Those who face the wall, but are in the Nascent Soul stage.

Chapter 282 Memories (2)

"What a bizarre dream! How could the celestial realm be like that?"

The incandescent light in the ward cast a strange halo in Luo Qing's eyes. Luo Qing opened his eyes and pondered the peculiarities of this world, his mind filled with chaotic thoughts.

"Moreover, the original owner's memories were obviously incomplete."

Luo Qing's primordial spirit scratched its head, wondering, "Could it be that oxygen deprivation really damaged my memory?"

Luo Qing had absorbed all the knowledge in this world and had finally adapted to this technologically advanced and strange world. However, he was still confused about his identity as a professor of plasma physics.

What are the Boltzmann kinetic equations? What is magnetically confined fusion plasma?
I don't understand.

Due to memory loss, Luo Qing's knowledge of physics has regressed to the time of Aristotle.

Besides that, there are many other questions he cannot understand.

For example, how did the cultivation level of the peak Nascent Soul stage end up in this body by some twist of fate? Luo Qing could only attribute this miracle to the invincible Human Emperor exerting his power.

I've really brought this upon myself, so it's a miracle I'm still alive.

However, more questions troubled Luo Qing's mind.

For example, what exactly is this world that is hailed as Earth? This world doesn't seem to have ever signed the "Treaty of Friendship Among All Realms," nor is it mentioned in the Human Emperor's Palace's Memorandum of Understanding about All Realms.

Why did my divine sense perceive an increasingly thin vacuum instead of a dimensional barrier after probing beyond the atmosphere?
Will I ever be able to return to Kyushu?
How can one cultivate immortality without spiritual energy?
And then there's the Trisolarans, whom the original owner of this body had been thinking about constantly before his death; they've almost become his inner demons. What are these things?
Unfortunately, due to incomplete memories, even though Luo Qing tried his best to summarize, organize, and deduce, he was unable to reconstruct the cause and effect of his predecessor's suicide.

Luo Qing's divine sense suddenly stirred, and he sensed the visitors coming and going outside the corridor.

It was the plainclothes policeman who saved him with a pistol.

"Hey, officer, smoking is not allowed in the hospital corridors."

"Then I'll go in and smoke."

"There are patients inside, so smoking is strictly prohibited, officer!"

"It's alright, this is for the patient."

"My God, are you really a police officer?"

A few shouts came from outside, and then Shi Qiang, wearing a leather jacket, pushed the door open and entered. The nurse had forcibly extinguished the cigarette in his hand, but a puff of white smoke still came out of his nose.

With a thought, Luo Qing's Nascent Soul cultivator's divine sense surged over the middle-aged police officer's body like a tidal wave.

The latter felt nothing.

"Lung meridian congestion and excessive liver fire—he's actually a promising sword cultivator." Luo Qing frowned. "But what's with those dozens of metal fragments remaining in his body?"

Shi Qiang walked over.

"Damn, this hospital has so many rules." Shi Qiang casually sat down on the next bed. "Shi Qiang, from the city's anti-terrorism unit. You're really tough, kid. Your neck is practically twisted into a pretzel and you can still breathe."

"A fluke, a fluke."

Luo Qing clasped his hands in a fist salute, but then suddenly felt it was inappropriate and withdrew his hand.

"What luck? There's such a thing as luck when it comes to suicide?" Shi Qiang chuckled. Seeing Luo Qing about to get up to thank him again, Shi Qiang immediately interrupted, "Don't bother with that formality. I'm sick of hearing you intellectuals' thank-you speeches."

"Officer Shi, what brings you here?" Luo Qing quickly switched into his new role and asked in a weak voice.

"Yes, of course," Shi Qiang said ominously. "Let me tell you, last night the lab's surveillance cameras captured a professor who could fly and hang himself."

The sight of Luo Qing floating kept Shi Qiang awake all night. The last time he couldn't sleep was the day his wife took his virginity.

Luo Qing did not respond to Shi Qiang's question.

The monitor emitted a regular ticking sound.

Shi Qiang turned around and found that Luo Qing's heart rate was surprisingly stable.

Luo Qing couldn't understand this thing, and naturally didn't know that the machine had already revealed his calm state of mind. He pretended to be nervous and asked, "Regarding suicide, I'm sorry for causing trouble for the country..."

"You know I'm not talking about your suicide attempt." Shi Qiang shook his head, and then shoved an old Nokia phone in front of Luo Qing.

In Nokia's video footage, the white lab coat suspended in mid-air appears bluish under the moonlight, resembling a hanged ghost's summoning banner.

Most importantly, the rope that was holding Luo Qing had already been broken by Shi Qiang.

"You floated for 1.7 seconds, enough time for me to fire two bursts." Shi Qiang tapped the screen. "Don't try to pull any magic tricks. I personally broke the noose. There were at least five witnesses to your levitation. Most importantly, we didn't catch you when you fell. You were four meters off the ground, and you weren't hurt at all." Luo Qing was about to speak when he was choked by the smoke. He was a Nascent Soul cultivator, but his body wasn't.

After Shi Qiang relit the cigarette the nurse had extinguished, he said to himself, "Those charlatans at the Science Frontier have been eyeing you for two months now. That bookworm Ding Yi keeps saying 'physics no longer exists.' I used to scoff at that statement, but after what happened to you, I suddenly understand those bookworms who commit suicide a little."

Shi Qiang sighed and sincerely asked Luo Qing, "Can you explain to me what's going on? Does physics really no longer exist?"

Luo Qing pulled out a term from the fragments of memory that he wasn't very familiar with, trying to gloss over it.

"Officer Shi, have you ever heard of quantum entanglement?"

"I only believe in bullet entanglement."

Seeing that he couldn't fool her, Luo Qing had no choice but to confess: "I'm sorry, Officer Shi, since I woke up, I can't even remember why I tried to commit suicide. As for why I didn't fall, I don't know either."

"Don't know? This isn't magic. People are floating and they don't even know it. Don't you think this is incredibly bizarre?"

Facing Shi Qiang's scrutinizing gaze, Luo Qing met his eyes calmly.

"I was almost strangled to death at the time, so how would I know?"

"Keep pretending. Look, your heart rate monitor isn't even beating." Shi Qiang put away his phone. "Forget it, you're not the first cutting-edge theoretical scholar to fail in a suicide attempt. If you don't want to talk, then forget it. If you don't talk, we won't share any secret intelligence from the police and military with you. Just keep it to yourself."

Shi Qiang turned to leave.

"What intelligence?"

"It's about the boundaries of science, cutting-edge theories, and some intelligence about a so-called Three-Body Problem Research Association," Shi Qiang said, raising his voice.

"The Three-Body Problem Research Association?"

Luo Qing was startled as a scene from his dream resurfaced, bringing back a flood of memories about the 'Three-Body Problem'.

Then more memories surfaced like dominoes: the boundaries of science, distorted data from particle colliders, technology locked down, no hope in cutting-edge theories, and the protagonist known as 'The Three-Body Problem'...

As his fragmented memories resurfaced, Luo Qing was jolted awake; he had found the cause of his predecessor's death.

'Isn't this equivalent to encountering a bottleneck in cultivation and going into qi deviation, thus destroying one's cultivation?' Luo Qing immediately understood his predecessor's suicide.

But did he really need to explain so much to this young policeman?
need.

There is no difference between immortals and mortals; all sentient beings are equal. Do you understand the moral view that all cultivators in the Nine Provinces are saints?
Thinking of this, Luo Qing called out to Shi Qiang.

"Um, Officer Shi, let's put aside the fact that I'm floating for now. I've remembered the real reason I tried to commit suicide."

Under Luo Qing's spiritual influence, Shi Qiang visibly curled the corners of his mouth, then turned around, seemingly wanting to hear what the university professor on the hospital bed had to say:
Luo Qing paused, then explained everything in the shortest terms: "In the particle collider experiments of the past few months, the results have become chaotic and irregular. Under such circumstances, it is difficult to develop cutting-edge basic theories, and the experiments show no signs of improvement. My research is in the field of plasma, which is related to this. The long-term chaotic experimental data caused me to fall into a state of extreme mental exhaustion, which is why I finally couldn't think straight and committed suicide."

Luo Qing's calm tone made it sound as if she were telling someone else's story.

This made Shi Qiang subconsciously look at the heart rate monitor, but the monitor remained calm.

"Strange, you seem pretty carefree about not thinking about it."

"I've been through a near-death experience, and now I've come to terms with it," Luo Qing said.

Shi Qiang nodded. He had finally obtained the most crucial piece of intelligence since the scientists' suicides: the scientists' suicides were related to chaotic data from cutting-edge physics experiments.

He pressed his advantage: "Why don't you tell me the truth again, like about your levitation?"

Luo Qing remained silent, weighing the consequences of revealing his cultivation abilities in a world devoid of cultivation.

'Never mind, as long as my conscience is clear.'

Luo Qing spoke softly: "I think my levitation problem might be more serious than the non-existence of physics."

"What do you mean?" Shi Qiang asked instinctively.

A ball of azure light emerged from Luo Qing's palm, causing the ward to move automatically without any wind, and the aura of a peak Nascent Soul cultivator immediately spread.

"I usually call this thing cultivation."

Seeing this, Shi Qiang calmly chewed the cigarette, then swallowed it. After a long silence, he reached out and touched the warm, blue light before finally uttering five words.

"Damn it, the sky is falling."

(End of this chapter)