Chapter 863: Choice

The rustling sound of Yi Donglai slowly turning pages echoed in the room; the pages recorded everything Li Huowang had just told him in detail.

After waiting for more than ten minutes, Yi Donglai looked up and asked, "So, because of all this, you believe you are Jizai, the Heavenly Dao of Confusion?"

"Yes," Li Huowang, dressed in a blue and white hospital gown, nodded with his head bowed and his hands clasped.

"Did you take your medicine today?"

"Yes, I did."

Yi Donglai took out his phone, started a recording, and placed it aside. "Let me confirm again," he said. "Do you sincerely intend to cooperate with my treatment? In the mental health field, the patient's mindset plays a decisive role in treatment."

"Of course. Otherwise, why would I be wasting my time here with you? I'm sick, and I need your treatment."

"No, Li Huowang, you don't understand what I mean. This willingness must come from within; you absolutely cannot evade it."

"I, Li Huowang, never run away!"

"Li Huowang, don't speak too soon. I've seen many patients who, even when they vaguely know it's a delusion, pretend not to see it."

"After all, reality is too cruel compared to delusions. Instinct drives them to hide within their delusions and not come out."

"It's like forcing a supreme deity who governs the order of heaven and earth to admit that he's a one-eyed young man, who never finished high school, suffers from severe mental issues, and is utterly useless."

Yi Donglai paused after saying this, giving Li Huowang ample time to consider.

"Don't worry about that. That 'other side' is definitely not a comfort zone; it's far more brutal than reality." Li Huowang recalled something, raised his right hand, and bit down hard on the back of it.

"Yi Donglai, I don't care if I am Siming, or if I am Jizai! Qingwanglai cares even less; if all those cold-hearted people who betray others once they've served their purpose are just delusions, then that would be great!"

"Now that it's all over, I want to get out. I want to live a peaceful and stable life!"

"If those things are really fake, really just delusions, as you say, then bring it on! Use whatever means you have! I can take it all!"

Li Huowang stated firmly, "If you can make me never see them again, then I'll believe you!"

"Very well. Now, I will tell you which parts of your past experiences were delusions." Yi Donglai placed the paper filled with writing in front of Li Huowang and used the pen in his hand to draw a line under some of the words.

"Here, see? You didn't kill anyone, nor did you kill the so-called Child God Siming."

"No one shot you, you don't have any gunshot wounds, and your clothes are not bulletproof."

"At that time, in others' eyes, you were just having a psychotic episode. They called the police, which is how our people knew your location and sent someone to pick you up."

"That's impossible!" The astonishing battle of Siming echoed in Li Huowang's mind, and as Yi Donglai guided him, that memory began to become unstable. "It was all fake? All of it, from the very beginning?"

"No, mere words are not enough. You need to provide evidence. Just hearing you say this won't convince me that everything was a delusion."

"I will find the evidence. Since you are genuinely willing to let me treat you, then first try to view the entire problem from the perspective that everything was a delusion."

Seeing Li Huowang nod gravely, Yi Donglai felt a little relieved; at least the patient was willing to cooperate.

"Come, look at this point. You said there were armored vehicles where Qian Fu died. Think about how illogical that is. We live in a society governed by law, with surveillance everywhere. Do you think such large equipment could appear domestically? So, this point must also be false."

Li Huowang looked at the line drawn beneath the words and said to Yi Donglai, "Not necessarily. Try to investigate Qingwanglai, investigate his true identity. If you say he's fake, then you definitely shouldn't be able to find anything."

"Don't tell me these things, Li Huowang. I am treating you now, not the other way around, understood?"

As he spoke, Yi Donglai's phone suddenly rang. He picked it up, swiped his finger, and held it to his ear. "Hello? Warden?"

Yi Donglai glanced at Li Huowang and walked out to answer the call. Li Huowang saw Yi Donglai outside, nodding a few times and saying something before hanging up and returning.

"Let's stop here for today. I'll prepare a treatment plan, and then we'll resume. Make sure not to get lost in delusions. You need to recognize reality."

"As long as the people I care about aren't delusions, I can definitely recognize reality." Li Huowang stood up.

However, after taking a few steps, he stopped again. "Yi Donglai, your medical skills are so advanced, would treating depression be very easy?"

Yi Donglai adjusted the glasses on his nose, looking at Li Huowang with interest. "Your girlfriend? I've looked at her medical records; it's exogenous, easy to treat."

"Really?" Li Huowang's face immediately lit up with joy. His calculation had been correct; depression was clearly no challenge for Yi Donglai.

"Yes, exogenous depression is easy to treat as long as the patient stays away from the triggers. So, I cannot treat her unless I first cure you."

Hearing this, Li Huowang remembered something, and his expression turned grim.

"Li Huowang, at your age, you believe your sincerity is everything." Yi Donglai's tone was no longer so strict, sounding like an elder teaching a junior.

"But when you reach my age, you'll understand that whether you're sincere or not isn't important. What matters is what your sincerity brings to the person you love."

"Don't always look at things from your own perspective; try to understand them from others' points of view as well."

"If your love only causes Yang Na more pain, yet you choose to continue loving, then your love is selfish; you only love yourself."

Seeing Li Huowang standing frozen, Yi Donglai reached out and patted his head, then turned and walked out.

"I know you're ill, but you'll make the right choice."

Li Huowang stood there for a long time, his face trembling slightly before eventually regaining its calm.

With his shackles, he walked haltingly towards the door, eventually returning calmly to his empty ward.

He slowly curled up under the bed, bit the bedsheet, and furiously punched the wall with his fists.

The pain in his hands only made Li Huowang hit harder, continuing until his hands were completely bruised and bloody before he finally stopped.

Li Huowang pulled his trembling hands into his embrace, slowly curling himself up. The beautiful memories of their past together flashed repeatedly through his mind.