Chapter 5

Ruan Qing suppressed her excitement and tried to speak calmly to Nian Qi. “This is the human world.”

“If this is the human world,” Nian Qi asked, “then why does it appear this way?” Everything he saw was beyond belief and looked nothing like the human world he knew.

Ruan Qing thought for a moment and said, “You asked me earlier where this place really is. I can answer that now, but I need you to stay calm when you hear it.”

“If I were not calm,” Nian Qi said steadily, “I would have already been terrified and lost my senses, given all that I’ve seen.” His use of two consecutive idioms made Ruan Qing realize that he wasn’t just literate—he must have been well-educated. That was a good sign.

Under the streetlight, she glanced at him. The young man’s sharp nose cast a shadow on his profile, making his features look more defined and composed. Finally, Ruan Qing spoke and told him, “This place is exactly what you called Jiangcheng.” She stomped her foot on the asphalt to emphasize, “Right now, you’re standing on the ground of Jiangcheng.”

For a brief moment, Ruan Qing felt as though Nian Qi had frozen, like a statue, as he processed and digested this information. It was then that she realized her own excitement was misplaced—what she saw as a thrilling adventure could be an overwhelming source of pain and fear for him. He was in a strange world, separated from his loved ones, without a single penny, and facing an uncertain future. Unlike her, he hadn’t read hundreds of time-travel novels that would let him effortlessly adapt to this new reality.

“Ahem,” she cleared her throat and pointed to the side, speaking softly, “My car is over there…”

After a moment of silence under the streetlamp, Nian Qi took a few steps and caught up with her. As Ruan Qing turned to lead him, she glanced back, still a little concerned. Nian Qi was quiet, but his expression was calm, giving away nothing.

When they reached her car, Ruan Qing pointed to it and said, “This is my car. It has four wheels and can move on the ground.” Her tone was almost like that of a teacher explaining the world to a kindergarten child.

Nian Qi raised his eyes to look at her, then nodded with a simple “Mm,” indicating he understood. He had seen this kind of vehicle on the screen at the hospital and had also watched several of them speed past on the dark road. Though he didn’t understand how it moved without horses, oxen, or mules, he could grasp the concept that it was a “car.” Whether it was a horse-drawn carriage, a mule cart, or this metal vehicle, they were all still “cars.” As long as he could make that connection, it was enough.

Ruan Qing wasn’t done yet. After explaining the car, she patted the roof, which was dented. “Look here,” she said. The top was caved in, clearly deformed. “This is where you hit it,” she explained. “You fell out of the sky and landed right on my car.”

Nian Qi stared at the dent, even reaching out to touch it. Ruan Qing opened the passenger door for him, saying, “You can sit here.”

Ruan Qing remembered an old movie she had once seen, where someone from the Qin Dynasty was transported to the Republic of China and, upon getting into a car, thought they were trapped in an iron cage, reacting quite violently. To avoid a similar misunderstanding, she decided to teach him how to open and close the car door. “Look, this is the door lock. You pull it to unlock, and then push, and the door opens. When you close the door, the space may feel tight, but the door can be opened easily. Don’t be afraid.”

She was thorough, even considering his feelings. Although her instructions were a bit verbose, her good intentions were clear.

Nian Qi glanced at her and said, “Thank you,” before stepping into the car.

Feeling relieved, Ruan Qing said, “Alright, I’ll close the door now.” She shut the passenger door with a “bang,” hurried around to the driver’s seat, and got in. Then, she continued, “This is a seatbelt. You need to buckle it here for safety. Because the car moves fast, sudden stops or collisions can be dangerous. To unbuckle it, just press this. Nothing to be afraid of.”

Politely, Nian Qi responded, “Miss Ruan, you only need to explain how to use it.” There was no need to keep reassuring him not to be afraid.

To be honest, his entire life, he had been taught not to be afraid—never fear blood, corpses, or blades cutting into flesh. No one had ever said to him, “Don’t be scared.”

Ruan Qing paused, feeling a bit embarrassed. “Alright, alright.” She needed to adjust her mindset. Apart from that initial moment of shock when he stepped out of the building, he had been calm all along. She had naturally assumed he would be wide-eyed and overwhelmed, like someone awestruck by a grand, unfamiliar world. It was a subtle sense of superiority on her part.

She silently adjusted her attitude and started the car. The headlights flicked on. This time, she cut to the chase. “Lights.”

Nian Qi nodded. The “lights” here were surprisingly bright, yet there was no sign of any flames.

As the car started moving, neither of them spoke. Nian Qi kept looking out the window at the tall buildings, the strange roads, and the other vehicles, some of which sped alongside Ruan Qing’s car, while others were two-wheeled and moved much slower. At least with those two-wheeled ones, he could clearly see how they used human power to move. But with these four-wheeled vehicles, he couldn’t fathom how they operated.

There were too many unbelievable, never-before-seen things. But the real issue was not about these strange sights, it was about why he was here and what he should do next.

Suddenly, the car stopped at an empty intersection. There were no other cars or people around. Nian Qi looked at Ruan Qing in surprise.

Ruan Qing pointed to a traffic light and said, “That’s a traffic signal. We call it a traffic light. Every car looks at the one directly ahead. Red means stop, green means go, and yellow means it’s about to switch between red and green. You see, the light directly ahead of us is red right now, so we can’t proceed. We have to wait until it turns green.”

She pointed to the traffic lights on either side. “These two roads are green now, so the cars on those paths can go, while we and the cars on the opposite side have to wait.”

Nian Qi couldn’t quite grasp it. “But the streets are empty. There’s no one else but us. Why can’t we go?”

“There are two reasons,” Ruan Qing explained. “First, you might think the road is clear, but some cars move extremely fast. Even if you don’t see them, one could come speeding along just as you run the red light, and that would cause an accident.”

“The second reason is that running a red light will get you… well, it will get you in trouble with the police.” She chose her words carefully, figuring he might not understand concepts like “penalty points” and “fines,” so she used simpler terms he could relate to.

Nian Qi was surprised. “Officials… police take care of that too?”

“Yes,” Ruan Qing said. “There are two types of police. One deals with crimes like murder, arson, and theft; they’re called criminal police. The other manages road safety, they’re called traffic police.”

Nian Qi thought to himself, The officials here must be quite idle if they even manage traffic on the roads. But how many officers could there be in a city? Wouldn’t they be overwhelmed?

Ruan Qing glanced at the empty intersection, understanding that this was too much for him to grasp at the moment. She said, “It’s really late now. Tomorrow, during the day, when you see the cars on the road, it will make more sense.”

When the light changed from red to green, Ruan Qing started driving again. “I don’t mean to sound so long-winded,” she said while driving. “It’s just that there are many rules here that are unfamiliar to you. When an ordinary person breaks a rule, the consequences are straightforward and not a big deal. But your situation is different. Whenever these issues come up, the police will always check for an ID card first.”

Nian Qi, who had been looking out the window, turned to glance at Ruan Qing’s profile when he heard this. “Understood,” he replied in a gentle tone. “Thank you.”

The rest of the drive was quiet. Since it was late at night, there was no traffic, and the streetlights blurred past them one by one. Nian Qi kept his gaze fixed on the view outside, watching as this carriage, without any horses, oxen, or mules, sped down wide roads, crossed tall and long bridges, and eventually entered a courtyard surrounded by high-rise buildings. They drove through an entrance on the surface and descended underground.

“This is an underground garage,” Ruan Qing explained.

Nian Qi didn’t respond but leaned forward to examine the ceiling and the rows of parked cars in the underground garage. Once Ruan Qing had parked in her designated spot, she turned off the engine and said, “We’re here.”

As she got out of the car, she intended to open the door for Nian Qi, but he had already figured out how to open it himself and climbed out. He even remembered to close the door behind him. Ruan Qing hesitated for a moment, then walked around to the back of the car and opened the trunk. The lid briefly blocked Nian Qi’s view, but when she closed it again, he saw her holding a long, wrapped object. Despite being covered in cloth, the handle sticking out was unmistakable—he immediately recognized it as his sword.

Ruan Qing glanced at him, but she made no move to return the sword. “Follow me,” she said.

She led him to the elevator lobby. When the elevator doors opened, Nian Qi hesitated, standing outside and inspecting this strange, windowless little room. It was too bizarre—he had never seen anything like this “room” before. If there were any traps or mechanisms inside, there would be no escape route.

Ruan Qing noticed his reluctance and looked at the elevator, realizing what was troubling him. She raised her hands to explain, “This building has a vertical shaft inside, like a chimney, and the elevator itself is like an iron box suspended by cables. Once you step inside, it can be controlled to go up or down using mechanical power. I live on the 16th floor. With this, we can go straight up, otherwise, I’d be exhausted if I had to climb 16 flights of stairs every day.”

Some things just need to be explained clearly and reasonably. Along the way, Nian Qi had seen many impossibly tall buildings, and Ruan Qing’s description of the elevator sounded logical enough. He finally took a step forward and entered the elevator.

Ruan Qing pointed to the elevator buttons and explained, “Each button corresponds to a floor. I live on the 16th floor. Once you press 16, the door will close automatically.” She pressed the button as a demonstration.

Since everything had been explained, Nian Qi didn’t show any signs of anxiety. But Ruan Qing, from the corner of her eye and from her instincts, sensed that he was holding his breath, and his body was coiled, ready to spring. Even though facial expressions can be masked, the tension in his posture was impossible to hide. His alertness was quite high, as expected from someone dressed in dark nightclothes, with a covered face and a blood-stained sword.

Ruan Qing instinctively held onto the sword a little tighter.

As soon as the elevator began to move, Nian Qi realized that Ruan Qing hadn’t lied to him. Although there were no windows to see outside, he could definitely feel the sensation of ascending, and at a swift pace. The illuminated panel on the wall showed changing numbers until it matched the number “16,” which Ruan Qing had pressed.

With a soft “ding,” the doors opened. Nian Qi finally let out a long breath. What an impressive contraption.