Young Prime Minister, a Hermit

Chapter 12

"Let go!" Xu Lie shouted angrily.

"I won't let go!" I hugged her even tighter. "Anyway, I won't have another chance to bother you!"

Xu Lie froze, violently yanked my hands away, and jumped out of bed. His eyes gleamed as he looked at me, his face a complex mix of suppressed pain and rage, but it all boiled down to one sentence: "You woman..."

Then he turned and rushed into the bathroom.

When he came out again, his hair was mostly wet. He climbed onto the bed expressionlessly and said coldly, "Turn over and sleep."

I didn't resist. I stared at him intently for a long time, then suddenly smiled brightly and said softly, "Xu Lie, I've been very happy these past two days, really."

Xu Lie's face showed a complicated expression. He was about to speak when I interrupted him and said, "Goodbye, Xu Lie."

I turned around abruptly and buried my face between the soft blankets and pillows, my tears soaking them.

In a daze, I felt two hands hug me from behind, and then a voice whispered in my ear, "What... should I do?"

"Lin Yu, Lin Yu! Get up now! It's already past dawn, you'll be late for the morning court if you don't get up soon!"

I groggily opened my eyes, then suddenly snapped awake, straightened up abruptly, and bumped my head right into the other person's, seeing stars.

"Ouch—, it hurts so much!" Yun Yan cried out, clutching her forehead. "Lin Yu, are you trying to kill yourself?!"

"Yun...Yunyan?" I stammered, forgetting even the pain, thinking: It's over, I've been transported again, really again. This time, I'm afraid I can never go back.

"No, you can still go back." A gentle double voice suddenly rang in my ears.

I jerked my head up, staring at him in disbelief, and screamed inwardly, "Zimo, are you serious? Really? I can really go back?"

Zi Mo nodded while floating in the air and smiled, "When you left, I already went into the water chain to check it out, and I've been carefully observing its changes ever since you came back. My final analysis concluded..."

I swallowed hard and looked at him nervously.

"Because two water chains with converging magnetic fields appeared in two different time and space, and because moonlight is the medium that activates this Bagua, Garan, I think your time and space are intersected."

'Intersecting? Is moonlight the medium?'

"Lin Yu! What are you daydreaming about? Get up and get dressed!" Yun Yan yelled in his ear.

I hurriedly got up and listened carefully to what Zimo had to say while I was getting dressed.

"Yes, that means that in the future, if you want to go back to this world, as long as you hold the water chain on your hand on a moonlit night and fall asleep, your soul will be transferred to another world through the Bagua formation."

'So...that is to say...' My eyes widened suddenly, and a surge of emotions—surprise, excitement, agitation, and longing—rushed up all at once.

"Lin Yu, I'm going out now. Hurry up and come out after you've finished washing up, okay?"

Zi Mo smiled gently, his semi-transparent hand stroking my head as if it were solid, and said softly, "In other words, Galan, you can freely travel between the two worlds."

'I can go back, I can see Xu Lie again, I can see my mom and dad again.' I cried tears of joy, calling out 'Zi Mo, Zi Mo' softly, and rushed over to hug him to thank him, but my hands passed right through him as if they were nothing.

I was taken aback and looked up at him awkwardly. A moment of sadness and loneliness flashed across Zi Mo's face, but he quickly recovered and said to me with a solemn expression, "Galan, although you can travel back and forth between the two timelines, there is one thing I must tell you. That is the issue of the time difference between the two intersecting timelines."

'Time difference?'

"The so-called time difference means that one day in this world is equivalent to how much time in your other world. I calculated all night based on the structure of your Bagua array and finally roughly calculated that the time difference is at an upper limit of seven days and at a lower limit of fifteen days."

'Upper limit and lower limit?' I was full of questions, tilting my head, interlacing my fingers, and gazing at him with admiration.

Zi Mo smiled helplessly and said, "Listen to me while you wash up. Otherwise, your wife will come in and urge you again."

I nodded hurriedly, and then he said, "Since it is mediated by moonlight, in general, if you pass through one month in your time, then here it is equivalent to seven days and seven nights."

'Wait, I don't understand. What do you mean by "one month and night in the past, equivalent to seven days and seven nights here"?'

Zi Mo sighed: "I'm starting to doubt whether I can teach you to become another Lin Yu. What I mean is, if, on a night with moonlight as the medium, your soul falls asleep like this and comes to this world, and stays here for seven days and seven nights, then when you return to your original world and open your eyes, only one night will have passed in your world."

"Wow! That's fantastic! I've hit the jackpot! I have time to search for Yufei, and I won't worry my parents. Heaven is so kind to me!"

"Don't be too happy yet!" Zi Mo shook his head. "Don't forget, returning to your original world from this world also requires moonlight as a medium. If there is no moonlight for seven days, then after the moonlit night, the time you spend in this world will begin to parallel with your world. In other words, after seven days and seven nights, for every extra day you stay here, you will have been asleep for an extra day in your world."

I stared blankly at Zimo's serious face, momentarily forgetting to continue my washing up.

"Conversely, time differences also follow their own rules. With moonlight as the medium, if you return to your original world, no matter how much time has passed in your world, it will not exceed one night in this spacetime. But if you have moonlight as the medium, but do not fall asleep all night and miss the opportunity to return, then the parallel time difference will also begin to activate. At that time, however much time has passed in your world, your body here, no! Lin Yu's body will also be asleep for that same amount of time."

'So, the lower limit you mentioned is fifteen days?'

"This is also the most important point!" Zi Mo flew in front of me, his translucent brown eyes fixed on me, and said in a deep voice, "Once the time difference begins to equalize, if you have stayed in a certain world for more than fifteen days, then you can only stay in this time and space forever and can never go back. And your body in the other time and space will suddenly die. You must remember this clearly, so as not to regret it in the future."

I nodded hurriedly and solemnly: 'Zimo, thank you! I know, this really means a lot to me.'

Zi Mo chuckled and flew away, lazily saying, "Hurry up and wash up, or you'll be late for the morning court session. Remember to follow my instructions in the future."

I nodded happily, feeling indescribably happy at the thought of going back to see my parents, friends, and Xu Lie's family.

Xiao Yi

2007.8.16 18:19

Chapter 8, Time and Space Intertwined, is complete.

P.S.: This time difference is key to the plot transition, so let me elaborate a bit.

First, you need the moon, a water chain, and to fall asleep; these three are the key to traversing the treacherous terrain.

Secondly, in ancient times, one could only stay for a maximum of 7 + 15 = 23 days; if one exceeded that, the modern Lin Jialan would die. In modern times, as long as it is a moonless night, it doesn't matter how many days have passed, but if one does not return on a moonlit night, one can only stay for a maximum of 15 more days, otherwise the ancient Lin Yu would die.

Third, the ancient seven days equaled one modern night. However, when there is a moon in modern times, time is synchronized with that of ancient times; when there is no moon, regardless of the number of days and nights, they all equal one modern night.