Chapter 33

"Come on, Qin Yi, can you stop acting like an unweaned child?" Inside the space, Andre rolled his eyes in exasperation. "You're seriously the most spineless reborn person I've ever seen. Can't you learn from Xiang Shaolong?"

"..." Qin Yi still looked at Qin Rong somewhat awkwardly.

"Can't you live without him?" Andre mocked in a homely tone. "Can't you be a little more independent? You're only going to another plane to have some fun. With me protecting you, you can treat it as nothing more than a dream. Do you not even have that much courage?"

Seeing how deeply Andre had thrown himself into it, Qin Yi tugged at the corner of his mouth with a half-smile.

"What kind of expression is that!" Andre's chattering voice gradually faded away until it disappeared entirely, but he still asked indignantly.

"Are you really that bored?" Qin Yi asked.

"Of course not!" Andre blinked guiltily.

"Anyway, our current methods for collecting Faith Power on Earth aren't working very well anymore. How about this? Didn't Lord Lovi ask us to become divine envoys of their Demon Cult last time? We can take this chance to visit other temples and see whether there's any leftover Faith Power on other statues," Qin Yi said.

"Sure, sure!" Andre immediately became excited.

"By the way, apart from stealing it, don't you have any other effective ways to gather Faith Power?" Remembering something, Qin Yi suddenly asked.

"... Don't make it sound so ugly! I'm only activating the residual power of thought within the statues!" Andre looked left and right as he spoke, refusing to answer Qin Yi's question directly.

"..." Qin Yi looked back at Qin Rong once more, then sighed and scratched his head. "Forget it! One fresh trick can feed you everywhere. Making do with this method isn't bad for now, so just find a few more planes like this!"

"Alright!" Andre said excitedly. As soon as he finished speaking, the scenery around them slowly changed, and Qin Yi subconsciously closed his eyes...

When he opened them again, he was already standing atop a small hill whose name he did not know. Qin Yi examined himself and discovered that, at some point, he had changed into an ancient long robe. The moon-white robe gave him rather the air of a wealthy young gentleman. Qin Yi raised his brows in praise of Andre's efficiency at changing clothes. Looking at the utterly deserted scenery around him, though, he felt troubled.

"Andre, where is this place?" Qin Yi asked.

"China. Ancient times. Chang'an." Andre sounded a little excited. "There's absolutely no way I got it wrong this time."

"..." What did he mean, no way he got it wrong?! Hadn't they agreed to go to Kate's plane? Qin Yi suddenly found the whole thing both laughable and exasperating. How had he ended up with such an unreliable god?

"Hey, hey, what kind of expression is that? Wasn't traveling to the Three Kingdoms Period your dream back then?" Andre asked, sensing Qin Yi's thoughts.

Forget it. What boy with even a little ambition didn't like the Three Kingdoms era? He would count it as a perk of being with a fake god like Andre! Qin Yi consoled himself.

"Getting a bargain and still acting coy, huh~" Andre said in a strange tone from within the space.

"Are you sure this is the Three Kingdoms era?" Qin Yi asked casually as he surveyed the surroundings. He always felt there was an indescribable sense of wrongness somewhere.

"Of course it's the Three Kingdoms!" Andre declared with absolute certainty. "I prepared for this one for a long time!"

Hearing Andre say that only made Qin Yi feel even less assured. Generally speaking, anything Andre had guaranteed with absolute certainty ended up wildly different from the original plan.

"What kind of expression is that!" Andre shouted when he saw Qin Yi's face full of suspicion.

"Forget it, it's nothing." Qin Yi rubbed his nose. Things had already come to this; saying anything more was useless. He could only take one step at a time.

"Andre, which way should I go?"

"East. Walk east for two kilometers, and you'll reach Chang'an City," Andre said casually.

"..." Qin Yi had not wanted to ask, but after considering it for a long while, he still asked quietly, "Which direction is east?"

"..."

In Andre's silent pause, Qin Yi suddenly felt terribly embarrassed. Just as he was about to pretend not to care and pick a direction at random, Andre's voice drifted out faintly. "Go left..."

Author's note: Because the company has recently expanded its business, Little Eight has not had much time to get online lately, so updates will be irregular for a while. Little Eight will do their best~~~ ╭(╯3╰)╮ You can let the chapters pile up first~~

☆, Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Chang'an City meant "lasting order and eternal peace." In ancient China, it had served as the capital for several dynasties and remained the most prosperous city in the world for centuries. Even today, Chang'an's charm still drew countless visitors from all times and places to come sightseeing.

Qin Yi had visited Chang'an in his previous life, but by then it had already become a modern metropolis. High-rises of steel and concrete, brimming with modern flavor, had sliced the city into fragments of broken memories. Smooth asphalt roads had replaced the bluestone paths rich with the atmosphere of ancient times. The clamorous crowds and the roar of machinery throughout the city proclaimed its prosperity, yet the majestic grandeur of myriad nations coming to pay tribute, described in books, had long aged and dried with history, never to exist again.

Now, this Chang'an City from who knew how many thousands of years ago lay quietly before his eyes. Its city walls were tall and thick, while a broad plaque hung above the gate, inscribed with ancient characters Qin Yi did not recognize. Still, he knew they likely read "Chang'an." Before he had even entered, an immense grandeur carrying the fragrance of earth rushed toward him.

No words could describe what he felt at that moment. Chang'an stood plainly and directly before him.

Qin Yi swallowed excitedly. Those programs and television dramas in later generations that clamored about perfectly restoring ancient culture had all been packaged in a modern commercial atmosphere. Only now, standing here in person, did Qin Yi understand what it meant to possess prosperity that had ranked first in the world for several consecutive eras, and what it meant to have the bearing of myriad nations coming to pay tribute. At that moment, Qin Yi suddenly recalled visiting Beijing's Forbidden City in his previous life. The sky had been nearing dusk then, and he had sat in a helicopter, gazing down from above at the Forbidden City's majestic grandeur beneath the afterglow of the setting sun. What he felt now was ten times more magnificent than that.

His mind was a mess at the moment, as muddled and incapable of thought as the author's perpetually chaotic logic. It was not until someone could no longer stand watching and strode over in great steps that he snapped out of it. In a deep voice, the person asked, "What are you here for? Are you entering the city, or doing something else?"

Qin Yi came back to himself and looked at the person before him. He was only sixteen or seventeen, with a somewhat youthful yet exceptionally handsome face. His lips habitually pressed into a straight line, revealing his serious disposition. At that moment, he was trying hard to widen his eyes and stare at Qin Yi with an imposing expression.

"It's like this. I came from a small place and have never seen Chang'an City's prosperity. I had always heard my elders say that Chang'an was incomparably flourishing. Seeing it today, I lost myself for a moment. I hope the officer will not take offense," Qin Yi said slowly with a smile.

"Is that so?" The young officer seemed somewhat pleased upon hearing that. "I've lived in Chang'an since I was little. Actually, Chang'an is much more prosperous now than it used to be. Since the new emperor ascended the throne, he has issued many decrees, and life has become much more prosperous than before. A West Market has also been opened within Chang'an. You'll understand once you go inside."

"Really?" Qin Yi's eyes widened excitedly. Thanks to Andre, even his travel benefits were better than anyone else's.

"Of course." The officer smiled smugly, pride written all over his face. "The East Market is liveliest during the day, while the West Market is liveliest at night. It's brightly lit, illuminating the entire Chang'an City as if it were daylight. Every household competes to hang lamps they have made themselves outside their gates. That is what you call beautiful!"

"Then many thanks. I'll go in and take a look right away." Qin Yi clasped his hands toward the young officer impatiently and lifted his foot to head inside.

"Wait. Where is your entry permit? Let me see it," the young officer said, reaching out to stop Qin Yi.

"What entry permit?" Qin Yi asked with wide eyes.

"An entry permit is a token issued by the authorities that allows people to freely enter and leave the city gates. But it seems this is your first time in Chang'an, so you probably don't have one. Then what about your travel pass?" The young officer muttered to himself for a few moments before asking again.

"A travel pass..." Qin Yi inwardly cried that this was bad. He was a time-space smuggler, not a native resident. Where would he get a travel pass? Would he be arrested as a spy?

A faint sense of unease rose within him. Qin Yi habitually scratched his head, lowered it, and began thinking of a solution.

"Well... if you don't have a travel pass, that's alright too. If you're an arts master, you can enter and leave freely," the young officer said. Qin Yi seemed muddleheaded, but his clothing marked him as either wealthy or noble, and he also possessed a peculiar air about him. The officer did not dare offend him too badly, so he cautiously offered another suggestion.

"An arts master? What arts master?" Qin Yi said in astonishment. Could he mean those wandering charlatans who went through streets and alleys swindling people? Were their statuses really so high?

"Someone powerful like those people who can ride swords through the air," the young officer said helplessly, pointing overhead.

"..." Qin Yi's gaze instinctively followed the young officer's finger upward. The sight that met his eyes made his face go dark—

A middle-aged man dressed in blue robes and wearing a bound crown stood atop a flying sword, his expression serene as he drifted unsteadily over the city wall and into Chang'an City...

"..." Qin Yi had the urge to throw back his head and howl at the heavens.

"Young master?" Seeing that Qin Yi had gone silent, the young officer called cautiously.

The feeling of powerlessness gradually spread throughout Qin Yi's body. He could not even be bothered to settle accounts with Andre anymore. Weakly, he said to the young officer, "Yes, I'm an arts master. Can I go in now?"

As he spoke, he made to walk inside.

"Well..." The young officer stopped him again, looking uneasy. "Arts master, please forgive me. Generally, arts masters fly directly over the city wall. If you wish to enter through the gate, you must either show your arts master token or demonstrate your abilities."

This was also to prevent ordinary people from mixing in among arts masters to evade the authorities' inspection. However, some arts masters had extremely strange tempers, and such actions could make them feel insulted. Therefore, the officers guarding the city found this very difficult to handle. If things went wrong, they would be beaten; sometimes, they might not even keep their lives. Thus, the young officer was extremely uneasy as well, afraid that one wrong move would offend the person before him.

"Oh, I see!" Qin Yi brushed his fingers over his hair. He could understand that—proving one's identity. Then he mobilized the true qi within his body and snapped his fingers. A fireball suddenly appeared in his hand...

"Is this enough?" Qin Yi asked with a smile.

The young officer was startled. He had seen quite a few arts masters; his own family even kept several, and he himself had apprenticed under one of them. Yet ordinary people had to silently recite incantations before casting spells. He had never seen anyone release a spell so cleanly and decisively. He could not help feeling even more fortunate that he had not offended Qin Yi earlier.

"Yes, yes." The young officer nodded and bowed.

"Then I'll head in now." Qin Yi smiled at the young officer. "Thank you for listening to me ramble for so long."

"Wait!" The young officer suddenly called out as Qin Yi started to leave. Then he bowed and said, "May I ask whether the arts master has a place to stay in Chang'an City? If not, my family is fairly well-off. The arts master may stay at my home."