Starting to Gain Experience from Push-Ups-Chapter 268 - 201 I and Jiang Chen are good friends_2

It was already almost three-thirty in the afternoon, and the relatives had long since finished their visit and left one after another.

Seeing Fang Cheng return, his aunt and uncle talked to him for a bit, inquiring about his recent life and studies, before also saying goodbye and leaving.

They worked at a multinational pharmaceutical company and were often busy with frequent business trips.

It was rare to have a holiday, and there was much visiting to do.

Fang Cheng did not persist in retaining them, and after seeing his aunt and uncle downstairs, he returned to the room.

Upon entering the ward, he saw three nurses busily sweeping and cleaning.

After asking his mother, he learned that they were hired by his uncle yesterday.

As for why two extra were hired.

According to his uncle, one to take care of grandfather’s daily needs, one responsible for sanitary care, and another one for rotating when needed.

Fang Cheng shook his head silently, sat beside the hospital bed, and talked with his grandfather.

Since his uncle had already arranged everything, there was no need for him to do anything more.

By six o’clock in the evening, after eating dinner with his mother and uncle at the hospital cafeteria and seeing that there was nothing else to attend to, he left first.

The cold wind was like knives, howling past the dimly lit hospital campus.

Though there was warmth during the day, the temperature dropped drastically at night.

Fang Cheng zipped up his coat and raised his collar, walking swiftly towards the main entrance, preparing to take a taxi home.

After walking a distance, his gaze unintentionally fell on the gray building in the distance, still guarded by soldiers.

Under the cloak of night, the Rehabilitation Center’s outer walls seemed smeared recklessly with ink, covered with pitch-black scorch marks.

Some floors’ windows were shattered, leaving only hollow, teetering frames.

Seemingly describing to outsiders the heart-stopping battle that had occurred that night without making a sound.

..................

An hour later, on Jiangbei Old Factory Street.

He arrived home just after seven o’clock.

This street was evidently much busier than West Gate.

The laughter and hustle from the food stalls and the sizzling noise of frying pans drifted up from downstairs.

Fang Cheng quickly washed up in the bathroom, then headed straight for his bedroom.

Click.

After he tightly closed the door, he turned to face the window that let in the neon lights.

"Whoosh," he also drew the curtains.

With the last sliver concealed, the noise, hustle and bustle, and scent of smoke were all blocked outside.

The room was covered in a layer of dim tranquility, and it seemed like the whole world was reduced to just this small space.

In the darkness, Fang Cheng’s eyes were bright and alert.

He then sat cross-legged on the bed, ready to begin meditating.

Slowly closing his eyelids, his breathing gradually deepened.

His thoughts rippled like those on a calm lake surface, expanding in circles, extending towards the depths of his heart.

Soon, he was immersed in the peaceful solitude of meditation, exploring the quiet corners of his mind.

After a long while.

Fang Cheng suddenly opened his eyes, looking around the room.

The previously dark bedroom had become incredibly bright, as if day had arrived.

The desk, bed, wardrobe, the outlines of all items were outlined clearly, coated with a warm, glowing halo.

It seemed this meditation session had lasted for over ten hours, and it was already the next morning.

Fang Cheng’s eyes twinkled slightly, pondering.

Then he gently raised his hand, his thumb and forefinger coming together, and "snap," he made a snapping sound.

In an instant, the room’s scenery seemed as if enchanted.

The sunlight quickly receded like a tide, and the furniture outlines once again hid in the darkness.

The night outside surged in, and the room was once again enveloped in a dim and cold hue.

The ticking of the alarm clock on the desk began, as if time had rewound.

The daytime was just a short and beautiful dream.

However.

"Snap!"

Fang Cheng made another snapping sound.

The scenery around him changed again, and the entire bedroom was instantly immersed in a warm and bright daytime atmosphere.

With each snap, like turning a light on and off, the environment continuously switched between light and dark modes.

"It’s better to keep the daytime mode, it’s less confusing with reality and fantasy in the Memory Palace."

Fang Cheng looked around, murmuring to himself, then got out of bed.

He walked to the bedroom door, reached for the somewhat cold doorknob, and gently twisted it.

The previously tightly closed door quietly opened with his force, making a nearly inaudible "click."

Sigh—

The sound of the wind whined, as if a dormant beast was trying to rush into the room through the slightly opened door.

Creak—

The door continued to slowly open, revealing a dark and chaotic void outside the bedroom.

Endless mist surged like ink, too dense to disperse.

It seemed as if eerie tentacles were dancing within, attempting to drag the brightly lit house into the abyss.

Fang Cheng stood calmly at the door, his figure stable and unaffected.

His lips moved slightly, uttering an extremely tricky spell fluently.

"Om, ah, mi, ma, wa, sha, mo..."

With each word and syllable of the spell recited, it echoed clearly in the wind.

His gaze pierced through the dense black fog, locking onto another point of light in this dark world.

Then, a manor gate with intricate carvings appeared not far away.

Fang Cheng stepped out of the bedroom, walked forward, and knocked on the door.

Thud, thud.

Just after two knocks, the gate creaked open.

A hazy halo emitted, dimly illuminating the front of the door, as if welcoming travelers from the darkness.

Fang Cheng took a step forward and effortlessly entered through this gate of light.

With a blur before his eyes, he next appeared in the familiar place.

A room that seemed to have its lights turned off, shrouded in black curtains.

However, stepping inside, Fang Cheng faintly sensed some changes from his last visit, feeling slightly different.

It seemed... the room had gotten a bit larger.

And stepping down felt more real, no longer so eerily floating.

While he pondered in confusion, a soft yet cold voice emerged:

"Yo, what wind has blown you here today? Coming to chat early in the morning, don’t you have a nightlife?"

Accompanying the murmuring, a figure emitting a dark green glow appeared from the darkness.

Still with a blurred face, only recognizable by the outline of the body, like a wandering ghost.

After floating over, seeing Fang Cheng silent, the Smiling Demon couldn’t help but ask:

"What do you want? You didn’t just come here to look cool, did you?"

Fang Cheng looked at him attentively and suddenly asked:

"What’s your relationship with Jiang Chen?"

Upon hearing this, the Smiling Demon was momentarily stunned, his gaze piercingly fixed on Fang Cheng, with a hint of sharpness, and his voice unconsciously raised:

"How do you know this name? Where exactly did you hear it?!"

His tone was urgent, his previously cold demeanor instantly shattered, replaced by an undeniable shock.

Fang Cheng smiled slightly, casually responding:

"I met him by chance, bonded over martial arts, found mutual understanding and became close friends who share everything. I heard about you from him."

Hearing this, the Smiling Demon’s shoulders visibly trembled, his body leaning forward, his eyes trying to see through Fang Cheng, judging the truth of his words.

Fang Cheng remained composed, facing the piercing gaze of this mysterious man:

"What, is he important to you?"

"Heh."

The Smiling Demon stared for a moment and then chuckled lightly, "So you were trying to trick me?"

Then his whole tense figure relaxed, his tone nonchalant as he shook his head:

"That old ghost, if he knew my whereabouts, would have come in person long ago, how could he tell an outsider like you."

The previous argument indeed had major logical flaws, merely a sudden trick, taking a blind shot.

Unfortunately, the other party was very alert and did not fall for it.

Seeing his tactics exposed, Fang Cheng did not continue the act, simply shrugged:

"Alright, I did indeed fight with Jiang Chen, but we are not friends; we are enemies."

He then spoke earnestly, gazing directly at the other:

"I came to you because I feel there are similarities between you two, and since Jiang Chen can be considered our common enemy, you should tell me his true origins."

The Smiling Demon fell silent for a moment, seemingly considering seriously.

Suddenly, he sighed deeply, raised his head, and looked at Fang Cheng again:

"Do you believe that ghosts exist in this world?"

"I do."

Fang Cheng answered without hesitation.

The Smiling Demon was momentarily taken aback:

"Have you already encountered them?"