Chapter 57
Tang An's soul drifted aimlessly in the void, surrounded by endless chaos. After an unknown amount of time, a distant and vague dog barking broke the silence, and then the sky suddenly brightened.
He suddenly opened his eyes and found that he was still floating on a vast ocean of consciousness, with a piece of driftwood drifting beneath him, and next to him, there was a person he never expected to see at this moment.
Gu An?!
Tang An was so frightened that he fell off the driftwood.
With a splash, the cold, salty sea water instantly swallowed him up, and the pungent smell filled his nostrils.
Tang An struggled desperately, waving his hands, but his cries were drowned out by the sound of the surging waves.
Just when he was about to sink to the bottom due to exhaustion, a strong hand reached into the water, accurately grabbed the back of his collar, and effortlessly lifted him out of the sea, like lifting a wet piece of dried kelp that had lost all its moisture.
Tang An collapsed weakly on the fine sand on the shore, coughing up a few mouthfuls of salty sea water and gasping for breath.
Gu An patted the sand off his hands and looked down at him with an indifferent look: "I haven't been in a dream for a long time."
Tang An collapsed like a salted fish, his breathing still hazy. Upon hearing this, he subconsciously retorted, "It seems you haven't been a human being for a long time."
Gu An: “…”
Seeing that he remained silent, Tang An recovered his strength, managed to sit up, and raised his chin towards him: "Why do you think this is a dream? What if this is reality?"
Gu An scoffed, as if he had heard something extremely absurd: "Reality? You and I belong to different time and space, yet now our spirits are in the same place. This in itself is the most impossible reality."
Tang An was silent for a moment, then slowly stood up from the beach, facing the vast sea that seemed to be able to swallow everything.
"I miss home." He said softly, "My parents, my brother, and my lover..."
Tang An paused slightly, the name rolling on the tip of his tongue, and finally turned into a sigh-like whisper.
"Chiying."
"I miss him."
The moment the words fell, the surrounding scene quickly dissipated into the distance like the receding tide.
"Ding-ling-ling—ding-ling-ling—"
The sharp and rapid sound of the alarm clock penetrated my eardrums.
Warm sunlight shines through the gaps in the curtains and fills the room.
Tang An's eyelashes trembled, and he turned over habitually, reaching out to grope for the ringing cell phone on the bedside table in a daze.
My fingers touched the familiar texture of the phone case...
here?
here? ?
still……
"Clang."
He accidentally dropped his cell phone on the ground, but fortunately the bedroom was covered with thick cashmere carpet and it was not broken.
Tang An half-opened his eyes, but he really didn't want to bend down to pick it up, so he dragged out his voice and shouted vaguely towards the bedroom door:
"Chiying——"
"Help me turn off the alarm."
He pulled up the quilt, covered his head again, and added muttered, "Thanks..."
However, the only response he got was the persistent ringing of the alarm clock echoing in the empty room.
A few seconds later, Tang An suddenly opened his eyes, threw back the quilt, and sat up directly from the bed.
etc.
A cell phone?! A modern cell phone?!
I'm back? ? ? ? ? ? ?
He quickly looked around. The room layout seemed familiar, the furniture seemed familiar, the sea view seemed familiar...
This is the sea view room that Ji Ying gave him on their third wedding anniversary. Except for the anniversary and occasional vacation, it is basically empty.
So why am I here??
Tang An's heart was beating like a drum. He threw off the quilt and got out of bed. Just as he was about to pick up the cell phone on the ground to turn off the alarm clock, he heard a few extremely impatient and even fierce dog barks from outside the door.
Immediately afterwards, the bedroom door was pushed open, and a Husky with dull fur and a low spirit rushed in angrily, cursing at Tang An who was lying beside the bed.
Tang An looked down at the phone screen.
A little after six in the morning.
He slipped his finger and the alarm stopped.
The world suddenly became quiet.
The dog also stopped.
A man and a dog looked at each other in the silence of the early morning.
Tang An looked at the dog silently. An absurd yet expectant thought came to his mind. He asked tentatively, "Chi Ying?"
The Husky glanced at him, swung its tail in a very anthropomorphic way, then turned its butt towards him and walked out as if it didn't want to talk to him.
Tang An was a little dazed for a moment and couldn't help but say, "I'm Tang An! Stupid!"
The dog's hind legs suddenly stopped, its neck crackling, and it slowly turned its head, its ice-blue eyes filled with disbelief: "Ah?!!"
Although Tang An didn't understand dog language, he could read the great shock and questioning in the dog's eyes, and he nodded vigorously.
He looked at the date on his phone again, his voice trembling slightly: "If I'm not dreaming, I think I'll be back..."
Before he could utter the word "come", the Husky's tail instantly stood up like an antenna. It pounced on him with lightning speed, pushed Tang An back onto the bed, and then excitedly licked him from his eyelids all the way to his mouth, with suppressed sobs in its throat.
[Wuwuwu, I'm back...Is it really back?!]
[Wow, my baby! My sweetheart! Wow, is this real? Am I dreaming?!]
【Oh my God, please don’t lie to me! 】
[Wife, wife, wife, wife, wife, wife, wife...]
Just when Tang An's face was covered with saliva and he was almost suffocating, he suddenly lifted the heavy Husky off his body and let it fall on its back.
He sat up and wiped the saliva from his face expressionlessly, his eyes were cold and his tone carried a hint of offended anger.
"Look carefully! Who am I?!"
Chi Ying was stunned, and quickly got up from the ground, shouting at the person on the bed with grievance and confusion.
Where’s my wife?
Where's my sweet, soft wife who just called me a fool? Where did you hide her?!
Just as Gu An was about to open his mouth to scold, Tang An's voice struggled to ring out again, with the same confusion and urgency.
"Chiying! Something doesn't seem right!"
"...Why can you speak now?!"
"I'm also confused. Shouldn't you be going back? Why are you still in my body?!"
"...I had just woken up from my trance when I saw this stupid dog rushing towards me like a madman."
From Chi Ying's perspective, it was Tang An who was having a breakdown. He used a familiar tone in one sentence, but the next sentence turned into an icy tone that could freeze someone to death.
Seeing that the two of them were clearly unable to reach a conclusion in their argument for the time being, Chi Ying tactfully calmed down, left the bedroom, ran to the corridor, and patted the doors of the other two guest rooms with his paws.
Five minutes later, He Miao, who was urgently summoned, grabbed a handful of glutinous rice and sprinkled it on Tang An, then started dancing around him.
Witnessing this strange scene, except for Roy whose eyes lit up and his face was full of admiration, Bu Suanzi and He Chenzhou both frowned so hard that they could kill a fly.
In less than a minute, Tang An spat out the glutinous rice in his mouth, grabbed the empty bowl used to hold glutinous rice on the table next to him, and threw it on the head of He Miao who was still casting a spell with lightning speed.
Two voices overlapped and roared out: "I/I have tolerated you for a long time!!!"
After a long period of chaos, the six people and the dog were finally able to sit down and try to have a calm conversation.
Tang An took a deep breath and tried to keep his words short. "Su He took over Gu An's body. Su Chengyue had her limbs crippled and her soul dug out by Su He, but she somehow resurrected. After I lost my body, I temporarily took on the body of a little fox. Finally, when Su Chengyue nearly strangled me to death, I came back."
“…”
The living room fell into a dead silence. The excessive amount of information caused the processor to overheat. Everyone looked dazed. After a long while, Chi Ying couldn't help but bark twice, which brought everyone back to their senses.
Roy clapped his hands and said, "What a wonderful story! If it's true, it's too fake. If it's fake, it's too real!"
He Chenzhou nodded in agreement.
He Miao touched his chin, looking troubled. "It's a bit too surreal. I feel like my brain capacity is a bit insufficient."
Bu Suanzi deadpanned, "I don't know what to say. I can only say that different professions are like different worlds. I wish him success."
At this moment, Gu An's cold voice interrupted him: "I want to go back."
Tang An immediately felt his right hand rising uncontrollably and reaching for the fruit knife on the coffee table.
Chi Ying, who had been watching him closely, took the initiative to sweep the fruit knife away.
Tang An probably anticipated what Gu An was going to do, and shouted to the restless Gu An inside him, "Su Chengyue isn't dead! He's not dead!! If you go back now, you'll be walking into a trap!"
For the first time, Gu An's emotions lost control, and his voice suddenly rose: "I know! But I have to go back!"
Tang An felt a pulling sensation in his body that made him almost breathless, and his face flushed red: "Are you worried about Chen Qi? Before my body was taken away by Su He, I had already hidden him with the Qiankun in my sleeve, in the safest place."
Gu An's strength loosened, and Tang An just managed to catch his breath when he heard him urgently ask, "Who are you hiding on? Tell me clearly!"
Tang An: "On your body, on Gu An's body."
Gu An: “…”
Seeing that the other party was about to go completely berserk, Tang An quickly added: "This is called the darkest place under the lamp, don't you understand?! The most dangerous place is the safest place! Su He just took over the body, he definitely won't check his body carefully right away!"
If it were any other time, Gu An would have whisked him away.
He sneered: "If Shen Qi makes even the slightest mistake, Chi Ying won't be able to survive."
Tang An also got angry and sneered back: “Chi Ying can only survive if Shen Qi gets into trouble.”
Gu An: "You..."
Seeing that the two were about to start fighting, Chi Ying had to yell again to try to stop them.
The next second, two fierce gazes turned to him at the same time.
Tang An: "What's the dog barking about?"
Gu An: "What a troublesome bastard!"
Chi Ying, who was inexplicably shot at the same time: "..."
Fortunately, when the time came, Chi Ying changed back on time.
At most, this is the twelfth time?
Or the thirteenth time?
Or the fourteenth or fifteenth time?
Chi Ying himself could hardly remember.
After experiencing all the bizarre and life-or-death experiences before, he found himself a little numb.
If you are not afraid of death, why would you be afraid of turning into a dog regularly?
However, Tang An obviously still cares about this matter and has been asking He Miao about it and discussing solutions.
But He Miao could only shake his head helplessly.
The trajectory of fate has already undergone a huge deviation due to a series of changes, and it is no longer possible to glimpse the secrets of fate by just counting on one's fingers.
He just left a message saying that he needed to concentrate on his deductions and not to be disturbed, then locked himself in the guest room and never came out again.
Time flies, and today, a full twenty-four hours have passed.
Perhaps because he was in the same room with Gu An's soul, Tang An dreamed of the mysterious Mr. Rabbit for the first time in a long time.
Mr. Rabbit still looked cynical and nonchalant, the only difference was that the person standing next to him this time was Gu An from his previous life.
As soon as Mr. Rabbit saw Gu An, his two long ears seemed to stand up even straighter. He looked around Gu An curiously, exclaiming repeatedly, "It's you, it's really you."
It hovered in mid-air, its tone carrying a sigh that transcended time and space: "I didn't expect you to be here. After all, the distance between you and me spans an entire space and time."
Gu An silently looked at the rabbit in front of him that was dressed strangely but could speak human language.
The expression and movements are so vivid that if it weren't for the special shape, one would almost mistake it for a giant demon that can transform.
Hearing the other party's words, he simply said: "I'm sorry, I don't remember any creature with such a strange appearance as you."
Mr. Rabbit immediately made an exaggerated Xizi heart-holding gesture. Although his eyebrows could not be seen, his whole face seemed to be wrinkled, indicating that he was very hurt.
It said, "It's okay, it's okay. It's normal that you don't remember me. After all, I'm probably the product of the obsession that has accumulated in your subconscious over time and can't be dispelled. After you, it condensed and took shape. I spent a long time alone until Tang An and Chi Ying appeared, and only then was I able to appear again."
At first glance, this sounds quite plausible.
Tang An secretly glanced at Gu An from the corner of his eye. Seeing that Gu An's expression remained unchanged, he was silent for a moment before slowly opening his mouth and asking the key question: "Obsession? Who am I obsessed with?"
Mr. Rabbit clapped his paws. "Who else could it be! In the previous life, it was Chen Qi, and in the next life, it's Chi Ying? You lost your father at a young age, and it was Chen Qi who raised you and protected you. He is the most important person in your life, bar none."
Although he was mentally prepared, Tang An couldn't help but feel overwhelmed when he heard such a straightforward explanation again.
After all, from the first time he met Shen Qi until now, he never really felt that Shen Qi and Chi Ying were the same person, just like he and Gu An could never be the same person.
Tang An had a very clear understanding of this point.
What is reincarnation, past life and present life? Even if the essence of the soul does not change, when you lose all your memories and grow up again in a completely new environment and family, the personality, experiences, and emotions formed have long become an inseparable part of the soul.
Gu An and Shen Qi must have understood this deeply, so they didn't react much to his marriage and love with Chi Ying.
"You are indeed not wrong." Gu An admitted calmly, "Although Chen Qi is not my biological parent, he has been very kind in raising and teaching me. He is like a teacher, a father, and a friend."
He seemed to be thinking of some distant scene, and sneered very lightly with a hint of complicated emotions.
"Obsession?"
"I admit that my initial and most important purpose in pursuing the elusive path of immortality through diligent cultivation was for him."
Tang An showed an expression that said, "As expected, I knew it."
Gu An glanced at him coldly, his tone filled with obvious disdain. "And you, let's call you my descendant. Although I don't want to admit it, you always put on a smiling face and seem easygoing, but in fact you are indecisive inside, like a soft persimmon that is easy to take advantage of. It's really insulting..."
Tang An's expression froze, and he interrupted him unhappily, "I don't want to admit it either, okay? I don't think I was such a mean, venomous, and arrogant person like you in my previous life."
Gu An sneered in response.
Mr. Rabbit looked left and right and understood what was going on.
These two are basically the same person, but because of their vastly different living environments, the direction in which their personalities are manifested is hugely different.
One was forced to become independent early and protected himself with a hard and cold shell, while the other grew up in love and naturally appeared softer.
But it wisely chose to see through it but not say it out loud. It just smiled and kept it in its heart.
Mr. Rabbit watched the show silently from the sidelines until the tension between the two grew stronger and stronger, and it seemed that the verbal fight was about to escalate into a physical one. Then he coughed lightly, interrupting this farce of scolding himself. "Alright, alright, the most urgent thing is to think about how to get everything back on track."
Tang An crossed his arms across his chest, his expression still grim: "What do you want to do?"
Gu An snorted coldly and turned away, but was obviously listening.
Mr. Rabbit said, "Actually, I gave you a solution long before things became as messed up as they are now."
Gu An interrupted coldly, "That's ridiculous! I've never met you before, so how can you come up with this method?"
Mr. Rabbit paused and patted his forehead. "Oh, right, I wasn't talking about you. It was Tang An and Chi Ying. When they were having a huge divorce, I did offer them a solution."
Tang An was silent for a moment, and his tone became a little complicated: "Your method was too difficult for us at the time, especially for Chi Ying, who has a bad temper..."
At the end, his tone became more serious.
Mr. Rabbit shrugged nonchalantly. "That can't be helped. If you had done as I told you, had both taken a step back and been honest with each other, you wouldn't have developed a rift in your hearts, allowing your obsession to grow and ultimately lead to the unmanageable situation we have today."
Gu An cast a cold gaze at Tang An: "Useless things, if you two weren't so incompetent and couldn't handle your own emotional barriers, how could you have dragged Shen Qiluo and me into this situation?"
Tang An was already upset, and upon hearing this, he became even more furious. He retorted without thinking, "If you hadn't been so unrequited and kept everything bottled up, would you have developed this ten-thousand-year obsession and turned into a silly rabbit that lingers? The root of the problem is clearly you."
Mr. Rabbit: “…”
Gu An: “…”
Mr. Rabbit tried to smooth things over: "That's not entirely true. Every cause has its consequences..."
Tang An subconsciously continued, "Is your retribution?"
Gu An uttered a short, cold laugh.
Tang An reacted: "Ugh."
Mr. Rabbit: “…”
It decided to give up and just go for broke: "Anyway, all the mistakes are my fault! Okay?!"
The two of them nodded at the same time and said in unison: "Indeed/That's about right."
Mr. Rabbit: “…”
I'm so unlucky to have ended up with you two! I don't have time to argue with you anymore!
It took out a huge iron hammer that looked very heavy from somewhere, and when the two men were not prepared, it hit each of them with lightning speed.
"Everyone go home! Everyone find their own mother! Work together! Get rid of it as soon as possible!"
"I'm done, bye!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the scene before him began to distort and change like a broken mirror.
When he opened his eyes again, the sharp sword energy almost pierced his skin, and a long sword with a cold glow was stabbing towards Tang An's face.
The man holding the sword was Shen Qi, who had already awakened.
At the same time, Gu An's voice rang out in Tang An's mind: "The space crack has not yet completely closed. Get back to your time and space now!"
Just as Tang An was about to say something, a domineering force surged out from his body, mercilessly pushing him towards the crack behind him that was faintly flashing with unstable light.
"This is between him and me..."
Gu An's voice finally came, with a resolute calmness.
"I will take care of it myself."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
