Chapter 94: Confusion

Chapter 94: Bewilderment

Striding down the center of the grand avenue, Li Huowang gritted his teeth and strained to chase the crimson hues scattered all around him.

As he pursued, he sensed Laoyue Shiba in the distance constantly shifting its position, now transforming into someone else's red hat, now into a roadside shop sign.

Yet no matter how it shifted, Li Huowang clung tenaciously to its trail; having finally seized this opportunity, he would not give up so easily, for obtaining Laoyue Shiba's eyes was the key to his escape from Danyangzi.

At this moment, he also noticed a peculiar trait of Laoyue Shiba: the thing seemed to lack eyelids, utterly incapable of averting its gaze, passively staring at anything that fell within its field of vision.

"This thing is truly bizarre; in the real world, what on earth does it look like?" Li Huowang mused silently as he ran.

Under such relentless pursuit, Li Huowang finally bore fruit, drawing ever closer to Laoyue Shiba—five meters, three meters, one meter!

Sprinting wildly, Li Huowang suddenly raised his right hand, his feet barely leaving the ground as he prepared to snatch at that mass of red.

Yet just as he was about to grasp it, a hand reached out from behind and seized his wrist.

"Li... Li Huowang? You're Li Huowang from Class Four, Grade Two, aren't you?"

Li Huowang glared fiercely over his shoulder, only to find that the man ruining his plans was a balding middle-aged man of about fifty.

The man adjusted the square glasses on his face, looking at the youth before him as he continued, "Forgot? I'm your homeroom teacher. Where are your shoes?"

Gazing at that familiar face, Li Huowang was momentarily dazed and blurted out instinctively, "Teacher Tong?"

"I recall your mother applied for your suspension on medical grounds, so why did you run out in your hospital gown? Are you alright?"

Teacher Tong spoke with some concern, reaching out to pull the collar of Li Huowang's gown, which had been tucked inside his clothes, back into place.

Looking at this teacher who had helped him so much at school, a trace of struggle flickered in Li Huowang's eyes.

But he quickly calmed himself, shaking off the man's hand with a sudden jerk, and desperately chased after the red in the distance.

"Hallucinations!! These are all hallucinations!! You won't trick me! It's all fake!!"

Watching Li Huowang's retreating figure, Teacher Tong's face showed a hint of worry, and he promptly pulled a phone from his pocket.

"Hello? Is this Li Huowang's mother? I'm his sophomore math teacher, ah, yes, yes, yes, hello, hello, I see your son over on Lianhua Road, and he isn't even wearing shoes."

"Absolutely no mistake, it's him, I've been teaching for so many years, I would never misidentify my own student, mm-hmm, mm-hmm."

With bloodshot eyes, Li Huowang frantically scanned left and right along the street, searching for any trace of Laoyue Shiba, clutching a shard of broken glass he had picked up. "Damn it! Where did it go?"

The distant wail of sirens did not affect him in the slightest, for he knew it was all an illusion.

In his frantic search, Li Huowang suddenly halted; to his left, a group of children were lining up for morning exercises.

Catching sight of a sliver of red amidst the various garments, an utterly chilling smile spread across Li Huowang's face. "Haha! Found you!"

The toy-like iron fence could not possibly hold Li Huowang back; he vaulted over it in a matter of seconds.

With a single punch, he knocked down the female teacher rushing toward him, and instantly, screams and wails erupted.

Yet Li Huowang paid no heed to the others; instead, like an eagle snatching a chick, he hoisted one of the girls into the air, glaring viciously at the pair of red cherry hair clips pinned in her hair.

The girl was clearly terrified, tears brimming in the corners of her eyes, her lips trembling so much she could not utter a word.

"Still playing dumb with me? You can't fool me!!" Li Huowang roared.

Just then, the sirens drew rapidly near, the screech of tires skidding on asphalt ringing out in an instant. "Stop right there! Police, put your hands up!"

Li Huowang instinctively turned his head to look, seeing several officers crouching in front of two police cars, their handguns raised and aimed at him through the fence.

Li Huowang glanced at Laoyue Shiba in his hand, then back at them, a cold sneer curling his lips. "Trying to use this trick on me? Fake!! It's all fake!!"

The little girl in Li Huowang's hands burst into tears, crying loudly.

Just as Li Huowang was about to finish off Laoyue Shiba once and for all, a figure suddenly darted out from the surrounding crowd, arms spread wide, resolutely blocking the line of fire.

"Don't shoot! Nobody shoot! That's my son! He... he's always been a good boy since he was little, he only turned out like this because he got sick, let me talk to him, okay? He listens to me, he'll definitely listen to me, he's a filial, good child."

Hearing that familiar voice, Li Huowang froze once more; he watched as the graying hair turned slowly around, revealing his mother, Sun Xiaoqin, yet she now looked exceedingly haggard, aged several years beyond her previous state.

Looking at her son behind the iron fence, Sun Xiaoqin tried desperately to force a smile, but ultimately failed.

Scalding hot tears rolled around in her eye sockets a few times before spilling down the corners of her eyes. "Good son, listen to Mom, put the little girl down, okay? Let's go home, you can play games for as many days as you want, Mom absolutely won't stop you."

Li Huowang stood rooted to the spot, his expression torn, looking alternately at his incredibly real mother before him and at Laoyue Shiba in his hands.

Sun Xiaoqin trembled as she walked slowly forward, while Li Huowang instinctively stepped back, his expression growing profoundly agonized.

"No, that's wrong, this is all fake, it's all fake! It's all fabricated by Laoyue Shiba!! The world over there is the real one! I can't let the hallucinations control me again!!"

Li Huowang struggled desperately to convince himself, yet the sharp shard in his hand never once pierced downward.

At this moment, his breathing grew increasingly rapid, his pupils dilating and contracting in turns.

When Sun Xiaoqin reached the fence, her body practically pressed against the bars as she slowly slid down into a kneeling position toward Li Huowang.

"Son, Mom is begging you on her knees, alright? For your sake, I've already sold our house, we really have no money left to pay for damages."

This calm sentence completely shattered Li Huowang; his face contorted in extreme anguish as he clutched the little girl and dropped to his knees, two streams of tears flowing down his cheeks.

"Mom!!"

At this moment, with the veins on his forehead bulging, Li Huowang's mouth hung wide open in a soundless wail, drool dripping from the corners of his mouth alongside his tears onto the cartoon-patterned floor.

Gazing at his mother in the distance, he drew a deep breath, and facing the deepest reliance in his heart, he screamed out all the struggle and bewilderment within his soul.

"Mom!! I can't tell!! I really can't tell the difference, ahhh!!"

(End of Chapter)