American Celestial Master

Chapter 266, Tramp
Subi screamed and sat up suddenly from the bench in New York's Central Park, just like a zombie sitting up from its coffin.

He opened his eyes and looked around - fortunately, it was just a dream. It was still dark, and a half moon was clearly visible in the sky. Soapy estimated that it was probably two or three o'clock in the morning, and it was still early before dawn. He should have continued to lie down on the bench and sleep, but thinking about the nightmare just now, Soapy was still a little scared, so he sat on the bench and reached into his pocket, but felt nothing. Before sunset yesterday, he had consumed the last few leaves.

With a sad sigh, Soapy recalled the time when he still had a white collar. Just as Dante mentioned in "The Divine Comedy", recalling the past happiness in pain is a greater pain. But at this moment, Soapy didn't even have a leaf to temporarily resist this damn memory. So he decided that he couldn't sit on the bench anymore. He had to get up and move around so that his attention could be diverted to other places.

Subi noticed that there was already a light mist around, so the street lights seemed a little dim. But this was a normal phenomenon, and Subi didn't think much about it. He stood up and walked forward along the road in front of him.

After walking a few steps, Subi felt something was wrong, because he remembered that there should be a fork in the road just ahead, and the path under his feet would split into two, but there was still only one path in front, with dense holly trees on both sides.

Subi turned around in confusion and looked back, and then the hairs on his body stood up - the bench where he had just slept was gone, and where the bench should have been was a low wall made up of dense holly trees.

"Damn it! This is a ghost!" Subi took a deep breath. In recent years, various strange things have become more and more frequent, and even the devil who looks like an angel has appeared in public more than once. It is common knowledge that there are ghosts in this world.

Subi was trembling all over. His life was not going as he wished. Sometimes he even thought that he should get some special medicine to end his meaningless life in bliss. But when the danger came, the instinct of survival prevailed.

Soapy didn't know what to do, but he felt that it was not a good idea to stay here, so he decided to go as far as possible.

But now the fog was gradually rising, and the surrounding environment was completely invisible, so even determining the direction became a problem. Subi looked up at the sky, trying to find the North Star that his father taught him to find when he was a child. Under the instinct of survival, the memories of decades ago suddenly became clear, and the North Star could be found by connecting two stars in the Ursa Major constellation.

However, this is New York, a city that never sleeps. Although the sky is still visible, the surrounding lights have risen, making the stars hidden. Although it is a clear night, nothing can be seen in the sky except the moon.

"Damn it, damn it!" Subi walked aimlessly, calculating in his mind, "It should be one or two o'clock in the morning now. The position of the moon now... I don't remember all this knowledge anymore. I can't figure it out."

In his early years, when Subi was still in middle school, he participated in stargazing activities and knew how to use the calendar, watch and the stars and the moon in the sky to determine the direction, but so many years have passed, and he has long forgotten these skills, and this requires accurate time, and he doesn't even have an electronic watch. Subi stood there in a daze, and the surroundings were almost the same as before: a trail with untidy holly on both sides, a street lamp every other distance, and two out of every three street lamps were not lit...

At this time, a voice came from behind him: "Subi, go home for dinner!"

"This is my mother's voice." Subi made this conclusion in his mind at once. He almost wanted to turn around and run back immediately, but a gust of cold wind blew and he suddenly woke up: "My mother has been dead for several years."

"Subi, come home for dinner!" The voice behind was getting closer and more urgent. But Subi had already remembered all the strange stories he had heard before, one of which was a very common one: someone calling your name. The general rule at this time was: Don't answer! Don't answer! Don't answer!

It is even better not to even look back in that direction. It is said that there are some things that will not see you if you do not answer them or look at them. If you answer them, the source of the emission will be located, your soul will be destroyed, and your body will become their food.

So Subi continued to walk quickly in the opposite direction of the shouting. But the shouting was getting closer and closer, almost behind Subi. In addition to the shouting, Subi also heard heavy breathing - this was not the breathing of a human, but more like some large beast - and the same heavy footsteps. At the same time, Subi could clearly feel that the temperature around him was dropping, which even made Subi's teeth chatter.

The thing was still approaching, and its shouting was almost right next to Subi's ear. The fishy breath from its mouth blew Subi's hair, and the cold it brought almost froze Subi. Subi tried hard to control himself and not look back. He continued to move forward, without looking back or responding.

I don't know how long I walked like this, maybe a minute or two, maybe an hour or two, the distance between that thing and Subi began to widen. First, I could no longer smell its breath, then I could no longer hear its heavy breathing and footsteps, and finally I could no longer hear even its shouts.

But Subi still didn't dare to look back, let alone stop. He could only keep moving forward, even though his legs felt as heavy as if they were filled with lead. In front of him was still a trail, with holly trees not neatly trimmed on both sides. There was a street lamp at intervals, and two out of every three street lamps were not lit...

After walking for an unknown amount of time, Subi suddenly heard the sound of a bell from a nearby bell tower. The sound was loud and melodious, and it rang six times in a row with a freshness like the morning sun. In the sound of the bell, the mist that had been surrounding him suddenly dissipated, and a ray of sunlight suddenly shone in. Subi suddenly realized that he was not walking on the road, but had walked onto a lawn without knowing when. He looked around again and found that the bench where he slept at night was actually not far away. Maybe in the past few hours, he was actually just circling around this bench...

(End of this chapter)