Dragon Raja 4; Chapter 87: Young Schoolmates (3)

Dragon Raja 4

“EVA can track everyone worldwide. You think you can hide from the Execution Bureau and EVA?”

Finger pulled out three passports from his pocket. “Sure, EVA monitors the whole internet, but all she can really track is your email, phone number, credit cards, and immigration records. I’ve already modified our travel records. EVA will think we went to a small island in the Caribbean. The island only has a few thousand residents, but it’s issued hundreds of thousands of passports to foreigners—an infamous tax haven. EVA will assume we got new passports there and traveled to a third country.”

Nono flipped through the passports. The names were Lu Xiaochuan, Park Ji-yu, and Zhang Facai, issued by the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis.

Finger continued, “At that point, she’ll start using facial recognition. With billions of cameras in the world, if we’re caught on just one, EVA’s electronic trackers will find us. Soon, she’ll ‘find’ us in Argentina, in a little town called Ushuaia. A convenience store camera will catch a glimpse of your side profiles while you’re buying beer. I’ve tampered with the footage, so it’s blurry enough that even your parents wouldn’t recognize you, but EVA’s AI will be 100% convinced it’s you two. Ushuaia, known as the world’s southernmost city, is a jumping-off point for ships heading to Antarctica. EVA will assume you’re headed there to hide. Antarctica has a bunch of abandoned research stations where we could easily disappear for years without being found. After that, we’ll make the poor Execution Bureau agents take a nice government-paid trip to the South Pole. By the time they’re done sightseeing, at least a few months will have passed. Of course, we’ll have to avoid being caught on camera, and try not to use our phones—EVA still remembers our voice patterns.”

“Sounds like a pretty detailed escape plan. This isn’t something you just came up with on the fly, is it?” Nono asked, narrowing her eyes. “Did you plan this for yourself ahead of time? Just how much trouble are you in?”

“I smuggled some gold from the college’s stash in Cuba. Just a few million dollars’ worth. If I’d cashed it out, I’d be retired by now.”

“Alright, so where do we start looking? At the police station for Chu Zihang’s household records? Or do we ask the old ladies at the community office?”

“Obviously at Shilan Middle School. It’s both Lu Mingfei and Chu Zihang’s alma mater. Wherever a person’s been, they leave traces. We’ll find something there.”

“Chu Zihang was a legend at our school,” Lu Mingfei added. “Not knowing Chu Zihang would be like watching basketball and never hearing of Jordan.”

“Who’s Jordan?” Nono asked.

Lu Mingfei patted her shoulder. “It’s okay, senior sister. You don’t know Chu Zihang either, so it’s fine.”

“We’ll divide Chu Zihang’s life into two parts. Since he joined Cassell College, he opened a new chapter in his life, stepping into a new world. If we can’t find any traces of him in the new world, we’ll search the old one,” Finger explained. “If there really is some super Yanling that can erase people’s memories, it may not have reached everyone who knew him. Since Lu Mingfei wasn’t affected, maybe others weren’t either.”

Nono thought for a moment. In the White Emperor bloodline, the most suitable Yanling for mass hypnosis was “Saha World.” But there were already very few White Empress descendants, and she had never heard of anyone in modern times mastering such a high-level spiritual Yanling. Even if there was a hidden master of Saha World, why would they go to such lengths to erase Chu Zihang? And why would they miss Lu Mingfei? Cassell College was full of powerful individuals, so if Lu Mingfei was immune, surely there would be others immune too. Then there was that strange shadow in Lu Mingfei’s memory, wearing a funeral shroud. That shadow represented Chu Zihang in Lu Mingfei’s mind, clearly a twisted figure, far from how Lu Mingfei described him.

“We’ll just have to play it by ear and see how things go,” Nono said, licking her lips. “Finger, go buy me a bottle of water. This stinky tofu is both spicy and salty.”

“Spicy and salty, and you didn’t even leave me a piece?” Finger grumbled. “Can you stop acting all rich and high-class? If you’re going to boss me around, at least throw some tip money in my face first!”

“Master, you pulled me out of a convent! I was a nun serving the Lord, and now I’m broke, with only my devout heart left!” Nono spread her hands dramatically.

The three strolled towards Shilan Middle School, with Nono and Finger walking ahead while Lu Mingfei lagged behind, munching on his stinky tofu and watching their backs.

A water truck passed by, spraying a mist that rose as high as a person. The sunlight glowed through the dust and water droplets, creating a hazy atmosphere. Nono spun around to avoid the spray, her skirt flaring out like a blooming sunflower. Lu Mingfei couldn’t help but be reminded of his school days—back then, the girls at Shilan Middle School wore similar plaid skirts, bouncing around and catching the boys’ eyes as their skirts swayed. The streets back then were much narrower, lined with small shops selling snacks and anime merchandise, with internet cafés hidden in basements, places boys like Lu Mingfei loved to frequent. One of his dreams back then was to have enough pocket money to spend freely on that street, buying whatever he wanted.

As they rounded a corner, they suddenly came across an ornate gate with colorful eaves and bright tiles, flanked by two statues of white marble. The statue on the left was a boy holding a model space shuttle, while the girl on the right held a satellite. Above the gate was a sign that read, “Shilan Junior & Senior Exclusive School.”

Lu Mingfei was dumbfounded. He knew this was Shilan Middle School, but it wasn’t the Shilan Middle School of his memories—it was like a version from a parallel universe. The feeling was as if Jia Baoyu, after finally outwitting his family to marry Lin Daiyu, lifted her veil only to find a burly man capable of smashing boulders on his chest, who handed him an ID card that clearly said “Lin Daiyu.”

Yet there were some clues in the details. “Exclusive School” was a very British term, meaning a private or elite school. Lu Mingfei figured the old principal must have chosen the name. The principal had always dreamed of turning Shilan Middle School into a prestigious institution that cultivated the next generation of elites, a goal he had repeated endlessly at flag-raising ceremonies.

“Wow, I didn’t expect my down-to-earth brother to be a graduate of a fancy school!” Finger sighed. “I’m just a humble German farm boy—befriending you is clearly reaching above my station.”

Even though Lu Mingfei knew Finger was just joking, he couldn’t help but fall into deep thought. The overwhelming sense of unfamiliarity was unsettling—was it caused by time or had the world itself warped?

Banners fluttered on both sides of the gate, like a giant couplet: “Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Shilan Foreign Language Middle School!”

They passed through the garish gate and were greeted by a construction site. The layout of the school was still the same, but many things had been modernized. The new library was already taking shape, the sports field was dug up, likely for a new soccer field, and the old red-brick school buildings were now covered with granite. A sky bridge connected the newly built gymnasium to the teaching building, and behind a glass wall, young students in dance attire were stretching, looking like delicate flowers in a greenhouse. The place was buzzing with people—parents in small groups were taking photos and videos.

Every year, the school’s anniversary was an open house, a time to show off to the public. City officials would come to offer congratulations, and successful alumni were invited to give speeches. The school’s entrance was lined with a large red board listing the names of top graduates from each year, a source of pride for parents eager to see the school’s place in the local education system.

Lu Mingfei remembered how Chu Zihang had always held the top spot on that board, with everyone knowing he had been accepted into an American university with a full scholarship. There was no envy or jealousy on Lu Mingfei’s part, though, because the very next year, his name took the top spot with the same achievements—acceptance to an American university on a full scholarship.

Every corner of the school was filled with memories. Lu Mingfei wandered around, looking here and there, and eventually found himself near the basketball court, which was now fenced off with wire. This had been Chu Zihang’s battleground, where he would perform slam dunks while the girls cheered from the sidelines. Everyone else was just a supporting cast member. Back then, Lu Mingfei had thought Chu Zihang was a show-off, always playing with a serious face and walking away without even drinking the water the girls brought him. It wasn’t until Lu Mingfei joined Cassell College that he learned Chu Zihang had social anxiety, especially around girls.

Fate is unfair. While Chu Zihang was overwhelmed by the attention from girls, it brought him no joy but rather immense pressure. Meanwhile, Lu Mingfei longed for even one girl to notice him, but no matter how hard he tried to get their attention, it was as if he were invisible to them.

The familiar sights triggered a flood of memories, and as Lu Mingfei wandered deeper into thought, he lost track of Nono and Finger. Suddenly, he bumped into someone.

Startled, he took a step back and quickly apologized. “Sorry, sorry.”

The other person also apologized, “Sorry, sorry.” Lu Mingfei glanced up and caught sight of a white skirt.

It was a simple white cotton skirt, plain but neatly made, reaching just below the knee and paired with lace-up canvas shoes. The ankles were slim, delicate enough to grasp with one hand.

But Lu Mingfei wouldn’t dare think about grabbing someone’s ankle. He nearly jumped in shock.

By now, he wasn’t the same teenage boy who would get flustered at the sight of a girl’s legs, but these legs belonged to someone special. He had followed them for three whole years. The shoes, the skirt—he knew them all too well. Nervously, he lifted his gaze, and sure enough, it was Chen Wenwen—her shoulder-length black hair, her slightly pale, sickly complexion, her black-and-white outfit, and the colorful ribbons on her wrist.

That rainy night at the Aspasia restaurant, he had mentally said goodbye to the past, but this was still the girl he had once dreamed about.

Things got worse when he realized Nono and Finger were wandering nearby. He worried about being caught in such an awkward situation by Nono, but then again, why would she care?

Their eyes met, and there was a palpable tension in the air, like a battle was about to break out. Lu Mingfei scratched his head, scrambling to find something to say. Chen Wenwen was equally flustered, nervously twisting her fingers together.

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