Chapter 410 A Dream of Nanke
"Alright, students, that's all for today's lesson."
"I will post the homework in the group chat. You just need to submit it before next Friday."
In the bright and clean lecture hall, the old professor left a message and then left the classroom with his thermos.
Seeing this, Ji You also began to pack up his paper and pen, but after finishing, he did not get up immediately. Instead, he turned to look out the window, and seemed a little lost in thought.
Just then, his roommate, Fatty, came down from upstairs, glanced at him, and asked, "Ji You, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, just contemplating life."
"What is there to ponder in life?"
"I just feel like I've forgotten something from a very, very long time ago."
"Want to go to the internet cafe?"
Ji You shook her head, then slung her backpack over her shoulder and walked out of the classroom, through the empty corridor and into the campus.
The campus in autumn has a unique elegance, especially when the leaves turn golden and fall, giving people a gentle and tranquil feeling that is different from other seasons.
He used to love autumn very much, and sometimes he would even go out of his way to find a quiet corner to sit for a whole day and watch the autumn leaves fall. But for some reason, he doesn’t feel any joy now.
It felt as if something bad was about to happen in autumn, and that it wasn't a good time for him anymore.
Ji You let out a long sigh, withdrew her gaze, and walked towards the cafeteria. She ordered a bowl of wide noodles, and while eating, she muttered to herself, wondering what she had forgotten...
School days were quite leisurely, with not much important things to do; it was basically just attending classes, sleeping, socializing, and playing games.
Ji You had one more thing to do than them: she volunteered at an orphanage in the west of the city every weekend, leading a peaceful and stable life.
However, because he always felt that he had forgotten something, he often liked to space out, as if he was trying his best to think about something, but in the end he came up with nothing.
Over time, he himself felt deeply troubled, and so he decided several times to stop thinking about it.
But sometimes people's thoughts are not under their control. For example, there was a child named Tiger in the orphanage who often asked him if he had a younger sister, and he couldn't even explain why.
Another thing that puzzled him was that the autumn days in Linchuan this year seemed unusually long, with a feeling that they could not be seen for a moment.
Ji You felt as if half a year had passed, but the leaves were still swaying precariously, refusing to actually fall, as if the whole world was trapped in this golden autumn.
But that's life; despite the many confusions, we still have to get by.
So he continued his routine of going to class, sleeping, and doing volunteer work, but he started going to the library more often outside of his studies.
This continued for about half a year, until one bright afternoon.
"Ji You, you really aren't going to the internet cafe's five-person row?"
"I'm not going. I haven't been in the mood lately."
"What's wrong with you? You've been absent-minded for the past six months. Not only have you stopped playing pool and going online, but you've also been going to the library all the time."
"Men, well, there are always a few months like that throughout the year."
On a crisp autumn afternoon, Ji You arrived at the dormitory building, waved to her four roommates who were walking in the opposite direction, and then headed towards the main road of the campus.
At that moment, the warm sunlight shone on his face, giving him a sense of brightness that could only be described in literary works.
Looking around, the school playground was filled with people: some running, some playing cards, some singing with guitars, and others distributing posters to promote the campus forum.
He walked alone along the roadside, browsing through countless things, and finally arrived at the library of Linchuan University.
He swiped his card to enter, found a book on the bookshelf, took out a notebook from his backpack, and then sat down.
At the same time, three girls in floral dresses looked at him from the third row of bookshelves in the social sciences section. After whispering among themselves, they walked over to the table where he was.
"Senior, is this seat taken?"
"Uh, nobody's here."
Ji You looked up at the three beautiful young girls and saw them sitting down in front of him with sweet smiles.
He turned his head to look at the empty tables around him, then looked at the girl in front of him, and couldn't help but click his tongue. Damn Ji Bochang, she's a real femme fatale.
However, as soon as he thought of those words, he couldn't help but pause, as if he had just realized something.
But upon closer reflection, he felt as if there was nothing at all, completely empty.
"What book are you reading, senior?" Just then, the girl with the ponytail in front of her asked softly.
Ji You picked up the book she had just taken from the bookshelf and glanced at the title: "The Art of the Novel, a book about how to write."
"Is the senior from the School of Humanities?"
"No, but I always feel like there are some stories in my heart that I want to write down."
As Ji You spoke, she looked at the notebook beside her.
Throughout the long autumn, he felt there was a story in his mind that he couldn't remember, which made him feel very awkward.
Over time, this feeling transformed into a urge to confide, giving him a constant desire to talk to someone about something, but when it came down to it, he couldn't say anything at all.
The girl with pigtails leaned closer upon hearing this, looked at the notebook on his desk, and a hint of doubt appeared in her eyes: "Senior hasn't written a single word yet?"
Ji You nodded: "I'm a little unsure what to write."
"Didn't you just say you had a lot of stories?"
“Many stories are about a feeling, but if you really think about it carefully, you don’t know what that feeling is,” Ji You replied, looking at her empty notebook.
The girl with pigtails shifted her gaze to his left hand: "Senior's ring is so special, was it a gift from someone?"
Ji You paused slightly, looking at her left middle finger where a black ring, which looked old and worn, was worn: "I've worn it for a long time, but I can't quite remember how I got it."
The girl with pigtails nodded after hearing this: "Senior, would you like to grab a milk tea together later? Xi Tian on the East Campus recently opened, and I heard it's so popular that there's always a queue. I have a friend who works part-time there, so we can cut in line."
"It seems like all girls like to drink milk tea in the fall, but I don't really like sweet ones."
"I see. So, what does your senior like?"
"Roasted sweet potatoes."
"Hmm? But roasted sweet potatoes are sweet too."
Ji You frowned slightly, thinking to himself that it made sense; roasted sweet potatoes did seem sweet, but for some reason, he really liked them.
Thinking of this, Ji You suddenly turned her head and looked around.
The afternoon sun was very bright, streaming in through the window and landing on a corner of the floor. There were many people reading books around, accompanied by the sound of turning pages. There was nothing else around.
For some reason, he always felt as if a pair of beautiful, slightly narrowed eyes were looking at him, their gaze filled with hostility.
Subconsciously, Ji You leaned back in her chair a little, moving further away from the three female students, and her expression became much more wary.
Seemingly sensing that Ji You wasn't the approachable type, the three female students stayed for a while, then left awkwardly without getting her WeChat ID.
"I told you, with his looks, he must have a girlfriend, but you didn't believe me. And I bet his girlfriend is pretty amazing."
"Yeah, when I leaned closer to talk to him just now, he would subconsciously lean back. He must be a jealous person."
As Ji You listened to the three of them whispering as they walked away, her eyes narrowed slightly.
As far as he knew, he shouldn't have a girlfriend, but when those three female students got closer and closer, he did have a feeling that someone might get jealous. It was really strange.
Ji You pondered for a long time but still couldn't figure it out, so she turned her attention back to the writing book in her hand.
From afternoon until dusk, he read it for a long time, finishing the thick reference book completely, and had a general idea of how to write a story.
However, just like he talked to those three female students, writing is a feeling, but it seems that there is still a long way to go before he can actually write it into a story. He has this impulse, but he always feels that something is missing.
After packing up her things and putting the borrowed books back in their original places, Ji You checked in at the circulation desk and then left the library.
However, just as he was going down the stairs, his knees suddenly buckled, and he collapsed onto the steps, hitting his back hard.
A sharp pain shot through him, causing him to involuntarily straighten his back.
He didn't know why, but he felt his body was getting weaker and weaker lately, and he was getting tired faster and faster.
He went to the hospital for a check-up last week and tried various methods, but the doctor concluded that there was nothing wrong.
But he really felt that his energy and spirit were constantly draining away, and even his sleep felt extremely uneasy.
call--
After sitting on the steps for a while to catch his breath, Ji You stood up, dusted himself off, left the library, ate dinner in the cafeteria, and then returned to his dormitory.
The four adopted sons who went out to surf the internet have returned and are now sitting in the dormitory in completely different states.
The rich kid is fiddling with his newly bought electronic gadgets, Lao Wei is chatting away on his phone, and there's another guy on the balcony lifting dumbbells, occasionally flexing his biceps in front of the mirror.
Hearing the sound of someone entering, all three looked up briefly before turning back to their own tasks.
Ji You closed the door, shutting out the noise from the corridor, and then stopped behind the fat man on the opposite bed.
The fat man was sitting in a chair picking his toes, his eyes glued to the TV series playing on the computer screen.
In the scene, a man in white is sitting on the shaft of a carriage as it slowly enters the city and arrives at a restaurant.
Then the man in white jumped off the carriage and threw a silver ingot to the coachman.
"Young master, you've given too much."
"Take it, consider it a reward."
"Thank you, young master! Thank you, young master! You are such a kind person!"
In the scene, the coachman bows and scrapes with a beaming smile, then watches the young man in white enter the restaurant.
The scene then shifts, and a huge silver ingot is slapped onto the table. The young master is already seated at the table, loudly ordering wine and meat, and asking what the signature dish is.
At that moment, someone sitting next to him, who was clearly a woman dressed as a man, turned to look at him.
Ji You reached out and held onto the fat man's bed frame: "What TV series is this?"
"This is the male lead in the new fantasy drama. He has been cultivating on a sacred mountain since childhood. Although he is young, his cultivation level is very high. Now he has been ordered by his master to come down the mountain to celebrate the birthday of a big shot."
The fat man sniffed his fingers: "Look at this woman, I bet she's definitely the female lead."
Ji You pondered for a while and then frowned: "They're quite generous, throwing money around like that. Where do you think they got all this money from?"
"ah?"
"They spend all their time practicing Taoism, where does their money come from?"
The fat man was taken aback for a moment after hearing this: "It wasn't shown in the TV series."
Ji You nodded, thinking to herself that it was a made-up story, and the screenwriter couldn't have considered such details.
He snapped out of his daze, bent down to get his water basin, and then felt another wave of dizziness and weakness wash over him. He couldn't help but slam his hand on the bed frame.
There must be something wrong with his body, otherwise he wouldn't be getting weaker and weaker. He even felt that if things continued like this, he might even die, but the doctor said he was fine.
Ji You took a breath and couldn't help but feel the urge to search for medical advice on Baidu.
But thinking about it carefully, it's actually not a big deal if it really happens.
Because he should have died on that riverbank that summer.
Hmm? That's alright...
Strange, why is the wording so elegant?
Why is that?
Ji You's mind wandered for a while before finally calming down a bit, feeling like her brain was a jumbled mess.
He caught his breath, then straightened up, slung the towel over his shoulder, went to the balcony, turned on the tap, and a splash of cold water hit his face, which immediately invigorated him a little, but he still couldn't shake off the feeling of weakness.
"Maybe I'm just too tired these past few days. I'll get a good night's sleep and see if that helps."
Ji You muttered to herself, and her washing up quickened.
By the time I finished washing up, it was already quite dark outside the window.
The four people in the dormitory had finished their own business, and even the fat guy turned off his computer and climbed into bed.
Ji You put away his toiletries and climbed into bed to go to sleep, but to his surprise, he tossed and turned for half an hour, feeling as if something was tugging at his mind.
After thinking for a long time, he turned to the side and took out the notebook and ballpoint pen from the bedside shelf, intending to write something down while he was feeling this way.
But when he opened it, he was stunned.
Because his notebook was originally blank, but now it was filled with dense writing.
Upon hearing this, Ji You paused slightly, then looked down at the notebook beside her.
He didn't recall writing anything, but when he looked down, he found that there were actually words written on the notebook.
"Ji Shizi was a native of Yuyang."
"At the age of seventeen, his entire clan was slaughtered for offending the immortal sect, leaving him the sole survivor, and he had no family left."
After three years of secluded cultivation, he entered the Heavenly Academy and later established the Tu Xian Manor as a family, taking charge of taxation and relieving the people's suffering by exempting them from exorbitant taxes.
"During the snow disaster, the supply of spirit stones was cut off, the granaries were opened for relief, the Wulu Trading Company was re-established, workers were recruited to relieve famine, and countless people were saved."
"In the autumn of the sixth year of Taiyuan, he ascended to heaven amidst the clouds and was eternally blissful."
Ji You's eyes froze instantly, as if something was exploding in her mind.
A motorcade of government officials cracking whips, wailing dark-skinned farmers, an old woman with her eyes open in a desolate mountain grave, and an immortal sitting high above in a palanquin.
The fragmented images flashed before his eyes like a kaleidoscope, making him hold his breath for a moment.
Before he could react, a series of sounds suddenly rang out in his mind.
"Brother Ji, I have read the classics and I naturally possess a strong sense of righteousness."
"You unfilial disciple, your master has no money left this month, why won't you believe me?"
"Brother-in-law, this is my sister. You two should get to know each other first."
"They've already given up 10% of their taxes, how much more do you want?"
"Ji You, you have been sent to escort the delegation to the demon race."
"It's been many years since we last met in the snowy region. How is your arm feeling?"
As Ji You listened to these sounds, his eyes slowly widened, but he didn't notice that the ring on his finger was also flashing.
Then, with a buzzing sound, the sounds stopped abruptly, and everything became quiet.
The old fan in the dormitory creaked and groaned, accompanied by the rhythmic sound of breathing, as if nothing had happened.
But Ji You didn't snap out of it; instead, she started staring straight ahead.
At this moment, before him stood a girl in an ancient red dress, her bare feet exposed, looking at him silently.
The gaze in those beautiful eyes was extremely cold and arrogant, yet there seemed to be a hint of coquettishness within that arrogance.
Just then, her lips parted slightly, and she uttered two words, but no sound came out.
Ji You had never learned lip reading and didn't know how to read other people's words by looking at their mouths, but he could understand those two words from her mouth.
scoundrel...
Suddenly, Ji You's eyes changed, and he suddenly threw a punch at the silent dormitory in front of him.
boom!!!!!
As the force of the tiger's roar and dragon's cry was unleashed, everything in front of him—the bed, the table, his roommates, and even the lights outside the window—was shattered into pieces.
Then came a dense, ethereal darkness, thick and sticky like glue, which swept over him fiercely and bound him within it in an instant.
Seeing this, Ji You threw another heavy punch, opening up an arm's length in front of him, and finally turned his fist into a palm, tearing the void in front of him apart.
Then he took another step, threw another punch, and began to move forward continuously.
He didn't forget a story; he forgot a part of his life.
how so?
He was clearly on the path to enlightenment, so why did he suddenly become immersed in a mirage, almost having his soul destroyed?
What about now?
Where is he now?
How is Fengzhou doing? What about his girls? The arrogant girl, Yuan Caiwei, and also Yuan Chen, Kuang Cheng, and Nie Xi—how are they doing?
Thinking of all this, Ji You couldn't help but angrily punch the darkness in front of her, smashing it to pieces.
But he was too weak, and in an instant, the dense darkness swept in again, no longer just engulfing him, but more like crushing him.
Ji You felt as if a mountain was pressing down on her, and her whole body was making popping noises.
The excruciating pain pierced his heart, causing him to fall heavily to the ground and preventing him from moving forward.
At the same time, endless distracting thoughts began to assault him, like needles constantly pricking his mind.
Ji You tensed up, trembling, then suddenly got up and threw another punch forward.
In an instant, the endless, viscous darkness began to surge wildly, pressing down on him relentlessly.
"Young master, it's time to go home."
“Brother Ji, it’s the New Year again. There was a lot of snowfall this year, but it didn’t cause any disaster. Wei Rui and I are spending the New Year here today. If you come back, please come and visit us.”
“Young master, the New Year is here, and the appraiser doesn’t dare to come to see you. She’s hiding in the quiet hut and crying. But don’t worry, she and Si’er are both fine.”
New Yuan? How could it be so fast? And who is Si'er?
Ji You didn't know where the sounds were coming from, but she still forced herself to sit up and continued throwing punches forward...
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(End of this chapter)
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