Little Inn Opens for Business

Chapter 4: The Little Inn Opens

The Old Mage glanced sideways, staring at Cheng Yun.

Cheng Yun stared back at the Old Mage.

The principle behind this marvelous technique was undoubtedly beyond his imagination, but that was fine; he only needed to know how to use it.

"I don't mind teaching you the theory of spellcasting, but I must also be frank: currently, I don't see any magical talent in you," the Old Mage said plainly. "It doesn't really matter, though. You can completely compensate for this deficiency with your long lifespan, or find a way to change yourself during your extended life. But there's one thing that's fatal—"

"The most basic and important point for becoming a mage: a strong thirst for knowledge. I don't see that in you currently."

"Perhaps you're too old," the Old Mage tapped the ground with his staff. "Every newborn infant is full of curiosity about the world, excitedly exploring everything. But unfortunately, if no one preserves that thirst for knowledge, after tens of thousands of questions are met with perfunctory answers, they will become someone who takes the world for granted. They will get used to the world's rules and appearance, no longer asking what things are or why they are that way."

"They fall into the mundane, they get bogged down in trivialities. If they don't break free, they can never become an excellent spellcaster," the Old Mage continued to stare at him.

"..." Cheng Yun didn't reply.

It seemed he had inexplicably been struck by a spacetime node and was now vaguely tasked with running around for the goals of 'Earth's peace' and 'guests from other dimensions not starving to death.' But now, this Old Mage was telling him in two sentences that these things still couldn't change his fundamentally lazy nature; at most, they would just make him a particularly special kind of lazy person.

If this Old Mage was telling the truth, and he also had a very long lifespan, for a lazy person, this only seemed to increase the difficulty of just coasting through life.

"So what should I do?" Cheng Yun asked.

"Perhaps magic isn't necessarily suited for you," the Old Mage said. "In any case, your lifespan will be very long. You can take your time choosing another path."

"I'll ask weakly, with my talent, how long would it take to learn to understand languages as casually as you do in magic?"

"Hmm?" The Old Mage scrutinized him carefully. "Around ten thousand years. But it might be shorter; I can't confirm when you might encounter something that could change your own conditions."

"How long did it take you?"

"Me? The whole world didn't even have this spell when I was learning magic, so it's not comparable," the Old Mage shook his head with a mysterious smile. "However, if we take a mage from our world who can pass the mage exam as a reference, starting from zero and learning to the point of being able to use this spell would take about five or six years."

"..."

Cheng Yun was deeply discouraged.

"Right!" Cheng Yun suddenly remembered something, his eyes eagerly fixed on the Old Mage. "Lord Mage, since your world is a magical civilization... are there any spells to bring people back from the dead?"

"Resurrection?" The Mage looked at him, narrowing his eyes. "No wonder your demeanor is so somber. Has a loved one passed away recently?"

"Yes, my parents just died in an accident."

"I'm very sorry," the Old Mage lowered his head, then continued. "We have many medical techniques that can save someone who has recently died in an accident, provided the body isn't severely damaged. Although we lack the necessary medical equipment now, I'd still be happy to try. I wonder about your parents..."

Cheng Yun's expression turned extremely grim. "But what if they've already been cremated?"

"Then there's nothing I can do," the Old Mage said plainly.

"Aren't you... a mysterious civilization? Are there no other methods?" Cheng Yun was still unwilling to give up.

"Necromancy aimed at ordinary humans has fatal flaws, and its private use is strictly prohibited by international law," the Old Mage said, seemingly seeing through his thoughts. He paused, then added, "Moreover, the rules of the world are different. In your world, souls might dissipate faster than bodies decay. So, unfortunately, the knowledge and abilities I possess are not sufficient to help you."

Cheng Yun was greatly disappointed, but fortunately, he had gradually accepted this fact over the past few days.

"Are there any other ways?"

"I can't give you a definitive answer. The world holds infinite possibilities, and one can only grasp a limited amount of knowledge in a lifetime," the Old Mage said calmly. "The body is the vessel of life, and the soul is the backup of the body; together, they record a life. We once believed they couldn't be copied or replaced, but later, rapid societal development proved it was simply because our technology wasn't advanced enough. Now we've proven that bodies can nurture souls anew, and souls can reconstruct bodies. But who knows if this world doesn't record every life that passes through it in another way we don't yet understand."

Cheng Yun didn't quite understand, but he grasped the general meaning.

The Old Mage glanced at him, smiled, and didn't say more, turning to examine the inn's facade.

"Judging by the decoration of this building, it seems to be an inn?" he changed the subject.

"Yes, it was the inn my parents ran when they were alive."

"Mm," the Old Mage nodded. "That's quite convenient."

"Uh..."

"I'd like to go out and get to know your world. Do you think that's okay?" the Old Mage looked at him inquiringly.

"I can't stop you anyway," Cheng Yun spread his hands helplessly.

"But you should learn to stop me," the Old Mage became serious, as if playing the role of a mentor. "Many people who cross over in the future will not be simple characters. If you can't learn to control them, they will cause trouble."

"Okay!" Cheng Yun nodded seriously. "Then, as the Station Master of the Interdimensional Transit Hub, I forbid you from leaving here."

The Old Mage stood still, looking at him with helplessness.

"Alright, you should change your clothes before you go out," Cheng Yun said. "That outfit you're wearing is really a bit strange, and... it looks too much like a beggar's."

"Do you have any spare clothes here?"

"No," Cheng Yun paused. "I have some at home. I'll bring them to you tomorrow."

"Then I'll go upstairs and take a look first, is that okay?"

"Please, make yourself at home."

"Okay."

The Old Mage turned and walked upstairs.

Cheng Yun sat behind the counter, noticing it was past eleven o'clock. He opened QQ and sent a message to Cheng Yan, telling her he wouldn't be back tonight.

It was only then that he remembered the rooftop was locked.

But this shouldn't be too difficult for that Old Mage, right?

"Traveling from another world, what incredible power!" Cheng Yun was still amazed.

This was beyond his comprehension, yet he accepted his own predicament surprisingly quickly.

Rooftop.

The Old Mage easily picked the padlock on the rooftop's iron gate without any psychological burden, then stood at the edge of the rooftop, gazing into the distance.

The brightly lit city was reflected in his somewhat cloudy eyes. Buildings were stacked on the ground like building blocks, roads and bridges illuminated by streetlights resembled glowing ribbons, vehicles flowed like water, and neon lights lit up the night sky, with airplanes streaking by like points of light.

Light and shadow flickered in his eyes.

A primitive material technological civilization.

The Old Mage lowered his head, feeling a strange sense of emotion.

When he looked up at the night sky again, his pupils suddenly showed more images, as if time were reversing, a thousand years in an instant.

The first ape stood up from the forest, the first tribe left the vast grasslands.

Hunting became farming, conflict became war.

Villages became nations, symbols became poetry, calls became songs.

Order was perfected, culture was elevated.

The rampant spread of viruses, the development of technology, the camel bells bringing communication, and insatiable desires triggering world wars.

Every civilization had walked a similar path...

After a long while, the Old Mage withdrew his gaze and released his staff, which stood quietly beside him without falling.

Symbols, profound and incomprehensible, began to flicker in his eyes again, constantly changing and updating.

After a long time, he sighed, "Rules..."

This universe seemed to have never seen a civilization system like theirs. At most, someone had imagined legends with outward appearances similar to theirs. The rules of this world were very unfamiliar to him, suppressing his abilities to a very low level. It might take some time to adapt slowly. Fortunately, he had already reached a very high level and had experience traveling across dimensions. Otherwise, if it were a lesser mage, they probably wouldn't even be able to cast a low-level spell and would be at a loss.

Turning and walking down the stairs, he asked Cheng Yun for a room key and returned to his room--

A relatively modernly decorated single room, with a 1.8-meter bed, a simple long table built into the wall with a chair, a single sofa, and appliances like an LCD TV, air conditioner, electric kettle, and hairdryer. The window was not small, with a bay window sill. The bathroom was neither too big nor too small, more than sufficient for bathing.

He found a bar of soap with 'Anju Hotel' written on it in the bathroom, which left him speechless and shaking his head.

Walking to the long table, the Old Mage pulled out a chair and sat down. With a casual gesture, a floating transparent screen frame appeared in the air--it was covered in unfamiliar text, with new characters dancing on it.

"June, Year 1383 of the New Calendar. Arrived in a strange world and discovered a spacetime node that had just awakened. It was very close to the world, and the spacetime node had already merged with a living being."

"..."

"This experiment proves that spacetime nodes have significant differences, which is undeniable. Furthermore, the spacetime node is controlled by a living being through fusion. The living being exists in a manner similar to the 'consciousness of the spacetime node.' Specific details await further investigation. There are differences between spacetime nodes that have merged with living beings and those that are ownerless. It is currently impossible to prove whether the differences are caused by fusion or if the differences led to fusion..."

Characters appeared one by one, as if recording experimental data, but more like a personal reflection.

At the same time, there was already a lot of text on it, all about spacetime nodes. The Old Mage mostly added things to the end, and sometimes he would scroll up, insert some words in the middle, or change things.

Meanwhile, Cheng Yun was still waiting at the counter for midnight to arrive, feeling extremely exhausted as he thought.

Why should a slacker like him bear the responsibility of a superhero? He had no power or influence, so how could he negotiate with those powerful figures who traveled through spacetime in the future?

It seemed the Old Mage upstairs was the only person he could rely on right now!

After midnight struck, he went online on various platforms to list his hotel, Meituan, Dianping, Mafengwo, Qunar, and so on...

After sitting for a while, he went upstairs to sleep.