Atlas of Heaven and Man

The student who first saw Chen Chuan said excitedly, "Senior, are you back for the holidays?"

Chen Chuan said, "Yes, I just got back yesterday."

The dormitory administrator, seeing the new students around looking confused, smiled and said, "This is your senior. Let me remind you, he's the one who entered Central City last year."

Last year, Central City?

The students' eyes lit up one by one.

"It's Senior Chen Chuan!"

As soon as someone shouted, all the students became extremely excited. The way they looked at Chen Chuan was filled with admiration.

What happened to Chen Chuan last year was a sensation. The newspapers reported it extensively. Moreover, he was the first student in recent decades to be admitted to Central City as a commoner student. This was enough to be called an inspirational legend. Students who aspire to be admitted to Wuyi take him as their goal.

Although the students preparing for the re-examination hadn't met him, they had heard about him from others and from older students. How could they not be excited when they saw him?

They were also very grateful. If they hadn't come here today, they might not have had the chance to see this senior.

Chen Chuan smiled slightly and said, "Everyone, I wish you all the best in your upcoming exams. I hope you all have the opportunity to study at the Central City Main Academy in the future."

"Thank you, Senior!" These fifteen or sixteen-year-old students were filled with fighting spirit when they heard him say that. "We will definitely work hard!"

Chen Chuan then walked up to the dormitory administrator and said, "Teacher, are Luo, Feng, and Wei here?"

The dormitory administrator said, "Luo has gone home for the holidays. Wei has been following Wu Han on missions recently. Feng is here, and he's helping to prepare for tomorrow's re-examination registration."

Chen Chuan nodded.

The dormitory administrator gestured upwards and said, "Do you want to go up and stay for a while? Your key is still with me. Your dormitory has been empty all this time, and it will be empty until the end of the next semester. You can move back in if you want. This is a special approval from the school administration."

Chen Chuan thought for a moment and understood the school's intention. If it were a normal situation, he might still be in school and would have to complete a whole year before graduating.

"Let's not talk about this. These are minor matters. How do you feel after spending half a year in Central City?"

Chen Chuan said, "I've seen a lot of things. If I hadn't gone there, I would never have known that the outside world is so big. But the light there is more dazzling, and its colorfulness can invade a person's soul. Moreover, its steps are very high, so high that you might fall from them if you're not careful."

The dormitory administrator nodded silently.

He could understand, but the students next to him didn't quite understand.

Chen Chuan then handed over a wrapped item, "This time I came back, I didn't have anything good to give to the teacher. Please accept this small gift."

The dormitory administrator wasn't polite and smiled, "Then I'll accept it."

Chen Chuan chatted with him for a few more words. Seeing that he was busy, he said, "Teacher, you go ahead and do your work. I'll leave first." He greeted the students again and left the dormitory building amidst a chorus of "Goodbye, Senior."

After coming out, he originally wanted to see Feng Xiaoqi, but after thinking about it, the latter should still be busy. Moreover, if he went there, he probably wouldn't be able to leave for a long time, purely disturbing others' work. He should forget about it.

He might as well find a time to call Wei Changan, Senior Brother Ren, and the members of the original team out for a meal and get together.

After making up his mind, he walked towards the parking lot.

Whether it was because he was touched or because he was in a good mood, after walking around this circle, the intimidating aura on his body had subsided a lot without him realizing it.

After getting in the car, he drove out of the school. After thinking about it, he stopped on the side of the road, went to the phone booth, and made a call. After a while, a pleasant female voice came out, "Hello, who is this?"

Chen Chuan said, "Senior Sister, it's me, Chen Chuan."

"Junior Brother Chen?" He Nan reacted quickly and said, "It's the holidays now. Are you... in Yangzhi?"

Chen Chuan said, "Yes, I'd like to take some time to visit you, Senior Sister, Director Lei, and Xiao Ying. I don't know when it would be convenient?"

He Nan said with a smile, "Lao Lei will be very happy to know you're back. He's not busy recently. He'll have time this weekend. Just come then, Junior Brother. Remember not to bring anything. Lao Lei doesn't like it."

Chen Chuan said, "Okay, Senior Sister." After saying a few words, he hung up the phone.

On the other side, after the dormitory administrator finished his work and sent away the still-excited students, he took the item Chen Chuan had given him, unwrapped it, and found it was a photo album.

It was full of photos Chen Chuan had taken in Central City, including the Xuangong Building, the Lie Lang Canyon, the tram station, and the abandoned building of Molan Company. Below, there were the words "Presented by student Chen Chuan."

He smiled. The pile of photos was nothing, but the key was those words, which he had to keep carefully.

After Chen Chuan came out of the phone booth, he went to a nearby newsstand to buy a few newspapers. He got into the car and flipped through them. Having become accustomed to the fast information dissemination and inquiry in Central City, he suddenly felt a little unaccustomed to returning to Yangzhi.

To find out any news, you can only consult industry insiders and professionals. What you learn from newspapers is, at most, just fragmented pieces.

Since it was already close to noon and he had said he wouldn't go back for lunch, he thought for a moment and drove towards a certain location. He found a Korean restaurant at an intersection. He glanced at it; it was close to lunchtime, and there were quite a few customers, so business was good.

Inside, a family of three was busy working, and there was also a girl of about ten years old helping to serve dishes. Although she was young, her movements were very efficient.

Chen Chuan took off his wide-brimmed hat, got out of the car, and entered the restaurant.

Seeing him come in, a middle-aged man with graying temples and a face full of wrinkles immediately wiped his hands with a cloth and walked up from behind, saying with a smile, "Officer, what would you like to eat?"

Chen Chuan looked at the dishes posted on the wall, ordered a few, and after sitting down, said softly, "I heard that Han's restaurant has good homemade beef."

"Then you've come to the right place, officer. Our beef is top-notch." The middle-aged man wrote down his order, "Please wait a moment, officer." Then he personally went to the back kitchen to cook.

Chen Chuan only waited for a while before the little girl came up with the dishes, placed them steadily on the table, and said, "Big brother, are you from Wu Yi?"

Chen Chuan looked at her and asked, "Why do you ask?"

"Because I've seen the older brothers from Wu Yi, and some of them are as tall as you, big brother."

Chen Chuan asked, "Do many older brothers from Wu Yi come here to eat?"

"Yes, they all say they are my brother's classmates." As the little girl spoke, the middle-aged man silently wiped the table, saying nothing.

Chen Chuan nodded and said, "Big brother, I am too."

"Really?"

Chen Chuan said solemnly, "Really."

"Xiao Lan, don't disturb big brother's meal, go help serve the dishes," the middle-aged man said over there.

"Okay, Dad."

Chen Chuan took out chopsticks from the chopstick holder and slowly tasted the beef. Han's beef was indeed very delicious, just like the one he ate after the re-examination that day, only it was fresher and had more flavor.

After finishing the meal, he paid the bill and walked out of there. He drove out of the city again, heading north, and turned on the radio to listen to the news.

Most of the news was about people's livelihood, but after listening for a while, news about the resistance organization appeared again, saying that the Patrol Bureau was preparing to encircle and suppress the resistance organization's stronghold outside the city.

When he chatted with Nian Fuli yesterday, the latter also mentioned this, saying that although the Bloodscar Gang and Molan Company had fallen, the resistance organization still existed, but their actions were not as intense as before, and they basically did not operate in Yangzhi City.

Those places were less like strongholds of the resistance organization and more like spontaneous armed forces of villagers outside the city to defend against wilderness armed teams. The people in the city could not protect them, so of course they would find ways to protect themselves.

The Patrol Bureau knew what was going on, so they didn't make things difficult for them.

However, the new chief instructor seemed to care about this very much, repeatedly urging the Patrol Bureau to go out and encircle and suppress them, and they were still arguing about it.

According to Nian Fuli, this chief instructor seemed to have a background with the National Temporary Special Operations Committee, and he had some power behind him, and he had been building his own team these days.

The car drove for about twenty minutes and stopped in front of a small river bay. He glanced at the front; he hadn't been to the old house for more than half a year, and it was still the same as before.

After getting out of the car, he took out the key and opened the door. But the moment he walked in, he suddenly saw that there was one more shadow on the ground, as if there was another person standing beside him.

He ignored it, went inside to get tools to clean the house inside and out, then started the algal oil generator in the basement, boiled a pot of water, made a cup of tea, brought a chair out from inside, and sat down under the eaves.

The weather in July and August should have been very hot, but there were many trees here, and there was also a small stream not far away, so it was very cool under the shade of the trees.

He slowly drank tea, enjoying the unique tranquility.

Although he had previously obtained an address left by his predecessor's parents, he had not been there because he felt that he was not strong enough.

If someone was watching him, going there might cause problems. Now that he has become the Third Threshold, after he goes back this time and learns some necessary information, he can make a trip there to see what was left there.

This is the intersection of his life and death. The two parallel worlds merged into one here. As he sat here quietly, the overflowing aura on his body gradually subsided, returning to its previous simplicity and naturalness, but his eyes became brighter.

When he finished a cup of tea, his eyes fell to his feet, where there was still only one shadow, as if the extra one just now was just an illusion.

He stayed here until almost five o'clock before he got up, put the things back, tidied up, closed the door, and drove away from here in the sound of wind blowing through the leaves and the flowing stream.

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