Lu Mingfei: What? They're all real!

He foolishly stretched his neck, strolled to the window, and peered out at the horizon.

"The rain looks like it's going to be really heavy..." he muttered to himself, sighing repeatedly. "I'll probably have to go home in the rain again today. Sigh, Auntie's face is probably all long again..."

The boy suddenly became extremely dejected, his head almost shrank to his collar. He looked as pitiful as a puppy temporarily hiding under the eaves to avoid the rain, but the raindrops falling from the sky were so big that he was about to become a drowning dog.

The girl hid in her spot, her head tucked in as well. Normally, a proud little fairy would never show such a posture, but the more she thought about it, the more frightened she became. She felt that everything was too coincidental, and that the thunder just now came at an all too opportune time...

But thinking back, it was a sure thing that it was going to rain today, so it was just too coincidental that it happened to him, like a frightened bird...

Moreover, the boy in front of me suddenly changed his appearance. The confident and composed guy disappeared completely in an instant, leaving only the same ordinary and unremarkable loser who was now muttering things like "Auntie scolds people very fiercely" with a deadpan expression. How could it be him?

"Could you give me a ride?" Lu Mingfei suddenly turned around, blinking his eyes and pleading pitifully.

"Ah, ah... Is it... okay..."

Su Xiaoqiang completely forgot what to say. In her haste and confusion, she nodded abruptly... but she actually wanted to refuse. Her mind was in turmoil, and she really didn't want to get involved with this guy in front of her...

"Thank you so much, you're such a kind person~" Lu Mingfei was overjoyed at the girl's agreement, his eyebrows dancing on his forehead. He excitedly returned to his seat, boasting about his similar experience from many years ago, "Xiaoqiang, you're such a kind person, much better than Liu Miaomiao. Girls who ride in Rolls-Royces are just more generous than those who ride in BMWs~"

Upon hearing her name mentioned, Liu Miaomiao seemed to have a sixth sense activated. She looked up and saw Lu Mingfei looking in her direction. She frowned in disgust, but the boy's expression was even more ferocious. He viciously rubbed his eyebrows and pretended to sway his body, like a threatening wolf.

Liu Miaomiao was so frightened that she trembled and almost fell off her chair, making her even more pale, which amused Lu Mingfei for a long time.

"It happened several years ago. The rain was heavy that day, just as scary as today." He continued recounting the past, "I asked Liu Miaomiao for a ride, but she said it wasn't on her way. It's a pity, though. She asked Chu Zihang, and he also said it wasn't on his way, haha~"

You also have a grudge-holding trait...

Su Xiaoqiang silently complained to herself, thinking that Lu Mingfei was a soft clay who wouldn't get angry even if someone stepped on his face.

“You remember it quite clearly…” she said softly.

"This is all thanks to you. I can remember even the smallest things now, just like Index. You know Index, right? The one who has 103,000 magic books stored in her head." He waved his hand and mentioned another unrelated anime character.

It's completely back to normal... Su Xiaoqiang silently complained in his heart.

However, he also mentioned the "responsible person," which somewhat offended the girl. Her expression grew increasingly grim, and Lu Mingfei quickly changed his tune, forcibly steer the conversation back on track.

"Also, let me tell you some gossip, but don't tell Liu Miaomiao, she'll definitely be devastated. Like I was saying, the day it rained in junior high, I think it was Chu Zihang's family driver, or maybe his dad, who picked him up in a Maybach. That car was amazing, I heard it cost ten million. But that's not the point. The point is, later there was a girl sitting on the roof of his car."

Su Xiaoqiang blinked. "On the roof of the car?"

What kind of sitting posture is this? Why would someone be sitting on the roof of a car? This is really weird, okay?

She was completely confused.

"But thinking about it..." Lu Mingfei seemed to have fallen into deep thought as well. Then, as if he had discovered something new in the memory he had just been thinking about, he suddenly slapped his thigh, attracting the attention of the whole class. "Wait a minute! That guy who hitched a ride on the train was Jormungandr!"

Why did we come full circle again?!

Su Xiaoqiang was inwardly screaming. Although Lu Mingfei's rubbish just now was boring, at least he was slowly becoming normal again. Now, without her noticing, he had steered the conversation back to that damn Jormungandr!

“I saw it, I really saw it with my own eyes this time, right at the entrance to the expressway overpass. I ran back in the rain that day! I saw that Maybach when I left the house, and I saw it again when I got there!” As if worried that the girl wouldn’t believe him, or as if to convince himself, Lu Mingfei’s tone became urgent, and he kept explaining.

Su Xiaoqiang felt she had to take this poor guy to see a psychologist. With the rain so heavy today, her father would definitely send a driver to pick her up. Once she had him in the car, she could use the excuse of giving him a ride to take him to a mental hospital to get his brain checked out...

But when Lu Mingfei was loudly proclaiming his presence, someone became somewhat dissatisfied—

"Dude, dude, why do you look so disheveled?" Someone approached enthusiastically, put their hand on Lu Mingfei's shoulder, and pulled him aside as if forcibly.

This is Zhao Menghua. At Shilan Middle School, there's not much to say about this type of handsome and wealthy guy. To put it simply, he can be described as a beggar version of Chu Zihang. Lu Mingfei's cousin, Lu Mingze, often says, "Nobody dislikes Chu Zihang!" So, similarly, many people like Zhao Menghua.

Although Lu Mingfei had reason to believe that Zhao Menghua actually meant to say, "You look like a dog in such a sorry state," one cannot assume the worst about someone who comes up to you with great concern, nor can one elbow him in the face, otherwise even if one is right, one will be wrong.

Zhao Menghua, seemingly irrationally, put his arm around Lu Mingfei's shoulder and shoved him toward the window, his voice growing softer. He whispered, "I know, everyone does things to attract attention, but it's not very effective. It just scares girls away, you know?"

Unlike Lu Mingfei, the country bumpkin, Boss Zhao has always been upright and honest, relying solely on his hard work. Therefore, he naturally looks down on such vulgar methods of pretending to be crazy to attract girls' attention.

He had a smile on his face, but there was a hint of threat in it. He usually looked down on losers like Lu Mingfei, but today he had to admit that this trick of playing dumb was quite effective. The whole class had just been discussing Lu Mingfei, and Chen Wenwen was no exception. He couldn't stand such a thing happening.

Not to mention that he had just witnessed this guy baring his teeth at Liu Miaomiao, even scaring the pretty girl. How could he not step in to uphold justice?

But he couldn't afford to break off relations, since he didn't consider himself to be on the same level as such people.

“Everyone thinks you have mental problems and is afraid you’ll hurt others. Chen Wenwen told me the same thing when I was talking to her just now.” He mentioned the other girls’ names in a gentle tone and also “advised” Lu Mingfei, “Why don’t we tone it down a bit? I think if you want to attract attention, it’s better to be more normal.”

Zhao Menghua's voice was very low, and his attitude showed no hostility whatsoever, yet his words were full of aggression and coercion. He was also a head taller than Lu Mingfei… and from other perspectives, it looked as if he were bullying Lu Mingfei, especially from Su Xiaoqiang's point of view—

It was almost a double bullying, both verbal and physical.

At that moment, the wind and rain outside the window suddenly intensified. Water lashed against the windowpane, and the wind whipped the branches wildly, creating a chilling howling sound. No one wanted to go out at such a time, not even if they had a car to ride in. Lu Mingfei trembled slightly, like a poor little dog that had fallen into the water and was being chilled by the cold wind.

However, he was not afraid of the rain or Zhao Menghua; he simply heard a crow's cry, shrill and fierce, yet somewhat familiar.

Chapter 6 Elbow Strike Against Zhao Menghua

Lu Mingfei looked up and saw something floating in the dim air.

There was a black raven flapping its wings and craning its neck, as if it were inspecting something.

He felt he recognized the raven, though he couldn't explain why, but he was certain he recognized it.

Lu Mingfei stared blankly out the window, then a flame ignited in his heart, like a willow catkin being set ablaze, instantly making his entire heart boil. Now, immediately, right now, he had to catch up with that raven.

He bit his lip, his brows twitching with tension, his emotions were hard to calm, he desperately wanted to catch up with that raven.

But his expression took on a different meaning to others.

"Hey! Zhao Menghua, what are you doing!"

Su Xiaoqiang shouted loudly.

She had a fiery temper and always spoke her mind. She was worried that Lu Mingfei, who seemed very unwell, wouldn't care about anything else, even though Zhao Menghua was standing there. Lu Mingfei looked very strange; his lower lip was bitten red, his whole face was trembling, and he looked like he was about to cry. Heaven knows what Zhao Menghua had whispered in his ear!

Zhao Menghua turned around at the sound and loosened his grip on her arm. He never expected Su Xiaoqiang to speak up for Lu Mingfei; it was like the sun rising in the west!

He couldn't help but applaud Lu Mingfei's "feigning ignorance" strategy...

But Lu Mingfei completely ignored these changes. He was well aware of the similarities between the stories he told and Norse mythology. As a homebody, it was perfectly normal for him to like extraordinary things. He had studied every myth in the world. Before today, he knew that two black ravens perched on Odin's shoulders, watching over the human world every day. One was called Fukin, and the other was called Wuni.

Even more clearly, he knew that the raven floating outside the window was Wuni, whose name sounded somewhat like "morning."

Normally, people can't easily distinguish between birds, let alone a raven that's all black, unless you're the bird's owner. But now Lu Mingfei is very clear about it, even though he himself doesn't know why he's so sure that this raven is definitely Wuni, just like he doesn't know the details of the extra memories in his mind.

But he knew he had to keep up with it; it was his hope for escaping this boring and dreary life. He couldn't stay here any longer.

He wasn't some idiot who only knew how to joke around with girls; of course he knew those memories were unreliable.

Even if he himself believed in the authenticity of all of this, this memory would not change his life in any way. He would still be that loser sitting in the corner, ignored by everyone. When Su Xiaoqiang found out that there was nothing wrong with his mind tomorrow, she would never again be so careful around his table as she was today.

Lu Mingfei didn't want to be a loser forever. Whether it was a god sitting high in the heavens, a supreme being wielding power and authority, or even just being able to see his beautiful red-haired wife, whatever it was, he would rather embrace all fantasies, whether illusory, cruel, dark, or lonely, and hoped that his life could change even a little bit.

I don't want to live such a boring and failed life anymore... Even a loser like him would hate a perpetually gloomy life.

This raven brought change; it was hope, and perhaps it could lead him through the door to a different world.

But now Wuni flapped its wings and turned around, about to leave.

He couldn't watch it fly away, nor could he watch his hope of leaving this gloomy life vanish. Perhaps he really was insane, just as Su Xiaoqiang thought, but he would rather embrace madness than return to that boring life!

Zhao Menghua wanted to say something more, "Lu Mingfei—"

"Xiaoqiang, Su Xiaoqiang." Lu Mingfei's gentle voice rang out, not loud, but it drowned out Zhao Menghua's words. He turned his head with difficulty, trying to force a smile, but perhaps he was too emotional, and in the end he managed to squeeze out a somewhat sad smile. He said urgently, "Thank you for being willing to drive me home today, but no need, I just remembered I have somewhere to go."

From the very beginning until now, Su Xiaoqiang had felt panic countless times, but none as intense as this time. These words felt like a farewell in the face of life and death…

"Lu Mingfei! Listen to me—" Zhao Menghua, who didn't understand why the relationship between the two had suddenly become so harmonious, was also a little anxious. He put his arms around Lu Mingfei's neck again, trying to forcefully control this loser who was inexplicably overconfident today.

He even started using indecent methods.

But the next moment, Lu Mingfei suddenly raised his right arm and slammed his elbow into the face of the boy next to him. Zhao Menghua was stunned by the blow and his mind became confused. He felt as if he had just been hit by a speeding dump truck coming from the opposite direction, and his face was about to crack.

That damn Lu Mingfei!

Zhao Menghua suddenly realized, "This guy actually made a move! How dare this taciturn guy make a move like this?"

But he didn't expect that Lu Mingfei, who was usually thin and weak and whose head could not be seen when he shrank back, would have such great strength. This elbow strike hit him squarely in the face, making him feel as if his head was about to be split in two. He couldn't even stand up, and he didn't care what kind of looks his classmates were giving him.

"Wu Ni! Wu Ni!"

Ignoring Zhao Menghua, Lu Mingfei suddenly shouted and rushed towards the window without thinking. He didn't have time to think, nor did he need to. It was something he had to pursue; perhaps it would lead him to the person he longed to see. His hand pressed against the window, and he pushed it open. Without hesitation, he continued rushing out into the open space.

But he was standing on air, and gravity pulled him down.

The noisy classroom suddenly fell into an eerie silence. Everyone heard Lu Mingfei suddenly shouting "morning" as if he had gone mad, and saw him jump off the building.

"Ah!!! Zhao Menghua, are you crazy?!"

The first to react was Su Xiaoqiang, who had clearly witnessed "everything" and carefully observed the entire process of Lu Mingfei being bullied to the point of jumping off the building. She was convinced that this must have been Zhao Menghua's doing.

She ran over screaming, swinging her shoulder and elbow at Zhao Menghua's face, knocking aside the boy who was still in a daze and blocking her path, and knocking him to the ground. But she didn't care about anything else, she just rushed to the window and looked down.

He jumped off a building? How could he have jumped?

Su Xiaoqiang felt her heart was about to jump out of her chest, but there were no people lying on the ground with bloodied heads. Only Lu Mingfei, covered in a mess and soaked to the bone, was scrambling and rolling towards the school gate. He shouted something like "morning" as he rushed into the torrential rain. The rain was so heavy that after only a few steps, his figure was covered by the white curtain of water and disappeared without a trace.

He seemed to have truly gone mad.

Su Xiaoqiang felt extremely frightened, and then a surge of anger welled up from the bottom of her heart. Perhaps it was because she hadn't listened to him properly and hadn't been able to guide him back to normal, but more so because of Zhao Menghua, who had gone even further. She turned around and, facing Zhao Menghua, who was still in shock and unable to get up from the ground, unleashed a torrent of curses at him.

This was almost beyond her usual proud self-esteem; it was practically the rant of a shrew.

The insults rained down on Zhao Menghua, who lay on the ground, like cannonballs.

Zhao Menghua was in a daze. He felt wronged, but he still couldn't recover. Lu Mingfei's strength was too great, beyond belief. His vision was blurry. Accompanied by Su Xiaoqiang's scolding, he was anxious and agitated. Suddenly, he felt his blood and qi stagnate and collapsed to the ground.

He felt incredibly wronged!

Chapter 7 Holy crap! Jormungandr!

Lu Mingfei raced through the rain, feeling neither tired nor pain from the fall from the second floor.

He even felt that he wasn't injured at all.

Although he didn't understand how he did it, it felt good. After eighteen years of a miserable life, it seemed like something good had finally come his way.

An uncontrollable smile spread across his lips, bright and clear. If you ignored the fact that he was also shouting something like "morning" while running awkwardly through the rain, he might as well apply for a leading role in a Japanese drama, playing a character who is good at running.

But his smile wasn't for that reason; he was simply excited, an uncontrollable excitement. He only wanted to follow the raven; he wanted to see something beyond reality. If that was proven, then everything else would follow.

And that red-haired girl...

Even though he still didn't know his red-haired wife's name, he was able to make up his mind to find her.

As long as she exists, he will definitely find her. He wants to know why she laughs, why she is so sad and lonely, and why she disappeared into the darkness of his memory, turning into nothingness.

In my memory, she looked so lonely at the end, like a solitary well, gazing up at the black sky, disappearing into nothingness along with the increasingly dark world around her. Yet her clear, spring-like eyes still stared straight ahead, as if she were still waiting for him.

Lu Mingfei felt as if something had ripped a knife out of his heart.

He couldn't bear the overwhelming sorrow that felt like an abyss had opened up in his heart, which was why he had been sitting alone in his seat talking to himself. He simply couldn't bear the girl's lifeless gaze.

So now he's running as fast as he can.

The last time Lu Mingfei ran so desperately was also for a girl. Back then, Chen Wenwen cheered him on, and he ran like a dog in the race, as if he had taken stimulants. He thought he was about to win love... Unfortunately, in the end, he neither won the championship nor won love.

Afterwards, he felt that the idea that he could win love by running a few more steps was incredibly stupid!

This time, however, his goal and love were even more ambiguous. He was only chasing a black bird. Perhaps even after he had exhausted all his strength, he would not be able to be sure whether the bird was indeed the messenger of the God King as he wished, nor would he be able to see the person he wanted to see directly. But now he was working even harder, speeding through the rain.

Lu Mingfei's hair was already soaked through, and his clothes were see-through. His clothes were cheap, but fortunately, cheap things are often sturdy and durable, so the water didn't make him look any worse. He ran desperately, chasing after the raven that was also taking flight in the rain.

He ran out of the school gate, the security guard's surprised shouts fading into the distance; he ran past the road in front of the school that used to be filled with luxury cars, which were now clamoring to squeeze into the school to pick up their children. Lu Mingfei didn't need to worry about his parents or uncles and aunts being there; he didn't hold onto that expectation. He ran past the road that used to stretch his shadow longer and longer on his way home, but this time there was no sun overhead and no shadow behind him, so he didn't feel so lonely.

He ran through the streets and alleys, and even he was amazed at his own physical strength. He thought this was a good thing, and maybe he really was the majestic figure he remembered.

Suddenly, he felt something was strange. As he ran, the road became wider and wider, as if he were heading straight for the ring road. Even though the visibility was poor, he could almost see the elevated bridge that was flanking the city.

Lu Mingfei recalled the gossip he had just shared. Years ago, when he passed by in the rain, he saw a girl sitting in the Maybach that was carrying Chu Zihang. Strangely enough, before these memories flooded his mind, he had never thought of those things that he now felt he would never forget once he had seen them.

But now his mind was different. He felt he had never been so clear-headed. He could clearly remember everything that had happened to him from childhood to adulthood, even though many of his memories were rather strange.

In the frigid north, amidst a vast expanse of ice and snow, a petite, platinum-haired girl named "Renata" is hunted by a group of menacing-looking people armed with weapons. Among them, her parents can be vaguely seen... and much more...

These fragments are the biggest obstacle for him to confirm the authenticity of his memories.

Absurd and ridiculous thoughts raced through his mind. The raven soaring in the air flapped its wings with all its might, as if trying to avoid Lu Mingfei, struggling to fly through the heavy rain.

Suddenly, it plummeted into the low sky, heading straight for the overpass.

The elevated road was not a safe place, Lu Mingfei thought to himself, which was troublesome but also reasonable. He had witnessed "Jormungandr" by that bridge before, and this raven happened to land here as if by some strange fate.

Maybe we really can find something.

This thought drove him to keep going, even as he stepped onto the main road with its heavy traffic. Fortunately, the strong wind and rain that day were accompanied by thick fog, so most of the vehicles on the road were not moving fast. Lu Mingfei carefully dodged the traffic by bending over and quietly slipped onto the ramp leading to the elevated road.