It was practically the climax scene from a novel.
Ruan Qing suppressed her excitement and calmly told Nian Qi, "It's the mortal world."
"If this is the mortal world," Nian Qi asked, "why is it like this?"
Everything he saw was unbelievable, nothing like the mortal world he knew.
Ruan Qing thought for a moment and said, "You just asked me where this place really is, and now I can answer you. But please, when you hear it, stay calm."
"If I weren't calm, I would have already been terrified out of my wits by everything before my eyes," Nian Qi replied calmly. "Miss Ruan, please go ahead."
He could use two idioms in a row, making Ruan Qing feel that Nian Qi wasn't just "literate"—he must have received a proper education.
That was good.
Under the streetlight, she glanced at him. The young man's straight nose cast a shadow on his profile, making his face appear more defined and serene.
Ruan Qing finally spoke, telling him, "This place is the Jiangcheng you mentioned."
She stomped her feet on the asphalt road. "You're standing on the ground of Jiangcheng right now."
For a brief moment, Ruan Qing felt as if Nian Qi had frozen, like a statue.
Was he processing and digesting this information?
Only then did Ruan Qing realize that her excitement was inappropriate—what seemed like an adventure to her might mean immense pain and fear for Nian Qi.
Separated from loved ones, penniless, and with an uncertain future ahead.
Unlike her, who had read hundreds of transmigration novels and could smoothly accept what was happening, he had no such background.
"Ahem," she pointed to the side and whispered, "My car is over there…"
Nian Qi remained silent under the streetlight for a moment before taking two steps forward to follow her.
Ruan Qing turned to lead the way but glanced back at him, still uneasy. Nian Qi was quiet, yet his expression was calm, revealing nothing.
When they reached the car, Ruan Qing pointed and said, "This is my car. It has four wheels and can run on the ground."
Her tone sounded a bit like teaching a kindergarten child about the world.
Nian Qi lifted his eyelids to look at her, nodded, and uttered an "Mm" to show he understood.
He had seen this thing in the hospital's screens and had witnessed several of them speeding past on the black road earlier. Although there were no oxen, horses, or mules, and he couldn't comprehend how it moved, it didn't stop him from understanding it was a "car."
Horse-drawn carriages, donkey carts, mule carts, and this iron car before him were all vehicles. Understanding that was enough.
Ruan Qing wasn't finished yet. After explaining the car, she patted the roof. "Look here."
The roof was dented and deformed.
"This was you," Ruan Qing told Nian Qi. "You fell from mid-air and landed right on my car roof."
Nian Qi stared at the dented roof and even reached out to touch it.
Ruan Qing opened the passenger door for him. "You can sit in this seat."
Ruan Qing recalled an old movie she had once seen, where someone from the Qin Dynasty transmigrated to the Republican era and, upon getting into a car, thought they were trapped in an iron cage, reacting violently. To prevent Nian Qi from having the same misunderstanding, she first taught him how to open and close the car door. "Look, this is the door lock. Pull it, and the lock releases. Push it, and the door opens. Although the space is small when the door is closed, it opens easily, so don't be afraid."
She explained every detail and even considered his feelings. Though it felt a bit verbose, her goodwill was evident.
Nian Qi glanced at her, said "Thank you," and stepped into the car.
Ruan Qing felt relieved and said, "Then I'll close the door now."
She slammed the passenger door shut and quickly got into the car, then explained, "This is the seatbelt. You need to buckle it here for protection. Since cars move very fast, sudden braking or collisions can be dangerous. Press this to release it. Don’t be afraid."
Nian Qi replied reservedly, "Miss Ruan, simply explaining how to use it is enough."
There was no need to keep reassuring him with "Don’t be afraid."
Honestly, he had grown up being taught "Don’t be afraid"—don’t be afraid of blood, don’t be afraid of corpses, don’t be afraid of blades piercing flesh.
No one had ever told him, "Don’t be afraid."
Ruan Qing paused, feeling a bit awkward. "Alright, alright."
She needed to adjust her mindset. Aside from that moment of shock when leaving the building, he had remained remarkably composed all along.
It was her own assumption that he should have acted like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden, with all sorts of bewildered reactions.
A sense of condescending superiority.
Quietly adjusting her attitude, Ruan Qing started the car.
The headlights lit up. This time, she didn’t ramble on but kept it concise: "Lights."
Nian Qi nodded.
The "lights" here were astonishingly bright, yet there was no sign of flames.
As the car began to move, neither Ruan Qing nor Nian Qi spoke.
Nian Qi spent the entire journey looking out the window—towering buildings, strange roads, some vehicles with four wheels racing alongside Ruan Qing’s car, and others with people riding two-wheeled contraptions moving leisurely. Their speed was much slower than the four-wheeled vehicles, but it was clear how they relied on human effort to move forward. Unlike these four-wheeled cars, it was impossible to tell what propelled them.
There were too many incredible, never-before-seen things. But these weren’t the main issue. The real questions were: Why was he here, and what should he do next?
The car suddenly stopped at an empty intersection. There were no other cars or people around.
Nian Qi looked at Ruan Qing in surprise.
Ruan Qing pointed at the traffic light. "That’s a traffic signal, what we call a traffic light. Each car looks at the one directly ahead. Red means stop, green means go, and yellow tells you it’s about to switch between red and green. Look, the light directly ahead of us is red right now, so I can’t keep going. I have to stop here and wait for it to turn green."
She then pointed at the traffic lights on either side. "The roads on both sides have green lights now, so their cars can go, while we and the cars opposite us can’t."
Nian Qi couldn’t understand. "But there’s no one around now, no other cars besides us. Why can’t we go?"
"There are two reasons," Ruan Qing said. "First, even though it seems like there are no cars or people now, some vehicles move very fast. You might glance and see nothing, but if you run a red light, a car could come speeding out of nowhere and cause an accident."
"Second, running a red light will get you… well, caught by the police." Thinking that terms like "deducting points" or "fines" might not make sense to Nian Qi, she tried to explain it in a way he could understand.
Nian Qi was surprised. "Officials… the police even handle this?"
"Right," Ruan Qing said. "Police are divided into two types. One handles murder, arson, theft, and crimes—they're called criminal police. The other manages driving on the roads—they're called traffic police."
Nian Qi thought to himself, the officials here sure have a lot of free time, even bothering with how people drive on the roads.
How many officials and constables could there be in a single city? Could they really handle all that work?
Ruan Qing glanced at the empty intersection, knowing he couldn't understand it now. "It's too late at night," she said. "Tomorrow during the day, you'll understand once you see the traffic on the roads."
The red light turned green, and Ruan Qing started driving.
"I'm not deliberately being long-winded," she said while driving. "It's mainly because many of the rules here are unfamiliar to you. When ordinary people break the rules, they're dealt with accordingly—it's not a big deal. But your situation is special. Whenever these matters need handling, the police will first check your ID."
Nian Qi, who had been looking at the scenery outside, turned his head to look at Ruan Qing's profile.
"Understood," he said in a very gentle tone. "Thank you."
They didn't speak for the rest of the journey. It was late at night, so there was no traffic. Streetlights passed by one after another. Nian Qi watched as this cart without oxen, horses, or mules sped along the wide road, crossed tall, long bridges, and finally entered a courtyard full of high-rise buildings. They descended through a ground-level entrance, driving downward into an underground space.
"Underground parking garage," Ruan Qing explained.
Nian Qi didn't reply, leaning forward to look at the ceiling of the underground garage and the rows of vehicles.
After parking in her spot, Ruan Qing turned off the engine. "We're here."
She got out of the car and intended to open the door for Nian Qi, but he had already pulled the door open himself and climbed out.
He even remembered to close the door behind him.
Ruan Qing paused for a moment, then walked around to the back of the car and opened the trunk.
The lid blocked Nian Qi's view. When Ruan Qing closed the trunk again, he saw her holding a long, slender object. Although it was wrapped in clothing, the exposed handle allowed Nian Qi to recognize it at a glance—it was his sword.
Ruan Qing glanced at him but showed no intention of returning it to him. "Follow me," she said.
She led him all the way to the elevator lobby.
When the elevator doors opened, Nian Qi didn't follow her inside. Instead, he stood outside, examining this strange little room without any windows.
It was too strange—he had never seen such a "room" before. If there were an ambush or a trap, there would be no escape route.
Ruan Qing turned to look at him, then at the elevator, and suddenly understood. She gestured to explain: "This is a vertical passage built inside a very tall building, like a chimney. The elevator itself is like an iron box, suspended by ropes. When people get inside, they can control it, using mechanical power to pull it up or lower it down with the ropes. I live on the 16th floor. Taking this elevator will take us directly up. Otherwise, climbing 16 floors every day would surely exhaust me."
Some things just need a clear and reasonable explanation.
Along the way, Nian Qi had seen many unimaginably tall buildings, and Ruan Qing's description of the elevator sounded perfectly logical. Finally, he stepped into the elevator.
Ruan Qing pointed to the elevator buttons and explained: "Each button corresponds to a floor. I live on the 16th floor. After pressing 16, the doors will close automatically."
She pressed the button to show him.
Since the explanation was clear, Nian Qi didn't make any unusual movements. However, from the corner of her eye and by instinct, Ruan Qing vaguely sensed that he was holding his breath and that his body seemed coiled with tension.
While a person's expression can be feigned, that sense of being poised to strike is impossible to conceal.
His vigilance was quite strong.
After all, he was someone wearing Nightwalker's Garb, with his face covered and carrying a blood-stained knife.
Ruan Qing hugged the knife a little tighter.
As soon as the elevator started moving, Nian Qi knew Ruan Qing hadn't lied to him. Although he couldn't see outside, he definitely felt the sensation of rising.
And it ascended very quickly.
The glowing pattern on the wall kept changing and soon matched the "16" on the button Ruan Qing had pressed.
With a ding, the door opened.
Only then did Nian Qi let out a long sigh.
What a remarkable mechanism.