Why does Li Huowang block Yang Na’s number?

He can’t risk her calling him back or being tracked through his phone. Cutting contact is a brutal but necessary way to keep her safe from Xu Shou.

Is Li Huowang really going to kill Old Liu?

No—he’s past wanton murder. Taping him to a toilet and stealing his kitchen knife is a practical, if violent, way to buy time without leaving a corpse.

Why does Li Huowang pick a boning knife instead of the saw?

The saw is short and ritualistic; the boning knife has reach and can slash effectively. He’s optimizing for a real fight, not a self-sacrifice ritual.

Arrival

1,138 words

Li Huowang sat on the plastic bus seat, his expression tense. He bit the back of his hand, watching the street scenery flash past outside the window as his mind raced through everything that had happened to him recently.

A white mask covered his face, deliberately hiding the scars so no one would recognize him.

After a moment of hesitation, he pulled out Wu Cheng’s phone and quickly dialed a number he had memorized deep in his skull.

“.Hello? Who is it?” Yang Na’s soft voice came through the receiver.

The sound he hadn’t heard in so long made Li Huowang’s heart clench.

“Hello? Who’s there?”

Li Huowang pulled himself together. He pinched his throat, deliberately lowering his voice. “Hello, is this ‘Rabbit Be Good’? I’ve got two packages for you. Could you come out of school and pick them up? They’re pretty big—the storage locker won’t hold them.”

“What? Packages? I haven’t ordered anything recently.”

“Maybe someone sent them to you. Please come sign for them quickly.”

“S-sorry, I’m not in a convenient spot. I have some things today—I’m not at school. Honestly, just refuse delivery.”

Li Huowang’s chest loosened. At least Yi Donglai had passed his message to Yang Na.

No matter where Yang Na was hiding now, it was better than staying put.

He just needed to hold out until he reached the dock. Once he took care of Xu Shou for good, Yang Na would be safe.

“.Huowang?” Yang Na’s hesitant voice came through the phone.

Li Huowang’s heart lurched, but he forced himself to act casual. “What? Ah, okay then. I’ll deliver the others first. I’ll take these two packages back to the station.”

He hung up quickly and immediately blocked the number.

Li Huowang covered his mouth with his hand, closing his eyes in pain. He desperately wanted to see Yang Na, but not now.

Right now, her life was in danger at any moment. He had to keep her alive first. Everything else could come later.

If he revealed himself to her now, it would only make her worry more.

Her mental state was already fragile. He couldn’t be the reason it got worse.

He let out a long breath. Watching the other passengers staring at their phones, Li Huowang suddenly felt how alien all of this was.

It had been a long time since he’d appeared freely in a public space. The feeling was strange.

For a moment, his perception wavered. The surroundings began to warp, the bus seeming to turn into a wooden carriage.

Beep—Senior Card. The bus’s sound pulled him back.

Ten more stops to the dock. Keep calm. Don’t let anyone recognize me, Li Huowang told himself, tugging at his collar.

But just then, a bald old man carrying a fishing rod walked toward him from the front of the bus.

When their eyes met, the man flinched, his whole body trembling as he turned his back and gripped the handrail.

That reaction made Li Huowang instantly suspicious.

After a moment of hesitation, Li Huowang couldn’t let it go. He stood up, walked over to the old man, and looked him in the face.

When he saw the man’s features, his pupils contracted. This old man was a fellow patient—Old Liu, the one whose dentures he had punched out back then!

Click—hiss—

The bus door opened. Nervous and panicked, Old Liu grabbed his fishing rod and bucket and rushed off.

When he saw Li Huowang following, Old Liu abandoned his rod and bucket and started jogging, panting heavily.

“Old Liu! What are you running for? I’m cured!” Li Huowang caught up and grabbed him.

“I… I don’t believe you!!”

Completely broken, Old Liu struggled desperately, screaming, “Help!! Someone call the police! A lunatic is killing people!!!”

“Shut up! Shut up or I’ll kill you!” Li Huowang pulled out his small saw and pressed it against Old Liu’s belly. Old Liu wisely shut his mouth.

Li Huowang dragged him behind a hedge. Seeing that Old Liu’s scream hadn’t drawn the attention of the sparse crowd, he relaxed slightly.

After catching his breath, Li Huowang explained in a low voice, “Sorry. I don’t want to do this to you, but I have something critical to do. And until it’s done, I can’t be caught.”

Old Liu stared at the bloodstains on the iron saw blade and swallowed hard. “Fine… go ahead. I won’t call the cops. I swear.”

“Ha. I know you too well. You even cheat at cards with the other patients. I can’t trust that. Is anyone home right now?” Li Huowang hoisted him up and guided him forward.

“W-what are you going to do?” Old Liu’s face turned green.

“There’s really no one home. My son is at work… my grandson is at school…”

“I’m not going to do anything. I just need to make sure you don’t call the cops when you get back.”

“Xiao Li, I really won’t call the cops. Please let me go. I was really having an episode back then—I didn’t mean to hurt your girlfriend.”

But Old Liu’s pleas didn’t weaken Li Huowang’s resolve.

Soon they reached Old Liu’s home: a second-floor apartment in a small complex. Sure enough, no one was inside.

Li Huowang quickly bound Old Liu to the toilet with tape, tying him securely so he couldn’t escape.

Ignoring Old Liu’s begging, Li Huowang didn’t leave immediately. Instead, he went into the kitchen to pick out some tools.

If he was going to go up against these people with force, just a small saw wasn’t enough. He needed a proper weapon.

“Xiao Li, I’m begging you. I really won’t call the cops!” The crisp sound of metal clinking in the kitchen made Old Liu’s hair stand on end.

Soon, Li Huowang came back to the bathroom holding a long-handled boning knife.

“Xiao Li, you can kill me, but… can you spare my grandson?” Old Liu cried in despair.

Li Huowang frowned deeply. “How many times do I have to tell you? I’m not crazy!”

“Yes, yes, you’re not crazy. You’re not crazy.” Old Liu nodded like a chicken pecking at rice.

Li Huowang stuffed a dishrag into his mouth and sealed it with tape, silencing him completely. “Sorry. I have to do this. You shouldn’t have recognized me.”

With that loose end tied up, Li Huowang pushed open the door and walked out.

He went down the stairs, returned to the bus stop at the complex entrance, and waited for the bus heading to the seaside dock.

Sitting on the increasingly empty bus, Li Huowang furrowed his brow, thinking about what would be waiting for him.

Soon, he arrived at the dock. The towering stacks of shipping containers gave him a heavy sense of pressure.

One question stood before him: how was he going to get in?

Share to

Reading Guide Decoding

The Lonely Hunt: Li Huowang Scavenges for Weapons and Silences the Witness

Cultural / Xianxia Notes

This chapter operates almost entirely in the “modern reality” track, so the xianxia vocabulary is sparse. However, one key element deserves attention: Li Huowang’s weapon swap. In the Dao-Twisted World, his primary weapon was often a ritual or self-mutilating tool—saws, hooks, needles that draw blood and pay a price. Here, he picks up a boning knife from a civilian kitchen. The shift is deliberate: he is operating under modern-world rules, where utility trumps ritual cost. This is a classic sign of Li Huowang’s dual-consciousness: he knows he can’t use his insane monastery tricks anymore, so he scavenges like any desperate criminal.

Also worth noting is the Roosters and dogs ascend to heaven idiom, which Lyu Xiucai weaponized in earlier chapters. Li Huowang doesn’t say it here, but the theme of contempt for dependent beneficiaries runs under his actions—he refuses to let Old Liu be a loose end that brings the police down on him.

Roosters and dogs ascend to heaven

A Chinese idiom meaning that when someone rises to power, even their lowliest dependents get dragged up with them. Lyu Xiucai twisted it into contempt for sharing success with family.

Chapter Overview

Li Huowang is back in the modern world, and it feels wrong. Riding a public bus like a normal person, he calls Yang Na under the flimsy cover of a delivery driver just to make sure she’s safe. It’s a quiet, heartbreaking moment of restraint—he wants to talk to her, but he knows his presence is a threat. That fragile peace shatters when a familiar face spots him: Old Liu, a fellow mental patient from the hospital. Li Huowang’s attempt at a low-profile trip to the dock turns into a violent detour as he hunts down a weapon and silences the witness. The chapter ends with Li Huowang standing before the sprawling dock, facing the question of how to breach the fortress where Xu Shou waits.

Key Plot Points

The Phone Call: Li Huowang calls Yang Na disguised as a courier. He confirms she’s safe and hiding from him on purpose, then blocks her number to prevent further contact.
Recognition: Old Liu, the patient whose dentures Li Huowang once punched out, spots him on the bus and panics, fleeing at the next stop.
Interrogation and Restraint: Li Huowang chases Old Liu down, threatens him with a saw, and drags him back to his empty apartment.
Weapon Selection: Instead of leaving immediately, Li Huowang raids Old Liu’s kitchen for a proper weapon, settling on a long boning knife.
The Destination: Li Huowang arrives at the dock. The chapter ends with him staring at the stacked shipping containers, contemplating how to infiltrate Xu Shou’s territory.

Reading Guide

This is a transitional chapter, and it reads like a ticking clock. Li Huowang is completely alone, scavenging for tools and handling threats the normal way—no sorcery, no self-mutilation, just raw human desperation. The phone call with Yang Na is the emotional core: he can’t even let himself hear her voice properly. The encounter with Old Liu is almost darkly comedic—a terrified old man being taped to his own toilet—but it underlines how far Li Huowang has fallen from “normal people” rules. Notice how he corrects Old Liu: “How many times do I have to tell you? I’m not crazy!” That line isn’t just frustration; it’s a man trying to claw back his own identity. The dock at the end is a great visual cliffhanger—a concrete barrier that reminds us Li Huowang is up against logistical reality, not just supernatural horrors.

Quick Q&A

Lore recap (TL;DR) drawn from this chapter's Cultural / Xianxia Notes — same text as the FAQ structured data on this page.

Why does Li Huowang block Yang Na’s number?: He can’t risk her calling him back or being tracked through his phone. Cutting contact is a brutal but necessary way to keep her safe from Xu Shou.
Is Li Huowang really going to kill Old Liu?: No—he’s past wanton murder. Taping him to a toilet and stealing his kitchen knife is a practical, if violent, way to buy time without leaving a corpse.
Why does Li Huowang pick a boning knife instead of the saw?: The saw is short and ritualistic; the boning knife has reach and can slash effectively. He’s optimizing for a real fight, not a self-sacrifice ritual.