"Could it be that I really have been in a coma for ten years?"
"Were those past events really just subconscious fantasies I had while I was in a coma?"
"Is it all a lie?"
Once this thought arose, it began to spread wildly in Lu Li's mind.
He found it hard not to doubt all of this.
After all, in the years since he woke up, nothing special had happened to him, not even for a single day, minute, or second.
No abnormalities were found.
Nothing in the world has changed.
As for the so-called Tribulation Transcendence aura, there wasn't even a trace of it.
This made Lu Li begin to have doubts.
Did I really get hit on the head by an ancient jade in Panjiayuan and fall into a coma for ten years?
And those Lu Li and fantastical cultivation experiences, those immortals who could fly and escape into the earth, and live forever.
It was just a long dream his brain constructed as a form of self-protection while he was in a vegetative state.
Because of a desire to possess great power to change the family's predicament.
Because subconsciously, there's a longing to wake up.
Was his survival instinct driving him to fantasize about cultivating immortality?
Did he conjure up the image of Lu Sheng, and the so-called Human Immortal Tribulation, thus ushering in the opportunity to awaken?
"If that's the case, then everything makes sense."
"There is no Immortal Realm, no Supreme Unity Infinite Realm, no Emperor Lord Ji Wan."
"Perhaps... it's all just my imagination."
The slight unease in Lu Li's heart gradually disappeared.
His suspicions began to deepen.
There is no such thing as cultivating immortality.
All I have is this dilapidated old neighborhood, endless debts, and the reality of being so exhausted every day that I can't even straighten my back.
This self-doubt reached its peak in the fifth year.
That year, Lu Dahai suffered a sudden heart attack and was hospitalized, plunging his family into dire straits once again.
To raise money for medical expenses, Lu Li worked at a logistics company during the day and sold fried rice at the night market at night, sleeping only three hours a day.
When he handed over the money he had scraped together at the hospital's payment window and looked at the string of numbers on the receipt, he completely resigned himself to his fate.
He was just an ordinary person.
An ordinary person overwhelmed by the pressures of life.
Cultivating immortality? That's nothing but a pipe dream.
Several more years passed.
The family's debts are finally almost paid off, Lu Dahai's health is recovering well, and Lu Li's life is gradually getting back on track.
He has fully accepted his current identity, gotten used to taking the subway, haggling with vendors at the market, and living the rest of his life as an ordinary person.
Until this day.
In late autumn, a chilly wind was blowing in Jing City.
Lu Li wrapped his old coat tighter around himself and walked through the familiar streets.
The streets were lined with flashing neon lights, and traffic flowed like a river.
Commuters hurrying to work brushed past him.
As I crossed an intersection, a news report about the protection of antiques and cultural relics was playing on a large screen by the roadside.
The image shows a uniquely shaped jade pendant in the shape of a fish.
Lu Li stopped and stared at the jade pendant on the screen.
It was as if a bolt of lightning struck my mind, cleaving through the fog that had covered me for seven years.
Fish-shaped jade pendant.
"Yes, a fish-shaped jade pendant."
"In my fantasy, after I traveled through time, there was also a piece of land on this side of the country."
"This is also the key to my ability to contact the country and begin cultivating immortality through technology."
"If cultivating immortality is just a dream, how can the details in the dream be so vivid?"
"If all of this is fake, then... the address of the company I'm imagining should never be there!"
A strong sense of unease and palpitations churned in Lu Li's chest.
He looked at the incredibly real streets around him, at his own rough, calloused hands, and his eyes gradually cleared.
Yes, what if it's all fake?
The unit in Jing City must also be fake.
But what if that organization is real?
What if that company really is there? Does that mean...?
Lu Li dared not think about it anymore; he was already middle-aged.
Just thinking about these unrealistic things in my mind feels a little shameful.
But the overwhelming impulse made him want to verify it.
"This is the last time, I'm verifying it just one last time!"
"As long as that address remains unchanged, even without any special circumstances, it means this world perfectly matches my imagination."
"But I had only graduated not long before I time-traveled, and I had never been to the National Security."
"I've never even known where the Jing City National Security is located. If they really are there, it just means there's something wrong with this world!"
Once the thought crossed his mind, Lu Li could no longer restrain himself.
He took out his phone and made a call to his family.
They said they'd be back for dinner a little later.
Then I took a taxi and headed towards the address I remembered.
The passage of time has made him somewhat forget the origins of Bureau 749.
That is, the detailed information from his first contact with the government.
He remembered that the Security Bureau was located in an inconspicuous government building outside the Third Ring Road in Jing City.
I gave the taxi driver the address.
Lu Li's heartbeat quickened as the journey shortened.
A strange light slowly rose in his eyes.
finally.
After struggling to move for an hour and a half during the evening rush hour.
The taxi stopped.
"Hello, passenger, we have arrived."
The driver's words echoed in Lu Li's ears.
Lu Li paid the fare, opened the car door, and got out.
There was indeed a large building in front of him.
However, the name displayed above the building belongs to a private enterprise.
There's nothing special about it.
There wasn't even proper security; people could freely enter and exit the building.
Upon seeing this, Lu Li froze on the spot.
"Really not...?"
"It seems it's true."
I looked up at the building in front of me.
Lu Li a deep breath.
His expression, however, showed no sign of defeat or dejection.
Instead, it evoked an indescribable excitement.
This intense emotion was both strong and subtle.
Lu Li suppressed it deep in his heart.
After realizing that this building wasn't some kind of General Administration of Security...
Lu Li was as if he had been reborn.
He hailed a taxi and went home briskly.
After dinner, I went about my daily routine of going to work, doing part-time jobs, and saving money.
Spend more time with family.
It was as if they were completely immersed in life.
Time flies, and forty years have passed in the blink of an eye.
That year, Lu Li eighty, and his life was nearing its end.
"Uncle!"
"Uncle! Wake up!"
Lu Yao's descendants surrounded the hospital beds.
A slightly sorrowful voice echoed in the hospital room.
Lu Li never married.
He had no regrets, but looking at the descendants around him, a name inexplicably surfaced in his mind.
" Di Yunxi."
"Hehe... we should meet again, right?"
Lu Li murmured the name, his cloudy eyes gleaming with unparalleled brilliance.
The moment this thought crossed his mind, his breath came to an abrupt halt.
Everything around them came to a complete standstill.
Everything vanished like bubbles in a water mirror.
The surrounding space was plunged into complete darkness.
Only a young man with a face almost identical to his slowly approached.
How did you realize this was a calamity?