Return

Ye Wan, who had been standing nearby, heard this and dispersed the onlookers, allowing the two to talk in peace.

"Consider it a reward for winning that endgame just now? Fine," Li Shutong replied.

"Did you play that harmonica piece just now?" Qing Chen asked.

Ye Wan and Lin Xiaoxiao were clearly stunned. They had thought Qing Chen would use the opportunity he earned from winning the game to ask something important, but he was only asking about the song?

The tune was lovely, and it had never circulated outside, but surely it was not worth wasting such an important opportunity over.

Li Shutong looked up with a warm smile. "That was me. What is it? Is this your first time hearing that melody?"

Qing Chen thought for a moment. "It sounded very nice."

"Mm." Only after the crowd had dispersed did Li Shutong nod and answer, "It was composed by our organization's founder. He wrote the lyrics too."

Qing Chen stood there dumbfounded for a long time, unable to say a word. He really wanted to say: I bet your founder was from Earth!

And that founder seemed a little shameless too. He had plagiarized a song and passed it off as his own work.

Wait, how long had Li Shutong's organization existed? And when had that senior transmigrator crossed over?

Qing Chen asked again, "Could you sing the whole thing for me? I want to hear it."

Li Shutong said, "Sure, but the lyrics to this song are not very complete. Over the long years, things are always lost in that river of time."

"That's fine. I just want to listen," Qing Chen said. He wanted to confirm whether the lyrics were the same as on Earth.

Li Shutong picked up the Big Cat from the table and held it in his arms, then began to sing softly: "Beyond the long pavilion, beside the ancient road, green grass stretches to the blue sky. The evening breeze brushes the willows, and the flute's notes fade. Beyond mountain after mountain, the setting sun falls. At the edge of heaven, at the corner of earth, partings come all too often..."

After singing, Li Shutong smiled. "The line 'partings come all too often' was added by later generations. They say it was not originally like that, but no matter how they tried to fill it in, it always seemed to lack something."

After standing silently for a long while, Qing Chen suddenly said, "How about 'half of old friends have scattered'?"

"Half of old friends have scattered?" Li Shutong froze.

For some reason, he felt that only those five words were worthy of this song.

Farewell, farewell. People were like the lingering glow of the setting sun, while kindred spirits stood far away at the ends of the earth.

In their youth, they drank and laughed together, their lives as vibrant as midsummer.

Yet no one knew which farewell would become the last meeting, after which they would never see each other again.

It was as though Li Shutong, sitting in this prison, could see an orange-red sun sinking beyond the horizon while an old friend waved to him from afar.

After waving, that friend turned and left.

"Thank you," Li Shutong said. "That fits perfectly. It feels as if that line was meant to be part of the song all along."

"You're welcome," Qing Chen said, shamelessly accepting the praise.

Li Shutong said wistfully, "Sometimes I am truly amazed. Our founder was such a brilliant man. It is said that he wrote countless songs and lyrics back then, each one a timeless classic. But when the previous epoch ended, they were all lost. Only this one song remained."

"Only one left? That's really a pity," Qing Chen thought. Li Shutong had directly mentioned the previous epoch. That senior transmigrator must have come here a very, very long time ago.

An epoch was not a unit of time, but the beginning of a new civilization.

It seemed humanity here had already gone through the transition of one epoch, though he had no idea what had happened.

"There is another song whose title is known, but no one knows its melody. Our predecessors searched many ruins but never found the score," Li Shutong said with a shake of his head.

Qing Chen hesitated for two seconds before cautiously asking, "What's the song called?"

Li Shutong glanced at him. "Canon."

If Qing Chen had still harbored doubts about the founder being a transmigrator before, now he was completely certain.

Canon was actually a musical form and compositional technique. Many symphonic works used canon passages, such as Beethoven's "Fate Symphony" and Bach's "Five Canonic Variations."

But if that person had truly copied it from Earth, then the melody was probably Pachelbel's "Canon in D Major."

Qing Chen wondered whether, given Li Shutong's attitude toward the founder, giving him the score to Canon could earn him that path beyond the ordinary.

He was not sure. He could not even explain where he had gotten the score.

He would wait a little longer. Qing Chen did not know Canon's score by heart anyway. He would weigh things carefully after returning.

Their conversation ended, and Qing Chen went straight through the crowd to the reading area. He desperately needed to catch up on sleep. Even if he skipped dinner, he had to sleep first.

Only by keeping himself in peak mental condition could he analyze the situation around him at any time.

But not long after he laid his head on a table in the reading area, Lu Guangyi cautiously followed him over.

Lu Guangyi wanted to speak with Qing Chen, but he was afraid of being seen, so he anxiously scratched at his ears and cheeks outside the reading area.

Qing Chen raised his head expressionlessly and looked at him. "You don't need to be so careful. Li Shutong already knows about our relationship. But don't worry, he doesn't seem to mind. Also, go take care of your own business first. Don't disturb me."

Prison No. 18 was covered in surveillance cameras. Even when prisoners held welcome ceremonies for newcomers, they had to hide in their cells, so sleeping in the reading area was safe.

Qing Chen actually wanted to sound Lu Guangyi out and figure out what the Qing family's plans were.

But with his return imminent, he did not want to stir up any unnecessary trouble.

So he decided to send Lu Guangyi away first, then consider how best to pry information from him after returning.

Yet Lu Guangyi did not leave. Instead, he muttered quietly beside him, "Boss, I've thought about it for a long time and still don't know what I should call you. Boss is still the smoothest."

"You've probably heard Qing Yan mention me. I've had a hard life since I was little. My father even sold my kidney to some rich man for money and got me a bionic replacement. Tell me, if even my parents didn't care about me, who would? Later, I heard Qing Yan say that you personally named me to come in and scout the way because you valued my abilities. I was overjoyed! Don't worry, Boss. This time, I, Lu Guangyi, will brave fire and water for you without hesitation. I'd even die for you!"

"But before I die, I still have one regret. You know I never got much schooling, but ever since I was little, I've admired educated people..."

Qing Chen finally could not take it anymore. "What exactly are you trying to say?"

Lu Guangyi said, "Can you teach me how to play Chinese chess?"

"Why do you want to learn chess?" Qing Chen was taken aback.

"Because it's cool!" Lu Guangyi said. "Boss, even someone like Li Shutong became your defeated opponent. Isn't that cool?"

"Is winning one or two games of chess really that impressive?" Qing Chen shook his head.

"Of course it is! I can't beat him in a fight, so being able to beat him at chess even once is impressive!" Lu Guangyi said matter-of-factly.

That gave Qing Chen pause. From Lu Guangyi's tone, Li Shutong seemed to be extremely powerful in a fight?

Lu Guangyi continued, "I really never expected that after coming in here, you would get to know Li Shutong and get along with him so well. Given his status in Prison No. 18, he might know where the thing we're looking for is. And if you can obtain his inheritance, then Shadow Struggle will probably be in the bag."

The amount of information in that sentence was enormous. Qing Chen finally understood why he had come here... to find something.

And he was involved in some kind of contest.

Yet Qing Chen still did not know what Li Shutong's inheritance was. He only knew it was extremely important.

Qing Chen thought for a moment. "Fine, I'll teach you Chinese chess. Can you stay farther away from me now?"

"Sure, sure," Lu Guangyi said, then ran off toward the recreation area in a flash.

At night, the countdown read 00:05:00.

Qing Chen sat on the cold bed, quietly watching the white countdown on his arm.

The gears within the countdown turned slowly. Only five minutes remained until his return.

He was not sure whether he would ever come back here. Those two days had felt like a dream. He had met several people and caught a glimpse of a different world.

The uniqueness of Lin Xiaoxiao and Li Shutong had finally made him look forward to this world.

It was as though a New World had opened its gates for him.

Qing Chen thought for a moment, then used the end of his toothbrush to carve the words "I was here" into the wooden bedframe.

Then he pinched his arm until a purple bruise formed, wanting to see what would happen if he returned to Earth with an injury.

Countdown.

10.

9.

8.

7.

6.

5.

4.

3.

2.

1.

The world shattered again, and that familiar darkness finally descended.

Return.

Only 800 votes remained before reaching the top ten in monthly votes. Charge!

Thanks to Huan Yu for becoming this book's Silver Alliance Leader. What a generous boss—may you have blessings as vast as the Eastern Sea and a life as long as the Southern Mountains!