Chapter 567: Death |
Li Huowang held the golden fries and examined them carefully. The crystalline salt glittered beneath the morning sunlight. He looked at it for a moment before dipping it in the tomato sauce and eating it. His eyes narrowed as he savored the explosion of flavor in his mouth. Afterward, he proceeded to take a few mouthfuls of the cold soda in his hand before chomping down on his burger. The cheese from the burger oozed out from the corner of his mouth and dripped onto his hospital gown.
“Son, take it slow and easy. I can buy more if you want more,” Sun Xiaoqin said, wiping away the cheese on Li Huowang's gown and eating it herself. She patted Li Huowang’s head and stepped away to speak to the doctor.
“Doctor, what's going on with my son? He suddenly has a great appetite, and he's no longer speaking nonsense. Is he recovering?” Sun Xiaqin asked Yi Donglai, who was writing notes on his observation of Li Huowang.
Yi Donglai frowned at Li Huowang, who was eating voraciously and shook his head. “Miss Sun, please give the two of us some time alone. I have to observe him even further.”
“All right, I'm leaving now. Please take care of him! Treat him, and I will even kneel down to you and give you a pennant!”[1]
Hearing the door close behind him, Yi Donglai approached Li Huowang and sat down on a stool. “What’s wrong with you? Did something happen on the other side?”
Li Huowang ignored Yi Donglai. He finished his meal and grabbed the portable gaming console on the side to immerse himself in gaming.
“Is Zhuge Yuan dead?”
Bam!
Yi Donglai waved his hand at the guards, stopping them in their approach. “Li Huowang, you're a kind person. You're not going to do something like that.”
“Me? Kind?!” Li Huowang roared and smashed his forehead into Yi Donglai’s face.
Yi Donglai took out a napkin to wipe away the blood down his nose.
“Do you know how much I have suffered? I can’t stand it anymore! Why is it always me?! Why is my life so tough?! I’m a human, too! I’m not made out of steel. Not a single good thing has ever happened to me over there! I've suffered tragedies over and over again! I've had enough of it!” Li Huowang roared. He stagged and placed a hand on the nearby wall before looking out of the window. “I don’t want to go back to that world anymore. I don’t want to look at that chaotic world filled with despair! It’s fake! Everything is fake! It’s just a hallucination! I'd rather die than go back there! Yi Donglai, just tell them that I’m cured! I want to go back to school! I want to save Yang Na!”
Yi Donglai pushed up his glasses and shook his head. “No, Li Huowang. You can’t just avoid it. You need to go back. The Liang Kingdom’s Dragon Vein is still incomplete. The life of everyone in the Great Qi is at stake here."
Li Huowang turned around and glared at Yi Donglai. “Are you crazy?”
Yi Donglai showed no fear as he approached Li Huowang. He looked out at the window and saw the other patients in the garden. “Huowang, did you know that there are some mental illnesses whose roots are their avoidance of a certain issue? I think it's useless to avoid the issue. You need to face it head-on.”
“It's easier said than done!” Li Huowang’s eyes were red as he clutched his chest tightly, and his voice was trembling as he said, “You have no idea what I went through. If you were in my shoes, you'd never say that—never!”
“What about Bai Lingmiao? You still don’t know where she is, do you? Do you really not care about her? What about Li Sui? She's your daughter, isn't she? Look at how your mother is treating you and how you're treating Li Sui.”
Li Huowang snarled. He grabbed the railing and smashed his head into it.
“Li Huowang! You need to calm down!” Yi Donglai and the guards exhausted a ton of their energy before they could finally wrap Li Huowang in a straitjacket. They placed him on the bed and injected him with a sedative.
Yi Donglai stared at Li Huowang while wiping away the sweat on his forehead. “Don’t be discouraged. Shit happens; life's always been like that. What's done is done; there's nothing much you can do about it other than endure it. If you ever face any difficulties on that side, feel free to talk it out with me. If there are some things you want to know, I can help you look it up on the internet.”
Li Huowang’s mind buzzed as he stared at Yi Donglai, and he was slurring due to the effects of the sedative. “Is this what you meant with what you said at the time? Do you really want to stand in my shoes? Do you really think that it's going to work?”
Instead of answering, Yi Donglai took a syringe of medicine and injected it into Li Huowang. “You've been really stressed these days, and it's been two days since you last slept. Have a good rest first.”
As the ice-cold medicine pervaded his veins, Li Huowang's vision darkened until he eventually lost consciousness.
When Li Huowang woke up once again, he realized that he was lying at the bottom of a well. There was a bitter taste in his mouth; it seemed that he had eaten something he couldn't recognize.
Wells were uncommon in the modern world, so Li Huowang instantly realized that he had returned to the other side. However, he didn't stand up immediately but stared at the white circle above him.
He was back, but he didn’t want to come back.
Li Huowang looked at his illusions. He saw Peng Longteng, the old monk, the illusion of a Sitting Oblivion Dao member, Qiu Chibao's illusion, and Jin Shanzhao's illusion.
However, Zhuge Yuan was missing.
"Are you Er Jiu? I'm confused. Out of the five elements, you only have the fire and metal. Where are the other three elements?"
"We will meet again, Er Jiu. I am Zhuge Yuan. If you encounter any issues, you can come find me on Xing Island in the Western Seas. I am lacking in many ways, but I will do my best to help you!"
"It is important to know the hearts of people! I just want to do it, that's all! I forbid the appearance of the Simings today!"
"Because I want to save the Great Qi!"
Li Huowang shook his head and wiped away the tears dripping down his cheeks. After a while, he grabbed the rope and crawled out of the well.
He wanted to scold and give Zhuge Yuan a good beating to vent out his frustrations, but he couldn’t do that, as Zhuge Yuan was no more.
Li Huowang could no longer revive him.
1. A pennant is something people give to express their gratitude. Usually given to people who achieved exemplary results. ☜
