Mutated Tao

“Number 13! You have a visitor!”

The prison guard guided the tired Li Huowang into the visitation room, who pulled out a chair and sat down.

He looked up coldly at the guard unlocking his cuffs and said, “I’m not a criminal. This isn’t a prison visit but a family visit. I’m in the mental ward. I’m a patient.”

“Yeah, yeah. Everyone in the White Tower knows who you are, Li Huowang. You’re harder to handle than the prisoners. Even when you make a mess, we can’t deduct any points or extend your sentence, and we still have to take care of you. You’re more like an emperor than a patient.”

The guard yanked the cuffs down roughly and walked out. “Behave yourself. There’s surveillance here. We only took these off to make your family feel better.”

His handcuffs and leg chains were removed, but the headgear to prevent self-harm was still on.

Li Huowang stretched and rubbed his wrists. Wearing the restraints day after day proved to be quite uncomfortable.

So... who’s visiting today?

It couldn’t be Yang Na, so it was most likely his mother, Sun Xiaoqin, or his father, Li Jiancheng.

As his eyes lit up, an arm covered with thorn tattoos dashed his expectations.

“What’s wrong? Disappointed to see me?” Ba Nanxu said, chewing on something as she picked up the phone from the other side of the glass.

She was still in her gothic-styled attire, just like when he last saw her in the tattoo shop. However, her tattoos seemed different now.

“Not really. I’m just happy someone actually came to see me. Thanks, Ba-Hui.”

“What happened to your eye?”

“I gouged it out.”

“By yourself?”

“Yeah.”

“Heh, impressive. When you get out, drinks are on me.”

Li Huowang had just begun chatting when he suddenly stopped in shock. His gaze shifted up towards the camera, which was blinking with a red dot. He urgently exclaimed, "Get my doctor, Yi Donglai, immediately!"

Li Huowang pointed at Ba Nanxu and excitedly continued, “Yi Donglai! Look at her! She’s real! She came to visit me! How can that be fake? None of this is a hallucination!”

“Stop it. Sit down!”

Li Huowang sat back down, his gaze still fixated on the woman before him. "You were there when I confronted those people, right? When Qian Fu died, you were there, correct? It was all real, wasn’t it?

“You can’t leave today. I need you to explain to my doctor that all of this is real.”

Ba Nanxu glanced at the camera and then slipped her hand into her pocket to press a button. “They can’t hear us now. I don’t have time for your madness. I just want to ask you one thing—do you want to get out?”

Li Huowang understood her meaning but refused. “Yes, but not your way. I want to walk out the main gate legitimately. If you’re real, then I’m not completely ill. I only have hallucinations. Once those are cured, I’ll be discharged in no time.”

Ba Nanxu looked at him as if he was crazy. “Kid, do you really believe that? Do you really believe you can get out after everything you’ve done?

“Let me be honest with you. There’s no way. Even if you’re cured, you’ll be kept under observation forever if you don’t pay up.

“The cost of feeding you is nothing compared to the mess you’ve caused. They’d rather pay a little extra than risk another incident. Otherwise, the entire system would collapse from top to bottom.”

“No! I don’t believe you! You’re lying! If I’m cured, why would they keep me here?”

Ba Nanxu leaned back, then leaned forward again. “Ha! Lying? Kid, when have I ever lied to you?

“I told you to watch out for Qing Wanglai, and now look at you, all locked up. You think I’m lying and he’s not? Where is he, then?”

Li Huowang took a moment to calm down a bit and asked about the source of her information. “How would you know that? How can I believe you?”

“Don’t ask where I got the information. You can figure it out yourself. This isn’t the first time, and you know the saying—three times is the limit. Think about whether they have a reason to do this. This is human nature.”

She continued, “We can help you get out, but the price is cutting ties with Qing Wanglai and joining our side.”

Li Huowang finally understood what Ba Nanxu wanted. They were trying to recruit him.

Li Huowang was tempted but still cautious. He decided to probe further. “You say Qing Wanglai is unreliable, but can Zhao Shuangdian be trusted?

“During the last crisis in the Baiyu Capital, where were your people? Qing Wanglai wasn’t there, but neither were you. You’re both just as bad as each other.”

Ba Nanxu replied, “I don’t understand what you’re ranting about. Besides, you weren’t with us, so how do you know we didn’t do anything? Do things only exist if you see them with your own eyes? Is everything else on the planet nonexistent?”

Li Huowang was still suspicious of their words, so he declined the offer. “No, I’m not accepting that. I’m ill. I have a mental illness and need treatment. Since everything is over, why should I leave before I’m cured?”

Ba Nanxu rested her tattooed cheek in her hand while her forked tongue flicked briefly in and out of her mouth.

“Not even for your girlfriend? I hear she’s out of the hospital now. She’s resting at home and recovering well.”

Li Huowang shook his head, slowly clenching his fists. “Not worth it.”

“Shit, you’re a real scumbag.”

Ba Nanxu stood up. “Fine, since you refuse, then so be it.

“If nothing’s worth it, then it doesn’t matter that Yang Na is in Qing Wanglai’s hands now, does it?”

Li Huowang’s pupils shrank and the veins on his hands bulged. “What do you want? Do you really think I can’t get out? I saved the Baiyu Capital, and I can destroy it too!”

“Don’t take it out on me. I didn’t do it. Save that rage for Qing Wanglai when you get out.”

With that, Ba Nanxu left. She didn’t tell Li Huowang what he was supposed to do, or when they planned to strike.

Both of them understood that they had already come to an agreement.

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