Chapter 477
Chapter 477
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 477
>Chapter Title: Conversation
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“Classmate, since you’re sober right now, your thinking and logic should all be normal. You should understand what I mean—we’re doing this to cure you. Do you really want to lie in bed for the rest of your life, letting your mother take care of you forever?”
“She’s already so old. Can she really take care of you for life? Can you bear watching her, all white-haired and frail, still turning over a fifty- or sixty-year-old you and changing your diapers?”
“No, as long as I wait until the day I achieve great success in cultivation.”
With a resolute expression, Li Huowang slowly shut his mouth.
The two doctors exchanged a glance. They pulled out notebooks from their white coats and quickly jotted something down.
They walked a short distance away and conferred briefly before returning.
“Li, we won’t have to wheel you out for rehabilitative training. Can you chat with me instead?”
“Relax, it’s just a casual chat like with a friend.”
As the younger doctor spoke, the other caregivers and the other doctor withdrew. Even the prison guards posted at the door left.
The doctor shrugged off his white coat and draped it over a chair, revealing casual clothes underneath.
“Let me introduce myself. I’m Yi Donglai.”
He reached out and shook Li Huowang’s gaunt, chicken-claw right hand.
Compared to the previous doctor, this younger one was clearly different.
“You’re famous online right now. The story of you charging into that school and rescuing your girlfriend from those robbers has spread far and wide. Lots of people look up to you—including plenty of cute girls.”
Li Huowang’s lips twitched, but he said nothing. He silently calculated in his head how much time he had left.
“Do you play League of Legends? I do. The game devs even made a limited-time Barbarian King skin based on you back then. Tons of people bought it—I dropped 99 bucks on one myself.”
“Hm?”
Li Huowang looked up, his expression complicated as he eyed the doctor before him.
“Are you treating me like an idiot?”
“Heh heh heh, just kidding. Don’t take it seriously. But I saw the security footage—damn, you were badass. Like a juiced-up Barbarian King! If they made a skin like that, it’d sell out in seconds!”
“What heroes do you like? I main the Jester, but those idiots at Riot nerfed him recently! The Jester, of all things?! What kind of morons nerf the Jester?! Tell me that’s not insane.”
Li Huowang watched the nonstop chatterbox Yi Donglai. Ignoring the man’s drivel, he quickly pegged his intent—this guy was clearly trying to bond over games, lower his defenses, then slip in the therapy.
“Maybe... I don’t have to resist so outright. Maybe I can use this guy to escape constant surveillance.”
“Any new heroes out lately?”
Li Huowang’s question lit up Yi Donglai’s face. Finally, some response from Bed 13.
Response was good—meant he could start psychological intervention and treatment.
“Yeah! Two new ones dropped while you’ve been hospitalized!”
“Any junglers? I like jungling.”
The two dove into game talk and chatted for a solid twenty minutes. Both seemed pleased with the exchange.
“Gotta go. Catch you next time.”
Li Huowang spoke up.
Yi Donglai had a million questions about how Li Huowang could control his episodes, but he knew better than to push too hard.
“Sounds good! Name a time.”
“Dinner in five days. See ya, Donglai-ge.”
Li Huowang tilted his chin at Yi Donglai with the hint of a smile.
“Hey, hold up—haven’t eaten yet!”
Sun Xiaoqin’s voice rang out as the world around him collapsed.
When Li Huowang snapped back to himself, he saw Bai Lingmiao, Li Sui, and Er Shen standing before him, staring.
“Senior Brother Li... dinner’s ready,”
Bai Lingmiao said weakly.
“Oh, got it.”
Li Huowang turned toward the carriage. He scooped a bowl of stewed rice from the pot.
“Mom, I’m eating. Feed me the rest of the lunchbox rice—open wide.”
Li Huowang gaped his mouth. After a beat, he shoveled another mouthful from his bowl and chewed vigorously. Once he swallowed, he gaped wide again, waiting.
The three emerged to find Li Huowang locked in this bizarre routine.
“Eat already—what’re you standing around for? We’ve still got road ahead.”
Li Huowang said to them. Hearing this, they finally approached.
Bai Lingmiao cradled her bowl of stewed rice, gazing at Li Huowang with a complicated look, as if she wanted to say something.
But when Li Huowang glanced her way, she flashed a smile and dug in heartily.
The meal ended in an awkward hush. They washed the bowls, chopsticks, and iron pot by the river, then the carriage rolled on.
Li Huowang thought it over before speaking up to explain to Bai Lingmiao.
“No need to worry about me. I know what’s real now. Give it some time—everything will be fine.”
“Mm, Senior Brother Li, I believe you.”
Bai Lingmiao nodded lightly beside him.
“I really—ugh, forget it. You’ll see later.”
Li Huowang pulled out a sheet of yellow paper, bit his finger, swiftly scrawled a talisman, and slapped it onto the horse’s back. The draft horse bolted forward.
The carriage flew. By dusk, they reached a peach blossom grove.
Crimson sunset bathed the pink blossoms, lending an eerie allure amid the green woods.
Li Huowang unfurled the Surveillance Bureau’s exquisite map and cross-checked it.
“This should be the spot. Just hope our luck holds this time.”
The first two flops had soured him on this third site too.
“I’ll scout ahead. Wait out here. If you hear anything odd, drive the carriage back to where we ate lunch and wait for me.”
“Mm, go ahead, Senior Brother Li.”
Li Huowang’s heart ached at Bai Lingmiao’s vacant eyes. He turned and headed into the peach grove.
He hunched low, shifted his body color to match the earth below, cloaking himself as he crept inward.
The grove was dense, the blossoms fragrant—but the trunks oozed sticky amber peach gum, lending the whole place a sinister vibe.
After a dozen paces, Li Huowang realized how deathly still it was. No birdsong, not even crickets.
His spirits lifted. Could this be it?
“Brother Zhuge, you’ve seen it all. Ever crossed paths with a spirit aberration before?”
“I have. A close friend of mine got tangled with one. He lived in hellish torment every instant until he begged me to end it for him.”
(End of chapter)