Escaping the Past

"I'm sorry, Mr. Li, Ms. Fang, but I still haven't thought of any clues."

"You know, I was badly frightened back then and lost a lot of memories. I didn't even know my own name."

"But don't worry. I'm seeing a psychiatrist now, and I'm cooperating with hypnosis and the Public Security Bureau's questioning. If I remember anything, I'll notify you immediately."

As he passed the grieving couple, Han Su forced himself to say only a few words before leaving.

"Let's go!"

Xu Ji tugged at him from beside him, secretly feeling somewhat dissatisfied. The Kidnapping Case had been over for so long. Old Han should have his own life, shouldn't he?

Even the Public Security Bureau had said he was innocent and prohibited the victims' families from disturbing his life again. Yet some families refused to give up and kept coming to find him. This couple was one such example.

"Old Han, if it really comes down to it, should I have my dad talk to them? They feel sorry for their daughter, but they can't keep disrupting your life, right?"

"No need. I understand why they're so heartbroken."

"Then why are you still pulling that face?"

"Understanding doesn't mean I'm not annoyed!"

"..."

As they spoke, they reached the school gate. From afar, they saw several sports cars parked outside, with a few young people waving at them. Their clothes and accessories were luxurious, though ordinary people would find them somewhat flashy and frivolous.

The security guard at the gate looked displeased at the sports cars blocking students coming and going, as well as the extravagantly dressed figures.

But he didn't dare drive them away. Whenever their eyes met, he hurriedly put on a smile.

In an immensely swollen super-metropolis, privilege had expanded in equal proportion. Amid this endless prosperity, the identities and status of the wealthy had risen to a frightening height.

Even Qinggang University, an institution of higher learning with centuries of history, could not refuse the privileged entry of major conglomerates and the children of powerful elites.

Some were current Qinggang University students, while others were rich kids who had dropped out early. Every weekend, they gathered to have fun. But how could a rich people's party possibly lack the truly wealthy Young Master Xu Ji?

So they often came in groups to pick him up at the school gate.

Of course, sometimes they came not only for Xu Ji. Some female students would also often climb shyly into their cars, skillfully tying their hair behind their heads.

"Shall we go?"

Upon seeing them, Xu Ji changed his tone. Smiling, he grabbed Han Su and said, "Want to come see my driving skills today?"

Seeing Xu Ji invite Han Su so eagerly, the expressions of those rich kids became somewhat unnatural.

Every time Xu Ji went out to have fun, he insisted on bringing Han Su along. Naturally, they were happy to give Xu Ji face and showed Han Su the appropriate friendliness. Yet this poor student simply never fit in with them.

What an ungrateful guy...

Han Su glanced at the wealthy young masters, then shook his head. "Not going. I'm heading to the library."

Xu Ji was instantly speechless. "Damn, why are you working so hard? It's useless, I'm telling you. Do you think my family got this rich through hard work?"

"..."

Han Su merely smiled and waved. He slung his backpack over his shoulder and quickly left the school gate.

The rich kids nearby found it absurd. What was Xu Ji's status? He was one of Qinggang City's most untouchable young masters.

The rest of them had to flatter and suck up to him every day. They had to keep the young master happy without looking too deliberate and becoming a laughingstock in their circle. Picking up girls wasn't even this exhausting.

And when such a wealthy young master invited a poor student who had to work part-time, that student actually gave him so little face?

Xu Ji, however, said nothing dissatisfied as he watched Han Su's retreating back. He merely muttered to himself, "What's gotten into Old Han lately?"

"First staring in mirrors, then going to the library..."

"Has he finally grown into his looks, gotten horny, and started wanting women?"

"..."

He didn't care how Han Su treated him. After all, Han Su was his brother.

If his parents hadn't objected, he would have wanted them to adopt Han Su. Of course, even though they had refused, he had decided to take power as soon as possible.

Then he could adopt Han Su himself.

He immediately turned to the people around him. "Which of you knows a girl who's innocent, pretty, rich, has a good personality, isn't obsessed with looks, and is considerate?"

"I'm introducing her to my brother!"

The people around him were dumbfounded. "With standards that perfect, only Young Master Xu turning into a woman would work."

Xu Ji immediately frowned in worry. "My mom would be easy to persuade, but my dad definitely wouldn't agree!"

Hearing that, his entire group of fair-weather friends scattered.

Their expressions were strange. Did that guy have evidence of you murdering someone or something? Why are you so good to him?

Han Su left by himself, walked several hundred meters, and tapped his card to enter the subway station.

Holding his backpack against his chest, he silently watched the train shuttle through this highly urbanized concrete forest. Neon Lights and the colors of various ads spilled into the carriage, making everything seem hazy and surreal.

The world was so quiet that it felt unreal.

The display showed that it was now June 13, 2724 of the New Calendar.

Han Su stared at that number for a long time, as if he could never get enough of it. Or perhaps he was afraid that it would suddenly begin flashing and turn into 2714.

The case that had affected his entire life, one he had still been unable to escape, had happened then.

He had only been ten years old at the time.

An ordinary school trip had suddenly dragged him into a dark, ruined Ancient Castle.

There, those ignorant children had seen many mysterious and bizarre monsters, things that should not have existed in the real world.

He didn't know why they had been kidnapped, nor did he know what those monsters truly were. But Han Su had been the cleverest. The moment he saw them, he knew it was no good place. Taking advantage of a disturbance, he crawled without a sound through a hole beneath a rose-covered wall.

He ran. He ran with all his strength until even his shoes came off.

When he finally reached safety, he was greeted by countless camera flashes, the Public Security Bureau, and innumerable grieving, anguished parents and relatives.

They desperately asked who had kidnapped them and where the other children were now.

Han Su pointed out the route by which he had escaped and identified the place where the children had been imprisoned. But there was nothing there, only an empty industrial district.

The Public Security Bureau turned the place upside down, but found nothing.

Later, countless experts and scholars questioned him again and again. They even gave him lie detector tests and hypnotized him, attempting to uncover the truth of the Kidnapping Case and find the other children.

But in the end, they got nowhere.

Even the Public Security Bureau investigators could only speculate that he had been frightened, remembered the location incorrectly, and needed time to slowly recall it.

After that, he was sent to an orphanage, where he lived, studied, and grew up to the present day.

Over those ten years, he had repeatedly awakened from nightmares in the middle of the night, thinking of that gloomy horror and feeling incredibly lucky that he had escaped such a strange, sinister place.

But only later did he realize that he had not.

Starting three years ago, those monsters had set their sights on him again.

First, everything around him began to flicker. Then strange whispers sounded in his ears. An invisible force caught him, and he was dragged back into the Kidnapping Case from ten years earlier, once again facing those indescribable monsters as a ten-year-old child.

He had been at a loss, but following his instincts, he escaped once more. He found himself still in his seventeen-year-old bed, with crumpled balls of paper scattered beside him.

The fight on television was still playing. Everything around him was as usual, so he thought it had merely been a dream.

But less than three months later, damn it, he was dragged back again.

That time, he broke a leg while escaping. When he woke up again, he was completely stunned. At last, he realized it had not been a dream at all, because his real self had become lame as well.

Countless new memories flooded his mind. Along that entire Life Path, he had become lame.

"Three years, seventeen times..."

Thinking of that number, Han Su sighed quietly to himself.

Again and again, he had been dragged back by those monsters to ten years ago, then again and again escaped back to the present.

It was like a nightmare.

But what was more terrifying than a nightmare was that what happened in a nightmare vanished upon waking. Yet the injuries Han Su suffered in the Ancient Castle directly affected his present life.

For example, when he escaped this time, he injured his eye inside the Ancient Castle. Now, he was someone with only one usable eye.

"The Dark Fortress keeps repairing itself. There are fewer and fewer loopholes I can use, but if I want to save that many people..."

"It's too hard..."

"..."

A dull pain began throbbing in his right eye, dragging Han Su out of his memories. He sat silently for a long time, then took out his phone, found a chat window with a Black Rose avatar, and slowly typed:

[So, is it really true that only if everyone escapes can I break free of this curse?]

A few seconds later, the Black Rose avatar began blinking, and a message appeared: [You were kidnapped by those monsters and sent back to the past again?]