Returned

Chapter 533: Returned

His head splitting with pain, Li Huowang struggled to pry his eyes open a crack. "As I thought, trying to turn a Heart-Pivot into a false manifestation is still too much for me in my current state."

"If I wanted to make Zhuge Yuan fight for me like Peng Longteng did, I'd probably need to have mastered Cultivating the True first."

Sensing the gravity of the situation, Li Huowang forced himself upright with great effort. He shook his agonizing head violently, then pried his eyes open and began, "Brother Zhuge, my apologies, I passed out afterward and didn't see—"

He stopped mid-sentence as he took in the white-coated doctors surrounding him.

Staring in shock at himself strapped to a piece of medical equipment, realization dawned. "I... I'm back again?"

"Li Huowang? Li Huowang? Look at my fingers. How many is this?" Three fingers waggled in front of his face.

"Three?"

"Excellent. It looks like the increased electroconvulsive therapy this time finally pulled you back."

At the doctor's signal, an orderly stepped forward to unbuckle the restraints on Li Huowang's wrists and ankles. The pads on his temples and the electrodes on his scalp were removed as well.

"Here, take your medicine first."

When Li Huowang saw the pills and a cup of water being offered to him, his pupils shrank to pinpricks. He swung his arm and knocked the capsules and pills away. "Who's trying to medicate me?! I'm not taking any medicine!"

"Li Sui! Grab your spine-sword and send me back to Great Liang! Don't trust anyone who gets near me right now!!" Skinny and weak, clad in a blue-and-white hospital gown, Li Huowang shouted wildly at the air around him.

At that moment, a male doctor in frameless glasses waved the approaching orderlies back. He moved carefully toward Li Huowang and said in a measured, earnest tone, "Li Huowang, don't be afraid. It's me! Don't you remember? I'm your doctor, Yi Donglai."

"Yi Donglai?" Li Huowang stared at the familiar face, a flood of memories surging back.

"I don't care who you are. I'm not eating anything right now! No matter what medicine it is, wait until I'm back on the other side before you force-feed me!" Li Huowang's voice carried all the way down the hallway; people kept poking their heads in at the door.

"Alright, no problem. Don't be nervous. I won't force you to take medicine, and I mean you no harm." Yi Donglai slowly took a step back, raising both palms in a placating gesture.

Li Huowang let out a small breath. Whoever this man's projection from Great Qi was, at least for now, he didn't seem hostile.

Seeing that his patient had calmed down a little, Yi Donglai slowly picked up a stool and set it beside Li Huowang. "Come on, take it easy. Sit down first. Your muscles aren't in any state to stand."

Li Huowang glanced at Yi Donglai, then at the stool. He reached to where his Purple-Tasseled Sword should have been, made a grasping motion, and swung the empty space through the stool before slowly sitting down.

Yi Donglai nodded, then looked up at the camera in the upper left corner. "I'll need a copy of this recording sent to my computer later."

He turned his attention back to Li Huowang, who was watching him intently. "From what you've been saying lately… not going so well over there, is it? Run into some trouble?"

Li Huowang said nothing. He didn't think Yi Donglai could help him deal with the Dice of the Zuowandao.

Yi Donglai reached up and adjusted his glasses. "Li Huowang, tell me… is that Dice trying to steal the dragon vein of Great Liang?"

"Huh?!" Li Huowang stared at Yi Donglai in shock. How did this guy know what he was dealing with over there?

But the words struck a chord. Li Huowang's mind raced. If the dragon vein's importance even affected the course of history, then the fact that the Dice specifically wanted Ji Lin to take the throne—did that mean he had designs on the dragon vein?

He still didn't know the Dice's goal. But this was the Zuowandao. What could be more enticing than tampering with an entire stretch of history?

If what Zhuge Yuan said was true—that the last break in the dragon vein of Great Qi had led to the rise of Great Liang—

Then if the Dice succeeded, how catastrophic would the consequences be? Li Huowang didn't even want to imagine.

Seeing Li Huowang lost in thought, Yi Donglai ushered everyone else out and closed the door. The room quieted, leaving only the two of them.

He pulled another stool over, sat down cross-legged in front of Li Huowang, and said, "From a doctor's rational perspective, I think you'd better stop helping that emperor of yours right now. Not only that—you should secretly assist the other contenders for the throne."

"But that Dice of yours has captured your Miao Miao. That is a problem. How about we put our heads together and figure something out?"

"W-wait a second!" Li Huowang clutched his head, his expression pained, cutting Yi Donglai off.

After gasping a few times and steadying himself, he said to Yi Donglai, "Don't talk to me about this stuff! It's none of your business!"

"What's the matter? The confusion between reality and hallucination getting to you? Making you uncomfortable? It's fine—if you don't want to talk about it, we won't. Let's talk about something else. Like the deal between you and me."

"Deal?" Li Huowang, having regained some composure, looked at Yi Donglai.

"That's right. You know the situation. You're like a living Buddha right now—can't shake you off, can't toss you out. You're stuck here at White Tower, and the higher-ups are tearing their hair out."

"They're tearing their hair out, which means I'm under pressure as your primary doctor. So how about this: next time the higher-ups come for an inspection, you stay clearheaded for a while—prove that my treatment plan is working. What do you say?"

As he spoke, Yi Donglai stood up, walked over to Li Huowang, and helped him to his feet. He guided him toward the window to look out at the view.

"In exchange, within the bounds of my authority, I'll meet any request you have. It's a win-win for everyone."

A smartphone that Li Huowang didn't recognize slid from Yi Donglai's sleeve into Li Huowang's hand.

When Li Huowang's finger brushed the screen, an anime wallpaper appeared before him. He suddenly remembered this was his own phone.

"I've already updated your games for you. Want to give it a try?"

Li Huowang pressed his finger to the fingerprint sensor. The familiar interface appeared before him. Seeing the red +99 notifications on QQ and WeChat, a flood of past images overwhelmed his mind.

"I can do more than just give you a phone. If you cooperate, I can even give you some freedom. Let you eat in the cafeteria. Play on the computer. Watch a movie."

Li Huowang jerked back as if shocked by an electric current, stumbling a few steps. "Don't give me that crap! Other doctors have tried that on me before! You just want to keep me as connected to this side as possible, so I'll subconsciously believe this is real and everything over there is a hallucination!"