Supermarket Shopping

Shen Jingchuan leaned back against the sofa and gazed at the night sky, mottled by the shadows of trees. He couldn't help letting out a sigh.

He had originally planned to cross over, see what he could buy and sell, and make a little money. Instead, he had barely set foot here before he got caught up in an ambush. He hadn't seen a penny, and there was already blood on his hands.

This start was nothing like what he had imagined. He hadn't even figured out what kind of world this was yet. The thought was a little disheartening.

Lin Qingyao's image suddenly flashed through his mind: her clear, bright eyes and brows, the forthright air of a chivalrous heroine, her cheeks flushing when she was shy, and the way her eyes shone when she ate noodles. She really was a rare beauty.

Remembering how she had felt, the springy softness of her back and its fair skin, he found the corners of his mouth curling up.

Tsk. I've landed myself in a heap of trouble, but I saved a great beauty. I guess... it wasn't a total loss.

Shen Jingchuan rubbed the ring at the base of his finger and followed the mysterious sensation until he fully understood the rules of crossing over. The cutoff was midnight each day, and he had two one-way crossings per day. It didn't matter whether he started in the modern world or the other world: each crossing used up one allowance. Once both were spent, he couldn't activate the ring again until after midnight, when the new day began and the allowance reset.

He quickly worked it out in his head:

He had already used one crossing coming here from the modern world today. If he returned home before midnight, he would use up his second and final crossing for the day without wasting either one.

After he slept through midnight, his allowance would reset for the new day. He could buy supplies and cross back here, using only one of the new day's crossings and keeping the other in hand as a trump card to save his life. If he waited until after midnight to go home, the return trip would count against the new day. By the time he bought what he needed and came back, he would have used both crossings, leaving himself without an escape route for the rest of the day. It was too risky.

Having made up his mind, he looked from afar at the cave dwelling, sealed up without the slightest gap. After confirming that nothing was stirring nearby and that Lin Qingyao would be in no danger inside for the time being, he sent everything around him into the space with a thought.

The light before his eyes flickered, and he was standing in his own home.

Fortunately, the wall clock showed a little after eleven, with nearly half an hour left until midnight.

He first took a hot shower, washing away the dust and smell of blood. Then he fetched a thin quilt from the bedroom, settled onto the living-room sofa, and fell asleep wrapped in it.

After a whole day of running about and fighting, he was exhausted. At last, he could get a good night's sleep.

His head had barely touched the sofa before he fell fast asleep, and he slept until broad daylight.

After waking up and washing, he headed straight to the supermarket near his home.

First, he picked out a whole box of flint-wheel lighters; he felt the electronic windproof kind wouldn't do.

He also grabbed two five-packs of large-bag braised beef instant noodles, several kinds of packaged pastries and snacks, and, right, salt: ten one-jin bags. He picked up ten one-jin bags of white sugar too, and a fifty-jin sack of polished rice. He filled a large bag with vegetables and fruit, and took some toilet paper, toothpaste, toothbrushes, and towels as well.

He carried several large bags weighing nearly a hundred jin and found, to his surprise, that it took no effort. After leaving the supermarket, he went around into an empty alley beside it, checked both ways to make sure there were no cameras or people, and put everything into the space with a thought.

Next, he turned into a pharmacy on the street. He filled a bag with iodophor, sterile gauze, elastic bandages, medical tape, disposable tweezers, disinfectant cotton balls, and other supplies for treating external injuries. Finally, he stood at the counter and told the clerk that a family member had suffered a knife wound to the hand and urgently needed antibiotics.

The clerk recognized him, and since he had bought a pile of wound medication, he didn't seem to be lying. After hesitating for quite a while, the clerk quietly slipped out a blister pack and handed it over, adding in a low voice:

"This is the only pack. Take it according to the instructions, and whatever you do, don't say I sold it to you."

"Don't worry, I won't cause you any trouble." Shen Jingchuan nodded and thanked the clerk, then tucked the medicine away and left the pharmacy.

Back home, he put all the supplies into the space and counted them, making sure nothing was missing.

This would be his first crossing of the new day. He took a deep breath and activated the ring with a thought.

The white walls and floor tiles vanished before his eyes, and mountain wind carrying the scent of dew-dampened grass and trees brushed his face. He stood firmly among the same low bushes as yesterday, with familiar soft fallen leaves underfoot.

Standing behind the bushes, Shen Jingchuan looked from afar at the entrance to the cave dwelling, sealed shut with yellow earth. There was no sign it had been disturbed.

His heart finally settled. He turned and retreated into the low bushes on the shaded side, then summoned the three-seat sofa onto the grass with a thought.

He leaned back on the sofa and let out a long breath. He had been so busy all morning that he hadn't had time to eat.

He pulled a packaged bun from the space, tore it open, and ate it in great bites. Then he took out a carton of plain milk and tipped his head back to drink it down, finishing breakfast in no time.

With his stomach full, he leaned back on the sofa, only to feel even more bored. He couldn't take his phone out of the space, and he didn't have a single thing to pass the time.

Lin Qingyao was still recuperating inside the cave. He didn't dare rashly dig open the entrance and go in to talk to her, in case someone was keeping watch nearby and he gave away her hiding place.

But by tonight at the latest, he had to go in and change that girl's dressings.

He couldn't just sit there daydreaming, so he might as well go out and scout the way.

It had been pitch-dark last night, and the pursuers who escaped alive had no idea who he was. They might not even have gotten a clear look at his clothes—anyone who could see his face was already dead.

With that thought, his misgivings vanished. He put all his weapons into the space, shouldered only his everyday backpack, and set off out of the woods.

The bodies on the slope and in and outside the woods were still there. Shen Jingchuan searched them and found another dozen-odd taels of silver. He pulled out the crossbow bolts and put everything into the space.

He tried putting the bodies into the space and found that he could, but he put them back where they had been and left them alone, so no one would notice anything amiss.

Just then, a clatter of hoofbeats sounded from the distant mountain road. He looked up to see three swift horses galloping toward him, kicking up a trail of dust.

Shen Jingchuan had just stepped half a pace back behind the shadows of the trees when he saw the three horses racing straight toward him along the mountain road. He stopped, turned sideways, and went no farther, merely watching quietly as the riders approached.

The three horses charged up close. The riders caught sight of the bodies sprawled on the ground and immediately reined in together.

The horses' hooves kicked up dust as the three men dismounted. Their leader was tall, broad, and sturdy, with knotted muscles and sinews. One look was enough to tell he was a martial man who had trained for years.

His gaze swept over the bodies before settling on Shen Jingchuan, and his brows drew together slightly.

The man before him wore a hard helmet of an odd design. His clothes and trousers were neatly cut and close-fitting, entirely unlike the robes and trousers commonly worn these days. He looked very strange.

Yet his face was fair and clean, his expression calm, and his bearing unlike that of an ordinary country dweller. He looked more like a pampered young master from an Aristocratic Clan.

The man stepped forward and cupped his hands to Shen Jingchuan, his voice deep and resonant.

"May I ask this young master's name? I am Lin Yue of the Zhenyuan Escort Agency. I was passing through and saw the bodies. Might you know what happened here?"

Hearing the name "Zhenyuan Escort Agency" and then the surname Lin, Shen Jingchuan's heart stirred. The girl in the cave dwelling happened to be surnamed Lin too, and her skills and bearing made her seem like the daughter of an escort family.

The thought passed through his mind in an instant, but he showed nothing on his face. Imitating the other man's manner, he cupped his hands. "I am Shen Jingchuan. I was passing through as well. I just saw these bodies and was wondering what had happened."

Lin Yue frowned more deeply. He had seen this man lingering beside the bodies from a distance, and he had already been somewhat suspicious.

But the other man spoke calmly and didn't look like a martial man, so Lin Yue questioned him no further. He merely cupped his hands.

"Thank you for telling me, young master." With that, he paid him no further attention, turning and striding over to crouch beside a body and examine it.

Bloodstains blotched the ground. A trail wound out of the woods and stretched farther along the mountainside; it looked as though someone had been wounded and fled into the mountains.

Lin Yue's heart tightened. He signaled to the two escorts behind him, and the three followed the blood trail into the woods.

Shen Jingchuan stood where he was with his arms folded, watching their backs from afar.

He wasn't too worried about the cave dwelling being exposed. Its sealed entrance looked no different from a natural cave-in, and an ordinary passerby would have a hard time noticing it.

Even if they did find it, he had his crossbow and could stop them from a distance.

Besides, Lin Yue had an upright look and conducted himself openly. He didn't seem to be in league with the villains from the ambush. If anything, he did look rather like someone searching for a relative.

Shen Jingchuan decided not to leave. He simply stood there, watching coolly.

Before long, a low exclamation came from the woods. They had clearly found the second body.

The three continued without stopping, following the traces of blood on the slope deeper and deeper into the heart of the mountain forest.

Lin Yue's raised voice drifted faintly through the wind, edged with anxiety. "Qingyao! Qingyao, are you there?"

Hearing the name "Qingyao" drift over loud and clear, Shen Jingchuan's heart stirred. He hurried after them into the woods, calling out:

"Young Master Lin, please wait!"