Beneath a dusky yellow sky, in the fading glow of the slowly setting sun.
Ding Yu swung an old hoe with a lump of black iron lashed to its end, digging into the yellow earth beneath his feet again and again. He felt as though he was about to go mad!
Before going to sleep, he had been a university senior in Kyoto, about to graduate. How had he opened his eyes to find himself trapped inside the body of a filthy boy in ragged clothes, wielding primitive tools?
Ding Yu could clearly feel the frail body's extreme exhaustion and hunger, yet he was like a spectator trapped in a cage, able only to watch its owner toil without stopping. Every swing of the hoe weakened the body further, but he could do nothing to interfere.
"Zhuzi, hang in there a little longer. We only rented this ox and equipment for seven days, and we have to return them tomorrow. If we can turn over most of this wasteland before dark, the rental money won't have gone to waste. When we get home tonight, you and your elder brother can each have an extra half bowl of bean porridge." A man's hoarse voice came from nearby. The language was utterly unfamiliar, yet Ding Yu understood it with ease.
Just as Ding Yu was marveling at this, the body's owner looked up and answered in the same language:
"Don't worry, Dad. I can keep going."
Only then did Ding Yu see a middle-aged man with deep wrinkles across his forehead and a tall, thin young man in his twenties on the other side of the wasteland. One stood in front of an old yellow-haired ox and the other behind it, urging it onward. The former held the reins at its neck, while the latter struggled to steady a crude wooden plow behind it.
Both were dressed in rags and panting for breath, looking as though they might collapse at any moment. Even so, they desperately urged the ox slowly forward, leaving long furrows of varying depths across the wasteland.
The frail boy endured his body's discomfort and continued swinging his hoe.
Ding Yu could even clearly feel the boy's heart racing abnormally fast. The thick, raw smell of earth filled his nostrils, and the air was gradually growing damp.
Suddenly, a thunderclap rang out at the edge of the sky. Fierce winds rose, dark clouds filled the heavens, and a downpour of bean-sized raindrops fell in an instant.
"This is bad! Zhuzi, hurry and bring the oilcloth! Cover the ox and the tools!" The middle-aged man's face changed in alarm. He immediately let go of the plow and rushed through the pouring rain toward the tall, thin young man, helping him keep the frightened ox under control.
The scrawny boy called out in acknowledgment, then broke into a run through the rain toward a gray cloth bundle at the edge of the field.
Thud!
The boy's foot slipped in the mud, and he took a hard tumble in the pouring rain. He lay facedown in the water, unable to get back up.
"Zhuzi!"
"Little brother!"
The cries of the middle-aged man and the tall, thin young man sounded terribly frightened and feeble amid the downpour.
"Ah!"
Ding Yu sat up on the wooden bed in his single dorm room at university. He stared straight at the gaming poster of a red-and-white mech on the opposite wall, still shaken.
That dream had been far too real!
Even though he was awake now, the cries of the middle-aged man and the tall, thin young man still seemed to linger in his ears!
Smack, smack!
Ding Yu slapped his face hard twice, finally bringing himself back to his senses a little.
A dream was a dream. However real or strange it had been, he was awake now, so there was no reason to dwell on it.
Ding Yu grimaced, his cheeks slightly reddened, and glanced twice more at the poster on the wall. Then he suddenly sprang out of bed.
He had almost forgotten! The open beta for Star River, the first global virtual game, would begin in a few days. Today, he had to pick up the gaming headset he had preordered.
He had taken part in the game's closed beta and had even created his character in advance when it ended, ready to make a big splash in the open beta.
At the thought, Ding Yu pushed last night's strange dream to the back of his mind and pulled open his dorm room door, intending to find his friend next door so they could collect their headsets together.
But the moment he opened the door, he stopped short, staring in surprise at three men in crisp black suits outside. One of the men standing a little farther back held a square silver metal case in both hands. A miniature radar-like dish on its surface pointed straight at his dorm room door.
"Are you Ding Yu?" asked the square-faced man in his forties at the front, holding up a photograph to compare it with Ding Yu's face.
"That's me... Who are you...?" Ding Yu glanced at the metal case in the other man's hands, his face full of bewilderment and suspicion.
"Ding Yu, we need you to come somewhere with us for an investigation. Don't worry. You haven't broken any laws or regulations. The relevant department simply requires you to come in and answer a few questions. Here are my credentials." The square-faced man smiled, put away the photograph, and handed over a green identification booklet bearing the national emblem.
"Requires me to come in?" Ding Yu was dumbfounded. He took the booklet and gave it a hurried glance, remembering only a large red stamp with the words "Special Affairs Processing Office" in small print.
"Could I call my family first and let them know I'm all right?" Ding Yu handed the credentials back, his eyes shifting as he asked.
"Once we arrive, you'll naturally be allowed to make a call. Until then, however, for reasons of confidentiality, your phone and all other electronic devices must be temporarily confiscated. We have also notified your university's administration in advance, so you can rest assured. There's no need to overthink this." After this brief explanation, the square-faced man waved a hand. The other two men stepped behind Ding Yu, clearly urging him to leave at once.
"At least let me change my clothes. I can't go like this." At the sight, Ding Yu really began to panic.
"Then make it quick, Ding Yu. We're rather pressed for time." The square-faced man looked at Ding Yu's short-sleeved pajamas and could only nod helplessly.
Half an hour later, Ding Yu, now wearing a blue casual pullover, sat inside a black stretch sedan. He turned toward the window and stared blankly at the distant sky.
Beside the fiery red sun in the azure sky, an enormous, hazily glowing celestial body had appeared.
It looked twice as large as the sun, its entire surface shrouded in pale yellow light that made it impossible to see what lay beneath. It was as though the sun had gained a twin brother, only less dazzling and a size larger.
"Wh-what is that? It definitely wasn't there yesterday," Ding Yu murmured.
"It did indeed only appear last night," the square-faced man replied calmly. Then he pressed some switch, and black metal panels rose over every window, completely blocking the view outside.
Ding Yu swallowed, not daring to ask anything more.
He did not know whether he was imagining it, but he vaguely felt that the square-faced man was looking at him strangely now. Could being taken away have something to do with that enormous thing in the sky?
Unease and suspicion stirred in his heart.
After driving for over three hours, the sedan finally stopped, and its door opened automatically.
Ding Yu got out and swept his gaze over the surroundings, startled by what he saw.
(This is Wang Yu's first novel on the Fanqie platform. I hope you'll all give it plenty of support! ^^)
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