It was once again time for the time travelers to transmigrate.
People were avidly discussing about the case — some students had spilled the details of the incident, so the masked killer Qing Chen disguised himself had also entered everyone’s radar.
But they only knew about him wiping out the gang of thugs almost all by himself, that he was the one chasing after them to carry out revenge in the dark.
They did not know who he was.
Some said he was Liu Dezhu's subordinate, others said he just happened to pass by; there were all kinds of conjectures.
The undisputed consensus was that another figure had been added to the list of the most famous time travelers in the country.
And this person was as mysterious as He Xiaoxiao.
Countdown 00:10:00.
Japan, Osaka.
Next to Shinsaibashi district, in the suite on the highest floor of St. Regis Hotel.
A girl in light green shorts and a white T-shirt was huddled in a chair by the huge floor-to-ceiling window, looking down at her phone.
News of the time traveler kidnapping case in Laojun Mountain had spread over there and caused a similar uproar.
Currently, the number of crimes targeting time travelers had already climbed up to the hundreds.
A lot of them were robbed of their mechanical limbs, and there were also those who were murdered by their friends immediately after bringing back medicine from the Inner World.
In an unexpected twist, the instances of crimes committed by friends and family were extremely high.
At the start, everyone was worried about the threat of secret organizations from the dark web, but they had in fact underestimated the general public and overestimated the bonds of family and friendship.
As Kamidai Sorane read up on everything, a sense of loss rose in her heart.
She only wanted to do well in her job as an actress, just why was she suddenly plunged into this sort of complicated matter?
It was making her feel very unsafe.
In the Outer World, she had to worry about others discovering her identity as a time traveler.
In the Inner World, she needed to be cautious in dealing with the Kamidai Family to prevent them from unveiling her secret.
A few days ago, the Kamidai Family conducted a thorough internal investigation and horrendously tortured the seven people who were found out to be time travelers.
If the parents of Inner World’s Kamidai Sorane hadn’t been dead for a long time if information about her hadn’t been difficult to check because she was marginalized and had been living alone since young.
If she hadn't sensed the impending danger and done a lot of preparation.
If it weren't for her being of mixed Chinese and Japanese blood if she hadn't been able to speak Chinese since she was a child.
Then she too might’ve been discovered.
The most crucial element in the investigation was the “common language”.
Because Kamidai Family had long been merged into the federation, Chinese became their common language and only family members from the direct line still retained their mother tongue.
They regarded this as the noblest tradition. The common language was used to communicate with outsiders, but Japanese was used for all the family records and rituals.
Aside from her, none of the Japanese time travelers who transmigrated into the Kamidai Family could speak Chinese.
So they all died violent deaths.
Because of her engagement, Kamidai Sorane was brought along to City 18 to meet a young man named Qing Chen. The Kamidai family didn’t carry out a strict investigation on her because they were more concerned about the result and benefits of this political marriage.
Thinking of the engagement, she typed out the name “Qing Chen” on the Chinese search engine app on her phone.
But just like the previous attempts, she couldn’t find any useful information.
“Seems like there’s still no way to determine whether that boy is a time traveler… I didn't meet him the last time I came, I wonder if I’ll be able to see him this time. Eh? If I keep on visiting, would he think that I’ve fallen for him? Then should I be more reserved and wait for a while before going again?”
“But I think I’d have to follow those people back to the family soon. If I don't go now, it’ll be difficult to meet him again.”
The girl’s mind flickered and swayed in the sky of Osaka’s night scene, vibrant as a nebula.
Countdown to zero.
…
The dark and fragmented world began to reassemble.
Qing Chen returned to the dimly lit prison, groaning as he nearly fell to the floor.
He was standing when he left, and upon coming back, the wounds on his feet instantly burst open.
Fortunately, Qing Chen was mentally prepared and could remain standing.
After steadying himself, he glanced at his arm.
Countdown to return: 167:59:55.
“You’re back? Looks like you got hurt pretty badly,” Lin Xiaoxiao lightly said, “But it's a good thing to be back.”
Ye Wan smiled and nodded. “It’s alright as long as you’re not dead. But it feels quite abrupt to see you so beat up when you were perfectly fine just a millisecond ago.”
Ye Wan patted the chair in front of him as he spoke, “Sit down and talk.”
Qing Chen laughed. Turned out Ye Wan had expected his feet would be ruined and thus prepared the chair for him, just like he had long predicted that Qing Chen wouldn’t be able to restrain his hot-bloodedness despite saying those people weren’t worth risking his life for.
Li Shutong's evaluation was very accurate. In the depth of his calm and powerful mind, there was indeed an unimaginable hot-bloodedness buried in it.
Simultaneously contradictory yet harmonious.
As if seeing through Qing Chen's thoughts, Li Shutong smiled and patted his shoulder. “You’re usually uncannily mature beyond your age, maybe the tormented life gives you has made you curb your youthful heart. But young people should be reckless. Once you reach my age, you’ll realize that you've missed a lot of things if you don’t do them while you’re young.”
The youth was a time of passion and ignorance. At this age, perhaps you would make some or even a lot of mistakes.
But the moment it ended, you would find that making mistakes was one of the reasons that made youth beautiful and brilliant.
The youthful you were impulsive, rebellious, and fearless, but never regretful.
After Qing Chen sat down, Ye Wan asked him to take off his shoes and shirt. “Let's check the extent of your injuries, Xiaoxiao has already prepared an ointment for you.”
Upon seeing the wounds on the soles of Qing Chen's feet and the bloody groove on his shoulder, they could basically picture what the boy had experienced in the past two days.
The interwoven wounds on the soles of his feet spoke of the distance he had covered barefoot.
The deep groove on his shoulder affirmed his battle with gun-loaded opponents.
For an ordinary teenager, what he faced was considered extremely dangerous, but he managed to return safely.
Lin Xiaoxiao told him, “Congratulations, you’ve passed the most difficult hurdle.”
By hurdle, he was referring to the first battle in one’s life.
A battle that would forever be engraved in your memory.
People like them, who had plenty of experience, all knew that the first battle was very important as it could determine your future achievements.
It wasn’t about how much you could improve your strength, but more about your attitude in facing other enemies in the future. Would you back down? Or would you continue to fight with unparalleled courage and fervor?
Strength determined the lower limit, while mentality determined the upper limit!
Ye Wan stared at Qing Chen's feet and emotionally sighed, “Qing Chen, the treatment on your wounds is really scrupulous, who did it? Since you were barefoot, there should be a lot of splinters embedded into your flesh and buried deep inside, so I thought I’d have to do it all over again. But now that I see it, the person who treated you had done a meticulous job. They must care a lot about you.”
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