Chapter 123
Chapter 123
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 123
>Chapter Title: Chocolate
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Feeling the force of the bag slamming into his face and hearing the pain in Yang Na's shout, Li Huowang empathized deeply right then and there.
Feeling the same pain himself, he reached out with both hands and tightly embraced the girl in front of him.
"Nana! Don't do this, I beg you!"
Feeling the long-lost embrace, the emotional Yang Na gradually stopped. She rested her head on Li Huowang's shoulder and silently shed tears.
In that moment, it was as if they had returned to the school rooftop from a few years ago, when they had foolishly held each other just like this until dawn.
Time passed second by second. Yang Na leaned dependently against Li Huowang's body, wanting this moment to last even longer.
But soon, she felt a pair of hands pressing on her waist, gradually exerting force to push her away.
Yang Na hugged Li Huowang tightly with both hands, trying not to be separated.
But her strength was clearly no match for Li Huowang's, and she was ultimately pushed away.
Looking at the girl's reddened eyes, Li Huowang opened his mouth, then stopped. His expression showed difficulty.
After pondering for a long while, the calm-faced Li Huowang finally spoke. "Nana, promise me, okay? If that day comes and I'm gone, you have to keep living well."
"No way!" Yang Na's response was resolute.
"I won't let you decide my choices. My thoughts are my own! Whatever I choose has nothing to do with you!"
"If you never wake up, I'll wait forever!"
With that, Yang Na grabbed her bag, turned around, and stormed toward the door.
But just as she reached the doorway, her slender body stopped again.
Yang Na hesitated for a few seconds before turning back around. She walked to the bedside with quick steps, reached into her bag, pulled out a small bag of chocolates, and coldly held it out in front of Li Huowang.
Looking at that small, exquisite bag of chocolates, Li Huowang said to Yang Na, "What month and day is it today? Why are you giving me chocolates?"
Yang Na, with teardrops still hanging on her eyelashes, clearly had no intention of responding to Li Huowang. She forcefully tore open the chocolate packaging.
After pulling out a liqueur-filled chocolate, she unceremoniously pinched Li Huowang's cheek and shoved it straight into his mouth.
Feeling the sweet silkiness in his mouth, Li Huowang smiled. "Nana, what are you doing?"
He no longer wanted to try persuading her. Since it was all an illusion anyway, there was no point in trying.
After all, ever since he crossed over, he had no control over what was happening on that side.
Li Huowang's smile instantly eased the somewhat tense atmosphere in the ward.
"What are you smiling at? Don't smile!" Yang Na slung her bag over Li Huowang's shoulder.
"Hiss~! Be gentle, it hurts!" Li Huowang, sucking in a sharp breath, clutched his shoulder with his hand.
"Tch, you wince from a little bump, but when you took a bullet to the face, you didn't feel a thing? Look at what your face looks like now."
Yang Na pulled out a small mirror for contact lenses from her bag and shoved it disdainfully in front of Li Huowang's eyes.
This was the first time Li Huowang had seen his own face here.
In the illusion, he was still that youthful boy, but the vibrant face was torn in two by a scar.
That ferocious scar ran from the upper left to the lower right, spanning his entire face and completely altering his temperament.
Li Huowang touched it with his hand, feeling the unique roughness of the scar.
He knew where this scar came from—it was from the sniper bullet that grazed him at the kindergarten that day.
"Heh, this illusion is pretty logical," Li Huowang thought to himself.
The small mirror was snatched back. Yang Na furrowed her delicate brows as she looked at Li Huowang.
"What are you thinking? Do you think I'm disgusted by your disfigurement? I don't even mind that you're crazy—do you really think I'd care about this?"
Li Huowang shook his head with a smile and grabbed the bag of chocolates from the white bedsheet, popping one into his mouth first.
He then took out another and offered it to Yang Na. "You have one too. I remember you used to love snacks."
Yang Na shook her head. "You eat them. I can buy them anytime outside, but it's not that easy for you to get them in here."
Li Huowang nodded and bit gently into a liqueur-filled chocolate. A thread of sweetness instantly enveloped his tongue.
"Indeed, it's been so long since I tasted this flavor... so very long..." Deep longing filled Li Huowang's eyes.
He could never truly return, so he could only rely on this false illusion to soothe his homesickness.
Hearing this, Yang Na's face showed a trace of heartache. She gripped his hand. "If you want to eat them, I'll buy them for you every day from now on. I'm in college now—Dad gives me plenty of living expenses, a full 2,500! Plus, I do part-time jobs on my days off."
"I can buy you any kind of chocolate you want, but I just don't know... if you'll still be lucid next time I bring some..."
Yang Na's words rapidly cooled the atmosphere that had just livened up.
After pondering for a few seconds, Li Huowang swallowed the chocolate in his mouth. He looked at the girl in front of him, about to say something, when he suddenly started coughing.
"Hey, slow down eating. Back in elementary school, I told you not to talk with food in your mouth. See? Choked now, huh? I'll go to the water room and get you some hot water."
With that, Yang Na grabbed the teacup from the bedside table and headed out.
"Cough cough!!" Li Huowang coughed violently. Accompanying the coughs was a burning pain from his stomach to his throat.
"Something's wrong! Something's definitely wrong on the real side!"
At this thought, Li Huowang jerked his head up, staring coldly at Yang Na's back with chilling eyes.
"Who are you, really? What the hell did you feed me!!"
"Ah!" A drilling pain exploded instantly from Li Huowang's stomach. It felt like a lively, thrashing hedgehog was inside, crashing around everywhere.
Under the immense pain, everything around him started becoming unstable. The warm sunlight, the bright ward—everything began to fade.
When Li Huowang felt himself back in that cave, he saw blood all over in front of him—his own vomited blood.
His face flushed red with bulging veins, Li Huowang clutched his neck with both hands and knelt on the ground, his body curled into a shrimp shape.
"Vomit~~!" He puked up another huge pile.
Mixed in the blood-tinged water with bits of black were small chunks of shredded meat, some severed tiny black tentacles, and a few rusty iron nails.
(End of Chapter)