"This is the place," the skinny guy said. He took two more steps, then turned back to look at me in confusion. "What's wrong?"
I twisted my head, staring back the way we had come.
"If we keep going that way, we'll reach my university, right?" I asked.
"Huh? Yeah. A little farther and we'll be at the east gate of the old campus," the skinny guy replied, still puzzled.
"So close..." I said again.
"Brother Qi?"
"Too close..." My voice was barely audible, almost like I was murmuring to myself as I recalled the area around the university.
The snack street, the little-goods street, the appliance store, the supermarket, the parcel lockers, the courier outlets, the tutoring companies, the telecom service centers...
I glanced again at the little shop with the sign that read Dreamweaver Shop, then looked at the shops all around it. Through the display windows, I could almost see every detail of their interiors.
They were normal.
All these shops were perfectly normal.
There should be places like these near any university.
It was only now that I suddenly realized what kind of environment I might have been living in all this time.
My heart began to race, and I felt dizzy.
The whole street, along with the shops on it, seemed to spin around me. My body remained rooted to the spot, but my soul had already floated up, turning endlessly. It even felt as if I were rising into the sky and looking down at the entire street.
"Brother Qi!" the skinny guy shouted. He grabbed my shoulder and shook me hard.
People on the street looked over. Quite a few of them looked like students. They watched us curiously and whispered among themselves.
I staggered a couple of steps before managing to steady