Chapter 96: Ba Hui Returns

Chapter 96: The Return of Ba Hui

"Pain." His heart was torn as if by knives, and the massive gash in his abdomen made Li Huowang tremble all over with agony.

Yet, despite the torment in his soul and the agony in his flesh having nearly reached their zenith, Li Huowang's face wore a smile.

He smiled as he watched the things fleeing from the bamboo grove; he recognized one of them, for it bore his own visage, save that this other Li Huowang possessed a pair of enormous, blood-red eyes.

"Crack, crack, crack!" As Li Huowang ground his teeth with a grating sound, his small and large intestines were brutally ripped out by the barbs, the fleshy bridge between them swaying in the air.

"Aaaaaah!!" Driven to the brink of madness by the agony, Li Huowang raised the long awl in his hand and plunged it fiercely into the bamboo slips before him, which emanated an eerie crimson glow.

"Clang, clang!" Sinister black sparks instantly scattered in all directions.

Li Huowang's facial features began to merge and swirl together once more, yet this time, propelled by the intense agony as a tether, his perception grew far keener, allowing him to sense things with greater clarity.

Once again, he sensed Ba Hui high above in the unfathomable depths of the sky, beholding the captivating aura radiating from its colossal form.

Yet Ba Hui remained Ba Hui, still paying him no heed; nevertheless, by sacrificing his dual, ultimate agony, Li Huowang had obtained what he desired from it, an exceedingly wondrous sensation.

Under the breath of Ba Hui, the physical and mental torment within Li Huowang began to gradually transmute into something else entirely.

In the next instant, an aura of absolute, terrifying despair emanated from Li Huowang, a power that unequivocally did not belong to the mortal realm.

As if subjected to an immense atmospheric pressure, everything in Li Huowang's vicinity bent and tilted to the opposite side with a chorus of creaking sounds.

Li Huowang raised the twin awls in his right hand and gave a gentle swipe.

Space itself seemed to tear asunder, and the bamboo, the leaves, and every living creature within were all cleaved cleanly in two.

From the half-rotted head of the young girl crawled tiny figures the size of fingers, each bearing a face identical to hers.

These creatures were just about to flee, but after taking only a few steps, they all collapsed to the ground and perished.

Although Layue Shiba was not among them, Li Huowang, whose features were now completely merged, could distinctly sense its location.

It was fleeing eastward; it was terrified, all five of its heads were terrified. Li Huowang could even perceive the deepest thoughts within its mind.

Hearing the cries of terror from those red eyes, Li Huowang smiled; he raised the long awl in his hand once more and thrust it ruthlessly back into his own abdomen.

In an instant, everything within a radius of Li Huowang simultaneously shared in the ultimate agony, even the bamboo and the stones on the ground.

They began to grow increasingly twisted and deformed, increasingly horrific, and they even let out utterly despairing screams of pain.

Among these things naturally included the distant Layue Shiba.

In truth, Layue Shiba originally possessed no organs for pain, yet now it too had been granted the ability to feel agony by Li Huowang.

At this moment, the only thing it felt was profound regret, questioning why it had ever offended this man.

But in that mere instant, it was overwhelmed by that excruciating perception of pain, and it committed suicide in despair at the fastest possible speed.

When everything had finally settled, Li Huowang's swaying body slowly toppled over to the right.

Every inch of his body ached, yet Li Huowang smiled; he didn't know why he was doing it, but he just smiled.

"With wounds this severe, I should be dead, right? Hahaha!!"

He could feel his internal organs spilling out from the hole in his abdomen, yet Li Huowang had not the slightest intention of stuffing them back in.

"It would be good to die! Once dead, there will be no more pain. I am so truly tired... but why must it be me... actually... I don't want to die... I want to feel things just like everyone else..."

Plunged into the throes of near-death, Li Huowang's mind was hazy, his thoughts lagging a beat behind.

His merged facial features began to separate, as if about to return to their proper places.

In that very instant of realignment, Li Huowang fancied he felt Ba Hui in the sky cast a glance his way.

The next second, everything before Li Huowang's eyes went black, and he knew nothing more.

He knew not how much time had passed when, in his hazy state, Li Huowang heard the sound of drums, the sound of footsteps, and even the sound of a nurse snapping open an ampoule, all of which filled him with immense annoyance.

"So noisy! Keep it down!!"

Li Huowang abruptly opened his eyes, staring blankly at the cart laden with IV bottles before him.

After staring for a good while, Li Huowang finally realized that he had not died, but was instead trapped within a hallucination.

Looking at the beeping machines all around, Li Huowang understood that he was in the intensive care unit.

He hadn't died; was he happy? Li Huowang didn't feel particularly joyful, but rather a trace of regret.

"Why am I still not dead?" Li Huowang pondered this question.

"Doctor, the patient in bed twelve is awake!" a shout rang out.

Ignoring the nurse's delighted cry, Li Huowang silently assessed his situation over in the real world.

Hearing the door open, Li Huowang slowly closed his eyes, completely sealing off his perception of the outside world, and quietly waited for this hallucination to pass.

Suddenly, Li Huowang heard a familiar voice. It was the voice of Li Xiangguo, his attending physician at the psychiatric hospital.

"Little Li, I know you're awake. Open your eyes and take a look, how about we have a chat?"

Li Huowang remained unmoved. He didn't want any contact with this place right now.

"Yang Na has a new boyfriend."

Li Huowang snapped his eyes open, only to see the doctor standing before him with arms crossed, a sly, triumphant smile on his face.

He was just about to clench his fist and smash that smiling face to pieces when he realized his right hand was handcuffed to the hospital bed.

"Don't get so excited, Yang Na doesn't have a new boyfriend. See, you still react when something important comes up. Why be so resistant?"

The doctor, clad in a white coat, pulled up a stool and sat beside Li Huowang's bed. "Let me guess, you've taken that other place for reality once again?"

As Li Huowang's breathing grew rapid, the machines beside him began to alarm, but ultimately he said nothing and closed his eyes once more.

"Little Li, let's skip the pleasantries this time. Since you believe that other place is real, why don't we talk about things over there? Ask yourself honestly, which world seems more like the normal one, that one or this one?"

(End of Chapter)