Chapter 121: Chocolate

Chapter 121: Chocolate

Feeling the impact of the satchel striking his face and hearing the agony in Yang Na's cries, Li Huowang was seized by a profound empathy.

Sharing that same agony, he reached out and wrapped his arms tightly around the girl before him.

"Na Na! Please, don't be like this, I'm begging you!"

Yielding to the long-lost embrace, an overwhelmed Yang Na gradually stilled, resting her head against Li Huowang's shoulder as she wept in silence.

In that moment, it was as if they had returned to the school rooftop years ago, foolishly holding each other until daybreak, just as they had done back then.

Minutes and seconds ticked by as Yang Na leaned affectionately against Li Huowang, wishing only to stretch this moment just a little longer.

Yet she soon felt a pair of hands press against her waist, gradually exerting force, trying to push her away.

Yang Na clung to Li Huowang with all her might, desperately trying to keep them from parting.

But her strength was clearly no match for his, and she was ultimately pushed away.

Looking into the girl's reddened eyes, Li Huowang parted his lips, then stopped, his expression clouded with difficulty.

After much deliberation, his expression serene, he finally spoke: "Na Na, promise me, will you? If the day comes when I am no longer here, you must keep living well."

"No!" Yang Na replied with absolute finality.

"I won't let you decide my choices; my thoughts are my own! What I choose has nothing to do with you!"

"If you never wake up, I'll just keep waiting!"

With that, Yang Na snatched up her bag, spun around, and stormed out in a huff.

Just as she reached the doorway, her slender body suddenly halted.

After a few seconds of hesitation, she turned back, her footsteps clicking rapidly as she approached the bedside, reached into her satchel, and pulled out a small bag of chocolates, offering them to Li Huowang with a cold expression.

Looking at the small, exquisite bag of chocolates, Li Huowang asked Yang Na, "What's the date today? Why are you giving me chocolates?"

Yang Na, with teardrops still clinging to her eyelashes, clearly had no desire to answer him and vigorously tore open the chocolate wrapper.

Extracting a liquor-filled chocolate, she unceremoniously pinched Li Huowang's cheeks and forced it straight past his lips.

Feeling the sweet sensation in his mouth, Li Huowang smiled. "Na Na, what are you doing?"

He didn't want to try persuading her anymore; since it was all an illusion, there was no point in trying to reason with her.

After all, ever since he transmigrated here, he had no say in what was happening over there.

Li Huowang's smile instantly eased the tense atmosphere that had just filled the ward.

"What's so funny? Stop smiling!" Yang Na slung her satchel onto Li Huowang's shoulder.

"Hiss! Be gentle, that hurts!" Li Huowang hissed, covering his shoulder with his hand.

"Tch, you flinch at a mere touch, yet when you took a bullet to the face, you didn't feel pain? Look at what your face has become."

Yang Na pulled a small contact lens mirror from her satchel and shoved it unceremoniously in front of Li Huowang's eyes.

This was the first time Li Huowang had seen his own face in this place.

Within the illusion, he remained that youthful boy, yet that vibrant face was now cleaved in two by a scar.

That hideous scar ran from the upper left to the lower right, spanning the entirety of Li Huowang's face, utterly transforming his aura.

Li Huowang reached up to touch it, feeling the distinct roughness of the scar tissue.

He knew where the scar came from; it was grazed by a sniper bullet that day at the kindergarten.

"Heh, this illusion is actually quite logical," Li Huowang thought to himself.

The small mirror was pulled back, and Yang Na looked at Li Huowang with her delicate brows slightly furrowed.

"What are you thinking? Do you suppose I mind your disfigurement? I don't even mind a lunatic, do you truly think I would care about this?"

Li Huowang smiled and shook his head, reaching out to grab the bag of chocolates on the white bedsheet, and first took one out to pop into his own mouth.

Immediately after, he took out another and offered it to Yang Na. "Have one too; I remember you used to love snacks."

Yang Na shook her head. "You eat it. I can buy whatever I want whenever I'm outside, but in here, it's not so easy to get this."

Li Huowang nodded, took out a liquor-filled chocolate, put it in his mouth, and bit down gently, the sweet threads instantly enveloping his tongue.

"Indeed, I haven't tasted this flavor in such a long time, such a long, long time..." A deep longing surfaced in Li Huowang's eyes.

He could never go back; he could only rely on this false illusion to ease his homesickness.

Hearing this, a trace of heartache surfaced on Yang Na's face as she took his hand. "If you want it, I'll buy it for you every day from now on. I'm in college now, and my dad gives me plenty of living expenses, a full two thousand and five hundred! Plus, I work part-time during my breaks."

"I can buy you whatever kind of chocolate you want, but I just don't know... next time I bring chocolate, will you still be awake..."

Yang Na's words quickly chilled the slightly warmed atmosphere.

After a few seconds of deliberation, Li Huowang swallowed the chocolate in his mouth. Looking at the girl before him, he had just decided to say something when he inexplicably started to cough.

"Oh, eat slower. I told you back in elementary school, don't talk while eating. See? You choked. I'll go to the water room and get you some water."

Saying this, Yang Na grabbed the teacup from the nearby table and walked out.

"Cough, cough!!" Li Huowang coughed violently, and with the coughing, a searing pain shot from his stomach to his throat.

"No, something's wrong! There must be a problem on the reality side!"

Thinking this, Li Huowang suddenly raised his head, his eyes cold and fixed, staring dead at Yang Na's retreating back.

"Who are you really? What exactly did you feed me!!"

"Ah!" A piercing pain instantly erupted from Li Huowang's stomach; it felt as though a frantic hedgehog were trapped inside, thrashing wildly against his insides.

Under the immense pain, everything around him began to destabilize; the warm sunlight, the bright ward, everything started to fade.

When Li Huowang felt himself return to the cave once more, he found himself surrounded by blood, the blood he had vomited.

His face flushed crimson with bulging veins, he gripped his own neck with both hands, kneeling on the ground with his body curled like a shrimp.

"Urp~~!" A large mass was vomited out once again.

Mingled within the dark, bloody fluid were small amounts of minced flesh, several broken, tiny black tentacles, and a few rusted iron nails.

(End of Chapter)