Dragon Raja 4; Chapter 93: I Need You to Save my Distant Dreams (2)

Dragon Raja 4

Lost and directionless, it felt like there was nowhere to go.

Suddenly, he remembered a web novel he had read in high school. The opening line was: “That night, Guo Jing stood at the traffic lights.”

At the time, he found the sentence oddly amusing. Now he finally understood why. Wasn’t Guo Jing always at various crossroads? The crossroads of Mongolia and the Song Dynasty, Hua Zheng and Huang Rong, the Jiangnan Seven Freaks and Huang Yaoshi, the ordinary boy and the great hero. But every time, Guo Jing made the right choice, not because he was smart, but because he had Huang Rong. Lu Mingfei had no Huang Rong, no little red horse. He only had a set of self-destructive Seven Wounds Fist, punching his way through life, hurting both himself and others.

A deep engine rumble came from behind. Lu Mingfei stepped slightly aside.

The headlights were so bright he couldn’t keep his eyes open. The car’s mirror-like body gleamed with fiery colors as the red Ferrari rolled through the puddles and came to a stop in front of him.

The window rolled down, and the first thing he saw was a silver four-leaf clover earring, followed by dark red hair tied into a ponytail with a purple tassel ribbon.

“Want a ride? Two yuan per kilometer,” Nono said casually, staring ahead.

Even though he wasn’t wearing headphones, Lu Mingfei heard the song in his head again:

“You’re drifting somewhere, With whom do you stay? My horizon and dreams, Need you to save, I can no longer turn back.”

He had ridden in many nice cars over the years, but if someone asked him what the best car in the world was, he would say “Ferrari” without hesitation. It didn’t run faster than a Bugatti Veyron, but it seemed like it was the only car fast enough to race against time.

Finger sat up, patting the keyboard, and the screen lit up again. On it, a glowing blue girl rested her chin in her hands, her large eyes filled with flowing numbers.

Finger’s interface with EVA was unique, like looking at a neighbor girl through a glass window.

EVA: “Why did the connection drop just now?”

Finger: “Lu Mingfei was snooping on my screen. It’s fine now. How’s Old Man doing? They didn’t go too hard on him, did they?”

EVA: “They wouldn’t dare mistreat the Vice Principal—he’s Flamel’s protégé, after all.”

Finger: “Are the old families easy to deal with? Any movement from the Gattuso family?”

EVA: “It seems the principal made the right move. The old families are thrilled to regain their influence, and now they’re no longer aligned with the Gattuso family.”

Finger: “The principal’s such a wolf. He’s thrown both the old and new families into the council hall. The Einherjar Hall is just a gladiator pit now.”

EVA: “Wasn’t the mythic Einherjar Hall also a battleground?”

Finger: “Any leads on Abbas?”

EVA: “His past is simple and clean, just like the files I sent you.”

They continued typing, communicating through text. Finger’s fingers flew over the keys, and sentences scrolled rapidly at the bottom of the screen.

Finger tossed over a list, filled with WeChat IDs.

Finger: “These are Lu Mingfei’s high school classmates. Use some fake identities to chat with them and see if their stories match up.”

EVA: “Are you saying you didn’t charm them enough, so now I have to step in?”

Finger: “They only had eyes for Lu Mingfei. My irresistible charm was completely ignored!”

EVA: “Okay, Lord Flins. I’ll help you woo them online!”

Finger: “Save it for later. Say hi to Adam for me. Good night.”

EVA: “Good night. It snowed in the mountains yesterday.”

The connection ended, and Finger leaned back in his chair, gazing at the distant lights of the CBD, where the golden skyscrapers pointed toward the sky like swords.

Nono steered the Ferrari with one hand, the car turning into a red streak that darted through the streets, spraying up walls of water. Lu Mingfei watched the shifting street scenes outside, feeling as if time had rewound to that summer night during his senior year of high school.

“How come it feels like you carry a garage around with you?” Lu Mingfei asked.

“I have a friend here. The car’s borrowed from him. The guy loves buying sports cars but can’t drive them all, so I help him out by giving them a spin.”

If anyone else said that, it would sound like bragging about having a rich friend who lent them a Ferrari. But when Nono said it, it was merely a statement of fact—there was nothing in a Ferrari that she found impressive.

“Why’d you sneak out? Where’s Finger?” Nono asked.

“He fell asleep. I just wanted some fresh air, maybe grab a grilled flatbread.”

“The top heartthrob of Shilan Middle School, back from overseas and hosting a banquet in honor of his teachers. Girls lined up to talk to you, and what, you couldn’t even find someone to join you for a midnight snack?”

“They never paid any attention to me back then, and now they’re acting like they’ve lost their minds.” Lu Mingfei awkwardly scratched his head.

“Maybe your confidence has suddenly collapsed. You’ve had PTSD for a long time, so it’s not surprising if it flares up again.”

“Do you know how I felt the first time I sat in the Ferrari you drove?”

“You had some deep inner emotions just from sitting in a Ferrari? And yet, you barely glanced at that Bugatti Veyron you won.”

“I felt like I’d entered another world, and you were someone from that world. You treated me well but not in a way that made me feel pitied.”

“Your version and mine are different. I remember you asking me all sorts of things, like how scholarships worked and whether the exams were hard. Then you said you’d take me to Seafood Street for some crayfish. After we got there, you lined up three beers in front of you and said that once we were at the college, I should take care of you. To show respect, you downed all three beers in one go.” Nono laughed. “I figured you were a stand-up guy, so I made you my little brother right then and there.”

“Wha-wha-wha… what?! Was I that bold back then? Did I say anything else out of line?”

“I’m just messing with you,” Nono shrugged. “I don’t remember the details. What I do remember is you sitting next to me, like a rabbit with drooping ears, its fur all soaked.”

“Exactly! That’s the real me!” Lu Mingfei perked up again. “I knew something was wrong with this world! There’s no way I could be the top guy at Shilan Middle School!”

“Why do you sound so proud of being a coward?”

“Because that’s the real me. Imagine if one day you suddenly became a princess and could do whatever you wanted. Everyone catered to you—would you really be happy?”

“Sorry, I’m not a princess, but I’ve always done whatever I want, and I’m quite happy with all the people trying to please me.”

“My mistake, Your Ladyship! I asked the wrong person! How could I ever presume to share in your suffering?” Lu Mingfei covered his face.

“Alright! Here you are, being chauffeured around by Your Ladyship, cruising in my car. What more could you want? Isn’t this your turf? Where’s a good spot for a midnight snack?”

“Don’t rush the snacks just yet. There’s a place I want to check out first. It’s not far ahead.”

The Ferrari exited the highway at the spot Lu Mingfei indicated. A few moments later, the rooftops of red-tiled houses appeared ahead—an upscale villa district backed by mountains and facing a lake.

In Lu Mingfei’s memory, Chu Zihang’s house was in this villa complex.

The two hadn’t been friends in middle school. Chu Zihang would never have invited him home. But that year, Chu Zihang won the City-Level Excellent Student Award, and his stepfather had the idea of throwing him a birthday party, inviting his close classmates over for a barbecue. Aside from the ever-ambiguous Xia Mi, Chu Zihang didn’t really have close friends. So, he sent out invitations to the school’s various clubs, hoping they’d send representatives. The one for the literature club ended up with Chen Wenwen.

Attending Chu Zihang’s birthday party was like being a musician invited to Beyoncé’s birthday—it was an exclusive, high-status event.

Chen Wenwen wanted to give Chu Zihang a collection of writings from the whole literature club and asked Lu Mingfei to help. The project turned out to be more trouble than expected, and on June 1st—Chu Zihang’s birthday—they finally got the collection printed. Lu Mingfei braved the scorching sun to pick it up and delivered it to Chu Zihang’s house. That’s how he found himself stepping into Chu Zihang’s home. In the sunlight, Chu Zihang silently grilled chicken wings, occasionally stepping in for group photos when someone called him over, acting more like a hired chef than the birthday boy.

The gate guards didn’t question visitors in fancy cars, and the two drove along the lake, across the muddy post-rain lawn, to a lakeside villa.

The villa was just as Lu Mingfei remembered—white stone walls, tall gray walls, and two heavy bronze doors adorned with intricate carvings and cloud patterns.

It was the crown jewel of the community, built on a peninsula extending into the artificial lake, offering a view that no other house could match. The garden was the largest in the neighborhood. But now, the ginkgo trees in front looked wilted, and the climbing roses on the walls were untrimmed. A white marble nameplate once displayed the owner’s name, but it had been smashed. A realtor’s note was stuck on the door, saying the house was for sale and available for viewing anytime.

Series Navigation

<< Dragon Raja 4; Chapter 92: I Need You to Save my Distant Dreams (1)Dragon Raja 4; Chapter 94: I Need You to Save my Distant Dreams (3) >>