Dragon Raja: Reboot

"It's me! It's me! Senior brother, you really only remembered now?"

Xia Mi wiped her hands with her senior brother's clothes with disgust, muttering, "I remembered you as soon as I saw you yesterday!"

"Then...why didn't you tell me?" Chu Zihang asked in a low voice.

"How could a girl be allowed to speak first in something like this!" Xia Mi's eyes widened, her expression fierce, like a kitten with its fur standing on end.

"I'm sorry." Chu Zihang said honestly, unusually humbly.

"Alright, alright, I'll be merciful and forgive you since you're actually in tears, senior brother."

Queen Xia waved her hand coldly, indicating that this was a one-time exception, and that if it happened again, she would be severely punished!

"So why were you crying just now, Senior Brother?" Xia Mi suddenly leaned close, staring at him with her big eyes.

As he suddenly moved closer, Chu Zihang could clearly feel the girl's breath, a faint fragrance like gardenias. Beneath her slightly trembling eyelashes, her clear eyes, which seemed to speak volumes, were full of curiosity, yet a mischievous smile played on her lips, revealing a pair of small tiger teeth.

Her pure and flawless face was bathed in a warm golden light, making her look as holy as the angel her junior brother had described.

This time he couldn't hold back. He turned his face away, avoiding Xia Mi's gaze, and remained silent for a long while before stammering, "It's nothing."

"But you were crying! How can you be okay!" Xia Mi reached out and forcefully turned his face towards her, her little face serious. "Senior brother, don't be shy. We're practically childhood sweethearts, so feel free to tell anyone. I promise I won't!"

Upon hearing the "four"—whether from biting his tongue or deliberately mumbling it—Chu Zihang's face twitched slightly.

"You transferred to BJ later?" He could only try to change the subject.

Xia Mi gasped, quickly turned around, crossed her arms, and stared at her senior brother with a look of utter disbelief, her dark eyes wide: "Senior brother, you investigated me!"

"No..." Chu Zihang hurriedly took out the tablet. "This is information Norma sent from headquarters. We need to know who you are beforehand."

The tablet contained Xia Mi's file, detailed and clear, stating: Xia Mi, born on October 30, 1993 in Beijing, female, Beijing resident, attended Peking University High School before enrolling in preparatory school...

The intelligence department at Kassel College is only responsible for student files. These people have nothing better to do than maintain the meticulousness of the CIA, making everyone's file look like a dark history.

The only thing that catches the eye in this file is Xia Mi's photo.

With her dark brown hair and dark contact lenses, she turned her head in the sunset, her yellow bow hairband fluttering in the air.

Xia Mi suddenly pointed to the tablet: "Look, this also shows my previous schooling at Shilan Middle School!"

Chu Zihang was stunned.

Even if he were stupid, he could tell that his junior sister was questioning him, and that she was bringing up an old case again. Besides, he wasn't stupid at all; he was just a little slow on the uptake in some ways.

But didn't you just say you'd forgiven him?

Chu Zihang's Adam's apple bobbed, as if he wanted to say something, but at the last moment he slammed on the brakes, silently taking back his question and honestly accepting the criticism.

To be honest, Chu Zihang had never been so "well-behaved" in front of several people his age in his life.

But in front of Xia Mi, he always felt inexplicably guilty.

Because he had almost forgotten her. So many things had happened between them, yet he had completely forgotten them.

"Sigh, seeing how guilty you look, I feel bad for teasing you." The junior sister suddenly sighed and fanned herself with her small hand.

The scene fell into a state of stagnation and silence.

The junior sister tilted her head and gazed out the window at the amusement park, humming a melancholy and sad tune.

Chu Zihang's heart stirred.

The melody seems to be—Falling slowly.

The theme song from the somewhat somber Irish musical film "Once," which they watched together that year.

He still remembers the last lyrics:

You've made it now

Falling slowly sing your melody

I'll sing along

I paid the cost too late

You still have the option to choose

Slowly descend, sing your melody

I will sing together

I paid the price, but it was too late.

Now you have left

……

Chu Zihang felt inexplicably depressed and irritable.

This movie is rather somber, and the ending leaves one with an inexplicable sense of melancholy, a bittersweet feeling mixed with a sense of satisfaction.

You clearly believe the ending could have been better, but you can't explain it, and you're powerless to change it. You can only watch helplessly as people who have only briefly loved and known each other part ways and embark on their own futures. Perhaps this is life.

He suddenly felt he needed to say something to change the awkward atmosphere.

"I saw in your file that you have an older brother? But when I went to your house back then..."

The pod door suddenly opened, and an old man with silver hair bowed slightly like a waiter.

"Dear tourists, you've talked about life and ideals for ten minutes now. Welcome back to the ground."

"Principal...?" Chu Zihang and Xia Mi were both stunned.

Although time seemed to stretch out infinitely in their eyes, it passed incredibly quickly, and ten minutes were up in the blink of an eye.

Behind the principal, a tall boy with dark brown hair vigorously waved his hand, fanning himself in front of his nose, and turned his head away with a look of disgust.

"Wait, why does this place smell sour and stinky? You've been sitting here for ten minutes! Do you want me to go with you to complain?"

Chu Zihang looked embarrassed.

Xia Michonglu, a senior student, made a face, jumped out of the cockpit, and hopped along with the principal's arm.

"Hello, Principal!"

"Hello! Mingfei and I attended an event. In the afternoon, when we had some free time, Mingfei said he had never been to Six Flags amusement park and was unhappy that our task for him was to attend an event instead of training pretty female students, so I brought him here to see it."

Angers patted Xia Mi's soft hand in his arm and said with a smile.

Hey! You clearly wanted to come too!

"Principal, nice to meet you, please treat me to ice cream!" Xia Mi blinked her big eyes, looking expectant.

"Of course," Angers shrugged, then turned and asked, "Do you want it?"

"Lemon flavor!" Lu Mingfei raised his hand without hesitation.

"I..." Chu Zihang hesitated for a moment, as he didn't really like ice cream.

"I know, I know, senior brother likes strawberry flavor!" The junior sister raised her hand proactively, showing her thoughtfulness and charm.

"Alright! Target: ice cream shop, let's go!" Angers' expression was serious, as if he had given an important order.

The two walked hand in hand ahead, the old man and the young woman behaving in a strangely harmonious way, like a grandfather and grandson.

Lu Mingfei and Chu Zihang lagged behind.

The junior brother nudged his senior brother's waist and whispered, "Senior brother, what's going on? Why are you progressing so fast? Why are you already gathering information about your family?"

"...No, the atmosphere was too heavy before, I wanted to change the mood," Chu Zihang replied in a low voice.

Lu Mingfei was taken aback. It was too solemn.

Senior, what exactly did you say, you straight man?

Before he could post, Chu Zihang suddenly threw out a question that left him speechless. He almost reached out to touch his senior brother's forehead to see if he had a fever.

"Junior brother, do you believe in fate?"

Huh? Huh?

What an incredible plot twist!

You were only on the Ferris wheel for about ten minutes. What did you go through, senior, that you started studying such a profound subject as destiny?

I still remember you in my previous life. You were so normal. Did something change about you?

Lu Mingfei scratched his head and suddenly remembered that his senior brother's memories, which had been erased by Xia Mi, seemed to have returned.

So this isn't erasure, it's suppression. My junior sister was still so stubborn before she died in her previous life.

With the Dragon King's power, erasing a person's memories completely is effortless; there is no possibility of resurrection or defying the laws of nature to return at the appointed time.

So why not erase it completely?

"Senior brother, you're asking me if I believe in fate? That's practically disbelieving me!" Lu Mingfei said righteously.

"What?" Chu Zihang turned his head in confusion.

"Have you forgotten the secret martial arts manual I told you about?"

Lu Mingfei's expression was solemn. His right palm was flat and facing upwards, while his left hand stood upright above his right palm. Every movement exuded a sense of Zen, like a living Buddha.

Chu Zihang fell silent as he looked at the pose he had struck.

Junior brother, you're obsessed with "Kung Fu Hustle," aren't you?

Even if there really is such a thing as "calculating heaven, earth, and love", why do you have to adopt the posture of finishing your Buddha's Palm?

This is definitely a mismatch, isn't it?

It seems that asking my junior brother about fate is indeed unreliable.

Chu Zihang composed himself and asked again, "Junior brother, what was this 'heavenly descent' you mentioned before?"

"From the sky?" Lu Mingfei was stunned.

Senior brother has a lot of questions today!

"Senior brother," Lu Mingfei said lazily, his hands behind his head, "have you seen 'Bridge to Terabithia'?"

Chu Zihang was slightly lost in thought; he had seen this movie before.

This fantasy film was released in the United States in 07. He saw it in the school's screening room the year he enrolled. It tells the story of a boy's growth and transformation during adolescence.

Lu Mingfei continued:

"The movie has two main characters, Jesse and Leslie. For Jesse, Leslie is his 'sudden arrival'."

"Although I don't know why you asked me what 'suddenly appearing from the sky' means... I still want to share a few short essays about life with you, just take them as your reflections."

"For Jesse, Leslie was the first angel he encountered in his life. She was so dazzling, yet she stopped for him. Her brief arrival brought Jesse hope and warmth, but she returned to heaven halfway through... Senior, never become like Jesse, who only realized his transformation after losing his angel. Never wait until you lose something to start regretting it."

His junior brother whispered in his ear, his voice calm and deep, like the words of wisdom from someone who has experienced the vicissitudes of life to someone who comes after.

"If I had known the new students were this beautiful, I would have come myself to conduct the orientation." Angers' hearty laughter came from the front.

"Look at that old guy's brazen way of picking up girls!" Lu Mingfei immediately shifted his focus, saying with a pained expression, "Senior brother, that old man, the principal, is trying to steal your girl! Can you stand for that?"

Chu Zihang was still standing there in a daze.

He suddenly remembered the lyrics at the end of that interlude.

A strong wind swept through their minds, accompanied by a deafening roar, and the screams that followed pulled Chu Zihang back to reality.

He looked back and saw the iron-black steel rails, like a twisting giant snake, rising steeply into the air at a height of about 50 stories, crisscrossing and cutting the azure sky into several large pieces.

He heard his junior brother gasp in his ear.

"Eldest brother, second brother, come ride the roller coaster with us!" Xia Mi turned her head and called out loudly to them.

Chu Zihang suddenly felt weak in the knees and involuntarily fell back a step.

His junior brother suddenly patted him on the shoulder, looking like he was saying, "In the end, I'm the one who has to bear it all."

"Stop struggling, just go for it! Nobody's escaping today! By the way, is this your first time on a roller coaster, senior?"

Lu Mingfei stared into Chu Zihang's eyes as he said this.

Chu Zihang nodded.

The junior brother patted his chest and declared in a booming voice, "I guarantee you'll have the most perfect experience of your life, Senior Brother!"

"Eldest brother, second brother..."

The junior sister's urging came from ahead again, and the old man rubbed his hands together and waved to them.

"Here it comes!"

Under the sunlight, Lu Mingfei waved and shouted, pulling Chu Zihang along as they ran towards them.

When the group approached.

"Junior sister, you dare to sit on this thing?" Lu Mingfei grinned.

Just then, the roller coaster behind them, having reached its highest point, began to fall as if in freefall.

Screams echoed throughout the amusement park once again, startling a pigeon soaring through the air so much that its wings twitched and it almost fell over.

With her back to the wailing screams, Xia Mi stood with her hands on her hips, head held high, and proudly declared, "You think all we girls do is take pictures hugging Mickey Mouse?"

Lu Mingfei gave a thumbs up and said, "Truly a heroine among women! Come on, today the senior brothers will risk their lives to accompany our junior sister!"

Chu Zihang silently thought to himself, "Junior brother, could you please not speak for me..."

"Let's go, let's go!" Xia Mi excitedly linked arms with the two of them and skipped towards the queue.

After half an hour.

Lu Mingfei fastened the safety lock and glanced at his senior sitting next to him.

Chu Zihang sat next to him, gripping his shoulders tightly, his face pale as he stared straight ahead, as if he had made a mistake and was being punished by his teacher for sitting incorrectly.

Xia Mi and Angers were sitting in the row in front of them.

"Junior sister, I heard you have an older brother?"

The tunnel was pitch black, and Lu Mingfei asked casually.

"Yeah, what's wrong?" The junior sister turned around.

Lu Mingfei grinned and said, "Let's invite your brother along so we can all play mahjong together! We're one short!"

Xia Mi smiled and said, "Okay, okay, my brother is so dumb, he's only good at mahjong and cards!"

A dangerous alarm suddenly blared throughout the tunnel.

The red lights on both sides of the railway track flashed at an accelerated speed.

The alarm has stopped!

In that suffocating second, everyone held their breath!

The immense force, several times their own weight, pressed everyone firmly against the backrests, even more exaggerated than the principal's Maserati!

"Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh—"

Lu Mingfei and Chu Zihang shouted at the same time, and everyone subconsciously shouted loudly, only feeling comfortable after exhaling all the air from their lungs!

And amidst these screams, there was also the cheerful laughter of Angers and Chami.

Light rushed towards us as the roller coaster reached its maximum speed, twisting and climbing vertically along the tracks.

The wind was whistling in my ears.

The view was filled with a blue sky and white clouds.

Everything was turning over and over, like a kaleidoscope.

Amidst the screams, Chu Zihang heard a long sigh.

That was so abrupt.

He looked in the direction of the sound and saw his junior brother's scream turn into hearty laughter.

He laughed even more heartily than Xia Mi and the principal, unrestrained, flamboyant, and carefree, as if he were the only person in the world.

"Senior brother, do you know why I'm laughing?"

Amidst the whistling wind and swirling white clouds, Chu Zihang heard his junior brother loudly ask him a question.

Of course he didn't know, so he could only squeeze in a moment to say he didn't know during a breather, and then continue screaming with everyone else.

"Because everything has changed!"

Amidst the rumble of the roller coaster, my junior brother's voice seemed to be stretched out infinitely.

Time flies by like a fleeting dream.

Another example is a fate that has been reversed.

Chu Zihang stared blankly at the sky rushing towards him, a feeling of unreality washing over him.

He didn't know what his junior brother was talking about.

But for some reason, he hoped...

Such moments, such journeys, could be enjoyed at a slower pace.

……

February 19, 2010, afternoon.

The Six Flags roller coaster, which experienced an "accident" during its original historical course, is unharmed.

The tourists spent the afternoon in a relaxed and carefree manner.

On this beautiful summer afternoon that inspires endless dreams, many things have already begun to change quietly, even before they have truly started.