Chapter 685: Method

Chapter 685: A Solution

Inside the men's restroom at Kangning Hospital, Li Huowang's chest heaved as he thrust his head under the faucet, letting the icy cold water wash over his burning skull.

"Ji Zai... Ji Zai! You're Ji Zai!"

The voice of Qian Fu echoed again in his ears, and Li Huowang shut his eyes in agony.

His head throbbed—a pain so intense it felt like his brain was being crushed. Only beneath this frigid stream of tap water could he feel even a flicker of warmth.

Li Huowang raised his head from the sink, peering through his soaked hair at his reflection in the mirror. He saw himself like a drowned rat, and the face staring back at him grew more unfamiliar with each passing second.

"What is Ji Zai? Isn't that just a false name that Zhuge Yuan gave me in my hallucinations? Why did he call me Ji Zai? Could it be that world over there...?"

Fragments of forgotten memories began to surface, and Li Huowang felt his headache intensify. He lowered his head once more under the faucet, letting the cold water pour relentlessly onto his scalp.

When he looked up again, what he saw was bizarre. The reflection in the mirror didn’t move in sync with his actions; when he lifted his head, the reflection in the mirror remained still, and when he bent down to let the water hit his back, the reflection did not follow suit.

Fear crept into Li Huowang’s eyes—not merely because the reflection didn’t match his movements, but because the reflection had a face on its back too! His front and back both bore identical faces of Li Huowang.

"Aaah!" Li Huowang gasped in fright, stumbling backward several steps. When he looked again, the mirror appeared normal—only the terrified Li Huowang visible within. It had all been an illusion.

"What’s going on? Could it be that the other world is real after all? And everything here is...?" A wave of inexplicable dread surged through him, making him instinctively want to clutch something.

But quickly, anger flared inside him, consuming that fear in a flash. "Damn it! You think you can fool me again, huh? I’ve already been tricked enough times! I don’t believe it! I’m not crazy—I’m not stupid!"

If Qian Fu had read Yi Donglai’s paper, then knowing the name “Ji Zai” meant nothing.

Moreover, if Yi Donglai could cure him and keep him symptom-free for such a long time, that proved it was only a hallucination caused by his illness. That was enough.

As the fire of rage grew stronger inside him, Li Huowang clenched his right fist and slammed it into the mirror. Only when he saw his reflection shatter into pieces did he feel slightly better.

"Damn it! This place really shouldn’t be visited often. The problem hasn’t been solved, and I nearly got dragged into another trap by that lunatic Qian Fu!"

He held his bleeding hand under the faucet, washing away the blood. As he picked out the shards one by one, he recalled Qian Fu once more.

Whatever name this guy called him, one thing was certain—he wanted help from him.

This madman had asked him to save him, promising to assist him against those who were watching and kidnapping him.

"But should I really do it?" Li Huowang hesitated. Qian Fu was clearly insane, and how much truth lay hidden in his words was uncertain.

Yet regardless of how insane he was, the threats against him were very real. There was no doubt about that.

And they would continue their attacks. If he didn’t find a way to deal with them, peace would never come to his life.

"Could it be that Qian Fu, once freed, can actually help me? Perhaps those wild words are just appearances, and I need to see through his true nature..."

"Shit! What’s wrong with me?! What did you do?" A man’s surprised voice came from behind.

Li Huowang turned around to see a nurse entering the restroom, staring in shock at the cracked mirror and his bleeding hand.

"You ask me? Who am I supposed to ask? What kind of poor-quality mirrors does your hospital use! I was just washing my hands, and suddenly it exploded!" Li Huowang replied angrily, his tone full of justification.

The mirror in the restroom had shattered—and someone’s hand had been injured. A series of minor incidents.

Fortunately, this was still a psychiatric ward, so bandaging was easy.

After wrapping his hand in gauze and slipping it into his pocket, Li Huowang walked out of Kangning Hospital with Yang Na. By now, he had made up his mind—he would rescue Qian Fu.

No matter how ridiculous or insane Qian Fu seemed, no matter how incoherent his words were, if others had tried to poison his food and sow discord between him and Qian Fu, it at least proved that they were on the same side.

If they were trying to stop him, then he must act. Perhaps there would be unexpected gains.

Helping a mentally ill patient escape from a psychiatric hospital was a challenge. The only good news was that Qian Fu was merely a severely mentally ill patient without any history of murder.

"Huowang! Look at the sky. The weather is really nice today, no clouds in sight."

Hearing Yang Na’s words, Li Huowang looked up at the azure sky, feeling the warm sunlight on his face. His previous gloom lifted slightly.

Then, he found his earlier thoughts in the restroom absurdly funny—how could such vivid reality be fake?

"Yeah, the weather is nice today, pity it doesn’t stay like this every day," Li Huowang said, walking toward the waiting ride outside the hospital entrance.

Although he didn’t know who was watching him or what they intended, at that moment, Li Huowang was filled with determination. If someone wanted to harm him, he would fight back. No matter who they were!

The ride started moving. Throughout the journey, Li Huowang pondered how, with his current status, he could rescue this psychiatric ally named Qian Fu.

Based on his past experience, sneaking out a severely mentally ill patient from a psychiatric hospital without anyone noticing seemed harder than climbing to heaven.

But just as they reached the residential complex gate, his past experiences gave him an idea.

Actually, the task was difficult if you thought about it, but simple if you looked at it differently. Kangning Hospital was a private facility. All he needed to do was cut off Qian Fu’s medical payments. Without him doing anything else, the hospital would throw Qian Fu out on his own.

"Little Li, back already? How was your follow-up?" Seeing Li Huowang return, Old Lady Qi sighed in relief.

Looking at the elderly woman in red arm bands, Li Huowang thought for a moment before saying, "Old Lady Qi, I’ll have to go to the hospital again tomorrow."

"You’re going again? For what this time?"

"My medicine is almost finished. I need to get more. I get sick easily if I don’t take it."

(End of Chapter)