Chapter 5: Refugee
Translator: 9inetales
Sponsor(s): n/a
Xu Qing was a very progressive person.
He would rather move forward than stay entangled in the same position. Every journey began with the first step, so he was naturally happy with their recent interactions.
Time ticked by. It was already 8 o’clock in the night when Jiang He finally laid down her chopsticks.
Xu Qing also dropped his pen around the same time. He grouped the lunch box and packaging together before pushing them to the side of the table.
After he was done, he twiddled the iron dart in one hand and said, “Now that you’re full, let’s talk. As I said before, you came from twelve hundred years in the past. I’m not sure whether you’ve accepted this fact or not, but our conversation will be centered around this issue. Do you understand?”
As the saying goes: Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.
Jiang He stroked her warm stomach. Although she was unwilling to accept her current circumstances, she didn’t act up like before. Instead, she kept her turbulent thoughts to herself and nodded, deciding to listen to what he had to say.
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Taking her silence as the cue to continue, he muttered, “First of all, I’d like to repeat that it’s absolutely safe here. At least, it’s safe in this room. Not to get too serious, but let’s say you end up cutting me down. As long as my body’s stink doesn’t alert anyone, you could hide here without starving for a while— around a week or seven days.
He paused and observed Jiang He’s posture but garnered no reaction from her. He then continued, “So you don’t have to worry about your wellbeing while staying here. For now, I recommended familiarizing yourself with the things in this house...like this for instance,” Xu Qing tapped the destroyed TV with the dart, “It’s a tool that shows moving images and makes sounds. It’s completely harmless and is only a recreational thing. There are many other things like it.”
He took out his phone, searched for the music player, and selected a piece at random. A catchy tune started to play. Jiang He flinched slightly, fixating her gaze on the phone. Without realizing it, her head bobbed occasionally in rhythm to the beat.
“The only reason I’m explaining this is for you to feel more comfortable. It’s normal for me to do things that you can’t comprehend so try not to misunderstand what I do in the future. Don’t get me wrong, I won’t do anything bad to you.”
Xu Qing turned off the music and leaned into the softness of the sofa. He gave her a solemn look, “Do you understand so far?”
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He was thinking of giving Jiang He the necessary vaccine shots first. However, before that, he didn’t want any accidents caused by her confusion. This involved the safety of himself and others.
Jiang He nodded under his serious gaze.
“Now for the outside. This one is a bit tricky. This world is peaceful for the most part. Everyone lives and works toward bettering society so that they can live in contentment. But although the outside is safe for me, it can’t be considered the same for you.”
“Why?”
“Because right now you’re a menace— ehem, you’d cause harm to others.”
Xu Qing decided to think and explain slowly, “It’s like...the palace? Yeah, the palace! If you wander around with dangerous weapons in the palace, you would definitely be stopped or even apprehended. You can think of it like that.”
“Hold on for a second.” Xu Qing got up and went to his bedroom to retrieve his wallet. He took out his ID card and presented it to Jiang He.
“This is an identification certificate of sorts. Everyone has one. The information here shows your name and date of birth. If someone commits a crime or does something bad, just issue a wanted order in accordance with what’s listed here.”
“There are many authorities on the streets. They check your identification from time to time to ensure criminals don’t freely roam around.”
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“People who don’t have this will be taken away for detailed investigations. If they catch and interrogate you, your identity will be exposed. At that time, who knows what would happen? I have a feeling it won’t be anything good.”
"Furthermore, the laws here are very strict and the enforcers are powerful. As long as you hurt someone, you’ll definitely be found and be imprisoned. If you resist arrest, there’s a chance you might be killed. Like I said before, it’s also a violation to carry around a dangerous weapon in public. If someone notices, it’d be over.”
Her identity was the biggest issue. Xu Qing reminded Jiang He what she should and should not do, and what to pay attention to.
It was unthinkable for an ancient person to mysteriously appear in the present. Hiding her identity was of top priority while other things could be solved slowly.
In this day and age where the internet connected the world, just one wrong move at the wrong place and time could cause a huge international sensation. She was a living, breathing ancient knight after all.
Jiang He quickly understood the implications, “I see. So in other words, I’m a refugee.”
“Uh...I guess you could say that. But the consequences of your situation are much worse than that of a regular refugee,” Xu Qing frowned, trying to conjure an example, “It would be similar to the situation of runaway slaves with no contract. If caught, their lives would become very miserable.”
Seeing Jiang He’s drastic change in expression, he thought he may have overdone it a bit, “Uh, it’s just an example so the severity may differ.”
The rain slowed its momentum and soon ceased its downpour. It was now a little after 8 PM. There were the occasional scratches from chair movements upstairs and the faint sounds of car horns in the distance.
Xu Qing sauntered over to the foggy window. Outside, the street lights were a bit dim. Neon lights from the hotel signs a few blocks away flickered between red, orange, and blue.
He was situated on the first floor so he didn’t have much of a wide view of his surroundings. The areas that he couldn’t see— the huge cities where skyscrapers towered tall and traffic ran for miles on end. Even he who grew up in modern society was awed and learned new things every day. He couldn’t imagine how this ignorant little girl would handle such an intense environment.
It would be ‘game over’ for her at every turn if she wasn’t careful.
“I have said a lot so far, but in the end, it only means one thing,” Xu Qing turned to look at the silently contemplating Jiang He, “In this world, your current situation is very dangerous.”
“I’m very happy that I got to know someone from more than twelve hundred years ago. It’s a rather strange and...unique feeling, so I’m willing to help you in familiarizing yourself with this world. I only ask you to be good and take your time blending in.”
“...how do I know that I can trust you completely?” Jiang He lowered her head in a sorrowful manner. She still couldn’t come to terms that she had traveled...a thousand years into the future?
But the clothes on my body, the slippers under my feet, the lights above my head, the magical bath, the huge buildings, and the weird iron shells moving around outside…
Everything she beheld was neither seen nor heard of before.
Loneliness and fear were like monstrous claws that surrounded her on all sides. Home was now her biggest wish.
She would gladly choose to risk her life on bloody battlefields than being trapped in this bizarre dream.
“I can’t force you to believe,” Xu Qing returned to the table and put the iron dart to the side, “Helping you is not an easy task. With how interconnected the world is today, it is easy for your identity to spread if it’s leaked, and when that happens, you won’t be able to hide. If you can’t believe or cooperate with me, I won’t be able to help you.”
Jiang He studied the man in front of her for a long time.
Can this person I met completely by chance be trusted wholeheartedly?
“If you stick with me, I promise I’ll help you understand everything,” Xu Qing said sincerely.
If something this miraculous happened to a hundred people, he doubted there would be more than ten who would surrender her to the state. Having her around would be a one-of-a-kind experience— maybe the sole best fortune in the world!
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If their relationship improved, she might even teach him some ancient martial art techniques or sword skills. How wonderful would that be?
“Then...what should I do from now on?”
“This...uhm?” Xu Qing scratched his head and said, “The most important thing right now is to hide your identity. For now, other stuff can be considered long-term plans."
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