Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei Returns from the Elden Ring

“Our school is entirely taught in Chinese, so I’m just average,” Fingel said.

"Really?" Old Tang was taken aback. "No wonder it's a prestigious school."

"Hello, Lao Tang." Lu Mingfei stepped forward, took Fingel's place, and shook hands politely. "I'm Lu Mingfei."

Old Tang was completely confused. The man in front of him, Lu Mingfei, was imposing and dressed in a shirt and jeans that he had seen in video calls before. But what was going on with this slightly reserved enthusiasm and politeness, like that of a leader meeting?

“Brother Lu Mingfei, you’ve changed a lot since you went to university,” he murmured.

"Oh right, this is Wang Wei. He was playing on my account for a while before," Lu Mingfei introduced Constantine, who was standing behind him.

"Oh, so you're a newbie. Sorry, I was a bit too rough with you earlier..." Old Tang said with a look of sudden realization.

In games with a high learning curve, the player community is generally very welcoming to newcomers, and bullying newbies is considered unethical.

But Constantine just stared blankly at his face, remaining silent for a long time.

Old Tang frowned and looked at Lu Mingfei, "Brother, your friend..."

The cold expression on Lu Mingfei's face immediately stunned him.

"Is he your brother?" Lu Mingfei asked Constantine softly.

Constantine finally reacted, lowering his head and shaking it. "I don't know."

"No, no," Old Tang scratched his head, his face full of confusion, "Brothers, what are you talking about? What brother? Did I miss something? I don't understand."

Lu Mingfei glanced at him, then suddenly regained his composure. "Oh, it's nothing. He's an orphan like you, and grew up in an orphanage. I was just thinking, maybe he's your younger brother?"

"How is that possible?" Old Tang stared in disbelief, unable to comprehend his line of thinking. "It's been a few months, Mingfei, how did you go from being the one making sarcastic remarks to being so eccentric?"

“Oh dear, my junior brother is like that sometimes,” Fingel said, quickly easing the somewhat awkward atmosphere. “Brother Tang, let’s go buy the tickets first.”

The group then started moving and headed towards the ticket office.

Fingel and Old Tang walked ahead. Fingel suddenly leaned close to Old Tang's ear and whispered, "Our school has some bad traditions at the beginning of the semester. Junior Brother Mingfei got a shock." He then pointed to his head.

"What?" Old Tang had been pondering with doubt, feeling that something was wrong, but now he immediately understood and his face turned angry. "What you're doing is illegal! I'm telling you, don't take advantage of Mingfei having no relatives or friends in America. I'm going to take him to court to sue you."

Fingel immediately put his arm around his neck. "Shh—don't be loud. Our school has professional psychologists. He's already been treated. As long as we don't upset him, he'll recover slowly. Didn't the principal give him a long leave to come visit you? The principal is an old guy, and he's worried about things happening at the school."

"Don't mention these things recently. We should wait until he recovers before filing a lawsuit. Don't worry, I'm Mingfei's senior brother, and I'm on your side." Fingel patted his muscular chest, making a loud thud.

"Really?" Old Tang asked, still somewhat skeptical.

“There’s medical proof. That old man, the principal, can’t escape legal punishment, but we should prioritize the patient’s well-being first, shouldn’t we?” Fingel persuaded patiently, quickly convincing Old Tang to believe him to a large extent.

Lu Mingfei and Constantine were a few steps behind.

"They look very similar?" Lu Mingfei asked.

Constantine nodded.

"But it's not the real person? The personality or aura doesn't seem right?"

Constantine nodded again.

"Okay, I understand." Lu Mingfei could tell that he wasn't lying.

......

It was already evening when I exited the subway station, and there were few pedestrians on both sides of the street.

Old Tang's neighborhood is in upstate New York, where the buildings have a historical feel, with old walls covered in graffiti of various styles. Some of the huge graffiti covers an entire wall three stories high, and the figure in the painting looks like a Mexican, with his lantern-like eyes calmly gazing at the street illuminated by the streetlights.

The street is lined with shops on both sides, and there are some vendors selling small goods on the sidewalk. Apart from the wide asphalt road and sidewalk, it is almost no different from the streets of a small county town in China.

The group walked a short distance before reaching their destination.

Old Tang lives in a six-story building. The entrance leads to the living room, which also serves as the kitchen, but the kitchenware doesn't look like it's been used much.

Further inside is the largest room—the bedroom, where a double bed takes up almost half the space, with the headboard and footboard almost touching the wall, making it feel somewhat cramped.

The room has only one narrow window that opens vertically. In front of the window is a desk with a computer, and next to it is a small shelf with some miscellaneous items on it.

Old Tang gathered the scattered clothes on the bed into a ball and stuffed them into the wardrobe embedded in the wall.

Sorry, it's a bit messy.

Lu Mingfei and the others put their luggage on the ground, and Fingel was the first to flop onto the bed, saying, "It's okay, it's okay, it's better to be a little messy, it feels more familiar."

Old Tang took out his phone and glanced at it. "I've ordered food. I'll pick it up when it's ready."

He ordered four large Puerto Rican sandwiches, as well as some small corn fritters and other snacks.

He rarely eats this well on his own, but mainly because he sees Mingfei as a patient, he gritted his teeth and ordered some good food.

Chapter 54 Old Tang

After a hearty meal and drinks, the four of them lay sprawled out in the bedroom.

Lu Mingfei, Fingel, and Constantine lay sprawled on the double bed, while Old Tang made do with a waterproof sheet and blanket on the floor for the night. He had already booked four Greyhound bus tickets for the next day, from New York to San Francisco, a journey that would take about five days.

Late at night, a faint reddish light shone through the window. The night sky in big cities is like this: the lights of thousands of homes reflect the atmosphere in the sky, making it appear dark red.

Fingel fell asleep very quickly, but his sleeping posture was restless, and he kept kicking Lu Mingfei's butt.

Lu Mingfei simply sat up, leaned against the wall, and closed his eyes to rest. In those ruins, a warm campfire could provide him with a place to rest for the night; compared to that, a roof that sheltered him from the wind and rain and a soft bed were already a comfortable environment.

"Brother?" Old Tang whispered, "Can't you sleep either?"

Lu Mingfei opened his eyes and met a pair of bright, piercing eyes in the darkness.

"Come and sleep in bed." Lu Mingfei got up and got out of bed.

"No, no, I'm used to sleeping on the floor now. My job involves sleeping outdoors all the time," Old Tang quickly refused. "I just ate a bit too much today. I don't usually eat late-night snacks; it's unhealthy. What I mean is... how many dishes?"

"it is good."

Old Tang and Lu Mingfei moved quietly to their new positions. Old Tang pulled back the partition in the room—a dark curtain. Lu Mingfei looked up; the curtain's track was on the ceiling, similar to the partitions between hospital beds. The tracks seemed as old as the house itself; the nail patterns were invisible in the rust.

“This house used to belong to a private doctor who treated patients here.” Old Tang noticed Lu Mingfei’s gaze and explained, “Otherwise, it wouldn’t be so cheap, haha.”

Lu Mingfei didn't say anything. He sat next to Lao Tang and watched him turn on the computer. The light from the computer was blocked by the curtain, so it wouldn't disturb the two people sleeping on the bed. It was like having a small internet cafe booth partitioned off.

"Old Tang, how long have you been here?" Lu Mingfei asked while the game was loading.

Old Tang, who was about to comfort the "patient," was interrupted and hesitated for a moment before telling the truth, "I've been living here since I dropped out of high school. You know, I have no parents and I rely entirely on myself."

His words carried a hint of nonchalant pride.

"Didn't you ever try going back to find your family?" Lu Mingfei asked again.

"I've tried it. I've been to China for work, but it's like being in the ocean..." Old Tang paused, seemingly unable to recall the idiom.

"Like finding a needle in a haystack," Lu Mingfei said casually.

"Yes, yes, yes, it's like finding a needle in a haystack." Old Tang slapped his forehead. "I started learning Chinese late, so I don't remember these allusions and such clearly."

"Don't you have any memories of your childhood at all?" Lu Mingfei stared intently at his expression and eyes.

"I've been in the orphanage since I can remember," Old Tang shook his head. "I've wondered if there's a couple in another corner of the world looking for me, but all these years, not a single letter has ever been sent to me."

He didn't notice that Lu Mingfei's right hand was hanging down, and under the chair was a dark briefcase—which he had just taken under cover of darkness.

He just felt that Lu Mingfei's concern about his background meant he was probably experiencing a "mental problem" episode. Often, when people with psychological issues confide in you, they're actually seeking empathy. In such situations, you shouldn't offer rigid advice, but rather encourage them by following their line of thought.

"Brother, let me tell you something I've never told anyone before." Old Tang paused for a moment, trying to put on a "weathered" smile, but his usually cheerful face made him seem harmless when serious, and silly when he laughed. "It's not a big deal, really. I've been working for so long, but I still live in this run-down neighborhood, and I'm always struggling to make ends meet. Do you know why?"

Lu Mingfei shook his head.

“Because I regularly donate money to the orphanage that took me in when I was a child, my account is involved in some shady international transfers, so it’s anonymous.” Old Tang said, a hint of melancholy in his voice. His eyes reflected the light on the screen, as if veiled in a misty haze. “Nobody asked me to do this, and nobody knows. Isn’t it a bit ridiculous for someone who can’t even feed himself to become a masked hero?”

“No, how could it be laughable to the children who accepted your help? You yourself lived there, so you should understand best.” Lu Mingfei shook his head.

Old Tang was now at a loss, scratching his head, feeling like he was being enlightened by Lu Mingfei instead. He glanced at Lu Mingfei, whose face was calm under the light of the computer screen, and realized that he couldn't outdo the current "mysterious" Lu Mingfei in his pretense, so he simply blurted out everything he had prepared.

"Actually, what I wanted to tell you, brother, is that we people are indeed born pretty useless, and we can't compare to those with good families or talents. But, how should I put it, I, your brother, figured it out a long time ago! Even if we're humble and incompetent, we're still alive, right? As long as we're alive, we have our own lives. Maybe our jobs are unstable, maybe we live in dark and cramped rented rooms, maybe we don't know where our next meal is coming from, maybe we'll never stand at the center of the world shining brightly. But so what? In the end, who doesn't just close their eyes and dig a hole? What we experience is just a process, a process that may just be meaningless, so who cares? We can still play StarCraft, we can still ride Greyhound around America together, we can still be anonymous heroes, that's so damn cool! If I die suddenly one day, there will still be people in the world who remember my good deeds, and in their imagination, I'm handsome, dashing, tall, and mighty!"

Old Tang said a lot in one breath, and when he finished, he was panting heavily. His eyes were full of relief. Perhaps he was going to take these words to his grave, but tonight he somehow found himself confiding in this boy who was much younger than him.

“This is a decadent value system,” Lu Mingfei commented. “Nothing is predetermined. If you want to shine, you should work hard.”

"So all I've been saying was self-pity." Old Tang rolled his eyes. "I must have had a brain fart in the middle of the night to tell you all this. Brother, the kind of person like you needs games to heal you!"

Lu Mingfei leaned back in his chair, arms crossed, and said, "You play, I'll just watch."

"Then watch closely, this is the skill your brother has earned with his life." Old Tang's expression immediately brightened after entering the game.

Perhaps on those countless nights, Old Tang kept these words bottled up, enduring and enjoying his quiet, solitary time in an old building in a corner of New York.

Chapter 55 The Journey

The next day, Old Tang was woken up by Fingel kicking him.

He didn't remember what time he finished playing games last night, only a vague impression. Lu Mingfei helped him fall onto the bed, and then there was a loud snoring sound in his ear.

Until the morning, Fingel, who was awakened from a nightmare, kicked out and woke everyone up.

So even while washing up, Fingel was still apologizing to Old Tang, "Brother Tang, this is an old habit of mine. Next time you sleep behind me, I'll kick the wall!"

"It's alright," Old Tang said magnanimously, expressing his forgiveness.

Breakfast was eaten at the restaurant downstairs from Old Tang's place. The restaurant owner, a Puerto Rican, warmly welcomed the first group of customers that day.

Afterwards, the group picked up their luggage and waited for a taxi by the roadside.

The trip from Old Tang's house to the station cost $60. The large Fingel sat in the passenger seat chatting with the driver, while Lu Mingfei and the other two squeezed into the back. The open window barely let in any breeze to dissipate the stuffy heat of the crowded area. Fingel and the driver chatted quite well throughout the ride, and when they got out, the driver promised to take Fingel to his house for a get-together sometime. The driver was a local rancher who said he owned a large farm where horses could run, which was now run by his eldest son. He drove this old Crown Victoria as a taxi, and when he was in a bad mood, he wouldn't come out; instead, he'd spend the day drinking at a pub.

After the group got out of the car, the driver stepped on the gas, and the old car from the 90s roared away. With such a carefree life, the old man's car modifications might be worth more than his income from driving a taxi for several years.

"That's really cool." Old Tang looked at the old man's trail of smoke and felt a pang of longing. "Someday I'll pull off a big heist and buy a farm to retire on."

“No, no, no, that’s too outdated,” Fingel disagreed. “A modern farm should be like a tourist attraction.” He then launched into a long-winded discussion with Old Tang about flowers and fruit trees, animal enclosures, gazebos, picnic areas, cafes, advertising on social media, and selling organic fruits and vegetables.

Old Tang was stunned by what he heard; he never expected that Fingel, who seemed unreliable, would have such a business mind.

But Fingel quickly revealed his lecherous, shifty eyes, saying that if he could come up with a romantic farm name and set up the house in front of a huge swimming pool, he could enjoy the curves of the pretty girls he was attracted to every day right at his doorstep.

Old Tang connected the dots of the series of exquisite and meticulous farm facilities he had seen earlier, and instantly understood, "Awesome."

Judging from his expression, he had clearly put aside his thoughts of beer, farms, and pastoral idylls... no, maybe not beer.

The two like-minded prospective farmers discussed the details all the way to the waiting hall before finally coming up with a detailed retirement plan.