Li Zhiyuan opened his eyes and sat up in bed.

Back in the Body's home deep in his consciousness, he knew perfectly well he could never open that iron door to the basement.

The Body had gone out to release fish fry into the fish pond, but in that place, the word "go out" was itself just an abstract concept.

He could go out with one foot and come back with the other, or even have his left foot out while his right foot was still in. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

But Li Zhiyuan had still taken the mismatched key and tried to unlock the door, not to obtain the truth, but to give the Body an equivalent warning.

The meaning was: out of my trust in myself, I believe you must be working on some other scheme.

But you should also, out of your trust in yourself, not naively think that scheme will succeed so easily.

Li Zhiyuan rubbed the bridge of his nose.

At special moments, he and the Body could cooperate back to back; neither would be stupid enough to give outsiders an opening.

But outside of those special moments, they were each other's most terrifying enemy; neither could afford to relax and show weakness.

He sat on the bed for a long time and felt a bit thirsty.

A glass of water was handed over at just the right moment.

"Thanks."

Li Zhiyuan took the glass and drank several mouthfuls.

Zhao Yi: "Got something weighing that heavily on your mind?"

When the teenager woke up, Zhao Yi was already in the room and had been quietly sitting there without disturbing him.

Li Zhiyuan: "Yeah."

Zhao Yi: "Then it must be a big problem."

Li Zhiyuan: "An old problem."

Zhao Yi: "I've never seen you like this before."

Li Zhiyuan: "An old problem has entered a new stage of development."

Zhao Yi: "Interested in hearing my new problem? You just woke up, I can at least give you something to laugh about."

Li Zhiyuan: "Sure, go ahead."

Zhao Yi recounted what had happened after Li Zhiyuan fell into a coma.

After listening, Li Zhiyuan said, "Tell me, why would the Yu Family send people over?"

Zhao Yi: "Hey, hey, hey, shouldn't the focus be my 'Whole Clan Pending Canonization'?"

Li Zhiyuan: "You said it yourself, it's pending canonization."

Zhao Yi tapped the table and continued to stress, "Whole Clan, that's the Whole Clan!"

Li Zhiyuan: "Don't worry about it."

Seeing Li Zhiyuan's attitude, Zhao Yi let out a breath of relief and said with a grin, "I knew it, no matter what kind of problem it is, in front of my Brother Xiao Yuan, it's nothing."

Li Zhiyuan drank his water.

Zhao Yi: "Look, we're all in the Chuanyu Region, and it's not far from Fengdu. How about you trouble yourself, and on your way back to Nantong make a side trip to Fengdu for me, to explain to the great and merciful Emperor Fengdu.

Just say that my great disrespect was a misunderstanding, and whatever consequences there are, ask the Great Emperor, for your sake and Yin Meng's, not to lower himself to argue with a little three-eyed guy like me?"

Li Zhiyuan shook his head.

Zhao Yi: "What does that headshake mean?"

Li Zhiyuan: "I won't be going to Fengdu anytime soon."

Zhao Yi: "Why not?"

Li Zhiyuan: "Afraid of dying."

Zhao Yi: "…"

The room fell into a pretty long silence.

Zhao Yi pulled out a cigarette, clenched it between his teeth, lit it, then sat down at the edge of Li Zhiyuan's bed:

"What are you really thinking, and where do you get the guts?"

Li Zhiyuan: "Everyone has their own stance. Some you can choose yourself, some you can't choose for the time being—you can only leave them to fate."

Zhao Yi: "From where I'm standing, kicking the Yu Family when they're down is already wild enough. After all, the Yu Family is no longer the real Yu Family of back then, but the Great Emperor is still the same Great Emperor who attained the Dao and became a god in the Eastern Han."

Li Zhiyuan: "Have you contacted your family?"

Zhao Yi: "I told Old Tian to make a special trip back home to check. It's okay, everyone in the family is still alive and hasn't gone to the underworld to serve as officials yet."

Old Tian had even solemnly run all sorts of tests, afraid that everyone in the old house was actually already dead, and that this was some sort of illusion or Barrier.

Li Zhiyuan: "If the Great Emperor really wanted to make a move, the Jiujiang Zhao Family would already be in trouble. Last time it was fast as hell—I hadn't even gotten home yet, and the old lady at home knew ahead of me that that family had been wiped out by the Great Emperor."

Zhao Yi let out a "heh heh" and said, "That really is good news."

Li Zhiyuan: "So relax, your mess is tied to me. In the end the Great Emperor will definitely settle the account with me all at once."

Zhao Yi: "So when the time comes, I don't have to go?"

Li Zhiyuan: "Mm. Once I've got everything ready and go to Fengdu, I'll explain it to the Great Emperor for you."

Zhao Yi: "You won't forget?"

Li Zhiyuan: "I won't forget. How about this, I'll have Lin Shuyou write a memo, and when that day comes, it'll be his job to remind me."

Zhao Yi slapped the teenager's hand hard and said solemnly:

"How could I possibly feel at ease letting you do something that dangerous alone? Don't worry, I'll definitely go with you!"

Li Zhiyuan: "Okay."

Zhao Yi exhaled a smoke ring and sighed, "Li, have you noticed? Ever since I met you, I've either been suffering or on the way to look for suffering."

I feel like my Life Chart clashes with yours—any time I run into you, nothing good happens."

Li Zhiyuan: "That's perfectly normal. The Dragon King is supposed to suppress all competitors of the same era."

"Tsk."

"As an opponent, at least you're still alive, and your Whole Clan still exists."

"Thanks so much~"

After Zhao Yi finished, he couldn't help laughing at himself, pressing the back of his hand to his forehead:

"Heh heh heh, looks like I'm pretty strong after all. Other people have already had their household registrations erased; I'm just pending erasure."

Li Zhiyuan: "Where is everyone else?"

Zhao Yi: "Tan Wenbin is next door pretending to be asleep, and Yin Meng and Run Sheng and the others got coaxed and dragged off to Rong City by Lin Shuyou to play. They've been playing for days, and Ah You still hasn't had his fill."

Li Zhiyuan: "Oh."

Zhao Yi: "Ah You is still a young man in the end, that's normal. Besides, even though you were in a coma and no one knew when you'd wake up, you weren't going to die anyway, so there was no need for everyone to sit around worrying. Might as well go have some fun."