The Past That Was

Li Huowang stared at the shimmering figure. Even if it was just a hallucination now, the path to turning a hallucination back into a person was unknown. But having the hallucination gave him a sliver of hope. Zhuge Yuan could live. He didn’t have to die.

Without thinking, Li Huowang reached out his hand, passing it right through Zhuge Yuan’s form. He couldn’t touch him, of course, but the sight still sent a fresh wave of exhilaration through him. This emotional seesaw left him sweating profusely, his face flushed red.

“Boss Hong, what are you doing? Are we going or not? If you’re not, I’m leaving,” Bei Feng said, eyeing the chaotic battle in the distance with a look of barely contained eagerness.

Li Huowang pulled his focus back, glancing first at Bei Feng beside him, then towards the two sides locked in combat far away. Even though Doumu had returned to her domain, neither the Zuowandao nor the Supervisory Heavenly Office showed any sign of stopping. They were fighting harder than ever. A pair of dragon horns had pierced through the imperial crown of the Liang Emperor, while the four Dice, aided by other Zuowandao members, sat cross-legged on the ground, setting up some unknown formation.

Li Huowang withdrew his gaze, quickly sank his body into the earth, shifted to his invisible form, and systematically pulled back from the tilting, half-collapsed Liang Imperial Palace.

“Daoist, why are you leaving? Didn’t you say you were going to get some kind of cultivation manual from Bei Feng?” a voice asked.

Li Huowang let out a cold laugh. “He doesn’t have a damn cultivation manual. It’s a fake, deliberately dangled out to bait a Heart-Element.”

After Doumu’s earlier rampage, there weren’t many good spots left in the entire Upper Capital City. As far as the eye could see, everything was a mess, as if a massive earthquake had struck.

Li Huowang mounted a riderless horse and galloped at full speed towards his own courtyard. When he arrived, he found Mantou, the dog, cowering at the base of a gnarled tree in front of the tilting house, tail tucked, trembling with fear.

Li Huowang rushed into the courtyard, grabbed the essential supplies, then reached down and scooped up the dog. He spurred his horse towards the Eastern city gate. After exiting the city and galloping another ten or so li, he finally stopped by a waterfall in a scenic area of green hills and clear water.

Zhuge Yuan’s expression was grave, with no sign of enjoying the view. “Alas, I wonder how the various lords of Great Qi are faring in their campaign to ‘clear the usurpers from the throne’ without me here.”

“Come on, Brother Zhuge, you’re in way over your head yourself. Worry about your own skin first. I don’t know if you heard me before I died, but let me tell you my plan again.” Li Huowang proceeded to explain in detail how he intended to resurrect him.

Upon hearing this, Zhuge Yuan fell into deep contemplation, taking his time. After a long while, he frowned slightly and gave a small shake of his head. “Brother Li, I believe this approach is not feasible.”

“What? Why not?”

“It’s true that a Heart-Element can move mountains and drain seas at will, but I am a living person. A living, breathing person. And don’t forget, I am no ordinary mortal. I am a Heart-Pivot. Even if your cultivation of falsehood into reality is great, we are both of the ‘Heart’ generation. No matter how strong a Heart-Element’s Primordial One Qi is, it cannot create a Heart-Pivot.”

“It can!” Li Huowang’s adamant declaration made all five of his hallucinations turn to look at him at once.

“Brother Zhuge, I think, therefore I am. You have no idea how strong a Heart-Element can be! What Bei Feng said earlier actually hid part of the truth. The Primordial One Qi of a Heart-Element truly shares its origin with the solar aspect of Doumu. But what he deliberately didn’t mention is that even the Heavenly Ways that Doumu, the arbiter of truth and falsehood, wields... she didn’t have them from the start!”

Li Huowang looked down at his clenched fist, a thrill in his voice. “This is something greater than a Siming. By then, giving you a physical body would be nothing. Even splitting heaven and earth alongside Pangu wouldn’t be out of the question!”

Seeing Li Huowang like this, a look of worry crossed Zhuge Yuan’s face. “Brother Li, where did you learn all this?” He was certain that Li Huowang hadn’t known any of it when he came to find him on Apricot Island.

The question caught Li Huowang off guard. The excitement on his face slowly faded. “I remembered some things. Some things about the past. Some things... about me being Hong Zhong of the Zuowandao.”

“What?!” Zhuge Yuan was visibly shocked.

A bitter smile appeared on Li Huowang’s face. “I don’t want to accept those facts either, but the truth is right in front of me. I, Li Huowang, am Hong Zhong.” As he spoke, his face continuously shifted through different appearances, finally settling on the face of Hong Zhong. “You could say Bei Feng was working with me, but what about the memories in my head? The divine powers I suddenly know?”

The moment he said it, an excruciating pain pierced Li Huowang’s heart. If he was Hong Zhong, it meant there had never been a high school student. There had never been a reality. The abbess at Anci Nunnery had been right when they first met: he was a person of this world. All those messy things in his head had been Hong Zhong’s deceptive illusions from the very beginning.

Thinking that Yang Na and his mother were all fabrications made Li Huowang’s already easing heart clench with even greater pain.

“Wait... wait a moment, Brother Li. Something’s not right. Something’s not right. Let me think this through.” Zhuge Yuan clasped his hands behind his back and began to pace back and forth.

After seven or eight paces, he looked back at Li Huowang. “Brother Li, please don’t jump to conclusions. You might not be Hong Zhong. If it were just one complete, clear memory, that would be one thing. But how do you explain... where did my Zuowandao divine powers come from? And furthermore...”

Saying this, Li Huowang quickly assessed their position. He leaped onto his horse and galloped east for several more li, finally stopping at a roadside noodle stall. He hurried inside. Before the stall owner could speak, Li Huowang revealed his Hong Zhong face.

The owner’s welcoming smile froze instantly. He immediately reached behind his counter and pulled out a mahjong tile with the character ‘Red Center’ on it, offering it up to Li Huowang with both hands in a gesture of utmost respect.

Li Huowang swiped his hands over it, and the tile split cleanly in two. He picked up the front half and held it up for Zhuge Yuan to see. Inside were five small characters: ‘Red Center — Li Huowang.’

“See this? This is a secret agent I set up six years ago. I know it’s hard to accept, but this ironclad fact proves I am Hong Zhong. I’m not running from it anymore, because running is useless.”

“No. That’s wrong.” Zhuge Yuan shook his head more vehemently. “You are not Hong Zhong. You’ve simply had your past swapped out. Just like Great Qi... and Great Liang. Originally, Great Qi ruling the realm was the truth. This kind of divided world under Great Liang was the falsehood. But it got swapped, just like you.”