Three Ancient Ones' body. He tore it apart and swallowed it. Then, he did the same with the Heavenly Dao of Secrets.
After devouring everything, he uncovered a bone inscribed with the character "Wang." When he touched it, the character returned to his name, reuniting with him.
Li Huowang finally learned what Qing Wanglai had taken away from him.
It was the counterpart of Bewilderment, the Heavenly Dao of Clarity. Every Heavenly Dao had its counterpart. He hadn't known because the Three Ancient Ones had taken Clarity before he became the Siming of Bewilderment.
With his Clarity restored, Li Huowang's thoughts sharpened. He was fully awake now, and even his way of thinking changed.
He sensed something above and turned his gaze to the crumbling Baiyu Capital.
Tearing through it, he shot upward like a chick breaking free of its eggshell. Outside, he crushed the remnants of the Baiyu Capital and shoved them into his mouth.
Li Huowang looked up and finally saw Fu Shengtian's true form.
It was massive—like a suffocatingly enormous planet bearing down on him, crashing toward everything. Fu Shengtian wasn't just attacking; it had attacked a long time ago, its actions transcending time.
Fu Shengtian raised a bident made from fear and despair. The weapon's tips bore the heads of the Three Ancient Ones and Qing Wanglai. With a mighty thrust, it shot the bident, piercing Li Huowang's chest.
Li Huowang grabbed the bident and pulled it out, wrestling it away from Fu Shengtian's control.
He swung the bident to scatter the fear on it. He raised the cleaned bident and pointed it at Fu Shengtian. "Come at me!"
Fu Shengtian attacked again, forming a new bident and flinging it straight at Li Huowang. This time, it had the heads of Wang Changxu and Tong Guchang.
Li Huowang blocked the attack and broke the bident with his spine sword cloaked in Death. Unlike before, the bident did not pierce him.
To Li Huowang's surprise, Fu Shengtian created even more weapons. However, they were much more bizarre than bidents.
Each weapon's tip was steeped in fear and despair. They rained down upon Li Huowang. Though he tried to deflect them all, he failed.
A trident bearing the heads of Shangguan Gedeng, Kouyin Liangong, and Zhu Cuifeng pierced Li Huowang's eyes, pinning him to the void.
In that instant, an archnemesis called Kouyin Liangong appeared in Li Huowang's past. It had two Twisted Ones—Shangguan Gedeng and Zhu Cuifeng. Its existence marked Li Huowang's past with even greater despair.
Taking advantage of the opening, more and more spears stabbed into Li Huowang, forcing their way into his body and starting to squeeze out his insides. The spears were overwhelming him!
"Fuck off!"
Summoning his strength, Li Huowang swung his spine sword and splintered the spears, shattering their shafts. However, their tips remained lodged in his body, altering his past and future.
He panted with all of his strength, but he saw another rain of spears flying towards him. Fu Shengtian was too strong. He couldn't win.
As soon as the seeds of despair grew in his heart, they began to flourish uncontrollably, growing and giving birth to more spear tips aimed directly at him.
As more and more spear tips pierced his body, he finally realized he could not win against Fu Shengtian. He lost the moment he became aware of Fu Shengtian's existence.
The moment he felt fear was the moment he became part of Fu Shengtian. He would become Fu Shengtian's pawn, just like the Three Ancient Ones.
The Three Ancient Ones, who held the world's secrets, succumbed to madness from knowing too much.
"Is this it? Is this all I'm capable of? I refuse to yield! I refuse to give up! So many people died—why can't I win?"
Li Huowang shouted, kneeling as despair consumed his heart. It started to destroy everything in his body.
Under such intense despair, he held onto Death and pointed at himself.
"Daoist, don't give up!" A voice cut through the darkness of the void.
Li Huowang raised his head and saw the illusion of the old monk beside him again. "Daoist. You are a good Daoist. You cannot die now."
Another voice joined in—Jin Shanzhao. "Young Daoist, you made a promise. That's why I left."
"You want to kill yourself? Don't be an embarrassment to the others!"
The illusions appeared one after another until even Jiang Yingzi and Dan Yangzi appeared.
Li Huowang saw Zhuge Yuan's illusion once more. "Junior LI, don't give up. Don't lose to yourself."
Li Huowang looked at them as he despaired. "Who are you people?!"
"It doesn't matter who we are. What's more important is who you are."
"Me? I'm Li Huowang!"
His own declaration made him pause. He searched through his fragmented memories, looking for something important.
"Yes, that's right! I'm Li Huowang. I was mentally ill!"
He stood up, shaking his head as he surveyed the chaos. "No! This isn't me. This isn't me!"
Li Huowang began to tear off his own Heavenly Daos, one by one. He even tore off the last character of his name: "Wang."
He forced everything into Yi Donglai, who had somehow appeared beside him, helping him stand up. "Take it! Take all of it! Everything is yours!"
After forcing everything into Yi Donglai's mouth, Li Huowang swallowed him whole, hiding him in his stomach.
Then, Li Huowang closed his eyes and shouted, "None of this is real! This is all an illusion! Wake up!"
Only the purest form of Bewilderment remained within Li Huowang. At that moment, a faint voice echoed in his ears.
Li Huowang had once rejected the voice, but he was now embracing it with open arms. He followed the voice, and gradually, it became clearer.
"Li Huowang, wake up! Li Huowang, wake up! Everything you're enduring is fake! It's all a lie!"
The voice shattered the darkness. It reached the ears of Li Huowang, both past and present.
He opened his eyes. Bright light filtered through white curtains as a sharp wailing sound echoed beside him.
Li Huowang glanced down. White hospital beds, an electric wall fan, and the pungent scent of disinfectant surrounded him. It felt surreal yet familiar.
He remembered where he was.
He was in ward number thirteen of the White Tower Hospital.
Chapter 1022 - Cured
Li Huowang lay on the clean hospital bed, his single eye wide open as he took in his surroundings. His gaze swept the room before settling on himself. A realization dawned on him—yet, at the same time, it didn't fully make sense.
The ringing sound disappeared, replaced by a familiar voice. "Li Huowang? Are you finally awake? That's good!"
He turned to see Yi Donglai staring at him with worry etched across his face.
Li Huowang's lips curled into a faint smile. "I'm... awake. I'm finally awake. The hallucinations were too frightening, but thankfully, they were all fake. None of it was real."
Yi Donglai frowned, his expression unusually tense. "What do you mean 'fake'? Everything you saw was real! The timeline has been reset, but we've been placed at a different time. Haven't you noticed you're missing an eye?"
"Don't worry. I'm awake now. I won't mutilate myself anymore."
The room suddenly transformed. The once bright light gave way to darkness, and Yi Donglai grew in size until he reached the ceiling. Terrifying laughter echoed from his mouth.
"Hahaha. Do you think you've succeeded? You fool."
The scene around Yi Donglai twisted and morphed. Black water seeped from the floor, and the walls of the ward crumbled away, revealing a vast void and the horrifying visage Li Huowang had seen just now.
"You've abandoned your powers, so now you're completely defenseless against my fear! You're dead! Da Nuo is dead too! The Baiyu Capital is mine!"
A wave of fear and despair emanated from Yi Donglai, making its way toward Li Huowang.
Despite the dreaded atmosphere, Li Huowang merely looked at the strange form of Yi Donglai. "Doctor Yi, you don't have to test me anymore. I am cured."
The moment he spoke, everything around him melted away like snow under the sun. Yi Donglai shrank back to his normal size, though he continued snarling.
Yi Donglai smiled and nodded with satisfaction. "Not bad. You've passed the test. Congratulations, Little Li. You're cured. All my efforts weren't in vain, after all."
Just as he finished speaking, the door burst open, and a crowd of people surged into the room, clapping and cheering for Li Huowang.
Among them were Zhao Shuangdian, Wu Qi, and Chen Hongyu, all dressed in white doctor's coats.
They clapped as they announced, "Congratulations! You're finally cured."
"What?" Yi Donglai froze, his face twisting in shock as he stared at the unfamiliar faces. He had never seen these colleagues in White Tower Hospital before, and it was impossible for all of them to be doctors.
"Impossible. How are you..."
His voice faltered, his gaze fearfully snapping back to Li Huowang. "Unless you were telling the truth?"
Yi Donglai's reaction unsettled the crowd. They tried to console him, but the more they spoke, the more violent he became. Terror consumed his eyes.
In the end, several nurses had to restrain him with a straitjacket. They wheeled him out as he screamed and thrashed.
Qing Wanglai sighed as he watched Yi Donglai being carted away. "What a terrifying patient. We managed to cure you but at the expense of driving one of our doctors to madness."
Li Huowang looked at Yi Donglai disappearing at the corner of the corridor and smiled. "Don't worry. There are a lot of good doctors here. I'm sure he'll recover quickly in the Baiyu Capital."
Qing Wanglai patted Li Huowang's shoulder warmly. "Little Li, come with me. I will prescribe you some medicine. You're finally ready to go from the intensive care ward to the general ward. You'll regain some freedom, too."
They soon entered Qing Wanglai's office. He took out a disposable white cup and brewed Li Huowang a cup of tea.
"The hospital's a bit basic, so I hope you won't mind oolong tea bags," Qing Wanglai said with a laugh.
"I'm not much of a tea person, so I wouldn't know the difference."
"Hoho, you're quite the frugal person. Give me a moment," Qing Wanglai said, starting to rummage through the drawers.
"Don't worry. I have a lot of time now," Li Huowang said.
Li Huowang took a deep breath and smelled the disinfectant in the air. A newfound serenity washed over him, unlike anything he had ever felt before.
Qing Wanglai teased Li Huowang, saying, "You sound like an old man. Once you're discharged, go home and focus on your studies so you can get into a good university."
"Doctor Qing, what will you do while I'm studying?"
"What else? I will continue to work in this hospital. I'll try to write a thesis about you and see if it gets published. Being a doctor in this field is a headache, you know? Not only do we often have to stay up late and work extra shifts, but we also need to play along with our patients."
He scratched his ear with the pen from his chest pocket before scribbling something on a piece of paper.
Li Huowang grabbed his teacup and tried to decipher the paper's contents. "Doctor, can you do me a favor?"
Qing Wanglai stopped writing and looked at him. "Sure. We're all friends now. What do you need?"
Li Huowang sat in a car some time later, watching the scenery blur past. He called his mother.
"Hi, Mom. I'm cured. Yes, this time it's for real. I won't relapse anymore. You can come pick me up next month."
Two hours later, Qing Wanglai and Li Huowang stepped down from a sports car. They had arrived at the entrance of the Sixth Public Hospital. Using Qing Wanglai's connections, they quickly found an isolated ward.
Inside was none other than Yang Na, lying motionless on the bed.
Li Huowang entered the room alone. Qing Wanglai grabbed her medical file, noting the diagnosis: severe depression.
Li Huowang reached the bedside and sat down on a stool. He looked at Yang Na, whose eyes held the vacant stare of a doll.
"Nana, I've kept my promise. Look, I'm really cured. I'll stay by your side until you're also better. Once you're cured, we'll take our exams together and enter university again. This time, I'll be with you every step of the way."
Li Huowang gently held Yang Na's skeletal fingers, noticing the scars on her wrists. He spoke to her nonstop for a full day and night.
Finally, Yang Na's fingers twitched, and she gripped his hand weakly.
Li Huowang smiled. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞
He leaned forward, wrapping Yang Na in a tender embrace.
Chapter 1023 - Epilogue
It was once again the Qingming Festival in Cowheart Village.
Even though it was night, the streets bustled with people burning paper ingots and money. Most of the villagers were migrants without ancestral altars to honor their dead. They could only afford to draw circles on the ground, leaving an opening in the direction of their ancestors' graves.
White smoke floated upwards. The moonlight cast a soft glow, making Cowheart Village look like a paradise.
A lone figure in red walked past the white smoke.
It was Li Huowang. He clutched a large amount of paper money and ingots as he passed through the village and made his way to the Bai family estate, which was now devoid of any residents aside from himself.
He stood still at the entrance and stared at the white lantern hanging from the large door. He saw the two yellow couplets and let out a hoarse chuckle. "Hehe... I've truly become... The moon is both full and empty. Several remaining stars circled around the incomplete moon. A bright lantern is lit in front of the house, but the house is empty throughout spring and autumn. Ahh..."
Li Huowang stepped inside and slammed the doors shut. He drew a large circle on the ground, leaving evenly spaced openings instead of a single one.
He tossed the paper money and paper ingots into the circle before setting them alight.
"Qingming... Come... Take your money!"
Li Huowang's hoarse voice rang out like the lonely cry of an old crow, echoing through the empty Bai family estate.
As the fire burned, he mumbled the words he wanted to say to his dead family.
"Suisui, buy whatever you need down there with the paper money. You can buy as many toys as you want. If they don't have what you want, you can meet me in my dreams and let me know. I will find some paper dolls to burn so that they can accompany you.
"Miaomiao, are you alright down there? I miss you..."
As the paper money continued to burn, the fire flared higher and brighter. Halfway through the bundle of paper money and ingots, Li Huowang broke down.
He stood up and shouted at his shadow vehemently, "Ji Zai! You liar! You promised me! You promised you'd bring them back! Why didn't you keep your word?"
The world had survived. The Natural Disasters were gone, and there were no more evil entities. The world had sixteen divisions again. Sanity had returned to the world.
Huowang had achieved his goal of changing the world, but bringing back the dead remained beyond his reach.
"Everything impossible has disappeared. We overcame so many difficulties, so why can't you revive a few people? What good are you, Ji Zai? You're useless!"
He refused to admit it, but he knew it was impossible. Reviving them went against the laws of the world. Now that the world was normal again, impossible things couldn't happen. If he revived them, the world would go crazy again.
His anger dissolved into despair. He slumped to the ground and cried. "Why? Why! Why me? Why am I the only one alive?!"
A wave of despair engulfed him, suffocating him under the weight of a mountain. He couldn't breathe, and the feeling was more agonizing than death itself.
Li Huowang reached into his bag of torture tools and retrieved a dagger. He sliced open his abdomen. Next, he took out three dolls made from the skin of Strayed Ones and threw them onto the ground.
Raising the dagger, he slashed his own neck, pulling the blade with such force that he decapitated himself. He grabbed his severed head and smashed it onto the ground.
But it was futile. He couldn't die.
When Ji Zai used the mirror to strip everything away from him, he had taken even Death. Ji Zai had plundered everything, including his status as a Strayed One too.
Li Huowang understood that he was Ji Zai's Twisted One. He was fated to become Ji Zai. The world had returned to sanity, and the past could no longer be rewritten. Everything in the future had been set.
Just as despair threatened to consume him entirely, Li Huowang's sharp ears noticed a slight movement from the stool he'd been sitting on.
He stopped and approached the stool. There was something there.
He carefully felt the air above the stool but couldn't sense anything. Still, he needed to make sure. "Is that you? Is that really you?"
Li Huowang looked around and saw the burning paper money twirling in the circle. He remembered something and ran into the house.
He grabbed an umbrella and opened it, bending down to look between his knees.
At that moment, he saw Suisui's smiling face. For the first time in a very long time, Li Huowang smiled. The despair in his heart gave way to joy.
"Hahaha! You are all here! That's good! Don't go away! Don't get reincarnated! You might've become ghosts, but that's fine! Even ghosts can cultivate to become immortals! Wait here. I go to the Surveillance Bureau's archives to find a method for ghosts to cultivate! Hahaha!"
Placing his head back onto his neck, Li Huowang rushed out of the Bai family estate and toward the village entrance.
"There are ghosts in this world! Hahaha! Ji Zai, I was wrong about you! The moon is both full and empty, with several scattered stars circling around! Hahaha! Ghosts are fine too! Ghosts are fine, too! Hahaha!"
Hearing the commotion, Puppy poked his head out the door, his daughter beside him. He sighed as he watched Li Huowang.
"We endured so many hardships throughout the year. In the end, Senior Li still went crazy." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
"Father, what happened to Uncle Li?"
"Nothing. Don't scold Uncle Li or make fun of him the next time you see him. Let me know if any kids throw stones or spit at him. He's our Village Protector from now on."
"Father, what's a Village Protector?"
"A Village Protector is someone who shields us from disasters. Because of him, we in Cowheart Village can live in peace."
Puppy was going to close his door when he noticed a light coming from the village entrance. Unfortunately, he couldn't see what it was due to the smoke.
Though the smoke obscured his view, he soon saw Lu Xiucai running through it with his nephew, Lu Tongseng, cradled in his single remaining arm.
Lu Xiucai saw Puppy and pointed at the village entrance excitedly. "Puppy! Come quick! Look! Master has ascended and become an immortal!"
-End-
Chapter 1024 - Epilogue, Qing Wanglai's POV
Qing Wanglai opened his eyes. He looked at the rising sun and waited for his seven o'clock alarm to ring.
He looked down and admired his mansion. The mansion was small, approximately three hundred square meters. It was simple and minimalistic, with white as its main color.
For someone accustomed to living alone, the house was enough. It felt comfortable, and he had no desire to push beyond his comfort zone.
Ring ring ring~ His alarm rang, marking the start of his day. He took a bath and got dressed.
He departed at exactly seven twenty in the morning. He drove for thirty minutes and bought breakfast along the way, reaching White Tower Prison at eight in the morning sharp.
Though not as chaotic as a typical hospital, working there was far from simple.
As Qing Wanglai prepared to eat breakfast after making tea, someone came into his office. It was a large man with a huge beard. "Doctor Yi, the VIP is here. Come take a look."
"What?"
Qian Fu explained, "It's that person who went viral a couple of days ago. We're lucky he got assigned to us."
Qing Wanglai remembered the news he read a couple of days ago. His interest was piqued. "Sure, let's go see him."
They made their way to the intensive care ward and saw Li Huowang.
"Doctor Qing, this is the medical record of patient number thirteen. Please have a read. He was transferred here from An Ding Hospital."
Qing Wanglai accepted the file and read through it. "So this is him?"
Although news channels hadn't disclosed Li Huowang's real name, he had long since become famous among psychiatrists. They had been monitoring Li Huowang's movements for a long time.
"Yes, that's Li Huowang—the guy who went viral. The lunatic who swung a knife around to rescue his girlfriend."
Qing Wanglai continued reading while occasionally glancing at Li Huowang through the one-way mirror. He saw the youth shouting in despair while being restrained by a straitjacket. Qing Wanglai carefully listened as Li Huowang rambled incoherently.
"No." Qing Wanglai closed the medical records and said grimly, "He wasn't there to save her. He was there to kill her. His condition is too severe."
"What? How could that be? That's his girlfriend! She's such a pretty young lady too!" Qian Fu asked in confusion.
"I'm also trying to figure out his motive. How could he want to harm his own girlfriend? Why? What's his reasoning?"
"We aren't detectives. Couldn't insanity be enough to explain it? Isn't that motive enough?"
Qing Wanglai scoffed at Qian Fu. "Doctor Qian, your words would devalue our professionalism. Even mentally ill patients would need a motive to kill someone. They might believe their reasons are perfectly rational, even when others see them as madness."
"Sigh," Qian Fu stroked his beard. "Why do they always send the crazy demons to us?"
"Stop complaining and focus on a treatment plan," Qing Wanglai sighed. "He's been given the standard medications in the previous hospital, but they've had little effect."
"And what do you suggest we do? To be honest, this place is technically a prison. As long as he's locked up and can't hurt anyone, that should be enough."
Qing Wanglai side-eyed Qian Fu. "Well, everyone should have aspirations to chase in life. Do you want to stay here forever babysitting the patients?"
"Pssh. What are you planning, then? Treat him and publish your thesis so you can get a promotion?"
Qing Wanglai reached for the metal door at the side. "We should at least try, regardless of the outcome."
Qian Fu hurried along. "Then you should be careful. I've heard that patient thirteen somehow drove his previous doctor insane too."
Qing Wanglai decided against revealing himself to Li Huowang just yet. Instead, he eavesdropped on the patient while the other doctors entered to begin treatment.
The prison's upper management was very careful because Li Huowang was a famous troublemaker. They immediately checked on Li Huowang and ordered the doctors to devise a treatment plan.
Qing Wanglai quietly listened to the other doctors discussing a treatment plan.
Ultimately, they chose to use a simple yet safe treatment plan. They prioritized safety above all else.
Qing Wanglai could understand their intentions. Li Huowang was a high-risk patient—essentially a hot potato no one wanted to handle.
While Qian Fu munched on his leftover breakfast, he remarked, "He's highly resistant to treatment. It's probably because he's been subjected to so many attempts before. I'm fairly certain that he's even built up resistance to some medications."
"Hmm... Indeed. It's very tricky."
Qing Wanglai nodded. After some thought, he said, "I think we have a chance. Still, I'll need to analyze all our footage of him first."
"What are you thinking?"
"I need to find a fake doctor to masquerade as his main doctor. The fake doctor will try fake methods to treat Li Huowang while we pretend to be the characters from Li Huowang's hallucinations. We will secretly administer the treatment plan when Li Huowang's guard is at its lowest. We can't do this with the other patients, but we might have a shot here. Li Huowang's hallucinations are not only coherent but also very complete."
Qian Fu frowned. "Us? Why me again? You want me to act like a patient again?"
Qing Wanglai patted Qian Fu's blue-and-white striped hospital gown. "What do you mean act? You are a patient! Look at how well you fit in your hospital gown. Don't worry. I will shoulder all responsibilities if anything happens."
"Fine, as long as you take the blame. I will also round up other actors for you."
Qian Fu then took out his phone to make several phone calls.
"But... won't this make his condition worse?"
Qing Wanglai waved off the concern. "Don't worry. It won't."
"Let's talk to the chief warden first."
"Alright."
The two headed to the chief warden's office, finding the door already ajar. Inside, the balding chief was in conversation with someone else.
"Chief, I need to discuss something with you."
Qing Wanglai explained his treatment plan to the chief.
The chief took out a cigarette and lit it up. "Alright. Go ahead and try."
Qing Wanglai passed a piece of paper and a pen to him. "Could you sign here?"
However, the Chief did not sign it. "I'm an open person. You can use whatever treatment plan you have, but I won't sign it. If it works, all the glory will be yours. As your superior, I'll never take credit for your efforts."
Qing Wanglai knew what the Chief meant. That meant Qing Wanglai's treatment plan would be secret and administered without approval. The prison would have nothing to do with it.
Qing Wanglai chuckled and walked out with Qian Fu. He wasn't like the others.
Qian Fu asked, "Qing Wanglai, I can act as a patient, but who will be his doctor? I doubt that the others would follow your plan."
"We don't have doctors, but we have patients."
Qing Wanglai pushed his glasses and looked at Yi Donglai. Yi Donglai was earnestly trying to treat another patient.
"Hoh. You smart rascal. A patient acting as the doctor while the real doctors stay in the background."
"How can we treat patients if we don't explore the unknown a little?"
Qing Wanglai approached Yi Donglai and said courteously, "Doctor Yi, we have a new patient admitted into our hospital. Please assist me in curing that patient."
Yi Donglai leaned back, propping up his legs cockily. "Didn't you already have an assistant?"
Qian Fu grumbled. "What assistant? We went to the same university, so we're closer than the others."
Yi Donglai scoffed. "You know the other doctors too. Why me?"
"Just say yes or no."
"Fine, I will agree to treat Li Huowang. I must, if I have to say so."
"Good, then let me explain to you. Li Huowang isn't always stuck in his hallucinations because they occur in stages. Our treatment plan is as follows..."
Everything was ready. Yi Donglai put on a white robe and entered Li Huowang's room.
As Li Huowang woke up, Yi Donglai greeted him with a smile. "Hello, Li Huowang. Nice to meet you. I'm your doctor, Yi Donglai."
Qian Fu raised his thumb at Qing Wanglai. "Look at that bastard acting like a doctor."
"Shh. Be serious. Record everything Li Huowang says about his hallucinations. We'll need it later."
"You can record it yourself. I'm just gonna make one up. Why should his perspective matter more than mine? I'm a patient, remember?"
Qing Wanglai nodded. "That's fine too. That way, you won't reveal too much when you communicate with him later on."
Qian Fu paused. "Wait, when should I show up?"
"Shh. Just follow Yi Donglai's rhythm for now. We will determine the time ourselves."
The two of them continued to eavesdrop on their conversation.
While Li Huowang was hallucinating, the three of them exchanged notes and started to analyze Li Huowang's psyche.
It didn't go well initially. Li Huowang rejected everything vehemently, but after some new developments, Li Huowang started to believe Yi Donglai.
There was some trouble during their treatment plan, but in just a few months, they saw progress. One day, Li Huowang stood atop the slide, pulling a dice from the top of a lamp. Everyone cheered.
Qing Wanglai smiled as Qian Fu nudged him. "Hey, your treatment plan is working."
"Now, we need to start stage two. It's your turn now. You will become the projection of the one buried beneath Qing Qiu, the Siming of Death."
"Do you really need to say it out loud? That's so childish." Qian Fu rolled his eyes. "Nevermind, I will go and get changed now."
Qian Fu left, heading toward the intensive care wards. "Chen Hongyu and the others should show up soon if it's my turn to act. Make sure to contact them first."
"I've already contacted them."
The treatment plan had been going smoothly, but something changed halfway through.
Qing Wanglai stormed into the chief warden's office, anger evident on his face. "What's going on? Why is he being transferred? He hasn't recovered yet!"
Everything was going well, but the higher-ups decided to transfer Li Huowang.
"Wasn't he cured yet? I thought he could already differentiate between the real and fake worlds. We should send him away now. What if something happens while he's in our custody?"
"But that's just a fabricated scene! Our goal is to fully cure Li Huowang, not trap him in it! His family would never agree to it."
"Sigh..." The chief warden lit another cigarette and said, "Doctor Qing, you should know that I'm not the boss here. The one controlling this place is Xie Qiuquan. Don't forget that while we are a hospital, we are also a prison."
Qing Wanglai clenched his fists tightly. "Li Huowang is still a high-risk patient. He has killed before! What if he kills again after the transfer?"
The chief warden reclined in his chair, which creaked under his weight. "Then it won't be our problem. The director and I haven't had a good night's sleep since Li Huowang got here. Doctor Qing, Doctor Qing, I know you're ambitious and capable, but I'm fifty-two. I'll be retiring in a few years, so please don't trouble me further."
Qing Wanglai furiously stormed out of the office and slammed the door shut. Yi Donglai and Qian Fu quickly followed him. "So what's going on?"
"There's no chance. He's determined to transfer Li Huowang," Qing Wanglai replied.
"What should we do, then?"
"What else? If Li Huowang is being transferred, we'll follow him," Qing Wanglai said decisively.
Yi Donglai was confused. "But I still have work here. How can I go out and treat Li Huowang?"
Qing Wanglai smiled when he heard Yi Donglai. "Don't worry. You can continue your work. It's my turn to step in now."
Sitting in the canteen, Qing Wanglai positioned himself carefully. Hearing footsteps approach, he turned toward the source of the sound.
Setting his food aside, he approached Li Huowang. "Long time no see. How are you doing?"
Although Qing Wanglai had been observing Li Huowang for months and was his main doctor, to Li Huowang, this was their first meeting.
"Hello, Qing Wanglai. I am Li Huowang."
The second stage of the treatment plan started.
With Qing Wanglai's involvement, things returned to normal. Qing Wanglai gradually took control of the situation. The treatment progressed smoothly, and he even managed to sneak medicine into Li Huowang's food from time to time.
In fact, Qing Wanglai could even persuade Li Huowang to take the medicine on his own by earning his trust. It was much easier than forcing the medicine down Li Huowang's throat.
This was a vast improvement—previously, it had taken more than four men to restrain Li Huowang and force the medicine down his throat.
Li Huowang's condition improved, and everything seemed to be going well—until something unexpected happened.
"What's going on? What is happening?"
Everyone stared at the bloody eyeball before them, their faces pale. As a doctor, Qing Wanglai knew all too well what it meant for a patient to dig out their own eye.
Chen Hongyu muttered, "Whose fault is this? Should we draw lots?"
"There's no time to assign blame!" Qing Wanglai declared. "This is a necessary cost! We need to focus on treating him. As long as we succeed, everything can be explained. If we fail, I'll shoulder all the consequences!"
He then looked at Zhao Shuangdian. "Call Li Huowang and figure out what's going on with him."
Zhao Shuangdian nodded. She placed the call, but when she hung up, her expression was one of confusion.
Qing Wanglai asked, "What did he say?"
Zhao Shuangdian answered with a confused look. "He said topology. That's it."
Qing Wanglai sighed in relief. "Good. The situation is still under control. Everyone, let's move. We need to keep pushing forward to treat him."
The treatment continued, with everyone proceeding cautiously toward the final stages of the plan. Qian Fu and the others, who had supposedly died, weren't slacking off either. They were renting out houses and vehicles while preparing treatment sites as needed.
Finally, with everyone's help, Li Huowang was once again admitted into the ward of White Tower Hospital.
Li Huowang struggled against his restraints as Qing Wanglai, with sweat dripping from his forehead, whispered repeatedly, "Li Huowang, wake up. Li Huowang, wake up. Everything you've experienced is a lie! Everything is fake!"
Li Huowang's eyes suddenly fluttered open. Bright sunlight shone past the white curtains while a loud buzz deafened him.
"I feel... I feel... Something from both worlds superimposed..."
Li Huowang looked at his own skeletal hands as he muttered.
Yi Donglai sighed in relief when he heard Li Huowang.
"Good. This is normal. That meant my treatment worked. Remember to take your medicine on time. You will be cured in no time."
The doors burst open as a group of doctors rushed in, clapping to celebrate Li Huowang's recovery.
Qing Wanglai felt the heavy burden of the past few months lift from his shoulders. He took a deep breath, letting out a long sigh.
As the clapping died down, Qing Wanglai extended his arm and patted Li Huowang.
"Little Li, let's go. I will prescribe you some medicine. You can finally transfer from the intensive care ward to a regular one. You'll have more freedom now. Once you're discharged, work hard and study to get into a good university."
Li Huowang's happiness also brought joy to Qing Wanglai. He could write several theses based on Li Huowang's medical records and treatment plan alone.
"Doctor Qing, can you help me?"
"Is it your girlfriend?" Qing Wanglai had expected that.
"Yes. I want to see her."
"You should call your mother first to let her know that you are cured. I'll bring you to see her later."
Qing Wanglai long knew that Li Huowang's girlfriend was sick too. He doubted she could remain sane with a partner like Li Huowang.
But this was a minor issue for him. He had managed to cure Li Huowang. The other illnesses were nothing to him.
It took time, but Qing Wanglai managed to stabilize Yang Na's condition with treatment and medication.
Now he sat in his brand new office. It was larger than his previous office. He sipped his tea as he admired the banner on the wall.
The God of Medicines Reincarnated with a burning compassion that matches a familial bond. Gifted by Li Huowang and Yang Na.
Pride swelled within him as he read the words. He had chosen the right path in life. He was wealthy, but no amount of money could buy the satisfaction he felt now. Indeed, everyone needed a passion to truly feel alive.
His phone suddenly rang. He opened the drawer and fished out his cellphone. "Hello? Auntie Sun? What's wrong? Did Huowang relapse? No, I'm not from this prefecture. Yes, I was born in 1989 and have a house here... Its size? It's not big. Aunty Sun, why are you asking me this?
"No, no, that's alright. Thank you, but I don't need any introductions, not anytime soon. I'm not interested in arranged marriage meetings... What? I know she's a good woman. That's not what I meant."
After a lengthy conversation, Qing Wanglai finally convinced Sun Xiaoqin to drop the matter. Tossing his phone back into the drawer, he took another sip of tea, a smile tugging at his lips as he glanced at the red wedding invitation inside the drawer.
"Heh, she's such an interesting auntie. Now that she doesn't have to worry about her son's marriage, she's already trying to play matchmaker for others."
-Epilogue, Qing Wanglai's POV, End-