Mutated Tao

“Deal!” Qian Fu immediately agreed to Chen Hongyu’s demand.

“Where are you going to get fifty thousand?” Li Huowang looked at him.

Qian Fu quickly leaned in and whispered, “Shhh, just pretend I have it! Right now, we just need to figure out how to get through this mess. We’ll worry about everything else later! Better to owe money than lose our lives!”

Li Huowang fell silent and watched Qian Fu hand the money to Chen Hongyu.

Yang Na looked conflicted, not by the money but by the weight of their recent conversation. She said, “Huowang, are you sure what this woman says is true? About supernatural abilities... is it really...?”

“I...” Li Huowang hesitated, glancing between Qian Fu and Chen Hongyu. “I don’t know… But since we’re here, let’s give it a try. Don’t just listen to what they say—watch what they do.”

Despite saying this, Li Huowang wouldn’t have chosen this option if he had another way. Yang Na still looked conflicted, but she finally nodded without saying anything.

“How do we get you out?” Li Huowang asked Chen Hongyu.

“No need! She doesn’t need us to rescue her. She’s very capable, and she can get out by herself,” Qian Fu said confidently.

“I’m different from Qian Fu. I wasn’t brought here against my will—I paid to get in. For me, leaving is as simple as saying a word. I have a lot of stuff, so come on and help me pack,” Chen Hongyu said and turned to leave the visitation room.

“Come on, Li Huowang, let’s help with the luggage! See, we already have a helper!” Qian Fu said as they headed toward the inpatient area.

Li Huowang thought for a moment and then said to Yang Na, “Let’s go. Let’s get her out first.”

Yang Na nodded and followed Li Huowang toward the inpatient area.

Since they were helping a voluntarily admitted patient pack her belongings, the three easily got inside the Sixth People’s Hospital.

This place was no different from the other psychiatric hospitals, with some people behaving oddly and speaking nonsense. Li Huowang was used to it.

As they walked, various absurd remarks reached Li Huowang’s ears.

“I don’t eat eggplant. Not because I’m picky, but because the eggplants given to me all look shifty-eyed. If you give me a different bowl of eggplants, I’ll definitely eat it.”

“I’ll tell you a secret, the world we live in might just be a holographic projection left by another higher world in space. The things around us seem real but are actually images. We can move because that higher world is moving, and we think because the entities in that higher world are thinking! This is a physics model I proposed in 1997, but it has never been academically recognized. I’m telling you, what I’m saying is true! The whole world is fake!”

“What higher world? Let me check your pulse. Oh my, you’re very ill. Did you take the medicine I prescribed earlier?”

Li Huowang sensed Yang Na’s tension and softly reassured her, “Don’t worry. The patients who can move freely are not violent. They’re mild cases that pose no danger.”

They soon reached Chen Hongyu’s room. Li Huowang saw the pile of luggage under her bed. There were plastic tubs and basins among other things, which Li Huowang couldn’t identify.

Everything, from the luggage to the snakeskin bags, was dirty. Yang Na valued cleanliness, so she frowned when she saw this.

“Just take that bag of snacks. I’ll get the rest later,” Li Huowang said. He grabbed a snakeskin bag full of clothes and headed out.

Carrying all this stuff was tiring. Fortunately, Li Huowang and Qian Fu were not weak. After two trips, they finally finished moving everything.

Li Huowang carried a suitcase and led Chen Hongyu, who had changed into new clothes, outside.

“You encountered them? Fought with them?” Chen Hongyu suddenly asked.

Li Huowang nodded. “Yes, I even killed one of them and bit off some fingers. Unfortunately, the police couldn’t find the culprits even after the incident was reported.”

“Hmph, how naive. You actually thought reporting to the police would help? They have people on their side, and one of them is very powerful. They’ll wipe out all the evidence cleanly and leave nothing behind.”

Li Huowang looked at her and her three chins seriously. “Is what you’re saying really true?”

“What? You’ve been targeted, and you still don’t believe it?”

Li Huowang replied, “Believe it or not, I just want to solve this problem. I want to live a normal life. I don’t care about anything else.”

“Don’t hope for that. You can’t avoid some things even if you don’t want to deal with them. If you want to solve this problem, you have to face it.”

With that, Chen Hongyu lifted her luggage and quickened her pace.

Suddenly, a figure dashed behind Li Huowang. He grabbed a clothes hanger and wrapped it tightly around his neck.

The plastic-covered wire squeezed his windpipe, which made it hard for Li Huowang to breathe. His head started to fill with blood uncontrollably. He grabbed the hanger and struggled to look behind.

He soon saw a familiar face inverted above him. It was Wang Wei, his former doctor!

Wang Wei’s foot stepped heavily onto Li Huowang’s back, preventing him from escaping. His expression was ferocious as he glared at Li Huowang.

“How long are you going to deceive yourself?! Remember! That world is not fake! Everything that happened there is real! Wake up!”

“Cough, cough...” The suffocation intensified. Li Huowang’s eyes rolled back, and he soon saw strange circles and various changing snowflake patterns.

Thump! Chen Hongyu punched Wang Wei on the head and knocked him out. He fell to the ground, motionless.

Li Huowang quickly removed the hanger, coughing violently while he clutched his neck.

“Are you okay?” Chen Hongyu patted Li Huowang’s back. She looked at the unconscious Wang Wei with a serious expression. “I never thought their people could infiltrate here. What did you do to make them watch you so closely?”

Once he could breathe again, Li Huowang felt lingering fear as he replayed what just happened in his mind. Wang Wei’s strength was astonishing. Without Chen Hongyu’s help, Wang Wei’s ambush might have succeeded.

He looked at Chen Hongyu gratefully. “Thank you.”

Regardless of whether she was mentally ill, she had proven her goodwill towards him. Even if she was indeed mentally ill, at least she was the good kind.