Mutated Tao

The morning sunlight shone into ward the through the windows of the White Tower Prison, warming up the cold room.

“Son, take it slow. Don't scald your tongue.”

Under Sun Xiaoqin’s encouraging gaze, Li Huowang picked up the short spoon with half a scoop of porridge and fed himself with a trembling hand.

It was an action that most people had long taken granted for, but Li Huowang found it incredibly difficult to perform at the moment.

His muscles had atrophied due to the long-term bed rest. He had started rehab, but it wouldn't yield any results until months later.

“Let me feed you, son.”

Li Huowang shook his head gently and refused, “No need, I want to move more by myself. Everything I do is going to be beneficial to my health.”

Bai Lingmiao withdrew her hand at Li Huowang's remark.

Li Huowang ate slowly, a few mouthfuls at a time. Just then, his face distorted in pain, and he clutched his head.

“What’s this?” Li Huowang muttered. He used his fingernails to scratch at the shell, removing some crisp, yellow crumbs.

“Senior Li, don’t scratch it. It's very brittle,” Bai Lingmiao warned.

“What is this?” Li Huowang asked again sluggishly.

“The doctor said that these phase-three psychiatric drugs are going to have some side effects, but they're effective. Huowang, endure it a bit, okay? Once your condition has stabilized, we’ll switch to drugs with less severe side effects.”

When the intense pain passed, Li Huowang tapped his head with his fingers, and he heard a hollow sound. “Is this lotus root? Is this the result of the White Lotus Sect's techniques?”

Bai Lingmiao cautiously touched Li Huowang’s crispy lotus root head. The white hair at her temples swayed gently as she shook her head and said, “No, Si Qi’s Chief of the Surveillance Bureau is the one who did this to you. The supernatural powers of the Fangxian Sect truly are strange. The Fangxian Sect says that everything can be used as medicine.”

Bai Lingmiao's heart jumped into her throat when she saw Li Huowang missing his head. She was really worried that Li Huowang would realize that he had no head and die on the spot as a result.

Fortunately, they were on the same side as the imperial court, so the Si Qi's Chief intervened to help Li Huowang.

“How long will it take me to recover? I can’t bear to live with this on my head for the rest of my life,” Li Huowang asked while drinking porridge.

“The Daoist master said that your fate is different from ordinary people, but it will still take you forty-nine days to recover your fleshly body.”

"All right." Li Huowang nodded gently. “It’s okay. It's been so long, and it's just forty-nine days. We can afford to wait that long.”

“Yes, yes, it’s been so long. There’s hope for your illness. Speaking of which, public medical services are indeed better than private ones. Those private doctors in the past couldn’t even compare to our Doctor Yi.”

Just then, Sun Xiaoqin heard movement at the door of the ward. She picked up her small purse and welcomed Yi Donglai.

“Oh my, Doctor Yi, thank you so much! You are truly Hua Tuo's[1] incarnation!” Sun Xiaoqin took out a thick red packet[2] from her purse and stuffed it into Yi Donglai’s coat pocket.

“Sister Sun, what's the meaning of this? You can't do this... our hospital has rules..."

“Hehehe, there's no meaning behind it. It's just a token of appreciation. Keep it. You’ve been working so hard for my son, so you deserve it. Anyway, how old are you, Doctor Yi? Are you married yet? If not, shall I introduce you to a nice girl?”

Sun Xiaoqin’s words were like a flurry of punches that caught Yi Donglai off guard, and he found himself unable to respond properly, even though he could face Li Huowang without any hesitation.

“Mom,” Li Huowang couldn’t stand it anymore.

“I got it, I’ll leave now.”

Once Sun Xiaoqin was out of the ward, Yi Donglai smiled wryly at Li Huowang.

He sat on the chair that Sun Xiaoqin had previously occupied, took out the red packet, and shook it toward the corner of the room where the camera was located before putting it into the pocket of Li Huowang’s patient clothes.

“Give it back to your mom once you're discharged. I trust your character. You wouldn’t use this money to gamble for some skins in a game, would you?”

Li Huowang opened the red packet and saw a stack of red notes inside. He counted them roughly and estimated the amount to be around four thousand.

“That’s hard to say. I'm a delinquent back at school, and I'm not exactly the smartest student at the time.”

Yi Donglai adjusted the frameless glasses on his nose and stared deeply at Li Huowang’s face. “Actually, I'd be happy if you use that money to gamble for some skins in a game. It means that you have the desire of a normal person. When that day arrives, your illness can be considered to have been truly cured.”

Li Huowang put away the red packet, and his expression turned serious as he said, “Your method is indeed effective, but can it really cure me completely?”

“Of course. You need to have confidence in me. Don't think that you're the only one with that kind of illness. I’ve used that method on others before, and the results were great. I once had a patient who was convinced that he was a wooden stake. He didn’t take medicine, sleep, or cooperate with our treatment. But I told him that even wood needs to sleep and take medicine. And to prove it, I showed him an anime involving trees. He watched a few episodes and believed that trees actually need to take medicine and sleep. With that, he started taking medicine and cooperating with us for his treatment. Three months later, he was discharged.”

“The last time I checked up on him, he was doing fine. He works as a deliveryman and doesn’t earn much, but he can make ends meet and return to society.”

Li Huowang nodded slowly, but there was still a hint of confusion on his face. He extended his right hand and clenched it before opening it again.

“The memories of Hong Zhong, which Doulao had bestowed upon me, have completely disappeared. I've become Li Huowang once again. However, my memories of the Profound Records are still there, and the scars on myself are still there. I still have the elevated senses bestowed upon me by Ba-Hui.”

“Do you understand what I mean? Even if I become my own Twisted One, the true Li Huowang is always entangled with Ba-Hui’s effect.”

The Chief looked at Li Huowang silently for a long time. Then, he opened his mouth and spoke in his multi-layered voice. “Bewilderment itself is a kind of pain. You should stay ignorant about some things for the time being."

Li Huowang’s face showed a hint of confusion; he couldn't quite understand what the Chief was talking about.

“Very well, keep it up.” The door was pushed open as the Chief walked in, and the Chief before Li Huowang dissipated rapidly like yellow sand dispersing into the air.

1. a famous Chinese physician from the late Eastern Han Dynasty, often known as the Medical Saint or Divine Physician ☜

2. a gift of money in Chinese customs ☜

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