Chapter 131: Matters are like spring dreams, leaving no trace

Early morning.

Yujing City, Subway Line 2.

More than an hour before the morning rush hour, the carriage appeared empty.

Zhang Fan specifically asked for a half-day leave to return to the old residence.

"Haven't been back in many years." Zhang Fan sat in his seat, thoughtful.

From the time he could remember until he was twelve, that is, ten years ago before the disaster, the family of three lived in that old residence.

That old residential area in the Sanqin District should be considered the oldest area in Yujing City. Logically, it should have been demolished long ago. He didn't know what it looked like now.

Ever since his dad lost contact, this was the first time he had taken the initiative to contact him, and he had found Uncle Liu, suddenly mentioning that old residence, which made Zhang Fan have to take it seriously.

"Dad... what could he leave there?" Zhang Fan muttered.

Drip drip...

Just at this moment, a light sound came from his pocket.

Zhang Fan took out his phone, opened SuperChat, and Li Yishan's message popped up.

"Tell you a piece of news, you'll definitely be moved."

"What news?" Zhang Fan replied.

"Tell you, you have to call me Dad."

"Are you going to say it or not?" Zhang Fan rolled his eyes.

"It's related to Xu Zhixia!"

Li Yishan's message came back, accompanied by a mischievous expression.

"Xu Zhixia!?" Zhang Fan was stunned.

This name was both familiar and strange to him.

Once upon a time, this name occupied more than half of his life. However, after breaking up, the most strenuous attempt he made was to forget everything related to this name.

Times have changed, and after being apart for so long, this name suddenly appeared in front of him again, still making Zhang Fan feel a bit dazed.

Xu Zhixia was Zhang Fan's girlfriend during college; to be precise, she should be his ex.

"Want to know how she's doing?" Li Yishan's message came again, pulling Zhang Fan's thoughts back.

"Don't want to." Zhang Fan rolled his eyes.

He wasn't saying the opposite of what he meant, but really didn't want to. Times change, and people's states of mind change.

During the period just after breaking up, his thoughts were indeed messy, his emotions were flying, and it was hard to control himself. But once he pulled himself out, his mood was completely different. Looking back at that period of obsession now, it seemed a bit childish and ridiculous.

Su Dongpo, a master of lyrics, once said, people are like autumn geese coming with letters, matters are like spring dreams leaving no trace.

This sentence has quite a bit of Zen.

In this life, one will meet many people and say goodbye to many people. Their coming and going is like autumn geese, with traces to follow, but the things experienced are like spring dreams, past clouds and smoke, and one can't remember anything.

"It's actually a bit interesting."

At this moment, Zhang Fan looked at the name that once stirred his emotions, but his mood was as calm as water.

This change verified what he had learned in the Daoist sects over time, and it had a unique flavor.

"All things of yesterday become the me of today. All things of today become the new me." Zhang Fan muttered softly and was about to stuff his phone into his pocket.

"Xu Zhixia is back in Yujing."

Just at this moment, Li Yishan stopped selling it and sent the message in time.

"So what if she's back." Zhang Fan replied, looking up at the station where the train stopped.

"Don't you have any thoughts?"

Li Yishan asked.

Xu Zhixia was not from Yujing City, and her hometown wasn't even in Jiangnan Province. When she graduated, it was because of geographical reasons that the two broke up.

"Early in the morning, are you drunk or full?" Zhang Fan rolled his eyes.

How can a broken mirror be reunited, how can spilled water be recovered? They had already broken up, is there any talk of getting back together?

One must know that for men, there are three kinds of grass that cannot be eaten.

Grass that is turned back to, grass by the nest, and grass of unknown origin.

"Arriving at the station, Shangmafang Station, passengers going to the Five Spirits Rainbow Light 4S store, please pay attention..."

Just at this moment, a broadcast sounded. Zhang Fan stood up and prepared to get off.

Out of the subway, the street in front of him felt somewhat familiar. After all, it was an old city area, not a new area, and there were many changes almost every six months or a year.

This place was no longer in the city planning and had been almost the same for more than ten years.

Especially now, many young people had already left, and those who remained were just some old people.

Zhang Fan passed through several alleys, and the surrounding bungalows evoked his childhood memories.

Such old buildings could only be seen here. Many walls had large "Demolish" characters written on them, and many houses had already been emptied.

"Why is the road blocked?"

Zhang Fan followed the address, but saw that the entire old residential area was blocked, with signs prohibiting entry at the intersections.

"Grandpa, what's going on?"

Zhang Fan walked to the intersection and found an old man who was cooling off to ask.

"There was a slight earthquake a few days ago, the government came and said the geological structure changed... these are all old houses, many are still dangerous houses..." The old man said casually.

Originally, there weren't many people living in this old residential area, and the remaining old people were evacuated, needing to wait for experts to survey and evaluate before they could move back in.

"How long will that take?" Zhang Fan asked.

"Probably soon, they've been evaluating for more than two months, and I see many experts have withdrawn, probably in these two days." The old man replied.

"A wasted trip."

Zhang Fan shook his head helplessly. He hadn't been back for too long, and he still had to find where the old residence was. It wouldn't be good if he were kicked out by someone.

"Wait two more days."

Having asked for a half-day leave, he couldn't just make a wasted trip. Zhang Fan wandered around the neighborhood, considering it a review of his childhood.

After all, before he was twelve, he had lived here all along.

"It hasn't changed much."

The old environment evoked many memories for Zhang Fan. He remembered that at that time, the family of three lived in an old residence. His parents went out early and returned late. Sometimes they didn't cook at home, so they would let him come to the alley entrance to buy some braised food.

At that time, Zhang Fan's family was like most ordinary families, life wasn't rich, but it was harmonious.

"There used to be many stalls here." Zhang Fan walked to the alley entrance.

He remembered that every time he came home from school, he had to pass by this alley entrance. Before it got dark, there were many stalls: mixed vegetables, roast duck, steamed buns with meat, fried dried tofu... almost all were food.

"Little Fan... is it Little Fan!"

Just at this moment, a rough voice sounded, pulling Zhang Fan's thoughts over.

At the alley entrance, a lonely stall was placed there, and a thin, middle-aged uncle, wearing a white apron, was spreading pancakes.

He squinted his eyes, looking up and down at Zhang Fan, as if he knew him.

"You are..."

"Tsk tsk... haven't seen you in so many years, you've become such a big guy... don't remember?" The thin middle-aged uncle put down his work, wiped his oily hands on his apron.

"Feng Ping'an... your Uncle Feng... you used to eat Uncle Wang's pancakes every day when you were a child..." Feng Ping'an grinned. "Uncle Feng!? I remember now..."

Zhang Fan slapped his forehead. From the time he could remember, Feng Ping'an had been spreading pancakes here. At that time, a pancake, an egg, plus a sausage, only cost two yuan.

When he was in elementary school, Zhang Lingzong would deposit fifty yuan at Feng Ping'an's pancake stall every month.

When little Zhang Fan passed by in the morning, he could take a pancake as breakfast.

"Uncle Feng, after so many years, you're still setting up a stall here." Zhang Fan couldn't help but say.

He looked left and right, unable to help but feel a bit strange. There weren't many residents left nearby. Setting up a pancake stall here, he was afraid he couldn't even earn the water and electricity bills.

"Getting old, too lazy to move." Feng Ping'an grinned and laughed.

"Little Fan, how many years has it been since you came back? Must be seven or eight years."

"Seven or eight years!?" Zhang Fan's heart moved slightly.

Ten years ago, after moving, he seemed to have never come back in his impression.

"Uncle Feng, after I moved, did I come back?"

"Came a few times, your dad brought you back..." Feng Ping'an said lightly: "Just a few times, not often. But your dad came often."

"My dad? You mean after moving, my dad also came back to this place often?" Zhang Fan couldn't help but ask.

"Yeah, almost every week." Feng Ping'an said casually.

"Ah!?"

Zhang Fan's brows lifted, unable to help but look at the deep alley. He didn't expect that after moving, Zhang Lingzong would actually come to the old residence once a week...

What did he come to do? "It's been so many years, I still remember the look of your mom and dad when they first moved in. At that time, they had just gotten married..." Feng Ping'an's face revealed a trace of reminiscence.

"That should have been more than twenty years ago..."

Zhang Fan muttered softly, unable to help but say: "Uncle Feng, can you tell me about my mom and dad?"

"At that time... your mom and dad were a young couple, their feelings... how should I put it?" Feng Ping'an paused, his expression somewhat awkward.

"What? Their feelings weren't good?" Zhang Fan's brows lifted, unable to help but ask.

"It's not that they weren't good, it's just that your dad had some problems at that time... so he often couldn't control himself and would hit your mom." Feng Ping'an whispered.

After all, it was an old house, where was there any soundproofing? At that time, neighbors could often hear the sounds of things being smashed and fighting in Zhang Fan's house.

Plus, Zhang Lingzong was a silent man on weekdays. People in the alley discussed behind his back that it was the Zhang man who beat his wife as soon as they got married.

However, the Zhang family's daughter-in-law was also tough. With such a big commotion, she never groaned or called out once.

"Problems? What problems did my dad have?" Zhang Fan asked in a deep voice.

"It was just when they first got married, he often couldn't remember things, sometimes he didn't even recognize your mom."

As soon as these words came out, Zhang Fan's eyes jumped fiercely, and four words appeared in his heart instinctively, on the tip of his tongue.

"Great Night Doesn't Brighten!?"

Zhang Fan knew that Zhang Lingzong also practiced the 【Divine Demon Sacred Fetus】. If one practices this method, one must fall into the calamity of the Great Night Doesn't Brighten.

Once falling into this calamity, the biggest characteristic is the loss of cultivation and the disappearance of memory.

Feng Ping'an's description made Zhang Fan instinctively associate it with the Great Night Doesn't Brighten.

More than twenty years ago, when his dad and mom first got married, perhaps they had fallen into the calamity of the Great Night Doesn't Brighten!?

"But later, after you were born, your dad's problem seemed to never flare up again." Feng Ping'an looked at the silent Zhang Fan and hurriedly said.

"After I was born?" Zhang Fan was thoughtful.

At that time, Zhang Lingzong should have already escaped the calamity! Anyone who practices the 【Divine Demon Sacred Fetus】, every time they enter the Great Night Doesn't Brighten, their cultivation retreats and their memory disappears, but once they escape the calamity, it's like being reborn, and their strength advances by leaps and bounds.

Since the birth of this Inner Dan method, there have been very few practitioners. The strongest among them escaped the calamity of the Great Night Doesn't Brighten nine times, which was already crossing the change of three and five, ranking among the earthly immortals.

"However..."

Just at this moment, Feng Ping'an's voice sounded again, his expression quite solemn.

"Ten years ago, after your mom had the accident, your dad's old problem seemed to flare up again."

"What?" Zhang Fan's brows trembled slightly.

"He couldn't remember many things... I heard him say he had seen a doctor..."

"Yinshan Ghost Doctor!?"

Zhang Fan's mind recalled the scene of visiting the Yinshan Ghost Doctor that day. At that time, he thought Zhang Lingzong was taking him to see a doctor, but the Yinshan Ghost Doctor's granddaughter recalled that when she was a child, the one who came to see the doctor every time was Zhang Lingzong.

At that time, Zhang Fan didn't understand why.

"Great Night Doesn't Brighten? Could it be that Dad has fallen into the calamity again!?"

Zhang Fan's heart jumped wildly. If this were true, then he could understand why his dad had to take him and hide, hiding in Yujing City for a full ten years, telling him nothing.

"Uncle Feng, when was the last time you saw my dad?" Zhang Fan couldn't help but ask.

This trip today really wasn't a wasted trip.

"Last month... early in the month, I guess." Feng Ping'an recalled.

"Early last month... just when Dad lost contact." Zhang Fan was thoughtful.

"Uncle Feng, is my dad's illness better? Did he mention it to you?"

"Not yet."

Feng Ping'an shook his head: "When I saw him last month, he said he was going out to see a doctor, going to a very far place, and might not be back for a while."

Zhang Fan heard this but remained silent.

This was a relatively bad piece of news.

He didn't expect his dad to still be in the calamity.

The Great Night Doesn't Brighten is more dangerous each time, but Zhang Lingzong clearly wasn't falling into the calamity for the first time, so he didn't forget the past like Zhang Fan.

He must have his own way to escape the calamity.

But in such a state, he was still extremely dangerous.

"Little Fan... Little Fan..."

Just at this moment, Feng Ping'an's call sounded again, pulling Zhang Fan's thoughts back.

"What?"

"You don't have to worry too much, your dad has been working on construction sites all year round, his body is still quite tough." Feng Ping'an said softly: "Maybe his illness will be better when he comes back next time."

"Hmm, I know." Zhang Fan nodded: "Uncle Feng, I have something else to do, I'm leaving first."

"Since you're here, Uncle will spread a pancake for you."

As he spoke, Feng Ping'an lowered his head to light the fire, but tried again and again, yet couldn't get it to light.

"Uncle, is it out of gas?"

Feng Ping'an heard this, bent down to move the gas tank from under the stall, and shook it.

"It really is out of gas." Feng Ping'an showed an embarrassed expression.

"Uncle, wait until next time, I'll come back to taste your craft." Zhang Fan greeted him and turned to leave.

"Uncle will wait for you, remember to come often."

Feng Ping'an whispered, watching Zhang Fan's back gradually go away, before he slowly withdrew his gaze and stared at his pancake stall.

"The fifth time... it's not that easy to get better."

As the words fell, Feng Ping'an raised his hand and knocked on the iron plate for spreading pancakes. A wisp of flame rose, bright and moving!! (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 132 =====