A Manual for Surviving a Weird World

Chapter 373 Listening to Thunder in Silence

After hanging up the phone, Lan Shiwen closed his eyes for a few seconds, listened to the busy tone, and let out a long sigh.

“What a terrible guy,” he muttered.

This statement does not refer to resentment and desolation, but rather to... premature death.

Or maybe Yu Ziqian? Ning Zhe? Zhang Yangxu? Van Dyke? Who the hell knows? Maybe all of them, maybe none of them.

Lan Shiwen once thought that the person with the code name Ye Yao was Yu Ziqian and no one else. Later, various clues indicated that Yu Ziqian was probably dead and that he had encountered an imposter who had taken Yu Ziqian's identity.

Through various channels, Lan Shiwen discovered several accidental deaths and electrocution incidents in Gubei Town. He then turned his attention to Zhang Yangxu, whose funds were flowing abnormally. He found that this businessman, known for his workaholic image, had recently taken a long vacation, and it was suspected that he had been possessed like Yu Ziqian.

If Fenwu's elusive nature and various schemes could still be traced, then Ning Zhe, who was protected by Taiyi, left no trace whatsoever. After painstakingly peeling off one mask in the hope of finally seeing his true face, it turned out that there was another mask under the mask, making him look like an onion.

"Bai Fugui is Fenwu's superficial identity, while Zhang Yangxu is suspected of being controlled by 'Ning Zhe'... Whether Ning Zhe is his real name is another matter."

"Zhang Yangxu and Bai Fugui both spent a fortune to compete for development rights in the little-known Gubei Town. Beneath the seemingly irrational commercial speculation lies a struggle for 'Zhaoyou'."

Lan Shiwen took a deep breath, and couldn't help but sigh inwardly, "The rivalry between these two might have started back then..."

Lan Shiwen was merely an innocent ascendant who had unfortunately been caught in the vortex of the battle between these two old monsters.

“…Oh?” Lan Shiwen put down his phone and glanced at the breathing light on the wall next to him. The bulb was flashing red and beeping.

Lan Shiwen arrived outside the room where Ji Bochang was being held. Through the one-way glass window, he could see the old man sitting quietly on the edge of the bed, repeatedly pressing the button on the headboard with his finger.

“A green light means you need something, a yellow light means you have something to confess, and a red light means an emergency…” Lan Shiwen casually stuffed his phone into his pocket, opened the door and entered the cell: “I hope you really do have some kind of emergency.”

As the door behind him closed automatically, Lan Shiwen entered the prison cell. Ji Bochang looked up at the sound and asked bluntly, "Where is that guy?"

Lan Shiwen frowned slightly, his eyes filled with wariness: "What, that guy?"

“The guy who came here with you before, and then left alone,” Ji Bochang’s voice was hoarse, devoid of any emotion. “Tell me where he is.”

"Is he asking about Ning Zhe..." Lan Shiwen thought to himself, "This old guy really does have some tricks up his sleeve. Even when he's locked up in a cell, he knows someone's come from outside."

After a moment's hesitation, Lan Shiwen shook his head and said, "I have nothing to say."

Ji Bochang's face turned grim: "Then can you tell me who he is?"

“I’d like to know who he is too.” Lan Shiwen shrugged. “More than that, I’d like to know why you’re so curious about him, and how you knew someone had been here?”

After speaking, Lan Shiwen put his hands behind his back, scrutinizing the old man before him, awaiting his reply. A long while passed—

"My memories have been altered."

Ji Bochang said calmly, "That was a long time ago... I forgot someone, someone who should be very important to me. I can feel that we have a close relationship. Maybe he is a friend, maybe he is an enemy, maybe he is something else. In short, I am very familiar with him."

“Everything about him felt familiar to me, everything about him felt so familiar, as if we had known each other since the day we were born… But one day, I forgot him. I’m sure I knew him, but I don’t remember anything about him.”

"Hmm?" Lan Shiwen raised an eyebrow. He suddenly realized that he and Ji Bochang seemed to be talking about different people.

Ji Bochang continued, “I spent decades tracing his trail, trying to recover my memories of where I was. I also learned a lot of self-psychological verification thinking logic and methodology to ensure that if my memories are altered again, I will immediately feel it.”

Lan Shiwen's breathing slowed involuntarily: "Could it be..."

“Just now, shortly after the person you brought in left, a small part of my memory was altered again,” Ji Bochang said, pointing to the teacup on the table.

Lan Shiwen looked in the direction he was pointing and saw that the teacup was empty, with neither water nor tea leaves.

“I was just about to pour out the tea leaves from the teacup and get a new one, but when I picked up the teacup, I found it was already empty.” Ji Bochang said in a hoarse voice, “The inside of the cup is clean, and the tea stains on the cup wall have been washed away, as if it had just been washed.”

Upon hearing this, Lan Shiwen immediately took out his phone to check the surveillance footage. After watching it, he said, "You washed the teacup yourself. The surveillance footage shows you taking the teacup to the sink."

“It really was me who washed it.” Ji Bochang nodded. “But I don’t remember. I have no idea I washed the teacup. I have absolutely no recollection of it. It’s as if… this memory has been erased.”

Lan Shiwen's pupils suddenly contracted, as if a flash of inspiration had crossed his mind, but it was fleeting and he couldn't grasp it.

"After many years, my memory has been altered once again."

Ji Bo once lowered his head and said:
"It was as if he was doing it on purpose for me. He didn't try to interfere with my thoughts in a more subtle way, but chose to leave his traces in the most direct and conspicuous place. He was telling me with his silence that he had just been here."

Yes, he was here. The guy who altered my memories decades ago was here just now!
Lan Shiwen took a few deep breaths to regulate his heart rate, exited the monitoring interface, and looked thoughtfully at the call log on his phone screen. It was a call from Ning Zhe.

“Ning Zhe just told me the rules of ‘Tai Chong’ when Ji Bochang’s memory was altered. It was a very subtle alteration, made without any attempt to conceal it, as if he was afraid others wouldn’t notice it…” Lan Shiwen’s eyes were deep; he was already prepared to start over.

Although he didn't know exactly what had happened or who had made the move, Lan Shiwen was certain that Ning Zhe and Fenwu had clashed.

A thunderclap could be heard in the silence; the life-or-death struggle between these two ascendants had begun in silence.

(End of this chapter)