Chapter 654: Star

In Shangjing City, which had just endured a catastrophe, Li Huowang lowered his head, his expression deeply complex as he stared at his shadow.

Ji Zai truly existed, yet his existence depended on Li Huowang.

Ji Zai was unstable; he would vanish the moment Li Huowang confirmed him to be a figment of his imagination.

Ji Zai controlled bewilderment; or perhaps, he was bewilderment itself, perpetually oscillating between existence and non-existence, present only within a thought.

No wonder Ji Zai had consistently urged him to "maintain it." Li Huowang hadn't understood what he was supposed to maintain before, but now he finally did.

"Am I thinking correctly?" Li Huowang suddenly asked his shadow in a low voice.

This time, however, Ji Zai didn't respond; the shadow remained merely a shadow.

Just as Li Huowang was contemplating, Ji Zai vanished again. This time, Li Huowang finally grasped something. He turned, ready to depart, when he saw Shangguan Yuting emerge from a nearby wall.

This was one of Sitianjian's illusions, and the recent commotion had drawn Shangguan Yuting as well.

After scrutinizing her for a moment, Li Huowang said, "I understand what you meant before. You were actually helping him stabilize. No wonder you told me he couldn't be spoken of."

"What?" Shangguan Yuting asked, somewhat confused by Li Huowang's words. "Nothing," Li Huowang replied. "You're right, he truly cannot be spoken of." With that, Li Huowang dismissed Shangguan Yuting, navigating the corpse-strewn streets until he found a large well.

Next to two corpses floating in the well was Li Huowang's reflection, above which the moon had just peeked out from behind the dark clouds.

Li Huowang gazed at his reflection in the well, took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and silently recited something to himself.

As Li Huowang recited, everything around him subtly distorted: stones softened, reins became oily, and a weed by his foot writhed and struggled, pulling itself from the soil and moving to the right to evade him.

Not long after he left the well, as Li Huowang slowly opened his eyes, the weed grew back on a brick.

"Are you this unstable, or are all Si Ming so unstable?"

"I don't know, perhaps. Some things I remember at times, but I cannot tell you."

"Remember what I said before: I am you, and you are me. Without you, there is no me. Now tell me, who am I?"

"You are Ji Zai," Li Huowang replied with a hint of indifference. "How did I come into existence?"

"I don't know how you came into existence. I only know you're useless and completely unreliable when it matters most. It's better to rely on myself than on anyone else. From now on, I won't seek you out; I'll find a way to handle everything myself!"

"Very good. Maintain it. You will protect yourself, and you will continue to help yourself."

Li Huowang gave Ji Zai a deep look and turned to leave, but at that moment, he suddenly felt something watching him.

He abruptly looked up at the scattered stars overhead. Li Huowang reached out, took hold of the edge of the starry 'sky', and gently pulled back a corner, revealing the scene beyond the curtain.

In a corner of his residential complex, an old woman with white hair, short stature, and a red armband on her right sleeve was craning her neck, peeking towards his home.

"Son? What are you looking at?"

"Mom, someone is watching our house," Li Huowang said with a hint of displeasure.

Sun Xiaoqin walked over to look, then reached out and pulled back the dark blue starry curtain completely.

"Oh, I thought it was someone else," she said. "This is Auntie Qi from the neighborhood committee; she even held you when you were little."

"Why is Auntie Qi staring at our house? Is the neighborhood committee always this idle?" Li Huowang's voice held a trace of hostility; there was something else in the woman's gaze.

No wonder he had felt watched for the past few days; he hadn't expected it to be her.

"Ah, it's nothing," she sighed. "The hospital probably informed them. This is a good thing, son; look how many people care about you."

"Is that caring about me?" Li Huowang scoffed. "She's afraid I, a madman, will rush out and kill people in the street." Li Huowang grabbed a corner of the curtain, pulled it shut forcefully, completely covering the window.

Li Huowang had expected to be free after his discharge from the hospital, but that wasn't the case. Neighbors in the complex and old acquaintances alike avoided him as if he were a plague.

Now, with Auntie Qi monitoring him in the complex, he realized that being discharged was worse than being in a mental hospital. At least there, the patients were simply mad, but they didn't subject him to such disdain, ostracism, and fearful gazes.

*Snap!* The desk lamp clicked on. Li Huowang sat at his desk and picked up his textbook to read.

He wanted to study diligently and get into a university like Yang Na, but it was an incredibly difficult task.

After enduring all the previous hardships and despair, he had almost completely forgotten the contents of his textbooks.

When Sun Xiaoqin saw Li Huowang sitting there and picking up a book, she instantly turned pale with shock, quickly reaching out and snatching the book away.

"Son, weren't you playing games just fine before? Why are you reading a book now?"

"Mom, now that I'm well, of course I need to continue studying for university," Li Huowang said, reaching out to take it back. However, Sun Xiaoqin held the book even further away.

"Son, you mustn't feel any pressure right now, understand? University exams and such... that's not what you should be thinking about now."

"Mom, I'm already a senior in high school, and I've been held back two years. If I'm not thinking about university, then what am I supposed to do?"

"You don't need to do anything right now, just play, understand?"

"Here, this is your pocket money, take it," Sun Xiaoqin said, stuffing several hundred-yuan bills into Li Huowang's pocket.

"Just play whatever you want, buy whatever you want, eat whatever you want! Don't you have a few good friends? Call them out to play with you!"

"Go for barbecue, go to the anime street, go... go to an internet cafe all night!"

Pausing, Sun Xiaoqin added, "Oh, and if you stay up all night, remember to tell me which internet cafe you're at; I'll bring your medicine for you."

She had researched extensively recently, finding that most adolescent mental illnesses were largely linked to overly strict family environments and excessive academic pressure.

Her son had endured so much to return; she couldn't let him go back to that place.

"Mom, Mom, I want to be alone for a bit, please let me be," Li Huowang pleaded, pushing Sun Xiaoqin out of his bedroom.

As he pushed her, Sun Xiaoqin skillfully collected all the textbooks from Li Huowang's room, leaving not even a single pen behind.

"Remember, don't read books, play games! What about those 3D glasses? I bet you'd like those."