Chapter 1001: Painting

The heavy rain continued to fall. Li Huowang clutched Yang Na's hand, staring at her severed finger, which had already healed.

This was more than just Yang Na's finger. If its severing was real, then everything else was real too!

The realization that the previous desperate and oppressive scenes had all become reality filled Li Huowang's eyes with profound terror. The Si Ming of Forsaken Heaven had altered his past, changing everything about it! His life had been rewritten!

"No! This can't be happening! This shouldn't be like this! I'll kill it! I need to go back in time! I'll make everything return to how it was before!" Li Huowang, his head bleeding, struggled to his feet and, dragging his injured body, shuffled towards the ruins of the dilapidated temple.

"Xiao Li! Your injuries are too severe! Lie down quickly! Don't move!" A soaking wet Yi Donglai stood in front of Li Huowang, urging him loudly.

"Get out of my way! You have no idea what I've been through!" Li Huowang, veins bulging on his forehead, shouted, reaching out to push him away.

But Yi Donglai acted first, forcefully pushing Li Huowang back into Yang Na's arms. "No! I know!"

Perhaps because of the rain, Yi Donglai's eyes were bloodshot. "I was your attending physician! I know everything you've experienced! I even know what you're thinking right now! I understand it all!"

"Don't forget, I'm a doctor! I know far more than you do! Stay put! Leave this to me!"

As he spoke, Yi Donglai turned and, braving the heavy rain, approached the temple ruins. He then bent down and picked up a piece of broken tile from the ground. Without waiting for Li Huowang's reaction, he immediately stepped into the ruins.

The recently collapsed temple was a chaotic mess. Broken bricks, shattered tiles, and splintered wood were haphazardly piled together, making it extremely dangerous to walk through.

But Yi Donglai paid no mind. He vigorously cleared the debris, pushing aside the broken bricks and tiles to reveal the uneven bluestones beneath, clearing a large space.

His arms were scratched by the shattered debris from these actions, yet he didn't care at all. He raised the piece of broken tile in his hand and began to forcefully scratch it across the uneven stone bricks.

As the edge of the tile scraped against the stone bricks, creating a harsh screeching sound, various lines interconnected, and something began to emerge from his drawing.

Li Huowang, battered and bruised, was helped by Yang Na to Yi Donglai's side. Just then, a streak of lightning flashed across the sky, momentarily turning night into day.

Illuminated by this extremely brief silver-white light, Li Huowang finally saw what Yi Donglai was drawing. It was a very crude humanoid figure, but its highly distinctive features allowed Li Huowang to recognize whom Yi Donglai was depicting.

It was a gaunt woman, her left side covered in tattoos. When he saw her forked tongue and lip piercing, Li Huowang understood who Yi Donglai was drawing.

Ba Hui's projection, Ba Nanxu.

Ba Nanxu's appearance was very strange at this moment. It was unclear if it was due to Yi Donglai's poor drawing skills, but her body was extremely elongated and had an unnerving, distorted quality.

The Ba Nanxu drawn by Yi Donglai seemed to be emerging from something vague and distorted, her mouth opened wide like a snake's, as if attempting to devour all the surrounding rubble.

This was only the beginning. As Yi Donglai continued to draw, the other Si Mings who had previously left with Zhao Shuangdian were all drawn onto the cleared ground in strange ways.

Although they also looked extremely crude, a few strokes brought them to life.

"What are you doing?" Li Huowang yelled, his voice strained, amidst the heavy rain.

Yi Donglai's hand didn't stop. He furiously drew as he answered, "They couldn't get here before! It's because they couldn't find a path! They need a medium! Li Huowang, do you understand? Qing Wanglai was right! They're all projections! Since they're projections, there must be something to serve as a backdrop!"

At this point, a hint of hesitation flickered in Yi Donglai's eyes, but when he saw his own young face reflected in a nearby puddle, his last trace of doubt vanished completely. He gripped the tile in his hand even harder.

"It's fine! We can't lose! I finally understand everything! I am the Great Nuo Projection! There's no mistake about it! That's right! But the difference is, it's mad! I'm not!"

Yi Donglai's new realization didn't shock Li Huowang. What shocked him was the new figure Yi Donglai had just drawn: an extremely bloated young man, as if something bulky was stuffed inside him.

Everything else was unfamiliar, but the smile on his face was so familiar that Li Huowang recognized him instantly. It was the Sanqing's projection, Qing Wanglai!

Sanqing hadn't left; he had been hiding nearby all along!

Seeing that utterly repulsive face, a surge of fury ignited within Li Huowang. All the despicable and shameless deeds this fellow had committed flashed through his mind.

Without hesitation, Li Huowang picked up a broken brick from the ground and violently smashed it onto the head of the Qing Wanglai graffiti. The impact of stone on stone produced a sharp crack.

Li Huowang was now very close to Yi Donglai's drawing and noticed something amiss. This figure was too close to Zhao Shuangdian, far too close, so close that their bodies even overlapped in places.

"What is he doing? What does he want? At a time like this, how dare he!"

Breaking out in a cold sweat, Li Huowang could no longer hold back. He pushed Yang Na aside, leaped high into the air, and plunged violently into Yi Donglai's drawing.

With a splash, Li Huowang instantly felt his entire body covered in a cold liquid. He was in!

Before Li Huowang even had a chance to see where he was, he immediately opened his mouth and shouted, "Zhao Shuangdian! Watch out! Qing Wanglai is stealing your Heavenly Dao!"

As the cold liquid poured into Li Huowang's open mouth and he felt his internal organs begin to vitalize, he finally understood what liquid he was submerged in: that dull, iridescent black fluid!

Only the Great Qi, assimilated in the past, would be entirely filled with this liquid. He had already arrived in Forsaken Heaven.

Suddenly, cold sweat drenched Li Huowang's entire body. A horrifying, terrifying reality was hidden within this realization.

For some unknown reason, Forsaken Heaven was now extremely close to White Jade Capital. If he had to compare, it was as close as Qing Wanglai and Zhao Shuangdian were in the drawing!