Chapter 1111: In the Storm

"You..."

Jian Changsheng struggled for a long time but couldn't come up with any reason to refute him.

Diamond J being willing to lead them to the Integration School was already giving them a lot of face. As for finding someone to drink with him on the way, the request wasn't too excessive... But Jian Changsheng had never drunk alcohol in his life, and faced with such an absurd and nonsensical request, he didn't know what to do.

Jian Changsheng was silent for a long time, looking down at what was in front of him.

Three glasses of whiskey were placed on the table, and the strong aroma entered his nostrils, making him frown subconsciously... He didn't like the smell of alcohol; it reminded him of the Yan family father and son who would beat and scold him and his father after getting dead drunk when they were at the Star Chamber of Commerce, and that oppressive past that made it hard to breathe. Just smelling this scent made him feel nauseous.

But Diamond J was the key to finding Chen Ling. In the end, he gritted his teeth and picked up the glass of strong liquor in front of him!

"Fine! I'll drink with you..."

Just as Jian Changsheng was about to pinch his nose and down it in one gulp, a hand reached out and took the glass from his hand.

Jian Changsheng turned his head in astonishment to see Jiang Xiaohua, wrapped in white bandages, gently swirling the spherical ice cube in the glass, then looking up expressionlessly and downing the entire glass of whiskey in one go.

Jian Changsheng was stunned; Sun Bumian was also stunned.

No one expected that the usually silent Jiang Xiaohua would step up at this moment and finish a glass of whiskey in one go... After finishing, he even licked the ice ball gently like a kitten and licked his lips...

"Hmm... the taste is not bad..."

With his snow-white hair draped over his shoulders, Jiang Xiaohua tilted his head to savor it for a while, then picked up the two glasses in front of Sun Bumian and himself, and finished them both in two gulps.

This time, even Diamond J was dumbfounded...

He had been drinking for so many years, and this was the first time he had seen someone drink whiskey like this. You have to know that this stuff has a high alcohol content, yet this guy in front of him finished a glass in one gulp, didn't change his expression, and even seemed to want more after finishing.

"Can I drink with you?" Jiang Xiaohua squinted his eyes, a faint blush appearing on his cheeks, and he seemed a bit dazed.

"But we don't have money... You have to pay for the drinks."

Diamond J was stunned for a full ten seconds before coming back to his senses. He looked at Jiang Xiaohua in pleasant surprise and suddenly laughed:

"No problem, of course no problem! I didn't expect there to be such an interesting guy among the 'Six' generation... A-Duo, I'll pay for these three glasses too! Just put it on my tab!"

The bartender, who had been hiding in the warehouse, walked out swaying, glanced at them, and then lowered his head to record the tab without a word.

"Plum Blossom, are you really okay?" Sun Bumian asked in a low voice.

"I'm fine..." A faint smile appeared on Jiang Xiaohua's lips, which was rare. He rubbed his stomach. "It feels warm after drinking... It feels very comfortable..."

Sun Bumian gave him a silent thumbs up.

"When are we leaving?" Jian Changsheng asked immediately.

Diamond J stood up unhurriedly, finished the whiskey in front of him, and let out a loud, drunken burp:

"...Whenever."

……

A wailing storm howled under the chaotic sky.

The hem of a bright red opera robe danced in the gale, and red earrings flickered with a faint light in the dimness. A figure walked slowly along a path amidst the storm, and the black trees on both sides swayed in the wind, like thousands of slender palms rustling and swaying...

"Is this... a dream?"

A glimmer of clarity appeared in Chen Ling's hazy eyes. He looked around in surprise, his black hair fluttering in the wind.

The terrifying storm was like an eggshell, circling in the void in the distance. The dull, dark blue sky looked as if a filter had been applied to it, exuding an extremely oppressive sense of loneliness. Chen Ling walked on the mountain path, feeling as if he had been forgotten by the world...

Chen Ling climbed along the path against the storm while trying to recall everything in his mind.

Chen Ling vaguely remembered that he was still reading by candlelight in the Integration School room just a moment ago. He had read less than a tenth of the integration theory books and notes before falling into a deep sleep... When he regained consciousness, he was already here.

He hadn't had a dream in a long time. Suddenly finding himself in such a storm, and regaining clarity within the dream, made him keenly aware of something unusual.

Chen Ling walked forward along the path, step by step, with vigilance. The surroundings seemed to be left with only the rustling of trees and the howling of the storm, as if he were the only splash of red in this dark, lonely world...

As Chen Ling turned a corner, the path extended section by section toward the top of the hill. Black leaves flew in the sky at the end, like an invisible hand beckoning him gently.

Chen Ling's brows furrowed tighter and tighter. After hesitating for a moment, he stepped onto the stairs with long strides.

As he stepped onto the last step, the scene before him suddenly opened up... Only then did Chen Ling see that he was actually on a suspended isolated island.

And the spot where he was standing was the highest hill on this island. Black forests spread in all directions, eventually submerged in the dark night, like the black forest that swallowed Little Red Riding Hood in fairy tales.

On the other side of the island, there seemed to be some building-like structures, but separated by the sky full of flying leaves, Chen Ling couldn't see them clearly.

"Storm Island..." Chen Ling immediately realized where he was, his face looking extremely ugly.

Storm Island, which comes following "thoughts." He had only glanced at it at the time; how could he have been dragged here in his dream?

But after Teacher Ye's warning, he hadn't thought about it at all for the past two days. How could it have come looking for him on its own??

Faint whispers accompanied the storm, drilling into Chen Ling's ears. Chen Ling turned around abruptly on the hill.

"Who? Who is speaking?"

The black forest swayed in the wind, and dense leaves were rolled into the sky. In a trance, they seemed to outline a ghostly black shadow... It was too huge, so huge that it almost covered the entire island. The sky full of fallen leaves rolled in the air, like the end of the world.

"[The Nightmare of the Storm Island, the Eerie Ghost at the End of Thoughts]." Chen Ling recalled the annotation Teacher Ye gave him, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"Calamity of Thought, what do you want to tell me?"

The rustling of leaves came from the sky, and the whispers in Chen Ling's mind became clearer.

But just as he was about to hear the pronunciation clearly, everything around him shattered with a bang. Chen Ling's consciousness kept sinking, first falling back to the stage in the theater, then pausing for a moment, and continuing to fall...

A while later, Chen Ling woke up abruptly from his desk!

The pen he had been holding fell to the ground with a *clatter*. The kerosene lamp on the desk had gone out at some point, and the faint light in the distance gradually dispelled the night, tinting the sky outside the corridor with a fish-belly white...

Chen Ling sat alone in front of the dim desk, lost in thought.