He put down his phone, feeling a chill down his spine.
It felt like a scene straight out of a "blood-splattering-five-steps" sequence.
"Ahem...so, where did you say you're from?" He glanced at the iron dart embedded in the TV and felt this was no trivial matter.
Did she come from the Wuqiao Acrobatic Troupe?
Mr. Zhao, being of such an old age, might not survive a blow from a sword.
"Those people just now...how did they come out?"
The girl, like a startled rabbit, found everything before her defying her comprehension.
"And who were you talking to?"
"I..."
Xu Qing looked at the girl standing outside the door, dressed in coarse cloth and straw sandals, sword in one hand and scabbard in the other, and a bold idea began to rise from the bottom of his heart.
No way...
But this wasn't the Wuqiao style of dress either!
Nor would they casually throw a dart into a TV and draw a sword at the slightest disagreement.
The straw sandals even exposed her toes, could she afford the damages?!
"Um...put away the sword first. I'm a good person, see? I even brought you an umbrella just now." He nudged the umbrella leaning nearby with his toe, trying to calm this baffling girl.
The girl looked at the umbrella, then at him, and then at the now destroyed TV on the wall, she pondered for a moment and slowly sheathed her Longsword with a clink that made Xu Qing grimace.
It was definitely the real deal.
"What's your name? Where are you from?"
"Jiang He, a disciple of the Salt Gang."
"Ah, Jiang He...that's a powerful name." Xu Qing chuckled, then changed the subject, "This Salt Gang of yours...is it big? Where is it located?"
Hearing her mention the Salt Gang several times, Xu Qing secretly guessed it must be a sizeable group.
"The Salt Gang from Gusu, you haven't heard of it?" Jiang He frowned slightly, looking around the room again and involuntarily bit her lip.
That settled it, even without asking, this place must be very far from home.
"I've never heard of it. Do you want to, um..."
Xu Qing was torn, should he invite this girl with a weapon into his home, or should he coax her out, lock the door, and call the police?
He was still baffled, sipping cola and petting his cat; life was going so smoothly until his TV was destroyed, and the culprit was standing at his door with a sword.
Good deeds are difficult, and being a good person is even harder.
As they both stared at each other in silence, Xu Qing took another glance at her toes sticking out of the straw sandals, her wet clothes clinging to her body, and her hair stuck together from the rain. He gritted his teeth and took two steps back.
"Why don't you come in first? Standing there, if someone sees you...with a weapon...the police station is right across the street."
He gestured, not sure if the girl could understand him.
She didn't seem crazy, at least.
"It's best to close the door, right...I'm a good person, I can help you. If you have any problems, you can talk to me."
"I want to go home."
"Where is your home?"
"The Salt Gang."
"..."
Xu Qing felt a headache coming on.
"This is the Jiahe Community on North Overlooking Road in Yongkang New District, Jiangcheng..."
Seeing the girl's puzzled face, he tentatively asked, "Do you know Jiangcheng?"
Jiang He shook her head.
"You can't possibly be from ancient times, can you? What a joke! Who's the emperor?"
"The Emperor?" She perked up and pursed her lips as she looked at Xu Qing.
??
Xu Qing was shocked.
The Emperor?!
"Then... then..." he hesitated for a moment, "Which emperor are we talking about?"
"The Emperor is the Emperor."
"..."
He scratched his head, feeling vexed.
"What year is it now?"
Jiang He gave him a strange look, seemingly not understanding what he meant. After a pause, she said with that bizarre accent, "The sixteenth year of Kaiyuan."
"...give me a moment to look it up on Baidu."
Xu Qing felt goosebumps all over, realizing that this girl...er, this young heroine wasn't joking, as he shakily picked up his phone to search.
Kaiyuan... the sixteenth year.
His eyes grew wider and wider as he struggled to suppress his heartbeat and took a deep breath, "Emperor Xuanzong of Tang?"
"Huh?" Jiang He was puzzled.
"..."
"..."
"Oh right, this is something you get after you die." Xu Qing smacked his forehead and then ventured, "Li... Longji?"
Seeing Jiang He's surprised expression, Xu Qing looked around, "Sister, destroying other people's property is illegal, if you're filming a show... never mind."
The girl standing at the door was as straight as a pole, with an aura of vigor, a heroic stance, that sword, those toes...
He blinked and blinked, his mind in a chaotic mess, spouting nonsense for a bit before he looked down to search on his phone, "Li Bai... Li Taibai, do you know the Hermit of the Azure Lotus?"
Jiang He was taken aback, then showed a hint of excitement, "You know him? Where is he?"
"Uh... he might be in the canyon farming wild monsters."
Xu Qing felt a twinge of pain in his tooth, what was this?
A conversation separated by twelve hundred years?
"I..."
Knock knock knock.
"Delivery!"
Jiang He spun around, sword in hand, facing the doorway.
"Uh, step back first, someone is bringing me food, they're not bad people." Xu Qing scratched his head, "Yeah, move over there, don't let people see you."
"A servant?"
"...Not exactly, just delivering some food."
Hearing this, Jiang He reluctantly stepped behind the door, the sword already half-drawn from its scabbard.
Having arrived in this bizarre place filled with oddities, she couldn't help but be cautious.
"Don't worry, I am a good person."
Xu Qing tried to remain calm as he approached, whispered a soothing word, opened the door a crack to receive his burger combo, and quickly shut the door tight, lifting up the delivery bag to signal Jiang He.
"Food."
He paused, then continued to ask, "Are you hungry? Want to eat together?"
Jiang He hesitated for a moment, then slowly shook her head, but her sword was already back in its sheath.
"Why do all of you shave your heads?" Seeing Xu Qing sit back down on the couch, she pondered a moment and voiced her confusion, "Could it be that this place..."
"Wait, what do you mean 'all of us'?" Xu Qing was curious, as when he received the delivery she stood behind the door; technically, she shouldn't have seen the delivery guy in yellow.
And even if she had, he was wearing a helmet anyway.
"Two hours ago when I first arrived here, I took a look outside."
"You went outside?"
"Yes."
Xu Qing's heart skipped a beat, "You didn't get into any conflicts, did you?"
Two hours ago... that's when the rain started to pour, and with someone like her, so ready to draw her sword at any moment, there was a good chance she might start indiscriminately killing.
This seemed to have gone too far.
"No, I just walked around."
"That's a relief."
"You haven't answered my question."
"How to put this... you can consider it a local custom, there isn't any special reason."
"Oh."
Xu Qing chewed on his burger, trying to sort out his thoughts, casually picked up a chicken wrap to offer her, "Have a bite, you've definitely never had this before."
"No need." Jiang He swallowed, shaking her head in refusal.
"Then have some water, I already have mine, this cup is for you." He shook the coke he had opened earlier and pushed forward the one that came with the burger combo, "It's sweet, you've probably never had it before."
"...Are you looking down on me?"
"No!"
Jiang He frowned, feeling that everything was odd, "What are you eating? Isn't it supposed to be a meal?"
"Right, anything that fills the stomach counts as a meal." Xu Qing held the burger up to explain, "This is called a burger... hey!"
Bang.
The coke he placed on the edge of the table toppled over from his elbow nudge, falling to the floor, fizzing with bubbles on the brown liquid.
Both of their gazes fell on it, casting the room into an eerie silence.
"..."
"..."
Clang!
"Crap, it's a misunderstanding!"