New Otherworld Visitor

Chapter 15: A New Visitor from Another World

The strange dream continued to plague Cheng Yun at night, but this time it felt different from before.

Cheng Yun seemed to have dreamt of a world, an alien civilization—its development process and vicissitudes, its customs and history, its pride and helplessness...

Initially, the dream featured strange castles and temples, with tall, hunched commoners struggling to survive. Legends of gods, demons, and mythical creatures still circulated on the land.

Kingdom legions fought at the borders for the king's pride. Regardless of victory or defeat, they always left behind mountains of corpses and rivers of blood. After the saturation bombing by the mage corps, not even weeds could grow in the fields. To pay for the enormous military expenses and ensure logistics, the government repeatedly increased taxes. The commoners living near the war zones were even more pitiful; they were often conscripted, and no matter what the quartermaster ordered them to do, most never returned.

After building momentum, mercenary groups embarked on 'dragon-slaying expeditions.' Adventurers discovered new resource mines, the Grand Duchess's insatiable desires, and scandals involving noble ladies and royal nobles became kingdom-wide news, diverting people's attention.

Enemy invasions, internal uprisings, one kingdom falling, another rising, yet most of it repeated the same patterns.

It seemed that world, apart from possessing magic, was not much different from ancient China or Europe. Only the mages never stopped pursuing truth. They manifested the rules of the universe and analyzed all things in the world in a way completely different from Earth's civilization. Thus, magical civilization began to rise, also driving the progress of social civilization.

When the 'commoner army' shattered the charge of the Bloodline Knights on the battlefield, and new weapons replaced the war status of the old battlefield mage corps, the ancient feudal system began to collapse. People gradually gained independent thought and, for the first time, knew what life was.

The withdrawal of battle mages from the historical stage, conversely, allowed the world's civilization to develop more rapidly.

Machines roared, runes glowed.

The once rumored boundless desert was traversed by highways, bridges spanned the rift valleys, and transportation connected all parts of the world. Cruiser fleets broke the myth of the dead sea, armies of developed countries pushed to the borders of legendary races' territories, and fighter jets and airships challenged the majesty of the ancient gods.

The world developed and progressed at lightning speed. Whenever people looked back, they could hardly believe what they had achieved.

A highly developed civilization, a great fusion of races, East and West nations vying with each other, the rapid development of magic made the entire world change day by day, becoming incredibly unfamiliar.

Chip intelligence, space experiments, new terms emerged one after another, accompanied by new problems.

Finally, the perspective focused on a high mountain. It seemed the Old Mage stood in this very spot, gazing at a colossal modern city on the horizon—skyscrapers even pierced the clouds, taller than the surrounding treacherous peaks. Civilian aircraft, swarming like bees, could only navigate the gaps between buildings. One could only wonder what kind of heart and sentiment the Old Mage held at that moment, to be gazing at this world so different from when he was young.

When Cheng Yun woke up, he saw it was only 6:30. It was about time to get up and make breakfast.

He sat on the bed, rubbing his throbbing head, lost in thought for a while. If he remembered correctly, this was the only time he had dreamt of the Old Mage's civilization so far; other times it was just mountain and river scenery.

After getting up and washing up briefly, he began to busy himself.

After making breakfast, he, as usual, first brought a portion to the Old Mage, then went to the other end of the corridor to wake Cheng Yan. They carried their breakfasts and walked downstairs together.

Halfway, they met the cleaning lady. He immediately greeted her with a smile, "Good morning, Aunt Tang. Have you eaten?"

"Yes, yes, I have," the cleaning lady straightened up, leaning on her mop with one hand and her hip with the other, giving him a kind smile. "My granddaughter had to go to school this morning, so I ate before coming over and sent her off to school on the way."

"I see!" Cheng Yun smiled. "Then we'll head downstairs first. Take your time."

"Okay, be careful, the floor was just mopped, it's slippery!"

Around this time, the hotel was also about to open. The diligent young girl Yu Dian indicated she had already been sitting at the front desk for twenty minutes, imagining the breakfast menu for the morning several times over.

Cheng Yun brought down two baskets of freshly steamed frozen xiaolongbao and a pot of preserved egg and lean meat congee. Cheng Yan carried a plate of mixed pickles and a plate of fermented bean curd. Apart from the congee taking a little more time, everything else was simple, with an operation difficulty similar to making instant noodles.

Just as they finished breakfast, the cleaning lady came downstairs and asked Cheng Yun, "Mr. Cheng, do you need the stairwells on the second and third floors that are locked to be cleaned?"

"Uh, no need for those," he replied.

"I thought so... the doors can't even be opened," the cleaning lady mumbled, finding a spot on the stairs to sit down and taking a sip from her water cup.

The cleaning lady, Tang Guixiang, lived in the neighborhood and could get there in five to six minutes by electric scooter. But unlike Yu Dian, who used to rent a place, her son bought a house nearby and brought her over to help with the child. Elderly people who have nothing to do want to find some work to do, earn some money to lessen the burden on their children, and also have more pocket money for their granddaughter.

Originally, Cheng Yun should have provided her with food and lodging, but since she lived close by and had to take care of her grandchild and cook for her son and daughter-in-law at noon, she didn't eat or stay here and didn't ask for much money. The downside was that if emergency cleaning was needed, she might not be available.

Perhaps related to yesterday's events, although Yu Dian was still reserved during breakfast this morning, she at least dared to add more congee and ate almost a whole basket of xiaolongbao by herself.

However, she ate slowly, taking small bites, making it easy to overlook how much she had eaten.

"I'm done. You guys eat slowly..." Cheng Yun put down his chopsticks, and suddenly felt a tremor in his heart, causing him to frown. "Huh?"

He remembered this feeling. He had experienced it a few days ago, the day the Old Mage arrived!

Cheng Yan looked at him. "What's wrong? Eat a fly?"

"No!" Cheng Yun said, standing up. "I suddenly remembered I have something to do. I'm going upstairs!"

"You just don't want to wash the dishes, do you!" Cheng Yan rolled her eyes. "Go on, go on."

Yu Dian also quickly swallowed the bite of xiaolongbao in her mouth and said, "If you're done, you can go ahead. Just leave the bowls here, I'll wash them."

Cheng Yun nodded and turned to go upstairs.

As he passed the corner of the stairs, his speed suddenly increased. He quickly ran to the second floor and knocked on the Old Mage's door.

"Mage! Mage! There's a new visitor!"

"Click!" The Old Mage's door opened in response. His face, etched with the vicissitudes of time and adorned with a pair of wise eyes, appeared before him and said, "No need to panic. Anyway, if you don't open the door, that person can't get out."

"Hmm, that's true."

The two then calmly went upstairs, opened the warehouse door, and entered the dark, boundless node space.

The node space was still empty except for a luminous body. Cheng Yun stared at the luminous body and said after a moment, "He's a bit slow. He should be here soon."

After so long, his connection with the node space seemed to grow ever closer. Coupled with the Old Mage's guidance, he could already sense many changes within the node. Based on these changes and sensations, he could glean a lot of information, and the Old Mage had essentially saved him a very long period of exploration.

"Mage, if the visitor is hostile, I'll need your help, old man!"

"The universe is vast and endless, with too many powerful beings and races," the Old Mage shook his head. "I can't be sure if I have a martial advantage against whoever is coming."

"Save me for a moment, and we can escape!"

"Anyone who attacks upon first meeting is a brute," the Old Mage said with a smile. "But if a brute really comes, I will definitely do my best to protect you."

"..." Cheng Yun's expression grew heavy. What if the Old Mage left one day, and a brute truly arrived...

It seemed he still had to learn to handle things himself.

Suddenly, his expression sharpened—

"They're here!"

The luminous body suddenly flashed. This increase in brightness was barely noticeable without a close look, but Cheng Yun was exceptionally sensitive to it this time.

The first thing that caught his eye was the end of a scabbard, which its owner had tentatively extended from the luminous body—the scabbard was made of common yellow wood, with some parts wrapped in thin iron. It extended two feet, its form elegant with a slight curve.

Next came a gleaming, slender long saber. The blade was somewhat light and thin, straight in the front half, with an upward curve at the tip. It was nearly a meter long and resembled a wild goose feather. Through the luminous body, he could vaguely see the hilt being held by a slightly slender hand.

Cheng Yun recalled that during the Ming and Qing dynasties in ancient China, there were waist knives of similar shape, shaped like wild goose feathers, hence the name Wild Goose Feather Blade. It was a type of saber that emerged with the development of the times and the advancement of cold weapon technology, representing the final peak of Chinese cold weapons. And this saber looked too much like a Wild Goose Feather Blade—

If there were also wild geese in this other world, and if they made this saber after seeing wild goose feathers, then this saber should also be named the Wild Goose Feather Blade!

From this saber, it could also be seen that the owner was likely no pushover, certainly not someone like a highly educated white-collar worker or a shut-in.

This was because the saber was not only gleaming; both the blade and the scabbard had numerous nicks and wear marks. The blood grooves were even covered in a layer of black grime, clearly indicating that the owner did not use it merely for decoration or simple self-defense. Based on this, Cheng Yun could already imagine the bloody battles and fierce fights this saber had experienced. It must have been through constant hacking and clashing to be worn and damaged to this state.

Before he could ponder further, the scabbard and blade were suddenly retracted, and then a foot stepped forward!

This time, the owner of the saber seemed exceptionally decisive. In just a blink of an eye, a figure dressed in coarse linen, with a long, narrow scar on their face, appeared before Cheng Yun.

There was a chest, plump and not small!

Cheng Yun blinked. This person... was a woman?

Then he saw the woman holding the scabbard in one hand and the Wild Goose Feather Saber in the other, giving the impression that danger emanated from her entire being. Upon arriving in this space and seeing the scene, she also paused slightly. An instant later, her eyes quickly darkened as she stared at the two strangers before her.

Malice was evident, and killing intent radiated outwards!

Cheng Yun couldn't help but shiver, feeling as if a special effect of surging blood energy was churning behind her.

"Hiss!"

He took a deep breath.

But the Old Mage seemed to relax considerably.