Cyber Ghosts

“Are you OK?” Hao Ning said after he made sure that the monster was Xiao Hong. However, he was wondering why he became so terrible. He wanted to pull Xiao Hong out of it. Xiao Hong waved his hand and made himself appear standing on the ground. And then he grabbed a chair and sat on it. “My boy, I am exhausted,” he said, massaging his waist lightly, adding “I was so busy in there that I had no time to take care of my hair and fingernails. And my poor slender waist. You know, it was so terrible there!”

Hao Ning rushed to help massage Xiao Hong after seeing his appearance. He massaged him through Tianzhu massage manipulations from the “Borrow magic power”.

“Wow, so comfortable!” Xiao Hong said with closed eyes. “Brother Hao Ning, my future girlfriend must master these manipulations. So, I can have sex with her for ten days without a break. Ouch!”

“Go away,” Hao Ning said, realizing Xiao Hong was making a joke. “Ten days? I’m sure no girls will agree to be your girlfriend.”

“Pixiu…” Xiao Hong said, looking at Hao Ning with a begging face. “Brother Hao Ning, my Pixiu…” he added.

“Enough, ” Hao Ning interrupted him immediately. He continued to say, “What’s wrong with you? Why did you become like this inside? Any ghosts inside?”

“No ghosts. But my brother, you forgot something,” Xiao Hong said bitterly, adding, “This is the magic figure made by Bodhisattva. It related to future times. So, the time inside is different from the outside world. You thought that I was just inside for a few minutes, but actually, I have been there for a whole year!”

“One year?” Zhou Yuan said shockingly. He continued to ask, “So my mother has been saved?”

Looking at Zhou Yuan, Xiao Hong wanted to say something, but he did not know where to start, and his face turned into pale with anger.

Seeing Xiao Hong’s face, Hao Ning already understood what Xiao Hong thought. He had been inside for a year. There must be many stories. Zhou Yuan did not care about what happened to Xiao Hong. Instead, he only cared about his parents. This was the reason why Xiao Hong was angry about Zhou Yuan. As a moment god, in general, Zhou Yuan would not behave like this. But now he must care about his parents much more. What Zhou Yuan did seem to be similar to Liu Shuai’s. “Xiao Hong, Zhou Yuan meant that you have been inside for a year. It is so long a time. You must undergo many things and have suffered a lot…”

“All right. I know you want to help him out here,” Xiao Hong said, looking at Hao Ning. “If I were in his shoes, I also would care about my parents like him. At least, he had somebody to care about.”

“Err… I am sorry,” Zhou Yuan said, realizing that he neglected Xiao Hong’s feelings.

“It doesn’t matter,” Xiao Hong said, adding, “Over the past year, I finally found the one kind of the future to save Zhou Yuan’s mother.”

“You spent one year to find one kind of the future?” Hao Ning said shockingly. “So long,” he added.

“So long?” Xiao Hong said with a bitter smile. “It’s the shortest time. I might be trapped inside for thousands of years if I am not lucky enough. As there are many possibilities, I had to search for the best ones among all of them.”

“Oh, I see,” Hao Ning said. He understood that there were many possibilities for one thing. The future Xiao Hong suggested was difficult to find. He took a lot of time for it. “So, how many futures in total? How many did you find?”

“I searched 100 million…” Xiao Hong said with dark eye circles. “You asked how many futures? There is a saying: The future is infinite. So, there are how many futures do you think?”

“Oh, my God,” Hao Ning was shocked. What Xiao Hong said meant that there were infinite futures. That was the reason why he said one year was the shortest time for it. It might take thousands of years to find it. “Really sorry to trap you inside for so long. Actually, you could come out and ask for our help,” added Hao Ning.

“How could it be?” Xiao Hong said, shaking his head. “I, at least, can live for many many years. If you are inside and you can’t find the future, we want in 100 years, you may reincarnate yourself already. Let alone save Zhou Yuan’s mother. At that time, what can I do?”

Hearing what Xiao Hong said, Hao Ning felt touched. Xiao Hong was right. Hao Ning was an ordinary person. His life was limited. There were so many futures in the magic figure. Nobody could tell how many years it would take to find the right one. Xiao Hong sacrificed himself rather than his and Zhou Yuan’s lives. Thinking of this, Hao Ning couldn’t help saying, “Thank you very much.”

“No need. The best thing is I found it,” Xiao Hong said. What Hao Ning said made Xiao Hong feel shy. He continued to say, “What about my Pixiu?”

“Don’t worry!” Hao Ning said in confidence, adding “So far, although I don’t know where I should go to find another Auspicious Beast, I will help you as long as I am alive!”

“Thank you!” Xiao Hong said, smiling. “Can we go now?” he added.

“Go where?” Hao Ning said, wondering. “Oh, yes. I should get out of here with Zhou Yuan. So, you can do your business.”

“No, no!” Xiao Hong said, grabbing Hao Ning’s hand and waving to Zhou Yuan. “Zhou Yuan, you get out. Hao Ning, you stay with me.”

“Oh?” Hao Ning thought that Xiao Hong might not know what he was doing after one-year’s search inside. “You told me one year ago that I am an ordinary person…” he added.

“I did not say you are an ordinary person. What I said was that you don’t have power!” Xiao Hong corrected Hao Ning. “Are you thinking I don’t know what I am doing? Forget what I said before? Ha, ha…”

“Yes!” Hao Ning replied, looking at Xiao Hong and smiling. Xiao Hong became delightful as he knew Hao Ning would help him get a girlfriend. “Why do you invite me to go with you?” Hao Ning said.

“Because I found that in the key points,” Xiao Hong said with a smile. And then he became worried and said, “It requires us to go.”

“Ah? Why?” Hao Ning said, pointing to his own nose. “Why me? You mean me, a person who doesn’t have power and the burden to the magic figure will go with you? Won’t I just slow you down? ”

“More than that!” Xiao Hong said morosely. “Your going means grave risks. The power of the magic figure will be spared, and its service life will be shortened. However, it must be you. In the futures I found, only you and I can save Zhou Yuan’s parents. Or do you want me to go inside and search again?”

“Hey, don’t go,” Hao Nings said, sighing. He, actually, did not worry about himself for waiting. The time in the magic figures was different. Thousands of years inside might be a very short time outside. He felt sorry for Xiao Hong if he was inside alone. Thinking of this, Hao Ning asked, “So, what does it look like inside?”

“I don’t know,” Hao Ning said, shaking his head. “I only saw the end and the begin of it. I have no time to see the details. If so, it might take me a very long time. You guys also fast forward dirty videos. So, you have no right to ask me to search it from up to down.”

“What are the dirty videos?” Zhou Yuan asked, wondering. “Are they more interesting than the novels you introduced to me?”

“Err… totally different,” Hao Ning explained, blushing. “What I introduced to you are related to mental improvement. But the dirty videos are related to your physical and mental stuff, making you be at a higher level,” he added.

“No, no,” one of the servants for auntie Zhou said. “My lady fainted!”

“So quickly?” Xiao Hong thought. “Something must be wrong ‒ let’s go and have a look!”

Zhou Yuan did not say anything but to snap his fingers. They came into the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility. Hao Ning was not in a mood to look around when seeing Zhou Yuan’s mother laying on the bed. She seemed the same as usual aside for energy. Xiao Hong came closer to check, nodding to Zhou Yuan and Hao Ning, and then shaking his head.

“How could be like this all of a sudden?” Zhou Yuan asked the servant.

“Money, it’s all about money!” the servant answered.

“What money?” Zhou Yuan asked, wondering. “If she wants money, just give it to her. Who will spend the money I earn instead of my mother?”

“Not that,” the servant said. “She began talking nonsense while she came back and lied on the bed. What she said was something like that 1.5 billion dollars is not enough for 1.5 billion people and what can she do… We couldn’t understand what she said. And then she became what you saw.”

Xiao Hong grabbed the three out of the room when Zhou Yuan wanted to ask more.

After getting out of the room, Zhou Yuan said in nervous, “What happened?”

“The future, it is having an impact on her now!” Xiao Hong sighed. He said to Zhou Yuan, “When Hao Ning told you that the 1.5 billion dollars were a wrong number, in practice, your subconscious had realized that. However, because her imagination about it was given by you, she imaged it too.”

“So what?” Zhou Yuan asked, “Give as much as she wanted.”

“As you are not a financial account, you don’t realize how severe it is!” Xiao Hong said in a deep hatred. “To ordinary people, they may hear 1.5 billion dollars. But 1.5 quadrillion dollars? Actually, it is impossible in our real world. The wealth of the entire world produces in one year is less than 100 trillion dollars. As to 1.5 quadrillion dollars, the people on earth need to work for 1500 years for it. This is impossible. So, your mother’s illness related to her soul is aggravating. But you, you only care about the fake things. You will be killed by your fake face one day!”

“What can I do?” Zhou Yuan said, worriedly. He dropped on the ground on his knees, grabbed Xiao Hong’s thigh and said, “Please, please help my parents!”

“Well, don’t worry,” Xiao Hong said. Seeing Zhou Yuan kneeled on the ground, he hurried to get him up, adding, “I will help. OK, as we don’t have enough time, Zhou Yuan, you get out of here immediately, taking care of the bodies of your parents. Brother Hao Ning, we don’t have time searching another way. Although the time in the magic figure is different, I am afraid that something bad may happen if we stay here longer. Let’s go inside and have a shot, OK?”

“Of course. I guess the thing goes worse too on his father. Time’s up. We don’t have time for the other one.” Hao Ning said in a worried voice. “It’s definitely this future. Let’s move!”

“OK, I know now,” Xiao Hong said, nodding. He shook Zhou Yuan who kneeled on the ground and said, “The task is urgent. You get out of here and take care of your parents. You should remember, don’t use powers to feel what your parents are imaging. And no matter what will happen inside, don’t get in. Or things will become out of control.”

“What you said is just like the episode in TV series or a movie…” Hao Ning said, looking at Xiao Hong. He continued to talk to himself, “According to the plot, Zhou Yuan will confront some grave crisis. He will attempt to feel the imagination. And then, what we do will be in vain…”

“No, no. You should pray for us,” Xiao Hong said. He seemed to be more nervous than Zhou Yuan. “This is the first time for me to use a magic figure. Don’t push me, OK?” he added.

“This is the case. Zhou Yuan must be curious about the imagination now as you have told him,” Zhou Yuan said, thinking of the Murphy’s Law. Although he knew it was not good to say it before a major action, he said it anyway, “Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong,” he added.

“Hey…” Xiao Hong said. What Hao Ning said seemed right. He pulled Zhou Yuan up from the ground, and said to him seriously, “Let me tell you. What happened to your mother is because of your powers. Her soul is left in the imaginations. So, during her healing period through Bodhisattva’s futuristic time magic figure, if you get inside, even a small part of your power getting in will result in a change of the process. At that time, everything will be out of control. The better result of that is your mother cannot be healed eventually. However, the worst result of that is that we, the therapists, will be lost in the space-time turbulence.”

“Oh, I see. So terrible!” Zhou Yuan said, trembling. “You go at your ease. I won’t do things like that. I promise!” he added.

“That’s OK.” Hao Ning said, nodding to Zhou Yuan, adding, “I just need you to know the reasons and severity. Do you think that the writers are so foolish that they don’t realize this?”

“You are a fool,” Xiao Hong said simply. “How can they earn money if they don’t write like that? According to what you said, the actor will die in the first episode. So, don’t judge! A movie aims to attract the audience to buy tickets. In reality, we need solutions to solve problems,” he added.

Seeing Zhou Yuan left, Xiao Hong said to Hao Ning, “Brother Hao Ning, after we enter, please stay with me all the time…”

“Again…” Hao Ning said. He felt a little angry, moubling to himself, “According to plots in movies or novels, I have to leave you as you said so…”

“…” Xiao Hong looked at Hao Ning and was about to break down too. “Can you say something good? But it will be useless even I tell you the reasons: Bodhisattva had told me that the magic figure can create a world different where it can connect the user with the future. However, the space that is not from the future is limited. Brother Hao Ning, you have no power. If you stay away from me, you may disappear in the futuristic time. How can I find you then?”

After hearing Xiao Hong’s analysis, Hao Ning trembled. Oh, my god, it risked my life to see the future, he thought.

“Zhou Yuan ‒ Can you hear us?” Hao Ning shouted after hearing what Xiao Hong said. “I want to get out of here. I don’t want to die. Pull me out!”

“Are you crazy, brother?” Xiao Hong said. He felt more frustrated. “You just said you wanted to go with me.”

“Bullshit. I just thought that it’s a nether world one-day trip looking just like we did before. I wish to go there to broaden my vision instead of risking my life,” Hao Ning said, grabbing his hair. “Now, after hearing what you said, it looks like to climb the Mount Qomolangma wearing shorts and slippers. No way. I must get out of here,” he screamed.

“But in that future, it must be you and me…” Xiao Hong said. His sentence made Hao Ning calm. “To save Zhou Yuan’s parents or not, it’s up to you now,” Xiao Hong added.

Hao Ning lowered his head, thinking. After a while, he lifted his head and said, “So, what is the end of this? Am I still alive?”

“Of course!” Xiao Hong said. He knew that Hao Ning hesitated. “Or I shouldn’t ask you to go with me. If you die inside, Bodhisattva will…” Xiao Hong stopped suddenly.

“Will what?” Hao Ning asked. Seeing Xiao Hong wanted to say something but said nothing, he added, “What did you want to say?”

“Will kick me out,” Xiao Hong said unnaturally. “I, as a Sudhana, cannot protect my friend. What else can I do?”

“Oh, all right,” Hao Ning thought what he said and replied. “As long as I can get out alive, I am not scared now. Moreover, if something bad happened to Zhou Yuan’s parents, Zhou Yuan may live no longer given his love to his parents. In such a case, I go inside to save Zhou Yuan rather than to save his parents. Let’s go now,” Hao Ning explained.

“One more thing,” Xiao Hong said. “It seems that you will feel not happy after you get out,” he continued to say.

“Of course not!” Hao Ning said with a laugh. “I am an ordinary person. I must be afraid of seeing many reincarnations, ghosts, King of hell, etc. I think I am strong if I won’t faint! No more nonsense. Let’s go!”

“Oh, OK. I will start saying magic words. You leave me alone. Remember, don’t disturb me or interrupt me,” Xiao Hong said. Seeing Hao Ning turned into a happy mood, he pointed to the magic figure. “Tourists who go to the nether world…” Xiao Hong said. He turned back, smiled at Hao Ning, and continued to say, “Single case. No need to add an “s” to the nouns. Tourist who goes to the nether world, pay attention, please. The magic figure private plane heading to the nether world will take off. Please fasten your seat belt, put away the small table board, straighten the seat back and open the sun visor, and wait for the takeoff. There may be some turbulence during our flight…” Xiao Hong said.

Hearing Xiao Hong’s magic words, Hao Ning felt speechless. After Xiao Hong finished his sentence, Hao Ning said to him, “It seems that I am familiar with your magic words…”

“Ha, ha. Those are not magic words. Those are words I made!” Xiao Hong laughed. “I have read all the magic words in my mind. I am afraid that you will interrupt me. I don’t want to see you being nervous. So, it is a joke. Ouch, why you hit me! ‒ Start!”

The magic figure trembled once in the air while Xiao Hong was talking and flew away with strong lights. Xiao Hong and Hao Ning looked at each other, running behind it together. Suddenly, Hao Ning found a dim light around Xiao Hong, being not too big or too small. It was big enough to cover both of them. This must be the scope Xiao Hong told Hao Ning before. Hao Ning couldn’t help thinking that the circle was too small for them that he had to stay very close with Xiao Hong.

Getting out of the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility, Hao Ning saw a man standing at the gate, shouting, “Zhou Yuan, you bitch. You didn’t pay our wages. Pay my wage. Pay my wage!”

“What’s happening?” Hao Ning lied on Xiao Hong’s shoulder, asking, “What wages?”