"Who? Who's speaking!" The sudden voice startled Jake, and he jumped out of bed, nervously scanning the small room for any sign of another person.
"Could it be an illusion?" After confirming that there was no one in the room, Jake lay back down, but his face still carried a look of uncertainty.
"Huh, where's the ring?" As Jake lay down, he suddenly realized that the gray ring on his hand had disappeared. It had been there just a moment ago, and now it was gone.
"No, it's still on my hand!" Jake was astonished to discover that although he couldn't see the ring, he could still feel it on his hand. The familiar sensation was still there. In other words, the ring had become invisible!
This is unbelievable! Jake noticed that strange things had been happening around him ever since he encountered the person dressed as a beggar. This ring cannot be kept! Jake didn't dare to keep such a bizarre ring and was even more determined to take it off and throw it away.
However, as soon as Jake's other hand touched the ring, his vision went black, and he couldn't see anything. He also felt a sense of weightlessness in his body. When Jake's vision returned, he found himself in a completely different environment.
Just moments ago, Jake was in his small rented room, but now he was standing in an open field surrounded by thatched huts. Not far away was a forest, and in the distance, there were several interconnected mountains.
"What... What's going on?" Jake stared in disbelief at his surroundings, feeling as if his brain had crashed. "Where am I?" Jake rubbed his eyes instinctively, but when he looked around again, everything was the same. However, he noticed an old man not far away. Jake walked towards him, intending to ask where he was and how he had ended up there.
However, when Jake reached the old man's side, he realized that the old man looked somewhat familiar. Immediately, he pointed at the old man and shouted, "It's you!"
The person standing in front of Jake was none other than the "beggar" who had eaten a free meal at his stall that evening. However, that "beggar" had a disheveled appearance, unkempt hair, and an indistinct face. The person before him now, however, was dressed in a robe, had a ruddy complexion, and exuded an aura of vitality. If it weren't for his eyes, Jake might not have recognized him. The difference between these two images was significant.
"Hehe, I didn't expect you to recognize me at first glance," the old man didn't deny it and chuckled.
"Ha! You've got some nerve!" Jake said without politeness. "Quick, give me money! You ate and ran! Believe me, I'll call the police and have you arrested."
"I left the ring for you, and yet you have the audacity to ask me for money?" Jake was angry, but the old man seemed even angrier. His eyes glared like light bulbs, filled with fury.
"Speaking of the ring, it makes me mad," Jake showed no fear and said, "What's so special about that lousy ring? It's probably worth a few hundred bucks. I can buy a plastic one for 50 cents at a street vendor, and it would look better than your ring. Stop the nonsense and give me the money. Don't try to trick me."
"I'm really furious!" the old man exclaimed angrily. "Do you even know what material my ring is made of? It's... never mind, you wouldn't understand! Anyway, it's worth a fortune, and yet you dare to say it's not as good as a piece of plastic?!"
"Go on, keep making things up," Jake said skeptically. "If it's so valuable, then take it back, and I'll just take my $360." Jake extended his hand, gesturing for the old man to take the ring from his hand. He was actually wondering how to remove the ring himself, so it would be best if the other person took it away.
"If it wasn't a ring that only you can wear, would I give it to you?" the old man retorted.
"Just a worthless ring," Jake replied indifferently.
"This ring has the ability to travel through space. Without it, how could you be here?" the old man said.
Upon hearing the old man's words, Jake was taken aback and remembered that he originally wanted to ask the person why he was here and where exactly here was. But encountering this "old acquaintance," he had forgotten about it. It was only after the old man mentioned it that he remembered. "Right, I was just about to ask you. Where is this? Why am I here? I was in my own room just a moment ago. Did you play a trick on me?" Jake asked, examining the old man up and down. He then asked, "Are you a magician? Did you transform this place?"
"I'm not a magician. The reason you're here is because of the ring on your hand!" the old man said.
"The ring?" Jake subconsciously looked at his finger, but he didn't see anything. However, he was well aware that he was wearing a ring on his hand. Could it be that this piece of junk, as he saw it, had some magical properties?
"That's right, this ring was bestowed upon you by the gods. I'm only responsible for delivering it to you," the old man said.
"The gods? What is that?" Jake asked, puzzled.
Upon hearing Jake's instinctive words, the old man trembled with fear. He quickly looked around but didn't notice anything unusual. Then he wore a serious and reverent expression as he said to Jake, "The gods are omnipresent and omnipotent. You must show respect."
However, Jake scoffed at his words in his mind. As someone who grew up in an atheistic environment, he believed that gods and ghosts didn't exist. This old man's behavior was probably just superstition.
"What's the use of this ring? Why was it given to me?" Jake asked.
"We need to talk about your past lives," the old man resumed his appearance as a wise sage, but in Jake's eyes, he seemed more like a charlatan.
"In your past lives, you were plagued by misfortune. Nothing went well for you. Your wife left, your children scattered, and you were constantly framed by wicked people. In the end, every life was one of poverty and continuous bad luck, and you never had a good ending. ' It was truly miserable," Jake listened and, although reluctant to believe in reincarnation, he couldn't help but shudder. His past lives were too tragic. One life would have been bad enough, but to have several consecutive lives like that, it was truly miserable.
"What about this life?" Jake asked.
"This life?" the old man looked at Jake. "Originally, misfortune would still befall you. Nothing would go well."
Jake immediately thought of his experiences from childhood to adulthood. It seemed that his luck was indeed quite bad, especially after starting to work. He believed that he had been working hard enough, but every time, he would end up being fired due to various reasons. It truly felt like he was cursed by misfortune.