Dragon Raja 4; Chapter 71: The Requisitioned Bride (7)

Dragon Raja 4

The intruder sprang up, and despite the ferocity of the blow, he retained his combat ability, immediately grabbing Nono’s shoulder and twisting her arm downwards. His grappling technique was expert, executed immediately upon waking up. Clearly, he was highly skilled. Nono quickly adapted, following his movements to avoid having her arm locked.

In the pitch-dark room, the two engaged in close combat. The intruder tried to grab her by the collar, but he hadn’t anticipated that she was wearing a swimsuit. Nono seized the opportunity to lock his wrist, but the intruder slipped away using a technique similar to joint dislocation.

Nono quickly realized two things: First, the intruder was likely a hybrid, given his extraordinary strength and reflexes; and second, she had let her combat skills rust over the years. Despite being caught off guard, the intruder was still able to match her, a former A-rank fighter.

She decided to play dirty. Kicking over a nearby shelf, she scattered bottles of bath oil across the floor. The intruder stepped forward, intending to deliver a decisive punch, but slipped on the oil and lost his balance. This was the opportunity Nono had been waiting for. She rushed forward, grabbed him by the collar, and slammed him into the bathtub. In the ensuing struggle, the intruder grabbed her by the waist, and the two of them tumbled into the tub together.

At that moment, the clouds parted, and the moonlight streamed in. Their eyes met, close enough to hear each other’s breath. Nono exclaimed, “What the hell!” while the other person stammered, “S-s-s-s-senior sister?”

The French-style bathtub was deep, and the walls were slippery. They awkwardly struggled for a long time, but neither could get out. To make matters worse, during their scuffle, they had accidentally turned on the water, and now the large brass lotus-shaped showerhead was spraying a gentle, rain-like mist. The scene had a romantic, misty southern China vibe, but the curtain had also fallen, wrapping them tightly together like a net. As they struggled more, the wet curtain became an unbreakable rope, tangling them even tighter.

Nono took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. Pressing her hands on the intruder’s shoulders, she said, “Calm down! Stop squirming! We’re about to get tied into a knot!” Lu Mingfei immediately raised his hands and froze. Annoyed, Nono used her diving knife to cut through the curtain. Their long-normalized relationship had turned incredibly awkward at this reunion.

A little later, Nono had changed her clothes and was pointing at Lu Mingfei, who sat by the bathtub, scolding him furiously: “Dude! This is a nuns’ convent! What are you doing here? If you’re going to visit, could you at least sign in? What’s with the tactical infiltration? And hiding in the bathtub? What would I have done if someone found you? Kill everyone on the island to cover it up? Wait, why am I even thinking about that? I haven’t done anything wrong, why would I need to cover anything up?”

“O-o-o-oh…” Lu Mingfei stammered.

The situation was actually easy to explain. He’d noticed there were no boats to the island, so he guessed it wasn’t open to the public. He saw only women coming and going, some dressed as nuns, and figured the place didn’t welcome men. So, he climbed over the wall. In the kitchen, he found a meal delivery list, which led him to Nono’s room. After waiting for a long time and not seeing her, he decided to take a nap. Sleeping in the bed felt too disrespectful, and sleeping on the couch risked someone walking in unexpectedly since the rooms in the convent didn’t have locks. After wandering around, he noticed the large, deep bronze bathtub, perfectly sized to hide him. The curtains around it provided cover, and laying a towel down made it the perfect nap spot. Each individual action was reasonable, but combined, it made him look like a thief sneaking into the girls’ dormitory.

Just a few days ago, he was sitting in the Norton Hall, sipping the coffee brewed by Isabel, listening to reports from various departments of the Student Union. If he so much as coughed, the room would go silent, waiting for his words. He walked around campus with confidence, bold enough to even challenge the Lionheart President. But after just a few words from Nono, he reverted back to his old self, stammering and timid, as if all the confidence he’d built over the years had vanished.

As Nono ranted, she suddenly paused, looking him up and down. “Is this really Lu Mingfei?” she thought. He was wearing a subtly patterned suit, a tailored overcoat, and polished shoes. Even his messy hair had been neatly trimmed. But his eyes drooped with exhaustion, and there were crumbs from potato chips on his shoulders. He looked utterly defeated, like a drenched, stray dog.

“Oh my god! This is ridiculous! The Dragon of the Execution Bureau, the Cassell Prince, the President of the Student Union, Ricardo M. Lu, and someone actually bullied you?”

She sighed and asked, “You hungry? Come with me, let’s get you something to eat.”

Nono lit the candelabra recessed into the stone wall, and by the candlelight, Lu Mingfei picked out a bottle of red wine from the shelf. The convent’s wine cellar was full of treasures, and whole hams hung from the ceiling.

“You picked the 2000 La Tâche? Seems like you’ve developed a taste for fine wine!” Nono said, cutting a piece from one of the hams and tossing it to Lu Mingfei.

Since the kitchen was locked, Nono had brought Lu Mingfei to the wine cellar to scavenge for something to eat and drink. As he chose the wine, his refined taste from the past few years showed itself—he had grabbed the most expensive bottle. After opening the wine, Lu Mingfei set it aside and took out a small cutting board to carefully slice the ham into thin pieces. Glancing at Nono, he saw her sitting cross-legged across from him, in a white beach dress, her hair loose, with her four-leaf clover earrings swaying gently. Time hadn’t seemed to leave any marks on her.

“What are you staring at? Drink your wine! Weren’t you starving?”

“A 2000 La Tâche… shouldn’t we let it breathe?”

“Such pretentiousness! The Student Union spoiled you with these habits!” Nono grabbed the wine bottle and poured them each a full glass, then tipped her head back and gulped it down.

(Author’s note: Decanting is a process where wine is poured into a wide-mouthed container and allowed to sit for a while to let it interact with the air. This oxidation process enhances the aroma and smooths out the taste. Typically, only high-end wines require decanting, which is why Nono accused Lu Mingfei of being pretentious.)

“Drinking it like that is a bit wasteful. The French farmers worked hard to make this wine,” Lu Mingfei sighed. “So you know I’m the Student Union President, huh?”

“Of course I know. You’re a big deal now, practically an idol. Next time you’re free, get me an autograph.”

“All the senior students have graduated. I’m the last one left.”

“I didn’t graduate either, remember? I dropped out. So, did you get into some trouble and come looking for me?”

“What kind of trouble could I possibly get into?” Lu Mingfei swallowed a bite of food and tapped his head. “Senior sister, I think something’s wrong with me. I might have a mental issue.”

“Well, that’s not surprising. Everyone at Cassell College has something wrong in their heads!”

“No, I’m worse than the others. Senior sister, have you ever had the feeling that you clearly remember something happening, but everyone around you insists it didn’t?”

“That’s the Mandela Effect. Haven’t you heard of it?”

“I’m not very familiar with the history of the Black civil rights movement…”

“It’s not about the Black civil rights movement. The Mandela Effect refers to how people’s memories of history don’t always match the actual facts. A classic example is that many people believed Nelson Mandela died in prison in the 1980s. They even remember watching his funeral on TV and hearing his widow’s emotional speech. But in reality, Mandela lived until 2013 and later became the President of South Africa,” Nono explained with a shrug. “Don’t freak out. Your brain is like a highly sophisticated storage device, but even the best storage devices have errors sometimes.”

“Would your memory storage, due to data errors, automatically generate a complete novel?” Lu Mingfei stared into Nono’s eyes. “My brain has made such a big mistake. I imagined that I knew someone named Chu Zihang. In both high school and college, he was my senior, the president of the Lionheart Society. We experienced a lot together. But one day, he disappeared, and now I’m the only one in the world who remembers him.”

Leaning against the stone wall, Lu Mingfei started narrating from the night he discovered Chu Zihang had vanished. The rhythmic sound of waves echoed into the cellar, setting the mood for storytelling.

Nono propped her chin, listening intently, her brows furrowed. “I know this might disappoint you, but I get along pretty well with that Abdullah Abbas guy.”

“Can’t you profile me, as you used to? Can it help figure out what’s wrong with me?” Lu Mingfei asked.

“Profiling can’t treat mental illness. What you need is a doctor, a girlfriend, or maybe a boyfriend—someone who can help you forget about this guy.”

“I know it sounds ridiculous,” Lu Mingfei sighed, “but I don’t actually want to forget him.”

Nono looked at this dejected boy and thought, What’s wrong with him? Could it be that since I left the college, he’s been so lonely that he’s become ill with longing? She quickly stopped herself—No, no, don’t even think about taking responsibility for this nonsense!

“I went to the library and read several psychology books. Every book says I’m sick,” Lu Mingfei continued. “But have you seen The Matrix, Senior Sister?”

Nono nodded. Of course, she had seen The Matrix, an old but cool movie starring her favorite, Keanu Reeves.

The protagonist, Thomas Anderson, was a programmer who believed something was wrong with the world around him. He sought answers online until one day he met the beautiful warrior Trinity and the eternally sunglass-wearing Morpheus. Morpheus told Anderson that the world he lived in was actually a virtual reality called the Matrix, while his real body was submerged in a nutrient tank. His brain was just one of millions of chips running the virtual world.