บท 3: Chapter 3: They Have All Become History
In civilized society, people shouldn't be quick to draw swords and engage in fights and killings.
It's not appropriate.
Xu Qing finally managed to explain that it wasn't poison, as a bead of sweat slid down his forehead.
The cola was knocked over on purpose in a momentary lapse of reason, without anticipating it could nearly cause a bloodbath.
From her reaction, it seemed like she wasn't joking—at first, he was half-convinced, but now, he believed her about seventy percent.
"Can you not just draw your sword with a clank every now and then..." Xu Qing stared at the sword in Jiang He's hands and said, "I am a... good person, otherwise why would I take care of you instead of leaving you outside to fend for yourself, right?"
"Even Winter Melon was scared."
The fat cat shrunk into a corner, licking its fur and casting a sidelong glance at the two foolish humans.
"You are a good person?"
"I am a good person."
"..."
Seeing Jiang He not speaking, Xu Qing felt a headache coming on, not knowing what to do.
He was still quite dazed. If it's going to be cosplay, then cosplay, but why turn it into reality? Why make it real?
"My mind is a bit of a mess, wait while I sort it out."
Leaning back on the sofa, Xu Qing rubbed his forehead and pondered what to do now, and how to handle the situation.
Facing this impulsive girl, he only had three choices at present: one was to trick her out, shut the door, and be indifferent to whether she died of hunger or cold outside, or committed random murders—it would probably take no more than three days to see news about her being arrested or shot dead in a chaotic scene.
Wandering around with a weapon, and not knowing to scavenge through trash bins when hungry, she's bound to resort to theft, and it would be strange if she doesn't get caught.
The second option was to call the police and let them deal with it—a person who might be a descendant of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang appearing bafflingly in modern society, transported from over twelve hundred years ago no matter how you slice it, that's quite valuable research material.
But the police would probably... no, they would definitely think he was joking. If they came and something went wrong, it could easily turn into a bloodbath.
The third option, keep her around for a while.
Xu Qing glanced at her, his mind racing.
An ancient heroine was right here, in his own home, holding a sword threateningly in front of him. Could he really just let her go?
Despite being somewhat impulsive and quick to draw her sword, she was an ancient person, skilled in martial arts, and perhaps even skilled in Qinggong...
He didn't dare to say, but tricking this ancient person from twelve hundred years ago to leave, regardless of whether she gets arrested, wanders, or by some odd chance survives in this society, or even gets taken in by someone else, Xu Qing felt he would definitely regret it.
A scene straight out of a science fiction novel unfolded before him; could he really let her escape?
In just a short moment, he had analyzed everything clearly.
Gurgle...
Xu Qing turned his head; the sound came from the little heroine's stomach.
"Eat something." He picked up a chicken wrap that was yet untouched and offered it to her, having decided to keep her around, he needed to find a way to calm her down.
You can't just brandish a sword or hurl throwing weapons around; it's too impulsive, leaving no sense of safety.
"What is this?" Jiang He hesitated, then glanced again at the black umbrella next to the sofa, slightly convinced that he was a good person.
"It's food." Xu Qing unfolded a corner of the chicken wrap, "Or should I take a bite first to prove it's not poisoned?"
"That would be acceptable."
"..."
"..."
"Never mind, you probably aren't accustomed to it, I'll order you a covered rice dish in a bit."
Xu Qing himself took a bite, chewing while contemplating what to do next.
Having decided to keep her around, he must protect her identity.
"Do you know where this is?" he asked, then patted the sofa and moved over, "Sit, let's talk sitting down, your standing there with the sword makes me nervous."
Jiang He came over, pressed down on the sofa a couple of times, and slowly sat down. Her eyes on him still held traces of wariness, but they had relaxed quite a bit compared to before.
She hadn't been idle either. From the beginning, she had been continually analyzing and assessing her situation.
Although everything was unfamiliar, she recognized the umbrella, and this man did at first seem to want to offer her the umbrella. However, the room felt odd, along with the food he was eating... Jiang He guessed that this man might have some peculiar habits and that she still needed to be cautious.
"Where is this?"
"Jiangcheng."
"..."
"..."
Xu Qing rubbed his nose and looked up to think for a moment, then said, "I don't know how to explain it, that is... do you know Li Bai?"
"Do you know where he is?"
"Um... what I'm about to say next, please don't be scared."
Jiang He looked at him intently, "Just say it."
"First, put the sword aside, I'm afraid you'll get excited."
"...Okay."
She glanced at it, placed the sword slowly on the table, and let go of the handle with an odd accent: "It doesn't matter where this is, I want to go home."
"You might not be able to go back."
"Why?"
"Because this place is very far from your home."
Upon hearing this, Jiang He's eyelids trembled slightly, and she looked up at Xu Qing and asked, "How far?"
"Um... about twelve hundred years far."
"Huh?" Jiang He frowned, confused and asked, "What do you mean?"
She couldn't understand the relation between 'years' and distance. Did it mean she needed to walk for a thousand years to get home?
"Here." Xu Qing pointed to the ground beneath their feet, observing her expression, and slowly said, "This is twelve hundred years after the era you lived in."
"Li Longji, Li Bai, and Yang Yuhuan, An Lushan... whether you know them or not, your emperor, your friends, all those people you know, they are characters from over a thousand years ago, they have all died over a thousand years ago."
"Nonsense!"
Jiang He suddenly stood up, looking around, unwilling to believe what he was saying.
"Whether it's nonsense or not, you can verify it slowly. After all, you see nothing that you're familiar with." Seeing that she didn't reach for the sword, Xu Qing breathed a sigh of relief.
It's good as long as they can communicate. What he feared the most was encountering someone like in the TV shows, those who couldn't communicate at all, who wouldn't listen to others, always thinking someone was trying to harm them, grabbing a sword and slashing crazily.
Crazy!
"For now, you can think of this as a completely new world... the white jade capital up in the heavens, twelfth floor five cities, you know the poem by Li Bai, right? Just think of this place as the white jade capital."
"He never wrote that poem!"
"Uh..." Xu Qing blinked, "My mistake, he probably didn't write it when you knew him... He should only be in his twenties."
Seeing that Jiang He's expression was fluctuating as she stood there, he thought for a moment and continued, "This world is dangerous but also safe, it has its own set of... laws. As for Li Bai and the others, you can verify their stories slowly, but for now, put that aside. If you want to be safe, you need to understand this world first.
...Do you understand?"
"You're lying to me." Jiang He frowned at him.
"You are an intelligent person. I think you should have your own judgment." Xu Qing pointed to his head, then to the outside, "Haven't you seen the outside? This world now is completely different from the world you are familiar with."
"Those people you're familiar with, they have all become history."
"..."
Looking at Jiang He's appearance, he suddenly felt a sense of shared sorrow.
If he were thrown into the world a thousand years later, he would probably not be much better than her, right?
"Leading people astray with lies!" Jiang He clenched her teeth and picked up the sword from the table, "I don't believe it!"
Having said that, she turned around intending to leave.
"Wait!"
Clang!
The Longsword was drawn halfway, pointing at Xu Qing from afar.
"I just mentioned, this world has its own set of laws, you need to understand them in order to be safe." Xu Qing stood in place, watching her draw the sword for the third time. He did not move forward, and he didn't feel anger or impatience.
He had already seen through the essence of this impulsive young girl; she was just scared.
It's never easy for someone to get used to being thrown into a foreign land, even less so for a girl who suddenly leapt forward over a thousand years, where everything before her eyes is something she's never seen.
"For example, you can't carry weapons and swagger through the streets... going out like this is very dangerous."
"Why are you helping me?"
"Back then, I also picked up Winter Melon outside."
"Winter Melon?"
"Yeah, that fat cat."
Jiang He followed his gaze and saw the fat cat lying lazily on the cabinet yawning.
"Are you looking down on me?"
"...No!"
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