Dragon Raja 4; Chapter 106: Odin’s Shadow (3)

Dragon Raja 4

Lu Mingfei shuddered. In Lu Mingze’s words, he heard of an indescribable world—a world made up of endless corridors where time and space had no meaning. You could take one step and cross millions of miles or millions of years. On the sides of the corridors were intricately carved doors, each leading to a different world. Only those who understood the mysteries of the universe could walk those corridors, traveling between truth and illusion, reality and the surreal.

“My description isn’t entirely accurate, but human language and writing can’t fully convey the nature of the universe. In short, the Buddha spoke of three thousand great worlds, and what you see is but a tiny corner of this universe. He also said that all things arise and pass away in an instant. In those countless worlds, many versions of Lu Mingfei never even meet Chen Motong, many versions of Chen Motong end up with some random guys, and in others, she’s already dead in some forgotten corner of the world,” Lu Mingze said wistfully. “So why not cherish the present and invite her for a late-night snack?”

“So my meeting with Senior Sister isn’t fate, right? It’s just chance,” Lu Mingfei asked quietly. “Whether it has a conclusion or not, the world doesn’t care.”

“Yes, only you care. She probably doesn’t even care herself,” Lu Mingze patted his shoulder. “The enlightened are lonely because they know the outcome but are forced to endure the process.” He turned and walked off the edge of the rooftop, stepping into the air and disappearing into the thick fog.

Lu Mingfei, still lost in thought, suddenly felt someone grab him from behind in a headlock. “Still reflecting, are we? Relax! Your Senior Sister is tough as nails; she won’t hold a grudge.”

The line between fantasy and reality blurred seamlessly again, and this time it was Finger who had shown up, reeking of alcohol and hiccuping, his breath filled with the scent of garlic chives.

“But you two did me dirty,” Finger continued, “taking the Ferrari out for a joyride while I was sleeping—what, was my light bulb too bright for you?”

Lu Mingfei remained silent, his thoughts still entangled in Lu Mingze’s eerie worldview. The spiraling corridors seemed like countless interlinked Möbius strips, stretching toward the infinite universe, the end of time and space. Compared to that vast structure, human beings were so insignificant, their joys and sorrows nothing more than fleeting sparks. Whether someone existed or disappeared didn’t matter at all, whether their name was Chen Motong or Chu Zihang.

“Isn’t there a snack street called Qixing Pond nearby? I told your Senior Sister we should head over there for some barbecue and talk about my new discovery,” Finger said. “You can apologize to her with a drink, and we’ll move past it. Hurry up! Your Senior Sister is already waiting for us in the Ferrari!”

Qixing Pond isn’t actually a pond, but a massive lagoon separated from the sea by a sandbar. When Lu Mingfei was in middle school, that sandbar was the most famous romantic spot in the area. As night fell, boys and girls could be seen everywhere holding hands and leaning on each other. Where there’s a crowd, there’s business. At first, people rode tricycles selling wontons and beef noodles, then a crayfish restaurant opened in the nearby fishing village, followed by small bars, hot pot restaurants, and even a foot massage parlor. That foot massage parlor was Uncle’s business. He was the first to combine foot massages with a place where you could drink beer and eat crayfish, and there were staff who would peel the shells for you. Peeling shells and massaging feet were done by the same “attendants,” though no one really thought about whether the hands peeling their shells had just been massaging someone’s feet.

Nowadays, Qixing Pond was even more crowded. To expand their operations, the businesses had built floating platforms on the lagoon, which were secured to the shore with iron chains. Occasionally, when the tide was high, seawater would spill over the sandbar into the lagoon, but most of the time, there was only a gentle breeze and soft waves. The tight chains kept the platforms stable. Finger was even more familiar with the place than Lu Mingfei and led them to one of the platforms, where they found a seat near the edge. They ordered a full table of crayfish and grilled skewers, placing their feet on a box of beer.

Nono wasn’t wearing the short skirt Finger had hoped for but had opted for a simple outfit: jeans, long boots, and a baseball cap with a long ponytail hanging out the back. Lu Mingfei had also changed into a hoodie, jeans, and high-top sneakers, which looked casual but gave off a different vibe when paired with the heavy weapons backpack he carried.

Finger asked the waiter for dozens of beer glasses and arranged them in a three-by-nine grid, filling them all with beer. “There’s no problem in the world that a beer can’t solve. If there is, we’ll have two…”

Before he could finish his speech, Nono had already picked up a glass and started drinking. Her gaze drifted over the water, where vendors were rowing boats selling river lanterns. The lanterns bobbed gently on the water, looking like bright lotus flowers.

Lu Mingfei was also lost in thought, sipping his beer absentmindedly. The two were each immersed in their own worlds, making Finger feel like the odd one out.

The little demon’s multiverse theory was both magnificent and terrifying, but Lu Mingfei didn’t have time to think deeply about it. The pressing concern was the Nibelungen, which was almost overlapping with the city. The infinite, looping Penrose stairway had already been activated. Though they seemed free, they were actually trapped. Meanwhile, Nono was preoccupied with the thought that her family and the Gattuso elders had probably already met and likely decided her fate. She always believed that her future, and that of Caesar, were hers to control, but she also had to admit that her family’s influence silently determined everything behind the scenes.

She glanced at Lu Mingfei, thinking, I’ve gone to great lengths to help you, you’d better not be some severely delusional mental case! But when she looked at him, she saw that Lu Mingfei was staring right back, thinking about the terrifying eye that might be hidden inside Nono’s body. Was that eye secretly watching them right now?

Their gazes met, like warriors carrying swords across a desolate battlefield, neither willing to back down or avoid the confrontation.

After a moment, Nono raised her glass and held it straight in front of Lu Mingfei. He hesitated for a moment, then raised his glass to clink it with hers, and they both drained their beers in one go.

“Alright, alright! You clinked glasses, drank your beer, and now it’s all in the past!” Finger said with a grin. “What issue could possibly be too big for brothers to overcome?”

Yet even after they put down their glasses, the two of them remained silent, each gazing out at the sea, lost in their own thoughts, ignoring everyone else.

“By the way, Lu Mingfei, do you remember a boy named Lu in your school? He used to be on the school basketball team,” Finger asked casually. “He was a center like you.”

“There were only two people with the surname Lu at Shilan Middle School: me and my cousin. My cousin is 160 cm tall and weighs 160 kg, but he doesn’t play basketball—he is the basketball,” Lu Mingfei replied nonchalantly.

“Not your Lu, deer Lu, as in ‘sika deer.’ And stop slandering our cousin! He’s got an eight-pack and loves literature, just like you, a heartthrob.”

Lu Mingfei thought seriously for a moment, then shook his head. “Wasn’t I the center for the team? How could there be two centers on one school team?”

“That’s because Deer passed away in an accident when he was fifteen. After that, the coach recruited you, the genius, to fill his spot. Deer was a heartthrob in the junior high division, super popular. It’s said his family was wealthy, and his mom looked like a movie star. All the other moms hated her because when she showed up at parent-teacher meetings, it was like a celebrity meet-and-greet. All the dads and teachers fought to shake her hand and take photos. But only one person can stand in the spotlight. Your school team was already above average in the province, but after you came along, they won the league championship. Once you rose to prominence, people gradually forgot about Deer. Doesn’t this story sound a bit like your tale of Chu Zihang?”

Nono’s face changed slightly, and she kicked Finger under the table. But Finger had anticipated this move and was sitting cross-legged like an old man on a heated brick bed.

Lu Mingfei, however, remained calm. “Are you saying my memories are scrambled, and I confused Deer with Chu Zihang?”

“It’s common, right? Like how you might mix up what you had for dinner yesterday with the day before, or confuse your eighteenth birthday with your sixteenth.”

Lu Mingfei nodded. “A friend of mine once said that the human brain is an unreliable disk. When there’s a sector error, two unrelated files can get linked together. So, Deer was Aunt Su’s son, right?”

“We’re getting close to the truth, though it’s probably not the answer you want,” Finger said ambiguously.

“Aunt Su didn’t forget she had a child. It’s just that her trauma was so severe, she chose to erase the memory of her son.”

Finger tapped his head. “When someone longs for something too much, they start to believe it’s real. Similarly, when someone is too afraid of something, they can forget it ever happened. Bro, you got PTSD after returning from Tokyo, and you had to see Toyama Yasuhiro for therapy every week for over a year. Even though you’re recovered now, it’s not surprising if there are some aftereffects. If Chu Zihang is just a figment of your imagination, we can find him in your mind—there’s no finding him in reality. It’s my fault as your big brother for not being there when you needed me. Before I went to Cuba, you were doing fine. If I’d known, I would’ve stayed a few more years in school.”

Nono shuddered quietly. All the clues seemed to align, as if the last missing piece of a puzzle had fallen into place, making the whole picture click into place.

The mystery was on the verge of being solved. Only one person needed to say the final answer aloud. But just as this earth-shattering truth was about to be revealed, Finger burped. “Speaking of which, Su Xiaoqian came to your place this afternoon. I told her you weren’t home, so she helped Auntie make soup all afternoon. She asked a lot of random questions. Are you sure nothing happened between you two in high school?”

“How can I be sure of anything? I’m not even sure who I am anymore,” Lu Mingfei grumbled as he gulped down more beer.

“As long as you’re not pining for Su Xiaoqian, it’s fine. I told her that her famous Senior Brother Mingfei has been living the high life in America, swimming in luck with the ladies, and that she shouldn’t overthink it,” Finger said, glancing mischievously at Nono. “I also told her, ‘Look at Senior Sister Piao. She followed Senior Brother Mingfei all the way from the U.S. to China!’”

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