Chapter 1357: Eternal Life

Chapter 1357: "Sheng Sheng Bu Xi"

Zheng Yingxiong ran home, his face filled with terror, but as he ran, he felt dizzy and disoriented, with not a single person around. All he could think about was finding his family. What had happened in that massive prison... that people in the real world also vanished?

He arrived at his doorstep, gasping for breath for a long time before finally mustering the courage to reach out and slowly touch the door. The moment his hand met the doorknob, the street behind him grew chaotic, and the sound of snoring from inside the house echoed like a memory.

As Zheng Yingxiong stepped inside, he saw the scene before him. A Ba was still asleep in the room, but this time, he hadn't smashed any dishes—he had just drunk a lot of wine. Was this reality...? It felt like reality, yet somehow different from usual.

"Yingxiong!" a voice called out from behind him. Zheng Yingxiong turned to see A Ma returning with a basket of groceries.

"A... A Ma?" Zheng Yingxiong stared at her in a daze.

"So you still remember to call me, huh?" A Ma reached out and tugged at his ear. It looked intimidating, but her grip wasn't strong. "What time is it? Have you finished school? What are you doing at home?"

Zheng Yingxiong looked at A Ma and suddenly burst into tears, trembling. He didn't know what had happened, but for the first time, he caught the scent of life on her—like that of a real, living person. Before, no matter how many times he woke up in reality, all he could smell was the foul stench of the prison.

A Ma paused, then reached out and touched the tip of his nose. "What's wrong with you? Did you get into a fight?"

In that moment, he desperately wanted to talk to A Ma, to say so many things. He wanted to tell her about the two older sisters he had met—he loved them just as he loved her.

Just as the cigarette in Zhang Chenze's hand was about to burn out, the door to the safe passage was pushed open. The noisy sounds of the wedding ceremony outside flooded into her ears.

"Zhang Jie?" Xiao Sun poked his head in and looked at her curiously.

Zhang Chenze froze, the cigarette ash scattering on the ground. She lifted her head, unsure of what to do, and instinctively reached for her pocket. According to her normal memories, Xiao Sun would appear after she finished her call in the safe passage, but this time, something felt off. Where was the phone...?

"Looking for this?" Xiao Sun reached in from the door, holding up a phone and waving it lightly. "Not only did you smoke without me, but you even forgot your phone?"

Zhang Chenze felt a bit confused. She tossed the cigarette to the ground and quickly stepped forward to take back her phone. Unlocking it, she saw there were no missed calls at all. After thinking for a few seconds, she started scrolling through her contacts, and soon her whole body began to tremble. She realized she had never saved any family members' numbers.

What... was going on?

"What's wrong, Zhang Jie?" Xiao Sun asked, puzzled. "Just so you know, I didn't peek at your phone."

"Jia... Jiaqi... What about my parents'... numbers?" Zhang Chenze stumbled over the word "parents" as she looked up at Xiao Sun in bewilderment.

"Parents...?" Xiao Sun echoed, sounding doubtful. "Zhang Jie, have you been under a lot of stress lately? Maybe you should take a long vacation?"

"What...?"

"You always said you grew up in an orphanage, right?"

Zhang Chenze stood there, frozen like a statue, unable to move.

Qiao Jiajin sat in Gun Youliang's car, with Jiu Zai chattering away as he always did, sharing all the interesting stories he'd collected over the years. But Qiao Jiajin just stared blankly out the window.

They turned from the prison and, after just two intersections, saw dazzling high-rises on Bo Lan Jie that he'd never encountered before. The buildings soared into the sky, dozens of stories tall, covered in unfamiliar materials that gleamed like something out of "The Terminator," lighting up the street with vibrant colors.

What... was this...?

At the next intersection, the car passed Beijing Qianmen Hutong and turned onto Chengdu's Qingyang Dadao. Wait... what was this?

"Jiu... Jiu Zai..." Qiao Jiajin kept his eyes wide open, staring at the completely unfamiliar scenery outside. "What's going on out there?"

"Huh?" Jiu Zai was taken aback. "Ah Jin, are you feeling okay? Hasn't it always been like this outside?"

"Always... like this?"

Qiao Jiajin's tone grew increasingly hesitant, as if something had been etched into these people's subconscious. Yet, they all seemed so real...

Gun Youliang chuckled. "Jiu Ge, you're the one who's off. Jin Ge has been locked up for years and just got out."

"Oh, right!" Jiu Zai laughed too. "No worries, Ah Jin. I've got your back—I'll introduce you to everything properly."

In his state of shock, Qiao Jiajin's car with Gun Youliang drove through many districts. He saw a world full of vibrant colors, far more vast than he had ever imagined.

On that day, someone looked up in confusion. They glimpsed the shadow of a Tianlong flashing through the "gate" in the sky, and then someone reached out and closed that "gate" completely. In that instant, all the faint lights vanished from the sky, and the "xian fa" on everyone's bodies seemed to lose their connection, slowly fading away.

On that day, countless people brought their own small worlds into existence out of nowhere, reconnecting with everyone and the entire world from their memories.

On that day, Chen Junan returned to a home where no fire had occurred, Zhang Lijuan didn't encounter the troublesome middle-aged woman in the workshop, and Qian Wu saw all his cats.

On that day, after repeated scans, all the fallen comrades revived in everyone's minds, carrying every last memory.

On that day, those whose memories lasted the longest all survived to the end, becoming seeds brimming with hope.

On that day, people heard someone say, "As long as you miss someone, you will meet again."

On that day, they all reunited with those they missed.

And on that very day, a fleeting image of Qi Xia appeared in everyone's minds, though Qi Xia never actually showed up.