Mutated Tao

The room resonated with the sound of Yi Donglai flipping through papers while diligently jotting down the information provided by Li Huowang.

After tens of minutes, Yi Donglai looked up. “So, just because of all of this, you think you are Ji Zai, the Siming that controls the Heavenly Dao of Bewilderment?”

"Yes." Li Huowang nodded, still clad in his blue-and-white hospital gown.

“Did you eat your medicine today?”

“I did.”

“So let’s confirm again. Are you really going to cooperate with my treatment? In our field of work, the patient’s mental status affects the treatment.”

Yi Donglai took out his phone and started recording their conversation.

“Of course, I’m aware of that. That’s why I’m telling you so much. I’m sick, and I need your treatment.”

“No, Li Huowang. You don’t understand me. I need you to really want this treatment. You cannot avoid it at all.”

“Li Huowang, it’s still too early to say that. I’ve seen many patients who would say that they didn’t see an illusion, even though they knew it was a lie. The reality was far crueler than their hallucinations, and so their subconscious mind spurred them to avoid reality and hide in their hallucinations.”

Yi Donglai continued, “Take, for instance, the challenging task of requesting a god, who controls the law of the world, to admit that they are actually a high-schooler who never graduated, who blinded one of their own eyes, and who was afflicted by severe mental illness—to make them admit that, in reality, they are a young individual with nowhere to go.

Yi Donglai paused and gave Li Huowang time to consider.

Li Huowang replied, “Don’t worry. It’s not like the other side is a good place to stay. It’s… even more cruel than reality.”

Li Huowang suddenly remembered something and bit down hard on his right palm. “Yi Donglai, I don’t mind if I’m not a Siming or Ji Zai! Qing Wanglai didn’t even care about me. He’s a person who burns bridges without any remorse. I wish all of them were just hallucinations!

“Now that everything is over, I want to get out and live peacefully. If what you’ve said is true, then so be it! Everything is a hallucination! Use every method that you have, and I will cooperate. If you can make me stop seeing them, I'll believe you.”

“Good, then let me tell you which part of your past is a hallucination.” Yi Donglai passed him a stack of paper filled with words before highlighting specific sentences with a pen.

“Look here. You didn’t kill anyone, and the god you allegedly killed, Yu’er, doesn’t exist.

“Also, no one robbed you, and there are no gun wounds on your body. Your shirt was also not bulletproof.

“In everyone’s eyes, you’re simply relapsing and becoming crazy again. They called the police, and that’s how we found out where you were. We sent someone to bring you back.”

“Impossible!” Li Huowang exclaimed, recalling the crazy wars between the Simings.

As Yi Donglai continued explaining, Li Huowang’s memories once again became fuzzy. “Everything was fake? Has it been fake since the beginning? No, wait, that can’t be true. You need proof to convince me. I can’t just accept that everything was fake. Not like this.”

“I will go find the proof for you. Since you will accept my treatment wholeheartedly, we should first consider everything I’ve previously said to be an illusion. That’s how we are going to proceed with your treatment.”

Yi Donglai felt a sense of satisfaction when he saw Li Huowang nodding. It reassured him that, at the very least, his patient was willing to cooperate with him.

“Here, look at this. You said that there was an armored car at the place where Qian Fu died, but you should know how illogical that is. We live in a lawful society with cameras everywhere. Do you really think there would be an armored car there? This is probably fake.”

Li Huowang stared at the sentence before denying it. “Not necessarily. Find a way to figure out who Qing Wanglai is and figure out his true identity. If you say he’s fake, you shouldn’t be able to find anything about him at all.”

"Li Huowang, stop playing games with me. I am the one who is trying to treat you, not the other way around. Do you understand?"

Yi Donglai’s phone suddenly buzzed. He picked up the call.

“Hello? Warden?”

Yi Donglai looked at Li Huowang once before he left to continue the conversation. Li Huowang saw Yi Donglai nodding a few times as he spoke into the phone before finally hanging up.

“Let’s stop here for now. I need some time to consolidate everything before we start a new treatment plan. Be careful not to get lost in your hallucinations. Try to figure out which part is reality.”

“As long as the people I care about are not hallucinations, I should have no problem differentiating the fake from the real.”

Yi Donglai had just taken a few steps away when Li Huowang said, “Yi Donglai, with your expertise, can you cure people with depression?”

Yi Donglai raised his glasses and looked at Li Huowang with some interest. “Is this about your girlfriend? I’ve seen her file a few times. The source of her depression is from the outside, so it’s easy to cure her.”

Li Huowang beamed. “Really?”

His assumptions were correct. Depression was something that Yi Donglai could treat.

“Yep. Exogenous depression can be cured by distancing the patient from the source. I cannot treat her unless I treat you first.”

Li Huowang heard Yi Donglai’s explanation and frowned.

“Li Huowang, you might think that sincerity is important in your life right now, but once you’ve reached my age, you will learn that sincerity isn’t that important. It’s more important to understand how your sincerity affects the people you love.”

Yi Donglai's tone had softened, no longer harsh, almost as if he was offering advice to the younger generation.

“Try not to think only from your perspective, but also from the perspective of others. If your love for Yang Na ultimately harms her, then your love is selfish. In that case, it’s not really love for her, but rather love for yourself,” Yi Donglai said, patting Li Huowang before turning to leave.

Li Huowang stood frozen in place, his eyes locked in a vacant stare.

“I know you will still make the right decision, even if you are ill.”

Li Huowang stood there for a very long time, his face remaining still until a slight twitch emerged. After a while, he managed to regain his composure.

With his legs still cuffed, he slowly walked out the door and peacefully entered his empty room.

He slowly slid his body under the bed, biting the bottom of the bedsheet with his teeth. Then, he furiously slammed both of his fists against the wall. The pain in his hands only fueled his fury, pushing him to hit harder until his fists were bloodied.

Li Huowang tightly hugged his trembling fists, curling up into a ball. Memories of the beautiful moments he had shared with Yang Na flooded his mind, one by one.