Chapter 731: They

"Alright, stop arguing. This isn't the time for it."

Seeing their voices rise, Qing Wanglai stepped between them. He first gave Li Huowang a look, then turned to Zhao Lei. "Zhao Lei, tell us, what do you want Li Huowang to return to you? Anything I can provide, we can discuss."

"Two... two magnets! And... and my eyes!!"

Hearing this, Li Huowang flew into a rage. The guy had just ambushed him, forcing him to retaliate. Yet, now this guy wanted him to pay for his eyes, which clearly showed he had no intention of negotiating.

Just then, Zhao Lei suddenly stiffened his neck and stared intently at Li Huowang. "Do you think just because you've forgotten, you don't owe me? Think hard! Think harder! What's real? What's fake? Don't you feel like everything around you is too abrupt? Doesn't it feel too fake?"

Li Huowang frowned deeply at these words, a wave of irritation rising within him. His hands instinctively reached for Zhao Lei's neck.

"Heh, you want to kill me, that's right. Murder and robbery go hand in hand! What won't you do?! You're all like this! What's with the act?! And you call me a traitor!"

Li Huowang's outstretched hand dropped from Zhao Lei's neck to his collar, lifting him directly. "What did you mean by that? Explain yourself! Stop speaking in riddles!"

"I've made myself very clear! It's you who can't hear or see straight! Heh, you say I'm sick, but it's you who's sick, not me!"

"I'm not sick! My illness has long since been cured!"

Li Huowang quickly pulled a pointed awl from his pocket. Before anyone could react, he plunged it through Zhao Lei's clothes directly into his abdomen.

Despite the pain in his abdomen, Zhao Lei showed no sign of backing down. He roared at Li Huowang, "Fake! It's all fake! Can't you tell?! It's all fake! Even your recovery is fake!"

As soon as Zhao Lei uttered these words, Li Huowang looked at Zhao Lei's eyes, one blind and one good. Bizarre, fragmented images from the past flashed through Li Huowang's mind, along with memories of a boat.

"Why... why did I go on that boat back then?" Li Huowang tried hard to recall his purpose at the time, but now, he couldn't remember it at all.

Seeing the confusion in Li Huowang's eyes, Zhao Lei's eyes widened, and a smile played on his lips. "You remember! You remember, don't you? Think hard! You were the one who started it! Give me back everything! Otherwise, don't expect any help from me!"

"I started it?" Li Huowang gave a nervous laugh, pacing rapidly back and forth in front of Zhao Lei, his breathing ragged. Suddenly, he stopped, pressing his right index finger firmly against Zhao Lei's forehead, gritting his teeth as he said, "Stop spouting nonsense! You were clearly the one who started it! You were..."

Midway through his sentence, Li Huowang suddenly seemed to forget what he was going to say and began pacing even faster in front of Zhao Lei. He breathed heavily, trying desperately to recall what he was about to say, and the surroundings seemed to sway slightly. Suddenly, he stopped, pointing his finger at Zhao Lei again, and spoke through gritted teeth, "It was clearly! It was clearly you! It was..."

The words were on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't grasp what he wanted to say. This feeling of linguistic frustration pushed Li Huowang's inner turmoil to its peak; he needed to vent! With a distorted expression, Li Huowang reversed his grip on the awl and plunged it into his own abdomen.

"Arghh!"

"Huowang!" Seeing Yang Na rush forward, the others quickly converged, using all hands to restrain Li Huowang.

"Don't stop him! Let him think! Let him really think! You're preventing him from remembering!" Zhao Lei exclaimed from the side, clearly enjoying the chaos.

"Rest for a bit. Don't let your old illness relapse. I'll handle this," Qing Wanglai said, patting Li Huowang's shoulder before walking towards Zhao Lei.

Leaning in Yang Na's arms, Li Huowang continued to think, his breathing ragged. His eyes darted nervously around, as if searching for something. He felt as though his surroundings had shifted, yet at the same time, they hadn't.

Yang Na reached into Li Huowang's pocket, pulled out several strips of pills, took a glass of water from Chen Hongyu, and slowly helped him take the medication. Seeing Li Huowang's mood stabilize considerably after taking the pills, the others slowly dispersed.

Wu Qi picked up the medicine Li Huowang had taken, glanced at the contents on the foil backing, and then put it back.

"Wait a moment." Li Huowang vigorously shook his head and stood up again. "Let me have a proper talk with Zhao Lei!"

"Alright, alright, rest for a bit. Don't exert yourself," Wu Qi quickly supported him, pulling him back down to sit. "If you're sick, don't try to tough it out. Qing Wanglai can handle this kind of thing."

"I'm not sick!"

"Okay, you're not sick, you're not sick," Chen Hongyu chimed in, trying to placate him.

Just then, a commotion came from the doorway. "Hey! This isn't the time to talk, we need to go! Someone... the gunshot just now seemed a bit too loud!"

Qian Fu quickly came down from the doorway, relaying the message to the others inside the room. Hearing this, Qing Wanglai wasted no time. He pulled Zhao Lei and, along with the others, rushed towards the exit. As the others followed, they locked the door and quickly left the secluded area in Wu Qi's RV.

Wu Qi whispered something to Qing Wanglai, who then said to Li Huowang, "Things got a bit out of hand. To clear suspicion, you two should go back and wait for now. If there's any situation on your end, send me a message on WeChat."

Li Huowang glanced at Zhao Lei, who was squatting on the ground, and nodded silently.

Qing Wanglai walked over to Li Huowang and patted his shoulder again. "Don't worry. Since they're operating covertly, they definitely won't dare to do anything to you openly."

Li Huowang looked up at him. "Get me a gun too." After seeing the others' weapons, Li Huowang no longer cared for cold weapons.

"Alright, here you go," Qing Wanglai said, pulling a gun from behind him and handing it over.

Li Huowang took it, looked it over, and then tossed it aside in dissatisfaction. "I don't want a lighter."

"Heh," Qing Wanglai said, picking up the gun and putting it away. "You haven't trained with these. You could easily hurt yourself. I'll teach you when I have time."

Li Huowang didn't have the RV stop at the community entrance. They were dropped off a street away, and the two walked arm-in-arm towards the community.

"Huowang, are you okay?" Yang Na was still somewhat worried.

"I'm fine. What could happen to me? I'm perfectly alright," Li Huowang said, quickening his pace slightly, but his gaze towards the RV turned cold. "Even though we're allies with them, don't trust them completely. Only believe seventy percent of what they say and hold back thirty."

"What?"

"Zhao Lei was right. Qing Wanglai is a smart person. He says one thing, but what he's truly thinking, only he probably knows. As for the entanglements of the others, I don't know, but I do know that in a mental hospital, even the patients have their own agendas."