Chapter 101: Battle

Yang Xiaohai visibly relaxed after Senior Brother Li left, his posture becoming noticeably more casual.

The group chatted idly as they ate. With little else to discuss, their conversation soon turned to the beggars peering in from outside.

"I don't recall seeing this many beggars on our journey. Where did they all come from?" Senior Brother Baolu wondered aloud.

Upon hearing Senior Brother Baolu, Yang Xiaohai immediately picked up a piece of flatbread, soaked it in thin porridge, and, bowl in hand, headed outside. "I'll go ask them," he offered.

Watching him leave, Gouwa remarked to the others, "That child is truly sensible. If he weren't going home, I'd consider adopting him as a son."

"A son? More like a servant to wait on you, wouldn't it?" someone quipped.

Exposed, Gouwa merely chuckled and let it pass.

As Yang Xiaohai emerged, the beggars at the entrance eagerly raised their tattered bowls, some even beginning to chant "Lotus Fall" songs.

Yang Xiaohai ignored them, instead taking his bowl directly to the small beggar who had fallen earlier.

The boy huddled in the corner, looking pitiful, just as Yang Xiaohai once had.

"I have a question for you," Yang Xiaohai said. "If you can answer it, this flatbread is yours."

The disheveled little beggar nodded enthusiastically, his eyes fixed on the flatbread in Yang Xiaohai's hand.

"Where are you beggars from?"

"The east! We're all from the east! I'm not really a beggar; I fled with my mother and father."

"I was kidnapped by human traffickers on the way, but I escaped halfway and became a beggar."

Yang Xiaohai pulled the softened flatbread from his bowl and handed it to the boy.

The little beggar didn't mind the heat, grabbing it with both hands and ravenously stuffing it into his mouth.

"Why did you have to flee? Was there a disaster where you lived?"

Slurping some porridge that clung to the flatbread, the little beggar swallowed and nodded. "Yes, there was a disaster. If it were a drought or a flood, my father wouldn't have abandoned our fields and run. But this time, it was a war."

"See, all these people came because of the war. This war is huge; the soldiers rush into villages and steal everything they see. I heard several villages were wiped out."

Just as Yang Xiaohai was about to ask another question, a large shadow fell over him from behind. It was Gao Zhijian, who stammered, "Th-th-this isn't a w-w-war disaster... this is... this is... a routed army!"

"Senior Brother Gao, does that mean there's a war?" Yang Xiaohai asked, looking up at the man's broad jaw.

Gao Zhijian's eyes showed a flicker of joy, as Yang Xiaohai didn't dismiss his stutter like others did.

A calloused hand, larger than Yang Xiaohai's head, gently patted his scalp. "Y-y-y-yes," Gao Zhijian affirmed.

Yang Xiaohai turned to the little beggar, who seemed intimidated by Gao Zhijian's imposing height, and continued, "Is there really a war? How come I haven't heard about it? You said your home is in the east? Do you know where the fighting is happening?"

"I don't know," the boy replied. "I just remember my home is in the east."

Seeing that the little beggar clearly knew nothing more, Yang Xiaohai turned his attention to the older beggars.

"What are you two, big and small, talking so eagerly about with the beggars outside?" a voice called out. "Come back and eat! We'll be waiting for your bowls to get washed later."

Hearing this, Yang Xiaohai instantly became alert. "I'll wash the dishes! I'll wash them!" he declared, turning to head inside.

Watching Yang Xiaohai walk away in his clean cloth shoes, the little beggar looked down at his own frozen, purple feet, his eyes filled with profound envy. "I really wish they'd buy me," he murmured.

"Senior Brother Cao Cao, those beggars came because there's a war in the east."

"Let them fight," came the reply. "What's that got to do with us? Baolu just asked casually; don't take it as a royal decree. He's not the emperor."

Li Huowang lay on the pristine white hospital bed, his expression a mix of hesitation and struggle.

Judging by his surroundings, his hallucinations seemed to have shifted from an ICU to a standard hospital room.

He held a round jade pendant in his hand, an item that belonged to him and had been worn around his neck on a string.

Li Huowang remembered giving this pendant to Yang Na, yet now it had inexplicably reappeared around his own neck.

Li Huowang no longer dwelled on how the item returned. His mind was now occupied with something else: Dr. Li's words from before.

"By the way, Xiao Li," Dr. Li had said, "you mentioned earlier that you believe this world is fake because you can bring things from 'that side' to 'this side.' Have you ever tried sending things from 'this side' to 'that side'? You might find different results."

Li Huowang lifted the round jade pendant, examining it repeatedly. Finally, he made up his mind, clenching it in one hand and tucking it into his hospital gown pocket.

*Might as well try,* Li Huowang thought to himself. *There's nothing to lose, and what if it works?*

But the next question that popped into Li Huowang's mind stopped him cold.

*If it succeeds, then what? What would that mean? Does it mean Bai Lingmiao's side is fake? Or that both sides are real?*

Li Huowang didn't know, but he decided that no matter what, he would try first and then figure things out based on the outcome.

Time passed, moment by moment. Li Huowang quietly awaited the result, a feeling that was far from pleasant; it felt like an eternity.

After the nurses changed his medication during this time, Li Huowang finally felt the hallucinations around him begin to crumble.

Upon returning to the antique-furnished room, Li Huowang immediately reached for his chest. When he pulled out the jade pendant, his face froze.

Forgetting to dress, Li Huowang got out of bed and quickly rummaged around. Staring at the two identical round jade pendants in his hand, his expression was one of utter disbelief.

"Two? How can there be two? Why are there two?"

Li Huowang's mind was a mess. He had considered the possibility of bringing something from "that side" over, but he had never imagined *this* outcome.

"Huowang," a soft female voice suddenly called from outside the door. It was Yang Na.

Li Huowang looked towards the door, his face filled with shock. How could Yang Na be here? Wasn't she from the hallucination side?

"Senior Brother Li," this time it was Bai Lingmiao's voice. With a creak, the door was pushed open from the outside.

As the pieced-together "thing" entered through the door, extreme terror contorted Li Huowang's face.

"No! No! Stop!" Li Huowang, drenched in cold sweat, abruptly sat up in bed.

Looking at the antique furniture around him, he finally realized. *Day thoughts lead to night dreams; everything that just happened was a dream.*

Just as he was about to lie back down, a thought unexpectedly popped into his head: *Was it really just a dream?*