Chapter 973: Nightmare Not Like Nightmare
“Coffee, cigarette, and alcohol are bitter, so why are they so addicting? One is tortured by love, but one is willing to get injured again and again. Why?”
Zhang Mingli drove the car and smoked the cigarette. This was a madman who burned down his house and cursed non-stop, but as they neared the destination, he became so silent.
“The first love ruined my anticipation for love. It hurt me but made me realistic. Who wasn’t young once?
“I was thinking too much from the beginning. When you start to picture love in a perfect manner, you have already lost it.
“There are too many things in love to ruin love. Love doesn’t need a reason, but you need to do a lot to maintain love.
“How would someone like me, who loved with nothing but passion, know how to maintain love? I eventually lost her because the passion died off.
“Fuck. I digress again.” Zhang Mingli looked straight ahead. There was no light. He had been relying on the GPS. In a way, he hadn’t changed over the years. He was still the man who loved with a passion.
“I believe true love should go both ways.” Han Fei looked at his hands. “How should I put it? It’s like she is the best chef, and I’m the best ingredient. I’m willing to be her feast on the table and finally be a part of her.”
“I think you may have a bigger problem than Teacher Zhang.” Huang Yin sighed. There were three people inside the car, but two of them were not right.
“You have eleven girlfriends. Are you really willing to be served at their dining table?” Zhang Mingli thought Han Fei disrespected love.
“How did you know that I haven’t? I was helpless on the table, but something happened. They entered my body and united with me.” Han Fei didn’t go into details.
“Did you eat them?!”
The car became silent. They listened to soft songs.
“What do you think love is?” Han Fei shattered the silence.
“Don’t look at me. I temporarily have no plans for romance.” Huang Yin shook his head. He didn’t want to get involved. He still remembered the Pure Hatred who stalked around with table knives.
“Love is pain! The greater the pain you feel when you lose love, the deeper the love is. Love is more painful than death!” Zhang Mingli became agitated again.
“Why do you always relate love to pain? Don’t you think that’s wrong?” Han Fei pointed out.
“Is it as wrong as you? You want to be eaten by your wife! The fuck!” Zhang Mingli handed Huang Yin a cigarette. “Brother, what do you think?”
“I’m just curious. Why would you two have these thoughts? Shouldn’t love be two people wanting to build a good life together?” Brother Huang said nervously. He felt so out of place.
“Love is not as pretty as you think.”
“Love is not as simple as you think.”
Han Fei and Zhang Mingli said at the same time. They had different views on love, but they shared one common point. They had rarely tasted love. Perhaps that was why Zhang Mingli was willing to chat with Han Fei.”
“One of you has never been in love, and the other has too many lovers. Compared to you, I should be considered your senior, right?” Zhang Mingli slowed down the car. “The things I shared I gathered from my personal experience. For my first relationship, my sun left me. How could life not be painful without the sun? However, the pain was still sufferable. The pain from the second relationship is beyond my threshold. It is why I did the things you couldn’t understand. It is why I have to get to the destination to meet her.”
“If you and your second wife love each other so much, why would she leave you?” Huang Yin thought Zhang Mingli didn’t make much sense.
“She…” Zhang Mingli puffed out the smoke. The smoke burned his lungs. “Do you know? Whenever I think of her after she left, I will be so sad! I can tell you about my first love very easily, but I need a lot of time to prepare before I can share anything about my second love.
“She is not the prettiest girl in the world, but she is my everything.
“She never asks me for clothes or perfume, but she likes to snatch the snacks from me. She is like a child. Or rather, I am a child around her, a child who is always happy and has no regrets.
“I never treated her as the sun in my life. She was never too blinding. I had no idea what she meant in my life. When I reacted, I realized my life had become hers. She had become a permanent part of my life.
“I don’t know if you have that experience or not, but I have. Whenever I am with her, even if we’re doing something insignificant, I’ll feel so happy and satisfied.
“That day, the first snow was falling at Xin Lu. Wrapped in a blanket, she ran to the window. She looked at the snowflakes, dazed. I sat beside her. We counted the flakes until the balcony was thick with snow.
“I’ve experienced many things in my life, many big rises and falls. I’ve forgotten many things, but I remember the smallest experience I had with her.
“Being late for a date, going to the wrong movie theatre, guessing the main character after ten minutes. I wanted to give her a surprise during our one-year dating anniversary, so I sneaked to her city, and she sneaked to mine. At 6 pm, we were at each other’s home, sending the same message, telling the other to look down the window. In the end, we got on the last train and met at an unknown city between our two homes. It was a city neither of us had been to before, but it felt so warm when we saw each other.
“There were many similar incidents. Our first time holding hands, first time cooking dinner, first time getting a kitten, first time giving her a present. I remember everything about her.
“We have also argued over the smallest thing. But when I saw her tears, I would feel so bad. Whenever I apologized to her, she would be so angry until I agreed to bring her to eat some delicious.
“Have you ever felt that you’ve connected to someone in your life?
“Honestly, every moment I’ve shared with her I felt so at ease.
“No matter how bad the situation outside was, whenever I thought of her, I would be energized because I knew she was waiting for me.”
Zhang Mingli kept stressing one thing. His wife was waiting for him. Zhang Mingli really loved his wife, so why did they split up?
Zhang Mingli suddenly coughed. Smoking was bad for the body. Every smoker knew that, but they couldn’t stop themselves. The road darkened, and the road condition worsened. It was dangerous, but Zhang Mingli accelerated. The GPS showed that he was almost at the end.
The ghosts became scarier and more powerful. The car appeared to be running on the spine of a nightmare. The end was the abyss. The windows bled, and the glass cracked. This was not the first time Zhang Mingli drove this road, but he had a reason to finish it every time. His body weakened. Zhang Mingli ignored the ghosts outside the car, but when he passed by a black bridge, a school bus filled with primary school students came out of the shadow. The bus was stuffed with so many things on top of the children. It was in great violation of the law.
“We’re almost to the end. Ignore it.” Han Fei knew this was a nightmare. He had a bad feeling, so he reminded Zhang Mingli. Zhang Mingli nodded, but his eyes kept drifting to the bus.
The bus driver’s eyes were bound by black life threads. His body was covered in dream dust. Blood vessels grew out of his hands and bound them to the steering wheel. The children had no idea danger was approaching. They were squeezed together, but they had the most innocent smile as they laughed and joked. The children had on common shirts. They didn’t come from rich families. It was why they were on this horrible school bus.
The two came from opposite directions. The driver shuddered as the bus got down the bridge, and the bus careened towards Zhang Mingli.
“The fuck!”
The road leading to the bridge was narrow. If Zhang Mingli gave way, they would fall into the valley. If he didn’t, his car would collide with the bus, and both would fall into the valley. Zhang Mingli reacted within one or two seconds. He whipped the steering wheel around and actively drove towards the abyss.
“Big Sin!”
The ghost tattoo lit up. Misfortune poured out. Big Sin was very fast, but the car still rammed into the trees beside the cliff. Big Sin quickly used its body to stop the car. Big Sin screamed. This was the first time Han Fei heard Big Sin scream in such pain. He turned back to look. Big Sin outside the car was bound by black vessels. Dream dust pumped into its body.
The nightmare appeared safe because it was Zhang Mingli who got out of the car every time. If Han Fei or Huang Yin did so, they would be killed immediately!
The dream dust on Big Sin possessed the presence of Unmentionable. This nightmare was definitely Dream’s trap. Zhang Mingli was safe even though he was outside the car. This was to make Han Fei put his guard down.
This ninth layer was very dangerous. It was only gentle to Zhang Mingli.
The car windows shattered. Big Sin resisted the pain and dragged the car back to the road. It was only outside the car for a few seconds, but Big Sin was already heavily injured.
For the first time without Han Fei’s order, Big Sin quickly hurried back into the ghost tattoo. The tattoo was his home.
“Big Sin is so tough, and it barely survives. If Brother Huang or I got out, we’d be eliminated instantly.”
After the car stopped, Zhang Mingli suddenly turned silent.
Han Fei leaned forward to look. Zhang Mingli’s neck and face were pierced with glass pieces. A thick branch poked through his body. “Did this happen in real life?”
Zhang Mingli pointed at the GPS and then at Han Fei. “Can you… help me… drive…”
“Sure!” Han Fei and Huang Yin dressed Zhang Mingli’s wounds and moved him to the passenger’s seat. Han Fei became the new driver.
“I… have to… get… to the destination… Not let… her go…” Zhang Mingli was the owner of the nightmare, but his dream didn’t feel like a nightmare at all.