Chapter 568
Chapter 568
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 568
>Chapter Title: Death
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Chapter 568: Death
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> Li Huowang picked up the golden fries in front of him and held them up to his eyes, examining them closely. The fries sprinkled with fine salt glistened yellow under the morning light.
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> He stared at them for a good while before dipping one into ketchup and shoving it into his mouth. In an instant, sour, salty, crisp, and savory flavors filled his mouth.
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> Next, Li Huowang cupped the iced cola with both hands and took several big gulps before sinking his teeth into the burger. Milky white cheese oozed from the corner of his mouth and dripped onto his blue-and-white hospital gown.
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> “Son, slow down. If there’s not enough, Mom will buy more.”
Sun Xiaoqin scraped the cheese off his clothes with her finger and popped it into her own mouth.
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> She gently patted the back of her son’s head before stepping back a few paces to Yi Donglai’s side, who was jotting notes in a booklet. “Um, Doctor, my son suddenly has such a great appetite, and he’s not saying any crazy things anymore. Does this mean his condition is improving?”
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> Yi Donglai watched Li Huowang wolfing down his food, his brows furrowed as he shook his head slightly. “Sister Sun, you should head out first. I need to observe him some more.”
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> “Got it, got it! I’m off then. You have to take good care of him. If you cure my son, I’ll kneel and bring you a banner of gratitude myself!”
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> As the sound of the door closing rang out, Yi Donglai slowly walked over to Li Huowang’s bed and pulled up a stool to sit down. In a casual tone, as if chatting idly, he asked: “What’s going on with you? Did something happen over there to set you off?”
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> Li Huowang ignored him. After finishing the fast food on his tray, he picked up the handheld console that was paused nearby and started tapping away furiously at the buttons. He was so absorbed that it seemed his mind and body were completely immersed in the game.
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> “Zhuge Yuan is dead?”
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> “Bang!” The handheld console blasting its BGM smashed against the wall and shattered into pieces in an instant.
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> At that moment, the Li Huowang on the bed had flung himself onto Yi Donglai, his hands gripping the doctor’s collar tightly as he roared hysterically: “Are you fucking trying to die?! I could bite through the artery in your neck with my teeth alone!!”
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> Yi Donglai raised his right hand backward, stopping the two prison guards charging in from the door. “Li Huowang, you’re a good kid. You wouldn’t do something like that.”
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> “Good my ass!” Li Huowang headbutted Yi Donglai, snapping his head back.
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> Yi Donglai touched his bleeding nose and, refusing to back down, pulled a tissue from his white coat pocket to wipe it.
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> Li Huowang’s furious roars echoed endlessly through the ward. “Do you know? I’m really fed up! I can’t take it anymore! Why me? Why is it always me suffering like this?!”
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> “I’m human too! I’m not made of iron! Nothing good has ever happened to me over there! Over and over, again and again—I’m so fucking tired! I’m done!”
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> Li Huowang staggered to the wall for support as he made his way to the window beside him. “I’m never going back to that chaotic, hopeless world! Never! It’s all fake! That madness—everything’s fake! It’s just hallucinations from my illness! Let it die, then!”
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> “Yi Donglai! Write me the discharge papers! I’m cured! I want to go back to school! I want to go find Yang Na!!”
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> However, Yi Donglai pushed up his glasses and shook his head gently. “No, Li Huowang. Running away won’t solve it. If you go back, Da Liang’s dragon vein still needs reconnecting. That concerns the lives of so many in Da Qi.”
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> Li Huowang slowly turned around, his gaze fixed deadly on his attending physician. “Are you insane?!”
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> Yi Donglai walked over to his side and looked out the window at the other patients out in the exercise yard. “Huowang, do you know? Some mental illnesses are closely tied to an unwillingness to face reality. No matter what you’re avoiding, running doesn’t work. You have to face it bravely.”
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> “Hah, face it? Easier said than done!”
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> Li Huowang’s eyes turned red as his right hand clutched at his chest desperately, his voice trembling. “You have no idea what I’ve been through! Put yourself in my shoes—let’s see if you can say that so lightly!!”
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> “What about Bai Lingmiao? Her life hangs in the balance, and you don’t care? And Li Sui—you said she’s your daughter, didn’t you? Look at how your mother treats you, then look at how you treat Li Sui.”
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> Hearing this, Li Huowang’s features twisted in agony. He grabbed the bed rails and slammed his head against them with all his might.
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> “Li Huowang! Calm down! Calm down!” Yi Donglai and the prison guards struggled for a while before stuffing the bleeding Li Huowang back into the restraint jacket and strapping him to the bed. Yi Donglai injected a syringe of diazepam into him.
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> Wiping the fine sweat from his forehead, Yi Donglai continued to Li Huowang: “Don’t lose heart. Life is nine parts hardship out of ten. Things have happened—we just have to find a way through them.”
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> “If you run into tough problems over there and don’t know what to do, I can help you. If I don’t know, I can look it up online for you.”
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> Li Huowang’s head buzzed as he stared blankly at Yi Donglai and said, word by word: “So this is your so-called solution from before? Considering things from my perspective? You really think that works?”
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> Yi Donglai didn’t answer. Instead, he picked up another syringe and injected something into Li Huowang’s vein. “Your mental stress is too high. You haven’t slept in two days. Get some proper rest first.”
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> As the cold medicine mixed into his bloodstream, Li Huowang felt his vision darken and gradually lost consciousness.
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> When Li Huowang woke again, he found himself lying flat on his back at the bottom of a well, his mouth dry and bitter from whatever he’d eaten.
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> There were no wells in the modern world. Li Huowang knew he was back, but he didn’t get up right away. Instead, he stared blankly up at the round white patch overhead.
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> He was back again. All the things he didn’t want to face had returned.
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> Li Huowang looked at the other hallucinations: Peng Longteng, the monk, Hongzhong of the Sitting Oblivion Dao, Qiu Chibao, Jinshan Zhao—they were all there. Only Zhuge Yuan was missing.
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> “You’re Er Jiu, right? How strange—your five elements still have fire and metal, but why are the other three gone?”
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> “Farewell for now, Er Jiu. This is Zhuge Yuan. If you run into unsolvable troubles, come find me on Apricot Isle in the Western Sea. My abilities are limited, but I’ll help however I can.”
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> “True friendship values knowing hearts! In this life, why question so much? I act as I wish! Ji Siming descends!!”
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> “Because I have to save Da Qi!!”
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> A long time later, Li Huowang shook his head hard, flinging off his tears. He grabbed the well rope and arduously climbed out.
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> He desperately wanted to curse Zhuge Yuan, even beat him senseless, to vent all the resentment in his heart.
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> But he couldn’t now. Because he was dead. Dead was dead.
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