Mutated Tao

"Mom, wake up, please,” called out Li Huowang.

As Sun Xiaoqin seemed to hear her son calling out to her, she was in a daze.

She thought that she was dreaming. When she rubbed her eyes and got up from the reclining chair, she was surprised to see Li Huowang looking at her.

“Son? You’ve finally awakened again?”

Sun Xiaoqin quickly took out the nearby calendar and started to jot down. “Son, look at the time intervals at which you’ve awakened. They seem to be shortening. Does this mean that your illness is improving?

Li Huowang smiled at her and nodded. “That’s right. Maybe it really is getting better.”

“That’s wonderful! By the way, are you hungry? How about an orange? Ah, when you’re not awake, you keep talking nonsense, and I don’t even know if you’ve eaten enough,” said Sun Xiaoqin as she took out a red plastic bag filled with oranges and began to peel one of them.

“Mom, I’m not hungry. Have you been accompanying me all this time?” asked Li Huowang.

Sun Xiaoqin sat by his bed while extending her right hand with an orange peel as she gently stroked his face and looked at him lovingly. “Don’t worry, Mom is here. Dr. Wang has also said that me staying by your side and seeing you every day might help improve your condition.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll listen to you. We won’t call him anymore. Look at how he’s even beaten my son up. When we’ve saved enough money, we’ll go abroad and find the best doctor,” said Sun Xiaoqian.

Hearing her soothing tone, Li Huowang’s lips trembled slightly. Tears began to slowly flow down from his eyes.

“Son, don’t cry. Why are you crying? Did that Wang Wei bully you while I wasn’t around? Tell me, and I’ll deal with him!” Sun Xiaoqin’s brows raised sharply, and her indomitable spirit was back.

Li Huowang shook his head vigorously, either to deny her words or to shake off his tears, he didn’t know which. “Mom, my hands are a little numb. Can you help untie me?”

“Ah, of course.” Sun Xiaoqin readily agreed and immediately started to untie the wide cloth straps on his hands.

She did not even consider the possibility that he would suddenly go crazy and attack her; after all, he was her flesh and blood.

Li Huowang controlled his newly freed hands and massaged his numb wrists, then wiped the tears off his face. Then, he reached into his blanket and slowly pulled out the golden box that he had brought from the other side.

“Mom, here. This is all for you,” Li Huowang smiled as he softly explained and passed the golden box to his mom.

“This… this…” Sun Xiaoqin was clearly flustered at the sight of the object. Her thoughts were jumbled; where did all this gold come from?

Li Huowang took out a small ingot from the box and placed it in his palm before her. His eyes gleamed with anticipation as he said, “Mom, look. With these, not only can you buy back our house, but buy a few more as well. You can even buy some shops to rent out. In the future, you won’t have to work anymore, and can have a steady income every month. Also, didn’t you say that you wanted to travel abroad after retirement? There’s no need to wait that long anymore; you can just go now. With all this gold, you can travel wherever you want.”

As he spoke, he reached into his pocket and took out an exquisite pair of jade earrings, and then passed them over to her. “Mom, this is the birthday gift I owe Nana. Please pass it to her. Also, help me tell her…”

He paused, struggling with his expression as he recalled those memories. He took a deep breath and forcefully suppressed his emotions before continuing, “Mom… Help me tell Nana, I am sorry. Tell her not to wait for me anymore.”

Hearing all this, Sun Xiaoqin began to panic; it almost seemed like her son was saying his final goodbyes.

She quickly placed the golden box on the table and dashed out before shouting toward the empty corridor, “Doctor! On-call doctor, come now!”

After that, she hurried back and anxiously held Li Huowang’s hands as she choked out, “Son, what’s going on? Did you run into some trouble? Tell Mom about it; I’ll find a solution for you! No matter how big the problem is, I can help you to solve it. Don’t scare Mom like this!”

Li Huowang smiled as he watched tears flow down his mom’s face. He held the golden box between them and said, “Mom, why are you crying? You should be happy. Look at all this gold. Our family is rich!”

“I don’t want the gold! I just want my son to come back!” Sun Xiaoqin leaned forward and hugged Li Huowang’s head as she sobbed loudly.

As he heard those words, Li Huowang’s heart ached deeply. He even considered not eating the Black Taisui so that this side could continue to be with him, and so that he could be together with them. But when he recalled the swollen face he had given Bai Lingmiao, he once again steeled his resolve to never look at this side.

I can’t abandon my reality because of this fake hallucination! I must take responsibility for my actions!

But… it feels so real. Is all this really fake?

Li Huowang held his mother tightly as he took in all her strong emotions.

At that point, Li Huowang saw Wang Wei, who was clad in white, entering the ward with his student.

Li Huowang smiled at him, “Dr. Wang, I’m leaving now, and we might never see each other again. How about we make a bet? Didn’t you say that this side is reality? If you have the ability to make me awaken again, then I’ll admit that this side is reality.”

He continued to hug his mom as he said his final words, and then closed his eyes while smiling.

When he reopened them again, he found that he had returned to the vast Qing Qiu. He looked around at the azure sky and the green grass lands, then took a deep breath.

When the others finished removing the chains that bound him, Li Huowang looked at all of them. Then, he approached Sun Baolu and passed the golden box back to him before turning toward the tent that held the Black Taisui.

Chun Xiaoman watched his back with some concern. When he had been suffering from his hysteria, he had been half laughing and half crying. “Keep an eye on him. I feel that Senior Li is… a little different today.”

Shortly after, they arrived at the tent and saw their Senior Li emotionally holding a piece of the Black Taisui flesh.

“Senior Li, what’s going on? Eating this thing should temporarily cure your hysteria, right? Isn’t that a good thing? Then why is he crying?” asked Sun Baolu. However, his questions went unanswered.

All of them just stood there silently, watching Li Huowang cry as he consumed the flesh in his hands.

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