Within the vortex of time and space, Shen Tanqi’s senses were all shielded, as if immersed in a gentle spring water enveloping his entire body.
In a vast expanse of emptiness.
The system’s voice suddenly broke in, “Currently calculating coordinates, about to transport the host to a location near the male lead.”
When he opened his eyes, he found himself dressed again in his original clothes. It seemed that as long as he entered this world, he would revert to his original appearance.
Surveying his surroundings, he realized he was standing on a street in Shuoxia City. However, everything seemed different from what he remembered.
The sky was overcast, as if rain was imminent. Pedestrians hurriedly made their way home, their footsteps quickening.
Only Shen Tanqi stood in the street, raindrops lightly falling around him. He looked around in confusion, unable to find the system anywhere.
A crackling sound like electric currents buzzing filled his ears, followed closely by what seemed like the system’s internal voice.
The system’s voice was intermittent and very faint. Shen Tanqi could barely make out its meaning.
“There was an error in the spacetime teleportation coordinates. System 3530 has temporarily lost connection and will be repaired within 96 hours. Please rest assured that upon reconnecting, the system will reset this spacetime event line without affecting the original world event line. Please be patient, host…”
Shen Tanqi widened his eyes slightly, hardly able to believe what he heard.
Although he knew the system had mentioned there might be many issues with sending him back, requiring continuous trial and error, Shen Tanqi hadn’t expected to be stranded in this timeline for 96 hours.
Ninety-six hours, forty-eight periods, exactly four days.
He only had three chances, and the first one was wasted like this, four whole days gone!
Under the continuous drizzle, Shen Tanqi felt increasingly restless and agitated, pacing back and forth on the chilly, deserted street.
The system had mentioned that if seven days passed and he still couldn’t return to Yu Ce’s side, he would be unable to return at all.
How desperate Yu Ce must be feeling now—Shen Tanqi couldn’t imagine, nor did he dare to dwell on it.
Taking a deep breath, Shen Tanqi glanced around and his gaze fell upon an inn not far away.
Since the system said waiting for the reconnection wouldn’t affect the original world, and he couldn’t go anywhere else, he might as well get through these four days here.
Patting his clothes, he found some copper coins and spirit stones inside his clothes, which should be enough to live on for four days here.
As Shen Tanqi entered the inn, he noticed notices posted everywhere forbidding entry to daemon races.
Frowning slightly, he found it odd. While Shuoxia City wasn’t particularly welcoming to daemons under the influence of the Shen family, it wasn’t to the extent of refusing their business entirely.
Approaching the counter, Shen Tanqi placed the copper coins on the table and casually asked, “Why are there signs around the city prohibiting daemons from entering?”
The innkeeper was busy counting money. Upon hearing his question, he glanced up at Shen Tanqi, his eyes landing on the copper coins on the table. With a smile, he said, “Hey, you’re new here in Shuoxia, aren’t you?”
Shen Tanqi, born and raised in Shuoxia City, was baffled.
Furrowing his brow, he suppressed his doubts and asked softly, “Why would you say that, innkeeper?”
The innkeeper carefully examined his coins, pocketed them, and chuckled, “There was a big incident recently, something outsiders wouldn’t know about. Would you like a room upstairs?”
Shen Tanqi nodded and then asked, “What happened?”
In his memory, the recent significant events in Shuoxia City were likely the night of Chen Gui’s actions and, more recently, the trials for demon slaying in the sect’s grand competition.
What other major events could there be that he didn’t know about?
Seeing his genuine ignorance, the innkeeper mysteriously waved him over, motioning for him to come closer. He leaned in close and whispered, “Recently, the head lady of our city’s prominent family, the Shen family, was killed by the daemon race!”
As the words fell, Shen Tanqi looked at him in disbelief and asked, “The head lady of the Shen family? Madam Qi?”
Wasn’t the current matriarch of the Shen family Madame Qi?
Hearing his words, the innkeeper was somewhat surprised and said, “Where did Madame Qi come from? The Shen family’s head only has two wives in total. Naturally, I’m talking about the main lady who was brought back in a grand procession from the Feiluan Sect, the mother of the young master, she’s dead!”
Shen Tanqi was stunned.
The young master is the original body, yes. The young master’s mother, that is… the original body’s mother?
He was momentarily confused, pinched his forehead, and after a while, looked up again and asked, “What year is it now?”
The innkeeper stepped back a bit, seemingly thinking that Shen Tanqi’s mind was a bit off, “In the year of the Fengtian Calendar, 367, early summer! Should I also tell you the hour?”
In an instant, it was as if Shen Tanqi had been struck by lightning, standing there in a daze.
The system had previously mentioned the timeline of the book. In order to calculate the monthly salary and benefits promised by the system, Shen Tanqi always remembered it clearly.
The year he had crossed over was in the Fengtian Era, the 374th year of the peace treaty between the demon clans and the human clans.
In other words, Shen Tanqi had returned to seven years before his original crossing.
At this time, Yu Ce was probably just over ten years old!
System, your temporal confusion is really out of hand. How does this even make sense?
Shen Tanqi widened his eyes in disbelief as the innkeeper tossed him a red wooden token and smoothly said, Hot water will be delivered to your room at the third quarter of the hour of You. Please proceed upstairs without delay. Room number two, have a pleasant stay—”
He squeezed the token in his palm, still trying to digest what he had just heard, when a low urging voice came from behind him, “Are you done?”
The innkeeper also spoke up, “Esteemed guest, take the token and go straight upstairs. We have other business to attend to.”
Shen Tanqi pursed his lips and reluctantly made way. Just as he was about to get up and go upstairs, he suddenly felt a familiar presence behind him—the same person who had just urged him on.
Wearing a hood, clad in snow-white clothes, and with a soft sword at the waist.
The more he thought about it, the more wrong it felt. He abruptly turned around, grabbed the person’s arm, and asserted, “Taro Ball?”
The person seemed startled too, stumbled back a step, fingers lightly touching the long sword at the waist, voice cold with a hint of panic, “Let go.”
The innkeeper thought trouble was brewing, quickly stashing away the silver coins from his counter.
Refusing to let go, Shen Tanqi scrutinized the person in front of him carefully, realizing his mistake.
Taro Ball wasn’t this tall, and the person before him only reached his chest, but that cold, distant aura—after days and nights together, how could he not recognize it?
After a moment, just as the other was about to draw his sword, Shen Tanqi suddenly realized something and lifted the hood off the person’s face with excitement, “I knew it—”
The veil was lifted so abruptly that the other person was slightly taken aback, staring at Shen Tanqi in surprise.
Under the daylight, those pair of eyes like cut jade, sharp and clear, shimmered with a watery brilliance. His flawless, snow-white face was in the bloom of youth, with a touch of tender green in his complexion and a hint of youthfulness. If not for the cold, distant aura surrounding him, giving him an air of cool elegance and noble clarity, one might mistake him for a gentle maiden.
In an instant, Shen Tanqi forgot everything else and cradled Yu Ce’s face in his hands, delicately examining it. The more he looked, the faster his heart raced, his breath quickened, almost on the brink of tears from sheer excitement.
“It’s Yu Ce, my ten-year-old Yu Ce!” he exclaimed joyfully. “You were this adorable at ten? How is this even possible?”
Yu Ce stared at him in shock, enduring the unfamiliar sensation of having his face kneaded like dough for the first time in his life. He gritted his teeth, his gaze flickering to the notices in the inn prohibiting entry of daemon race. Suppressing his emotions, he repeated in a low voice, “Let go.”
Shen Tanqi was reluctant to release him. He wanted nothing more than to take this young Yu Ce home right away. “I knew it, whether it’s Goldfish or Taro Ball, you look exactly like them. When you were young, you looked just like Taro Ball!!”
Wait, did I say it backward?
He couldn’t resist pinching young Yu Ce’s cheek lovingly until, unable to endure any longer, Yu Ce drew his sword abruptly and pushed Shen Tanqi away, speaking coldly, “I said, let go.”
Shen Tanqi stayed in place, stunned for a moment.
Yu Ce… drew his sword against him?
That unsettling feeling returned. Certainly, Shen Tanqi knew he had playfully teased Yu Ce by pinching his cheeks, but Yu Ce’s reaction caught him off guard.
Yu Ce rarely drew his sword, especially not against unarmed civilians or humans.
Shen Tanqi could certainly affirm that he had never seen Yu Ce draw a sword against a human.
The grievances between the daemons and humans had been long-standing. Yu Ce refrained from drawing his sword not only to maintain relations and save face between the two races.
Seeing Shen Tanqi no longer approaching, young Yu Ce coldly removed the veil from his hood, turning and placing the silver coins on the counter, picking up the token. Without looking back, he said in a grown-up manner, “A room upstairs. Do not disturb.”
Shen Tanqi: … Oh.
It seems he managed to anger someone as soon as he arrived.
The temperament of young Yu Ce was completely different from his later years. Shen Tanqi couldn’t help but feel that he was witnessing a protagonist upgrade.
Cold, strong, and ruthless with few words.
However, the more he acted this way, the more Shen Tanqi’s heart itched badly. He always wanted to provoke Yu Ce again and see him angry. It seemed quite amusing.
With hands behind his back, Shen Tanqi watched as young Yu Ce went upstairs. He then turned to the innkeeper, put down some more money, and signaled with his eyes, “What room number was the token for just now?”
The innkeeper’s eyes gleamed at the sight of the money, smiling as he held up four fingers and slowly brought them together.
Shen Tanqi nodded knowingly, happily following upstairs. Just as he stepped onto the staircase and was about to find the location of room number four, a hand suddenly covered his mouth from behind. Immediately after, a heavy scabbard struck the back of his head, and he fell unconscious on the spot.
When he woke up again, he felt a blazing pain at the back of his head, with a piece of black cloth covering his eyes, unable to see anything.
Shen Tanqi blinked in confusion, immediately realizing who was behind this. Besides that little troublemaker, who else could it be?
Gritting his teeth, Shen Tanqi called out, “Yu Ce!”
Shen Tanqi’s hands were tied to the back of the chair, and both legs securely bound to the chair legs, prompting him to recall some unpleasant memories.
No wonder Yu Ce always liked to use belts to tie him up; turns out, this brat loved tying people up even as a child.
“How do you know my name?”
A faint voice came from above, a cold breeze brushing his throat. Shen Tanqi’s throat tightened, holding his breath, not daring to even gasp for air.
“Speak.”
Alright, Yu Ce, you’re quite ruthless!
Threatening my throat with a sword, huh!
Hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). I hope you enjoyed the story! If you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! Check out the link below for early chapters. (๑>ᴗ<๑)
