Chapter 1: Are You From The Underworld? (2/2)
After his hopes turned into dust, Liu Shuai actually taught himself to be a programmer after graduation. Everyone would have a sympathetic look when they saw him. What they thought was that, IT work did take a lot of mind, so look, Liu Shuai only graduated a few years ago and now all his hair fell off.
”How much further away is it?” The scenery was pleasant, but looking at it for a long time was also somewhat boring. I couldn't help but ask, ”How about Zhou Yuan tell a story?”
”Alright,” Zhou Yuan said as he drove. ”Then I'll tell an extremely long story that will last until we reach our destination.”
”Okay, okay,” I said, trying to listen.
”Once upon a time, there was a mountain. On the mountain, there was a temple. In the temple, there was an old monk telling a story. What story was that?” Zhou Yuan laughed and lectured, ”In the past, there was a mountain, and on the mountain there was a temple, and in the temple there was an old monk, who was currently —”
”Stop!” Before I could say anything, Liu Shuai interrupted Zhou Yuan, ”You are telling the story of this death cycle, and don't even mention until we reach our destination, you can continue telling it all the way until the end day of the earth without stopping.”
”Haha,” Zhou Yuan couldn't help but laugh, ”I wasn't lying. See, haven't we already arrive just like that?”
The car ferociously turned its head and entered a verdant mountain forest with many villas. There were birds flying in the mountains from time to time. Since it was still early, there was still a bit of fog on the mountain.
”The mountain is more secluded while the birds are singing!” After getting out of the car, I took a deep breath of cool air and sighed.
”Don't be emotional. Let's enter the villa,” Zhou Yuan stopped the car, signalled for us to take our things, and got the hotel's attendants to open the door for us.
This was a typical hotel villa, you can cook in the villa, and you can ask the local people to do it, or do it yourself. The so-called wild game was probably a ”half-family” type that the locals grew in the mountains for tourists to hunt, but it was somewhat different from the one found in the breeding grounds.
”Brother Wang, you're really awesome. We have a lot of food to eat tonight!” As I was about to go in, I suddenly heard a burst of laughter that sounded like silver bells coming from not too far away. Looking for the source of the sound, I saw three men and a woman walking over, one of them was carrying a few wild rabbits, while the other two were carrying bags, and the woman was dressed very neatly, looking at me. They were also looking in our direction, but the woman's eyes just saw me and frowned slightly, thinking of something, and her expression flickered for a moment. Zhou Yuan also heard it and came out to greet them:
”Sister Lan, it's you!”
While I was hesitating, Zhou Yuan called me, ”Hao Ning, let me introduce you” and I could only go over. ”This is Sister Lan, a foodie like me. Sister Lan, this is Hao Ning, my colleagues. Sister Lan, these are?”
I took a closer look at these people. I couldn't tell how old Sister Lan was, but the rest of them looked simple and honest. It was obvious that they didn't talk much. Sister Lan interrupted Zhou Yuan's words and said, ”These are a few of my friends, and they also like the air and the wild game here. Look —” She pointed at the rabbit in one of the person's hand, which didn't seem to be dead, and even flopped down a little from time to time, ”Tonight, we'll have something good to eat. Will you join us? We also have something else.”
”How can I accept this,” Zhou Yuan laughed, ”No gains without pains.”
”There's no need to be polite. We will go and clean up first. This is your villa, right? We will talk about your matters later,” Sister Lan smiled at me, which was considered polite, at the same time she pointed at the villa next to ours while she was speaking to Zhou Yuan, ”This is our villa, we will talk about it later.”
”Um,” When Zhou Yuan heard this, he laughed a little unnaturally, ”Is it actually true?”
”Of course, foolish boy. You finally got lucky,” Sister Lan laughed happily and turned to leave.
”What is it?” I felt that it was a little strange. Looking at Sister Lan's back figure, I asked Zhou Yuan, ”Do you need her for something?”
”It's fine...” Zhou Yuan seemed to be replying to me, but it also seemed that he was muttering to himself. ”Maybe I'm going to go lucky.”
In the afternoon, we were chatting and playing cards in a few rooms. Midway, Zhou Yuan said that he had something he wanted to find Sister Lan for, and when he returned, he calmly came back and told us that he would eat dinner with Sister Lan. We teased him and asked if he had taken Sister Lan down, and Zhou Yuan said goodbye with a reddened face.
”Sigh, Hao Ning …” Zhou Yuan sneakily ran over and showed me his phone, ”What do you think of the design of this map?”
”What? It's already the weekend and you still don't want people to get a good rest?” I snappily took his phone, but when my eyes looked at the screen, I was unable to shift my gaze away from it. The design of this map was extremely high level, no matter if it was in terms of color, layout, or even the details, they could be described as perfect. I was worried that I alone would not be able to make a correct judgement, so I handed the phone over to Liu Shuai.
”Alright you brat!” I praised as I returned the phone back to Zhou Yuan, ”Your appreciation level is great. If you can find such an exquisite map, and copy it according to this level, our director will definitely praise you!”
”Yes, yes,” Liu Shuai nodded his head in agreement as he pointed to the diagram. ”Look at the designer, if you had this level, no, one-third of that level, you wouldn't be ridiculed by everyone.” Saying that, Liu Shuai laughed bitterly, ”It's not because I'm talking about you, but Zhou Yuan, the pictures that you design are really not good enough in our project team, and sometimes, I have to say a few words about you.”
”Go to the hell!” Zhou Yuan curled his lips, ”This is the map that I made earlier, okay?”
Liu Shuai was currently admiring the map. After hearing Zhou Yuan's words, he laughed out loud, touching his forehead, pulling his face: ”Have you lost your mind? Or did some great designer wear Zhou Yuan's mask to fool us? Don't we know what level you are? Did you forget the other night, our programmer brothers thought that your drawing was too bad, and scolded you so much that you had to work all night long to change your drawing? ”
My heart sank as I thought: Liu Shuai, why do you bring up the topic and talk about it over the weekend?
Since Zhou Yuan's design was really unsightly, it was often disdained by the project team's programmers, that made him difficult to get off the stage. But when a designer was told that his drawing was too bad, it would be considered a great insult to him. If Liu Shuai said this now, it really could cause the atmosphere to turn awkward.
Unexpectedly, Zhou Yuan didn't mind at all: ”That's the me of the past, and I'm no longer the me of the past. From now on, my design will forever live in your hearts.”
Nothing had happened. Liu Shuai seemed to not have a good appetite. He only ate a few vegetables, but he didn't eat any meat at all. We even laughed at this baldy for treating himself like a monk.
It was getting dark after dinner. They were going to take a hot spring bath, and I had some work to do, so I went back to my room and planned to catch up quickly.
”Today's data is relatively normal,” I said to myself, looking down at the computer.
Just as I said that, the lights in the room suddenly flickered, as though they were in contact with something bad. I raised my head to look at the lights, and suddenly, a man appeared on the sofa in front of me. He was handsome, but his face was pale, as though he had been staring at me for a long time and was smiling at me!
”Ah!” My scalp went numb, and I felt like I was about to explode. I had heard about stealing things while people were asleep in hotels, but I didn't expect someone to come here before I fell asleep! I couldn't help but shout, ”Who are you!? What do you want? ”
I quickly picked up the notebook, intending to throw it at him as he approached me.
”Don't you know me? Have you forgotten that you wrote an story about our meeting and chatting that night in your wechat post?”
”Ah? Wechat post? I? Wrote an story?” I stared at him, ”Is it 'The Devil Visits Mr. Hao Ning'? That story was just a dream. Are you really a demon? ”
”What devil? Don't spout nonsense! According to what I have heard, I am the person in charge of souls transmigration in the Greater China Region, and my name is Yan,” he took out a name card and was about to stand up and give it to me, but he was stopped by the look in my eyes.
”Don't try to fool me. Just tell me what do you want?” I stared at him, worried about my own safety, grabbed my notebook and said, ”I won't sell. I won't buy insurance. I won't lend. I only have 500 yuan in cash,and you can have this computer, but you have to let me back up the stuff inside first, and this phone —”
”Alright, alright, I don't want your things. This time, I came to collect a soul and since you're here, I came to visit you …” He stood up and put his hands in his pockets. He took out a small bottle that was glowing brightly, but not clearly. ”Look, it's a soul.” He waved the bottle at me.
”... You can starve yourself to death by lying like that. ” I looked at him with disdain, ”Your scam is on par with Master Wang. Why don't you change into a snake and let me see?”
He smiled awkwardly and scratched his head before walking over to me. ”I forgot one thing. You still can't see this.”
”What are you doing!” I screamed and clutched my notebook, ready to strike at any moment.
”The awake you are much more stubborn than the sleeping you are. I really don't know why it's you …” He frowned and snapped his fingers, and I realized I couldn't move.
This time, he grabbed my hand, placed it on his forehead, and said with extreme coldness, ”Follow me and chant this line — — Borrow Me Your Mana!”
”Borrow Me Your Mana?” I realized that I could speak, so I couldn't help but ask, ”What are you talking about?”
Just as I said that, I saw the whole room become unreal. The light emitted by the bottle in his hand gradually shrank and gathered into the bottle. It gradually turned into the appearance of a small person.
As the outline of the little person became clearer, I felt that it was getting colder and colder. My teeth couldn't help but shiver because I saw that the little person was also crying as he looked at me. He was someone I'm very familiar with. It was Zhou Yuan!