Chapter 110: Madman

Chapter 110: The Madman

Li Huowang pressed a hand gently against his wounds, moving with slow, deliberate steps as he shuffled into Jingxin's quarters. He slumped down against the base of the wall, his movements sluggish and labored.

"Even you were unable to deal with Danyang Zi?" Li Huowang asked.

"Of course we could, provided we simply kill you."

Jingxin's words drew a chuckle from Li Huowang. "I never expected the Abbess to be so adept at telling jokes."

"I am not joking with you. The roots of Danyang Zi have now thoroughly taken hold within you. You are now one of his unfinished Three Corpses."

"Striving to stay alive while severing your master is indeed a delicate task, for your connection runs too deep. It is fair to say you are now a small half of Danyang Zi himself. That is why I did not simply extract the Black Tai Sui from your stomach, because it is now not merely Danyang Zi, but also you."

Li Huowang's plea for the nuns of Anci Nunnery to purge Danyang Zi had not succeeded, though they had coordinated with him to grievously wound their foe and temporarily banish him.

Yet this was merely a stopgap measure; the trouble lingered, entirely unresolved.

Concealed in the darkness with his back against the frigid wall, Li Huowang stared numbly at the layers of moss-covered tiles on the temple roof outside.

"You cannot blame us. I had no idea your master still had half of himself that hadn't perished cleanly. We of Anci Nunnery are more adept at matters of the Realm of Emptied Self, but when it comes to flesh and blood, those precept-breaking bald donkeys of Zhengde Temple are far more skilled."

"Abbess, I do not blame you. I merely wish to ask, how long until I am completely transformed into Danyang Zi?"

This failure did not instill any sense of frustration in Li Huowang.

"Counting from this moment, there are two months left," Abbess Jingxin said as she stepped into the shadows, approaching a bamboo cradle and gently rocking it. Gazing at the old man inside, a tender smile graced her face.

"Oh..."

"So what do you intend to do?"

"I need to wait a while, wait for an answer. Abbess, may I borrow something from you?"

For a time, the dim room fell utterly silent, the quiet stretching on for a long while.

Li Huowang drew a deep breath, his expression betraying a hint of struggle, before suddenly snapping his eyes open. The darkness around him had been replaced by blinding white; he was back in the hospital once more.

After carefully observing his surroundings, Li Huowang realized this was not a psychiatric ward, but an ordinary hospital. In this hallucination, his injuries still appeared unhealed.

Shifting his gaze downward, he saw his mother, Sun Xiaoqin, sitting on a small stool and leaning over the bed, fast asleep.

In Li Huowang's memory, his mother had always been a fastidious woman, but now her hair was greasy, looking as though it had not been washed in a long time.

Li Huowang tried to reach out, only to find his limbs securely bound. Helpless, he could only softly call out toward her. "Mom, it's me, Huowang."

When Sun Xiaoqin opened her eyes and saw her son staring at her, calling her name with a perfectly lucid expression, she threw herself forward in agitation, hugging him tightly. "Son, you're finally awake."

After waiting quietly for a long while until her emotions settled, Li Huowang asked again, "Mom, where's Dad?"

"Your dad went out to earn money. Our family is short on cash right now, and we owe quite a few debts."

The moment she finished speaking, Sun Xiaoqin's heart gave a sudden jolt, and she quickly cupped Li Huowang's face, explaining with a pained, doting expression.

"Huowang, Mom doesn't blame you. I know you didn't want to do this. It's the illness, that damn crazy illness! Out of all the people in the world, why did it have to strike my son?"

"Mom, can you untie one of my hands? I just want to stretch it a bit."

Seeing her son speak so normally, Sun Xiaoqin hesitated for a moment before a smile returned to her face.

"Alright, stretching is fine. Tied up all day, your body will get ruined."

With his right hand freed, Li Huowang smiled at Sun Xiaoqin. "Thanks, Mom."

With that, he reached into his hospital gown and pulled out a heavy string of golden prayer beads.

Under Sun Xiaoqin's extraordinarily shocked gaze, Li Huowang placed the prayer beads into her hands.

"Mom, take these and exchange them for some money to pay off the family debts. If there's anything left, buy back our house. I've always quite liked this neighborhood."

Holding the heavy golden prayer beads, Sun Xiaoqin looked utterly bewildered. "This... what on earth is going on? Son, where did this gold come from? Did you sneak out and take it while I was asleep?"

Li Huowang gently shook his head. He reached up, removed the jade pendant from his neck, and placed it in Sun Xiaoqin's hand as well.

"Mom, take this too. It should fetch some money. Even though I know you're a hallucination, I don't want to see you suffer before my eyes."

Hearing this, Sun Xiaoqin immediately forgot about the gold and jade in her hands. She grabbed Li Huowang's shoulders with both hands, shaking him continuously as tears streamed down her face.

"Son, look clearly! I'm your mother! I'm not a hallucination! I really am not a hallucination!"

Li Huowang reached out and gently wiped the tears from her face, a faint smile appearing on his lips.

"Yeah, right. Mom, you're real. You're not a hallucination. I was just teasing you."

Hearing Li Huowang's comforting words, Sun Xiaoqin jumped up and down in excitement, pressing her palms together and muttering prayers for the Bodhisattva's blessing.

Just as she excitedly pulled out her phone, preparing to have Li Huowang video call his father at work, Li Huowang reached out with his right hand and plucked a vermilion button from her clothes, slipping it into his own bosom.

Perhaps because Li Huowang had initiated the shift, the return this time was incredibly fast.

His graying father on the video hadn't even finished half a sentence before everything around him shifted once more, bringing him back to the dim room.

As he regained his senses, he saw Abbess Jingxin standing there, quietly watching him with the golden prayer beads in her hands.

Li Huowang raised his right hand, his breathing growing increasingly rapid. His mind was in chaos at this moment.

Gritting his teeth, he suddenly reached for his chest. His hand instantly froze; there was absolutely nothing there.

Facing an outcome he had long anticipated, Li Huowang laughed.

"Heh, I should have known. How could that place possibly be real? I actually listened to the words of people in a hallucination. I've truly gone completely mad."

Laughing, Li Huowang suddenly stopped, realizing this was hardly good news. Now, even the last shred of possibility within his delusions was gone.

Li Huowang drew a deep breath and spoke softly into the air. "Mom, did I scare you? Sorry about that. Tie my hands back up, so I don't accidentally hurt you."

Abbess Jingxin, who had been silently watching everything, suddenly spoke. "If that place is fake, then who are you shouting at?"

Li Huowang looked up at the nun in the darkness. "Is it wrong to shout at myself?"

"What do you intend to do next?"

Li Huowang slowly drew in a deep breath, his eyes instantly clouded with a dense, murderous intent. "I want Danyang Zi to die!"

(End of Chapter)