Chapter 203: True? False?

"What's wrong with Senior Brother Li?""I don't know either. He was fine just a moment ago. How could looking at a book make him so fixated?""Junior Sister Bai, why don't you go check on him? Is he having another episode?"

Encouraged by the others, Bai Lingmiao walked over. With a hesitant voice, she carefully asked Li Huowang, who was squatting on the ground, "Senior Brother Li, are... are you alright?" She discreetly glanced at the rows of characters in front of Li Huowang, which he was intently staring at. As Bai Lingmiao was illiterate, she didn't know what was written, but from his demeanor, those characters seemed very important to him.

Seeing that he didn't respond, Bai Lingmiao thought for a moment. She took off the drumstick-like whip tucked at her waist, pressed it against the book next to Li Huowang, and with a forceful flick, sent the book flying far away. "Senior Brother Li only became like this after looking at this book. Perhaps it's unlucky." After doing this, Bai Lingmiao asked again, "Senior Brother Li, are you alright?"

Li Huowang, usually keenly perceptive, was completely oblivious to what others were saying at this moment. He was absorbed, staring at the lines of text he had laid out on the ground.

"I am Peng Zhi, one of the three corpses of a certain entity. (False)""I am Hong Zhong, one of the Grand Triads of the Sitting Forgetfulness Dao. They lied to me before; I instructed them to do it. (False)""I killed the people who died in that dead town. (False)""One of the high-ranking members of the Sitting Forgetfulness Dao is also a 'Mind Element' (Xinsu). He lived to be 190 years old and completely escaped hallucinations. (?)"

Li Huowang looked at the fourth item, pondering various possibilities in his mind. "Could this be true?" Since others sought the Mind Element, it must be valuable. If they could use it, why couldn't the Mind Element itself be utilized? Based on the new abilities he had suddenly acquired, the potential of the Mind Element might be far greater than he had imagined.

"If there's truly a way, then my condition can be cured! I can become a normal person. No, I might even be able to completely control the power of the Mind Element and firmly establish myself in this world! If that's the case, then others will never dare to deceive or harm me again!" Excited by the thought, Li Huowang felt his entire body surge with power, and his perpetually gloomy mood now became exhilarated.

But gradually, Li Huowang calmed down. All of this hinged on one major premise: that the Sitting Forgetfulness Dao had spoken the truth when they made that claim. Considering his past interactions with the Sitting Forgetfulness Dao, this seemed highly dubious.

Li Huowang didn't know how likely that last statement was to be true, but even if there was only a ten percent chance, it was incredibly tempting for him now. He yearned for it too much.

It wasn't just about gaining stronger abilities; it was also about escaping torment. His unpredictable shifts between hallucination and reality were incredibly agonizing. Li Huowang truly didn't want to experience the pain he had felt before, which was worse than death.

"Not now. After escaping Hou Shu, I can try to gather information on this, proceeding cautiously and discerning rationally.""I must be careful now and not rashly believe anything the Sitting Forgetfulness Dao says. Regardless of whether it's true or false, everything must be verified against reality."

After carefully organizing his thoughts, Li Huowang stood up. He then saw everyone else in the distance, looking at him with strange expressions."Why are you all staring at me? Do I have something on my face?""No, no, nothing at all." Yang Xiaohai was about to hoist the large iron pot onto his back, but Gao Zhijian's large hand reached out and effortlessly lifted it. The others also began packing their belongings, appearing ready to depart.

Li Huowang looked around, picked up *The Sutra of Deception* from a distance, tucked it into his robe, and prepared to continue walking. Just then, a thought suddenly struck him. "Could those two swindlers also be members of the Sitting Forgetfulness Dao? Are they trying to deceive me again?""Stop, I'm going back." Having said this, Li Huowang, his face grim, immediately pulled *The Sutra of Deception* from his robe, threw it to the ground, and hastened towards the flat-topped mountain without delay. This sudden turn of events left everyone else bewildered; no one spoke for a moment, unsure of what was happening.

"I'll keep an eye on him, lest he has an episode halfway there," Chun Xiaoman said, immediately grabbing her sword and following.The remaining people waited for two full hours. As dusk began to fall, they finally saw Li Huowang descending from the flat-topped mountain once again, with Chun Xiaoman following behind, a look of unbearable pity on her face.

Li Huowang's expression was noticeably better than when he went up the mountain; he seemed to have let out a huge sigh of relief."What happened? What's going on?" Gouwa whispered to Chun Xiaoman."Those two swindlers, they're too pitiful, sigh... truly too pitiful. It was just deception; their crime wasn't punishable by death.""Why did Senior Brother Li do that?"

Chun Xiaoman hesitated, as if unsure how to explain. "He... he wanted to see how many faces those two had. Evidently, they only had one."Gouwa's scalp instantly tingled with dread.

"Stop talking," Li Huowang interjected. "Let's hurry and make more progress before it gets dark. Don't forget we're still being pursued." His words made the two quickly pick up their pace and follow, tacitly avoiding any further discussion about what had happened on the flat-topped mountain.

Just as everyone else was about to set off again, another unexpected incident occurred."Senior... Senior Brother Li, what's wrong with you? Are you alright?"Li Huowang, his face contorted in an extremely distressed expression, clutched his head with both hands. "Chains... chains! Trap me! They're coming!""Senior Brother Li, there are no chains here! They're all on the carriage!""Quick, dig a pit! Bury me, quickly! Don't let me run wild!"

Before they could finish digging the pit, Li Huowang found himself back in the hospital room, filled with the smell of disinfectant. Standing before him was a person, a young man in a white coat and glasses.The man in the white coat smiled slightly, pushing up his glasses. "Li Huowang? You're awake? Let me introduce myself, I'm your attending physician. My surname is Hou.""How do you feel now? Compared to before, your lucid periods seem a bit shorter."

Li Huowang looked around and asked, "Where's my mom?"Dr. Hou smiled warmly and gently said to Li Huowang, "Your mother had something to attend to outside. She was here just a few minutes ago, you simply weren't awake yet.""Student Li Huowang, if you truly care about your mother, then you should cooperate with my treatment and get well as soon as possible. That's how you can repay her for all she's done for you.""Let's talk. I know you believe this place is a hallucination. That's fine, so let's discuss your 'real' world.""It seems many... unusual things have been discovered there recently."