A C-class motorhome moved slowly along a secluded dirt road.
Locust trees and oak trees on both sides intertwined above the roof, forming a natural green tunnel. Occasionally, vines of wild roses drooped from the sloped roadside, brushing against the vehicle and producing faint rustling sounds.
Although dusk was approaching, Xiao Ran could still glimpse the outline of the mountains through the gaps between the trees. Hidden there was the destination of his journey: the “Wild Pond Secret Realm,” hotly discussed on a fishing forum.
Rubbing his sore eyes, Xiao Ran glanced at the central display.
The blue arrow was about to reach the destination marker. On the map, he could see that he was getting closer and closer to the water pool.
As a veteran angler with five years of driving experience and two and a half years of traveling alone by car, he had long since grown accustomed to exploring deep into the wilderness.
The dust kicked up by the wheels mixed with the fresh scent of grass and trees, refreshing him more than any coffee could.
Being able to see different scenery across the country was exciting enough. If he could also find a good place for fishing, then his happiness would double!
Xiao Ran had always felt that leaving the place where he used to live reduced his troubles by eighty percent. If he did not have to interact with people, the remaining twenty percent disappeared as well.
That was why he had this motorhome.
He did not want to interact with people, but being alone could be a little boring. In the passenger seat beside him, the silver shaded cat lay sprawled out with all four paws splayed, while a Samoyed lazily crouched in front of the seat.
“This really is a great place!” Xiao Ran drove the motorhome directly onto the grassland beside the water pool.
It was just that autumn had arrived, leaving the flowers, grass, and trees looking somewhat withered and yellow.
He got out with the Samoyed and stretched lazily. “It’s a pity it’s a little late. I’ll deal with it tomorrow!”
After letting the Samoyed relieve itself on the grassland nearby, he returned on the motorhome. The bathroom inside the vehicle was best avoided whenever possible.
Xiao Ran did not forget the main task. He first scattered some corn to establish a feeding spot.
After eating something simple, feeding the Samoyed and cat, and washing up, he lay down on the bed.
Before going to sleep, he habitually picked up his mobile phone to watch short videos, only to discover that there was no signal.
“Huh? How remote is this place? There isn’t even any signal!” After plugging in the charger, Xiao Ran did not dwell on it. He turned off the lights and went to sleep.
Xiao Ran had an extremely long dream, and tremendous changes took place outside the motorhome as well.
Autumn of Zhenguan Year Six!
In his dream, he dreamed that he was trapped beneath a mountain and could not breathe. When he awoke, he discovered cat crouching on his chest.
“Get down!” Xiao Ran reached out and shoved cat away. “Why does it feel like I’ve slept for so long?”
He reached beneath the pillow, took out his mobile phone, and checked the time. It was six thirty in the morning.
He had originally planned to sleep in, but remembering that this was a good place for fishing and that he had already prepared a feeding spot, his drowsiness vanished at once.
After getting dressed and taking the Samoyed out of the vehicle, Xiao Ran was instantly dumbfounded.
“Huh? Where have you brought me?”
For a moment, Xiao Ran suspected that he was hallucinating and vigorously rubbed his eyes.
The morning wind carried an unfamiliar scent straight into his face.
The water pool was still in the same place, but the sight along the bank left Xiao Ran frozen. The dense locust tree forest from yesterday had vanished, replaced by sparse shrubs and exposed tree stumps.
The outlines of the distant mountains were frighteningly clear. With no tall trees to block the view, the slopes were covered with low-growing wild mugwort, while a few twisted jujube trees struggled to grow here and there.
“Something’s wrong. Nine parts wrong out of ten!” Xiao Ran remembered clearly that it had not been like this yesterday.
He had only slept once, so why did it feel as though he had slept for ages?
His gaze swept across the edge of the pool, where he suddenly noticed several neatly arranged stumps. They had clearly been cut down by people.
Xiao Ran’s heartbeat suddenly quickened.
He recalled the “Wild Pond Secret Realm” mentioned by fellow anglers on the forum, but the scene before him looked as though time had stripped away a layer of its skin. Trees were scarce, shrubs were abundant, and even the pool seemed several inches shallower than it had been the previous night, exposing a wide stretch of dried mudflat.
“Hiss!” Xiao Ran drew in a sharp breath and rubbed his forehead. “How long did I sleep?”
He turned to look behind the motorhome. The road he had taken to get there was gone.
Xiao Ran ran behind the motorhome with the Samoyed, but there was not the slightest trace of tire tracks.
Xiao Ran raised his hand and flicked the Samoyed on the head. Doggie yelped loudly from the blow.
“Woof, woof, woof!” Doggie expressed its dissatisfaction.
Xiao Ran rubbed his hand. “It hurts. This isn’t a dream.”
He took out his mobile phone, but there was no signal at all.
Although no one had lived here before, there had still been signs of modern civilization, such as utility poles.
This place was not far from the urban area, and buildings could be seen in the distance. Now, however, they were all gone.
Xiao Ran took the Samoyed and ran toward higher ground, wanting to see what was happening nearby.
The instant he stopped, the sound of his heartbeat in his chest suddenly drowned out the wind. Spread before his eyes was an ancient scene stripped of modern civilization.
He was not dreaming. Everything before him was real, yet it lacked the familiar feeling of modern society.
In the level fields below the slope, a few scattered stalks of harvested millet stood upright. Crop stalks had been piled into haystacks that swayed in the morning wind.
But Xiao Ran clearly remembered that corn had been planted nearby, with many corn stalks still in the fields.
Now, there was no corn to be seen.
“What’s going on? What exactly is happening?”
In the distance, several farmhouses enclosed by rammed-earth walls were scattered sparsely across the fields. Their straw roofs had been blown unevenly by the autumn wind, and wisps of cooking smoke occasionally drifted from low chimneys, rising in winding trails into the gray-blue sky.
As someone who had read many novels—and an author who wrote novels while traveling by car—Xiao Ran had already formed an idea.
“I’ve traveled through time!”
After taking out his mobile phone and failing several times to make a call to anyone else, Xiao Ran was completely certain. He had traveled through time.
For a self-driving travel fishing enthusiast with no ties holding him back, any place was essentially the same.
Thinking about it even made him a little excited.
This world clearly was not in a high-tech era. It was even far behind the era he had come from, which meant that his belongings would be priceless treasures in this age.
As the saying went, possessing a precious treasure invited disaster. He had to hide such things to avoid attracting attention and causing trouble.
After walking around the water pool, he discovered that there was actually a mountain cave in a mountain ravine nearby.
The nearby trees had been heavily cut down, leaving mostly shrubs, but they did not obstruct driving the vehicle over.
Xiao Ran was very satisfied. If he built a thatched hut in front, he could conceal the motorhome inside.
“Yes, that’s it.” Xiao Ran brought an ax out of the vehicle and began making preparations. Unfortunately, there were not many trees, only shrubs.
A horse-drawn carriage slowly left Chang'an City. Zhang Anan skillfully drove at the front, while Qin Qiong and Cheng Yaojin guarded the carriage on the left and right.
Li Shimin lifted the carriage curtain and looked toward the fields, nodding in satisfaction. This year, Guanzhong had achieved a bumper harvest.
The men were all dressed in plain clothes. They did not want to attract anyone’s attention and had come out simply to see the true conditions nearby.
It was currently the busy farming season, and Li Shimin did not want to disturb the common people.