After Su Qiubai started the test, he didn't hesitate for a single second as he rushed to the first location shown on the navigation system interface.
He initially thought that he would see a gentleman standing still on the spot. All he had to do was stop his taxi, ask for the person's name and destination, and then send the person back through the s.p.a.ce-time channel.
However, he was wrong… There wasn't anyone at the location of the red dot!
The old driver was dumbfounded. He came out of the taxi and glanced around for some time, but he couldn't see any strange person. After a few minutes without any results, he spotted a grandfather standing under the sun in a distance, so he quickly approached him and asked if he had seen anyone odd.
The old man smiled and nodded.
Su Qiubai immediately got excited as he took two steps closer to the old man.
"It's you!"
Having that said, the old man laughed out loud. Su Qiubai was speechless.
Just at that moment, a young man walked over and said that the old man was his father who had Alzheimer's. Su Qiubai helplessly shook his head. Before leaving, he decided to ask the young man the same question.
"Strange person? Oh yeah, there was a man in a dragon pattern embroidered robe earlier. He looked like he was 40 or 50 years old. He was standing there for a while, then he went in that direction."
The young man pointed towards the east.
A man in a dragon pattern embroidered robe?
Su Qiubai immediately rekindled his spirits upon hearing that; there was no need to talk further. That man was definitely the person whom he had to send back; otherwise, who else would wander around on the street!
Su Qiubai quickly got into his taxi after thanking the young man. Stepping his foot on the gas pedal, he drove towards the east.
Along the way, he anxiously looked around, for fear that he would accidentally miss the person.
In fact, he was still worried about another thing in his mind. If the five red dots I saw on the navigation interface were just these people's initial positions when they arrived… Does that mean that the other four have already wandered into the city now?
Oh my goodness… this is bad! If the person is a weak scholar, then there'd be no problem. But if it's an unstoppable and powerful warrior, that'd be terrible!
The more he thought, the more worried he became. It was then that he turned into a corner and spotted a crowd.
This must be it!
Su Qiubai instantly parked his taxi by the roadside, jumped off and ran over.
He squeezed through the crowd and noticed several policemen surrounding a middle-aged man in a dragon pattern embroidered robe. The crowd looked even more alert.
That's right, the man in the dragon pattern embroidered robe was Emperor Qianlong from the small restaurant earlier!
With just a little effort, he had already knocked a lot of people down. Seeing that the policemen had surrounded him, he shouted.
"Hey, there are always troublemakers who want to kill me!"
Su Qiubai's jaw dropped when he heard that. Without any delay, he dashed in. If he was any second later, the policemen might kill him, then it would be all over. I'd completely fail my task!
"Relax, everyone relax, he… He's my father! His brain's a bit…"
In the end, Su Qiubai blocked Emperor Qianlong by standing in front of him; he even pointed his finger at the emperor's head.
The policemen and the onlookers were immediately relieved. Finally, someone had recognized that madman. However, before the policemen could say anything, Emperor Qianlong wasn't pleased. "I don't have such a son!"
Su Qiubai almost collapsed as his knees gave way.
The heck, I'm willing to be your son and yet you're unhappy. You aren't even my father!
But the most important thing was to complete the task. The faster he could send the emperor back, the closer he was to completing the task. So calling him father didn't matter.
The policeman relaxed after Su Qiubai admitted that the madman was his father.
"Young man, please look after your father carefully next time. This is very dangerous, especially him… He has learned martial arts before?" The policeman glanced at the angry emperor.
What a man. Our well-trained police officers can't even fight this crazy man!
"Err… I'm sorry. He always wanted to be an emperor. This is my fault. I'll take him home now."
While saying that, Su Qiubai planned to pull the emperor aside. However, the emperor was still displeased. He glared at Su Qiubai and demanded, "What are your intentions? Where is this place?"
Looking around, Su Qiubai whispered, "Just follow me, I'll send you back to where you come from."
Sure enough, Emperor Qianlong was delighted upon hearing that. Although he still didn't understand what was going on, he quietly followed Su Qiubai to his taxi. The crowd also began to disperse.
Watching Emperor Qianlong get into the taxi, Su Qiubai let out a breath of relief. Finally, I've picked up the first person. I can send him back now.
Having that thought, he got into the taxi and fastened his seat belt. He was about to open the s.p.a.ce-time channel.
But...
"Not enough energy. The s.p.a.ce-time channel can't be opened. Please add more energy."
Su Qiubai didn't understand the message. Emperor Qianlong remained silent. The whole scene was indeed unusual for him. Without much hesitation, Su Qiubai tried again, but he received the same message!
The message echoed clearly in his mind. But he never knew that he needed energy to open the s.p.a.ce-time channel! His car petrol was full so it was obvious that that wasn't the problem.
So what's the issue?
Silence filled the taxi. Only then did Su Qiubai realize that the test wasn't as easy as he had thought it would be. He had previously felt that ten days was too long to complete a mission, but he thought otherwise now.
Sitting in the backseat, Emperor Qianlong stared at the silent Su Qiubai. He couldn't help but ask, ��Didn't you say you wanted to send me back?"
Su Qiubai helplessly turned to face the emperor.
"Your Majesty, your home… You can't go back now!"
The emperor was confused. However, since the s.p.a.ce-time channel couldn't be opened, Su Qiubai could only put aside the matter and rushed to the next location marked by the red dot.
Upon arriving at the next location, Su Qiubai spotted a man standing still at the spot and smoothly brought him into the taxi.
This man was another emperor!
Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty, Liu Che!
[TLN: Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty was born as Liu Che. He was the seventh emperor of the Han Dynasty of China.]
Su Qiubai could only feel stunned as onlookers stared at him leading Emperor Liuche into his taxi.
There were two emperors in his taxi at that moment!
Aixinjueluo Hong Li and Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty, Liu Che!
After starting the car, Su Qiubai couldn't resist but to turn to the back. The two emperors were staring at each other.
Su Qiubai had already explained the situation to Emperor Qianlong. Although the emperor was very surprised that he had teleported to a few hundred years later, everything in the present time had convinced him that it was true.
Therefore, it was the emperor's task to explain the situation to Emperor Liuche.
"… So the situation is something like this. We are all in the future… Oh yeah, you're Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty, right? I've heard so much about you. I'm Aixinjueluo Hongli… You may not know me, but I know you."
Emperor Liuche was so confused. He didn't understand a single word.
It wasn't just him; even Su Qiubai was confused. But he didn't care much about it as he was busy looking for the next person.
"Your dragon robe looks nice, even more beautiful than mine."
"Really? Haha… Thank you for the compliment. Yours also looks really good!"
"The Qing Dynasty you mentioned, was it formed after the Han Dynasty? So it's true that my great Han Dynasty will perish?"
"What do you think? My Qing Dynasty has already perished, what's the use saying all this? Oh right… Today is the last day of 2016, tomorrow's the New Year. I wish you a Happy New Year."
"Happy New Year…"
The old driver felt annoyed. It was true that only a great emperor could make friends with another emperor. Everyone else simply didn't have the qualification to be friends with them.
He soon arrived at the third location, but he simply couldn't find the person. So, without any choice, Su Qiubai drove to the fourth location. It took him a very long time to find this person too.
The fourth person was also unusual.
A brilliant man… Genghis Khan!
[TLN: Genghis Khan was the founder and first Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death. He was also known as Yuan Taizu or Emperor Genghis or Tie Muzhen.]
Seeing the old man st.u.r.dily carrying a longbow standing under a bus stop sign, Su Qiubai felt like giving himself a slap to the face…
If he wasn't dreaming, then the world must be crazy…