Chapter Sixteen: Searching for Wei Xiaofan from a Previous Life

“Where have those two spirits, Luo Zhifu and Yang Zhijin, gone off to? I paid you so much money, yet you’re not here to accompany me! I have questions for you—how can a half-living, half-dead soul return quickly to its half-living, half-dead body? But you’re not here. I desperately want to return to my injured body right now. I don’t want to die, I don’t want to become a true ghost. I want to stay in the world of the living, to protect my brother Wei Xiaofan! I can never return to that happy family from my past life, nor to my loved ones from before. But my brother in this life is still alive, and my body is still alive. There is still a chance, however small, that I may return to Wei Xiaofan’s side! As long as there is even a one percent chance, I will fight to return to my present self.”

Wei Xiaoping kept thinking about how to make his soul return to his body as quickly as possible.

Just then, Luo Zhifu and Yang Zhijin walked in.

“Brother Luo, you’re here? I was just about to ask you something—I’m glad you came!” Wei Xiaoping said, a little excited.

“We were just outside the door. We didn’t want to disturb you while you were looking into your past life, so we waited outside. So, what did you find? Were you and your brother Wei Xiaofan blood brothers in your past life?”

“I found my past life’s family. In that life, I had both parents and three siblings. From the age of one to thirteen, I was the eldest, with a younger sister and a younger brother. The sister was named Wei Xiaofang, and the brother was Wei Xiaoxiang. My name was the same as it is now. But I didn’t see any brother named Wei Xiaofan.”

“Could it be that your brother changed his name later on?”

“I’m not sure. I didn’t look past the age of thirteen.”

“Maybe your brother changed his name later, or perhaps your parents had another child after you turned thirteen. If you really want to know whether you and Wei Xiaofan were brothers in a previous life, you should finish reading your past life’s records. How old did your parents look in what you saw?”

“They seemed to be in their thirties or forties.”

“It’s quite possible your parents had another son after you turned thirteen. If you want to be sure whether you and Wei Xiaofan were brothers in your past life, you should finish reading your past life’s records, or at least look a little further.”

“You’re right, Brother Luo,” Wei Xiaoping said. “Brother Luo, can you teach me how to quickly finish reading my past life’s records?”

“Why are you in such a hurry? You paid enough to be able to look for a long time.”

“I checked—it’ll take about a month to finish reading my past life’s records. Didn’t you say my body isn’t dead yet? If my body comes back to life one day, won’t my soul just fly back to it? Then I won’t have a chance to finish reading my records.”

“That’s true. You can choose a longer time segment to view, then press the medium-speed button, and the magic mirror will speed up the playback a bit. But pay close attention—don’t miss any details that might make you suspicious.”

“So this magic orb has that function? Which one is it?”

“There’s a small button on the upper right of the magic orb. Press it once, and the playback on the magic mirror speeds up by one level. Press it again, it speeds up again, and so on. Just press as many times as you want to set the speed.”

Following Luo Zhifu’s instructions, Wei Xiaoping looked to the right of the magic orb, and sure enough, there was a small raised square, about the size of a fingertip, on the table.

“This one?”

“That’s right. Press it lightly once,” Luo Zhifu said.

Wei Xiaoping pressed it gently with his index finger; the small button depressed and then popped back up.

He looked at the magic mirror on the wall and saw that the images were indeed moving faster.

Seeing this, he pressed it a second time.

The playback sped up again by another level.

“That’s right—just keep pressing to increase the speed to your liking.”

“Got it, thank you, Brother Luo!” Wei Xiaoping said happily.

He continued pressing until the playback was at the speed he wanted, then focused intently on the moving images.

Suddenly, Wei Xiaoping saw a scene that looked familiar.

In this scene, he saw himself and a face that seemed vaguely familiar.

He and this familiar-faced person were sitting at the same table.

He immediately pressed the button to stop the playback.

He examined the scene closely: it was a brilliantly white room, with thirty small rectangular tables arranged inside. At each table sat two people—mostly boys and girls of similar ages, some boys and girls together, some two boys at the same table.

In his past life, Wei Xiaoping and the familiar-faced boy sat together at the same table.

“Who is this? He looks a bit like my brother from the life before last, Wei Xiaoxiang. But Wei Xiaoxiang wasn’t this big or mature! And what are all these people doing here?” Wei Xiaoping wondered.

He pressed the button again to continue the playback, slowing it this time so he could see more clearly.

When the playback slowed, the people in the room began to move about, their actions flowing together like everyday life.

Soon, the room was filled with noise—voices chattering everywhere.

The boys and girls were talking in pairs or small groups, each seemingly engrossed in their own conversations.

Wei Xiaoping kept his attention on himself and the boy beside him.

He saw that both he and the boy had their heads bent under the table, as if looking at something secretive and magical.

It looked as though whatever they were looking at, they didn’t want anyone else to see—it was something they kept hidden.

On their desks were several open books and some pens, the pages densely covered in notes.

What were they doing? Wei Xiaoping wondered. Why weren’t he and that familiar-faced boy saying anything? If they spoke and called each other by name, he’d know if that familiar face was Xiaofan.

He watched, waiting for the moment the two would speak.

A few minutes passed, then a woman in her thirties or forties walked in from outside.

She had neatly cut hair, a beautiful face, and wore a pair of round, transparent glasses.

In her hand, she held a book and a long, identical object.

At once, everyone in the room fell silent and stood up, facing the woman at the end of the room.

Only Wei Xiaoping and the familiar-faced boy remained seated, as if they hadn’t noticed the woman’s entrance or the others standing.

On the wall behind the woman hung a large blackboard.

“Class is starting!” the woman announced loudly to the boys and girls before her.

The room fell so quiet that even a pin drop would be heard.

“Class is starting!” she repeated, seeing no one responded.

At that, Wei Xiaoping and the boy beside him hurriedly stood up.

The room remained tense, the atmosphere growing slightly strained.

“Who’s on duty today?” the woman called out.

Instantly, many children turned their eyes to Wei Xiaoping and the familiar-faced boy.

In the magic mirror, Wei Xiaoping and the boy seemed to realize something and both called out,

“Stand up! Good morning, teacher!”

Then, everyone else joined in, “Good morning, teacher!”

The woman said nothing, pacing left and right before returning to her spot. She asked,

“Is there anyone who hasn’t stood up yet?”

Everyone looked around to check.

Seeing that all were standing, the woman—whom everyone called ‘teacher’—finally said,

“Good morning, everyone! Except for Wei Xiaoping and Wei Xiaofan, the rest of you may sit down.”

So everyone sat, except for Wei Xiaoping and the boy the teacher called Wei Xiaofan.

Finding themselves the only two still standing, both felt awkward.

They could feel all eyes on their backs—some mocking, some contemptuous, some gloating, some indifferent…

Inside the private room, Wei Xiaoping’s heart surged with emotion—so, in his past life, there really was someone named Wei Xiaofan who had stayed by his side.