Chapter 732
Chapter 732
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 732
>Chapter Title: They
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“Enough, stop arguing. This isn’t the time to fight.”
Seeing their voices rising, Qingwang stepped between them. He shot Li Huowang a meaningful glance before turning to Zhao Lei.
“Zhao Lei, tell me—what do you want Li Huowang to give back? Anything I can provide, we can negotiate.”
“Two... two magnets! And... and my eye!!”
Hearing this, Li Huowang’s anger flared up instantly. That guy had just ambushed him, forcing him to fight back.
Yet now this bastard wanted him to compensate for his eye? Clearly, he had no intention of talking.
Just then, Zhao Lei stuck out his neck and stared straight at Li Huowang.
“You think forgetting means you don’t owe me anymore? Think hard! Really think! What’s real? What’s fake? Doesn’t everything around you feel too abrupt? Doesn’t it all feel too phony?”
Li Huowang furrowed his brow at these words, a surge of irritation rising in his chest. His hands involuntarily reached out to grab the other man’s throat.
“Heh, want to kill me? Makes sense—murder and robbery go hand in hand! What wouldn’t you do! You’re all the same! Quit pretending! And calling me the traitor!”
Li Huowang’s outstretched hands shifted from the throat to the collar, hoisting him up directly.
“What did you just mean? Spell it out! No more riddles!”
“I’ve said it plenty clear! You’re the one who can’t hear or see! Heh, saying I’m sick? You’re the sick one, not me!”
“I’m not sick! I’ve been cured a long time ago!”
Li Huowang swiftly pulled a sharp awl from his pocket. Before anyone could react, he thrust it through the man’s clothes straight into his abdomen.
Despite the pain in his gut, Zhao Lei showed no sign of backing down. He roared at Li Huowang right in front of him:
“Fake! It’s all fake! Can’t you tell? All of it’s fake! Even your cure is fake!”
As Zhao Lei spoke, Li Huowang stared at his one blind eye and one good one. Flashes of bizarre, colorful scenes from the past surfaced in his mind—memories about a ship.
“Why did I go on that ship back then?”
Li Huowang racked his brain trying to recall his purpose at the time, but now, for the life of him, he couldn’t remember.
Seeing the confusion in Li Huowang’s eyes, Zhao Lei’s widened, and a grin tugged at his lips.
“You remember? You do, right? Think hard! You struck first!”
“Give everything back! Or don’t expect any help from me!”
“Me first?”
Li Huowang let out a manic chuckle. He paced rapidly back and forth in front of Zhao Lei, breathing heavily.
Suddenly, he halted, jabbing his right index finger hard against the other man’s forehead. Gritting his teeth, he said:
“Quit bullshitting me! Me first? It was clearly you! Clearly—”
Halfway through, Li Huowang seemed to forget what he was about to say. He quickened his pacing in front of Zhao Lei.
Breathing raggedly, he strained to remember, desperate to recall what he wanted to say. The surroundings swayed faintly.
Abruptly, he stopped again. His finger pointed at Zhao Lei once more as he gnashed his teeth and spat:
“Clearly!! Clearly you!! Clearly—”
The words were right on the tip of his tongue, yet he couldn’t grasp them. This maddening sense of frustration pushed Li Huowang’s rage to its limit. He needed to vent!
With a savage expression, Li Huowang reversed his grip on the awl and plunged it into his own abdomen.
“Aaahhh!!”
“Huowang!”
As Yang Na rushed over, the others hurried in too, pulling Li Huowang away in a chaotic scramble.
“Don’t stop him! Let him think! Let him really think!! You’re keeping him from remembering!”
Zhao Lei egged them on from the sidelines.
“Take a break. Don’t let the old illness flare up—I’ll handle this.”
Qingwang patted Li Huowang’s shoulder before heading toward Zhao Lei.
Leaning into Yang Na’s arms, Li Huowang breathed heavily, still lost in thought. His eyes darted neurotically around the room, as if searching for something. He felt like the surroundings had changed somehow, yet hadn’t.
Yang Na reached into Li Huowang’s pocket, pulled out a few blister packs of pills, took a cup of water from Chen Hongyu, and slowly fed them to him.
Once Li Huowang had swallowed the meds and calmed down noticeably, the others gradually backed off.
Wu Qi picked up the medicine Li Huowang had taken, glanced at the foil packaging on the back, and put it away again.
“Wait.”
Li Huowang shook his head vigorously and stood back up.
“Let me talk to Zhao Lei properly!”
“Alright, alright, rest now. No more trouble from you.”
Wu Qi quickly supported him, guiding him to sit again.
“If you’re sick, don’t push it. Let Qingwang handle this kind of thing.”
“I’m not sick!”
“Fine, you’re not sick, you’re not.”
Chen Hongyu chimed in from the side.
Just then, noise came from the doorway.
“Hey! Not the time to chat—we gotta go! Someone’s coming. That gunshot might’ve been too loud!”
Qian Fu dashed down from the door, relaying the message to everyone in the room.
Without another word, Qingwang grabbed Zhao Lei and led the others toward the door.
Once everyone caught up, they locked the door tight, piled into Wu Qi’s RV, and sped away from this remote spot.
Wu Qi whispered something in Qingwang’s ear. He then turned to Li Huowang:
“It’s gotten a bit messy. To clear your names, you two head back and wait.”
“Text me on WeChat if anything comes up on your end.”
Li Huowang glanced at Zhao Lei huddled on the ground and nodded silently.
Qingwang walked over to Li Huowang and patted his shoulder again.
“Don’t worry. If they’re sneaking around, they won’t dare do anything to you out in the open.”
Li Huowang looked up at him.
“Get me a gun too.”
After seeing their weapons, Li Huowang had lost interest in cold steel.
“Sure thing.”
Qingwang pulled a gun from behind his back and handed it over.
Li Huowang took it, examined it, and tossed it aside in disgust.
“I don’t want a lighter.”
“Heh.”
Qingwang picked up the gun and pocketed it.
“You haven’t trained with these—easy to hurt yourself. I’ll teach you when there’s time.”
Li Huowang didn’t have the RV stop at the neighborhood entrance. They got off a street away and walked hand in arm toward it.
“Huowang, you okay?”
Yang Na still looked worried.
“I’m fine. What could be wrong? I’m great.”
Li Huowang quickened his pace a bit, but his gaze toward the RV grew colder.
“Even though we’re allies, don’t fully trust them. Believe only seventy percent of what they say—keep thirty percent in reserve.”
“What?”
“Zhao Lei’s right. Qingwang’s sharp—this guy says one thing, but who knows what he’s really thinking.”
“As for the others’ entanglements, I don’t know. But I do know that in a mental hospital, even the patients play their own little games.”
(End of chapter)