Rules of Strange Tales and Extraordinary Files

Chapter 22 Appeasing Lao Tzu

Forget it, let's not dwell on this for now. Whether it's a dream or not, we can find out by making a phone call.

He didn't have time to think about anything else and dialed his father's number.

"Beep—beep—"

"Hey! Jiu Jiu, what's up?" came Li's father's voice from the phone.

Li Jiu heard a little noise: "Dad, are you driving?"

"I just got off the elevator to go to the parking garage. What's up? Tell me!"

"Dad, I had a dream yesterday."

Mr. Li was anything but polite: "You dreamt I died, so you're here to pray for peace?"

Li Jiu was taken aback by the old man's words and quickly replied, "No, I dreamt of Grandma."

"Oh, you miss your grandma? Then go see her during your vacation. What are you doing cooped up at school all the time? Busy dating somewhere?"

Li Jiu didn't answer that question, but went straight to the point and asked, "Dad, are we a family that received compensation for our land expropriation?"

On the other end of the phone, Mr. Li paused for a moment before asking, "What, can't you hide your status as a second-generation demolition beneficiary anymore?"

Li Jiu then asked, "Dad, did Grandma start chanting Buddhist prayers when I was in elementary school?"

"Why are you suddenly asking about this? Wait..." Mr. Li hesitated for a moment, his tone subtly changing, "Where are you now?"

"Dad, I..."

Before Li Jiu could finish speaking, his father abruptly interrupted him, his voice rising sharply and his tone suddenly becoming serious: "You're not at school! Right?! Send me your location! Now! I'm coming to pick you up right now!"

"Huh? Dad, don't panic! Let me explain first..." Li Jiu tried to explain.

"What the hell am I supposed to do?!" Mr. Li cursed, running wildly through the underground parking garage. "Did you run off to Fulong Mountain?!"

"...Yes, Dad." Li Jiu was taken aback by his father's reaction. "I attended a summer camp, and I'm currently..."

"I don't care where you are! You go to the visitor center right now, no, go to the entrance of the scenic area, there's a dragon sculpture there, no, don't move, where are you now? It will take me an hour to drive here, and I'll come find you when I get there!" Li's father's voice was urgent and fast.

"Dad, don't panic, let me hear you out..." Li Jiu was pushed to his limit and had to raise his voice, "...or I'll hang up!"

"You old codger! You dare hang up on your father?" Li's father suppressed his anger for a moment, but his tone immediately softened. "Alright, alright, I'm not in a hurry. Tell me, what was that dream you had?"

Li Jiuxian reassured him, "Dad, don't worry. My roommate and I have decided to leave today. He contacted his dad last night to call a helicopter, and it should be here soon. You'll just be wasting your time picking me up. Really, you don't need to come!"

After saying that, Li Jiu felt a pang of regret. He realized he hadn't thought things through. He should have waited until he and Tang Mubai left Fulong Mountain before calling his father...

But now that the call had already been made, he decided to tell everything.

"Dad, I dreamt about Grandma's Buddhist chanting ceremony, and I also dreamt about you, Mom, Grandma, and Grandpa taking me to Fulong Mountain when I was very young... I just want to ask you, did I really come to Fulong Mountain when I was little?"

Li's father, who was running around, suddenly stopped.

There was complete silence on the other end of the phone.

In the underground parking garage, Li's father held his phone to his ear, but he was frozen in place as if he had been immobilized.

"How much of it...do you remember?"

"dad……"

"……Um?"

"Are those all true?" Li Jiu's voice was somewhat hoarse.

"……Um."

"Dad, what's going on?" Li Jiu's voice was full of confusion.

Silence fell again on the other end of the phone, with only suppressed breathing coming through the microphone.

After a long while, Li's father's voice finally rang out: "It's alright, I'll tell you slowly when you get home."

"Oh... then I'll hang up—"

"Wait a minute!" Mr. Li exclaimed, as if suddenly waking up, his voice becoming urgent again. "Who's coming to pick you up? A helicopter? Is that even reliable?"

"He's a classmate of mine, Tang Mubai's dad... You wouldn't know this, but his dad seems reliable, and the helicopter should be here soon. Dad, you really shouldn't come. Go to work first."

"The first generation of wealthy people should all be reliable," was Li Jiu's stereotype about people like Tang's father.

"Okay, then call me when you leave Fulong Mountain."

"oh."

"beep--"

After hanging up the phone, Mr. Li took a few steps forward, thought for a moment, and then stopped.

"His surname is Tang..."

"Helicopter..."

He took out his phone again and manually entered a phone number.

"Beep—beep—"

The call was answered, and a voice came from the other end: "Hey~ I'm fucking seeing things, Chuanzi, why are you calling me so early in the morning?"

"Stop laughing. I have a question for you. Did your son run off to Fulong Mountain?"

"..."

……

Li Jiu put down his phone, his brows furrowed.

His father's unusual reaction weighed heavily on his heart. From childhood to adulthood, his father had never spoken to him so cryptically, but this time he only wanted him to leave Fulong Mountain first.

Could it be... that Mount Fulong itself has some kind of taboo?

Could it be... that there's something that would be dangerous to know in Fulong Mountain, but wouldn't matter once you leave?

Is it really that mysterious?

The curse of knowledge?

and many more!

wrong!!

He suddenly realized a problem!

When he was on the phone with his dad just now, he didn't mention the words "Fulong Mountain" at all. How did his dad get so sure that he must have come to Fulong Mountain?

A chill instantly ran down his spine.

What happened?

Could it be that his memory recovery... is related to Mount Fulong?!

Is it because of the chanting sound?

Or is it because of... something else?

He became increasingly alarmed as he thought about it. After taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down, he made another phone call.

"Beep—beep—"

"Hey—!" came an elderly but strong voice from the other end of the phone.

"Hey! Grandma, it's me, Jiu Jiu! Have you had breakfast yet?"

"Oh my gosh~ It's Jiu Jiu!" Grandpa's voice immediately filled with affection. "Grandpa has eaten, and drank the nutritious porridge your aunt bought! And you, are you up yet? Do you want to find a boyfriend during summer vacation? Grandpa has someone to introduce you to someone, I'll take you to see him next time I come back!"

Li Jiu's face darkened, thinking to himself, "Why are you two so obsessed with finding wives?"

"Grandma, I have a question for you. What were you doing when you took me to Fulong Mountain when I was little?"

"Oh~ you mean Fulong Mountain! When you were little... -- What did you say?! Why did you think of Fulong Mountain? Did you go there?" Upon hearing Li Jiu's tone, Grandpa's expression changed drastically, and his voice rose involuntarily, filled with disbelief, shock, and urgency.

"I... just arrived at Fulong Mountain, it's the school's summer camp..." Li Jiu was startled by his grandfather's reaction.

"Oh my god! What a disaster! What kind of summer camp is that? It's ruining you!" Grandpa slapped his thigh repeatedly. "I'll call your dad and have him send... no, I'll have him pick you up himself!"

"Grandpa! Grandpa, don't worry!" Li Jiu reassured his father, then comforted his great-grandfather. "I've already talked to Dad! I'm going back today! Really! I'm leaving today!"

"Alright, alright, remember to always take the main road out of the mountains!" Grandpa reminded him.