Chapter 708: Projection

Li Huowang was speechless when he heard the man still asking if he had eaten at this hour. "Mr. Qing, I've finished eating. Can we talk business now?"

"Please wait a moment, I'm still eating," Qing Wanglai said, picking up his bowl.

Hearing this, Li Huowang couldn't help but frown. What was wrong with Qing Wanglai? "Can't you just talk while you eat?"

"As the ancients said, 'Do not speak while eating, do not speak while sleeping.' Besides, talking while eating can lead to indigestion from insufficient chewing, and it's easy to bite your tongue or choke." After saying this, Qing Wanglai handed the phone back to Yang Na.

Since the other party had refused so clearly, and since he needed their help, Li Huowang had no choice but to wait.

Seeing his girlfriend Yang Na's hesitant expression, Li Huowang said, "Don't just stand there. They're eating, you eat too. Don't starve yourself, eat more."

"Oh, okay then, Huowang. I'm going to hang up the video call for now, and we'll chat after I finish eating." After Yang Na finished speaking, there was a beep, and the video call ended.

Looking at the still screen, Li Huowang sighed. Why were all the people Qian Fu found so strange? Although Qing Wanglai wasn't insane, he didn't seem very reliable.

Li Huowang stood up, went to the window, and pulled back a corner of the star-patterned curtain, peeking outside. It was already dark, but he could feel more eyes on him; they were still there!

"Whoosh!" The star-patterned curtain was pulled open again, and Li Huowang was directly exposed to their gaze.

"If you have the guts, come in! I'll make sure you come in on your feet and leave horizontally!" Li Huowang gripped the dagger tightly, his teeth clenched, his eyes filled with ferocity.

However, it was clear that because of Wang Wei's previous actions, these people didn't seem to be planning to attack again immediately.

He didn't know if they were plotting something, but for now, they were just watching, and there was no movement until the video call invitation music played again.

The star-patterned curtain was quickly drawn closed. When Li Huowang reopened his phone, the environment on the screen had changed. It was small, looking like a single dorm room.

However, compared to a typical male dorm room, this place was noticeably much cleaner and tidier. Most of the items in the room were white, and there were no anime characters or anything else hanging on the walls, only a single piece of calligraphy, making it appear spotless.

Qing Wanglai held a cup of green tea, taking a sip. "Hello, Li Huowang. Let me reintroduce myself. My name is Qing Wanglai. They've already told me about your situation. Now, I'll share my thoughts."

"First, the restrictions on you are very severe. Being constantly watched like this, you can't accomplish anything. We first need to figure out a way to temporarily restore some of your freedom."

"Wait, hold on a second," Li Huowang interrupted Qing Wanglai.

"What? You don't want to regain your freedom? Do you want to stay confined in the residential area like this?"

"No, before we get to business, I need to clarify something first. What's your view on them, those people who tried to abduct me?"

"Do you think they are aliens from the constellation Leo, or an underground syndicate trying to steal supernatural abilities?"

Qing Wanglai smiled. "Why would you think I'd think that? Do I look insane?"

"Then what do you think? What do you believe is the truth about this matter? Who exactly are they?" Finally, a normal person's explanation. Li Huowang felt his palms sweating at that moment.

Qing Wanglai slowly took a sip of tea and said, "Physicist Juan Maldacena proposed a hypothesis that our universe might be a holographic image. Everything you see and perceive is a projection. I agree with this hypothesis."

"Huh?!" Li Huowang was momentarily confused. What exactly did this guy mean? And had he heard this before somewhere?

"What do you consider real, and what do you consider fake?" Qing Wanglai asked.

"Is it possible that the world is a vast illusion, a refraction of some kind of existence? Just like our shadows. We are their shadows."

Li Huowang silently watched the person on the screen, suspecting, "This guy is probably also insane, just hasn't been diagnosed."

"I don't agree with your view." It wasn't someone else speaking, but Yang Na.

She seemed like a different person, completely lacking the gentleness she displayed around Li Huowang, appearing aggressive instead.

She tightly held the cup in her arms, her gaze becoming unusually sharp. "So-called science is all about bold hypotheses and careful verification. All hypotheses are merely hypotheses until proven. Do you have any crucial evidence to prove your hypothesis?"

"Heh heh, of course I do."

"Show it then, I don't believe you." Yang Na's words clearly conveyed disbelief. "If you really had decisive evidence, you'd be off winning a Nobel Prize, not here."

"I cannot show it to you. It's like asking how my shadow can explain to your shadow what our world is like. They don't even have minds. They can only move because we move. How can I explain it?"

"Fallacy! How are you any different from those online pseudoscientists spouting nonsense? I seriously doubt how you even got that master's degree!" Yang Na stood up angrily, the goodwill she had gained earlier because of his appearance vanishing without a trace.

"Imagine how simple our shadows are compared to us. If we, living, flesh-and-blood, physical beings, were the shadows of some existence, could you possibly imagine what *they* would be like?"

Seeing Yang Na look confused, Qing Wanglai continued, "What if their projection wasn't just a single, flimsy person? What if it was our entire world? If our entire world is merely the projection of a single existence, what kind of existence would *that* be?"

Seeing Yang Na open her mouth and then close it again, Qing Wanglai went on, "You can't imagine it, because you don't even have the organ to hold that imagination."

As Qing Wanglai spoke, his expression became hazy. "But I've seen it. I saw it once. Even though I immediately forgot it, I still remember how small I felt at that moment."

"Our so-called thoughts are merely refractions of their breath. We exist only because they exist, and even our..." At this point, Qing Wanglai seemed unable to continue. He clutched his head, a hint of pain on his face.

He turned, opened a drawer, took out a few capsules, put them in his mouth, and washed them down with the now-cold tea.

The room instantly fell silent. No one spoke.

After a while, Qian Fu's voice rang out in the room. "What nonsense! You're just making that up. I think they're aliens from the constellation Leo."