Mutated Tao

“A birthday gift? Sure, what do you want?” Li Huowang smiled as he talked to the microphone. He did remember promising Yang Na that he would give her something.

Yang Na's voice turned quiet. “Huowang, I wish for you to come and fetch me from the university whenever you are healed. I told everyone there that I had a cool boyfriend, but none of my hostel mates believed me. I even showed them our pictures, but they thought that they were photoshopped! Those three crazy women!”

Healed?

Li Huowang smiled bitterly.

While the hallucination was extremely logical, to the point where it was almost indistinguishable from reality, in the end, it was just that… a hallucination.

“Alright,” Li Huowang lied. This was one of those rare cases where he had to lie.

“Yay! And then we can make sure that they die from jealousy!” said Yang Na in a cheerful voice.

Soon, both of them started to calm down.

“How are you in there?” asked Yang Na.

This question immediately made Li Huowang uncomfortable; he didn’t know what to say. He thought about the various experiences he had so far. None of them were good.

“Not too bad,” said Li Huowang after a pause.

Yang Na’s voice grew even quieter. When she spoke again, her voice was filled with sadness. “Huowang, I love you, I really, really do… But, we need to maintain it together. I’m afraid that I can’t maintain it on my own. I don’t want to be like my parents. They loved each other when I was younger, but that love slowly transformed into hatred.”

Li Huowang took a deep breath and reassured her.

However, Yang Na did not accept it. “Li Huowang! Be serious! You always said you would do it, so show me! Your mom told me that you hated seeing the doctors! You can’t do that! Do you think I don’t understand you? You kept everything within your heart! Where are you trying to escape to? You’ve always been so stubborn and headstrong ever since you were young. I know it’s hard for you to be riddled with this illness, but you need to go and let yourself get treated. I need you to do it so that I can also see that you are trying. If not, I won’t feel safe anymore. I keep thinking whether you are trying to abandon me.”

Hearing all this, Li Huowang clenched both of his fists. “Nana, I swear that I will never abandon you, even if…”

“Even if?”

Even if you are an illusion…

Li Huowang buried those words deep inside his heart.

“…even if I can’t be treated, as long as you are able to endure, then I will never give up either,” said Li Huowang.

After obtaining his answer, Yang Na’s voice returned to her jolly self. Then, she began to talk about her university life.

They talked for another half an hour before Nurse Wang reminded them that their time was up. And so, Yang Na reluctantly hung up.

Li Huowang sighed while lying on the bed. He knew that the hallucination was logical, but he really didn't know what to do about Yang Na’s birthday wish.

After what had happened the last time, the hospital would never let him out. He would even be subjected to numerous rounds of assessment just for them to release the straps binding him.

Going to Yang Na’s university? Forget it. He couldn’t even leave his room.

“You were able to converse quite naturally with her today. Want to try talking with a doctor?” asked Nurse Wang.

However, due to being annoyed, Li Huowang decided to ignore Nurse Wang.

“Young man, even I was touched by the relationship between you two. You can’t disappoint such a girl now, can you? Don’t give up on your treatment,” advised Nurse Wang.

“This is a private matter. You and I are nowhere near close enough to be discussing this,” said Li Huowang, feeling extremely irritated.

“You don’t know me, but I know you. I did everything to take care of you while you were strapped in, including bathing you, changing the catheter, and even changing the poop bucket. Heck, I never even treated my own mother that nicely. But at least we haven’t had to flip you over. Your body is still strong and never developed any pressure ulcers. On the other hand, the patient on bed number nineteen needs to be flipped every few hours or so.”

Nurse Wang happily continued to talk to him whether Li Huowang liked it or not.

But this only further irritated Li Huowang..

“I’m tired, let me rest,” said Li Huowang.

“Young man, you are almost one with the bed by now. How could you still be tired? Just talk to me for a couple of minutes. This hospital is very unfriendly to us. They don’t even allow us to look at our phones during our shifts. If it weren’t for the pay and the benefits, I would’ve long since changed jobs. Are you sure you don’t want to see a doctor today? What do you think Yang Na would say if she knew about it?” said Nurse Wang.

Li Huowang finally relented when he thought about how Yang Na would feel. “Fine, bring the doctor in.”

Even if this was just a hallucination, he didn’t want Yang Na to be sad.

“Oops, I forgot that today is a Sunday. The doctor is on break today. Would you be free tomorrow?” said Nurse Wang.

“Are you fucking with me?” At this point, Li Huowang was starting to hate the nurse.

“I wouldn’t dare. After all, your mother is very fierce. I don’t want her to complain about me to my supervisors. The doctor really is on break today; but, I will let them know tomorrow. Will you be fine with that? I’ve heard the doctor say that your illness is quite unique. They even wanted to name it after you.”

At this point, Li Huowang closed his eyes and just tuned Nurse Wang out. He was done with Nurse Wang.

Amidst Nurse Wang’s voice, Li Huowang soon fell asleep.

When he woke up, he once again found himself on the wooden bed, his body tied up with chains and covered with a blanket. Seeing this, he sighed in relief.

Then, Li Huowang turned to stare at Bai Lingmiao. At this moment, she was sleeping on the side. For some reason, he suddenly felt like Bai Lingmiao’s face was being superimposed with Yang Na’s.

But then he reminded himself that the hallucination was nothing but a fake. Now, he needed to treasure Bai Lingmiao.

This was his reality.

Numerous thoughts ran through Li Huowang’s mind.

Bai Lingmiao wants the same thing that Yang Na wished for.

At that moment, Bai Lingmiao’s eyes gently fluttered as she woke up. When she saw that Li Huowang’s eyes were clear once more, Bai Lingmiao smiled. “Senior Li, it’s only the fourth section of the night. Let me remove your chains and then we can continue sleeping.”

Having said that, she removed the blanket on his body before quickly untying Li Huowang.

When her face came close to his, Li Huowang suddenly asked her. “Were you envious of the bride today?”

Hearing this, Bai Lingmiao blushed but didn’t deny it. “Yeah, I was very envious. Senior Li, will you… marry me when we reach my home? You do not dislike me right?”

Li Huowang just gave her a gentle kiss as an answer.

On the other hand, Bai Lingmiao was clearly surprised by his actions and froze up.

Then, Li Huowang sat up and pulled her into the warm blanket. The next day, both of them woke up very late.

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