"I think I understand what you mean."
In the bright convenience store, Zhou Ping, wearing a uniform, stood behind the cashier counter. He listened carefully to Uncle Shang's explanation with his eyes slightly narrowed.
"... Are you sure you really understand?" Uncle Shang asked uncertainly.
"You came from 2012. What forbidden ruins did you use to project your vision into this era? Just to ask me to help you fight."
Uncle Shang spoke again very patiently, "Strictly speaking, it is through the current you that I lock onto the you of 2012, helping you grow up in advance, and then..."
"And help you fight?"
"… right."
Zhou Ping pulled down the brim of his baseball cap to cover most of his face, then turned and walked into the warehouse, leaving Uncle Shang standing alone in the empty convenience store.
Uncle Shang was thinking about how to make Zhou Ping believe this ridiculous story. When he saw Zhou Ping turn around and leave, he was slightly stunned. Before he could come to his senses, the door handle of the warehouse was turned again, and Zhou Ping walked out steadily carrying a few large boxes.
"you… "
Uncle Shang's eyes flashed with confusion. Just as he was about to say something, Zhou Ping's apologetic voice rang out.
"I'm so sorry, I have to stop for a moment... I haven't finished loading the goods yet. If the boss comes and sees me slacking off, he will deduct my money."
Uncle Shang: …
"Anyway, I understand what you mean, but you may have found the wrong person." Zhou Ping said seriously while working, "I don't have the kind of forbidden ruins you mentioned, and I'm not good at fighting. I'm just an ordinary person..."
"Ordinary people can't see me. No, I should say that all beings in this era, even gods, may not be able to perceive me, because I am just a spiritual gaze here... But you can not only see me, you can even hear my voice."
Zhou Ping tilted his head and thought seriously for a while.
“Is this amazing?”
"..." Uncle Shang's mouth twitched, "Of course."
"But I really can't fight."
"You definitely have potential in this area, but you just haven't realized it yet... We will find the you of four years ago and guide you so that you can grow faster."
"Four years ago..." Zhou Ping's hand, which was arranging the shelves, paused for a moment, as if he remembered something, and his expression revealed a complicated look.
"Of course, we will control the guidance within the dream. When you wake up, you will basically not remember those things, so it will not interfere with your original destiny..." Uncle Shang keenly caught Zhou Ping's emotional changes, "If you don't want to, then just pretend I haven't been here..."
"No."
Zhou Ping shook his head and slowly stood up from the ground. His baseball cap covered most of his face, making it impossible to see his expression.
"No need to bother with dreams... If you want to interfere with my life, feel free to do so." Zhou Ping paused for a moment.
"My life has long been in ruins."
Uncle Shang stood there in a daze.
…
[2012]
In the middle of the rough sea, Uncle Shang, who was sitting in the black-sailed boat, frowned slightly.
Black blood kept dripping from the corners of his eyes. He closed his eyes tightly, fumbled out of his pocket to take out his cell phone, and dialed an emergency number with one click.
After a short ring, a calm female voice sounded:
"Hello?"
"Is Ye Fan with you? Ask him to help me..."
…
Xijin City.
Click—
The taxi meter popped up automatically, and a string of receipts slowly moved out from the old on-board equipment, making a harsh buzzing sound.
"Here we are." The old driver held the cigarette that was about to burn out and reached out of the window to flick the ash.
"How much?"
"Twenty dollars and fifty cents. Don't want the receipt for twenty."
A brand new banknote was handed to the driver, and then a slender figure pushed the door open. He was wearing a black coat, standing in front of the old residential building, and looked down at the text message on his mobile phone.
"Taohuawu Community... This should be it." Ye Fan muttered to himself.
He glanced at the gradually darkening sky and walked straight into the community.
This community is not big and looks like it has quite a history. The originally white-painted exterior walls are now tinged with a dull yellow and the road surface is full of potholes. In the dim sky, only a few households have incandescent lights on, so there shouldn't be many residents in total.
But even so, there is still a small security booth at the entrance of the community. At this moment, an old man in a white vest is sitting at the door, waving a palm-leaf fan leisurely. When he saw Ye Fan walking in the distance, his eyes suddenly narrowed into slits.
"Hey, who are you looking for?" the old man shouted at the top of his voice.
"I'm here to look for a kid named Zhou Ping. Is he at home?" Ye Fan skillfully took out a cigarette from his pocket and handed it over.
"Looking for Zhou Ping?" The old man looked at him carefully for a while, and asked with some caution, "Who are you? What do you want from him?"
"I'm Zhou Ping's homeroom teacher, and I'm here for a home visit."
"teacher?"
The old man looked a little more relaxed, but then he thought of something and asked in confusion, "Zhou Ping's grades have always been good, why do we need a home visit? Is there something wrong with him?"
"Zhou Ping's grades are usually good, but they have declined recently, so I came to see how he is doing." Ye Fan made up an excuse.
Hearing this, the old man's face changed slightly. He glanced at the light of a certain household in the community and sighed:
"Damn it... I guess his bastard parents are back again..."
"What?"
"...Nothing." The old man seemed to realize that he had said something wrong, shook his head, and said in a complicated tone, "Teacher... Zhou Ping is a good kid, if you have the ability, you must help him."
He raised his hand and pointed to a dim light at the edge of the dark community. "That's his home, 403. Do you need a guide?"
"Need not."
Ye Fan glanced at the location of the light, narrowed his eyes slightly, and walked straight into the depths of the community.
This is a building at the edge of the entire community and also the quietest one. Except for the dim light on the fourth floor, the other floors are empty. Ye Fan stomped his feet at the dark staircase, but the dilapidated voice-controlled lights did not light up. The deserted corridor seemed to lead to the abyss.
He frowned and silently walked up the stairs. A light of pale gold like Buddha's light appeared in the depths of his eyes.
For him, who is at the peak of "Klein", his perception has already covered every corner of the building. Not to mention that there is no light in the corridor, he can clearly see the scene inside 403 even through several walls.
Ye Fan arrived at the door of Room 403 and was about to knock when two flashlights lit up from the corridor on the first floor, followed by a burst of angry cursing.
"Fuck, these property managers are fucking idiots?? This corridor has been dark for how many days and no one has come to fix it?! I have to grope in the dark every day, no wonder my luck is getting worse day by day, fuck!"
"Where's Zhou Ping? Didn't he study physics in junior high school? How come he can't even fix a light bulb?"
"Him? What's the point of him studying? I told him to work as a doorman for Brother Long's place a long time ago. He can earn a hundred dollars a month. If you, a bitch, hadn't stopped me..."
"Why are you so angry? He's only fourteen, and you want him to be a doorman? If child labor is discovered these days, we'll be held accountable! Besides, isn't this nine-year compulsory education? It's a waste if we don't go."
"Compulsory education? Haha... Then why don't you return my tuition? You spendthrift woman, you'll fart every day!"
"Didn't he beg for his tuition from my third brother himself? Did you pay for it?"
"My son's money belongs to me! This kid used his own money to pay for his tuition. Did he ask for my opinion?!"
As the duck-like voice gradually approached upstairs, a disgusting smell of alcohol rushed into Ye Fan's nostrils. He frowned and glanced downstairs. After hesitating for a moment, he still chose not to meet them. He walked silently along the stairs to the fifth floor and disappeared into the darkness.
In the dim light of the flashlight, a drunk man and woman came to the fourth floor.
The man was in his forties, with hideous tattoos all over his arms and a large, plastic-feeling gold chain hanging from his neck. He was holding a wine bottle in one hand and clenching his other hand into a fist, banging on the door.
Behind him followed a heavily made-up woman, but even the thick powder could not hide the wrinkles on her skin. Under the dark purple eye shadow, her mean eyes made her look like a witch in a fairy tale.
"Your dad is back! Why don't you open the door!!"
Boom boom boom boom!
The violent knock on the door echoed like thunder in the empty corridor.
Ye Fan could see that at the moment when the brutal knock on the door sounded, a boy in room 403 trembled violently and fear appeared in his eyes.
Little Zhou Ping, who was hiding in the narrow bathroom, couldn't help shaking, but after a moment he mustered up the courage, put the disinfectant and bandages beside the washbasin back into the cabinet, and walked towards the door with a pale face...
As soon as he opened the door, a muddy sole of a shoe kicked him hard in the chest, knocking him to the ground along with a chair.
"I've been knocking on the door for so long and you can't hear me? Are you deaf?"
The boy sat down on the ground with his hands supporting his body, his head lowered, and said nothing.
The man glanced at the empty dining table, his eyes narrowed dangerously, "And... where's dinner? Why isn't it ready?"
The boy remained silent.
"Fuck you, I'm asking you a question! Are you pretending to be dumb?"
Seeing that Xiao Zhou Ping didn't say anything at all, a fire of evil suddenly burned in the man's chest. He immediately untied the cheap synthetic belt and walked forward viciously.
“… I have no money to buy rice.”
Just as the man was about to take action, little Zhou Ping's voice rang out hoarsely.
Snapped!!
Before he could finish his words, a belt whistled through the air and hit his exposed forearm.
"No money? If you don't have money, go ask your third uncle for it! Doesn't he have money?? And you have hands and feet, can't you go beg on the street?!"
The man cursed loudly, and the foul smell of alcohol filled the whole room. He completely ignored Xiao Zhou Ping, whose facial features were twisted with pain. It seemed that all the bad luck and resentment at the gambling table for the day were vented out with the crazy whipping of the belt!
Little Zhou Ping just bit his lips tightly, trying not to scream. Scarlet blood oozed out from under the bandage on his right arm. The charming woman's gaze fell on it. She narrowed her eyes and reached out to stop the man with red eyes.
The man suddenly turned around and looked at her, looking as ferocious as a devil.
The woman walked forward slowly, bent down and rubbed the boy's hair, and spoke slowly and gently:
"Did our little Zhou Ping get into a fight at school again? Do you know how much effort your parents put into sending you to school? Is this how you repay us?"
Hearing these words, Zhou Ping, whose body was covered with bloody whip marks, slightly contracted his pupils.
At the same time, Ye Fan, who was hiding in the corridor on the fifth floor, also had a gloomy expression... His eyes, burning with Buddha's light, seemed to penetrate the wall, staring at the drunken man and woman.
For some reason, the man and woman in the room suddenly felt a chill on the back of their necks, and an inexplicable chill surged into their hearts. The belt in their hands that were about to be swung down also froze in mid-air.
Ye Fan's task was to contact Zhou Ping and observe what was so special about him. According to Uncle Shang's request, he should try not to interfere with his life, but if the situation was special, he could take him away directly.
After hearing the old man's reminder downstairs just now, Ye Fan was mentally prepared for little Zhou Ping's life, but he didn't expect that this family would be so deformed!
They are not parents at all, they are just a pair of demons!!
Even Ye Fan, who had seen a lot of storms, couldn't help but feel angry when he saw a child who was only a dozen years old being bullied to this extent... Now it seems that he must take little Zhou Ping away from this hell.
Just as Ye Fan was about to force his way in, a scarlet vertical eye slowly opened in the darkness of the corridor on the fifth floor!
"who?!"
Ye Fan, who was extremely sensitive, suddenly turned his head to look above his head. Almost at the same time, a shadow blending into the darkness flew out of the window like lightning!
mystery
Ye Fan smelled the breath of the black shadow and his eyes suddenly became serious.
Judging from the aura it exudes, the "mysterious" shadow is probably at the "sea" level... This level of "mystery" appearing in Xijin City is extremely rare, and it is a serious situation that the local Night Watch team cannot handle, and can only ask for support from a special team.
Although a "sea" realm "mystery" posed no threat to Ye Fan, if one thinks about it carefully, such a powerful "mystery" happened to appear upstairs in Xiao Zhou Ping's house... Is this really a coincidence
Ye Fan's brain was working rapidly. He followed the black shadow without hesitation and flew out of the window!
As Ye Fan's gaze moved away, the man and woman in the room suddenly felt relieved, and cold sweat soaked their clothes. The man looked around blankly, but didn't find anything unusual. He was about 70% sober at this moment.
Jingle Bell-
He was about to say something when a clear ring rang suddenly.
The man glanced at the caller, his expression suddenly changed, he immediately turned around and answered the phone, flatteringly saying:
"Hello, Brother Long? Hey, good evening, good evening..."
"… "
"It's not that I don't want to pay it back... Really! Brother Long, you know that my luck hasn't been very good recently. Please give me a few more days..."
"… "
"Look, I sent my wife to your place to work as a drinking companion to pay her back, but the interest compounding is really too..."
"… "
"No, no, no! I really didn't mean that, Brother Long!! I beg you, give me another week... No, five days... three days!! I will definitely pay it back in three days! Really!!"
"… "
The man's expression became more and more terrified. The ferociousness and fierceness he had when waving the belt just now were completely gone. He held the phone in both hands, as humble as a dog wagging its tail to beg for mercy.
The woman next to him looked even more frightened. As the man hung up the phone tremblingly, she immediately asked cautiously:
"What did Brother Long say?"
"Fuck you, you stinky bitch!"
Snapped!!
A slap whizzed across the woman's face, almost knocking her to the ground. The man tightly grasped his phone and cursed viciously:
"You're useless! I told you to take on more customers, but you just slack off! You look like a rotten date and can't even pay the interest! If you give birth, you can only give birth to a useless little beast... It would be better if you could give birth to a daughter for me! A daughter is a cash cow!"
The woman didn't seem to expect that she would be beaten. She covered her cheek with one hand, and her terrified eyes reflected the man's endless brutality and anger!
She staggered backwards, her eyes rolling rapidly. She knew that if she couldn't think of a good solution today, the man who was forced into a desperate situation would beat her to death!
Her eyes fell on little Zhou Ping beside her, and her eyes lit up as if she had thought of something.
"Wait! I have an idea!"
The man's raised fist paused in the air.
The woman dragged the man into the bedroom, talking about something. Xiao Zhouping, who had witnessed the whole process, stood up with a stagger, pursed his lips, and his face was pale.
After a long time, the door opened and two figures walked out from behind.
Little Zhou Ping stood alone in the dim light, with his head lowered, and his eyes filled with despair slowly closed...
However, the imagined fist did not fall, but was replaced by a light palm.
The palm covered with mahjong calluses rubbed Zhou Ping's messy black hair as if he was stroking a helpless and confused puppy. Although it was a little painful, there was no strong malice.
Xiao Zhou Ping was stunned, and slowly raised his head.
The pale light from overhead cast shadows on the wolf-like face... The man had never looked at his child so carefully before. He looked at little Zhou Ping as if he was examining a treasure carved out of flesh and blood.
The corners of his mouth slightly raised, and he spoke gently and kindly:
"Zhou Ping, Dad wants to discuss something with you..."
…
The black coat fluttered in the night sky, and Ye Fan's figure landed at the entrance of a night market.
This is the largest night market in Xijin City, but it is actually only two streets long. People in this era do not have such great pressure in life, and there are still many people willing to come to the night market to stroll around and have some midnight snacks. At this moment, the intricate pedestrian street is crowded with people. On both sides are stalls with colorful lights and brightly lit shops. The aroma of barbecued and fried food fills the entire street.
Ye Fan glanced across the night market, frowning slightly...
In the pursuit just now, he almost caught the "sea" realm "mystery" several times, but the other party seemed to be able to predict the future and saw through all his movements. He managed to escape every time and finally plunged into this night market.
"His strength is not that great, but he is pretty good at running away." Ye Fan snorted coldly and walked straight into the depths of the night market.
"But do you think I won't be able to find you if you hide here...?"
A glimmer of Buddha's light emerged in the depths of Ye Fan's eyes, and he moved nimbly among the crowd. After he walked halfway across the street, he seemed to have noticed something and suddenly turned his head to look to his side!
At the same time, a girl wearing a baseball cap passed by him.
"Do you think that the [Eye of Time] can really change history?"
The girl's voice echoed in Ye Fan's ears. At the moment when the two passed by, she raised a corner of her cap, and her scarlet vertical pupils were squinting at Ye Fan.
Feeling the breath coming from the other party, Ye Fan immediately recognized this "mysterious" one. The other party seemed to be leaning directly over the passerby, using the passerby's body to talk to him... It was for this reason that Ye Fan did not directly use the Forbidden Ruins.
In such a busy night market, he simply couldn't attack an "ordinary person" openly. The other party seemed to be aware of this and dared to appear in front of him in a swagger.
In the crowd, Ye Fan's hand stretched out like lightning and silently grabbed the girl's wrist.
"Who are you?" Ye Fan's voice was extremely low. "How do you know about the Eye of Time?"
The girl smiled, and a black shadow instantly rushed out of her body and plunged into the body of an uncle who was grilling mutton skewers on the street. The uncle was wearing a characteristic Xinjiang hat, and while flipping the mutton skewers on the grill, he smiled and said:
"You can call me the Secret Voyeur... I am not here to be your enemy. I am just here to warn you on behalf of a certain supreme being."
Ye Fan frowned, squeezed through the crowd and came to the barbecue stall, "Supreme Being? Who?"
"you do not need to know."
As he spoke, he handed the roasted lamb kebab in his hand to Ye Fan. Ye Fan looked at him warily and did not take it.
"What does it mean that the Eye of Time cannot change history?"
A tender hand was raised from Ye Fan's side, took the mutton skewer from the Xinjiang uncle's hand, and took a big bite. A scarlet vertical pupil opened from the boy's brows and stared straight at Ye Fan:
"Eyes are for seeing. No matter how hard you try, your eyes alone cannot move anything... No one can tamper with history except fearless thugs."
"You want to tamper with history, but you don't know that you have already become a part of history..."
"Don't place too much hope on that child. His fate has already been determined, but your fate can only be controlled by your own hands."
These three consecutive sentences made Ye Fan frown more and more. Just as he was about to ask something else, the black shadow suddenly jumped out of the boy's body and instantly crashed into a juggler who was performing not far away.
Under the night sky, he brandished a flaming sword, drawing cheers from the crowd.
Just as Ye Fan walked through the crowd and came to the front row, the artist loosened his hand, and the flaming sword drew a trajectory and landed accurately in front of Ye Fan.
The flame of the alcohol gradually went out, and the plain sword returned to its original state. Ye Fan moved his eyes away from the sword, and saw the artist facing him, bowing slightly, and making a gorgeous farewell gesture.
There was thunderous applause.
"I have already brought the message... Goodbye."
A black shadow disappeared in the crowd. Ye Fan did not chase after it. He stared at the towering sword in front of him, wondering what he was thinking about.
After a moment, he finally pulled out the sword and placed it in the interlayer of his windbreaker... He took a last look at the direction where the black shadow left, then turned and walked towards the Taohuawu community where Zhou Ping was.
…
The dark shadow swept across the long night, heading towards the south.
He was like a meteor hidden in the darkness, crossing countless distances, and finally flashing across the sky above a bustling city before dawn.
A touch of white light appeared from the horizon, illuminating a corner of the grand and luxurious walkway. This is the highest point in the entire city. Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, you can see all the living beings...
On the mirror-smooth marble floor, the black shadow gradually took the shape of a human. He was holding a cane in one hand and wearing a black felt hat, like an elegant gentleman walking in the dark night.
In the dim light, the scarlet vertical pupil looked like a gem.
A moment later, a heavy and majestic mahogany door appeared in front of him, and behind the door seemed to be a bedroom. The entire floor was dead silent, except for the faint sound of snoring behind this door.
He put down his cane, knelt respectfully in front of the door, and spoke softly:
"I have delivered the message you asked me to deliver."
The scene behind the door was clearly reflected in the pair of ruby-like vertical pupils. On the comfortable and soft bed, a little fat boy was sleeping soundly in a twisted state, and in the nothingness above him, a vague figure gradually emerged.
Faintly, one could see that the figure seemed to be wearing a Taoist robe, and his lips were opening and closing, as if he was saying something.
Then, a letter floated out from nothingness, passed through the portal, and landed in front of the black shadow.
"I see."
The shadow nodded, placed one hand on his chest, and said respectfully, "I will follow your wishes..."
He picked up the letter, stood up, bowed to the mahogany door again, then turned and walked to the end of the corridor.
The faint light of dawn shines through the floor-to-ceiling windows, like a sword, splitting the light and darkness in the corridor. The black figure walks silently in the shadows, gently pulling down the brim of his felt hat to cover his scarlet vertical pupil.
"Cangnan City, in memory of..."