Chapter 381
"Falin City?"
The rogue cultivator was stunned. A puzzled look appeared in his eyes.
"What Falin City? There's no such place here?"
Zhou Moran's pupils suddenly contracted. It felt as if an invisible hand had grabbed his heart and squeezed it tightly.
"There's no... Falin City?"
The rogue cultivator saw his expression looked off and spoke carefully. "Senior, could you have remembered wrong? Within a thousand miles of here, there's only 'Qinglan City.' I've never heard of any Falin City."
Zhou Moran stood in place. A buzzing sound filled his ears.
Falin City... doesn't exist?
Then what about the memories from his previous life?
He remembered them clearly. That city. That auction. That flood dragon pearl...
Could it be...
A terrifying thought emerged in his mind.
The world in this life is different... from the previous one?
...
Zhou Moran stood on the unfamiliar wilderness. The rogue cultivator's words still echoed in his ears.
His heart beat violently. An unprecedented sense of absurdity swept through his entire body.
"Impossible..." he muttered in a low voice. His fingertips unconsciously tightened. "I remember it clearly..."
The memories from his previous life couldn't be wrong! Falin City was located three hundred miles to the southeast. Although he hadn't traveled back and forth many times, he remembered it deeply. He even remembered every landmark in the city!
But now, that city had vanished into thin air?
Zhou Moran took a deep breath. He forcibly suppressed the unease in his heart.
"Perhaps... I just remembered the wrong direction?"
He gritted his teeth. Then he soared into the air once more and sped off in another direction.
However, no matter how hard he searched, that city remained nowhere to be found.
He asked passing cultivators and mortals along the way. He even stopped merchant caravans to inquire. Yet everyone's answer was strangely consistent.
"Falin City? Never heard of it."
What made his blood run cold even more was that when he tentatively asked about "Yushu City," those people looked equally confused.
"Yushu City? Fellow Daoist, perhaps you got the name wrong? There's no city by that name nearby."
Zhou Moran's breathing gradually quickened. A terrifying guess took shape in his mind.
He wasn't in the original world anymore!
But the problem was, he hadn't sensed any spatial transmigration fluctuations at all!
When cultivators cross realms, it inevitably causes spiritual energy turbulence. They might even encounter spatial chaos. But his entire journey here had been calm and peaceful. Nothing unusual whatsoever!
"No... something must have gone wrong somewhere..."
He forced himself to calm down. He decided to return to Yushu City first.
Since Falin City didn't exist, he should at least return to a familiar place. Then he could make plans.
He turned around and sped back along the route he came from.
...
Half a day later, Zhou Moran finally saw the outline of Yushu City.
The familiar city walls. The familiar streets. Even the old locust tree at the city gate looked exactly like it did in his memory.
He let out a long sigh of relief. The heart hanging in his chest finally settled down.
"Maybe I was just overthinking..."
He gave a self-deprecating smile and walked toward the city gate.
However, the moment he stepped inside, a strange feeling suddenly assaulted him.
The way people looked at him was very odd.
As if they were looking at a rare animal.
And he discovered something even more terrifying. It seemed... everyone knew him.
But at the same time... nobody knew him.
For example:
"Young Master Zhou is back!" A sugar figurine vendor greeted him warmly. "Want a sugar figurine? Freshly made today. Very sweet!"
Zhou Moran was startled. He subconsciously reached toward his waist. He didn't remember ever buying sugar figurines from this vendor.
Even stranger was that pedestrians on the street all smiled and nodded at him. Some even took the initiative to approach him.
"Young Master Zhou, thanks to you!"
"Young Master Zhou, you are truly the benefactor of our Li family!"
"Young Master Zhou, my child has been talking about wanting to see you!"
A chill ran down Zhou Moran's spine.
Why were these people treating him with such attitude?
In the original world, although he was the legitimate son of the Zhou family, the common people of Yushu City merely respected him at most. They would never be so enthusiastic!
He quickened his pace and walked toward the Zhou residence.
The closer he got to the Zhou residence, the stronger that strange feeling became.
The guards in front of the mansion door immediately bowed respectfully when they saw him. "The young master has returned! The Patriarch was just mentioning you!"
Zhou Moran suppressed the unease in his heart and nodded. He stepped into the mansion.
As soon as he entered the main courtyard, a familiar figure came walking toward him.
Zhou Qingyang.
The same Zhou Qingyang whom he had personally stabbed through the heart was now standing alive before him, a brilliant smile on his face.
"Brother! You're finally back!"
Zhou Qingyang stepped forward quickly and affectionately grabbed his hand. "Everyone is waiting for you!"
Because the matter was too bizarre, Zhou Moran was even pulled along by Zhou Qingyang for several steps before reacting. He immediately broke free.
"How are you still alive!"
"Oh, you mean this!" Zhou Qingyang said. "The filming has wrapped up, so of course I revived!"
"Filming wrapped up!?"
Zhou Moran's pupils suddenly contracted. The blood in his entire body seemed to freeze.
"Filming wrapped up..." His voice was hoarse beyond recognition. "What does that mean?"
Zhou Qingyang was stunned. Then he burst into laughter. "Brother, you're joking! Doesn't 'filming wrapped up' mean the drama has ended?"
He patted Zhou Moran's shoulder, his tone relaxed. "Come on, Father is waiting to celebrate with you!"
Zhou Moran stiffly followed him toward the main hall. Every step felt as if he were walking on cotton, floating and unreal.
Inside the hall, a man who looked exactly like Zhou Hong was sitting in the main seat. When he saw Zhou Moran enter, he immediately stood up, his face full of relief.
"Moran, you're finally back!"
He strode forward and grabbed Zhou Moran's hand excitedly. "Thanks to you, we were able to wrap up filming smoothly!"
Filming wrapped up?
That word again.
Zhou Moran's mind exploded with a bang.
He violently shook off the other person's hand and stepped back two paces. His voice trembled. "Who exactly are you?!"
"Me?" The man looked confused. "I'm your father."
"No! You're not!" Zhou Moran said harshly. "My father would never speak such nonsense!"
The hall fell silent instantly.
Zhou Qingyang, Lin Xinyao, Liu Yunyao, and even the servants all looked at him with strange eyes.
"Brother..." Zhou Qingyang asked carefully. "Are you alright?"
Zhou Moran looked around. He suddenly realized that everyone's expressions looked like...
They were acting.
A terrible realization emerged in his heart.
He suddenly turned around and rushed out of the main hall. He ran all the way to his own courtyard.
Pushing open the door, he stared at himself in the bronze mirror.
The Zhou Moran in the mirror still had a young and handsome face. But those eyes were filled with fear and bewilderment.
"What exactly... is going on..."
He muttered to himself. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted an unfamiliar book on the table.
On the cover were clearly written the words:
"Immortal Spirit Holy Land" Final Draft Script.
Zhou Moran's fingers trembled. He slowly opened to the first page.
"Chapter 376: Zhou Moran discovers Zhou Qingyang colluding with the Zhao family. Decides to expose him publicly at the family banquet..."
His breathing stopped.
This book... recorded all his experiences since his rebirth!
Word for word!
Turning to the last page, he saw a line of vermillion commentary.
"Protagonist Zhou Moran's filming wrapped up. Plot concluded satisfactorily. All cast members have worked hard."
...
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{
Dear Readers,
I wanted to take a moment to speak to you all from the heart. As many of you have noticed, my update schedule has been slower than usual lately. I am currently in the middle of my exams, and balancing my studies with my passion for translating/writing has been incredibly difficult. I hate leaving you waiting for chapters, and the guilt of being slow weighs on me every day.
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