Chapter 593: Brightly Lit

"Verify history?"

"The simplest way, of course, is to recognize each other directly. I call you Dr. Su, you call me Director Chen, and then we say long time no see, recalling everything we experienced together hundreds of years ago, and chatting about this conversation in the ruins... If all this happens, it naturally means that everything here is real."

Su Zhiwei asked in confusion, "Isn't this normal?"

Chen Ling sighed, "But when Yang Xiao met me at that time, it was... very vague? He seemed to recognize me, but didn't want to recognize me directly, and I don't know what he was thinking at the time."

"So, are you worried that I will be like him, with a very vague attitude?"

"That's right... So, I hope we can make an appointment in advance." Chen Ling said seriously, "If everything goes well, we will recognize each other normally; but if some complex factors appear in the middle, making it impossible to recognize each other directly, we will agree on a set of secret codes."

"Hmm... that's fine, what secret code?"

Chen Ling thought for a while, "Do you know that poem by Li Bai? Meeting in the red dust, bowing with a golden whip."

"I know, do you want to use this sentence?"

"No, let's modify it slightly... At that time, I will say 'Meeting in the red dust', and then you answer 'A faint smile in the long years'." Chen Ling paused for a moment. "As long as you answer the second half, it means that everything happening now is real. Even if we don't recognize each other, I can have a count in my heart."

"No problem, I remember it."

"Thank you."

Chen Ling opened the flip phone. There was less than ten seconds left before the end of this era archive.

He took one last deep look at Su Zhiwei and smiled,

"Then, I look forward to meeting you in another era."

[ID 129439 time limit reached]

[Reading interrupted]

……

Red Dust Main City.

Cloth shoes stepped through the muddy puddles on the road, creating ripples on the water surface. In the stirred reflection, a figure in tattered hemp clothes was slowly walking through the dilapidated alley.

It was a woman who looked like a beggar, draped in brown hemp clothes picked up from somewhere. Her long black hair was full of mud, coiled up and hidden under a tattered hood. Even if someone brushed past her in the alley, they wouldn't look up at her, and would even avoid her instead.

It wasn't until she reached the roof of an abandoned unfinished building that she slowly stopped, took out a carefully wrapped steamed bun from a box in the corner, and sat on the ground, taking small bites.

On the mottled face covered by mud, a pair of eyes as deep as a lake were observing the surroundings at all times.

Liu Qingyan felt very calm in her heart.

Since half a year ago, when she skinned and killed that disgusting old man at the headquarters of the Flower Capital Consortium, she had completely hidden her name and hidden herself in the marketplace of the Red Dust main city.

On the one hand, it was to avoid the pursuit of the police and the Flower Capital Consortium, and on the other hand, it was to deeply pursue the essence of this path.

Liu Qingyan could feel that her own path was different from others.

Half a year ago, when she stepped onto this God Path, she vaguely felt two branching paths extending out... They were vastly different, yet vaguely related. One was flat and vast, and the other was full of thorns.

And the one she finally stepped on was the one full of thorns.

This road was difficult and obscure. Even now, Liu Qingyan didn't know what she had chosen, and no one could guide her direction. She didn't even know what the God Path and the path were; she was like a blind person groping in the dark.

After stepping onto this road, Liu Qingyan instinctively began to tire of performing, tire of those gazes full of various desires. Especially after killing Zong Wen with her own hands, something in her body seemed to awaken, guiding her away from the chaos of the world.

The good news is that after she killed Zong Wen, she took away the treasures in the latter's safe, sold them all, and sent them all back to her hometown in Liu Town.

This money should be enough for her parents to pay off the sky-high debts they owed, and enough for her younger brother to see a doctor. She didn't have to be a star anymore to pay off her father's debts, becoming a tool exploited and enslaved by the consortium.

In the past six months, Liu Qingyan had lived a very difficult but very relaxed life. She just observed the various people in the Red Dust Domain, and unknowingly, she stepped onto the second step...

But now, she couldn't see where the next road was.

Liu Qingyan watched the sky gradually darken, and one by one, the lights lit up in the dimness, gradually connecting into pieces. The rolling red dust awakened in these neon lights. People finally finished their day's work and began to seek physical and mental stimulation and pleasure in it.

But strangely, some of these lights all over the city had recently fallen into darkness, like mold spots growing in the neon world, exuding inexplicable weirdness and gloom. And as time went on, these dark areas became more and more numerous.

"Is it a power outage..." Liu Qingyan muttered to herself.

She got up and walked down the unfinished building. Her dirty clothes seemed to blend into the dark alley. After walking a few steps, she seemed to have stepped on something under her feet.

Liu Qingyan looked down and found that it was a newspaper discarded on the side of the road.

The surface of the newspaper was full of footprints. Judging by the date, it should have been several days ago. She picked it up casually. The first page was news about the destruction of the Twilight Society. After scanning it a few times, her brows frowned involuntarily.

She carefully read the content above, turned to the next page, and saw a wet side face on the stage, and suddenly froze in place.

"He's back..."

Liu Qingyan's eyes gradually brightened, and her gaze instantly locked on the three words "Jinghong Pavilion" in the article. Regardless of whether the newspaper was dirty or not, she rolled it up and stuffed it into her arms, and hurried toward a certain direction.

She ran through the crowded streets and neon-flashing storefronts, and even the hair stained with mud under the hood floated out. This beggar-like girl running in a hurry also attracted a burst of suspicious gazes from passersby.

Liu Qingyan seemed unaware of this. She ran through several blocks and finally stopped in front of a certain street.

This block seemed to be shrouded in mold-like darkness. The surrounding buildings had lost power, and there were pedestrians and shops everywhere using kerosene lamps for lighting... Only one building was an exception.

It was an old-fashioned theater. At this time, two large trucks full of lanterns were parked at the entrance of the theater.

Seven or eight figures were holding lit lanterns, hanging them inside and outside the theater. The brilliance of the lanterns dispelled all the darkness. Even without electric lights, the theater was still as bright as day!

At the same time, a group of people were holding things like tickets, queuing outside the theater. Seeing this brightly lit theater, they couldn't help but praise something...

Inside the theater.

Chen Ling, who had prepared to rest, looked at Kong Baosheng, who was excitedly directing the hanging of the lanterns at the door, and Li Qingshan, who was in the backstage, full of energy, as if he intended to sing all night, and couldn't help but hold his forehead...

"What a sin..."