Haicheng City, South City Police Station.
At half past two in the afternoon, people streamed in and out of the station lobby. Some were there to deal with traffic violations, some had lost their ID cards, and even a couple had come in to settle a fight. The place was as noisy as a marketplace.
Just then, the glass doors to the lobby swung open.
A little boy who looked no older than six walked in.
He wore a coarse robe that looked as if it had been made from burlap sacks, straw sandals on his feet, and a length of straw rope around his waist. He carried the smell of soil and grass with him.
His outfit made him look like an extra who had just wandered off the set of some historical drama.
With his hands clasped behind his back and his brows knitted, the little fellow strode solemnly through the crowd and headed straight for the reception desk.
And then...
He disappeared!
There was no helping it. The reception desk was too tall, and he was too short. It blocked him from view completely.
Xiao Lin, the policewoman on duty, was looking down as she sorted through some files when she suddenly heard a childish yet remarkably steady tapping from beneath the desk.
"Knock, knock, knock."
Xiao Lin leaned over to look down, then burst out laughing.
The little vagrant was straining to stand on tiptoe, gazing up at her with a tiny, exquisitely pretty face and an utterly serious expression.
"Hey, little guy, did you get separated from your mom?"
Overcome with maternal affection, Xiao Lin fished a lollipop out of her pocket and offered it to him.
"Don't be scared. Tell your big sister your name, and I'll help you find your mom. Oh, goodness, who dressed you? That outfit's pretty retro. Are you cosplaying as a beggar gang member?"
Su Yun glanced at the strawberry-flavored lollipop held out to him, and the corner of his mouth twitched.
He sighed and didn't take the candy. Instead, he braced both hands on the edge of the desk, trying to make himself look more imposing, though it looked more like he was attempting a pull-up.
"Officer, please watch your wording. I'm not lost. I'm here to turn myself in."
"Pfft..."
Old Zhang, who was passing by with a thermos in his arms, burst out laughing.
"Oh, come on. Kids these days watch too many cartoons. Turn yourself in? What'd you do, steal cookies from kindergarten?"
Su Yun turned his head and gave Old Zhang a glance that seemed to see through the vicissitudes of life. He ignored the teasing and looked back at Xiao Lin, calmly reciting a name and address.
"Su Yun, male, formerly a resident of Building 14, Unit 502, Riverside Garden Phase Three, Haicheng City. ID number: 310xxxxxxxxx... I want to see your station chief."
Xiao Lin froze.
It wasn't anything else. The child had recited the ID number far too smoothly, and that address...
It really was in their precinct, in an old residential community.
Out of professional habit, she instinctively entered the number into the computer system and hit Enter.
The next second, Xiao Lin's expression changed.
The file that appeared on the screen wasn't a child's record. It was an ID photo of a young man.
And beside the photo, two bright red characters stood out like a sore thumb: [Missing].
"Little guy..."
Xiao Lin's voice tightened as she stared at the notes on the screen.
"Whose ID number did you memorize? The system says this person is named Su Yun. He went missing at the age of twenty-three. If he's still alive, he should be twenty-nine now..."
"And,"
Old Zhang came over too. He glanced at the screen, his brows furrowing into a deep frown, and his tone turned stern.
"The file says Su Yun's parents both died. He was an orphan and had no relatives. How do you know about him? Who taught you?"
Su Yun looked at their wary expressions and helplessly rubbed his brow.
As expected, explaining this was going to be a pain.
"I'm Su Yun."
Su Yun pointed at his own nose and spoke in a childish yet perfectly enunciated voice.
"Six years ago, I fell into a sewer and traveled to another world. Now I'm back, though I came back by traveling through time and space. My body is only six years old, but at heart I'm still the same legal citizen."
"Don't be ridiculous!"
Old Zhang slammed his thermos down on the table.
"Little guy, lying is a bad habit! You're only six, and that Su Yun went missing when you were probably just born! How could you be the same person? Tell us the truth. Where are your parents?"
Su Yun felt exhausted, and, more importantly, hungry.
He'd spent the whole day running around Douluo Continent, going through his awakening ceremony and fending off Su Yuntao's recruitment offer.
Now that he'd finally made it back to Earth, he still had to put on a whole show to prove who he was at the police station.
He should've asked Su Yuntao for a steamed bun before coming back.
"Forget it. Adults only believe what they see."
Su Yun shook his head and fixed his gaze on the thermos Old Zhang had just set on the counter.
"Officer, could I borrow that cup?"
"Huh? You want some water?"
Old Zhang laughed in exasperation.
"Fine, have a drink. Then you can tell us your parents' phone number."
Su Yun suddenly stepped back, clearing a patch of space.
He closed his eyes and sharply slashed one small hand through the air!
"Martial Soul, awaken!"
He had only ten levels of Soul Power, and he was only a six-year-old child, but at that moment, an energy fluctuation from another world made the air throughout the lobby go still.
Hum—!
The lights in the lobby suddenly flickered, crackling with electricity.
As Old Zhang, Xiao Lin, and more than a dozen onlookers stared in utter disbelief, the air in front of Su Yun seemed to tear open under the force of an invisible hand.
A pitch-black gate, swirling with a vortex of dark blue light, appeared out of thin air on the tiled floor!
The Light Gate wasn't tall, only about a meter and a half, just high enough for six-year-old Su Yun to crawl through.
On the other side lay a lush stretch of wild grassland, nothing like the landscaped greenery found in a city. They could even see a pink rabbit grazing there. It looked up in confusion, and its ruby-red eyes met the wide-eyed stares of everyone in the police station through the gate.
"Holy... crap?!"
Old Zhang was so startled that he fell flat on his bottom. The lid flew off his thermos, and a string of profanity slipped out.
The lobby fell instantly silent. Everyone froze in their original positions, as if someone had hit pause.
Before anyone could even react in terror, Su Yun moved quickly and snatched the thermos off the counter.
Then, the little figure took a step forward and darted straight into the swirling dark blue vortex!
"Hey! Don't go in! It's dangerous!"
Xiao Lin cried out and instinctively reached for him, but caught only empty air. Her fingers touched the edge of the Light Gate, and an icy chill shot through her to the bone.
Everyone in the lobby held their breath, staring fixedly at the gate to the unknown.
Not even twenty seconds later,
a muddy little foot stepped through first, followed by Su Yun's calm little face. His burlap clothes looked even dirtier now, with a few blades of grass clinging to them.
He was still clutching Old Zhang's oversized stainless steel thermos, but now it was packed full of fresh... grass, with damp soil still clinging to the roots.
Blue Silver Grass!
Su Yun held out this otherworldly souvenir to Old Zhang, who was staring at it in a daze. His little face was remarkably calm for a boy his age.
"This grass is called Blue Silver Grass. It grows everywhere in the world on the other side. Do you believe now that the ID number belongs to me?"
Su Yun paused, rubbed his empty stomach, and added,
"Also, Police Uncle, could you get me a KFC family bucket first? The kind with egg tarts. I spent all day waiting in line for my Martial Soul awakening over there. I'm really hungry."
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