Mutated Tao

Qing Wanglai looked at Li Huowang with a confident smile. “Based on my previous analysis, I thought dealing with them would be very difficult. But after our encounter, it turns out their situation isn’t as good as we imagined.”

“Madman! You’re a madman!!” Li Huowang yelled at him.

“Huowang? What’s going on?” Yang Na hadn’t gone with them and was unaware of the situation. As she walked up to the RV, she saw Qian Fu on the bed and screamed in fright.

She hurried to the bedside and tried to help Qian Fu, but she realized there was nothing she could do. Tears streamed down her face.

At that moment, Qian Fu’s bloody hand suddenly reached out and grabbed Yang Na, making her scream again.

Li Huowang rushed to the bed with rekindled hope.

He quickly turned to Wu Qi. “Sister Wu, start the car! Get to the nearest hospital!”

Wu Qi only sighed softly and walked towards the driver’s seat.

Li Huowang leaned closer to Qian Fu and said, “Hold on, we’re taking you to the hospital! Hold on!”

However, Qian Fu seemed oblivious to Li Huowang’s words. With his eyes fixed on Yang Na, his mouth widened into a grin and his grip on her tightened. “So... beautiful... truly magnificent...”

With those last words, Qian Fu released Yang Na. His pupils dilated, and his body went limp. Qian Fu was dead.

Yang Na stared at the corpse and the blood on her hands. She couldn’t hold back any longer and broke down in tears while backing off.

Li Huowang walked over with a solemn expression, gently reaching out to hold her and silently comforting her.

After a few minutes, Yang Na seemed to snap out of it. She opened her bag shakily. “Call the police! Call the police!”

A long hand reached over and snatched her phone away.

They looked up to see Qing Wanglai. His long fingers slid along the side of the phone and pressed the power button. “We can’t call the police.”

“Why not? Why can’t we? He’s dead!” Yang Na stammered.

Qing Wanglai looked at Li Huowang. “In your understanding of the world there, do the police exist?”

Qing Wanglai answered his own question. “We are projections, reflections. So what are they?”

Then, a woman’s raspy voice came from the front. “They are the rules. Every world has its own rules, and they are the embodiment of those rules.”

A woman wearing a white cotton shirt walked over. Her soft, black ponytail draped over her shoulder.

Her crimson lips parted as she explained to Li Huowang. “Don’t expect the rules to help you. Rules are rules. Those who rely on them will ultimately find themselves hurt by them.”

“Like being mistaken for a lunatic and locked up in a psychiatric hospital,” Qing Wanglai quipped.

The woman continued, “True existence isn’t as simple as you think. Do you know why the projection in our minds is different for everyone?

“Actually, according to my theory, everyone’s thoughts are correct because true existence is beyond human comprehension. We can only perceive it through a distorted worldview that we can understand.

“It’s like blind men feeling an elephant. You felt the trunk, I felt the mouth, Qian Fu felt the tusk, and Wu Qi felt the leg.

“But I’m different from you. I didn’t use my hands. I used the most powerful human sensory organ to explore everything over there. Mathematics.

“Therefore, I understand that world better than anyone here.”

Li Huowang stared in shock at the woman, then at Qian Fu’s lifeless body. He was unsure of what to say.

“Zhao Shuangdian,” the woman said, extending her slender white hand to Li Huowang. “Nice to meet you, Li Huowang.”

Li Huowang finally said, “You’re all insane! Don’t you see there’s a dead person here? Qian Fu is dead!”

Qing Wanglai nodded. “I know Qian Fu is dead. We’re all sad, but as adults, we should control our emotions and not let them interfere with important matters.”

“Besides, were you really that close to Qian Fu? Weren’t you also wary of him? Why are you so upset about his death?” Qing Wanglai looked puzzled.

Li Huowang glanced at Qing Wanglai and the unfamiliar Zhao Shuangdian before guiding Yang Na out of the RV.

“Huowang, where are you going? There’s important stuff to discuss. Don’t you want to know the information I got? Beauty Zhao brought people to rescue us. Shouldn’t you get to know her a bit?”

Li Huowang glanced at the distraught Yang Na then quickened his pace towards his motorcycle. “I need to take care of my girlfriend. Everything else can wait!”

Li Huowang cradled Yang Na in his embrace. He started his motorcycle and headed home. His face was dark and stern as he replayed the recent events in his mind, which was currently in a mess.

They soon arrived at their neighborhood. Li Huowang’s unusual behavior caught the attention of the residents, but he quickly brought the sobbing Yang Na upstairs.

When they reached their home, Yang Na rushed into the bathroom while covering her face.

Li Huowang saw that his mother was about to step out of the kitchen. He did not want her to see him like this, so he quickly went into his room.

“Son? Are you okay?” Sun Xiaoqin heard the crying from the bathroom and tapped the door with a spoon. “Did you have a fight? Be more magnanimous.”

“Mom, it’s nothing. Go do your own things,” Li Huowang wedged his broken arm between the coat rack and the wall. He gritted his teeth as he tried to set his arm straight.

I need to go to the hospital. I can’t handle this injury myself. Li Huowang dragged his broken arm along as he lay on the bed in pain.

Qian Fu was dead, just like that. But what angered him even more was Qing Wanglai’s attitude.

He was lying. That attitude wasn’t about suppressing emotions. He just didn’t feel the slightest bit of sorrow for Qian Fu’s death.