Chapter 8

Zhang Qiling watched as Fatty’s expression kept changing. He glanced over occasionally, a little puzzled, but in the end, he merely gave Fatty a light look and said nothing, continuing to focus on Wu Xie.

Fatty sized up Xiao Ge from head to toe. Apart from his bad memory and habit of forgetting things, everything about him was pretty good. He wasn’t much of a talker, but he had a kind heart. When it came to saving people, he was always the first to act—it wasn’t as if he was someone who shied away from responsibility.

Fatty couldn’t figure it out, so he decided to wait until Xiao Tianzhen woke up and talk some sense into him. After all, he couldn’t just hang himself on a single tree.

His childhood friend was also good-looking—and rich, very rich.

The two took turns watching over Wu Xie in the hospital. Aside from going out to buy food, Fatty spent his time teasing the young nurses at the front desk and, along the way, picking out a few pretty ones for Wu Xie.

When Wu Xie finally woke up, the sharp scent of disinfectant filled his nose. It was so strong that it choked him. And yet, it felt nostalgic—he hadn’t smelled something this overpowering in a long time.

Cough… cough cough…

Sunlight streamed through the window, casting a warm glow on the hospital bed, his clothes, and his skin.

He lifted his hand slightly, half-covering his eyes from the bright light. Outside, several sparrows chirped noisily on the tree branches, occasionally peeking into the room at the man lying on the bed.

Zhang Qiling pushed open the hospital room door and immediately saw Wu Xie bathed in sunlight, his eyes bright and his face adorned with a gentle smile.

Just as Wu Xie was about to speak, he saw Fatty shove Zhang Qiling aside and squeeze into the room first.

“Xiao Ge, Fatty, you guys saved me again. Where are Blind Man and Xiaohua? How’s Xiu Xiu?”

Fatty was momentarily stunned by Wu Xie’s barrage of questions. Was he hallucinating? He had so much energy.

“Save you? What are you talking about? Didn’t we all come to the hospital together? We brought Xiao Ge here for treatment, but the bastard somehow healed on his own, and now we’re treating you instead.

Blind Man and Hua Ye left ages ago. They went to Queen Mother of the West’s palace first, remember? We only came here after picking up Xiao Ge. And Xiu Xiu—hasn’t she always been at the Huo family estate?”

The more Wu Xie listened, the more things felt off. This wasn’t right. Was he still trapped in an illusion? Who had set this up? Could it be that the moment he encountered the new type of zongzi, he had already fallen into the illusion?

Even with his unusual constitution, it was impossible for him to see a faceless, bodiless matchstick man in the real world.

Moreover, he had been climbing for who knew how many days without realizing his legs were deformed. It wasn’t until he accidentally stopped to rest that he noticed—and only after noticing did the pain follow.

And another thing—how could he have possibly climbed all the way to the bronze door of Changbai Mountain in one piece?

None of this made sense. The worst possibility was that after falling during the sacrificial ritual, he had been trapped in an illusion ever since.

So far, only the hexagonal bronze bell was capable of making someone unknowingly fall into an illusion.

Could it be… that damn Zhang Haike again?!

“Tianzhen? Xiao Tianzhen!”

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted. Wu Xie turned to look at this fake Fatty, his face filled with killing intent.

“Fatty was talking to you… why are you looking at me like that?”

“Move!”

Wu Xie shoved Fatty aside, silently making his way toward the window. He hid himself in the shadows, carefully scanning the outside, searching for any monitoring devices—or people.

“Xiao Ge, what’s wrong with Tianzhen? Does he still think we’re his hallucination?”

Zhang Qiling ignored Fatty tugging at his sleeve, his brows furrowed as he watched Wu Xie.

He was conducting a counter-surveillance search, looking for flaws in what he believed was an illusion.

Zhang Qiling knew that Wu Xie’s past ten years hadn’t been easy. He had grown up rapidly in ways Zhang Qiling couldn’t have imagined—he was no longer the naive and innocent man he once was.