Mutated Tao

Could it be that this world is real as well? Li Huowang thought and looked around. He was a Strayed One, who had turned Dan Yangzi into an immortal, so materializing gold using his primordial breath would be a piece of cake for him!

But... why did I have to notice this now? I'm on the verge of catching Bei Feng and staving off the hallucination, so why does it have to be now? Li Huowang's face distorted into a grimace. Once again, he could no longer distinguish reality from the hallucination. If the hallucination was real, what was the point of his hard work?

What if this world is real? Li Huowang thought, and the idea became a Gu worm that burrowed into Li Huowang's mind, churning up a chaotic hodgepodge of emotions within him.

Li Huowang gnashed his teeth and smashed his face on the wall.

He wanted to use pain to distract himself from the ominous sensation.

No, this is wrong! This is wrong!

"Son! What's wrong with you?! Y-you're scaring me!" Sun Xiaoqin exclaimed, frightened by Li Huowang's actions. She put down the meal box and embraced Li Huowang's head, stroking his short hair repeatedly.

Li Huowang stopped moving and closed his eyes in pain. In reality, he wasn't afraid of wasting his efforts, nor he was afraid of pain and death. However, he was afraid of losing grip on what was real and fake. That sensation was just unbearable for him.

He couldn't confirm that this world was real, and even if his speculation ended up being correct, there would still be a degree of falsity to it. Is this even possible? How is this possible? I have yet to obtain that cultivation method.

Li Huowang glared angrily at the bedside table; he tried to use his mind to materialize a large piece of gold, but there was no change. Then, he tried to move the bedside table with his mind, but nothing happened.

Li Huowang's veins bulged, and his eyes became bloodshot. He was unwittingly transfixed on the bedside table, but it remained motionless.

"Son, stop scaring me. I really am scared. W-w-what's happening to you?" Sun Xiaoqin stuttered, and her intermittent sobbing made Li Huowang turn to her.

Li Huowang immediately noticed the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, and he realized just then that it had been a long time since he last saw his mother. It turned out that her mother had aged a lot in the meantime.

Even if she was fake, Li Huowang couldn’t help but feel sorry for her.

"Mom, I'm fine. I really am fine," Li Huowang said in a low voice. He relaxed slowly after making a decision that he couldn't act recklessly without any evidence. If he were to foolishly make a reckless decision, he'd fall into the same plight as before.

Li Huowang shook his head vigorously to calm his chaotic emotions. Then, he started taking deep breaths to calm down his racing heart.

Since he was already suspicious about the possibility that this world might be real, Li Huowang decided to look for evidence rather than just speculate. At the moment, the probability of this world being real was quite low.

It doesn't make sense that I can bring anything from that world to this world, but I can't do it in reverse. I mean, there's no way that the other world is the fake one, right? It's impossible for this world to be the real one instead.

Li Huowang leaned against Sun Xiaoqin's embrace and enjoyed the rare moment of peace. He had been yearning for this feeling in his dreams back in the real world.

"Mom, how is Nana?" Li Huowang asked.

"Nana? Nana is doing well," Sun Xiaoqin replied, sounding uneasy. She was busy taking tissues out of her bag to wipe away Li Huowang's sweat.

Li Huowang had long become capable of discerning lies from anyone's words, and it was all thanks to his experience fighting against the Sitting Oblivion Dao for so long. In other words, Li Huowang easily saw through Sun Xiaoqin's lie.

"Mom, what happened to Nana?" Li Huowang asked, becoming gloomy upon noticing something amiss.

Sun Xiaoqin attempted to lie once again, but Li Huowang saw through it.

Faced with her son's incessant questioning, Sun Xiaoqin finally relented and said, "I hope you're not going to get mad at her for not coming here often. She's still a good girl, after all."

"I'm not going to get mad at her. I just want to know where she is right now."

"Nana dropped out of school, and her parents took her to see a doctor."

"What happened to her?" Li Huowang asked, sounding nervous.

"It wasn't anything serious; she's just a bit depressed, and she's no longer interested in anything," Sun Xiaoqin said, picking up the meal box and feeding Li Huowang once again.

Li Huowang chewed the food, but it became tasteless. Li Huowang’s heart was bleeding as he thought about the girl who had always been by his side since he was young. She had sacrificed a lot for him, but he hadn't been able to give her anything in return.

"It's okay, son. I heard it's just a minor illness that can be cured with medicine. Don't blame yourself for it."

"Mom, can you untie me?" Li Huowang said.

Sun Xiaoqin hesitated with the meal box in hand. Eventually, she nodded. "All right! I guess it must be uncomfortable being tied up like that all day. It's great to move around a bit."

With that, Sun Xiaoqin untied the restraints on Li Huowang.

"Hey, Ma'am Sun!" A nervous-sounding male voice echoed from the surveillance camera in the room. "What are you doing? Stop that!"

"My son is feeling uncomfortable being tied up all day. Don't worry, I'm here! He's very obedient with me here!" Sun Xiaoqin replied and picked up the pace.

"Wait, I'm coming over! I'm coming now—" The voice was inexplicably cut off mid-sentence.

Just as Li Huowang regained his freedom, the door to the room was flung open by two large-framed prison guards with batons in hand. They stood at the door and stared at Li Huowang.

Li Huowang's limbs were slightly atrophic, as it had been a long time since he had exercised. However, the large-framed guards still gulped a mouthful of their own saliva and nervously called for reinforcements using their walkie-talkies.

It wasn't a strange sight. After all, Li Huowang was the mad martial artist of the prison, and he was exceedingly difficult to handle.

Li Huowang ignored the guards and grabbed the iron bars blocking the window, reaching out for the sky. As the warm sunlight touched Li Huowang's pale fingertips, a trace of longing burst out of his heart at the warmth that caressed his hands.

How wonderful would it be if this was reality…

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