Chapter 598
Chapter 598
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 598
>Chapter Title: Medicine
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Kangning Hospital’s cafeteria was filled with patients in blue-and-white striped hospital gowns eating lunch. Li Huowang was naturally among them, though he hadn’t touched his food.
“Didn’t Yi Donglai already talk it over with my junior colleague? Was there some mix-up?” Staring at the meat and vegetable on his tray, Li Huowang had zero appetite. His mind was entirely on Wu Cheng’s earlier words.
If he hadn’t heard it crystal clear, he’d almost think he’d misheard.
“Eat first. See what he’s up to after.” Li Huowang mixed the food into his rice and shoveled it down in noisy gulps.
Lunch was over quickly. Li Huowang returned alone to his room and sat on the stool, waiting for Wu Cheng to arrive.
He’d see what Wu Cheng was planning first. If anything seemed off, he’d call Yi Donglai to confirm.
The wait dragged on longer than Li Huowang expected. It wasn’t until two-thirty in the afternoon that the door finally pushed open.
“Sorry, we just had a meeting over there. It held me up.” Wu Cheng, looking apologetic, ran a hand through his slightly messy hair as he walked in with his tablet.
“No problem. Shall we start now? What do I need to do?”
“Relax, you don’t need to do anything. It’s just a simple talk therapy.” Wu Cheng had Li Huowang lie down on the bed while he took the stool beside it.
Li Huowang complied. But just as he’d calmed himself, Wu Cheng’s words made his scalp tighten. His right hand instinctively gripped the hilt of his spinebone sword.
“Do you still miss that other world lately?”
“No.”
Hearing this, Wu Cheng nodded and tapped his tablet.
“Good. Now close your eyes. Relax as much as possible.”
“Alright. Very good. Now recall everything from your hallucinations. Recall every vivid detail from that side.”
“...”
“Now, forget everything modern. You can’t feel any of this anymore. You’re back in that world again. Back in the capital.”
Struggle flickered across Li Huowang’s face. His hands clenched tight as his whole body buzzed, like it was about to split apart.
“Now open your eyes. You’re fully back in this world now. Your fellow disciples surround you.”
Li Huowang’s eyes snapped open. He swung the spinebone sword in his hand fiercely at the man before him.
“What the hell are you trying to do!”
Wu Cheng flinched at the raised voice. He carefully pressed down the hand reaching toward him.
“Li Huowang, this won’t do. You won’t pass evaluation like this.”
“What’s that supposed to mean, Wu Cheng! Why are you going against what Yi Donglai said?”
Li Huowang threw off the blanket and stood, glaring furiously at him.
“Because I need to confirm if your condition is truly cured. If your old symptoms can be so easily triggered again, it means you’re not fully better yet.”
Wu Cheng stated it matter-of-factly.
“I’m cured! I don’t need any other treatment! I’m perfectly normal now! My behavior is all normal!”
Wu Cheng looked at Li Huowang on the bed with some regret.
“Li Huowang, your tone’s rising again. I cleared this test with Senior Yi beforehand.”
Li Huowang ground his teeth in growing frustration.
“Give me the phone! I need to call Yi Donglai!”
“Sorry, not possible right now. Aside from one weekly call with immediate family, no contact with outsiders is allowed. That’s the hospital rule.”
Li Huowang eyed him strangely, as if the affable Wu Cheng from that morning had become someone else entirely.
“Yi Donglai! My senior! My previous attending physician! I can’t even call him?”
“Sorry, I’m a man of principle. Rules are rules. Sit down. Let’s continue. Don’t worry, this is for your own good.”
“No! I’m not doing it!”
Li Huowang’s refusal was firm.
“I’m cured! Your testing will only make things worse!”
“Unless you let me call Yi Donglai! Have him tell me personally that this test is necessary! Otherwise, I won’t cooperate with your treatment!”
At this, disappointment crossed Wu Cheng’s face as he shook his head.
“If you refuse treatment, I’m afraid discharge will be postponed indefinitely.”
With that, Wu Cheng left with his tablet, leaving Li Huowang alone in the room.
Li Huowang’s lips pressed tight. His expression grave, he paced the room. The more he thought, the more off Wu Cheng seemed.
It was all agreed upon—how had it suddenly changed? There had to be something fishy!
“Unless... unless you’re right, Monk! This Wu Cheng might be in cahoots with Wang Wei!!”
Li Huowang’s gaze hardened.
In that instant, he felt like prey stalked by a beast. Wang Wei wasn’t working alone! There were others behind him!
“What do I do now?”
That was the question Li Huowang faced. Murderous intent flickered involuntarily in his eyes.
“No, I can’t. If I kill again, I really will be locked in this asylum forever.”
As he pondered, Li Huowang fixed his stare unblinkingly on the surveillance camera in the corner.
Before he knew it, dinnertime arrived. As soon as Li Huowang sat down, he sensed something wrong. Most of the cafeteria orderlies were watching him, their eyes full of wariness.
Just then, the buzzcut youth with bipolar disorder spotted Li Huowang sitting alone. Tray in hand and curiosity thick on his face, he started heading over.
But before he got close, an orderly stepped up, pulled him aside, and seemed to discuss something.
Seeing this, how could Li Huowang not realize his security level had been raised? This was far from good.
Half an hour after dinner, it was time for meds.
But what chilled him was the new red capsules among his pills—ones he’d never taken before.
Cupping the meds, Li Huowang gazed out the window at everything. Suddenly, this clean, bright new environment turned hostile toward him.
Turning his back to the camera, Li Huowang shoved the handful of pills into his mouth and gulped down water from the cup.
But between his fingers, he palmed the new ones. On his way to the bathroom, he flushed them away.
Li Huowang lay on the bed and slowly closed his eyes, silently plotting how to break the situation.
This couldn’t go on. Here, Wu Cheng was the doctor and he the patient—making trouble for him was all too easy.
“Bang!”
The room door flew open. Six burly orderlies rushed in.
“Get up! Why’d you flush the meds! Take them!”