Chapter 424

Everything had changed, perhaps because Li Huowang had accelerated his pace, gone to Da Qi earlier, and brought Su Lin and Meng Qi along, or perhaps because Buddhism in Liang had replaced the Fa Jiao, driving Yu Ershen mad.

In any case, the situation in Da Qi, though not ideal, was still much better than ten li without villages and a hundred li without people.

Upon returning to Liang, Su Lin and Meng Qi still spoke of popularizing hybrid rice in Da Qi; though it couldn't solve the root problem, it could at least ease the immediate crisis.

"Brother Zhuge, tell me where I can get so much Xiantian Yi Qi? Even if I hoarded a lot before, I still don't know if it's enough," Li Huowang said, his mood light and his tone relaxed.

After Zhuge Yuan fulfilled his wish, Li Huowang breathed a little easier—at least this time, Brother Zhuge hadn't vanished.

"Hmm, though we all call it Xiantian Yi Qi, the Xiantian Yi Qi in our world is far more special—it's part of the Heavenly Dao, and basically only exists within the hearts of Xin Su."

"Lei Yinsi has recently taken in many Xin Su; you might borrow some from them."

Zhuge Yuan's idea wasn't unworkable—Xin Su who mastered cultivation techniques could stably harness the Xiantian Yi Qi within them.

But the Xin Su's production capacity might not be enough, and Li Huowang needed it urgently—he had no time to wait for them to accumulate slowly.

As Li Huowang pondered, a chill brushed his cheek; he looked up and saw countless silver hairs falling from the sky.

"It's raining."

Li Huowang murmured to himself.

An umbrella appeared above his head; he turned and took it, smiling: "My dad said he'd come pick me up."

Yang Na shook her head and said: "Rainy days are prime time for taxi business—I called Uncle and told him not to come. My dad will take you home."

"This—" Li Huowang hesitated, saw Yang Na's determined gaze, and finally nodded: "Alright."

He was genuinely reluctant to face Yang Na's parents, given that when he'd been in the psychiatric hospital, he'd dragged her down and even hurt her.

Li Huowang instinctively glanced at Yang Na's chest, but she noticed his gaze.

"We're out in public—don't be shameless!" Yang Na blushed with indignation and punched Li Huowang's chest.

Li Huowang quickly apologized: "I was just wondering if it still hurts."

"It's long healed," Yang Na pouted. "It left a scar—don't you dare look down on me later."

The gray sky, the tree-shaded campus path, the rain deepening the green of the leaves—young men and women in school uniforms huddled under the umbrella, pretending to shelter from the rain, yet more like sweet lovers lost in early romance.

Only now could the headmaster not scold students for such friendly mutual aid.

"Uncle, hello." Li Huowang glanced awkwardly at the middle-aged man beside the school gate's stone pillar; the man frowned, his nasolabial folds deeper than in previous years.

He sized up Li Huowang several times, saw his daughter still pressed against him, sighed inwardly, and turned away unhappily.

"Get in the car."

He already knew about Li Huowang's situation—now recovered, cured of his mental illness, and admitted into the top science class; newspapers and news reports had recently covered this "genius."

The headline read: "The Line Between Genius and Madman Is Thin."

Though he didn't particularly like the guy, he was decent enough for his daughter.

"Li Huowang!" A man with a bizarre crew cut stood beneath a tree, his neck and half his face tattooed with thorn-like patterns.

Ba Chengqing? Why is he looking for me?

He pointed to his motorcycle parked nearby: "Over here."

"Li Huowang, you—" Yang Wanli saw Li Huowang associating with these "social riffraff" from his memory, and his face darkened instantly.

"Dad, he's Professor Su's assistant—he's here to take Li Huowang to meet Professor Su and Professor Meng!" Yang Na quickly grabbed her father's arm. "Those two legendary doctors—you know who I mean!"

Su Tianfu and Meng Zhending, the legendary figures who emptied psychiatric hospitals and rendered psychiatrists collectively unemployed; though no one knew why even neurotics were cured, these two had been nominated for this year's Top Ten People Who Moved the Nation.

"Go," Yang Wanli's expression softened. "Take care of yourself—don't stress too much."

"Thank you, Uncle. Goodbye, Uncle!" Li Huowang bowed politely.

He hurried over to Ba Chengqing; he didn't ask why, and Ba Chengqing said nothing—just handed him a helmet and a raincoat.

Ten minutes later, Li Huowang realized on the overpass that they weren't heading to the city hospital—they were taking the road to Kangning Psychiatric Hospital.

"What's going on?"

"You'll know when we get there."

Sure enough, the gates of Kangning Psychiatric Hospital soon appeared before Li Huowang.

The reconstruction wasn't complete—construction trailers stood in the courtyard, excavators and cranes still present, but—

Li Huowang glanced at the guards scattered around the courtyard's pavilions; instead of riot batons, they carried firearms.

Ba Chengqing casually parked the bike in the courtyard and led Li Huowang toward the lobby; inside the former recreation room, Qing Wanglai and others were gathered.

"You're here," Qing Wanglai said, looking at Ba Chengqing and Li Huowang. "Half an hour until dinner—plenty of time to finish this."

Kui Ta, Dou Mu, Ba Hui, Gu Shen, Rot, Yu Ershen—plus those outside who could be considered "final antagonists"—what were these people trying to do inside Bai Yu Jing?

He wasn't Confused Siming yet—why was he being brought here to this meeting?

Li Huowang scanned the room and noticed Zhao Shuangdian, representing Changsheng Tian, and Wu Qi, representing the Five Wisdom Buddhas, were absent.

"Wu Qi is nearly finished. Zhao Shuangdian might still be salvageable."

Qing Wanglai pointed at the diagram and notice on the blackboard: "If Zhao Shuangdian is fully controlled, our world will face total annihilation. Though I hate to admit it, that woman is truly troublesome."

Sorry, this is a psychiatric gathering—I'm cured now, staying here feels inappropriate.

What was the hotline number again?

Li Huowang considered whether to call the authorities or pull a knife from another world and fight his way out.

Neither option seemed very likely to succeed—could he borrow a suit of Iron Man armor from Tony Stark in the group right now?

Tech products should function normally.

"Aren't you two assistants to Su Tianfu and Meng Zhending?" Li Huowang looked at Ba Nanxu and Ba Chengqing.

These past months, the three of them had become key operatives under the "Longfengchu" of the city hospital; Zhao Shuangdian's AI, "Sunday," had achieved full intelligent processing from diagnosis to prescription.

If the world's aesthetic hadn't gradually shifted toward the religious, he wouldn't have even considered acting against those two lazy projections.

"What kind of illness would make me work as an assistant to a cult leader pretending to be a monster?"

Ba Nanxu cursed, then snapped:

"If it weren't for Shuangdian being brainwashed by that thing's model, I'd never dare mess with it—I'd rather die than go near it!"

Brainwashed?

"I'll explain." Qing Wanglai pointed to the stool in front of Li Huowang, signaling him to sit.

After a while, once the explanation was complete, Li Huowang understood why Zhao Shuangdian had become Su Tianfu's assistant.

Ever since the attack at Kangning Hospital, Zhao Shuangdian had taken notice of Li Huowang, who had interacted with Qing Wanglai, and performed mathematical calculations based on Li Huowang's past.

But during this calculation, numerous inexplicable variables emerged; to explain their origin, Zhao Shuangdian began analyzing every person who had appeared near Li Huowang during that time.

Everything was fine until the calculation reached that man.

"After Su Tianfu's model was built, Sister Zhao stared at the computer screen, not eating or drinking, for three full days," Ba Chengqing said slowly, a flicker of emotion crossing his half-tattooed face:

"Three days later, Sister Zhao stepped out of her room, stared at the sky, and said one thing."

"Alive."

Li Huowang didn't understand—what did "alive" mean?

"Su Tianfu's data came to life," Ba Nanxu added. "Shuangdian said that data greeted her—then, the next day, she went mad."

It was merely a string of numbers on a laptop screen—anyone would see it as just a complex data model—but Zhao Shuangdian became utterly obsessed, lost in it.

Ba Chengqing continued: "Two days later, Sister Zhao woke up—but she was different. She kept muttering about truth and reality."

She radiated an indescribable aura; even Ba Chengqing couldn't tell who he was speaking to anymore—her gaze felt like that of a stranger.

"On the morning of the seventh day," Qing Wanglai pulled a wooden cross from a drawer and tossed it onto the table: "Zhao Shuangdian went to the Gospel Church for baptism—and became Su Tianfu's assistant that same day."

Li Huowang's Adam's apple moved. He watched them warily—no one had sent them here to tell horror stories.

"Li Huowang, this world is on the brink of collapse," Qing Wanglai said seriously.

"To this day, I still don't understand how you remain unaffected by Su Tianfu's personal ability—or why he never targeted you."

"But he emerged because of you, so you must bear this duty: expel the projection named Su Tianfu from this world."

"Out!"

Li Huowang fell silent for a long while, then asked: "What about Meng Zhending?"

Throughout this entire time, they spoke only of Su Tianfu—Qing Wanglai mentioned nothing about Meng Zhending. Yet the name Yuan Huang had sunk deep into everyone's subconscious; even the statue bore seven-tenths resemblance to Meng Zhending. Focusing solely on Su Tianfu now made no sense.

"Meng Zhending is not Su Tianfu. They differ fundamentally. In terms of danger, Su Tianfu is the most terrifying."

Qing Wanglai adjusted his glasses and addressed everyone:

"Meng Zhending's target is only me. If my sacrifice as an ant can secure peace for the entire world—"

Suddenly, his tone grew solemn.

Qing Wanglai's words and demeanor drew every eye to him; a faint sorrow spread through the activity room.

"Little Qing, you—" Qian Fu opened his mouth, then clenched his fist and turned to Li Huowang: "Little Li, look—when are you going to wake up?!"

Li Huowang pretended not to hear and asked again: "Why say his target is only you? Will your cousin harm you?"

"I've already said it, Li Huowang—an elephant and an ant have no blood relation," Qing Wanglai showed no emotion, but a strange glint flashed in his eyes when mentioning Meng Zhending:

"He exists on a dimension too high... No, if I must say it, there is some connection between us—something like the difference between a single cell and a human body. You get it? I heard you were top of your grade in science. Unbelievable."

What did you mean by your last sentence?

Li Huowang always felt Qing Wanglai was hiding something.

"Whether intentional or not, when His information erodes the world's original existence and begins preparing to consume this fake world, even His slightest movement could inflict irreversible damage," Qing Wanglai said, pointing at Yu Sheng, who sat motionless in his chair:

"He is the best example. Yu Sheng, look—what is this?"

Qing Wanglai held the palm-sized wooden cross before Yu Sheng's vacant gaze.

"Buddha, I've awakened. You alone are the one true god in that boundless light," Yu Sheng grinned foolishly, singing:

"You are electricity, you are light, you are the only myth."

Nonsensical—no one could tell what Yu Sheng truly believed in. Li Huowang even wondered if Yu Sheng was faking it for him.

Li Huowang asked: "Didn't you rescue him?"

"We can't cure him. It's not just mental distortion—it's a virus!" Qing Wanglai shook his head sadly:

"That's a forbidden dimension we must never probe. All we can do is let him stay lucid occasionally. Every method we have now only treats symptoms, not the root—the shell is called 'faith-based psychotherapy,' but the core is dimensional information erosion."

Fine. He'd already known—but still, this was outright demonic.

After a long silence.

"What do you plan to do?"

"Kill Su Tianfu. Destroy the fragment spreading the information virus. Capture Meng Zhending. Restrict his movement space."

Qing Wanglai spoke succinctly.

Under his direction, the walls of the activity room quickly filled with information.

Name: Meng Zhending

Age: 36

Gender: Male

No romantic history

Occupation: Psychologist, Professor of Psychiatry, Deputy Director of Rehabilitation Department, Shaolin Monk (defrocked for violating sect rules), Daoist Priest of Yuqing Temple, Web Novel Author (pen name: Little Meng Who Loves Diving, representative work: The Supreme One Lifetime), Food Delivery Rider, Amateur Football Player, Online Streamer, Partner at Dadian Temple Bar

Once tried hypnotizing the main team's players to suggest they burn themselves to win a match, leading to 13 police reports.

What is this? Was that bar his own business? Does it correspond to the Great Lei Yinsi on the Great Liang side?

Impressive.

Name: Su Tianfu

Age: 36

Gender: Male

No romantic history

Occupation: psychiatrist, professor of psychiatry, director of rehabilitation department, online streamer, short-video creator, first-class architect, certified financial analyst, national-standard senior hairstylist, web novel author (pen name: Ai QianShui de Wu Zi, representative works: Ri Zai Guimi, Dao Guiyi Xian, Chongsheng Zhi Wo Shi Wenchong Gong), registered priest, part-time monk (unlicensed), partner at Dadianyin Temple Bar, lay disciple of Longhu Mountain (ordination qualification revoked for abandoning two-year Taoist ritual studies)

Previously manipulated sports matches through reporting, verified and filed with police (99 cases)

This one is even more significant!

Li Huowang stared in shock at the pile of documents, especially that book Dao Guiyi Xian—did you really write this?!

"The hospital, the church, the bar—we've confirmed they all fall under the opponent's sphere of influence. After Zhao Shuangdian and Wu Qi were taken control of, an invisible protective net has formed over that area. With our current strength, carrying out this operation is extremely difficult."

Qing Wang, as he spoke, suddenly curled his lips into a smile:

"But heaven never closes all doors. The opponent's second new book, Dao Guiyi Xian, unexpectedly became a sensation. He plans to travel to the Magic City to sell the offline publishing rights. Li Huowang, when the time comes, kill him."

Li Huowang, still dazed, snapped awake at the sound of his name being called: "Me?!"

(End of Chapter)