Chapter 64: The Lost Ring

  Feng Xiaotian also asked: "Is that so? Do you have any other experiences?"

  Zhang Xiaofan suddenly let out a cold laugh and said, "You don't understand, you don't know the immense joy and surprise that crossing over brings to people. Ordinary people, no matter what, can't resist that temptation! It's like... ice and fire... just like an addict, once they get hooked, they can never forget!"

  "Poison?" In Feng Xiaotian's time, he had never heard of heroin or ice poison and other harmful substances.

  Gulon didn't know that in Zhang Xiaofan's era, he was still under the influence of drugs, so he said to Feng Xiaotian: "Uncle Feng, it's opium and Fu Shou Gao!" Because he knew that at this time, Fu Shou Gao was very popular, and with this explanation, he would definitely understand.

  Indeed, Feng Xiaotian clicked his tongue and said, "Ah! It's that severe!" Because he knew that since the last century, the British had smuggled opium into China to change their extremely disadvantageous position in trade with the Chinese. The Chinese people were deceived, the Qing government was incompetent, some officials pushed the wave for personal gain, and ignorant and weak-willed compatriots indeed crazily smoked opium, unable to stop, all the way until now, it is still prevalent!

  Zhang Xiaofan let out a long sigh, remaining silent in the darkness. All that could be heard was a faint rustling sound. He leaned against the wall, feeling somewhat tired, and slowly lay down on the ground, causing the straw to make a soft crunching noise. Gu Longfei and Feng Xiaotian saw him fall asleep, knowing it was getting late. Although they had only heard half of the story, Zhang Xiaofan refused to say another word, and they could only suppress their curiosity and prepare to go to sleep as well.

  Gu Longfei and Feng Xiaotian were just about to turn around when Zhang Xiaofan suddenly said, "A person's life path and final outcome are all determined by their own character! If I had been able to resist the temptation of crossing over back then and had a stronger will, things wouldn't have ended up like this today!" His voice sounded old and desolate.

  Gu Longfei and Feng Xiaotian stopped moving, listening intently to his words. If what Zhang Xiaofan said was true, then he was actually less than twenty years old, an age where one's mind is still developing, but with such experiences, it was a different story altogether. Therefore, the weariness and indifference revealed in his words could be understood, and his sometimes cold, sometimes hot attitude could also be forgiven.

  Zhang Xiaofan said: "When I found out that every time I crossed over, I would age one year, I took off the ring and put it in the box, preparing to never use it again in this life! Now that I've stopped, I'm just ten years older than before, and I'll live ten fewer years, but it's not a big deal! However, since I stopped crossing over, my heart has started to feel uncomfortable, food has no taste, sleep is always difficult, and I have no interest in doing anything. My entire being has lost its spirit, leaving only an empty shell, with little difference from a walking corpse! Ah, the joy and surprise brought by crossing over formed a huge temptation, which entered my body and bones during my first crossover, and can never be removed!"

  Jiulong Fei felt a wet and slippery sensation in the palm of his hand, it turned out that after listening to his words, he only felt dryness in his mouth, and his palms were covered with cold sweat!

  Zhang Xiaofan said: "Later, I really couldn't bear such torture, so I took out the ring from the box and put it on. Thinking that living like this, neither dead nor alive, even if I lived to be a hundred years old, what's the point! I can travel happily through different time and space, even if it means dying immediately, what's the harm? So, under this kind of bewitched thinking, I started crossing over again. Therefore, in just a few short months, I became like this!"

  "Feng Xiaotian suddenly asked: 'Then...do you regret it now?'"

  Zhang Xiaofan smiled wryly: "Regret? Heh heh, since it's already been done, what's the use of regret?"

  Feng Xiaotian hesitated for a moment in his heart, but still said out loud an idea that had been lingering at the bottom of his heart: "Your ring has such a magical function of traversing through time and space, you can go to any era, is it possible that among the doctors of the past few thousand years, there isn't one person who can... treat your aging?" He didn't know if asking this question would make Zhang Xiaofan uncomfortable, but deep down he was concerned about Zhang Xiaofan and hoped he could find a good medicine to reverse his aging.

  "Ah, you ask a good question," Zhang Xiaofan sighed. "I've come to realize the harm that time-traveling has brought me. Since I couldn't resist its temptation, I made it a point to seek out top-notch doctors and scientists during my travels, hoping they could help me find a cure for my rapidly aging body! Unfortunately, none of them were able to determine the cause of my aging, so there was no way to discuss treatment!"

  Gu Longfei also had a great doubt in his heart and couldn't help but ask: "Since you have such a magical ring that can traverse dimensions, why are you locked up here? Don't you think of ways to escape?"

  Zhang Xiaofan said, "This is also a question in my mind. This ring has many secrets hidden inside, and I still haven't figured it out until now. I've used this ring about 40 times or so, but suddenly it stopped working, which means I can no longer travel through time!"

  "Ah! You're saying that this ring's time-traveling function has a usage limit?" Gu Longfei was shocked in his heart, completely not expecting the ring to lose its power.

  "I was so immersed in the thrill of time-travel that I didn't realize there was such a huge danger hidden within it! A few months ago, I felt my body getting weaker and weaker, and I didn't want to go out anymore. I just stayed at home reading books, and accidentally stumbled upon a history book that recorded a war from 1,000 years ago - which is your current era. It was the deadliest war in human history, with the most extensive impact and the most brutal battles. My heart was racing as I read it, and my hand accidentally touched the pendant, and suddenly I found myself transported to your world."

  "Feng Xiaotian asked: 'You actually crossed over and ended up in... this prison cell?'"

  Zhang Xiaofan flipped his body again, causing a rustling sound in the straw, and then said: "No, where I landed was on the east side of the sea, Japan!"

  "Gu Longfei and Feng Xiaotian exclaimed in unison: 'You went to Japan?'"

  Zhang Xiaofan said, "Right, I mentioned earlier that I'm very interested in this period of history, so I paid attention to the situation of various countries involved or embroiled in the war. As soon as I landed, I took a look at the people and customs of the time, and I knew I was in Japan, one of the Axis powers!"

  "Feng Xiaotian asked again: 'And how did you come to China?'"

  Zhang Xiaofan said: "When I arrived in Japan, I still had that history book with me, who knew that this unassuming book would bring me endless trouble! I remember it was in Tokyo, Japan, I stood on the street, looking around, full of interest in admiring the scenery from a thousand years ago. Suddenly, several constables came over. Maybe my clothes were too different from theirs, arousing their suspicion, so they came to investigate my identity. But I didn't have their ID card, and was immediately detained. Later, when they searched me, they found that history book, and were overjoyed, constantly asking me about the origin of the book, how could I explain it to them?"

  The dragonfly fluttered in his heart, and he asked, "Does the book mention the outcome of the war?"

  Zhang Xiaofan patted the straw with his hand and said with joy: "There is, how can there not be! Your question has dispelled a doubt in my mind! I was still wondering until now, after the Japanese garrison arrested me and found that book, people kept coming to interrogate me, and the only question they asked was where this book came from! But what surprised me was that among the people who came to interrogate me, based on their tone and shoulder badges, one had more background than the other, and later many generals also came, and finally there was a prime minister of theirs, called something Taro or something, these Japanese names are strange and hard to remember!

  "Hong Xian Tian was shocked: 'Dongtiao Yingji?'"

  Zhang Xiaofan said, "Yes, it's called Tōjō Hideki! After these Japanese big shots came, they all asked who wrote this book and why they wanted to compile such a war outcome to affect their morale? I said no one made it up, this is historical fact! Later, I couldn't bear their severe torture and interrogation, so I confessed that I was from a thousand years later, this was the book published at that time, but I didn't tell them how I crossed over, just said I was struck by lightning and unintentionally came here. Those Japanese people heard it and immediately changed color, all with a look of having lost their mother. I think their appearance is very comical, what's the big deal? War will always have an end!"

  Koryo Hui's heart was very clear, these militarists were all war maniacs, strongly advocating for the invincibility of the Great Japanese Empire, in order to deceive ordinary people and help them achieve their ambition to dominate the world! Now this sudden historical book has revealed the outcome of the war, thoroughly shattering the myth of war they advocated, how can they bear it? So he asked: "How does this book record Japan's end of the war? Is the process detailed?"

  Chang Xiaofan said: "How to record? Of course, it is recorded according to the way the war ended. After the Americans dropped atomic bombs on Japanese territory, the fact that the Japanese Emperor announced unconditional surrender will be accurately recorded."

  Feng Xiaotian heard this and, although he had previously heard that the Japanese would end the war and withdraw from China in a few years, he didn't expect it to happen like this. He exclaimed with surprise: "The Americans have developed atomic bombs? They dropped atomic bombs on Japan's mainland?" He suddenly fell silent again, speaking in a low voice: "It's detestable that Japan's warmongers are hated, but I don't know how many Japanese civilians will be affected by this!" Having been abroad for many years, he had also heard about the atomic bomb and knew its enormous power. Once it exploded, its destructive force was unimaginable.

  Zhang Xiaofan said: "Right, the Americans dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, killing tens of thousands of people!"

  Feng Xiaotian was probably because he had lived in Japan for a long time and had a lot of contact with the Japanese people. At this time, hearing that several tens of thousands of people had died, his heart was gloomy, knowing that ending the war as soon as possible would be a great good thing for both Chinese and Japanese people. However, to end it in such a way seemed too cruel, so he fell silent, thinking about whether there were any acquaintances among the dead.