Chapter 345
Chapter 345
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 345
>Chapter Title: Li Sui
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Hearing this, Li Huowang's pupils contracted slightly.
“This ability... is it my dislocation ability? Do I have this ability in the hallucination too?”
At this point, Wang Zhilong finally burst into tears, sobbing as he complained aggrievedly, “I didn’t make a single cent from this deal! Do you know how many hundreds of thousands I invested? To keep the city management from hauling you off, I pulled so many strings! This was all scraped together by us brothers maxing out dozens of credit cards!”
“Ancestor, I’m begging you! Have some mercy—turn some gold for me. Those debt collection texts are driving us to jump off a building!”
Li Huowang released his grip and looked around at everything with a hint of panic. What was going on? Why did this world suddenly feel so real?
He glanced down at the bleeding wounds on his body, then raised the dagger in his right hand and stabbed fiercely into his left hand. “Why does this pain feel so real?”
Even if there was only a one-in-ten-thousand chance it was real, then Yang Na and Mom wouldn’t have abandoned me—they might even be looking for me right now!
Li Huowang’s heart started pounding. He turned and rushed toward the outside. But as he ran, just as the sunlight was within reach, his steps gradually slowed to a halt.
“But in this state, what good would finding them do? Aside from making them suffer more and keeping me lost in confusion, what difference would it make? I can’t keep dragging them down with me.”
Slumping into despair, Li Huowang turned around and trudged heavily back into the bridge alcove. “This is all fake. Since I’ve decided this side is fake, there’s no point hesitating.”
He untied Wang Zhilong, freeing him, then lay back down on the ground, staring blankly at the ceiling overhead.
Now freed, Wang Zhilong didn’t go to rescue his other companions. Instead, after hesitating for a moment, he edged closer to Li Huowang.
“Little Brother Li, while you’re clear-headed, level with me. Do you really have supernatural powers or what?”
Li Huowang completely ignored everything around him, his mind already focused on how to persuade Li Sui to return to his belly.
“I saw it on the surveillance footage—the gold box you gave your mom was covered in gems! One of those could buy a house!”
“That’s gotta be real, right? Otherwise, how would they have the money to post missing person ads all over the internet and streets?”
“Scram.”
“Hey, Little Brother Li, don’t be like that. If you really don’t want to go back, just give me some gold. I’ll go tell your mom you’re dead, so she can finally let go.”
As Li Huowang’s gaze refocused on Wang Zhilong’s face, brimming with greed, killing intent flashed in his eyes. “You want gold? I’ll give you some!”
He yanked the gold necklace he’d taken from the fatty earlier out of his pocket and looped it around the man’s neck.
Then he kicked Wang Zhilong’s calf. With the downward momentum, he yanked upward hard, and Wang Zhilong immediately started rolling his eyes.
Wang Zhilong struggled desperately, clawing at Li Huowang’s hands nonstop. But even as his hands were scratched raw and bloody, Li Huowang’s bloodshot eyes remained unmoved.
Wang Zhilong’s struggles grew more frantic. Just as his face turned from red to purple to black, Li Huowang’s pupils contracted—he suddenly realized how similar this was to when he’d killed Heartbound Deity back then.
A surge of belated fear made Li Huowang release his grip. He looked down tremblingly at his hands.
When had he become someone who could kill without blinking?
Li Huowang turned his head to gaze at his reflection on the river surface nearby. The ragged beggar staring back felt utterly unfamiliar.
His normal high school life had only been a few years ago, yet now it seemed as distant as a previous lifetime.
His memories of the past were starting to blur, replaced by that bizarre, mad world.
Li Huowang had found the reason. After enduring all these events, he was being assimilated by that world. Before he knew it, he was starting to become like those Supervising Heaven Bureau people—indifferent to life, filled with malice.
No, even worse. He was turning into another Danyangzi.
“No, this isn’t me. This isn’t Li Huowang.” Li Huowang turned and walked over to Wang Zhilong, who was clutching his neck on the ground, helping him up.
His voice trembled with emotion as he pleaded, “I’m begging you guys, okay? Stop messing with me! I’m a madman! I really don’t want to kill anyone!”
Wang Zhilong, who had just brushed death, didn’t dare say anything else. He nodded frantically, then bolted out of the bridge alcove without a glance at his other three companions.
That last bit had truly scared him. He could feel the guy had really meant to kill him.
Li Huowang let out a deep sigh and walked over to the other three, untying their bonds.
Ignoring their panicked flight and the blood oozing from his own wounds, Li Huowang knelt on the ground, closed his eyes, clutched his head tightly, and repeated over and over, “This is all fake. This is all fake.”
He didn’t know how much time passed before he sensed the surroundings dim suddenly.
He looked up and scanned around. As expected, the entire room was a chaotic mess, as if a gale had swept through.
“Finally back.” Returning to this mad, chaotic world, Li Huowang felt an inexplicable sense of security.
He walked to the collapsed bed frame, knelt on one knee, and reached under the bed, his voice as gentle as possible. “Li Sui, don’t be scared. That guy was lying. What he said isn’t true. Staying in my belly won’t hurt me.”
After a short while, a tentative black tentacle emerged from the darkness under the bed and wrapped around Li Huowang’s hand. “Mm.”
With a gentle tug, Li Huowang pulled Li Sui out entirely and cradled it in his arms, softly soothing the long and short tentacles. “Li Sui, be good. Come back in. Dad really can’t do without you now.”
Two double-pupiled eyeballs, entwined by two tentacles, gazed at Li Huowang with attachment.
“Urgh! Urgh~!” Accompanied by waves of nausea, Li Sui slithered back up Li Huowang’s throat.
With a strange sensation, Li Sui’s tentacles spread along his meridians, filling Li Huowang’s entire body.
Li Huowang patted his belly and let out a breath of relief. As long as he had Li Sui, he’d never have to go back there again.
He then walked to the window and looked outside. The sky was still overcast and gloomy, but it looked like dawn had broken.
After tossing and turning all night, Li Huowang had no intention of sleeping. He grabbed his luggage, went downstairs, and headed for the stables.
But as soon as he entered the lobby, he saw Old Wu Tou, looking utterly wretched, helping the cook and stablehand bandage each other up.
Seeing the wound on Old Wu Tou in the exact same spot as Wang Zhilong’s, Li Huowang instantly understood what had happened.
“When did you get near my room? Didn’t I tell you yesterday not to come near my room unless necessary?”
The postmaster Old Wu Tou forced a smile onto his bitter melon face and swiftly dropped to his knees with practiced ease. “This lowly one heard noises... I-I was afraid something had happened to you, sir, so... This lowly one deserves death! This lowly one deserves death! This lowly one’s filthy blood dirtied your hands—I should offer you hand-washing silver as tribute!”
Li Huowang grabbed his collar and hauled him up. “Stand properly!”
Then he chanted an incantation. The white wax from the Fire Robe True Scripture melted rapidly, transforming into a fiery millipede that leaped onto Old Wu Tou’s wound.
“Aaahhh!!” Old Wu Tou’s agonized screams echoed through the lobby.
“Quiet! This is to heal you!”
By the time their throats were hoarse from shouting, everyone’s wounds had been replaced by minor burns.
Li Huowang then pulled two silver ingots from his robes and placed them on the table. “This is for your furniture.”
“This... this lowly one can’t accept...” Before Old Wu Tou could refuse, Li Huowang stuffed the silver into his robes.
“Take it if I tell you to. I don’t want to be assimilated by this dump!”
(End of Chapter)