Madness ecstasy

"Maybe it's just that this dream has spread so widely that we're a little behind on the news."

"Don't worry. Ruan is fine. I've found a way to help her. She should be able to move again soon!"

"We can find some time to visit the psychiatric department on the weekend! There should be some clues in that meditation class."

Ai Xi scratched his forearm unconsciously, leaving several bloody marks in the blink of an eye:

"Maybe it's a deliberate trap designed to lead you to investigate in that direction?"

"Why don't we just wait and see what happens—what do you think?"

"I'm trying to figure out how to open up some channels for obtaining intelligence. Let's talk about it tomorrow! We have new recruits tomorrow, so I'll go back and rest."

-

After saying goodbye to Ai Xi, Dou Dou spent a long while wandering around the Taro King at the school gate:

There are still long queues of students and office workers, almost pushing their way out of the curb; everything is normal.

Doudou is a big fan of fried foods, but he prefers them filled with meat—red or white meat: fried chicken, fried pork chops, fried fish. So, he only eats taro cakes occasionally.

Ai Xi didn't even attend the last class. It seemed like he went to Taro King to discuss sponsorship. I don't know if he got it.

But her grades were indeed surprisingly good, and she even often represented the school in some strange competitions: the class teacher usually didn't say anything about such things.

The pager in the backpack didn't make any noise or flash; Doudou just assumed that Ai Xi was fine.

[Taro King] is no different from when I went to school this morning—it seems that even if Doudou smashed the Taro King in his dream with a slap at noon, it wouldn't bankrupt this snack shop in reality:

"Well, it seems there's no such thing as a God of Wealth version of Freddy."

After wandering around for a while, Doudou realized that even if there was any mystery, he couldn't see it; so he obediently went into the alley next to the school and prepared to walk home.

As soon as he turned in, Doudou saw the old homeless man who often picked up trash near the school.

-

Doudou was deeply impressed by this old man - last semester he often saw him hiding in the shade in the corner, leaning against a bulging woven bag, reading novels and magazines that had been read torn apart.

Most of the books he read were about fairy tales and supernatural stories: "The Legend of Swordsman of Mount Shu", "The Hidden Hero of the Southern Ming Dynasty", and "Purple Lightning and Blue Frost". The covers were either rolled up or falling off, the pages were yellower than his front teeth, and the edges were full of gaps and creases.

But at this moment, the old man was rarely not immersed in the ocean of books - he sat on the steps beside the brick wall, holding his head with both hands, and at his feet was the tattered umbrella that he usually used as a crutch.

His face was twisted into a knot, with wrinkles all over it; he was muttering to himself: I don't know if he was troubled by some inexplicable worries.

Doudou pulled out a bottle of mineral water from the side pocket of his schoolbag - he used to give the empty plastic bottles to the old man after school.

It’s not that Dou Dou was too lazy to take a few more steps and throw the plastic bottle into the trash can; but he thought that this was also a way of helping others.

Doudou himself doesn't have much free time to collect cans and plastic bottles to earn some pocket money.

He walked to the side of the homeless old man, and only when he could hear the buzzing of mosquitoes and the acid smell filling his nostrils did he hear what the toothless old man was saying:

"--As a mortal being, am I not destined to be a god? Why? On what basis?--Am I not destined to be an immortal? Or, or am I only able to save others but not myself?"

Although he had a strange accent, Doudou could still understand the old man's Mandarin:

Oh! So he's working on a book report or reflection. Life is full of learning.

Doudou couldn't help but admire the old man's eagerness to learn, and at the same time felt a little ashamed for not going home quickly to do his homework. He hurriedly and carefully approached and placed the mineral water bottle at his feet.

Click.

With the sound of a plastic bottle falling to the ground, the homeless old man suddenly raised his face and looked directly at Doudou: the whites of his eyes were so turbid that they were almost like amber, and were full of bloodshot.

The loose eyelids drooped down, making the old man's eyes look like two thin slits.

"Hey, hey. Student. Hey, we've met before: Hmm? You want to - you want to see if you have any affinity with immortality?"

Doudou looked around—he was the only one here; the old man was indeed talking to him:

"Ah? Me? No, no, no. I don't like this kind of stuff. Didn't I tell you last time?"

But this [last time] probably dates back to several months ago.

The homeless old man simply ignored Doudou's answer. He didn't know if he was trying to squint or just blink:

"Ah, ah. I've seen you before. You're kind-hearted, well, you must have a destiny with the immortals—I've saved many people: tomorrow, tomorrow—tomorrow I'll come to help you, tomorrow—I'll save more people."

He lowered his head and tucked it between his knees; his soliloquy became a duller hum.

【Well--】

Dou Dou shrugged: I don’t know if it’s because of the change in seasons and the temperature, but I always feel like everyone seems to be overwhelmed by the heat.

"Then I'll be leaving first. Don't read at this hour. It's too dark and bad for your eyes."

He left the huddled old man behind; by the time he walked out of the alley, Doudou had already forgotten this conversation.

-

Doudou finished most of his homework with a gloomy face that night, leaving some for the next day's school to copy - no, to learn from his classmates' achievements - and then reluctantly went to bed:

The pager that Ai Xi gave me was silent and obedient.

This night was another dreamless sleep. I didn’t dream about [Taro King] or other classmates.

-

The next morning, Doudou went to class as usual:

But the difference was that the old man who picked up trash was actually waiting for him in the alley.

Although it was early in the morning, groups of students were already walking through the alley.

The homeless old man carried a large woven bag on his back. The bulging ends made it look like a huge gourd covered with strange patterns.

Even in late summer, the old man wore layers of dirty clothes, T-shirts and sweaters covered with patched suit jackets that had even more holes in them:

Passersby walked around him because flies surrounded him, almost forming a black cloud - the smell was like someone flushing the toilet with old vinegar, but the water wouldn't go down.

"Huh? Old man, what are you doing today?"

The homeless man limped, holding the umbrella, and staggered slowly:

"Hey hey. Boy: Come here."

Doudou swatted away the swarm of insects dancing in front of his face with his palm. After a moment's thought, he fished out a few coins from the outer pocket of his schoolbag.

"What's wrong? Are you hungry? Oh, let me give you some money: do you want to try that Taro King?"

The homeless old man scratched his shiny, sticky hair:

"Yesterday, I said you wanted to see if you had a chance to become an immortal, didn't you?"

"So I think, I want to say, today is just the right day. It's just the right day to help you ascend."

"Someone wants to offer me Dharma, wealth, companions, and land: as long as I can save you"

He suddenly raised his voice, his voice sharp, and brandished his broken umbrella as if it were a sword:

"But I said, I said no! No need at all!"

"Because you—you already have a destiny with immortality. I knew it at once."

Doudou pulled his chin back, but didn't dare open his mouth too wide for fear of letting bugs fly in.

"what?!"

Doudou suddenly felt that since the end of summer vacation, everyone he met was saying crazy things that he couldn’t understand: Is there some crazy disease spreading in Mong Cai City?

"Come, come. I can't ascend by myself, but I can help others."

The homeless old man staggered over, even throwing away his umbrella; he stretched out his hand towards Doudou, which was covered with stains and had a black skin color.

Doudou looked at the sincerity on the old man's face, which could not be concealed by wrinkles or dirt; it was pure kindness:

"Then I'll shake your hand—just once."

He shook his head, stretched out his hands, and held the other's dirty fingers.

The next moment:

Doudou didn't even feel the rough touch, but the palm disappeared.

In fact, the alley next to the school, the birdsong and voices in the morning, the stench of the old man were all gone.

Doudou was pretty sure he didn't blink, but everything changed.

He still maintained the handshake posture, but his feet had no foothold: the broken blue bricks and moss in the alley had turned into air.

call--

The strong wind howled and pulled at the body.

The air suddenly rushed into the trouser legs along the trouser legs, blowing the trousers into the puffy shape.

Doudou seemed to be in a deep blue world - the blue was tinged with white because there were cotton-like clouds floating everywhere; the sunlight was more dazzling than ever before, and the air was swirling.

"Wow?!"

“It’s flying!!”

As soon as Doudou opened his mouth, air rushed into his mouth, distorting his voice; his hair flew upwards.

boom.

In the distance there was a bird like an airplane, accompanied by a rumbling thunder—no, it was an airplane.

He opened his eyes wide: below the clouds was a curved, miniature cityscape; tiny buildings formed a square, and in the distance were rolling mountains.

"Wow--"

【Oh, I'm not flying. 】

I was no longer in the alley next to the school, but thousands of miles high in the sky:

And it's falling.

I've been busy with work lately and haven't gotten much sleep. If I haven't updated, please don't worry~

Chapter 115: City Expansion

"Aa ...

Doudou faced the distant earth - the air flow filled his mouth, making his lips and cheeks puffy.

He made a strange sound, smashing through and breaking up layer after layer of clouds:

This is so fun. Is this what it feels like to fly?

So this is considered [Ascension]? I'm definitely flying; but it feels like—I feel like that old man made some mistake.

With a swimming-like splash, he turned over - toward the zenith:

At an altitude of ten thousand meters, Mom and Dad’s faces seemed closer.

They are like a cluster of stars that have come too close to the Earth, with their pores becoming craters.

Doudou had never noticed before that there were so many mountain-like acne on his mother's face; each one was high and bulging, stretching and undulating, like the Himalayas.

The hair on my dad's mole is almost as big as a giant fir tree. I wonder how many people would need to hug it together.

"Hey! Hey hey! Can you hear me?!" Doudou waved his hands; "Speak louder! I can't hear you!"

His hearing seemed to be "squashed", and Doudou felt like he was in a huge hair dryer and his hair would never dry.

Mouths opened and closed, nostrils flared; these thousands of mouths, as long as the East African Rift Valley, were constantly opening and closing.

They seemed to be trapped in an eternal frenzy, or as if they had eaten devil peppers and had no water to drink; their twisting almost became high-frequency vibrations, and their connected faces kept rising and falling, causing waves of surging waves.

Judging from their facial expressions, some of the parents’ faces were roaring and yelling, some were murmuring and whispering; some were crying, some were laughing wildly, some were dazed and deathly pale, and some were biting their lips - all of them were stuck together.

The distance is closer than on the ground, but.

[I still can’t hear you.]

There was only the sound of air whirring in my ears, like the rumbling of thunder; but I could not hear a single sound coming from those faces.

Doudou was a little disappointed: he didn't expect that even though he was so high in the sky, he still couldn't catch a word his parents said.

「Oh, forget it. Wow! Don’t delay me and be late──」

I haven’t copied the homework yet!

Thinking of this, Doudou no longer cared about continuing to experience this rare parachute-less skydiving: