Volume One: Another World Chapter 30: Are Boys’ Instincts Accurate?

The advantages of a tenfold acceleration in time went far beyond that. With such a difference in the passage of time, if Li Yu persisted in clocking in within the other world, in less than a day on Blue Star, he could complete a round of check-ins and more. He hadn’t expected such luck with his sign-ins—each of the three items he received was immensely useful.

Now, only one spot remained where he hadn’t yet checked in: the great imperial capital. Li Yu was full of anticipation. He quickly composed himself; as he was currently staying with the Qing clan, he could only first learn about the great imperial capital. One was the current seat of the Ming imperial family, commonly referred to as the great imperial capital; the other was formerly the imperial center of the Qin Empire, also known as the great imperial capital.

Regardless of which one, both were places he couldn’t reach at the moment—especially the seat of the Ming imperial family. The Qing clan would never let him go there.

Qing Zixuan followed Qing Anqi closely, while Li Yu watched from the side with great amusement. For some reason, he felt like he was witnessing his own child being courted, and he rather enjoyed seeing Qing Anqi’s embarrassed expression.

“Let’s go. I’ll help you reinforce your Lady’s Buddhist Sword technique,” Qing Anqi tugged at Li Yu’s sleeve.

“Ah, no…” Li Yu was about to refuse, but when he caught the meaning in Qing Anqi’s eyes, he immediately corrected himself, “Wonderful! It’s really generous of you to help me!”

“Li Yu, let’s hurry and go,” Qing Anqi said happily, ready to rush off, but was stopped by Qing Zixuan.

“And you are?” Qing Zixuan’s voice was cold, his gaze fixed on Li Yu. He hadn’t expected someone from the clan to intervene so abruptly.

“Kid, just call me brother,” Li Yu raised an eyebrow. This kid was quite two-faced—utterly different when speaking to Qing Anqi compared to him, even carrying a hint of threat in his tone.

Are all children this mature nowadays? Li Yu thought back to the group of children he’d seen that morning; each one had been surprisingly obedient in class.

If Li Yu had known that just last year, someone who had interrupted a conversation between Qing Zixuan and Qing Anqi had been thrown into a lake at Zixuan’s behest, he’d have deemed the boy even more dangerous.

“Master Zixuan, please stop,” Xiao Cui reached out to block Qing Zixuan. Once she was sure he wouldn’t take further action, she hurried after the departing Li Yu.

Qing Zixuan stood where he was. Although he didn’t know Xiao Cui personally, he recognized the emblem on her clothing—it was the mark of the Qing clan’s secret guards.

Clearly, Xiao Cui was not an “assassin”-type member, but rather served as a “bodyguard”—a rare position, indicating the importance of her current charge.

“Li Yu… is not of the clan,” Qing Zixuan said no more and strode away.

…

“Thank goodness for you, otherwise there’d have been no getting away today,” Qing Anqi wrinkled her nose.

She had grown weary of such situations before and had tried asking others to act as her shield, only to find that afterward, each of them suffered various mishaps—at best, a black eye or a bruised face. Qing Anqi was no fool; she had quickly learned to avoid contact with him as much as possible.

Of course, evasion was not always possible, and whenever she did get caught, she’d be entangled for ages. Had she not recalled Li Yu’s status as a “seed,” she would have resigned herself again this time.

“Then you really ought to thank me,” Li Yu chuckled. “You’re not missing any classes, right? Can you make them up later?”

“Yes,” Qing Anqi replied, then seemed to remember something. “Oh, you should be careful these days.”

“What could possibly happen to me? Is he going to take revenge?” Li Yu said with a shrug.

From the side, Xiao Cui spoke softly, “Young master, nothing will happen to you within the clan grounds.”

With that reassurance, Qing Anqi relaxed; she’d only dared to bring Li Yu out because Xiao Cui was with them.

On the way back, the three of them rode a squat, thick serpent-type beast, about four meters long, its scales pure white, with just enough room for the three of them.

Li Yu had suggested this mode of travel because it reminded him of a certain famous figure—Xu Xian—and he wanted to know what it would feel like to ride a snake.

Unfortunately, the moment the white serpent moved, Li Yu’s fantasy was shattered. “It feels just like a Gaboon viper,” he muttered.

Rather than the winding S-shaped slither he’d imagined, the serpent moved in a straight line, and Li Yu could even feel the muscular undulations of its belly beneath his seat.

…

The only redeeming feature was that the serpent’s back was an open-air seat, giving Li Yu a perfect view of the surrounding scenery.

The Qing clan’s domain was vast, yet not crowded; in many places there were areas set aside for rest and play. It was less a family estate than an entire city populated solely by members of the Qing clan.

The fact that one needed transportation to get around even while idly strolling spoke volumes…

“I don’t recall seeing this lake on our way here,” Li Yu remarked curiously.

“It wasn’t,” Xiao Cui replied. “This route is a bit of a detour, but it offers more scenic spots along the way.”

“A detour…” Li Yu suddenly felt uneasy. In TV dramas, something always seemed to happen at moments like this.

The white serpent sped along, and in the blink of an eye, they were nearly through this stretch of road. It seemed his masculine intuition was off, and Li Yu let out a sigh of relief. But just as the serpent slithered onto an arched bridge, disaster struck!

The bridge trembled violently, then split suddenly down the middle, dust billowing as several dark figures darted out.

“Who goes there!” Xiao Cui shouted, bracing herself on the edge of the seat and reaching for the safety straps.

At that moment, the white serpent’s head was engulfed in smoke. Its eyes instantly turned blood-red, and it went berserk, plunging straight through the gap in the bridge into the lake below.

“Young master! Princess!”

In the nick of time, Xiao Cui unfastened her safety strap and leaped onto the fractured edge of the bridge. The shadowy figures briefly blocked her way, then dove into the water as well, vanishing from sight.

It all happened in an instant. In the next moment, Li Yu and Qing Anqi were carried into the lake by the white serpent, while Xiao Cui waited on the ruined bridge. Soon enough, a squad of armored soldiers arrived in haste.

“My lady,” the lead soldier recognized the token in Xiao Cui’s hand and ordered, “Spread out and search the area.”

“That’s not necessary,” Xiao Cui put away the token. “Just send someone to repair the bridge.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

At the same time, Qing Yi stood before Qing Heng, reporting in detail the events on the bridge.

“If one never faces adversity, how can they appreciate the good of the Qing clan?” Qing Heng smiled. “Just make sure nothing goes wrong in the aftermath. Anqi is with him—pay close attention to avoid any mishaps.”

…

The depths of this lakeshore were unfathomable, and the white serpent moved at great speed. In no time, it plunged deep into the darkness, with barely any light above.

Li Yu, the moment he hit the water, circulated his spiritual power to keep his head above the surface, holding his breath. He glanced back: Xiao Cui was no longer in her seat, and Qing Anqi’s face was frozen in panic.

“Damn it,” Li Yu muttered, unfastening his safety belt and swimming toward Qing Anqi to unbuckle hers, only to have her, in her panic, clutch his arm in a vise-like grip.

This greatly hampered Li Yu’s movements. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw several shadowy figures swiftly approaching.

The best option at that moment was to abandon Qing Anqi and swim away from the white serpent as quickly as possible. The black-clad assailants were most likely after her, and if he distanced himself, perhaps they would leave him alone.

Li Yu sighed. This was no land of law—many choices here were gambles with one’s life.

He reached out, grasping Qing Anqi’s hand, which clung tightly to his own.