Why does Qian Fu suddenly switch personalities?

He has dissociative identity disorder (multiple personalities). The "friendly" one who agreed to help Li Huowang is gone, replaced by a terrified patient who wants to go back to the hospital.

Why didn't Li Huowang expect this?

He knew about Qian Fu's condition, but he was so focused on the escape plan that he underestimated how quickly the switch could happen—a fatal oversight.

Is there any supernatural element in this chapter?

No. This chapter is entirely grounded in real-world psychological and institutional horror. The real terror is human unreliability, not cosmic entities.

Freedom

1,439 words

Chapter 702: Freedom

"Yang Na, go to the specific address first. See if you can find anything."

"Okay, but the houses here are all built in a mess." As Yang Na spoke, the camera began to shake.

After searching for a while, Yang Na soon found the address Qian Fu had mentioned in a small alley.

It was a two-story cement house at the end of a narrow lane. The cement was roughly plastered, and children had covered it with colorful graffiti.

The door on the second floor was locked. The address indicated the second floor.

Smack! The sound of a bowl breaking came from inside, followed immediately by another smack—the sharp sound of a slap.

Hearing this, Yang Na flinched back a step, but then carefully moved forward again.

"Money, money, money! That's all you know! How much do I even make in a month?!" A man's gruff voice came from inside.

A woman's tearful voice followed. "When you married me, you promised! You promised to cover Dad's nursing home fees!"

"Don't you dare bring up your father! That old bastard's whole life has been about money! How much has he bled us dry over the years? Why won't he just die already? How much longer does he have to torture this family?!"

The sound of another bowl breaking came from inside, along with the crash of a table and chairs being knocked over. Mixed in was the muffled sound of a girl crying.

Hearing the content of their argument, Li Huowang knew they had found the right place. He thought quickly and came up with an idea. "Excuse me, is Qian Peiling home?"

"Who is it?" A man with a stubbly face and a sour expression stepped out, still wearing his yellow electric scooter helmet.

When he saw that the person speaking was a young student's face on a phone screen, his face immediately showed impatience.

If it hadn't been for the fact that the person holding the phone was a beautiful woman, he would have already started cursing. "What do you want?"

"Hello, Old Qian asked me to pass along a message. He doesn't want to stay at Kangning Hospital anymore. He wants to leave. Nana, I sent a video over. Open it and show them."

Soon, Qian Fu's gaunt face appeared on the screen, pouring out his misery in a pitiful tone. After the daughter and son-in-law finished watching the video, their argument grew even fiercer.

As the yelling grew louder, neighbors poked their heads out to watch. Seeming to find the public spectacle too embarrassing, the couple slammed the door shut and continued their fight inside.

Yang Na didn't leave. She waited quietly as Li Huowang had instructed.

After lunch, when they saw the man ride his electric scooter out the door, Li Huowang immediately told Yang Na to follow him.

"You know, there's a hospital that's better than Kangning, and cheaper too. They treat the patients well. It would lighten your burden a bit."

"Of course, there's one small drawback—they don't have very many surveillance cameras."

Li Huowang spoke with him quickly, but the man remained uninterested and barely responded.

"Huowang, it's not working," Yang Na said, her face showing an expression that could have been either regret or relief.

"No, it worked. If it hadn't, he wouldn't have listened to my rambling just now."

"But in the end, he didn't agree to anything."

Hearing this, Li Huowang let out a soft laugh. "It was only our first meeting. He doesn't know us. There's no way he'd tell us what he's really thinking. But look at how he was just now—does he really want to keep wasting money keeping Qian Fu at Kangning?"

"The truth is, he just doesn't want to be the bad guy. He doesn't want to carry that burden of being unfilial. He needs us to give him a push."

"How do we push?"

Li Huowang opened his mouth, thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Never mind. Come back. Tomorrow we'll go to Kangning Hospital again."

Three days later, Qian Fu was rushed to have his stomach pumped after swallowing a foreign object. And this information very coincidentally reached the ears of his daughter and son-in-law.

The matter was resolved quickly and satisfactorily. Qian Fu was transferred.

He was moved to the hospital Li Huowang had mentioned. He chose it not only because it was cheaper, but also because Li Huowang had stayed there himself. He knew the place well, and it was close to his own neighborhood.

After the transfer, Qian Fu's condition seemed to improve. He no longer had to stay in the suppression room all day.

Time passed. When the surveillance around Li Huowang had relaxed somewhat, one night, he took the things he had prepared and quietly climbed over the wall of his housing complex.

He got on the electric scooter Yang Na had prepared for him, and after a short ride, they arrived at the psychiatric hospital where Qian Fu was staying.

Li Huowang climbed the wall with practiced ease, dodged the cameras, and guided Qian Fu out of the hospital with the quiet familiarity of someone who had done it before.

After shedding his striped hospital gown and putting on the clothes Li Huowang had prepared, Qian Fu was finally free.

The moment Qian Fu stepped onto the street, his eyes brimming with tears as he took in everything around him, breathing in the fresh air of freedom, he suddenly moved. He ran to a pile of trash, picked up a half-eaten takeout box someone had left behind, and started wolfing it down.

"Stop eating!" Li Huowang grabbed him roughly and pulled him into a secluded alley.

After nervously checking left and right to make sure no one was around, Li Huowang stared at him urgently. "I gave you your freedom. Now it's your turn to help me! How do I deal with those people?"

"Don't panic. Before, you were on your own—it wasn't convenient. But now we're on the same side. I can help you. I can help you fight them!"

"Stop talking bullshit and answer my question! How do I get rid of them? Don't you dare tell me you don't know! If you say that, I'll throw you right back into the psych ward!"

"No, no, no! There is a way!" Qian Fu seemed frightened and waved his hands frantically. "They're targeting you, but they're not targeting me! And they're not targeting my friends!"

"I'll go find our friends right now. You saved me, so my friends are your friends. Once we're all together, you can be the bait, and we'll catch them all in one net. Don't worry, they're not as tough as you think!"

Li Huowang was half-convinced by these vague words, but he decided to meet this "friend" of Qian Fu's first. He was curious whether Qian Fu's friend could also see those people.

"Fine. Here's my old phone. It has an unregistered SIM card." Li Huowang shoved the phone into Qian Fu's arms.

"Contact me on this phone!" Li Huowang was about to let him go when Qian Fu suddenly grabbed him tightly, his face twisted with terror. "Oh no! They're... they're making their move on me now! They're trying to turn me into one of them! Quick!! Help me!!"

"What?" Just as Li Huowang was completely confused by the shift, he suddenly saw Qian Fu change as if he were a different person, looking at him with shock. "Li Huowang? Where is this? What's going on? Why am I not in the hospital?"

"Fuck!" Faced with this sudden change, Li Huowang almost choked on his own anger. He had almost forgotten that Qian Fu had multiple personalities!

"No! I have to go back! Back to the hospital! I need treatment!"

Qian Fu struggled to leave, but Li Huowang tackled him to the ground, pressing a sharp knife against his neck. "Don't move!!"

Qian Fu was clearly terrified by Li Huowang's actions. "Li... Li Huowang, calm down. You need to calm down. Did you... did you forget to take your medicine today? Be good. Take your pills first."

"I know we're psychiatric patients, but we can't give up on ourselves! As long as we keep getting treatment, we can recover."

"Cut the crap! Get up!"

With a ferocious expression, Li Huowang yanked Qian Fu to his feet, wrapped an arm around his neck from behind, and dragged him deeper into the alley.

At this point, Qian Fu was clearly terrified of the Li Huowang before him. His face had turned a ghastly shade of blue.

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Reading Guide Decoding

The Perfect Escape Plan Meets the Unstoppable Enemy: Your Own Ally

Cultural / Xianxia Notes

The "Double Consciousness" (双重人格) as a Horror Weapon

In modern Chinese web novels, multiple personality disorder (now dissociative identity disorder in clinical terms) is often used as a narrative device to generate uncertainty—but here it's weaponized against the one person who should have known better. Qian Fu's condition isn't just a medical quirk; it's a built-in trap. The "other" Qian Fu is not a separate personality in the Western thriller sense, but a direct impediment to Li Huowang's plan. This reflects the novel's core obsession: the self is never a stable unit. You can't make a deal with a person—you can make a deal with one of them, and the other might call the cops on you.

Faking a Medical Crisis to Force a Transfer

Qian Fu swallowing a foreign object to trigger a gastric lavage and forced transfer is a grimly pragmatic move lifted straight from real-world institutional survival strategies. In underfunded psychiatric systems, changing hospitals often requires a "medical event"—something drastic enough to justify the paperwork. Li Huowang, a former patient himself, knows this system intimately. His manipulation isn't supernatural; it's the cold, procedural horror of knowing exactly how the machine works and how to game it.

The "Filial Burden" Trap

The daughter and son-in-law's argument over Qian Fu's care fees taps into a deep cultural nerve in China: the expectation that children are responsible for aging parents. The man's resentment is not just about money; it's about the social shame of being seen as "unfilial." Li Huowang's strategy is a form of social judo: he doesn't force the man to take action—he simply makes the cost of inaction higher than the cost of transferring the father. It's manipulation by creating an unbearable moral geometry.

Gastric Lavage (洗胃)

The medical procedure of pumping a patient's stomach after they swallow a foreign object or poison. In this context, it is weaponized as a bureaucratic tool to force a hospital transfer.

Chapter Overview

Liu Huowang takes a page from the real world's playbook, orchestrating Qian Fu's release from the psych ward and a cozy transfer to a more convenient institution. But just when the escape plan comes together—Qian Fu is free, the streets taste like freedom, and a trash-picked meal never tasted so good—the rug is pulled out from under them. Qian Fu's other personality snaps back into control, turning a potential ally into a terrified patient begging to be re-committed. And Liu Huowang is left holding the knife, staring down the familiar abyss: you can free a man's body, but you can't cage the war inside his head.

Key Plot Points

Li Huowang uses Yang Na as his eyes and ears via video call. They locate Qian Fu's home and witness a domestic explosion over money and responsibility for his care.
Li Huowang sends Qian Fu's pre-recorded plea to the daughter and son-in-law, successfully escalating their conflict—not to hurt them, but to create leverage.
After the argument subsides, Li Huowang has Yang Na tail the son-in-law and pitches the idea of a cheaper, less-monitored hospital. The bait is taken silently.
Qian Fu conveniently swallows a foreign object, forcing a medical crisis that results in his transfer to the hospital Li Huowang recommended.
Weeks later, with surveillance relaxed, Li Huowang sneaks out of his own neighborhood, picks up Yang Na, and breaks Qian Fu out of the new hospital in a slick, practiced escape.
Qian Fu tastes freedom—literally, from a garbage pile. Then, at the pivotal moment, his alternate personality resurfaces, and the alliance shatters.
Li Huowang's master plan collapses. He ends up pinning Qian Fu to the ground, knife to throat, facing a stranger who calls him crazy.

Reading Guide

This chapter is a masterclass in how Dao Gui Yi Xian weaponizes the mundane. There's no cosmic horror, no flesh-eating Buddhas, no drowning in the void—just a man with a knife, a psychiatric patient with a broken personality, and a plan that collapses because the one ally you freed doesn't remember signing up. The real horror here is cognitive unreliability. You can't trust your own helpers because they might not be the same person tomorrow—or in Qian Fu's case, five minutes from now.

Pay attention to the parallel between Li Huowang and Qian Fu. Both are "crazy" by clinical standards. Both have been institutionalized. But Li Huowang has learned to use his condition like a tool—he plans, he manipulates, he navigates the bureaucracy. Qian Fu, on the other hand, is still a victim of his own mind. The knife scene at the end is brutal not because of the violence, but because Li Huowang is forced to become the very thing he hates: the one holding the knife, screaming at a confused patient.

The chapter title "Freedom" is pure irony. No one in this scene is free. Not Qian Fu, not the daughter trapped in a miserable marriage, not the son-in-law drowning in debt, and least of all Li Huowang, who has just discovered that even a successful escape plan can't outrun the labyrinth of the self.

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 Qian Fu suddenly switch personalities?: He has dissociative identity disorder (multiple personalities). The "friendly" one who agreed to help Li Huowang is gone, replaced by a terrified patient who wants to go back to the hospital.
Why didn't Li Huowang expect this?: He knew about Qian Fu's condition, but he was so focused on the escape plan that he underestimated how quickly the switch could happen—a fatal oversight.
Is there any supernatural element in this chapter?: No. This chapter is entirely grounded in real-world psychological and institutional horror. The real terror is human unreliability, not cosmic entities.