Winter Returns

Chapter 250 "Appearance"

Zhang Shutong walked into the photo studio, a two-story building, while the first floor was empty and deserted.

They offer a wide range of services, including ID photos, artistic photos, birthday photos, and even have a photocopier, but they don't sell cameras.

At this point, having a mobile phone is a luxury, let alone a camera, but for me now, I don't care whether it's for sale or not, as long as I have this kind of thing, that's enough.

Zhang Shutong picked up the camera on the counter, quickly figured out its functions, and snapped a photo.

It actually works!

This discovery surprised him somewhat. He had tried it with his phone before, but the photos disappeared after he took them. Thinking about it carefully, the first iPhone hadn't even been released yet, so it would be strange if it were still usable.

He checked the video recording function again, picked up the camera, and walked out the door.

Zhang Shutong arrived at the lake shore, pointed his camera at the lake surface, and then zoomed in again and again. He couldn't find a telescope, so he had to use this method to observe the distant lake surface.

He looked for a while, but couldn't find the fishing boat that Lu Mu had rowed. A few days ago, he wished it would disappear forever, but a few days later, he hoped the boat would return to the shore on its own.

Zhang Shutong couldn't wait any longer; every second he delayed would worsen the situation. Rather than trying to uncover the deepest secret, he should first do what he could.

His interference in this world is becoming increasingly profound. He figured rowing wouldn't be too difficult, so he planned to wait until he touched Lu Qinglian and then pull her onto the boat to leave.

Perhaps this dream world only consists of this island; once we leave the island, it will be the same as waking up.

But he couldn't find the boat he had untied; in fact, there wasn't a single boat on the entire lake.

Zhang Shutong sighed inwardly, pressed the shutter of his camera, just to record the location. The lake was very large, and he planned to search along the lake.

It seems a bit overexposed.

He covered the screen to adjust the camera settings, and after a moment he pressed the shutter. Finally, he could see the shimmering water and a reflection on it.

Reflection...

That was my own shadow.

Zhang Shutong was stunned for a moment. It wasn't strange that he had a shadow, but what was strange was that his shadow could actually be photographed.
Zhang Shutong immediately reversed her grip on the camera and took a selfie.

This time he saw his own face.

Even Zhang Shutong was unsure now, because when he was with Lu Qinglian before, he had never seen a camera or any electronic device, let alone one, and he didn't know if it could be recorded by such a thing.

What if we return the camera?

He instinctively wondered if his boss would see his photo.

Zhang Shutong's mind was in a mess. Before he could figure it out, everything went black. When he opened his eyes again, it was the afternoon in his office. He subconsciously looked at his hands, but they were empty. The camera was nowhere to be seen. What was going on? Zhang Shutong wondered with a headache.

However, the teacher might also have a camera here? He looked around his workstation but couldn't find the camera. Instead, he saw a stack of sketchbooks, the first one with Lu Qinglian's name on it.

He remembered that art and music were the last classes of the morning, which meant that the assignments had not been handed in for long.

The first assignment was actually the last one to be handed in, and to be honest, Zhang Shutong has no idea what she's thinking.

He rarely heard Lu Qinglian speak anymore, as if she had already said everything she could say that night. Apart from the temple, when she sometimes had a few necessary exchanges with her grandmother, it was usually the grandmother instructing her to do something.

She was even colder than when we first met.

These past few days he's been running around outside, and he still doesn't know what's going on with Lu Qinglian at school. Sometimes Zhang Shutong can't help but want to go and see her, but he keeps telling himself it's all a dream. Even if he really has something to say, he'll say it to Lu Qinglian in real life after he wakes up. Besides, nothing can be changed in a dream. But he still can't help but open his sketchbook and turn to the latest page. He thought he would see a blank page, but instead, there was a green snake. He flipped through the pages below, and there were all sorts of drawings. The title seemed to be "hope," but there was only one snake in her sketchbook.

Zhang Shutong didn't know what Lu Qinglian would draw in the future. She might just casually draw a circle to represent an apple, and then spend her spare time reviewing Lu Qinglian's exam papers and reading her books.
He belatedly realized that Lu Qinglian was now a temple keeper, and he wondered if she was the youngest temple keeper in history. Although she didn't wear a green robe yet, sometimes he could hear her grandmother standing beside her, reciting some words of reverence for the gods. She would lower her eyes and remember them. There were also some words that the old woman spoke in an obscure way, but Zhang Shutong could understand that she was meant to become a competent temple keeper in the future.

Zhang Shutong glanced at it for a few seconds and was about to leave when the computer on his desk beeped and the screen lit up. A penguin was flashing in the lower left corner of the screen. QQ was still a very trendy thing. Zhang Shutong had already turned around, but suddenly a thought popped into his head:
Since a camera can capture your face, if you send a message on QQ, will the person on the other end receive it?
Without hesitation, and thankfully the computer wasn't locked, he grabbed the keyboard, didn't check who the other person was or what they said, and quickly typed:

"Can you see it?"

Zhang Shutong held his breath; this would determine the next step of the plan. Time ticked by, and finally, four words appeared in the chat box:
"what happened to you?"

Zhang Shutong's heart skipped a beat. Suppressing his excitement, and just in case, he deliberately typed:

"It's nothing, I was just causing trouble."

This time, the other party sent a question mark directly. Zhang Shutong took a deep breath, not caring about looking at the computer anymore. His first thought was how to attract Lu Qinglian's attention. Secondly, he was puzzled about what was going on. People in this world could not see him, but his photos and messages left traces... etc. Zhang Shutong suddenly felt breathless.

Really, can't you see it?
He had "woke up" again, but since he got the photos in the morning, he hadn't seen anyone, so there was no way to verify it. Zhang Shutong knew that his "recovery" was completely unpredictable; he might open his eyes and grab a few pieces of bubble gum, or he might be back to normal.

It's afternoon, at school, in the teacher's office.

He jumped up and was about to run out of the office when everything went black again.

Zhang Shutong stood up, clutching his forehead. The continuous jumping had made his head ache, even more so than the feeling of rewinding. He patted his face, only to find that it was already dark.

He was standing on the path leading up the mountain, but there wasn't a soul in sight around him.

It wasn't unfamiliar; it was the mountain path he took every day on his way back to the mountain. He started walking towards the temple. The night grew deeper, but he couldn't find Lu Qinglian's figure. Zhang Shutong walked a little too fast—he usually didn't pay much attention to the path when he went up the mountain, focusing only on speed, because he could pass through all obstacles directly. Not far ahead was a big tree with dry branches that reached up to a person's chest. He hurried over, but then hissed and covered his face.

Zhang Shutong raised his hand, and a red mark appeared on his palm; his face had been cut.

(End of this chapter)