Why did Hong Zhong suddenly betray Li Huowang?

The face that betrayed him was the real Zuowandao Hong Zhong. The Hong Zhong he was talking to was replaced after time jumped an hour.

What is the "Dice's bait"?

The offer to cultivate True and False simultaneously. Hong Zhong believes the cure itself is the trap, designed to trigger a hidden disaster when used.

Not in the traditional sense. It is a Siming, a cosmic office that governs death. It is not a "person" but a force of nature with awareness.

The Siming

1,290 words

Hong Zhong watched Li Huowang and continued, "So, I think the dual cultivation of True and False being able to cure your qi deviation is probably the truth. And that's very likely the bait the Dice used to get you on the hook."

"The scary part is, the Dice might have known back when he was alive that you'd run into this situation one day. He planted a landmine, waiting for you to dual-cultivate True and False so the trap would spring."

Listening to what the other was saying, Li Huowang couldn't help but think seriously about it.

"That guy's already dead, so why set up a scam? Don't tell me he's trying to trick me into resurrecting him?" Li Huowang asked.

Now that the True and False Heavenly Law was in Ji Zai's hands, there was no way he could ask his future self for divine powers. No matter how useless Ji Zai was, he definitely wouldn't do something that would help the enemy.

He only controlled the Bewilderment Heavenly Law, not the Stupidity Heavenly Law.

Without any divine powers, even if the Dice came back to life, he'd just be a clever old con man.

Li Huowang had seen how badly the White Lotus worshippers of Wusheng Laomu had suffered after she lost all her Heavenly Laws.

"Don't think all their goals are that malicious. It's not always about personal gain. Zuowandao sets up scams without that many reasons. Sometimes they just do it to mess with you."

Hong Zhong propped up his chin. His expression was almost identical to Li Huowang's—both of them had their brows tightly furrowed.

The two stood there thinking for a long time, but still couldn't figure out what the Dice was really up to.

After a while, Li Huowang spoke. "No matter what the Dice is planning, I have to cultivate the False. Otherwise, I won't even make it to the Dice's trap going off; I'll explode first."

"And since we know there might be a trap, it's not that bad. We'll find a way to eat the bait and throw the bomb back."

A flicker of irritation crossed Hong Zhong's face. "Is the Dice's bait that easy to swallow? By the way, why did you have to Cultivate the True in the first place? Before Zhuge Yuan died, didn't he tell you not to practice that stuff yet?"

"Don't you fucking bring him up! If I hadn't Cultivated the True, where would I have gotten the strength to deal with the growing Fa Sect? From the Thousand Greats Record? Do you think Bashe is any more reliable?"

Just then, Li Huowang felt the chanting in his ears growing quieter. He knew his time was running out.

"I can't stay in this damned place much longer. Let's get out of here first!"

Hong Zhong thought it over for a moment before finally nodding in agreement. "After we get out, find a way to Cultivate me into the True, make me something like that monk who can stay by your side."

"I'll keep an eye on things. If any trap the Dice left behind pops up, I can warn you ahead of time."

Li Huowang looked at the Hong Zhong in front of him. A thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

"Is he telling me to do this because he's got his own scheme? Maybe the Dice doesn't have any trap at all, and the real problem is him?"

"What are you thinking? Didn't you say we're out of time? Hurry up!" Hong Zhong seemed a bit anxious now.

"Let's go." Li Huowang finished speaking and ran toward the direction of the chanting. Hong Zhong quickly followed.

"While I was gone, are everyone doing okay?" Hong Zhong suddenly asked.

"Doing fine. Since Gao Zhijian became emperor, everyone's life has been much better. But the Lyu opera troupe is gone."

"I know. I saw Lyu Xiucai."

The two walked quickly. As time passed, the sounds in Li Huowang's ears grew fainter and fainter.

As the chanting faded entirely, Li Huowang clearly felt his body grow heavy. Walking was no longer light and effortless; it was extremely laborious.

"Hurry up!" Hong Zhong reached his hand out toward him.

"Now you're in a rush? Why were you wasting time chatting with me just now?" Li Huowang grabbed his arm.

The two moved faster, one in front of the other.

Just when Li Huowang thought nothing else would go wrong, the black mist on their left began to churn.

Li Huowang had seen this kind of movement before. "Kui Lei's coming!"

Li Huowang hurriedly closed his eyes, but this time, Kui Lei's body suddenly revealed a corner from within the black mist.

It looked like a formless, pitch-black abyssal hole, its edges covered in a pale, sickly white.

It was surrounded by a strange, pale halo. Li Huowang found it hard to describe what Kui Lei looked like. It was something beyond terror and abnormality—something awe-inspiring.

Just then, the buzzing, grinding sound of a turning wheel in his ears snapped Li Huowang back to his senses.

In that single, brief instant, Li Huowang realized his body was almost completely melting. Something inside him was breaking away from his flesh and drifting toward the distant Kui Lei.

Li Huowang immediately closed his eyes, pressed himself flat against the ground, and pulled Hong Zhong along as he crawled toward Zhongyin Temple.

Clearly, he was no match for Kui Lei's speed. He once again felt that trembling sensation, that familiar pressure bearing down from above his head.

Li Huowang stopped moving immediately. Together with Hong Zhong, he pressed himself firmly to the ground, enduring the agonizing wait for Kui Lei to pass.

A quarter-hour passed. Half an incense stick's time passed. A full incense stick's time passed. Yet that crushing pressure, as heavy as Mount Tai, still hadn't lifted.

"What the hell is going on?!" Li Huowang struggled to open his left eye just a crack and looked down at the ground.

The next moment, Li Huowang's body went rigid. Everything around him was plunged into deep darkness. It was a shadow. Kui Lei's shadow.

Whether it was part of Kui Lei or Kui Lei itself, something was now hovering just above Li Huowang's head, not moving.

"It found me?" Li Huowang felt as if his body had fallen into an icy abyss. An unbearable cold seeped through him.

This Siming, who ruled over death, was incredibly dangerous to Li Huowang even if it did nothing at all.

Time passed, minute by minute. Li Huowang felt his body continuously dissolving. Parts of him were instinctively being pulled upward by Kui Lei.

"I can't just let this go on! Even if I have to gamble, I can't let this go on!" Li Huowang gritted his teeth and made up his mind.

He began to move, dragging Hong Zhong as he crawled with difficulty toward Zhongyin Temple. "You can't see me! You can't see me!"

"Hong Zhong! Don't just stand there! Use whatever Zuowandao tricks you have! I don't care if they work, just use them!" Li Huowang said with great effort.

But he talked for a long time and got no response. Instead, Hong Zhong pulled his hand away.

Li Huowang looked down and saw that Hong Zhong was crawling in the opposite direction, hugging the ground. "Hong Zhong! What are you doing?!"

Hearing the voice, Hong Zhong turned around and flashed Li Huowang his mahjong-tile face.

Even under this Siming, that face was still full of mockery. "Oh, look who it is. If it isn't Li Huowang. What a rare guest."

"Damn it! An hour's passed!"

According to Master Silver's instructions, Yuanzi's side story will be posted on Yuanzi's birthday.

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Reading Guide Decoding

Trap Within a Trap: The Dice's Long Game and the Horror of a Smiling Doppelgänger

Cultural / Xianxia Notes

This chapter is a masterful deployment of the Siming as a non-combat threat. The "Battle of Beasts" trope is subverted entirely; there is no clash of techniques. Instead, Kui Lei's "attack" is simply existing in proximity to Li Huowang. The description—a formless, pale-edged abyssal hole—is a clear nod to the Lovecraftian "Indescribable Horror" : the threat is not in its actions but in its very being. The concept of the Bewilderment Heavenly Law is further clarified here. Ji Zai, its holder, cannot be stupid; he can only be confusing. This creates a fascinating hard limit on Li Huowang's future self: he can't directly harm his past self, but he can make the universe's rules so blurry that Li Huowang stumbles into disaster on his own. Also, note the detailed mechanics of time passage: an hour passes in the real world while a conversation happens in the spirit world. This is a classic xianxia "time-dilation" trope, but used here as a weapon of cognitive betrayal, not a training shortcut.

Chapter Overview

Buckle up, fellow Daoists, because this chapter is a masterclass in tension and ontological dread. Li Huowang, trapped in the bewildering space between life and death, finally has a heart-to-heart with his own mahjong-faced doppelgänger, Hong Zhong. They debate the Dice's ultimate scam, the necessity of Cultivating the False, and the terrifying possibility that every solution Li Huowang has found is another carefully laid trap. Just as they form a fragile plan, the chapter slams us face-first into a direct encounter with Kui Lei, the Siming of Death. This isn't a fight—it's a metaphysical proximity check. The pressure is so immense that Li Huowang's body literally begins to dissolve. The chapter ends with a gut-punch twist: the Hong Zhong he was talking to gets swapped out for the real, mocking Zuowandao member after an hour passes. The cozy, desperate alliance was a lie all along.

Key Plot Points

Li Huowang and Hong Zhong (the emotional echo from the past) debate the Dice's motives. Hong Zhong posits that the offer to double-cultivate True and False is the bait, and the real trap is buried beneath it. Li Huowang argues he has no choice but to take the bait or die from his own instability. They form a pact: Hong Zhong wants to be "Cultivated into the True" so he can exist beside Li Huowang as a permanent, incorruptible advisor and trap-detector. The two then flee through the black mist toward Zhongyin Temple. Their escape is violently interrupted by Kui Lei, the Siming of Death. Li Huowang is pinned by the entity's presence, feeling his body melt as his essence is siphoned upward. He begs Hong Zhong to use his Zuowandao tricks to buy time. Silence. He looks down to see Hong Zhong crawling away from him, not toward him. The face turns back: it's the real Hong Zhong, the Zuowandao member, revealing that the pact was a trap. One hour has passed for him in the real world while Li Huowang was in the spirit world. The loop of trust and betrayal spins again.

Reading Guide

This is the chapter where the author, Huwei, pulls off one of the series' best tricks. He gives us a genuinely vulnerable moment between Li Huowang and his past self—a moment of shared purpose and plan-making. You want to believe in Hong Zhong's sincerity. The betrayal hits because the dialogue was written with such convincing desperation. The key skill to develop as a reader here is paranoia-level attention to the "hour" mechanic. The story explicitly warns us that time moves differently in the spirit world, and when Hong Zhong's face suddenly shifts from anxious cooperation to theatrical mockery, the payoff is perfect. Also, pay attention to Li Huowang's line about Zhuge Yuan. His grief is still raw, and his anger at being told "don't practice this" is a sign of his deep, unresolved guilt. The story isn't just about fighting monsters; it's about Li Huowang being haunted by the ghosts of advice he chose to ignore.

Deeper Dive: The Horror of Trust in the Dao-Twisted World

Let's get into the meat of why this chapter stings so much. The Dao-Twisted World is built on the premise that every act of assistance can be weaponized. The Zuowandao's philosophy isn't just about lying; it's about making the very act of trusting feel foolish. When Hong Zhong offers to become Li Huowang's eternal "early warning system," he is offering an emotional cure for a narrative disease. Li Huowang's fatal flaw is his loneliness; he needs someone he can rely on without checking a dozen times. The real Hong Zhong, the Zuowandao trickster, knows this. He waits until the moment of greatest physical peril (under Kui Lei) and then reveals the scam, not with a knife, but with a chuckle. The lesson is brutal: in this world, hope and vulnerability are the same thing.

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 did Hong Zhong suddenly betray Li Huowang?: The face that betrayed him was the real Zuowandao Hong Zhong. The Hong Zhong he was talking to was replaced after time jumped an hour.
What is the "Dice's bait"?: The offer to cultivate True and False simultaneously. Hong Zhong believes the cure itself is the trap, designed to trigger a hidden disaster when used.
Is Kui Lei a god?: Not in the traditional sense. It is a Siming, a cosmic office that governs death. It is not a "person" but a force of nature with awareness.