Chapter 972 - Change

Gao Zhijian looked on anxiously, observing the confusion etched on Li Huowang’s face. Zuoqiu Yong had been one of their most valuable allies.

Zuoqiu Yong was a powerful Siming, yet he was now dead without any warning. This was a perilous situation.

“Senior Li, send me back quickly!”

“Wait! Just give me a moment! I know who to ask! I need answers.”

He sat down, gripping his head as if he was trying to crush it. He began to chant, “I am at the seventh stage. I am at the seventh stage. I

am

at the seventh stage!”

Reaching the seventh stage this time proved to be much more difficult than before.

He didn’t know how long had passed, but when he opened his eyes, he saw Qing Wanglai and the others staring at him.

“Three Ancient Ones! You control the Heavenly Dao of Secrets. Tell me how Zuoqiu Yong died. Where did the Heavenly Dao of Growth go?”

Qing Wanglai did not answer him. Instead, Qing Wanglai whispered to Zhao Shuangdian.

Li Huowang realized something was wrong when he saw Qing Wanglai’s reaction and the look on the others’ faces.

He looked down and froze in shock.

“Why are you tying me up? Let me go! What the hell are you doing?”

It felt like he had returned to the time when he was ill. Bound so tightly that he couldn’t even move a finger, Li Huowang’s panic shifted from Zuoqiu Yong’s death to his own predicament.

“Just sit still!” Ba Nanxu said, slapping the back of Li Huowang’s head. “We had to tie you up! You kept spouting crazy stuff and even ran out to steal a child’s book to read it. We finally got you out, and now you want to go back to the prison again?”

“What?”

Li Huowang was in disbelief, and a terrifying thought popped into his mind. “Did my illness relapse? Am I not able to tell the real side from the fake one?”

Strapped to the bed, he had no choice but to accept the possibility. It was as if he had returned to the past, with everything he did on the other side being mirrored on the other. All because of that one button.

“Is it because I separated myself too clearly this time?”

Li Huowang remembered how he had once accepted Yi Donglai’s treatment. He remembered the two different sets of memories in his brain. The more he pondered, the worse his headache became.

“No! I can’t merge them! I need to separate them!”

He hadn’t expected Fu Shengtian’s methods to be so weird. To think that the button was like a poison that could slow him down like this.

Li Huowang was Ji Zai, the Siming controlling the Heavenly Dao of Bewilderment. He had to maintain it at all times, but Fu Shengtian’s way of undoing it was surprising.

With war on the horizon, Li Huowang knew he had to regain control. If he couldn’t, confronting Fu Shengtian would be nothing short of suicide.

“What’s wrong? What happened on the other side?”

Zhao Shuangdian asked. Her serious expression clearly indicated that she didn’t think Li Huowang’s illness was regular.

“It’s Fu Shengtian’s attack! That old beggar’s button... Even though it's dead, its attack is still affecting me. I never thought it would affect me for so long.”

Li Huowang told Zhao Shuangdian about his current situation and Zuoqiu Yong’s death.

After grasping his situation, Zhao Shuangdian began calculating something on her laptop.

The others helped untie Li Huowang, realizing he was coherent again.

Li Huowang’s heart remained heavy. He could feel himself slipping further into his past self

“Zhijian, find something to tie me up, just like how we did last time.”

He could see Gao Zhijian, but his figure was blurry, and it continued to dissipate.

Gao Zhijian found some vines and bound Li Huowang tightly. Only then did Li Huowang breathe a sigh of relief and turn to Zhao Shuangdian. “How about it? Did you calculate anything?”

Zhao Shuangdian stopped tapping her keyboard, showing no sign of agreement or disagreement. “I’ve calculated something about the Zuoqiu Yong you’ve mentioned. I will handle it.”

However, Li Huowang had already set aside the issue of Zuoqiu Yong’s death. He was more worried about his predicament.

Zuoqiu Yong was dead, but he was still alive. He didn’t know what kind of Siming Zhao Shuangdian was, but since she said she would take care of it, then he would just leave it to her.

“Alright, you will deal with Zuoqiu Yong. But what about me? Could you solve it?”

Zhao Shuangdian answered him with a question instead. “What did you do to solve it last time?”

“Last time? I accepted Yi Donglai’s treatment.”

“Then you would have to do it again. Since he could treat you last time, he can treat you this time too. Go and find him.”

Li Huowang frowned. “I know he can treat me, but would he help me this time?”

He showed her his broken arm.

Despite the bandage on his arm, the loss of his hand was still very clear.

Li Huowang could already envision Yi Donglai's reaction to his injuries—he’d probably be dismissed as a madman again. He would likely believe that Li Huowang was beyond any hope of recovery.

“It’s not a big deal to ask someone for help. We can help you form a plan,” Wu Qi said.

Before she could continue, Ba Nanxu said, “Does he have a family member? Can we kidnap someone and threaten him?”

“What are you talking about? Are we kidnappers? Do you want to attract the attention of the Laws?”

Li Huowang huffed. Yi Donglai was helping him out of kindness. How could they treat Yi Donglai like an enemy?

Li Huowang pondered before explaining his plan. “I can try to lure him here to meet everyone. Maybe he would understand us and know what’s happening. I trust him, and I know he will find us.”

Yi Donglai had always thought that Li Huowang’s other world was a hallucination. If he could show Yi Donglai proof, Li Huowang might be able to convince Yi Donglai.