Reborn in 1993, Dark Sea

Six hours later, as night had completely fallen, An Xiaohai emerged from Nancheng Airport.

An Xiaohai's real destination for this trip was Haixi Province. Nancheng City is the capital of Haixi Province. He chose to take a plane to take advantage of the time difference.

Traveling from Shenhai City to Dongdao City by train takes 5-6 days round trip, while flying only takes one day, thus allowing 4-5 days to complete the plan.

Wei Lili probably didn't notice that An Xiaohai arrived very quickly and even took him to the train station. She probably thought that An Xiaohai would take the train back.

Perhaps Wei Lili noticed, but she imagined the reason herself, thinking that An Xiaohai was in a hurry to see An Zheran one last time, so he chose to fly over, but he should take the train back, since he walked back to the city from the funeral home.

An Xiaohai was too lazy to care about anything else. He knew that he, Wei Lili, and her son would probably never cross paths again in their lives.

"Luoshan, Luoshan, Luoshan people, come on over! 15 yuan each, leaving right away!"

"Gongxian! Do you have any from Gongxian? Two yuan, just two yuan!"

The area outside Nancheng Airport at that time was somewhat chaotic, with many minibus drivers holding signs to solicit customers.

Gujiang Village in Luoshan County was An Xiaohai's destination. Xiaohai paid 15 yuan and boarded a minibus to Luoshan County.

There were only five or six people scattered on the minibus, all of them looking drowsy, and no one paid any attention to An Xiaohai.

An Xiaohai waited on the bus for a long time, but the minibus showed no sign of leaving.

An Xiaohai asked the driver, who was lying in the driver's seat, but the driver was unresponsive. After being asked many times, the driver simply switched to Haixi dialect and his attitude became worse.

An Xiaohai finally understood: the bus was supposed to leave immediately, but in reality, it definitely wouldn't depart until it was full.

Left with no other choice, An Xiaohai got off the bus with his backpack. As for the fare, An Xiaohai was too lazy to ask for it back; it wasn't much money, and there was no need to cause any trouble.

An Xiaohai found a legitimate taxi stand and asked several drivers, but as soon as they heard he was going to Luoshan County, they all waved him off and drove away as if they were fleeing.

An Xiaohai scratched his head, thinking it wasn't too strange. Haixi Province is a mountainous province, with many places consisting of continuous mountain ranges.

Luoshan County is nestled among mountains, in a very remote location, more than 300 miles away from Nancheng City. Most taxi drivers would definitely not dare to take this job.

After all, the security situation in this era was nothing like it would be ten or twenty years later. Luoshan County was sparsely populated, and if you drove there, you might not be able to come back.

Moreover, the timing is wrong. It's 7 or 8 pm now. Driving along the winding mountain road to Luoshan County, it would definitely be at least midnight. Taxi drivers would be even less willing to take this fare.

This is a bit tricky.

It's getting late, so it seems I'll have to find a place to stay for now and figure something out early tomorrow morning.

An Xiaohai went back to the minibus to check the situation. There were still only a few people in the minibus, and there was no sign of it leaving.

These days, people who fly generally don't choose this mode of transportation, and there are hardly any people going to Luoshan County, so it's really hard to say when this bus will be able to depart.

An Xiaohai even suspected that the car was parked there to scam money.

Oh well, there's nothing I can do but accept my bad luck.

An Xiaohai took a taxi to downtown Nancheng, ate something to fill his stomach, and then found an inconspicuous little hotel to stay in.

It's not that I can't afford a hotel; hotels require registration. Since I've chosen to hide my whereabouts, I should try to leave as few traces as possible.

The small hotel costs 5 yuan a night, which isn't expensive, but the environment is a bit terrible. The room is stuffy and humid, not well ventilated, and has a very strange smell. There are many indescribable stains on the sheets.

An Xiaohai almost turned around and left; this environment wasn't even as good as the First Prison!

However, An Xiaohai ultimately chose to stay. He was indeed tired today and didn't want to go through any more trouble.

An Xiaohai dared not sleep in the bed, so he put a few chairs together and planned to make do for the night. But then he heard a very rhythmic rocking sound coming from next door.

Damn it...

An Xiaohai was about to explode with frustration. In desperation, he turned on the TV and blasted the sound, which finally managed to temporarily block out the annoying noise.

Summer vacation is almost here, and the TV station has started airing Journey to the West again. It's almost a must-watch program during summer vacation, and it's been running for many years.

Although he knew the plot by heart, An Xiaohai actually got absorbed in it.

When I was a child, I only knew that the Monkey King slew demons and had boundless magical powers. At the same time, I also felt that the Great Sage Sun was sometimes really excessive. He would take a bite of such a big peach and then throw it away. It was such a waste.

Now An Xiaohai finally understood why the Monkey King did what he did, what the Great Sage was facing, what he was resisting, and why people loved him so much.

Journey to the West is actually a tragedy, a tragedy disguised as mythology.

The tragedy began the moment the Monkey King put on the golden headband, and when he finally obtained the Buddhist scriptures and became the Victorious Fighting Buddha, the dragon-slaying boy eventually turned into the evil dragon.

After 500 years of suppression, the Great Sage was probably in despair, so he gave up.

Feeling exhausted, An Xiaohai sat in the chair and drifted off to sleep. Despite the loud television, he slowly fell asleep.

In the brief moment before he fell asleep, An Xiaohai seemed to hear a sentence from the Bodhi Patriarch:

Transcending the Three Realms, and outside the Five Elements...

An Xiaohai woke up early the next morning, his whole body aching. Sunlight streamed in through the small window, revealing everything in the room in its true form.

An Xiaohai was very glad that he hadn't gone to bed yesterday.

After going downstairs for breakfast, An Xiaohai hailed several taxis, but none of them were willing to go to Luoshan County. Just as An Xiaohai was thinking about whether to go to the bus station, the plump proprietress of the small hotel came over.

"Young man, are you going to Luoshan County?"

"Yes, boss lady."

"Why did you decide to take a taxi? Taxis are very expensive, costing over 100 yuan. Taking a long-distance bus only costs less than 20 yuan, and it's hard to find passengers returning from there, so the driver will definitely overcharge you."

"I'm in a bit of a hurry and want to go and come back on the same day, so taking a taxi is more convenient," An Xiaohai replied to the proprietress. This proprietress runs a small hotel, so she probably knows some drivers.

"Oh, I see. What are you doing in Luoshan County?" the proprietress asked.

An Xiaohai's hopes grew even stronger. The landlady was testing him; maybe she really could help him find a driver.

"My classmate got into some trouble at school, and I need to go find his family. I might even have to bring them to the school," An Xiaohai said with a simple, honest smile.

"Oh, is that so? Hmm, it's in a bit of a rush. Well then, you seem pretty honest, not like a bad person. I'll have my brother-in-law give you a ride, but he'll charge you. You can negotiate the price with him yourself. Is that alright?"

"Of course, that's great, thank you boss lady."

"You're welcome. I only asked him to take you because you're a student. Otherwise, I wouldn't have dared to ask him to take you there. It's not a very safe place over there."

"Thank you, ma'am. We'll be back today, nothing should happen."

"That's true. You wait here, I'll go get him."

"Okay, thank you, boss lady!"

The proprietress left in a hurry, and soon returned with a shifty-looking fellow.