Like his colleagues, Fu Mingchen was easily attracted by the stars outside the window. But unlike the other passengers, in addition to paying attention to the stars outside the window, Fu Mingchen also paid attention to his goddess Qiu Qiu who he secretly loved.
When facing his goddess, Fu Mingchenâs eyes appeared to be covered by a filter. The stars outside the window were shining, and the beautiful starlight seemed to be reflected in the goddessâ eyes as Fu Mingchen focused on her.
When the goddess turned her head and smiled at him it was more perfect than the legendary Venus. <sup>1</sup>
But then, Fu Mingchen suddenly realized that Qiu Qiuâs smile wasnât for him, but for Liu Qi who was standing next to his Qiu Qiu.
âLiu Qi, letâs get off the bus and take a look?â At that moment, Qiu Qiuâs face wasnât as cold as usual. She was pulling gently at Liu Qiâs arm to appear more loveable.
âI feel like something is wrong here.â When Liu Qi looked at the stars outside, his mood wasnât relaxed. âI want to do some calculations.â <sup>2</sup>
Calculations?
After hearing Liu Qiâs words, the other passengers in the compartment cast around all kinds of odd, curious, and puzzled glances.
âWhich of you brought paper along?â Liu Qi glanced at the stars that were approaching closer and closer to the bus, then turned to question the other passengers.
âAre paper towels okay?â The buses were all prepared to go to Huadu Airport with leisurely passengers. In their paperless electronic society, very few people would carry ordinary paper around with them.
But then, among the three passengers in the final row, the little boy who was only five or six years old raised his hand as if speaking to a kindergarten teacher. He asked with bright eyes, âUncle, mama gave me some drawing paper. Is that okay?â
âYes! Thatâs perfect!â Liu Qi took out a slightly rusty metal pen from his pocket. The broken appearance was a sharp contrast to the pen Su Zimo owned.
Because they didnât know what he wanted to do, the other passengers continued appreciating the stars outside and only partially focused on Liu Qi.
They watched Liu Qi put the drawing paper from the boy on a soft chair. After testing it and seeing that something was wrong, he simply spread the paper on the ground. He laid his entire body on the ground, disregarding his image as an elite, and carefully stood the pen in his hand up at a vertical angle above the paper.
It looked like a fountain pen based on the cap, but after removing the cap, it was noticeable that it was a signature pen.
Su Zimo vaguely remembered the Liu Qi said that he had brought the pen out of a nightmare world that had something to do with the pen fairy.
Su Zimo had heard of similar props before and was somewhat able to judge the situation.
Before he thought about it too much. Liu Qi drew a compass on the drawing paper, then a hooked cross. <sup>3</sup>
âPen fairy, pen fairy, tell me, is our situation good or bad?â Liu Qi asked cautiously. âIf itâs good, circle the hook. If itâs bad, circle the cross.â
After asking the question, Liu Qi swallowed nervously. It was as if asking a question wasnât as simple as it seemed.
There was no specific value of a nightmare world. Even if you chose to enhance your physique after clearing a nightmare world, you could still only rely on your understanding of your own body to make judgements, not counting the physical fitness, speed, and mental ability that really appears only in games.
But sometimes, experienced trainers could feel mental fatigue, which made them feel exhausted both physically and mentally. So when Liu Qi asked the question, he felt it as he lost something in himself was exhausted both physically and mentally.
However, because it wasnât the first time Liu Qi was using the pen, there was no revealing expression on his face.
Su Zimo wasnât wearing his special glasses as the moment, so he didnât know how accurately the pen fairy answered the question. But in the eyes of the other passengers, they seemed to be seeing something unimaginableâ
Liu Qi actually released the broken pen from his hand, but the pen standing vertically above the paper didnât fall down! It moved by itself!
Thatâs right. The pen didnât fall down due to gravity. It stood there firmly, like some kind of supernatural event.
âUncle, is there a magnet in the pen?â The little boy tried to use some of the science he had learned to explain what was happening in front of him.
Qiu Qiuâs eyes brightened from her spot next to Liu Xi after seeing the performance from the ruined pen. She bent down in an uncommon scene and said very tenderly and affectionately to the little boy, âXiao didi, this isnât something that can be explained by logic. This thing can be regarded as a magical prop! Itâs like the legendary Santa Claus!â
Qiu Qiuâs words were particularly pleasant for Liu Qi to hear, so Liu Qiâs eyes stayed on her for a while. He liked that kind of tactful flattery.
But Qiu Qiuâs kindness didnât get the same response from the little boy. He just tilted his head and said seriously: âJiejie, baba said that Santa Clause doesnât exist! Heâs just a fairy tale!â
[What a nice boy.] The ghost umbrella standing next to Su Zimo said emotionally. [Children are always the most innocent in the world â there isnât any darkness or clouding in their eyes.]
[Unfortunately, when the nightmares really strike, these children may only show fear in their eyes.]
Su Zimo looked at the boy with very pure eyes with a contemplative look on his face.
It was at that moment that the ruined pen began to move at a slow speed on the paper, receiving shocked cries from everyone.
In the end, the ruined pen stopped where the cross was drawn, then drew a circle with the help of a compass. It seemed to be telling its holder clearly â they were in a terrible situation!
The ruined pen even kept drawing circles on the cross in order to emphasize the matter, circle after circle, each smaller than the next, never stopping.
The cross that Liu Qi drew was easily covered by a completely black circle. The paper seemed to be covered by an ominous black cloud.
Then Liu Qiâs face became more gloomy. He lowered his voice and asked the pen fairy again: âPen fairy, pen fairy, tell us where we should go after getting off the bus to stay out of trouble.â
After the earlier incredible scene, everyoneâs eyes were focused on the paper this time, and it seemed like Liu Qi believed that the answer given by the pen on the paper must be correct.
But this time, the pen fairy didnât move. It stayed in the center of the black circle above the cross without any reaction.
âSorry, this thing doesnât work sometimes.â As soon as Liu Qi looked up, he saw the dark people around him and quickly apologized. He was tired, thinking that the ruined pen had just broken again. âWeâll just ask again.â
âPen fairy, pen fairy, tell us where we should go after getting off the bus to stay out of trouble.â Liu Q asked again.
But the pen fairy still didnât move.
âPen fairy, pen fairyâŚâ
Liu Qi asked the same question a third time, but the pen fairy still didnât move. If it werenât for the pen still staying upright, Liu Qi would have thought that the broken pen had become a normal pen.
âPen fairy, pen fairy, are we safe staying in the compartment?â Liu Qi could only change his question casually, wanting to know if it was the question causing the problem, or if something was wrong with the pen that had helped him through many dangerous situations.
This time, pen fairy moved again, and quickly drew a standard circle around the hook drawn by Liu Qi.
âPen fairy doesnât seem to have a problem, but why not answer which direction we should go? Iâve asked many similar questions before, and pen fairy always answers.â Liu Qi also seemed to know that the other passengers in the bus were unreliable, so he kept talking to himself.
At that time, Fu Mingchen, who was standing not far from Qiu Qiu, suddenly had a terrible idea pass through his mind. After hesitating for a while, he said: âWell⌠Maybe the pen wants to tell us that itâs safe here now, but if we get out⌠no direction is safe at all?â
Everyoneâs eyes turned to Fu Mingchen in an instant, and several had unexpected expressions.
[So what? The boss knew it a long time ago.] The ghost umbrella floating behind Su Zimo murmured. When pen fairy stopped there just now, he saw his boss shake his head helplessly, yet didnât speak.
Of course, Ghost Umbrella didnât want his boss to be too eye catching. As an An Yu Yi Yu shop owner, it was good enough to do business safely. There was no need to interact with such dangerous things!
The boss was doing it right!
Excellent, amazing!
What Fu Mingchen said sounded reasonable to Su Zimo and Ghost Umbrella. Even the young couple and three old ladies in the back row nodded, but for some reason, the expression on Liu Qiâs face wasnât very good. When he looked at his subordinate, his eyes were a little strange.
Fu Mingchen shrank back under Liu Qiâs gaze. People like him were too familiar with Liu Qiâs eyes. The rich second generation was very generous in the real world and willing to help them in the nightmare world, but he was too arrogant and wouldnât allow others to be more popular than him, let alone climb on top of him. <sup>4</sup>
That kind of personality made Liu Qi appear to be a hardworking rich second generation in the eyes of his parents, and a nightmare to many others.
There can be no other voices around this person.
Fu Mingchen knew that very well, but because his idea came suddenly and he wanted to show off in front of Qiu Qiu, he spoke so certainly.
Qiu Qiu didnât even glance at Fu Mingchen. âNeedless to say, Liu Qi must already have known that.â
The otherâs called Liu Qi âXiao Liu.â Only Qiu Qiu directly used his name to show intimacy.
Fu Mingchen was relieved when he heard Qiu Qiuâs words. He thought Liu Qi would take the opportunity, but he didnât expect Liu Qi to say apathetically: âI did think about it a while ago. The reason I didnât say it was because the answer itself isnât completely correct. Sometimes the answer given will be opposite the correct answer.â
âSo donât trust such a simple and obvious conclusion. Itâs possible that pen fairy wants to tell us that the bus is dangerous and that itâs right to leave the bus.â Liu Qi spoke with certainty.
Su Zimo was surprised by that, but thinking about the rate of correctness from similar ghost tools, he felt that Liu Qi may have suffered and experienced such things several times with the pen fairy. He didnât really feel like he was seeking death just then.
Even those colleagues who believed Fu Mingchen just then continued praising Liu Qi very skillfully.
âAfter all, weâre no longer ordinary people. Donât forget this isnât a nightmare world, but a real world where there are no ghosts. Is taking a walk in the country so scary?â Liu Qi smiled and shook his head.
Although he said that, as the spots of light got closer and larger, a certain nerve inside of Liu Qi, who had experienced night nightmare worlds, unknowingly tensed.
There seemed to be something deep inside his heart warning him through his frantically rapid heartbeat.
Footnotes
<ol>Venus refers to the Roman goddess of love and beauty, referred to as Aphrodite for the Greek pantheon. He needs to think about the situation. Idiom meaning yes/no or right/wrong, based on a visual riddle. To use someone else to get a boost in reputation.</ol>