Chapter 1: Dream Realm? Time-Space Tunnel?

  I don't know how much I drank by myself, but after feeling dizzy, I hailed a taxi and started heading back. Halfway through, I felt like I was going to pass out and vomit, so I told the driver I had arrived and wanted to get off. The driver kindly asked me, "There's nothing around here, what are you doing getting off?"

  I said I was getting off here and handed the money to the driver. He looked startled as he gave me my change and told me to be careful. As soon as I got out of the car, the driver quickly turned around and left.

  After getting off the car, I directly hugged the roadside lamp post and started vomiting hard... After vomiting, I sat on the ground and smoked a cigarette, feeling a bit more awake, but still dizzy and uncomfortable. Looking around, I wondered how I ended up running here, it's still far from school, and this is a desolate wilderness with no one in sight!

  Thinking of this, a gust of cold wind blew by, and I shivered. I lit another cigarette and looked around at the surroundings. It's still unknown how long it'll take to walk back. Then I wandered to the side of the road, squatted down beside it, and started waving for a taxi. But after a very long time, not a single taxi came by...

  In a daze, I felt a burst of light, and then suddenly felt dizzy. I quickly turned over and got up. "Ugh..." I dry-heaved for half the day but couldn't vomit anything out. After turning back to lie on the ground, I finally realized it had dawned.

  I don't even know where I am now, looking at the white clouds in the sky, I gently patted my head twice, and sat up with my hands supporting the ground. When I looked around, I was stunned!

  Where is this place? All around are mountain peaks, and the mountain peaks are surrounded by floating clouds and fog, with one or two eagles hovering from time to time.

  Looking around, the surroundings are dense green forests, but now I am sitting on a large piece of lush green grass, with all sorts of colorful flowers that can't be named.

  I stood up in a daze and subconsciously turned around twice on the spot, looking at the clouds and mist above, as well as the faintly visible mountain peaks and cypress trees within.

  Sniffing the fresh scent of mud and flowers, I was delighted, this is simply a paradise! No way, whether it's a dream or reality, since I've come, I'll have to pick some immortal peaches or something, who knows if I can live forever? So I patted myself casually and hummed a little tune as I set off along the small path in the middle of the lawn.

  After walking through a small forest on the small path, I suddenly found that the scene in front of me was open and spacious. In front of me was a large empty space, with various unknown flowers, grasses, and trees planted on both sides of the path. Inside a simple enclosure surrounded by a fence, there were two small thatched cottages, but the wooden gate of the yard was wide open.

  "Is anyone there? Hey! Is anyone there?" I shouted twice at the entrance. Following the traditional virtues of China's 5,000-year history, I was not prepared to enter when the owner was not home. But after seeing a two-meter-high crystal object in the middle of the courtyard, I hesitated...

  After hesitating for a long time, I finally made up my mind to go in and take a look. Although the owner was not at home, I just wanted to take a look around and wasn't planning on stealing anything. After calming myself down psychologically, I turned around and took a glance at the surroundings before walking into the courtyard with ease.

  As I approached closer, I found that the crystal was actually a fish tank-like thing, with vibrant flowers and grasses growing on the ground, and suddenly caught a whiff of a refreshing fragrance.

  "Wine?" Suddenly this word popped up in my mind. After sniffing hard a few times while standing still, I finally confirmed that it was the smell of wine, and it was coming from the crystal fish tank in front of me.

  Standing beside the fish tank and looking at it for a while, I felt dizzy from the nearly two-meter-high fish tank. It's not that I couldn't reach the fish tank that made me worried, but after careful observation, I found that there was still a thumb-sized goldfish in the fish tank, and what's more, that fish looked particularly ugly.

  Looking at the goldfish in the bathtub that looks a bit like a mouse swimming happily, plus having drunk too much last night, now I have an even more nauseous and vomiting feeling.

  After a long period of mental struggle, I finally couldn't bear it. I comforted myself like this: don't mention just one long goldfish that looks like an old mouse, even if it were an old mouse, what's the big deal? Maybe there is ambrosia in this fish tank, maybe drinking a mouthful can cure all diseases, or even make you live forever!

  As soon as I thought about it, I took two steps back, got a running start, and with a light jump, I grabbed the edge of the fish tank. With a bit of effort from my arms, I flipped over and landed on the edge of the fish tank.

  Haha, ambrosia, I'm here! Lying on the edge, stretching out one hand to scoop up a bit from below and taking a small sip, feeling quite wonderful!

  After going back and forth several times, I felt a bit unwell, so I bent down to take a drink with both hands. Unexpectedly, my leg cramped up from bending too much, and with a "plop" sound, I fell in!

  "Whoosh" with a loud splash, only to find that it was actually possible to stand up inside, the actual height of the fish tank was just over one meter.

  After steadying himself, he didn't even care about his already drenched clothes and pants, and thrust his head into the immortal wine to drink.

  "Whoa! I've drunk the immortal wine! Haha...". Ten seconds later, he stuck out his head and rubbed his face randomly, then looked up at the sky with a loud laugh.

  Suddenly felt a lump in the throat, then swallowed down, feeling like something was stuck, but at this exciting moment, didn't care about that much, and continued to lower head and drink again.

  This time even I didn't expect it, one mouthful of drink and I couldn't stop, by the end the dregs were directly sucked into my mouth.

  When I realized that there was not a single drop of fairy wine left in the fish tank, I couldn't help but let out a belch and stared with wide eyes in shock. How much wine did I just drink?! I reached out to touch my belly, but surprisingly, I didn't feel any bloating at all.

  Alas, how is this possible? This must be a dream! I stretched out my hands and randomly scratched my still wet hair, dejectedly shaking my head.

  "Bang!" A loud noise was followed by a series of " splash" sounds. The fish tank shattered, and I, standing on the base of the tank, was shocked to find an old man in front of me. His mustache was almost standing upright, his big eyes staring at me, his mouth opening and closing, but he couldn't utter a single word!

  "Ah?" I also pointed at the old man in surprise and said: "Old man, how is it you!" No mistake, the person in front of me was indeed the mysterious old man I had met before.

  "What have you done?!" The old man in front of me kept pounding the ground with his cane and questioning me.

  "No...no..." I looked at the crystal fragments on the ground with a somewhat guilty conscience. Actually, I'm also feeling quite heartbroken now, a big piece of crystal is now broken into this state...

  "Where's my little flower? Where did you put my little flower?" The old man asked me anxiously while looking around and bending down to search for something.

  I was asked and looked around in confusion: "What little flower? I didn't see any little flower... Old man, how did you end up here? Where is this place?"

  "This is the immortal realm, this is my home!" The old man replied with a sentence, then stood up straight, stretched out his thumb and asked me: "Is it the small golden dragon fish inside, just this big?"

  "Huh? Goldfish? I didn't see it, I only saw a mouse that could swim... But I don't know where it went! I have no idea what happened, the fishbowl just suddenly shattered..." I shook my head, with an innocent face, explaining to the old man.

  The old man furrowed his brow and looked around, then suddenly raised his head and stared at me, asking, "Where is the immortal wine in here?"

  "Immortal wine? Ah, I originally wanted to take a sip, but somehow I ended up drinking the whole thing...". I hastily waved my hands at Old Master, explaining: "Old Master, listen to me explain, I really didn't mean to drink it all, it's just that earlier I don't know what happened, and I couldn't stop..."

  The old man stood still after listening, frowning and staring at me without moving.

  After a while, the old man sighed and beckoned to me: "Forget it! If we are destined to meet, then let's just follow our fate! Come with me!" He said, leaning on his cane and turning back towards the house.

  After I followed him into the house, the interior decoration was extremely simple. There was only a wooden bed, and in the middle of the room, there was a round table with four round stools.

  The old man sat down and nodded at me to sit down as well. Then, he simply waved his hand over the table, and a complete set of tea utensils appeared on it.

  "Ah! You..." I, who had just sat down on the stool, stood up and took a few steps back upon seeing this scene, pointing at the tea set that had suddenly appeared on the table with an incredulous expression.

  "Sit down, I have something to say to you. I've already told you everything earlier. This is a fairyland! These are nothing!" The old man looked at me with a calm smile and began to pour tea for himself.

  I gently returned to the table and sat down, carefully looking at the old man and asked: "Old, old man, didn't you have something to say to me?"

  "Hmm, I have something to say to you!" The old man responded with a nod and pushed a cup of tea in front of me: "Don't you have any questions for me?"

  "Ah, yes, yes!" I nodded hastily like a chick pecking at grain, then asked: "You said this is an immortal realm just now, I want to ask, how did I get here? How did you come to our mortal world in the past? Why do I feel like I'm dreaming right now... And what's with the small flower you mentioned earlier? What's going on with the crystal fish tank outside?"

  "Hmm, good question! Let me explain it to you slowly!" The old man nodded with a smile: "This is indeed a fairyland, mortals can't come here, and at first I wasn't clear how you got here either, but now I have some leads! And when I went to the mortal world back then, I also passed through the space-time tunnel, it's just that we immortals have this ability, while mortals don't!"

  "Oh, the space-time tunnel!" I nodded vaguely after hearing it, then continued to ask: "So can I go back through the space-time tunnel?"

  "Hmm... This is probably impossible!" The old man furrowed his brow and shook his head, explaining the reason to me: "Generally speaking, it's impossible for a mortal's physical body to pass through the space-time tunnel, but you did. You just didn't notice that when you landed outside the forest, your physical body is still there, while the current you is actually in a spiritual state, because a mortal's physique cannot move in the immortal realm!"

  "What? What did you say? I'm a soul now?" I stood up in surprise and hastily reached out to touch my current body, which was solidly present. Then, looking at the old man, I asked: "Am I not standing here right now, in person? How can it be that I only have a soul?"

  "Heh heh, who told you that the soul isn't a real existence?" The old man chuckled twice and pointed to the stool for me to sit down: "Sit down first, I'll tell you slowly! Although ordinary people can't pass through the time-space tunnel, but just now I observed your soul, and right now you're not alone!"

  "What? Not one person? I'm right here now, can't two people be enough?" Hearing this news made me feel even more puzzled.

  "Ah, two people! To be exact, one person and one beast!" The old man still had a calm smile on his face as he nodded and explained: "Just now, the small dragon fish I was raising in the yard possessed your soul, so you're not alone right now!"

  " Possessing my soul? How is this possible? Then what am I, it or me?" I frowned and asked the old man, feeling even more absurd. But now there's one thing that makes me feel a little better - the swimming mouse from earlier wasn't eaten by me, but possessed, and that disgusting feeling instantly disappeared.

  "That little dragon fish is actually the juvenile form of a dragon. When it grows up, it needs to leap over the Dragon Gate in order to ascend and become a dragon! Actually, what you mortals say about carp leaping over the Dragon Gate is incorrect - it should be dragon fish leaping over the Dragon Gate! If a grown-up dragon fish can't clear the Dragon Gate, then it will only remain a fish and not become a dragon!" The old man began to enlighten me with knowledge about dragon fish and dragons.

  "What I'm concerned about now is not these things, but whether there are any adverse effects after attachment. So I asked, 'That... this dragon fish attachment thing, does it have any bad influence on me or something?'"

  "What bad influence? Haha...". The old man burst out laughing: "I've never heard of it before, dragon fish possession, do you know what it represents? Dragon fish is originally the juvenile form of a dragon, if the dragon fish possesses your soul, then your consciousness and spiritual power will be greatly enhanced! Most importantly, what are the advantages of being a dragon?"

  "That goes without saying! His strength is simply indescribable!" I replied matter-of-factly.

  "Hmm, although the dragon fish is not a real dragon, after it possesses your soul, you will become even stronger! Of course, you won't be invincible to swords and guns, even dragons can get hurt if they receive a strong attack!" The old man continued to tell me about the benefits of the dragon fish possessing my soul.

  "Wait a minute, I already know all that! What about Xiaohua?" I didn't want to hear him tell stories anymore, so I interrupted him and asked the key point.

  "What's with Xiaohua?" "Ah!" The old man sighed and said: "It's the dragon fish that's attached to your soul!" As he spoke, the old man looked out of the house and pointed at the crystal fragments on the ground, beginning to tell a story: "Originally, there were two dragon fish, one male and one female. I named them Huajianlei for the male and Niaojingxin for the female... Who knew that the female dragon fish would die in childbirth, leaving only Xiaohua behind..."

  Tears of the flower? Frightened heart of the bird? This immortal is indeed good at naming things! However, I think the nickname for Tears of the Flower should be Little Flower, and as for Frightened Heart of the Bird, shouldn't its name be Little Bird instead? As soon as this thought occurred to me, I hastily suppressed my own lewd thoughts and began comforting the old man: "Old sir, don't be sad! This matter, I didn't do it on purpose. If I had known it would turn out like this, I definitely wouldn't have touched it..."

  "Alright, alright!" The old man waved his hand to interrupt me and said helplessly: "Originally, those immortal wines were meant to be kept for the two of them until they came of age, and that crystal jar was also maintained by the immortal wine. However, I see that Xiaohua has absorbed all the immortal wine, so I'm at ease! Although she's attached to your soul, at least she didn't die! This is a good thing, alright!"

  After finishing speaking, the old man shook his head and then looked at me and asked about past events: "The Qigong method I taught you before, have you practiced it? How does it feel?"

  Upon hearing this, I became spirited and said excitedly: "Old master, thank you so much! Since practicing the skills you taught me, at first I didn't feel any changes, but as time went on, the longer I practiced, the more I felt something extraordinary. I feel that in critical moments, especially in terms of speed and reaction, I'm twice as fast as a normal person! It's too amazing!"

  "Ah, that's good, that's good!" The old man chuckled and stroked his beard as he looked at me.

  "Hey, old man, why did you say that I've been possessed by the dragon fish, but I don't feel anything?" I patted my body all over and focused my mind to sense any reaction from my body, then asked the old man in puzzlement.

  "Heh heh, you can't feel that yet! After your soul returns to your body, it will slowly change over a long period of time. Later on, you'll gradually come to understand!" The old man nodded his head and patiently explained to me, then looked at the weather outside and said to me: "You have to go now, it's almost noon. If you don't dare to enter the space-time tunnel back into your body, your physical body will rot away in the immortal realm!"

  "Huh? Rot away my flesh? That's not possible, I'm so handsome, how can I rot away?" I quickly stood up and bid farewell to the old man: "Then I'll take my leave now, old sir. Take care of yourself! When you're free, come visit me or I'll come visit you!"

  "Wait!" Just as I was about to leave, the old man called out to me from behind. I turned around and looked at him questioningly. The old man rolled his eyes and asked, "Do you know how a soul returns to its physical body? And do you know how to navigate through time-space tunnels?"

  I was stunned for a moment, standing still and scratching my head with a silly smile: "Hehe, I don't know, I really don't know... Then I'll have to trouble you again, old man!"

  "Hmm, let's go! I'll take you there!" The old man hummed twice and led the way out of the house.

  When I woke up to the place I arrived at, I only then realized that my body was still lying there. I pointed to it on the ground and said uncomfortably, "This... this... what should we do, old man?"

  "Just lie down and relax your body and mind, the rest is up to me!" The old man stretched out his hand and produced a feather duster, after saying that he began to softly chant an incantation.

  I cautiously approached the physical body and tentatively touched its foot, only to find that it was an illusion. Up until now, I'm almost confused about which one is the soul and which one is real!

  I lay down in the same posture, relaxed my body and mind, didn't think of anything, then felt myself floating up, stood on the ground, and started walking uncontrollably.

  At this time, the old man waved his dustpan, and a door appeared about three or four meters in front of me. Inside the door was a vast expanse of white, nothing could be seen.

  "Alright, after entering, it's a time-space tunnel, and then you can go back... Think..." The old man's voice came from behind!

  At this time, one of my feet had already stepped into the space-time door. I hastily opened my mouth to respond: "Hmm, I know! Thank you, old sir! I'll go first!" As soon as my body entered the space-time door, I felt a dizzying sensation, but it still felt wonderful. In my heart, I thought, if only I could go wherever I wanted, how great would that be!