"I can't make this up anymore, you do it yourself."
Chapter 76 Want to study philosophy? No way (3)
As darkness fell, everything in the bamboo forest dimmed. At the edge of the bamboo forest, the bronze door on the mountain wall opened again, and a solitary figure stepped out.
Just then, an unknown bird flapped its wings and flew by, emitting a sharp cry that cast an eerie atmosphere over the bamboo forest. The man looked up at the night sky, then, as before, bit his tongue, drew a talisman in the air, and vanished without a trace.
After a while, another person came out from behind the door. He was wearing a white cloak, and when he came out, he was still holding the ultimate secret written by Tao Chen in his hand.
same.
Lu Mingran read the contents of the paper again. When he handed the pen to Tao Chen, Tao Chen had actually taken it. On this paper, Tao Chen crossed out all the sentences he had written initially, and what followed was what Lu Mingran had already said.
Lu Mingran still remembers Tao Chen's expression when he wrote these words, from disbelief at first, to a sudden tremor as if he had recalled something. Especially his eyes, he felt as if something was disappearing from Tao Chen's eyes.
Lu Mingran didn't know what it was, but Tao Chen's eyes were indeed darkening little by little.
As Tao Chen finished writing, he seemed to feel there was no need to continue, hastily writing the last stroke. He handed the paper to Lu Mingran, stood for a moment, and then turned and left.
Outside the door, Lu Mingran lowered his eyes. This time, he saw the contents of the paper gradually disappearing. This was the secret of a world that could not be recorded, which was why the words were vanishing.
Speaking of which, the system seems to have said that Tao Chen would pay a price... What price?
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Tao Chen returned to Z City, the place where he and Ji Huan grew up together.
This time he made a mistake, appearing on the bustling street covered in blood. Tao Chen thought people would look at him strangely, but they didn't. Passersby occasionally looked up and saw him, but then casually looked away.
That's true, people don't make such a fuss these days. After thinking this through, Tao Chen calmed himself down, casually pushed open the door of a convenience store next to him, and grabbed some water and food.
When faking his death, Tao Chen left his phone with his stand-in, so he now rummaged through his pockets and found some banknotes to pay for it.
The young man at the cashier was clearly a bit distracted tonight, and he hurriedly gave Tao Chen his change. Before Tao Chen had even left the store, he discovered that the cashier had given him five yuan too much.
Tao Chen immediately turned back.
"Hello, you gave me too much change."
Across from him, the cashier kept his head down, and only after Tao Chen called him several times did he raise his head.
When he looked up, he saw a confused look in Tao Chen's eyes: "What's wrong?"
"You gave me the wrong change, you gave me too much."
Tao Chen stared at him, only to see that he still looked confused: "Ah, um, have you ever bought anything from us?"
This amnesia efficiency... is even higher than the amnesia efficiency in Korean dramas.
Tao Chen's heart sank.
The next moment, he forgot all about returning the money, grabbed his belongings, burst through the door, and ran outside. He stood on the bustling street, turning around in a daze, completely lost.
Something seems to be wrong with this world.
Right, Dad's house, Dad... Tao Chen walked towards the bus stop.
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Lu Mingran found Tao Chen by the roadside.
That happened two days later. It was late at night, and there was hardly anyone outside. Under the dim streetlights, a man sat on the curb, holding a full bottle of mineral water. He sat there for a long time, and it was unclear whether he wanted to drink it or not.
Not far away, someone was watching him. This person was none other than Lu Mingran.
It seems the male lead has suffered a major blow.
Lu Mingran thought for a moment and finally decided to walk over. When his white cloak appeared before Tao Chen, even though he no longer had wings, Tao Chen still recognized him and slowly raised his head.
“This,” Lu Mingran handed over a blank sheet of paper, “you once wrote on this, but they disappeared. Do you know why?”
Tao Chen smiled and said, "Because this is the real ultimate secret, isn't it? It seems I should have stayed longer back then, so you could have proven it to me."
Lu Mingran looked at him sympathetically: "Actually, it has been proven now."
Yes, it has been proven.
When Tao Chen returned home, he saw his father coming home with a boy before he even entered the house. The boy was carrying groceries and chatting and laughing with Tao Chen's father. The two were clearly father and son.
The boy named Tao Cheng lamented that his good brother Ji Huan had run away with an old Taoist priest after going crazy, and he wondered how Ji Huan was doing now. He heard that Ji Huan had become the head of some sect. Tsk, is this a TV drama?
At that moment, Tao Chen vaguely knew what would happen if he went over there. If he stepped forward and called out "Dad," what would the white-haired old man think?
Tao Chen stopped and didn't move.
From that moment on, he finally understood that Tao Chen's identity had been erased by the world.
Tao Chen no longer exists; no one will remember him anymore.
That's what he thought, but he never expected that the birdman behind the door would still remember him.
To be precise, that person wasn't some kind of birdman anymore; he looked perfectly normal. He even had a name. He opened his mouth and said, "Tao Chen, my name is Lu Mingran."
Lu Mingran's next question was: "Tao Chen, do you regret it?"
This is the system's arrangement. The system says it's possible to rewind the timeline. If Tao Chen is willing to cooperate with Lu Mingran and return to a few years ago, and stop doing things that deviate from the main plot, then this mission will be very easy.
So Lu Mingran asked Tao Chen, "Do you regret it?"
The person sitting there didn't respond immediately. After a long while, Tao Chen said this to Lu Mingran:
"Don't you think that everything would be a lot better if I weren't in the world?"
Huh? Lu Mingran was taken aback. Hey, in the novel you were so excited to become the ruler of all realms right now, why are you so down now? Did the ultimate secret really upset you?
It seems that it really hit them hard.
In the following days, Lu Mingran stayed with Tao Chen, and Tao Chen didn't object. After all, Lu Mingran was the only one who remembered him, and to him, Lu Mingran was proof of his existence in this world.
However, Tao Chen hesitated to agree to go back to the past, which gave Lu Mingran a headache.
Lu Mingran first found a place to settle down. The house was in the city center, and the landlady would remind Lu Mingran to be careful while living alone every day, completely forgetting that Tao Chen was also living in the house.
Tao Chen didn't seem to care about that. He went out during the day and came back at night, his expression calm. That evening, when Lu Mingran asked him again if he wanted to go back, Tao Chen, with the remote control pressed and his eyes glued to the TV screen, replied:
"With me gone, Ji Huan became the sect leader, and my poor old father now has a dutiful son. I think it's great."
In the original novel, Tao Chen was not like this. He was headstrong and all the supporting characters had to sacrifice and detour for his path to advancement. Now that he said this, Lu Mingran felt a mix of regret and surprise.
You've finally rediscovered your humanity, male protagonist.
But can't we travel back in time to find it?
Lu Mingran wanted to say something more, but saw Tao Chen turn off the TV and go to rest. However, before leaving, Tao Chen said something:
"Would you like to come out with me tomorrow?"
That's good, at least they're willing to let someone keep them company.
Lu Mingran felt a sense of relief and returned to his room contentedly. Upon opening the door, the first thing that caught Lu Mingran's eye was the tree stump in the room.
This was found by Tao Chen. On their first day living together, Tao Chen wandered around outside for a long time and actually cut down a tree stump for Lu Mingran and brought it back, saying very seriously:
"You're a bird, I know you're not used to sleeping in a bed. Should I cut the bed board a bit more and make you a few more wooden stakes?"
Lu Mingran: "...Actually, I have a deep affection for beds."
The wooden stake was ultimately preserved, and the bed escaped unscathed. Tonight, lying in bed, Lu Mingran was still worried about the male lead and woke up several times in the middle of the night.
The next morning, Lu Mingran went out with Tao Chen to buy groceries.
That was an old district of the city, surrounded by houses that hadn't been completely demolished yet. As they passed by those houses, Lu Mingran noticed that Tao Chen's gaze kept drifting towards one of them.
“That grandma is an acquaintance,” Tao Chen said, “She was the first person Ji Huan and I helped with magic. At that time, the grandma really wanted to see her son in the underworld.”
The interaction between the living and the dead is not good for the living, but Tao Chen and the others still helped to pass on the message.
Tao Chen was in a daze. If there were no ghosts in this world, then what did they do back then?
He shared his questions with Lu Mingran, who remained silent. Well, the gatekeeper wouldn't say much.
"I'll go buy something there first. You wait for me here."
After saying that, Tao Chen went into a nearby butcher shop, leaving Lu Mingran standing there, basking in the sun.
This farmers' market has storefronts on both sides, and in the middle there are many cement platforms where vendors sell vegetables.
Lu Mingran went around to the middle to buy pan-fried buns. He had just stuffed two into his mouth when he suddenly heard Tao Chen's voice:
"Lu Mingran, it's time to go."
The tone of voice... is a bit off.
No, wait, it's not just the tone of voice.
Lu Mingran looked toward the source of the sound and saw Tao Chen standing in front of a shop on the left, holding a bag and waiting for him.
But shouldn't Tao Chen be on the right?
Lu Mingran looked to her right and was completely dumbfounded.
At the butcher shop on the right, he also saw Tao Chen, who was looking at the pork and haggling with the owner.
The system was also surprised. At the same time, Tao Chen, who was on the left, walked over and urged Lu Mingran to leave quickly.
The system said, "Let me tell you, Ming Ran, I think this is quite exciting."
Stimulate?
Lu Mingran pondered for a moment. Then, when Tao Chen approached, Lu Mingran made a choice.
He left with Tao Chen.
"Hey, aren't you afraid this is some kind of monster?!" the system shouted.
"You'll only know what's going on once you get to know it."
After saying that, Lu Mingran smiled at the system:
"You're looking for thrills, so let's go all the way."
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Lu Mingran observed carefully and found that this Tao Chen was exactly the same as the other Tao Chen.