Chapter Two: Yasuo

"Roland! Wake up, you bastard! You've been asleep for five days. Are you trying to get out of paying your debt?"

Jiang Chuan felt someone shaking him. His stomach and arm were in excruciating pain, as if he'd been slashed several times!

Jiang Chuan coughed. "Where am I...? Wasn't I dead?"

Old Jack slapped him. "I'm the best doctor in Bilgewater! No one who comes under my care gets to die!"

Jiang Chuan's eyes widened. "Bilgewater! Holy crap! You'd better not be lying to me, old man, or I'll kill you!"

Old Jack wasn't pleased. He grabbed Jiang Chuan by the ear and shouted, "You little punk, have you gotten too big for your boots? I healed you, and now you're cursing at me? Looks like you're itching for a beating."

Jiang Chuan's ear throbbed from the twist. "Ow! This isn't a dream? I really came to Bilgewater?"

Old Jack realized something must have happened to Roland. "You little rascal, don't tell me Pyke hit you on the head and turned you into an idiot."

Jiang Chuan shook his head, exhausted. "Jack, my head's a complete mess. I want to rest for a while."

Thinking Roland's wounds still hadn't fully healed and he needed rest, Old Jack went to take care of other things.

Sitting on the bed, Jiang Chuan tried to piece together what had happened. "Didn't my soul dissipate? How did I end up in Bilgewater? Could it have been that lightning bolt?"

Jiang Chuan's mind was in chaos. He had his own memories as well as Roland's, and he knew more about Bilgewater than Roland, a local, probably did.

Rubbing his temples, Jiang Chuan wondered what to do next. "There's no way I can get back to Earth now. And Roland's no good either—he's deep in debt, owing more than ten Gold Coins! How am I supposed to pay that off?"

Jiang Chuan spent the whole afternoon sorting through the memories in his mind. Since he couldn't go back, he might as well settle in here and slowly figure out a way home.

That evening, Old Jack brought bread and fish soup, and ate dinner with Jiang Chuan.

As he ate, Jiang Chuan couldn't help asking, "Jack, don't you have a wife or children?"

Old Jack wiped his mouth and lit his pipe. "I have a daughter living in Demacia. You know how it is—if she stayed in Bilgewater, she could meet with an accident any day. I want her to have a good life in Demacia. Bilgewater's too chaotic."

Jiang Chuan silently ate his bread, looking at the old man across from him. Old Jack took a sip of fish soup. "You're the only bastard friend I have in Bilgewater, Roland. The sea's too dangerous. There are terrifying Titans and demons that lure people into the abyss. I plan to go to Demacia in a couple of years and enjoy my retirement with my daughter. I've been in Bilgewater for so long, I'm sick of this godforsaken place. I've practically watched you grow up. Do you want to come with me?"

Jiang Chuan shook his head. "I don't know. Can I go for a walk?"

Old Jack knocked the ash from his pipe. "Go ahead. Just try not to run into that drowned corpse again."

Jiang Chuan walked out of the clinic and gazed at the moon. "I wonder how Mom and Dad are doing... And that Little Girl."

Without realizing it, Jiang Chuan had walked all the way to the Slaughter Docks. The turmoil in his heart was no less than that of the sea before him.

Out of habit, Jiang Chuan reached into his pocket, but found no cigarettes and had to give up.

Pyke stared blankly at Jiang Chuan's figure some distance ahead. "I remember him. He's the man from last night. He got away."

A hoarse voice that wasn't his own spoke in his mind. "He was on the ship too. Have you forgotten?"

Pyke clutched his head and roared, "No! He wasn't! Damn fish, get out of my head!"

But the voice in his mind continued. "We are one. You are me, and I am you. Go on, kill him. Have you forgotten? He shot you! Everyone who hurt us has to be cleansed!"

A frenzied light gleamed in Pyke's eyes. "You're right. Everyone who hurt us has to be cleansed!"

The voice gave a sinister laugh. "That's right. Go on!"

Jiang Chuan was staring at the sea, troubled, when a chill suddenly swept over his back. He instinctively dodged and saw a man beneath the moonlight, dripping wet and holding a harpoon. Jiang Chuan's eyes widened as if they might bleed, and he shouted, "Pyke! What the hell, why am I running into this bastard again?"

Ignoring the pain in his stomach and arm, Jiang Chuan ran for his life, but Pyke pursued him relentlessly. Jiang Chuan blurted out, "Damn it, you beat me in the game, and now you want to kill me too? If I didn't have such lousy teammates, my Yasuo would've crushed you!"

As soon as he spoke, a flash of white light appeared before Jiang Chuan. A swordsman stood in front of him, dressed in Ionia-style clothes, his hair tied back, a wine gourd at his waist, and a long blade in his hand. Pyke was startled by the sudden arrival and stood warily in place, watching the swordsman.

Yasuo's eyes were full of confusion. He'd been sleeping soundly in an abandoned church when he felt an enormous hand drag him to this place. Gripping his blade, he coldly surveyed his surroundings. Behind him crouched an injured man, while in front of him stood someone holding a harpoon, his eyes full of bloodlust. He was clearly no good sort.

Yasuo looked at the man before him. "Where is this? How did I end up here? Are you here to kill me too?"

Standing behind Yasuo, Jiang Chuan was dumbfounded. He'd only said Yasuo's name, and the man had appeared right in front of him. Jiang Chuan had no idea what to say to him.

Pyke looked at the swordsman before him. Though the man was dressed in filthy clothes, Pyke instinctively sensed he was dangerous and decided to give up.

Pyke vanished into the shadows. Yasuo turned to Jiang Chuan and said coldly, "You're next. Are you hunting me too?"

Jiang Chuan smiled. "No. I know you didn't kill Elder Suma. As for why you're here, I think I must have summoned you."

Yasuo was shocked. For so long, everyone had believed he'd killed Elder Suma. The injured man before him believed he was innocent, leaving him at a loss. And the man had claimed to have summoned him. Judging by the scenery, they were by the sea, and the nearest Sea of the Watchers was very far from where he'd been. Yasuo had never heard of anyone summoning a living person from so far away, especially a stranger. He asked warily, "Summoned? Are you a Mage?"

Jiang Chuan brushed the water off his clothes. "This is Bilgewater, very far from your home in Ionia. I'm not a Mage. You can call me a Summoner. I'm not a Mage."

Yasuo was stunned. "Bilgewater!" He'd heard an explorer speak of Bilgewater. It was even farther away than Noxus, and even more chaotic—a place said to be the darkest in all of Valoran.

Yasuo looked at Jiang Chuan. "I'll believe you for now. Why did you summon me here?"

Jiang Chuan walked over to the steps and sat down, saying casually, "That man was trying to kill me, and I called your name without thinking. Then you appeared. I mean you no harm."

Yasuo drew his long blade and thrust it at him. "I still don't believe you."

But the blade didn't strike Jiang Chuan. It stopped three centimeters in front of him, and no matter how hard Yasuo attacked or how much force he used, he couldn't push it any farther.

Yasuo was clearly dissatisfied with the result.

Jiang Chuan smiled. "I really mean you no harm. You can't hurt me, and I can't hurt you either. I can even enhance your abilities."

Yasuo sheathed his blade and took out his wine gourd. "I believe you. Now you can send me back."

Jiang Chuan replied helplessly, "Well, I don't know how to send you back either."

Yasuo looked at Jiang Chuan. "You can summon me here, but you can't send me back?"

Jiang Chuan thought for a moment. "There's probably a time limit, but I'm not sure. By the way, you're even more handsome than you are in the game."

Yasuo asked, puzzled, "Game?"

Jiang Chuan smiled. "In another place, you're exactly like a character in a game. Lots of people like you, and lots of people hate you."

Yasuo smiled. "Interesting. I've heard explorers talk about Bilgewater. Since you brought me here, I might as well explore the place with you until I can go back."

Jiang Chuan knew that if he told Yasuo he was a fictional character in a game, who knew what might happen? Better not to say anything.

Jiang Chuan took Yasuo back to Old Jack's Clinic. Old Jack shouted, "Roland! You little bastard, do you think this place is an inn?"

Jiang Chuan said, "Jack, we're old friends. My friend here will only stay for a couple of days. He's a good man from Ionia."

Looking at Jiang Chuan's smile, Old Jack said, "Fine, as long as he's not one of those criminals. He can sleep here, then. And think about what I told you."