Chapter 98: Backtracking

After sharing his thoughts, Dr. Li, with a gentle smile, lightly ruffled Li Huowang's head, put on his glasses, and headed towards the door of the ward. Just as he was about to exit, he suddenly stopped.

"Oh, by the way, Xiao Li, didn't you just say that because you can bring things from that world over here, you thought this world was fake? Have you ever tried sending things from *this* side over to *that* side? You might find something different."

After saying these final words, Dr. Li left.

Li Huowang stood stunned, instinctively pondering the doctor's words. "If I really can bring things from that side here, then which side is real?"

"Should I try it? What if it actually works?"

"No, I can't interact with these hallucinations anymore! That will only pull me deeper!!"

"It's just a try. What are you so afraid of?"

Unwittingly, Li Huowang found himself lost in confusion again, his face contorted in extreme pain.

As he grappled with this question, Li Huowang felt the surrounding white walls and the beeping machines beside him rapidly fade. Before long, the bright energy-saving lamps quickly transformed into dim oil lamps.

When Li Huowang found himself lying on an old wooden bed, looking at the dust-covered ceiling beams above him, he immediately realized he was back.

After a moment, Li Huowang quickly pulled up his blanket.

To his astonishment, he then noticed his self-inflicted abdominal wound was wrapped in clean white gauze. Pressing it with his hand, he felt only a slight pain.

He knew that before, his intestines had spilled out of his abdomen!

"My intestines were so badly damaged; how could they have healed so well?" Li Huowang was startled.

When he had performed the ritual described on the bamboo slips, he had been resigned to death, yet he was still alive.

"Could it be..." Li Huowang's mind involuntarily recalled the clean, orderly intensive care room from his recent hallucination, the beeping machines, and the two hanging IV bags.

Li Huowang wanted to escape, but he knew in his heart that his suspicions were starting again. He wanted to cast them aside but couldn't.

"Senior Brother Li! You're awake!" Bai Lingmiao exclaimed, rushing over with a bowl of chicken soup.

"Where are we?" Seeing Bai Lingmiao, Li Huowang quickly suppressed the doubts in his heart.

"Wujia Village," Bai Lingmiao replied. She carefully placed the chicken soup on the table, then reached under the blanket to examine Li Huowang's wound.

"How did this wound heal so well? Why didn't I die?" Li Huowang asked directly, his previously suppressed suspicions stirring uncontrollably.

"Senior Brother Li, what are you talking about? How could you die? We found you in the bamboo forest and gave you a few of the pills you refined yourself. They must have healed you."

Bai Lingmiao's head was bowed low, almost touching the blanket. She avoided eye contact with Li Huowang.

Li Huowang knew full well that the pills he refined were just ordinary ones, not some miraculous elixirs. How could they possibly heal such severe external injuries?

"Is your world over there so logical?" Dr. Li's words from earlier echoed in Li Huowang's mind.

A terrible thought consumed Li Huowang: "Is this side fake?"

Li Huowang suddenly felt extreme panic, though he wasn't sure why.

The next moment, Li Huowang abruptly cupped Bai Lingmiao's face in his hands, pulling it close to his own, his expression growing increasingly frantic.

"What is going on?! Tell me!! What are you hiding, or are you fake too?"

Two streams of clear tears slid down Bai Lingmiao's cheeks; she was terrified by Li Huowang's distorted face.

The silent, weeping girl caused Li Huowang's heart to ache. He opened his arms, embraced Bai Lingmiao, and suppressed his inner torment as he murmured softly.

"Miaomiao, please don't hide anything from me. This is really important to me. Please tell me how my injuries healed."

The dim room remained silent for a long time. Finally, Bai Lingmiao spoke softly, "Senior Brother Li, I actually became a 'Chuma' disciple. I invited Great-Grandma Bai to heal you. She took all but one of your Yang Longevity Pills from your gourd."

Li Huowang's pupils instantly constricted. Various images flashed through his mind: Bai Lingmiao's recovery from her severe illness, the drum skin she had deliberately taken. All of it had been foreshadowed, but he had never considered it.

Bai Lingmiao withdrew from Li Huowang's embrace, looking at him timidly. "Senior Brother Li, I really didn't mean to deceive you. Please don't be angry with me, okay?"

At this moment, Li Huowang suddenly let out a huge sigh of relief. He laughed with relief. "It's fine, it's fine. As long as it's real, as long as it's real."

"What's real?" Bai Lingmiao clearly didn't understand what he meant.

"Nothing," Li Huowang said, changing the subject. "Bring me the chicken soup; I'm a bit hungry." He felt much lighter now. No matter what Dr. Li said, this side was real, and the other side was definitely fake.

After eating the Black Grand Elder, everything on the other side had frozen. This was also strong evidence that he had been trapped in a hallucination, and he absolutely couldn't fall into one again.

Picking up the delicious chicken soup, Li Huowang drank it in large gulps. His stomach told him that his body urgently needed nutrients.

Soon, a bowl of chicken soup was gone. Li Huowang handed her the bowl, asking for another serving.

"Oh, right, I was out of my mind just now. How did you feed me this chicken soup?"

Bai Lingmiao didn't answer this question. Her face flushed, she grabbed the bowl and ran outside.

"How else could she feed you? Of course, with her mouth. I told her we'd have to force-feed you with a spoon, but Junior Sister Bai felt sorry for you and refused," Xiaoman, who had just entered, answered Li Huowang's question.

Xiaoman walked to Li Huowang's bedside, looking at him with a very complex expression. "Senior Brother Li, Junior Sister Bai has truly given everything for you. You must treat her well."

"Ahem," Li Huowang coughed, feeling a bit awkward. He didn't want to discuss that topic. "After all that happened, do the people of Wujia Village still let us stay here?"

Hearing this, Xiaoman's face showed a hint of difficulty. Finally, he said, "They're all gone."

"Gone? Where did they go?" Li Huowang was filled with confusion. Wasn't this their village?

"I don't know either. Ever since the surrounding forests started to bloom and then wither, everyone in Wujia Village seems to have changed. No one recognizes anyone anymore. Even Chief Wu's six sons no longer acknowledge each other, as if they were never named Wu or were never brothers to begin with."