Chapter 706: Projection

Chapter 706: Projection

Hearing that this man was still asking whether he had eaten while it was already this late, Li Huowang felt utterly speechless. "Mr. Qing, I've finished eating. Can we get down to business now?"

"Then please bear with me for a moment—I haven't finished yet," Qing Wanglai said, lifting his bowl.

Upon hearing such a response, Li Huowang couldn’t help but frown. What exactly was wrong with this Qing Wanglai? "Can't you talk while eating?"

"As the ancients said, 'Do not speak while eating, nor do not speak when lying down.' Moreover, talking while chewing can lead to indigestion and even choking on your own tongue." With that, Qing Wanglai handed the phone back to Yang Na.

Since she had clearly refused, and since he needed her help, Li Huowang could only wait.

When he saw his girlfriend Yang Na's hesitant expression, he spoke up: "Don’t just stand there. They’re eating too—don’t starve yourself. Eat more."

"Oh, alright then, Huowang. I’ll end the video call now. Let’s chat again after I finish eating." After Yang Na said that, there was a soft *beep*, and the screen went dark.

Staring at the motionless screen, Li Huowang sighed. Why were all the people sent by Qian Fu so strange? Although Qing Wanglai wasn’t mentally ill, he certainly didn’t seem very reliable.

Li Huowang stood up and pulled aside one corner of the starry curtain by the window, peering out into the night. It was already dark outside, but he could sense that their gazes had grown even more numerous—they were still there!

*Whoosh!* The curtain was lifted again, exposing him fully under their scrutiny.

"If you’ve got the guts, come in! I’ll let you come in standing and leave crawling!" Li Huowang held a dagger tightly, his teeth clenched, his eyes filled with fury.

Yet clearly, these people, perhaps due to Wang Wei’s earlier actions, weren’t planning to act immediately.

Whether it was part of some grand scheme or not, they merely watched. They waited until the invitation ringtone from the video call played again, yet still no movement occurred.

The starry curtain was quickly drawn shut. When Li Huowang reopened his phone, the scene inside had changed—a small space, resembling a single dorm room.

Compared to ordinary male dormitories, however, this place was far cleaner and tidier. Most items in the room were white, with no anime posters or decorations adorning the walls. Only one scroll or painting hung on the wall, pristine and untouched.

Qing Wanglai held a cup of green tea and took a sip. "Hello, Li Huowang. Allow me to reintroduce myself—I am Qing Wanglai. They have told me about what has happened to you. Now, I’d like to share my thoughts."

"Firstly, the restrictions upon you are severe. Being constantly watched makes it impossible to do anything. We must first find a way to temporarily restore some of your freedom."

"Hold on, hold on," Li Huowang interrupted Qing Wanglai.

"What? You don’t want to regain your freedom? You want to stay locked up in this neighborhood forever?"

"No, not that. Before we proceed with the real matter, I need to confirm something. About them—the people who tried to kidnap me—what do you think they are?"

"Do you believe they are aliens from the constellation Leo, or a secret underground group with psychic abilities?"

Qing Wanglai chuckled. "Why would you think I’d believe that? Do I look like a lunatic to you?"

"So how do you see it? What do you think is the truth behind this? Who are they really?" Finally, someone with a rational explanation. Li Huowang felt sweat break out on his palms.

Qing Wanglai sipped his tea calmly before speaking. "Physicist Julian Madasina proposed an idea: our universe might be a holographic projection. Everything you see, everything you perceive, is nothing more than a projection. I agree with this hypothesis."

"Huh?!" Li Huowang was momentarily stunned. What did this guy mean? Hadn’t he heard something like this somewhere before?

"What do you consider real, and what false?" Qing Wanglai asked.

"Could it be possible that the world itself is a giant illusion, a reflection of some other existence? Like shadows. We are merely their shadows."

"...” Li Huowang stared silently at the screen, his suspicions growing. “This guy might be crazy too—he just hasn’t been diagnosed yet.”

“I don’t agree with your view,” came a voice that wasn’t his.

It was Yang Na. She seemed completely different from the gentle girl Li Huowang knew. Her demeanor was sharp and confrontational.

She clutched her cup tightly, her gaze piercing. “Science is built on bold hypotheses and careful verification. All hypotheses remain just that—hypotheses—until proven. What evidence do you have to support yours?”

“Heh, of course I do.”

“Show it. I don’t believe you have any.” Yang Na’s tone was dismissive. “If you truly had definitive proof, you’d already be eligible for a Nobel Prize, not here wasting time.”

“I cannot show it to you. Just as my shadow cannot convey its experience to yours, how can I describe our world to you? They have no thoughts. They move only because we do. How can I express that?”

“Nonsense! What’s the difference between you and those online science enthusiasts who bluster recklessly? I seriously doubt how you even got your graduate degree!” Yang Na stood up angrily. The goodwill she had briefly shown vanished without a trace.

“Imagine this: our shadows are so simple compared to us. If we, living beings with flesh and blood, were shadows of some other existence, can you imagine what kind of being they would be?”

Seeing Yang Na lost in thought, Qing Wanglai continued. “What if their projection isn’t just a thin human form—but the entire world? What if our whole world is merely a projection of one being? What kind of existence would that be?”

Yang Na opened her mouth, then closed it again. Qing Wanglai pressed on. “You can’t imagine it. Because you lack the organ to even conceive such a thing.”

At this point, Qing Wanglai’s expression grew distant. “But I’ve seen it once. Even though I forgot it instantly, I still remember that moment—how utterly insignificant I felt.”

“Our so-called thoughts are nothing more than reflections of their breath. Our very existence depends on theirs. Even our...” He stopped mid-sentence, clutching his head in pain.

He turned and opened a drawer, pulling out several capsules and swallowing them dry with cold tea.

For a moment, silence filled the room. No one spoke.

After a while, Qian Fu’s voice echoed from within. “What nonsense is this? You’re making it up. I think it’s definitely aliens from the constellation Leo.”

*(End of Chapter)*