Five Frozen Centuries

Zhang Zhiwen woke up after a long time. When he did, the first thing he saw was a clean ward. There was no one in the ward. The window was half-open, and a breeze blew in. There was a bouquet of flowers on the cabinet at the head of the bed, and their fragrance assailed his nose.

Then, Zhang Zhiwen heard a voice. “You’re finally awake. We can talk now.”

“Who is it?” Zhang Zhiwen shouted. He looked around but could not see anything. The back of his hand was cold and hurt, as it was being injected with saline water.

“You don’t have to be so loud. You just have to think in your brain to talk to me,” Wei Huo said. His voice spoke in Zhang Zhiwen’s brain.

Zhang Zhiwen was terrified. “You can spy on my brain? Who are you?”

Wei Huo said, “You need to calm down.”

After saying that, Wei Huo controlled Zhang Zhiwen’s body to lower his temperature. This made Zhang Zhiwen calm down. He asked while trembling, “Who are you?”

Wei Huo started explaining. “Zhang Zhiwen, you’re a university student and a literature enthusiast. You’ve submitted a manuscript to many magazines and websites, but you’ve never succeeded, right?”

“Why… Why are you saying this?”

Zhang Zhiwen had never told anyone this. His drafts had always been written quietly. Now that they were mentioned, it felt like a dark history had been dug out.

Wei Huo said, “Although your path as a writer was not very successful, you did something that no writer in the world could do. Your creation escaped from your brain.”

Zhang Zhiwen was confused. “What are you talking about? You haven’t told me who you are.”

Wei Huo said, “I checked the Internet of your world just now and realized that this is an ordinary world. The people in this world do not have the ability to materialize imagined people. In other words, you might be the only person who brought the people in your imagination to reality.”

Zhang Zhiwen was completely stunned. His mouth was wide open. He could not believe everything Wei Huo was saying, but the voice in his head could not be fake.

Wei Huo said, “You were in a car accident previously. Do you remember? I saved you. Your chest was pierced. I was the one who made it recover, and… Yes, I also cured some of the small problems in your body. However, there’s a problem now…”

Upon hearing Wei Huo’s words, Zhang Zhiwen immediately thought of the car accident. He had been driving back to his hometown. He had been driving along a straight road, but when he had passed a crossroads, a car on the left had suddenly jumped out at a terrifying speed, hit his car, and sent it off the road.

It had been a nightmare. He still remembered the feeling of a steel bar piercing his chest. He would never forget the pain.

However, when Zhang Zhiwen pulled open the hospital gown on his chest, he realized that there were no wounds on his chest at all. He actually felt very comfortable. His neck and waist had been uncomfortable because he had been sitting and typing all year round, but they no longer felt that way.

“You… really saved me?”

Wei Huo replied, “Definitely. No one would save you but me.”

Zhang Zhiwen was very grateful. However, he asked, “Who are you? Can you tell me your name?”

Wei Huo paused for a moment and said, “My name is Wei Huo.”

“Wei Huo?” Zhang Zhiwen was confused. “I don’t remember anything about you. Are you really a character in my story?”

Wei Huo smiled. It had been so long since someone had called him by his name. He replied, “Perhaps I’m not the protagonist in your story.”

Zhang Zhiwen said, “Then… The people you mentioned who are suspected to be the protagonists are the kind of people who can’t die no matter what. They have a huge harem of women and hold a bunch of divine artifacts in their hands. They are invincible and have never been defeated.”

Wei Huo thought to himself, So this is the style of your protagonist?

However, he still listed a few people who were suspected to be the protagonists. “Is it Ma Tengyun?”

Zhang Zhiwen was confused. “No.”

Wei Huo said, “Lu Qiqi, right?”

Zhang Zhiwen shook his head. “A woman? I don’t think so. My main characters are all men.”

Wei Huo thought of a Legendary person. “Is it the Snake God?”

Zhang Zhiwen sighed. “You don’t even know the name? That’s definitely not the case.”

Wei Huo could not think of any more people. Zhang Zhiwen thought about it and said, “Tell me about the key events that happened.”

Wei Huo said, “There was a time halt.”

Zhang Zhiwen’s eyes widened as he said, “This… I’m sorry. Although I’ve seen this plot in many novels, comics, animations, and movies, it shouldn’t exist in any of my original stories.”

Wei Huo thought about it for a long time until Zhang Zhiwen asked, “Hey, are you still there?”

Wei Huo replied, “Since none of that is possible, there’s only one possibility. You created the story in a dream. You forgot the dream after you woke up, but the world was really created. That’s the only explanation.”

Zhang Zhiwen was a little surprised. “A world created in a dream? Is this possible?”

Wei Huo said, “Nothing is impossible, but there’s a problem. You’ve already ended the story. If this is a story created in your dream, can you still change the ending or allow the story to continue?”

Zhang Zhiwen smiled bitterly. “Who in this world can have consecutive connected dreams? Furthermore, they’re forgotten dreams.”

“That’s true.” Wei Huo nodded. The story seemed like it could no longer be continued, but just like people would die eventually, the story would eventually come to an end. There was no other way to end it.

However, Zhang Zhiwen had already been saved by him. Presumably, time in the world had started flowing again.

“Speaking of that, in your brain’s imagination, a group of guys tried to destroy your brain to continue the story…”

Before Wei Huo could finish his sentence, Zhang Zhiwen said in fear, “What?! Are these guys planning to destroy my brain? Should I write everyone’s death?”

Wei Huo added, “You don’t have to worry. According to my research, they’re just talking nonsense. If you want to destroy your brain, they have to come to this world like me.”

Zhang Zhiwen was speechless.

He let out a sigh of relief before feeling terrified. He realized that the existence that had come to reality was extremely powerful.

However, at that moment, the door to the ward was opened. A female police officer that was about 35 years old walked in. She had a serious expression on her face as she asked Zhang Zhiwen, “Are you awake? Very good. I have a few questions for you.”

Zhang Zhiwen said, “Huh?”

The female police officer knew that Zhang Zhiwen’s condition was very normal, so she said loudly without any concern for the patient’s condition, “Mr. Zhang, I want to know how you escaped from a seriously-damaged car after the accident. Why are there no wounds on your body?”

Wei Huo told Zhang Zhiwen, “Don’t look anywhere else. Keep an eye on her and answer her questions. Otherwise, she will realize that you’re lying.”