Nian Qi followed behind Ruan Qing, watching as she opened a door in the hallway. She stepped inside, reached out, and slapped the wall—instantly, the pitch-dark room lit up.
The brightness was just like in the hospital.
Nian Qi was no longer surprised by these lights that shone as bright as daylight. He merely glanced at the spot where Ruan Qing had just slapped. There was a square object there—apparently, this thing controlled the lights.
Ruan Qing turned around just in time to catch his glance.
"Light switch," she said, pointing to the light on the ceiling of the entryway. "Turns the lights on and off."
She demonstrated by switching it off and on again, then gave Nian Qi a meaningful look.
Nian Qi thought Ruan Qing was quite an interesting person. Communicating with her was hardly any trouble at all. In such a strange and unfamiliar environment, encountering someone like her could be considered fortunate.
Nian Qi also reached out, turned the light off, then on again, and nodded to show he understood.
Ruan Qing looked down and felt a headache coming on—to be honest, the entryway was a mess.
This was mainly because earlier that afternoon, Ruan Qing had caught her boyfriend—scratch that, her ex-boyfriend—cheating at home, causing quite a scene.
She used her foot to nudge and push a pair of slippers toward Nian Qi—the ones that belonged to her boyfriend, no, her ex-boyfriend. "Wear these. It’s customary here to change into slippers when we get home, so we don’t bring dirt or mud from outside into the house."
Although Nian Qi hadn’t spent much time outdoors, he had already noticed that neither the black roads for vehicles nor the light-colored stone-paved paths on either side had any mud at all. The people here really had high standards.
But looking down, the square stone floor was polished to a mirror-like shine, far more luxurious than the gray floors in the hospital. It was only fitting that the standards were higher.
Nian Qi followed local customs, took off his black cloth boots, and put on the strangely textured slippers.
They fit quite well.
This size was undoubtedly for a man. These were a man’s shoes.
Ruan Qing was also pleased. "I thought your height was similar to my boy… my ex’s. They really do fit."
Nian Qi didn’t understand what "ex" meant. Could it mean former husband?
Although Miss Ruan was still relatively young, at her age, she should have been married for seven or eight years. Could she be a widow?
Her hair was all tied up at the back of her head. Although the style looked a bit odd, it could indeed be considered a married woman’s hairstyle.
Nian Qi mentally prepared himself to meet Ruan Qing’s in-laws. But to his surprise, after Ruan Qing said, "Follow me," she turned to lead him further inside and immediately stumbled, nearly falling flat on her face!
Fortunately, Nian Qi was quick and grabbed her arm to steady her.
She was still holding the knife! That was terrifying!
He quickly released her smooth-skinned arm and apologized, "I’m sorry, that was presumptuous."
Ruan Qing had originally intended to say thank you, but upon hearing this, she paused for a moment. Thanks to years of reading historical novels, Ruan Qing understood perfectly well. She glanced at her bare arm and realized why Nian Qi had apologized—it was just physical contact.
Later, she’d have to teach him that the Qing Dynasty had fallen centuries ago.
"It’s fine. I should be the one saying thank you," she said. "I almost took a tumble."
Although she didn’t smile, Nian Qi sensed the same kind of amusement he had noticed from the people in the hospital when they heard him speak. Nian Qi didn’t know what he had said wrong this time.
He looked down, then glanced up at Ruan Qing.
The floor was strewn with a messy pile of clothes, scattered haphazardly and trailing further into the room.
Ruan Qing quickly bent down to gather the clothes—all belonging to her ex-boyfriend—into a bundle, picked them up, and led Nian Qi inside. "Come, let's go to the living room."
The living room floor was equally chaotic.
To be honest, Ruan Qing had never been in such a disarray before. This one time, and Nian Qi had witnessed it—it was truly embarrassing.
Her previous sense of psychological superiority over Nian Qi had vanished.
She swiftly gathered the clothes on the floor, stuffed them into a corner of the sofa, placed the long blade on the coffee table, and pointed to the empty spot on the sofa. "Have a seat first."
Nian Qi didn't sit. Instead, he glanced around the living room and said, "Sorry to trouble you, but could I have a bowl of water?"
He had just fought a bloody battle, expending immense energy. At the hospital, he had been too stunned by the bizarre and fantastical surroundings to even think of asking the nurse for a drink. Now, his mouth and throat were parched.
Ruan Qing poured him a glass of water.
Nian Qi watched her operate the water dispenser. It was simple enough that he could understand without any explanation from Ruan Qing.
But when he raised the glass to his lips, he never expected the water to be ice-cold—Ruan Qing's water dispenser had both cooling and heating functions. She had a fiery constitution and couldn't survive the summer without cold water.
The moment the icy water went down, Nian Qi felt immense relief all the way to his stomach. The burning sensation in his throat and internal organs was completely soothed.
Holding the glass, he glanced at the water dispenser again. The transparent tank clearly contained no ice, yet the water that came out was cold. There were too many peculiar things in this place, far beyond his understanding.
But these things that defied his comprehension seemed… rather good.
Like the speeding cars, the bright lights that shone like daylight, and this ice-cold water that brought immense comfort to his entire body.
After drinking three glasses, both of them finally sat down.
Ruan Qing's sofa didn't have a chaise lounge; it was a straight-backed one. They sat at opposite ends, leaving a gap in the middle, both slightly turning their bodies to face each other for conversation.
Ruan Qing propped the pile of clothes behind her with her back.
She looked up at Nian Qi, who was also watching her. "Miss Ruan, can you now give me an explanation?"
"Don't use the term 'in the humble presence,'" Ruan Qing said. "Actually, I already told you at the hospital entrance—this is Jiangcheng."
At the time, Nian Qi had said nothing, merely holding his breath as he absorbed the information she gave him. But now, Nian Qi said, "That's impossible."
For that one job, he had spent over a month lying low in Jiangcheng. How could he not know what Jiangcheng looked like? It was nothing like what he had seen on the way here—towering skyscrapers reaching for the sky, lights as bright as day.
"This really is Jiangcheng. I'm not lying to you. Geographically speaking, it truly is Jiangcheng, and it might very well be the same Jiangcheng you mentioned. Spatially, there's no issue," Ruan Qing said. "The problem might lie in time."
Nian Qi couldn't understand. "Time?"
"You appeared out of thin air," Ruan Qing told him. "You said you were on a mountain in Jiangcheng, right? But at the time, my car was parked by the river. There wasn't a mountain in sight—not even a tree. Suddenly, there was a blinding white light in the air, right above my car, and then you fell out of the light, crashing directly onto my car and damaging the roof."
Nian Qi held his breath.
"I could tell at a glance…" Ruan Qing sighed. "Do you know why people at the hospital always laugh at you? Because your clothes, your hairstyle, even the way you speak and the words you use… they're all very 'ancient'."
Nian Qi knew his attire was different from Ruan Qing's and the others.
Actually, the Nightwalker's Garb wasn't a big issue—as long as he didn't cover his face, it was just a set of black short clothes. It was just that the style of the clothing was completely different. The people he saw in the hospital indeed wore nothing with the Cross-Collar Right Lapel.
But the word "ancient" still left him confused.
He no longer pretended to be calm, genuinely showing his emotions—bewilderment and incomprehension.
Ruan Qing said, "Based on what I've seen, there must be some supernatural force at work, bringing you here. You come from Jiangcheng, and this is also Jiangcheng. Since the location isn't the issue, then it must be time that's the problem."
She gave him an analogy: "For example, you jump from the roof into the courtyard. In the courtyard, there's a one-year-old child and a forty-year-old middle-aged man. But during your jump, this supernatural force—ahem, let me rephrase—let's say… a celestial anomaly, that's easier to understand, right?"
"When you jump from the roof into the courtyard, suddenly a celestial anomaly occurs, affecting you. When you land, you realize you've indeed jumped into the courtyard," Ruan Qing said. "But you've jumped into the courtyard thirty years later. That one-year-old child is now a thirty-one-year-old adult, and the forty-year-old middle-aged man is now a seventy-year-old elder. As for you, your time remains unchanged—you simply jumped down from the roof."
She paused, then tentatively asked, "Does that explanation make sense?"
Nian Qi stared at her for a moment before speaking: "A day in heaven, a thousand years on earth?"
He understood. Ruan Qing let out a soft sigh of relief: "Yes."
Nian Qi said nothing. He stood up, walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, placed his hand on the large transparent glass, and gazed outside.
There were large, flat, transparent panes of glass everywhere here.
It was very late. Only a few scattered households in the tall buildings still had their lights on, while most windows were dark. But the city was filled with lights everywhere. To Nian Qi's understanding, this level of illumination was "bright as day."
Ruan Qing knew he needed time to process. She didn't disturb him, just sat on the sofa watching him, giving him time.
After a long while, Nian Qi turned around and asked, "How many years later is it now?"
Ruan Qing blinked: "I don't know."
"'How many' is a relative term. I need to know what era you came from," she asked him. "In your time, what dynasty was it? Who was the emperor? You have to tell me first so I can calculate how many years apart we are."
Right, he was being foolish. Nian Qi walked back to the sofa, sat down again, and told Ruan Qing: "My dynasty is called Da Mu, the imperial surname is Qiao, the current emperor's given name is Wei, and the present era name is Mingqi."
Because the emperor's name was "Wei," words like "great man" or "majestic" in books had to be avoided. So anyone who had studied knew this.
Nian Qi thought that by giving Ruan Qing such clear and precise information, she could tell him what year it was now.
Who would have thought that after hearing this, Ruan Qing blinked her eyes and opened her mouth in a daze. Finally, she managed to blurt out: "Wow, so it's a parallel timeline!"
"?" Nian Qi, ""
Although he didn't understand, it seemed even more complicated?
Author's Note:
Fruit: A censorship-friendly replacement for the character (衤果). The same applies in subsequent chapters.