Mutated Tao

Chapter 731: Them

“Enough! Now is not the time to fight.”

Qing Wanglai stopped the two of them. He gave Li Huowang a knowing look before turning to Zhao Lei.

“Zhao Lei, what did Li Huowang take from you? We can give it back as long as we have it.”

“Two… Two magnets and my eyes!”

Li Huowang was furious. Zhao Lei was the one at fault for attacking him in the first place!

And now, Zhao Lei wanted Li Huowang to give him back an eye. It was clear that Zhao Lei didn’t want to cooperate.

Zhao Lei suddenly straightened his neck and glared at Li Huowang. “You think you don’t have to return them to me after you forgot about them? Think carefully! Think carefully about what is real and what is not! Don’t you think everything around you is too random? Don’t you think it’s too fake?”

Li Huowang frowned as his frustration grew. He then gripped Zhao Lei’s neck with his hands.

“You want to kill me? Fine! You are a murderer to begin with! What else wouldn’t you do? All of you are the same! No need to pretend to be kind! How dare you all call me a traitor!”

Li Huowang moved his hands to Zhao Lei’s shirt collar and held him up. “What the fuck do you mean? Just tell me the truth and stop talking in circles!”

“I’ve already said it clearly! It’s just that you don’t understand me. You call me sick? The one who’s sick is you!”

“I’m not sick! I’ve been cured!”

Li Huowang took out a sharp pike and stabbed Zhao Lei’s abdomen. Everyone else failed to react to Li Huowang’s sudden actions.

Zhao Lei did not relent even though his abdomen hurt. He continued to shout at Li Huowang, “Fake! Everything is fake! Can’t you differentiate it?! Everything is fake! Even your illness being cured is fake!”

Li Huowang glared at Zhao Lei’s single remaining good eye, and a strange memory surfaced in his mind—something about a boat.

“Why… Why did I go onto the boat last time?” Li Huowang tried to recall but couldn’t remember anything.

Zhao Lei saw the bewilderment in Li Huowang’s eyes and immediately smiled. “You remembered? You remembered, right? Think carefully! You were the one who attacked first! Give everything back or I won’t help you!”

“I attacked first?” Li Huowang chuckled as he paced in front of Zhao Lei rapidly.

He suddenly stopped and pointed at Zhao Lei’s head. “Stop bullshitting us! I was the one who attacked first? It was you! You were…”

Li Huowang suddenly forgot what he was trying to say and paced in front of Zhao Lei again.

His breathing quickened as he tried to remember. Everything around him shimmered.

He suddenly stopped and pointed at Zhao Lei again. “You! You were the one…”

The words lingered in his throat, but he couldn’t say anything. Li Huowang was very frustrated by how close he was to remembering everything.

He snarled and stabbed the pike into his abdomen instead.

“AAAAAAAAAH!”

“Huowang!” Yang Na and the others rushed forward to stop Li Huowang.

“Wait! Don’t interfere! Let him remember what happened!” Zhao Lei stood at the side as he looked at Li Huowang.

“Just rest for now. Don’t let your old illness relapse. I will handle this.” Qing Wanglai patted Li Huowang’s shoulder before he walked towards Zhao Lei.

Li Huowang breathed rapidly in Yang Na’s embrace. His eyes darted around, taking in his surroundings. He was searching for something—he sensed something had changed in the air, and yet there were no visible changes around him.

Yang Na took out several pills from Li Huowang’s pocket. Chen Hongyu gave her a cup of water so that Li Huowang could take his medicine.

After taking the pills, Li Huowang’s visibly calmed down a lot. Only then did the rest give them space.

Before returning it to Li Huowang, Wu Qi examined the ingredients listed on the medicine’s label.

“Wait.” Li Huowang shook his head and stood up. “Let me talk to Zhao Lei!”

“That’s enough. Rest for now. No need to overexert yourself.” Wu Qi supported him and slowly sat him down. “You’re mentally unwell, so don’t overdo it. Let Qing Wanglai do it instead.”

“I’m not mentally unwell!”

“Sure you are not,” Chen Hongyu chirped.

Just then, someone shouted from the entrance, “Hey! Now is not the time to be chatting. Someone is coming. The gunshot just now was too loud!”

Qian Fu ran down the stairs and alerted everyone.

Qing Wanglai didn’t waste any time. He grabbed Zhao Lei and walked towards the entrance.

The others followed him and locked the door. They all entered Wu Qi’s RV before leaving the place.

Wu Qi whispered something to Qing Wanglai before the latter explained, “The scuffle just now was too loud. To prevent the police from suspecting us, we will send you back first. I will message you once we have more information.”

Li Huowang nodded as he looked at Zhao Lei.

Qing Wanglai patted Li Huowang’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. Since they are trying to do something secretly, they won’t dare do anything to you in broad daylight.”

Li Huowang lost interest in melee weapons after seeing the gun. He looked at Qing Wanglai. “Give me a gun.”

“Here.” Qing Wanglai gave him one.

Li Huowang took it and threw it to the side. “I don’t want the lighter[1].”

Qing Wanglai chuckled and kept the lighter. “You’ve never used the gun before. It’s easy to injure yourself if you are untrained. I will teach you when we have time.”

Instead of dropping them off directly at the residential area, Wu Qi let them off just one street away. Li Huowang and Yang Na walked back while holding hands.

Yang Na was worried. “Huowang, are you alright?”

“Don’t worry. I’m fine.” Li Huowang increased his pace.

“Even though we are allies, we cannot trust them completely. We have to leave some room for doubt.”

“Why?”

“Zhao Lei was right. Qing Wanglai is a smart man. I fear he has his own agenda. Also, I don’t know anything about their previous conflicts. All I know is that even patients in mental hospitals can have their own agendas.”

1. This is referring to the gun-shaped lighter that Qing Wanglai showed to Li Huowang in chapter 727. Basically, he just gave him a fake gun ☜