Arriving Too Late

“Mom, I’m really fine. It’s just that I’ve been busy lately, so I haven’t been awake much. But it’ll get better from now on.”

Li Huowang, strapped to the hospital bed, spoke comforting words to Sun Xiaoqin beside him.

Sun Xiaoqin smiled and shook her head. “Mom isn’t worried. Really, I’m not worried. Here, have an apple.”

“Mom, I can’t eat anything right now.” Seeing the smile on Sun Xiaoqin’s face slowly fade, Li Huowang quickly added, “Mom, next time I want to eat, I’ll shout ‘I want to eat!’ in my coma, and then you can feed me the apple, okay?”

Hearing this, Sun Xiaoqin smiled and nodded. “Alright, I’ll listen to my son.”

Just as Li Huowang was relaxing his taut nerves and chatting with Sun Xiaoqin, he suddenly saw Yi Donglai standing at the door of the ward, staring at him through the window.

Seeing that Li Huowang had noticed him, Yi Donglai adjusted his frameless glasses with a finger and turned the doorknob, walking in.

First, he asked Sun Xiaoqin to leave. Then, as if making casual conversation, Yi Donglai asked, “So? Did you find Bai Lingmiao?”

Li Huowang responded with silence.

“The sun is so nice outside. How about we go out and get some sunlight?” Yi Donglai unfastened the restraints on Li Huowang’s limbs, but Li Huowang didn’t move an inch.

Yi Donglai, who had pushed a wheelchair over, raised an eyebrow. “Why aren’t you moving?”

Li Huowang looked up at Yi Donglai coldly. “I’m riding a horse right now. If I move too much, I’ll fall off.”

Yi Donglai nodded understandingly and pushed the wheelchair away. “You know, I found your previous doctor, Wang Wei, and had a chat.”

This caught Li Huowang’s attention. “What illness did he have that put him in the hospital?”

“What else could land someone here? But his paperwork wasn’t in order—he used connections to get transferred here. So the director had him transferred out again.”

“Let’s not talk about him. His condition is much milder than yours. But during our conversation, we came up with a new treatment plan.”

“This approach hasn’t been tried before. But since conventional treatments haven’t worked on you at all, maybe it’s worth a shot.”

Li Huowang looked at him and smiled, his expression completely open. “Then let’s try it. Who knows, it might work.”

Both worlds are real. I’m the one stuck between them. Does Yi Donglai really think ordinary medical treatment can pull me out?

If things could be solved as easily as in a fairy tale, that would be great.

“It won’t be that fast. The paperwork has to go through. But I think the higher-ups will sign off on it. You’ve been a real headache for them—they’d love nothing more than to get rid of you and send you off to some other subordinate unit.”

“If there’s nothing else, I need to go back. It’s not easy to spare this time to come.”

Hearing this, Yi Donglai’s expression turned serious. His determined gaze, through his slightly green-tinted glasses, fixed on Li Huowang.

“I know you don’t trust me. But let me tell you something—I’m a stubborn man. And it’s that stubbornness that has made every single patient under my care walk out of here cured. Even the ones I couldn’t cure have the best prognosis in the entire hospital!”

“Since you’re my patient, I will give everything to make you well! No matter how many methods it takes.”

“Thank you. You’re a good doctor. But this is something you really can’t help with. Stop trying.” Li Huowang said this and slowly closed his eyes.

In the darkness, Li Huowang heard Yi Donglai’s voice fading away. “Is that so? Well, I don’t believe that. The truth is, you do have weaknesses. I’ve already found some patterns. I’m starting to figure out how to intervene.”

—

Drowsy and dazed, Li Huowang was jolted awake by the sound of thunder. He found himself sitting on a horse, his body emerging from within his red Daoist robe, tendrils tightly gripping the reins.

Just then, the rain began to fall. In the pouring downpour, Li Huowang grabbed his conical hat and put it on his head.

“How long have we been riding?” Li Huowang asked Li Sui.

“Dad, I don’t know. You haven’t taught me that.”

Looking at the muddy dirt road ahead, Li Huowang bit the tip of his index finger, drew a talisman, and slapped it onto the horse’s back.

The fatigued horse’s veins bulged instantly, and it surged forward at twice the previous speed.

“We should be nearing the capital by now,” Li Huowang thought to himself, looking at the vaguely familiar surroundings.

The sound of hooves echoed continuously, stretching all the way until nightfall. As a bolt of lightning struck down, Li Huowang, by its flash, finally caught sight of the towering walls of the capital city.

Holding high the token of the Supervisory Heavenly Office, Li Huowang rode unimpeded through the city gate.

Another bolt of lightning struck. It was then that Li Huowang began to sense something wrong. Why did the lightning keep striking in one direction within the city?

Looking at the deserted streets, Li Huowang suddenly realized something. He quickly pulled on the reins and charged toward the direction of the lightning.

The sky grew darker, but within the capital city, a blaze of fire lit up the night. It was the residence of Princess Anping!

Li Huowang leaped off his dead horse and rushed into the palace compound, sword in hand. Before him, in front of the blazing palace, a grisly pyramid of severed heads had already been erected.

“Ah~ So you’re Erjiu, right?” A slovenly Daoist priest stepped out from the shadows beside him.

His Daoist robe was tattered and covered in patches. His filthy feet were bare, and a grimy green velvet ball was tied to his head with a red string.

Li Huowang was not drawn to his bizarre appearance at all. His entire focus was locked onto the man’s left hand—which held a woman’s head!

“Erjiu~ Why are you only showing up now? Hm? His Majesty is very disappointed in you. A mere weak woman, and you still dawdled so long. This humble Daoist has finished the job with one hand, let alone one person.”

The patched Daoist placed Princess Anping’s head on the very top of the skull pyramid.

Her beautiful face was frozen in despair, her mouth wide open, catching the falling rain. This was no substitute—this was her true body.

Princess Anping was dead. The last contender for the throne was gone. This meant Ji Lin was about to ascend! The Dice had achieved his goal.

The Daoist in rags put his hands behind his back and sauntered over to Li Huowang, his voice laced with regret. “Ah~ Some people just don’t know when to read the room. His Majesty is about to ascend as the true Emperor. He knows how to send charcoal in a snowstorm, but he just doesn’t know how to add flowers to brocade.”

In the heavy rain, Li Huowang clenched his fists. “No! He can’t ascend! At least not until the Dice is dead! Not until the Dice is dead!”

Just as the ragged Daoist was about to leave, Li Huowang gripped the hilt of his spine sword and slashed it fiercely toward him.

The rift was about to hit the Daoist’s head, but his head retracted like a turtle’s into his body, dodging it completely.

Then, the Daoist’s head emerged again from inside his robe, this time facing Li Huowang with a face full of murderous intent. “How dare you ambush this Daoist!”

“You killed her! And only you know that Princess Anping is dead! As long as I kill you, as far as everyone else is concerned, she’s still alive! And Ji Lin won’t ascend!”

With that, Li Huowang, his body covered in tendrils, lunged at the Daoist.