Chapter 11 (1/2)
There was a peculiar look on Zhou Quan's face. He looked somewhat faltered and bashful. There was something on the tip of his tongue, but he seemed reluctant to let it out.
Then, with a silly simpering look, Zhou Quan nudged Chu Feng lightly with his knee and quietly whispered, ”Do you reckon that the person who had grown a full pair of wings would soar and hover in the blue sky?”
”Maybe.” Chu Feng nodded, then he felt a bit amused. ”It's not you who became the winged creature reported in the news, so why did you look all faltered and shy?”
”Don't you remember that I also have one of those glittering red fruits I took from a weed?” Zhou Quan carefully unwrapped a paper ball as he spoke. Inside was that stalk of weed that had been dug out earlier. Its fist-sized fruit was like a beautifully wrought carved agate with a rich aroma.
”If I put my life on the line and nibble away this fruit, what do you think I can grow?” Zhou Quan asked. Now, he looked even more s.h.i.+lly-shally than before.
This time, Chu Feng did not crack a smile, instead he had a solemn expression on his face. This would not have been much of a deal if they had never learnt about the potential of such a fruit. Now as they looked at it, they realized how much of a transformative metamorphism it could bring.
”I reckon we should wait for more updates on that winged man in the future. We need to be certain about any potential risks that a.s.sociate with it,” Chu Feng said.
”What an aromatic fruit you have there. What fruit is it?” asked the middle-aged man who had offered them the ride.
The car was speeding away from that small town, flying on the highway towards the end of the horizon.
”It's a wild fruit. No ideas what species it belongs to, so I don't really dare to eat it myself,” Zhou Quan answered.
Indeed, Zhou Quan dared not to eat it. Just in case that what would grow on him was eventually not a wing, but rather some horns or tails, by then, he wouldn't even have the chance to regret it.
”Right. Don't eat it if you don't know about it. Nothing could be more troublesome than food poisoning at a time like this,” the middle-aged chauffeur kindly reminded, then, he gave vent to a deep sigh.
He was worried about his family.
h.e.l.l seemed to have broken loose almost overnight. Strange occurrences cropped up almost everywhere across the country. Especially after personally experiencing it, he had never been so terrified in his life before. He only wished to get home as soon as he could, so throughout the journey, the car seemed to be going at a lightning speed.
One had to admit that this middle-aged man drove quite adroitly. The ride felt alarmingly dangerous, yet the thrill it brought was unparalleled by even the wildest adventure. It was quite an experience, but not much for Zhou Quan.
”Impressive! What a breathtaking joyride! Woo Hoo!” But soon, the continual jolting, rocking and tossing made Zhou Quan realize that this was not the thrill his body wanted. Carsickness soon developed into nausea and retching. He then gradually fell into a torpor.
The car was moving in full throttle. Even Chu Feng felt a bit dizzy by looking through the window at the speedily receding scenery outside. He was worried that driving so fast might lead to a severe accident.
He looked back and saw that bush of verdant vines still shrouded the vastness of the sky. Despite hours of speedy advance on the country road, they were still under the watch of this enormous cl.u.s.ter of vines.
It was suspending in mid-air. Its main body was kept distant to the ground. It looked like a green castle of sky-high stature. At the same time, it also looked like the outline of an undulating mountain range, grand and magnificent.
Deity Biomedical Group... what a name! Chu Feng mused. He used to think that this name might have just been randomly blurted out by Lin Naoi's father when he was in his high and vigorous spirits.
Now as he thought about it, he realized that the name might have carried certain specific implications beneath it. Judging by Lin Naoi's strange demeanors at times, he firmly believed that this family must have some insights into the truth that had been hidden away from the general public. She must have been antic.i.p.ating something otherworldly to happen for a long time.
He finally comprehended that uniform look of indifference and aloofness on the faces of all her family members when all he wanted was to kiss her goodbye after graduation. It was the look of despise and contempt, and it was also his status as an ordinary outsider that made him unworthy of any forms of interaction with Lin Naoi. In the end, all he deserved was a wave of hand to farewell what had never belonged to him.
”What's the matter brother? Why do you look so dumbstruck?” Zhou Quan asked as he saw Chu Feng staring out of the window with unseeing eyes.
”Thinking about my ex,” Chu Feng thoughtlessly blurted out.
”Did you break up with her? And now in a train of regret?” Zhou Quan asked with a smile.
”No. It was her. She broke up with me,” Chu Feng answered forthrightly and honestly. To him, it was nothing disgraceful to be frank about it.
”Did you let go of it so fast?” Zhou Quan was surprised then began to wail mournfully. For him, his first love could never be deleted from memory easily. He was all heart-broken for almost two years. He felt that he could never let this die in his memory. His latest visit to Tibet was to actually cherish the memory of his first love and to let go of all his grief and misery.
”She had always been flat with me,” Chu Feng replied, ”There wasn't even a high incidence of us walking abreast. It had started plain as water, and then it ended in a prosaic way.”
”Why? What happened between the two of you?” Zhou Quan curiously asked.
Chu Feng shook his head wearily. He had let it out, but understandably, he was also coy about the details of his insipid romance. He wanted to say no more.
At last, after hundreds of li of endless journey, the middle-aged man was nearing home. Chu Feng and Zhou Quan could no longer take this lift. They had to be dropped off somewhere before their destination.
”Those vines are out of sight now!” Zhou Quan realized that the blue sky was no longer clouded by the overgrowth of vines. This out-of-darkness moment made him feel ever so relieved.
Under the shade of the overbearing vines, there was an inexpressible feeling of constraint.
Half an hour later, they entered a neighboring city. They came to an inter-city bus station where they would then catch a bus heading northwards towards Taihang Mountains.
After the bus had been successfully dispatched, they felt a burst of ease and relief. They had been fearing that the current situation might perhaps hinder the buses from dispatching, but now it proved that their worry was redundant.
”To me, it is highly likely that this area has not encountered any strange occurrences so far. I think all the strangeness was only happening in that particular part that we just went through. I reckon everything that has happened so far was all thanks to that cl.u.s.ter of vines overhead!” Zhou Quan seemed indignant.
This coach's final destination was a metropolis in the north that had been the ancient capital of six dynasties.
During its trip, it would stop by the foot of Taihang Mountains.
”If everything goes as planned, we will get home before the sun sets,” Chu Feng said.
There were only eight hundred li between that northern metropolis and where they departed, so even if they ran into a congested traffic, they would still arrive before the sun set.
Strange things occurred in succession at many places, so naturally, these occurrences became the most discussed topic in the coach.
”It is said that missiles have been used to bombard some of the stuff that have been floating in s.p.a.ce.”
”Yeah, I heard about that too. But I'm yet see any official reports from a reliable source, so I can't decide if this rumor is trustworthy or just bogus.”
The voices of debate in the coach were all in a muddle. Discussions were mixed with a jumble of different opinions.
Chu Feng and Zhou Quan looked at each other at a loss for words. They had immediately come to think about that vine-like plant floating in mid-air. They thought it was crucial to bombard it at once.
Time flew as the coach smoothly drove on.
Zhou Quan sighed. He tried to search for more news on his communicator, but his search was futile until he finally found a picture of the winged man. It was him being picked up by the staff from the Deity Biomedical Group.
That was his last sighting. No more follow up reports could be found after that.