Chapter 262 - Back to the Future (1/2)

Our party of three young men and six female ghosts walked through the wormhole rimmed with sparkling lights that shone like diamonds. The familiar scene and sensation moved Lin Feng to tears. He wiped his wet eyes, gasping, “Oh, my God! I really thought we would be trapped forever in the past! I’m so relieved that we’re back!”

Recovering from the shock and consternation, we found ourselves in an empty stairwell. Lin Feng rubbed a hand on the steel railing and felt a hand emotionally on the wall peeling with paint. “It’s true,” his eyes were ringed scarlet and wet and he said, “We’re really back! Steel railings and heating radiator, oh!” Lin Feng had always longed to return since we stepped into the past. We had spent such a long time there that we were beginning to forget how modern-day Wu Zhong looked like.

I left Lin Feng to his histrionic revels about returning to the present and began looking around. It had been so long and we were losing touch with modern society that there was this surrealistic sensation to being here. Half of my mind was still in the past while another half was struggling to attune myself to the surroundings. Yet, I was certain of one thing: we have come to this building before. Something about this stairway seemed oddly familiar although I could not put it how. Xiao Qi darted up the stairs, complaining, “Where are we?! It’s terrible here! Open your gourd, Shiyan! Let us go back in!” I could only open the gourd and whisk all six of the Ghostly Sisters back into my Spirit Gourd.

Chongxi was stroking his chin, talking to himself absentmindedly, “Heh heh heh… Amazing, Qiaoyu, you sly bastard!” I slapped the back of his head. Clearly, Chongxi was still stuck in the past and had not yet realized that we were back in the future. He gave me a stunned look, uttering a surprised “Ah”.

I patted Lin Feng. “Enough fretting, Lin Feng. Help me find out where we are! This place looks very familiar!” We looked at each other and began looking around, but to no avail. Not only we knew nothing about how long had time passed in the present, but our awareness about Time had also become obscured. Yet if there was one thing I was certain of, it would be that we were not in Father’s National Studies Institute.

Just when we were at a complete loss of what to do, a man came into view, turning the corner into the corridor that stretched from the stairway, guzzling down a cup of noodles hungrily with his crude, lascivious eating sounds echoing off the walls. Chongxi saw him and giggled. “Look! I was just talking about Qiaoyu, and now we have our modern Qiaoyu coming our way!”

The man chomping ravenously on his cup noodles was our friend, Zheng Shuang! He looked absolutely tired and he had not realized us standing in the stairway until he noticed us waving at him. He choked and coughed and a tiny strand of noodles peeked cloddishly from his nostrils. He coughed and coughed again until we walked up to him and I patted his back to help ease the discomfort. “Come on, there’s no need for such a surprise! Look at you!”

Zheng Shuang tugged the wretched string of noodles out of his nose and grabbed at both my sleeves, screaming with his eyes brimming with tears, “Shiyan! You’re finally here! Oh, my God! You don’t know how terrible I have been!” I stared at him, not knowing if the tears were coming from his vehement emotions or the noodles that nearly choked him.

“Why are you like this?” I chuckled. “Something went wrong when we’re away?” Zheng Shuang nodded quickly. “Did anyone saw you guys coming in?” I shook my head. “You’re the first person we’ve seen since coming in.” Bobbing his head, he dragged us all into his office.

His strange behavior left us all confused and puzzled. Why are we sneaking around like thieves? This is the Wu Zhong police station! A Captain of the Criminal Investigations Division sneaking suspiciously like a thief! We must have been so long away that either our minds are going haywire or Zheng Shuang’s mind is! An annoyed Chongxi asked, “What is it with you, Zheng Shuang? What are you doing? What’s going on?”

Zheng Shuang dove to the windows to check if anyone was watching. Satisfied that the coast was clear, he drew the curtains and finally slammed his cup noodles on his desk. “Where have you been? For an entire week, you lot have been missing! Do you even know what happened here?!”