I Believe You

1,171 words

Chapter 703: I Believe You

Feeling his hands and feet tightly bound to the chair with rope, Qian Fu’s face turned white with terror. His eyes were wide, his lips bloodless.

If it were an ordinary kidnapper, whether they wanted money or something else, there would at least be a reason. But this guy was a mental patient!

He had heard Li Huowang’s story. He knew this man had several lives on his hands. What he wanted now, Qian Fu didn’t even dare to imagine.

Qian Fu looked around fearfully, searching for any hope.

This place seemed to be an abandoned building—maybe an unfinished construction site or something. But wherever it was, finding someone to help was impossible. His only chance for survival lay with this madman.

“Li—” Qian Fu barely got a single syllable out before he felt five fingers clamp down on his throat.

“Quiet!”

Seeing that Qian Fu had wisely fallen silent, Li Huowang continued his work.

Once the man was completely bound, with no possibility of escape, Li Huowang finally let out a breath.

He stood up and studied the man before him anew.

“Li Huowang, calm down, you need to calm down—don’t do something you’ll regret for the rest of your life!”

“Shut up!” Li Huowang grabbed a rag and stuffed it into Qian Fu’s mouth. For a moment, the room was finally quiet.

Looking at Qian Fu, Li Huowang felt a headache coming on. Of all times for it to happen, why did it have to switch to the second personality now?

At least he’d brought some tools with him just in case, or this would have been a real mess.

Staring at Qian Fu, Li Huowang wasn’t sure what to do next.

A mentally-ill ally was already annoying enough. But when that mental patient went off his rocker every so often on top of that, it was downright exhausting.

After thinking for a moment, Li Huowang reached out and pulled the rag from the man’s mouth.

“I’m asking you,” Li Huowang said. “How often does your personality usually switch? Is there a trigger condition for the change?”

Hearing this, Qian Fu froze. Then realization dawned, and he finally understood what was going on.

“He begged you to let him out, didn’t he? He told you to do all this?”

Qian Fu leaned forward, his voice suddenly impassioned. “Li Huowang! He’s mentally ill! He’s a lunatic! How can you listen to the nonsense a madman makes up on the spot? Everything he said is fake! He made it all up!”

“You still have your whole life ahead of you! Don’t let this crazy man trick you! If you keep this up, your condition is only going to get worse! Think about your family, who’s worried about you! Your classmates and teachers!”

Shink.

Li Huowang thrust his dagger forward, pressing it against Qian Fu’s neck. The blade cut into his skin, and a single drop of blood slowly seeped out.

His eyes bore into the bearded man before him. “I don’t need you lecturing me! I’m not sick! I’m cured!”

“And! Don’t give me some non-answer! Answer my question! How often does your personality switch! What triggers it?!”

Feeling the sting at his throat, Qian Fu dared not provoke Li Huowang any further. He quickly and obediently answered, “I don’t know. After the switch, I just lose a chunk of time and find myself somewhere else. If there was a pattern to the changes, I wouldn’t have been locked up in the mental hospital for so long.”

“No pattern? And no trigger?” Li Huowang looked at him skeptically, as if he didn’t quite believe what he was being told.

After all, they were enemies. This could very well be a lie.

Should I torture him?

The thought had barely appeared in his mind before Li Huowang shook his head violently in frustration. Why would he even think that way?

“I don’t have any better ideas,” he muttered. “Forget it. I’ll find a safe place, tie him up, and wait for the personality switch to happen.” Li Huowang picked up the rag, ready to shove it back into the man’s mouth.

He needed to get back to the neighborhood quickly. If his mom found out he’d snuck out, he’d be in a world of trouble.

Just as the piece of cloth was about to seal Qian Fu’s mouth, the man suddenly became wildly agitated, screaming past Li Huowang at someone behind him.

“Miss! Don’t come closer! Run! This man is insane! Call the police! Now!”

Li Huowang felt a jolt of cold fear run down his spine. Damn it! Someone had seen him tying Qian Fu up!

Gripping his dagger tight, Li Huowang spun around—and froze, meeting the newcomer’s eyes.

“I know what you’re thinking. I’ve seen everything you’ve been up to lately. I’m not that stupid.” Yang Na walked slowly into the room, her phone’s flashlight illuminating the space. Her expression was complicated as she looked at the bound Qian Fu.

Li Huowang opened his mouth several times, but in the end, he let out a deep sigh. “Yang Na. You have to believe me. You have to. I’m not crazy!”

“Call the police! Hurry! This guy really is sick! He’s killed people! More than one!”

Hearing Qian Fu’s frantic shouting, Li Huowang’s anger flared. He drove a fist into Qian Fu’s face, finally silencing him.

Yang Na lowered her phone. She walked up to Li Huowang, tilted her head slightly, and gently rested it against his chest.

Her voice was soft, tinged with a hint of grievance. “Huowang, I believe you. But can you tell me what’s going on? Whatever it is, I don’t want you keeping it from me.”

“And, why are you carrying a knife? Put that thing down.” Her slender, soft hands wrapped gently around his, the hand that was still gripping the dagger.

Feeling her warmth against him, Li Huowang struggled with himself for a long time. Finally, he told her the whole story, from beginning to end.

“He really does have a dual personality. The other personality is my ally. This one isn’t. That’s why he’s struggling and trying to run. That’s why I had to tie him up.”

“As for the knife… I need a weapon to defend myself right now. I don’t know when they’ll make a move against me. I can’t afford to let my guard down.”

After he finished speaking, Li Huowang felt a pang of anxiety. He didn’t know how Yang Na would react to his explanation.

Then, Yang Na moved.

She took the rag from his hand, and, to Qian Fu’s shock, she shoved it herself into his mouth, gagging him.

Seeing the stunned look on Li Huowang’s face, Yang Na gave a soft smile. She opened her arms, wrapped them around him, and gave him a quick peck on the lips.

Looking into his eyes, she smiled.

“I told you. I believe you, Li Huowang. No matter what you say, I believe you!”

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Reading Guide Decoding

The Exhausting Weight of Being Believed

Cultural / Xianxia Notes

This chapter is less about xianxia mechanics and more about the horribly human side of the novel’s central conceit: mental illness as an existential battlefield. The term “dual personality” (人格转换) here isn’t just a plot device—it’s the core horror. In the clinical reality of the modern world, Qian Fu is a patient with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). In Li Huowang’s reality, his “ally” is a separate soul trapped inside a hostile vessel. There is no objective way to tell which framework is correct. The novel forces readers to sit in this unbearable ambiguity: Li Huowang’s actions are either those of a desperate war veteran or a paranoid, violent patient. The “faith” Yang Na offers is a terrifyingly romantic solution—she is choosing his narrative over clinical reality, a gesture that is both incredibly loving and deeply unsettling.

Daggers (匕首)

A short, pointed weapon carried by Li Huowang. In this modern setting, it functions as a desperate last line of defense and a symbol of how close he remains to the violence of the Dao-Twisted World.

Chapter Overview

Buckle up, folks—this chapter is a pressure-cooker of desperation, loyalty, and the sheer, exhausting toll of being Li Huowang. We’re locked in a cramped, abandoned room with him as he physically restrains Qian Fu, the alternate-personality “ally” who has just flipped back to being a terrified, hostile stranger. This isn’t a plan; it’s a hostage crisis that Li Huowang is running on instinct. The chapter is a raw, claustrophobic examination of trust: the trust Li Huowang refuses to give to Qian Fu’s “normal” persona, the trust he is desperate to claim from Yang Na, and the unbearable loneliness of being the only one who sees a reality no one else can verify.

Key Plot Points

Li Huowang physically binds Qian Fu to a chair after his personality switches from the cooperative ally to the terrified, “normal” version. The restraint is practical but also deeply uncomfortable to read—it’s a clear violation being committed by our protagonist.
Qian Fu, now in his “sane” state, desperately tries to reason with Li Huowang, begging him not to listen to the “madman’s” lies. He uses the language of mental health treatment and familial obligation as his last line of defense.
Li Huowang rejects Qian Fu’s plea with furious, defensive violence, threatening him with a knife and demanding information about the personality switches. His core wound—the accusation of being crazy—is openly exposed.
Yang Na reveals she has been watching Li Huowang and has followed him. The confrontation turns into a test of her faith. Instead of calling the police, she believes him, takes the gag, and stuffs it into Qian Fu’s mouth herself.
The chapter ends on a shockingly tender note: Yang Na kisses Li Huowang and declares her absolute trust, effectively crossing the line into complicity in his “madness.”

Reading Guide

This is a pure character and mood chapter—a brutal, quiet storm after the action. Two things to really sit with here. First, Li Huowang’s voice: his shift from commanding violence to pleading vulnerability (“You have to believe me, I’m not crazy!”) is a perfect read. He is not a cool, collected mastermind. He is a man whose entire identity is on the line, and he fights for it with equal parts rage and exhaustion. Second, Yang Na’s choice is the chapter’s bomb. She doesn’t argue, she doesn’t doubt; she acts. By shoving the gag into Qian Fu’s mouth, she symbolically silences the “sane” reality. For a Western reader used to a friend being the voice of reason, this is a deeply destabilizing turn. It’s the ultimate act of love in Li Huowang’s world, but in any other story, it would be the start of a tragedy.