Chapter 901: Big

Chapter 901: Great

The searing agony brought Li Huowang back to a sliver of consciousness, though only a sliver; as the anesthesia deepened, the pain began to ebb away.

Li Huowang stumbled backward, and upon hearing Wu Qi’s voice, he finally collapsed into total unconsciousness, crashing to the floor.

He did not know how much time had passed when he drifted back to awareness; the flashlight beam dancing across the ceiling told him he was still in that factory, and the surrounding silence proved that whatever had transpired here was over.

Li Huowang reached up with trembling hands to press against his skull, which felt as if it were splitting wide open.

"Here, drink some water. Don't be afraid, these are just aftereffects. They will vanish soon," Wu Qi said, helping him to his feet.

"Is it over? Did we win?" Li Huowang turned his head to look at the bodies strewn about in disarray.

"No, they escaped, but Zhao Shuangdian said our objective was met. We need to retreat."

"Retreat?" Li Huowang looked toward the others, seeing them siphoning fuel from the generators to douse the factory’s contents; it seemed they intended to burn the place to the ground.

A storm of questions raged in his mind, and he longed to interrogate Zhao Shuangdian, but this was no time for inquiries, and even if he asked, she likely wouldn't speak.

Li Huowang stood up, leaning on Wu Qi as they retreated toward the dark irrigation tunnel. "If it’s over, then let’s go."

Li Huowang did not know what this place represented, but he judged from experience that this underground factory was an existence akin to White Jade Capital, and those people before were the Sīmìng of this realm.

Yet, as he pondered, something felt wrong. "Yu'er God was clearly powerful, so are the Sīmìng accompanying it really this weak? Could over a hundred of us not even defeat these people?"

"Or perhaps, did I guess wrong? How could they possibly tear White Jade Capital apart?" Lost in thought, he retreated into the deeper, pitch-black tunnel.

Wu Qi leaned Li Huowang against the wall and turned to assist the others.

Li Huowang shook his head violently, glaring at Qing Wanglai, who was rummaging through a freezer.

Before his inner fury could erupt, a strange noise echoed from the left tunnel; he stared into the dark, where something was staring back—people, many, many people.

Suddenly, a beam of light cut through the gloom as a flashlight tumbled to Li Huowang’s feet, illuminating him brightly, mirroring the fate that had once befallen Chen Hongyu.

"Ambush!" Li Huowang screamed with all his might and lunged toward the door; at that very moment, as Ba Nanxu flicked a cigarette butt, the entire factory erupted into a roaring inferno.

With pursuers behind and fire ahead, Li Huowang and his companions were trapped in a desperate plight.

By the time Li Huowang grabbed a helmet from the floor and strapped it on, the enemy had already burst through the iron gate.

They were black men in camouflage, and upon seeing the burning factory, their faces twisted with rage; they raised their rifles, aiming at Li Huowang’s group while shouting curses in a language he could not understand.

Yet, this was not the greatest danger; amidst the gunfire, ten round grenades were hurled toward them.

Watching the black spheres of death arc through the air, Li Huowang’s heart skipped a beat—they were doomed.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Li Huowang sprinted forward, pushed off with his feet, caught two of the grenades, and charged toward the enemy.

Seeing Li Huowang rushing at them with grenades in hand, the men panicked, retreating toward the door while firing wildly.

"Bang!" As the heavy door slammed shut, Li Huowang looked down at the objects in his hands and slammed them against the gate.

The grenades split open, revealing yellow contents inside.

But then, everything froze in that instant; Li Huowang stared blankly at the mooncakes in his hands, unable to process the shift.

"Eat, don't just stare. This is the result of all the patients' hard work," the orderly said, patting Li Huowang on the back.

"Mooncakes?" Li Huowang looked around at the tranquil rest area. "White Tower Prison? I’m back again? What is this..."

A thought struck him; he picked up the purple sweet potato mooncake and shoved it into his mouth. A new slip of paper emerged as he chewed; he opened it to find the exact same words written upon it.

"Smack!" Li Huowang slapped his own face hard; the stinging pain confirmed he was not dreaming, and a faint, terrifying realization began to dawn on him.

He forced himself to stay calm, swallowed the note, and walked toward the restroom, where he saw himself once more.

Everything that followed mirrored what Li Huowang already knew—the same rubber, the same interrogation by Yi Donglai.

But once Li Huowang exited White Tower with his magnetic card, he didn't hesitate to jump into Ba Nanxu’s car. "Take me to Zhao Shuangdian! Now!"

"Oh? In such a hurry? I thought you’d go see your little girlfriend first." As she kicked the back of her brother’s seat, he slammed his foot on the gas.

Before long, Li Huowang found Zhao Shuangdian at the Blood Fire Tattoo Parlor. "What is going on? What is all of this! Why am I back again!!"

A flicker of confusion crossed Zhao Shuangdian’s face. "I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about."

Li Huowang suppressed his mounting dread and recounted everything he had experienced; if anyone could explain this, it was her.

Upon hearing his tale, Zhao Shuangdian looked astonished. "I did intend to recruit you for a counterattack, and I don't know how you heard of this, but the situation you described is all wrong."

"First, the timing: we acted on February 6th, not February 3rd. Second, according to our calculations, the other elephant entrance doesn't require a flight; it’s at sea, and we should have taken a boat."

"How—how is this possible?!" Li Huowang stumbled back, utterly shaken. "No! This is wrong! Something is terribly wrong!"

But then, the shock on his face faded into bewilderment. "This isn't the first time! There was the time on the boat! The nun’s son existed! And... and another time! What was the second time? I forgot! But there was a second time! This is the third!"

As he thought, his confusion twisted into a grimace of agony; he hammered his fists against his head with all his might, desperate to awaken some overlooked detail.

"Great... Great..."

Zhao Shuangdian watched him with intense interest. "Great Elephant is Formless?"

Li Huowang shook his head violently, denying it, when suddenly his eyes lit up.

"No! That's not it! It’s not the Great Elephant, it’s the Great Sīmìng—neither coming nor going! I finally understand!!"

"There is no 'before' or 'after'! It all happens simultaneously! The reason you changed the plan isn't because that place doesn't exist, but because we destroyed it in another timeline! That factory! That factory was the projection of the Sīmìng!"

"We destroyed the factory, so all time and history related to it vanished! Except for me, everyone has forgotten! Just like the last two times!! It’s all gone!"