Baozi instinctively protected her lower abdomen and scolded, "Drive slower, do you really want to die?"
That's when I understood what she meant...
I had to slow down; this attempt failed. It seems getting into the timeline isn't easy without an urgent mission. I said to Baozi, "Why don't you take a nap? Maybe you'll be there when you wake up."
Baozi stubbornly said, "I want to see where you can take this old lady."
By now, cars were starting to appear on both sides. I was stuck on the national highway, unable to get out, and too afraid to try again, so I could only drive forward at a moderate speed. A short while later, I reached the tollbooth, which made me incredibly frustrated. At this rate, how much would it cost to get to Xiang Yu's place?
Fortunately, Baozi is unpredictable. After sitting for a while, he got bored, started yawning, then leaned against the car window with his arms crossed, dozing off. After muttering something in dissatisfaction, he finally fell asleep.
A golden opportunity presented itself; there were no cars on either side. Excitedly, I rubbed my hands together, shifted gears, and stepped on the gas. Just then, the phone rang. Unwilling to let this last chance slip away, I hastily tossed my phone onto the steering wheel and continued pressing the accelerator ahead. On the other end of the line, Yan Jingsheng asked, "Principal, where are you?"
"What's wrong?"
Yan Jingsheng probably thought I had difficulty speaking, so he stammered, "The new students have arrived..."
"Why don't you just have the new students register?"
Yan Jingsheng said cautiously, "New students..."
I immediately understood; he was talking about a new customer. I said loudly, "Go ahead and say it; it's convenient for me."
Yan Jingsheng breathed a sigh of relief and said, "A new person has arrived. Wang Yin went to pick them up directly. Now that everyone is here, shouldn't you come back for a bit?"
"Oh, who's here?"
"The Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove have all arrived."
"Oh, it's good that they have free time. Let them teach the kids calligraphy."
"...And there's more, Cheng Yaojin and the eighteen heroes from the Sui and Tang Dynasties' Heroes' Chronicle have all come."
"Oh, everyone's here, that's great! Isn't Yucai School short of teachers right now?" I was looking ahead and had to be careful of cars around me, so I really didn't have the mind to have a proper conversation with him.
Yan Jingsheng said, "No, you don't know, these eighteen are different from the 108 Liangshan heroes. They have conflicts with each other and are fighting. Old Wang, the Four Heavenly Kings, and Zhenjiang are trying to break up the fight."
I could hear a chaotic, lively phone call on the other end, interspersed with shouts of excitement from Fang Zhenjiang and Wang Yin. I knew these were the kind of people who loved a good show, so I quickly instructed Yan Jingsheng, "If all else fails, call Duan Tianlang and Cheng Fengshou to come and help."
Before Yan Jingsheng could speak, another commotion erupted, with several men arguing loudly and sharply. I asked in surprise, "Are there any of the eighteen heroes who only talk?"
"...No, these are the Seven Sages. Their values are different, and they're arguing on the side."
As we were talking, a voice that sounded like it was laughing interrupted: "Stop fighting, hey, Amitabha, what's all this commotion about?"
I got angry as soon as I heard that and asked, "Who is this now?"
Yan Jingsheng put the phone away and asked, "Master, may I ask what your Dharma name is?" It seems he really is a monk.
The monk, still carefree, said with a smile, "Me? I'm Xuanzang!"
"He said he was Xuan..." Yan Jingsheng suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "You are Tang Sanzang, who went to the Western Paradise to obtain the scriptures?"
"Okay, okay."
Upon hearing this tone, I asked suspiciously, "Is this Tang Sanzang? Jing Sheng, check him... What's a monk's diploma called again? A certificate of ordination. There are quite a few fake monks these days. If he's fake, kick him out; if he's real, it'll be easy—have him call Wukong for help—"
Yan Jingsheng said urgently, "Stop messing around, Xiaoqiang, you should come back."
I laughed and said, "Alright, I'll go back now..." I glanced around unintentionally and suddenly went crazy, "Jing Sheng, you decide what to do, I won't be able to go back anytime soon."
A vibrant scene surrounds me; I don't know when we entered the timeline.
Yan Jingsheng asked, "What happened to you?"
"I can't easily stop this car, nor can I control it."
"...Are you in the police car?" Yan Jingsheng asked with concern.
...
After hanging up the phone, I focused on driving. I hadn't slowed down while talking to Yan Jingsheng, and somehow I'd ended up here without realizing it. That meant I'd have to find a place to stop if I wanted to go back, and I couldn't just stop anywhere. The nearest client was Wu Sangui, whom I couldn't meet. Further ahead were Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty and Genghis Khan before the Yuan Dynasty was formally established—neither of them. The next stop was the Song Dynasty. Logically, leaving Baozi on Liangshan wouldn't be a problem, but I thought about those bandits who only drink; what if Baozi couldn't resist the temptation? After much deliberation, I decided to leave Baozi with Xiang Yu and come back to deal with the eighteen heroes—it's a pity they didn't get to meet Li Shimin, and Guan Yu didn't get to have a proper chat with Qin Qiong. As for those seven idle or disrespectful people, I wasn't very familiar with them, and that monk named Xuanzang—I wondered if he was the one who went on the pilgrimage to the West; why did he talk like a hooligan?
I could only keep driving forward, my mind filled with questions. Baozi, who had been sleeping for a while, rubbed his eyes and glanced outside, mumbling, "Is it already dark?"
I said, "Why don't you take another nap? We'll arrive when it's completely dark."
Baozi finally noticed something was wrong and pressed his face against the window, asking, "Where am I?"
I glanced at the timeline and said, "Just past the Ming Dynasty."
Baozi was still half asleep when she shifted her body and said, "Tell me when I get off the highway, I need to use the restroom." Then she fell asleep again...
We left around 10 a.m. Baozi woke up a few times, but seeing that it was still dark outside, she thought it was still early and half-asleep, leaning against the car. Around 6 p.m., she finally couldn't sleep anymore. With her eyes closed, she reached into the back box, grabbed a banana, threw it back, and frantically rummaged through it, saying disappointedly, "I just remembered, why didn't you even buy any bread or anything? I'm starving."
When I saw that we had already passed the Three Kingdoms period, I excitedly said, "Let's count sheep. When we reach one hundred, we'll be there. When we get there, I'll treat you to a whole roasted lamb."
Baozi swallowed hard and said, "Really? Seriously, when are we going to the grasslands? I've never ridden a horse before. A friend at the shop said it's fifty yuan an hour—and you can bargain."
"Hey, why didn't you say so earlier? We've already crossed the grasslands. Besides, horseback riding costs money, right? Your man can ride all day without spending a penny, and he even makes a profit."
Baozi ignored me, clutching her rumbling stomach and weakly saying, "Hurry up, I'm really hungry. Even if you don't care about me, I should at least feel sorry for your son, right?"
I watched as the pointer stopped at the same spot where we'd seen Xiang Yu last time. I slammed on the brakes, and the outside was brightly lit. We were stopped outside a high-walled compound. Baozi sensed the change in light but didn't open his eyes, lazily shielding his face with his hands and saying, "Really? We were just going through a tunnel?"
I opened the car door and stepped out. A fully armed soldier immediately gave me a military salute and said happily, "General Xiao!"
I recognized him; I vaguely remembered seeing him outside Julu City last time. So I smiled and returned the greeting.