Chapter 514
Chapter 514
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 514
>Chapter Title: Inside the Room
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Facing the monk's mockery, a flash of anger crossed the face of the Sit-Forget Dao hallucination, but it quickly vanished.
He slowly climbed up from the ground, putting on an act as he patted the dust off his body and rubbed his swollen left cheek that had been smashed crooked.
"Red Middle boss, you've gotten all high and mighty now. You want to beat me? Fine, make me real, beat me up, then let me come back."
"But I'm already a dead man. No matter how much you bully me, what can you do? You gonna kill me twice?"
"Believe it or not, my concern for you just now was completely sincere. After all, we're in the same boat now. If you die, we're all gone for sure."
As he spoke, the Sit-Forget Dao hallucination had unknowingly drawn close to Li Huowang, staring at him silently with the two holes in his face.
"I say, let's not worry about the dice for now. We should deal with the troubles right in front of us first. Like, for example, your problem of cultivating the real but ignoring the fake."
"If you keep cultivating like this without fixing that, you won't solve the dice boss issue—you'll just go mad from cultivation deviation yourself."
Seeing Li Huowang standing there in silence, the Sit-Forget Dao hallucination continued.
"And this isn't hard to fix at all, right? Red Middle boss, the Sit-Forget Dao's methods for cultivating the fake are right there in your head. Why won't you cultivate them?"
"Thud!" Li Huowang's fist smashed straight into the Sit-Forget Dao hallucination's face, making his head snap up high for the second time as red nosebleed sprayed through the air.
In the next second, Li Huowang's right foot shot up fiercely, kicking him square in the stomach and sending him flying back.
"Li Huowang, have you gone mad?! I'm talking serious business here!"
With a clattering of metal, Li Huowang, clutching his head, yanked open the torture tool pouch at his hem, laying out the bloodstained, glinting tools in a row before the Sit-Forget Dao hallucination.
At this, the Sit-Forget Dao hallucination shut his mouth despite his unwillingness, retreating far away.
"Brother Li, what he says does have some merit. Why won't you listen at all?"
Zhuge Yuan leaned over from the side and asked.
"Brother Zhuge, think about it—who was it that said cultivating the real requires cultivating the fake?"
"The dice."
"Right! The dice said it! I'm a heart elemental. What do you think he told me that for?"
"Ever since I got Red Middle's memories, I can understand some of the Sit-Forget Dao's thinking now! We have to guard against their influence every moment. So what he says is fake—cultivating the real is just cultivating the real. No need for the fake!"
When Li Huowang said this, his tone was exceptionally resolute.
"Couldn't there be a possibility..."
"No! Absolutely not! There's not a shred of doubt in my heart right now! How many heinous things has the Sit-Forget Dao done to cultivate the fake? Do I have to do the same as them for the fake? The dice is trying to trick me. I'm not falling for it!"
Li Huowang stared at Zhuge Yuan with utterly steadfast eyes.
"If I really cultivate the fake, then I'm not Li Huowang anymore—I'll have become the Sit-Forget Dao's Red Middle! So if I say what he says is fake, then it is fake!!"
"Oh~" Zhuge Yuan nodded in understanding. Hearing this, he seemed to grasp the man's thinking.
Li Huowang wasn't inactive in response to what the dice had said about cultivating the real without the fake. On the contrary, this resolute attitude was his countermeasure.
"You're worried the dice is using your heart elemental powers to make 'cultivating the real without the fake leads to cultivation deviation' become reality?"
"So to prevent that, you're nipping it in the bud by calling it fake outright?"
"No." Li Huowang shook his head forcefully.
"The Sit-Forget Dao can cultivate the fake without the real and be fine. Why would cultivating the real without the fake be a problem only for me? No need to overthink it! This is absolutely fake!!"
"Brother Li, I get it. I have to say, as a countermeasure, being a heart elemental might actually make this work." Zhuge Yuan nodded in understanding and stepped back to join the other hallucinations.
The Sit-Forget Dao hallucination sidled up to him and whispered something, but Zhuge Yuan just shook his fan with a faint smile and shook his head.
Li Huowang looked at them in the distance, standing up with a weary expression as he headed toward the bedroom on the second floor.
All sorts of things had worn him down body and soul lately. Plus, after twice turning that Sit-Forget Dao hallucination real just now, Li Huowang felt truly exhausted. He needed a proper rest.
Seeing Li Huowang walk past, Li Sui silently followed.
Once she saw Li Huowang lying on the bed with his eyes closed, Li Sui climbed up and snuggled right against him, feeling that familiar heartbeat within his flesh.
She liked sleeping pressed against her dad—it made her feel like she was back inside him again.
With her head and tail touching, Li Sui suddenly remembered something and gently nuzzled Li Huowang with her head.
"Dad, is there anything I can do to help? I really want to help you."
Feeling Li Sui's concern brought a rare warmth to Li Huowang's heart. With his eyes still closed, he reached out and gently patted her head.
"I appreciate it, but you really can't help with what's coming. Just behave yourself and stay out of trouble—that'll be a huge help."
But for the first time, Li Sui felt a pang of unwillingness. I'm really strong—Second Mom even praised me. Why does Dad always think I can't do anything?
Perhaps because of all the exposure to the elements on the road, Li Huowang slept deeply that night.
When he woke again, it was already the afternoon of the next day.
"How long did I sleep? Thirteen or fourteen hours? No, days in this world are only twenty-two hours long. I couldn't have slept that much."
As Li Huowang started to get up, Li Sui, who had been lying on the floor, scooted over excitedly.
"Dad, I did so much last night! I swept the floor! I swept the whole house! I even filled the water jar!"
"Mm-hmm, good girl, well done." As Li Huowang spoke, he sat up on the bed and grabbed the Daoist robe and copper coin mask from the stool to put them on.
But just as he finished dressing, Li Huowang sensed something missing—the torture tool pouch at his hem was gone.
"Did you take it?" Li Huowang looked toward Li Sui. He didn't think any thief would steal a bunch of bloodstained iron tools.
"Yeah, I washed all the blood off for you. Some were dull, so I sharpened them all with the whetstone."
Li Sui pulled the sparkling clean torture tools from her body, now looking like new, and offered them up to Li Huowang like treasures.
Li Huowang nodded, reattaching the torture tool pouch to his hem before rewarding her with a pat on the head.
"Dad, did I do good?"
"Good."
"Real good. Fuckin' filial, huh."
Li Huowang whipped his head around, glaring fiercely at the Sit-Forget Dao hallucination who had said that.
The Sit-Forget Dao hallucination's neck shrank back as he dodged out of the room.
(End of chapter)