Chapter 94: Confusion

Gritting his teeth, Li Huowang sprinted down the middle of the main road, chasing after the surrounding red.

As he pursued, he felt the distant "Eighteenth of the Twelfth Lunar Month" continuously shift its position, at times transforming into someone else's red hat, then into a roadside shop sign.

Regardless of its transformations, Li Huowang held on relentlessly. He had finally found this chance and wouldn't give up easily; obtaining the "Eighteenth of the Twelfth Lunar Month's" eyes was crucial for him to be free of Danyangzi.

He also noticed something peculiar about the "Eighteenth of the Twelfth Lunar Month": it appeared to be eyeless, incapable of *not* staring. Anything that entered its line of sight would be passively fixated upon.

"This thing is truly bizarre. What does it look like in the real world?" Li Huowang mused to himself while running.

His persistent pursuit finally yielded results. Li Huowang drew closer and closer to the "Eighteenth of the Twelfth Lunar Month": five meters, three meters, one meter!

The wildly sprinting Li Huowang suddenly raised his right hand, pushing off the ground, ready to seize the red form.

Yet, just as he was about to grasp it, a hand reached out from behind and seized his wrist.

"Li... Li Huowang? You're Li Huowang from Class 4, Grade 2, aren't you?"

Li Huowang glared fiercely, seeing that the person who had ruined his chance was a balding middle-aged man in his fifties.

The man adjusted his square glasses, looked at the young man, and continued, "Have you forgotten? I'm your homeroom teacher. And where are your shoes?"

Li Huowang stared at the familiar face, a hint of distraction in his eyes, and instinctively uttered, "Teacher Tong?"

"I recall your mother requested your suspension due to illness, correct? How are you doing? Feeling better?" Teacher Tong said gently, reaching out to kindly pull Li Huowang's tucked-in collar out from under his clothes.

A flicker of struggle appeared in Li Huowang's eyes as he looked at the teacher who had helped him so much at school.

But he quickly composed himself, forcefully shook off the teacher's hand, and desperately resumed his chase after the distant red.

"Hallucinations! These are all hallucinations! You won't trick me! This is all fake!"

A look of concern crossed Teacher Tong's face as he watched Li Huowang's retreating back. He then pulled out his phone.

"Hello? Is this Li Huowang's mother? I'm his second-year high school math teacher. Yes, hello, hello. I saw your son here on Lianhua Road; he wasn't wearing shoes."

"There's absolutely no mistake, it's him. I've been teaching for years; I would never mistake my student. Yes, yes."

With bloodshot eyes, Li Huowang clutched a scavenged glass shard, frantically scanning the street for any sign of the "Eighteenth of the Twelfth Lunar Month." "Damn it! Where did it go?"

The distant police sirens didn't affect him in the slightest, as he knew they were all fake.

Amidst his frantic search, Li Huowang abruptly stopped at the entrance of a kindergarten.

He watched the children inside lining up for morning exercises, and a deeply unsettling smile spread across Li Huowang's face. "Haha! I found you!"

The toy-like iron fence surrounding the kindergarten offered no impediment to Li Huowang; he scaled it in a few swift motions.

With a single punch, he knocked down the charging preschool teacher, then Li Huowang charged towards the children. Instantly, screams and cries filled the air.

Li Huowang, however, ignored everyone else. Like an eagle seizing its prey, he scooped up a little girl, appearing to be only five or six years old and dressed in a panda costume, then fixed his gaze fiercely on the pair of red cherry hair clips in her hair.

The little girl was visibly terrified. With tears welling in her eyes, she timidly whimpered, "Uncle, I'm scared."

"Still putting on an act? You can't fool me!" Li Huowang roared, raising the glass shard in his hand.

Just then, police sirens rapidly approached, followed by the sudden screech of tires on the pavement. "Stop! Police! Hands up!"

Li Huowang instinctively turned his head, seeing several police officers kneeling in front of two patrol cars, their pistols aimed directly at him.

Li Huowang glanced at the "Eighteenth of the Twelfth Lunar Month" in his hand, then back at them, a sneer playing on his lips. "Trying to trick me with this? Fake! It's all fake!"

As the bloodied glass shard was raised again, the little girl in Li Huowang's grasp burst into loud sobs.

Just as Li Huowang was about to finish off the "Eighteenth of the Twelfth Lunar Month," a figure suddenly pushed through the onlookers, spreading their arms wide, and resolutely placed themselves in front of the aimed pistols.

"Don't shoot! Everyone, don't shoot! That's my son! He... he's always been a good boy since he was little. He's only become like this because he's sick. Please, let me talk to him. He listens to me; he'll definitely listen to me. He's a good, filial child."

Hearing that familiar voice, Li Huowang froze once more. He watched as the person with whitening hair slowly turned around; it was his mother, Sun Xiaoqin. Yet, she looked incredibly haggard, appearing years older than before.

Sun Xiaoqin desperately wanted to force a smile as she looked at her son inside the kindergarten, beyond the iron fence, but she ultimately failed.

Hot tears welled in her eyes, then streamed down her face. "My good boy, please listen to Mommy. Will you put that little girl down? Can we go home now? You can play games for as many days as you want."

Li Huowang, his expression conflicted, stood paralyzed, unsure what to do. He looked at his incredibly real mother, then back at the "Eighteenth of the Twelfth Lunar Month" in his hand.

Sun Xiaoqin slowly approached, trembling, while Li Huowang subconsciously kept looking back, his expression twisting into one of deep anguish.

"No, this isn't right, this is all fake, completely fake! It's all concocted by the 'Eighteenth of the Twelfth Lunar Month'! That other world is real! I cannot let illusions control me again!"

Li Huowang struggled to convince himself, yet the glass shard in his hand alternately tightened and loosened its grip. His breathing grew more rapid, and his pupils dilated and contracted erratically.

When Sun Xiaoqin reached the kindergarten fence, she gripped it with both hands and slowly knelt before Li Huowang, her voice trembling as she continued to plead.

"Son, Mommy is begging you on her knees, okay? For your sake, I've already sold our house. We truly have no money left for compensation."

This calm statement utterly shattered Li Huowang. His face contorted in agony, he hugged the little girl and collapsed to his knees, tears streaming down his face.

"Mom!!!"

At that moment, Li Huowang's face was veined, his mouth wide open in a silent, dry sob. Saliva dripped soundlessly from the corners of his mouth, mingling with his tears, onto the cartoon-patterned kindergarten floor.

He looked at his mother in the distance, took a deep breath, and then, directing his cries to the deepest anchor of his heart, screamed out all the struggle and confusion within him.

"Mom! I can't tell! I truly can't tell anymore!"