N-M Chapter 178 Li Jiuhe's Understanding
Chapter 178 Li Jiuhe's Understanding
Chapter 178 Li Jiuhe's Understanding
After hearing Tong Cheng's explanation, Li Jiuhe suddenly understood.
He now finally understood why the middle-aged man at the hospital entrance hadn't attacked them directly; it turned out that Tong Cheng had kept such a powerful backup plan in the dark.
According to Tong Cheng, this "Nuo Mask Breath" is extremely powerful. His initial idea was to use this power to fight the black hand to the death.
Later, Li Jiuhe appeared and saved him, thus preserving this power.
When Tong Cheng woke up, he was prepared to use it to quickly heal his injuries. In the past, injuries that would have taken six days to heal could be cured in half a day at most with the help of this "Nuo Mask Breath".
But he suddenly realized that the mastermind behind the infiltration of his stage last time might have targeted Li Jiuhe again and might be coming soon.
Therefore, he suppressed the "Nuo Mask Breath" and did not use it to treat his injuries for the time being. Instead, he secretly saved it, ready to deliver a devastating blow to the mastermind at any time.
However, what he didn't know was that the other party seemed to be able to sense his intentions.
This was equally unbelievable to Li Jiuhe!
Just like how this guy knew Li Jiuhe would appear, he chose not to show himself in advance; every step he took was meticulously planned.
The situation was very special. Not only had the mastermind locked onto Li Jiuhe again, but the Queen of the Q cards might also take action against Li Jiuhe and Ma Li. So everyone stayed in the ward and didn't go anywhere.
Therefore, Li Jiuhe specially asked the hospital to vacate the adjacent ward so that they could stay there directly.
After all, before Mu Nian arrives, they only need to protect themselves.
During this time, Li Jiuhe told Tong Cheng about his discovery, explaining that it was a result of his precognitive abilities.
Tong Cheng pondered for a long time, his brow furrowed the whole time, seemingly lost in thought.
After eating some takeout with Li Yi, Li Jiuhe asked Ma Li to take Li Yi to sleep next door.
He and Luo Shuo were resting in Tong Cheng's ward, occasionally getting up to walk between the two wards to check, in order to prevent being attacked by the guy who was suspected of being the mastermind.
However, if the other party knows that Tong Cheng has a hidden trump card, they will most likely not foolishly approach the ward, but will continue to use the same method as when they controlled Ma Li to achieve their goal.
Around midnight, Tong Cheng, who had taken another nap, called Li Jiuhe to his side.
He said softly, "I know someone in the Guan family. He's a marginal figure in a branch of the Guan family and has lost all respect for the family. We can ask him to help us find out information from inside."
At this point, his expression turned serious: "You need to be prepared in advance. I think the relationship between the mastermind and the Guan family is deeply intertwined. If we touch him, it may anger the entire Guan family. At that time, even the Director of the General Administration might not be able to suppress it."
Li Jiuhe asked in astonishment, "Can't suppress it? Can I understand that if we kill that person, the General Administration will be under pressure and hand us over to the angry Guan family for them to deal with?"
He spoke these words in a cold tone, clearly indicating that he was already angry.
Tong Cheng understood and nodded slightly: "This is the worst-case scenario, and we have to consider it. Because the whole matter is related to you, and you are not a top-level investigator, after weighing the options, the General Administration may not necessarily protect you."
He sighed softly after speaking: "You need to understand that from the perspective of the General Administration, what they consider most is—balance and development. If you cause turmoil in the Tian Shu Kingdom and create conflict between the government and the Sequence Families, the General Administration will absolutely not allow such a thing to happen. Therefore, after weighing the options, they may push you out."
"So this is the Investigation Bureau I've been working for? This is the current state of power in Tian Shu Kingdom?" Li Jiuhe smiled.
He suddenly remembered Chen Zhenghai, who had a pure heart.
In this magical world, people with ideas like Chen Zhenghai are unlikely to live long unless they are incredibly powerful.
Only immense power can enable him to act according to his own will and live safely and peacefully.
"You wouldn't believe it, but it's not just Tian Shu Kingdom, it's the same for all the countries on the entire Azure Star." Tong Cheng's expression was solemn, yet tinged with helplessness. "If you want any power to protect you, you either have to become powerful enough that they're willing to pay the price, or you have to become even more powerful so that they simply wouldn't dare to offend you."
Seeing that Li Jiuhe did not speak, Tong Cheng continued, "But don't worry, I will always stand by your side. However, you should know in advance that I may not be able to control how things develop afterward."
Li Jiuhe shook his head: "I won't blame you. On the contrary, you've helped us a lot, and Li Yi and I are very grateful to you. If we can really take down that mastermind, I won't let you be implicated. Even if I have to fight the Guan family alone, this battle—will continue."
"Now it's not just the Guan family anymore; your potential rival also includes the Guo family," Tong Cheng warned.
Li Jiuhe gritted his teeth: "Whether it's the Guan family or the Guo family, they dared to scheme against my family of three. I'll make them regret it!"
Before dawn, Li Yi, who was curled up in bed, woke up.
She opened her eyes and for a moment had the illusion that she was sleeping in her cozy little bed at home in Wangchuan City.
But when she saw the cold, pale blue of the hospital ward window, her heart sank slightly, and her body twitched gently.
Thinking about how everything has changed and how her past life seems irretrievable, a nameless pain quickly welled up in her heart.
-
Ma Li had been awake for a while, but she held Li Yi without moving.
Noticing Li Yi's body tremble slightly, she asked softly, "Xiao Yi, are you awake?"
"Yes, I'm awake, Aunt Mali." Li Yi swallowed, swallowing back the tears that were about to fall.
Although Ma Li is carefree, she has an extremely sensitive sense of touch and can detect subtle changes in Li Yi's body, thus sensing that something is wrong with her emotions.
"Now that you've escaped the deserted cabin and reunited with your father, you should be happy," Malice comforted her. "Nothing is more important than being together as a family. Just like my ant chicks, as long as they're here, I'm happy."
Li Yi looked around the window. The black ants that Ma Li had released before going to sleep at night were now crawling back and forth on the window frame, like loyal guards.
She turned over and changed her sleeping position, facing Ma Li: "Aunt Ma Li, I feel like I don't have a home at all."
"Why?" Ma Li looked at her in surprise.
"I feel like my dad has changed a lot," Li Yi said, expressing her doubts. "He used to hold my hand the whole time we went out, but from yesterday until now, from the hotel to the hospital, he hasn't held my hand at all. Also, he doesn't like cilantro, but he ate a lot yesterday. Most importantly, do you know what he used to call me?"
"What did I call you?"
"Call me Yiyi," Li Yi said, emphasizing each word. "My childhood nickname is Yiyi." She continued, "But he never called me Yiyi; he always called me 'Xiao Yi'!"
"what!"
Ma Li was completely stunned.
Because she also calls Li Yi "Xiao Yi", just like Li Jiuhe does.
She originally thought Li Yi's nickname was "Xiao Yi", but it turned out that it wasn't. Her nickname was "Yi Yi", a name that sounds the same as "Yi" but has a different tone, and is much easier to pronounce.
"You mean—this Li Jiuhe isn't your father?" Ma Li couldn't help but ask.
Li Yi shook her head: "No, it's not that. Apart from these differences, he is still my father, but he seems to have changed."
Ma Li speculated, "Could it be because he awakened his sequence ability? And he's been through so much. For example, you've changed a lot compared to before."
Li Yi pondered, "Hmm, it seems—that's possible. I used to be terrified of ghost stories and ghosts, but now I feel nothing for them at all. Hmm, I am indeed changing."
Ma Li was startled: "What did you say? A ghost?!"
Li Yi nodded: "Yes, there's one under our bed. It came in with us last night, and I told it not to move, so it should still be under the bed."
"what!"
With a scream, Ma Li released Li Yi from her embrace and sprang up off the bed.
Before long, Li Jiuhe and Luo Shuo opened the door and rushed into the ward one after the other.
"What happened?"
Li Jiuhe saw Li Yi sitting on the bed, looking blankly at Ma Li, who was standing in the corner, trembling and blindfolded.
At the same moment, Tong Cheng, lying on the hospital bed next door, wondered if the mastermind behind the scenes had come to kill him. The enormous "Nuo Mask Breath" in his chest had begun to brew and rotate.
An extremely powerful aura could burst forth at any moment.
"A ghost, a ghost—under the bed," Ma Li stammered.
Li Yi quickly explained to Li Jiuhe, "I put it under the bed to protect us. Aunt Ma Li seems to be—afraid of ghosts?!"
Upon learning all this, Li Jiuhe felt relieved and laughed, "It's not just a feeling; your Aunt Ma Li is genuinely afraid of ghosts."
Then he said to Ma Li, "It's alright, my daughter can control ghosts, they won't harm you, you can't even see them."
""
At this point, he corrected himself, saying, "Actually, those weren't the ghosts you saw in the haunted house, but creatures from the Abyss."
Ma Li listened to Li Jiuhe's explanation in a daze, and after a long while she nodded, the look of fear on her face gradually fading away.
After regaining her composure, she pointed to the door and then asked Li Yi to go to Tong Cheng's ward next door. She then went to the corridor with Li Jiuhe and Luo Shuo.
At the end of the corridor on this floor, there is a small, protruding balcony.
Ma Li looked up at the faint red glow that had already partially appeared on the horizon, and asked Li Jiuhe, "Brother Li, what's your daughter's nickname?"
Li Jiuhe was taken aback, wondering why she suddenly asked this question.
He replied, "Your nickname? It's Xiaoyi. That's what I usually call you—"
At this point, he suddenly frowned, then lowered his head and thought hard, saying, "Wait, Xiaoyi? Something seems off! Now that you mention it, I realize—"
"Think about it again," Ma Li gently reminded her.
Luo Shuo, who was standing to the side, was also somewhat surprised when he saw this scene and stared intently at Li Jiuhe.
Li Jiuhe frowned even deeper as he pondered deeply. Unconsciously, he raised both hands and hugged his head, slowly running his fingers through his hair.
"E--E-?"
Suddenly, Li Jiuhe blurted out, "Her name is Yiyi! My daughter's nickname is Yiyi." "I'm sure, it's not Xiaoyi," he thought. "But—why did I call her 'Xiaoyi'? Why?"
"Xiao Yi might be a subconscious way of calling her," Ma Li analyzed. "Is it possible that you've subconsciously forgotten how to call her 'Xiao Yi'?"
Li Jiuhe realized what was happening and asked, "Did Yiyi tell you? Did she say my behavior was—not quite normal?"
Ma Li nodded.
Luo Shuo hurriedly said, "Brother Li, don't worry! I just remembered, back in Wangchuan City, everyone around you had a completely different perception of Li Yi, but you weren't the only one who wasn't—"
Li Jiuhe was taken aback: "You mean—"
Luo Shuo said, "Your perception may have been altered, so the person behind it can no longer change your perception, which is why they are trying other methods."
"That seems possible!" Li Jiuhe nodded.
Luo Shuo continued, "And this explains the question that has been troubling us all along. Your perception cannot be changed again, so that guy could only choose something more difficult: he changed the perceptions of everyone around you who knows Li Yi, and erased all traces of her, leaving you with no way to trace her."
"So that's how it is!" Ma Li's eyes widened, glancing at Li Jiuhe one moment and Luo Shuo the next.
She had heard Luo Shuo say this before, and now that she thought about it, it seemed to make some sense.
Li Jiuhe lowered his head and muttered to himself, "So, my current understanding has actually been altered, but I have no idea what has been changed?"
He then looked up at Luo Shuo: "Last time you said you were tracking all my information, and that tracking stopped at the moment my wife died in the car accident; after that, you couldn't find any information about me. Could this also be related to my altered perception?"
Luo Shuo thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "It feels too complicated. It seems to be somewhat related, but not very closely. I'm only good at tracking. As for analyzing problems, unless Team Leader Chen Zhenghai is resurrected and comes to my aid, I won't understand it."
The three discussed it for a while, but there were no more clues. However, they should have found the reason why Li Jiuhe had changed so much in Li Yi's eyes.
Back in the ward, Li Yi was sitting on the edge of Tong Cheng's bed, and Li Jiuhe's gaze was fixed on her slightly lonely figure.
"Yiyi."
Li Yi was startled and turned to look at him, a sense of familiarity instantly welling up in her heart.
These two short words shattered the unbearable sense of alienation that had been lingering in her heart.
Her little mouth trembled, and she asked in a tearful voice, "Daddy?"
"Hmm." Li Jiuhe strode forward, hugged her, and whispered, "Daddy's memory is having problems. He only remembers some things now, but Daddy will slowly remember more—"
Tong Cheng stared in astonishment at the scene. Luo Shuo immediately ran to his side and whispered in his ear what they had just discovered.
Tong Cheng nodded, looking at Li Jiuhe with surprise, but said nothing.
Yuanmeng City Airport.
Not long after dawn, a large passenger plane roared down and slowly landed here.
A short while later, a smartly dressed woman with long hair, wearing a brown trench coat, walked out of the airport. She was carrying a small travel bag. She walked to a row of taxis and got into the taxi parked at the front.
"Where are you going, beautiful lady?" The taxi driver turned his head, glanced at her, and then asked.
"The city's central hospital," the woman said with a smile.
-
Although she got up in the middle of the night to catch the earliest flight, she still looked to be in good spirits.
"Okay, please fasten your seatbelt." The taxi driver fiddled with the occupancy sign on the car and then started the engine.
The taxi quickly drove out of the airport area and began to increase its speed. The driver was very skilled, and the vehicle drove very smoothly.
About ten minutes later, the woman sitting in the back seat shifted her gaze from outside the car to inside, looking at the driver's seat. She saw that the driver had one hand on the steering wheel and the other hand was twirling a string of beads.
This is a hobby of many middle-aged people nowadays.
Seeing this, the woman reminded him, "Sir, this isn't safe for driving. Let's play with the bracelets once we reach our destination."
"Okay."
The driver nodded, put down the bracelet, and a short while later picked up a fidget spinner from somewhere, fidgeting with his index finger until it spun rapidly.
The woman was speechless. Seeing this, she spoke again: "Sir, if you keep doing this, please pull over and I'll take another car."
"Don't do that, beautiful lady," the driver quickly said. "I have a reason for this. Look what this is!"
As he spoke, he moved the fidget spinner in his hand forward so that the woman could see it clearly.
Upon closer inspection, the woman discovered that this spinning top was no ordinary toy, but rather something resembling a Bagua compass, spinning rapidly and smoothly as the other person flicked it with their fingertips.
The Bagua plate has the ten Heavenly Stems (甲乙丙丁, etc.) written in the middle, and the twelve Earthly Branches (子丑寅卯, etc.) written a little below.
The moment the woman looked closely at the Bagua plate, she felt the top vibrate slightly, and a red light seemed to appear on the surface of the Bagua plate.
Upon closer inspection, the red light had disappeared, and what had just happened seemed to be just an illusion.
The taxi pulled over, and the driver, with one hand still rapidly spinning the Bagua compass, turned to look at the driver with a smile.
The woman's eyes were already unfocused and wandering, clearly indicating that she had been controlled by him.
He slowly asked, "What is the name of the person who entered the divination?"
"Mu Nian," the woman answered unconsciously.
"Why go to the hospital?"
"Helping others".
"Since you're helping others, why not help me? Mu Nian, obey my command. Once we arrive at the hospital, approach Li Jiuhe—"
"No help."
The driver was stunned, not expecting that his divination would be interrupted by this woman who was not even fully conscious.
He looked over in surprise and saw that the cloudiness in the woman's eyes was gone, replaced by a coldness.
"court death!"
The woman uttered two words, slapped the travel bag beside her, and a cloud of white smoke exploded, completely engulfing the surroundings.
After the smoke dissipated, the scene changed, and the woman found herself not in the taxi, but standing on the side of a wide road.
Cars were coming and going in the middle of the road, but there were few pedestrians and no one around.
She looked back and realized she didn't know where she was, but it didn't seem to be the road into the city.
"Interesting! Brother Tong, what kind of person have you messed with?" The woman clicked her tongue and muttered to herself.