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Chapter 2
In front of his eyes was a large temple hall. The style of this hall was something Jiang Chao Ge had never seen before. It had both the primitive simplicity of Chinese styled buildings and the distinct sharpness of Western styled buildings. The main part of it was built with dark blue rock, simple yet majestic. The inside of the temple was decorated with many sculptures made of animal bone. A huge sacrificial altar was placed in the eastern direction. The sunlight that spilled from the top of his head, just happened to illuminate that sacrificial altar. The sacrificial altar which had the attention of millions of people. Which he just happened to be on.
Below the altar, hundreds of spectators stared fixedly at him. Simultaneously, above the altar, a dozen pairs of eyes locked onto him.
Jiang Chao Ge was immediately stupefied, really stupefied. He had lived for 25 years and although his age couldn’t be regarded as old, he had experienced more than what other people would have in several lifetimes. He could even smile in the face of a pitch black muzzle pointed as his forehead. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d been shocked speechless.
His brain rapidly considered everything that had happened from the moment he set foot into the old residence to now. Could he have… really crossed worlds ?
If this wasn’t a dream, then he had undoubtedly crossed worlds. This was the only explanation for what he was met with. Moreover, he could confirm that he had not crossed into the ancient times. From this type of neither Chinese nor western architectural style and the neither Chinese nor western style clothing these people wore, he could confirm that they did not belong to any dynasty in the history of mankind. Yet according to degree of modernisation here, it’s also impossible to be of the future.
It was obvious that some sort of activity was being held here. There were both old and young people on the altar, males all of the same colour. The seniors sat, dressed in magnificent robes. The young fellows were dressed in dark coloured sturdy clothing and stood in a row, each with extraordinary poise. In between these two groups of people, was him as well as a sword stuck in a stand.
Jiang Chao Ge took one glance at the sword and immediately looked away. Because that sword was full of rust, from blade to hilt one practically couldn’t make out the quality of the material. That worn out appearance seemed almost like it could break at any moment.
One could hear a pin drop in the entire hall. If people’s eyes held rays, Jiang Chao Ge would’ve long been shot full of holes from head to toe. His lips trembled once, “This… where is this?” He couldn’t be certain if these people could understand what he was saying although they looked about the same.
“A person from the other world!” A teenager from below the altar shouted out first.
Jiang Chao Ge didn’t know whether to feel happy or sad. The happy thing was that they spoke the Chinese that he was able to understand. The sad thing was that he had really crossed worlds.
An old man slapped his armrest, “Seize this person of the other world!”
A few youngsters were about to dash up.
Jiang Chao Ge drew back a few steps and roared loudly, “Don’t come here!” He knew that he was now like a monkey in a foreign country. He didn’t know what type of treatment he’d receive. He definitely shouldn’t be caught. He must think of a way to return to his own world.
Of course, these people wouldn’t listen to him, and were about to aggressively come to grab him.
In a moment of desperation, Jiang Chao Ge pulled out and brandished the sword that was on the stand.
The sword was quite heavy and had a very solid feeling. Although it looked very broken, the hilt felt extremely textured. Touching it felt like touching a type of primitive power.
He originally had no confidence whatsoever towards this sword and had just wanted to use it to defend himself a little. He didn’t expect that the instant he picked up the sword, the entire audience went into an uproar. Those few youngsters also immediately froze on the spot.
Jiang Chao Ge immediately realised that this sword wasn’t so simple. Although it’s outer appearance looked a bit terrible, it must be something amazing to be placed so solemnly on the sacrificial altar. Perhaps he took a valuable great antique. He waved it a few times to demonstrate and pretended he was about to throw it towards the ground. He said coldly, “Nobody move.”
~~~~~~~
Those people actually didn’t move, each staring at him with wide eyes. The surprise in their eyes from a moment ago. changed to terror, uncertainty, anger even……jealousy.
Jiang Chao Ge was amidst the clouds and mist, completely unaware of what just happened, and only continuously retreated backwards. Finally, he retreated to the top of the stairs of the sacrificial altar. The bottom of the altar was completely surrounded by imperial bodyguards. He was simply unable to escape even if given wings. The old man that called to seize him a moment ago stood up and heavily said, “Person of the other world, put down the sword in your hands.”
Jiang Chao Ge smiled coldly, “If I put down the sword, will you let me go?”
“You put down the sword, I will let you go.”
“Let your imperial bodyguards withdraw from the hall, then….” Jiang Chao Ge didn’t know what he should do after that. This world is unfamiliar to him, he is unfamiliar to this world. Both are completely strange to the other. To run into this type of swords drawn and daggers bent situation as soon as he crossed worlds, what course should he take? Although he’d done some bad things in this lifetime, but he couldn’t be considered a large villain. How the fuck was his luck so bad to have run into such an outrageous thing?
“Person of the other world, here is the sovereign capital Tian Ao City, our people are everywhere. It’s impossible for you to leave with that sword.”
Jiang Chao Ge narrowed his eyes, “Who are you? Why should I trust you?”
“You can trust me.” A clear and resounding voice sounded from behind. That voice naturally revealed an air of nobility.
Jiang Chao Ge turned his head and was suddenly too surprised to utter a word. He plainly remembered that just a moment ago, there were just those few youngsters in dark coloured sturdy clothes behind him. When was there an extra person clad in silvery white armour? This person was in their late twenties with a head of silver hair that was even more dazzling than his supple armour. His features are as handsome as a god, temperament like high mountains and snow, seemingly inviolable.
Jiang Chao Ge came back to himself and thought that this sacrificial altar was at least two stories high. How did this person suddenly appear?
That person took a step forward, and said seriously, “Person from the other world, I swear on my reputation as third prince of Tian Ling nation that as long as you put down that sword, I guarantee you’ll be safe and sound.”
Jiang Chao Ge’s heart moved. This was probably his only choice at the moment.
The third prince saw that he had been moved slightly, and walked towards him.
Just as this moment, someone from below the altar shouted, “Kill the person from the other world!”
This voice was like a spark, instantly igniting the fuse of emotion in everyone. Waves upon waves of shouts to ‘kill’ rang uncontrollably. The third prince wanted to shout at them to stop but his voice was completely buried beneath the clamour.
Jiang Chao Ge’s nerves became tense again. It had been less than ten minutes since he crossed into a different world. His heart was originally filled with panic and caution, yet he still had to face hundreds of people shouting to kill him. He was like a bird that starts at the mere twang of a bow string, and couldn’t bear even a little bit of stimulation.
The third prince stared into his eyes and said seriously, “Person from the other world, I guarantee the safety of your life. You just have to put down that sword.”
Safety of his life? Then what about freedom? Jiang Chao Ge smiled coldly in his heart. The glow of the sunset was already fixed on the people on the altar who were approaching him. It seemed like the intimidating strength of the third prince was not enough. Was it because he was too young? He took a deep breathe, eyes filled with terror and said, “Can I trust you? You will really guarantee my safety?”
The third prince solemnly said, “I swear.”
Jiang Chao Ge nodded, “Ok. I’ll believe only you. I will only hand this sword to you.
The third prince walked towards him. Jiang Chao Ge passed the sword over. The third prince shook his head.
“Put the sword back on the stand, I can’t carry it.”
~~~~~~
A glimmer of light flashed across Jiang Chao Ge’s eyes. He said uncertainly, “How can that be? It’s not that heavy.” Then he extended the sword towards the third prince.
The third prince stared at the sword, and waved, “I really….” He saw Jiang Chao Ge’s figure move, and his heart jumps.
With a nimble spin of his body, Jiang Chao Ge grabbed the third prince with one strong arm, the other hand holding the sword up against that slender neck.
The whole thing happened in just two seconds, everybody had yet to react. The edge of that rusty sword was already pressed against the skin of the third prince.
The third prince was a bit taller than Jiang Chao Ge. When Jiang Chao Ge seized him from behind, his cheek just happened to press against the silvery hair of the third prince. He didn’t expect a man’s hair to be this soft and fragrant…. But now obviously wasn’t the time to think about that.
The great hall once again sank into silence.
The third prince took a deep breath, fuming with rage between gritted teeth, “You actually…” He didn’t expect that this person of the other world would be so daring, to actually cheat!
Jiang Chao Ge ordered, “Remove the armour.”
“You dare order me!”
Jiang Chao Ge pressed the edge of the sword against his throat, “Remove the armour!”
The third prince said coldly, “Do you know that this sword is very blunt?”
Jiang Chao Ge smiled coldly, “You know perfectly well that this sword is very blunt, yet you are still so afraid of it. It seems that while it’s blunt, it doesn’t mean it can’t see blood.” He didn’t know what type of profound secret this sword hid but he knew from the information he currently understood that firstly, this sword was something amazing. Secondly, this sword could only be moved by himself. Thirdly, the most important point, these people avoided this sword.
The eyes of the third prince sank. His locked eyes for a moment with the old man, then threw away the sword at his waist and took off his supple armour.
After all was done, Jiang Chao Ge pulled the third prince down the stairs, “Nobody move! You don’t want the life of your prince anymore?!”
The old man stopped all the imperial bodyguards. He stood above the sacrificial altar and looked down at Jiang Chao Ge from a commanding position, eyes as cold as the frost in the second month of the lunar year.
Jiang Chao Ge backed the entire way out of the hall like this, holding the third prince. The hall was built in quite a remote place. There weren’t many buildings around and in the distance stood a towering and imposing palace. It was definitely the imperial palace.
The third prince coldly asked, “What’s your plan? Even if you walk a thousand li (i.e 5000 km) in any direction from here, it’s still the territory of Tian Ling nation.
“I don’t have a plan, I’m someone from the other world. Did you forget so quickly?” Jiang Chao Ge felt his arm ache slightly. This sword was really heavy. One can wield it for a little while with two hands but holding it with one hand was truly strenuous. “Tell me how I can return to my own world.”
“I don’t know.”
Jiang Chao Ge pressed the edge of the sword tighter to his throat.
The third prince looked at him out of the corner of his eye, “Even if you kill me I still don’t know, but I do know someone that does know.”
“Who?”
“ The Great Master .”
Jiang Chao Ge gritted his teeth, “Take me away from the sovereign capital first.” He must first save himself, then he can think of a way to go back.
“You need a horse.”
“Where can I get a horse?” Jiang Chao Ge looked back and saw quite a lot of people had already surged out of the great hall. The residents nearby had also surrounded them, with all sorts of comments. Seizing a prince it broad daylight, was a rarely seen scene of bustle and excitement. He now had the mentality of smashing the pot if it’s already broken. In any case, as soon as he appeared this group of people shouted to hit and kill him. He obviously wasn’t the first person to come from the other world. The Other World people from before also had conflict with the people of this world. He grabbed an important antique sword as soon as he appeared, no matter how he thought about it, it was hard to escape death. He wouldn’t give his fate to a strange pretty boy. He wanted to decide his own life or death.
~~~~~
The third prince calmly said, “Its in my pocket.”
Jiang Chao Ge frowned, “What?”
The third prince showed his own hands, then lightly dug his hands into his trouser pocket.
Jiang Chao Ge said, “If you dare make any errant movement, I will let go. Let’s see if this sword can crush you into meat pulp.
The third prince fished out a bone ornament carved into the shape of a horse from his pocket.
Jiang Chao Ge almost let out a stream of invectives.
The third prince could guess his current expression, “Person from the other world, our world is different.”
Jiang Chao Ge held back his flames of fury with great difficulty, “Why don’t you let me see how is it different? You can ride this plaything?”
The third prince threw out the bone ornament with a snap of his fingers. The bone ornament suddenly gave out a glimmer of light in midair.
Jiang Chao Ge was stupefied. That glimmer of light reminded him ox head carving he’d fiddled with in the old residence.
The bone ornament floated in midair, gradually becoming a transparent shadow of a strong and vigorous white horse. Jiang Chao Ge was struck dumb with surprise, and could only stare blankly as that shadow gradually materialised. Finally, a fine white horse with a tall and slender figure and a sparkling coat, appeared out of thin air in front of their eyes.
Jiang Chao Ge said with a trembling voice, “This… what is this?”
“A spirit tool.” The third prince told him clearly.
Crossed worlds/穿越- by itself this literally means pass through or cross, but I think in this context it’s more describing him crossing or transversing into a different world
Robes/长袍/Chang pao- traditional Chinese men’s robes. To keep the flow in English it’s been translated simply to robes but it’s meaning is slightly different.
Amidst the clouds and mist/云里雾里- I translated its literal meaning to keep the feel of Chinese idioms but it means mystified or puzzled
Swords drawn daggers bent/剑拔弩张- basically describes a state of mutual hostility but I felt that description was a bit too simple for the idiom so I kept its literal meaning.
Tian Ao city/天鳌城- the ‘天’ part describes the sky or the heavens while the ‘鳌’ part is the name of some large legendary turtle in Chinese mythology. I guess it could be translated literally to Sky Turtle or Heaven Turtle city but it feels a bit short of the meaning so it’ll be called Tian Ao city for now.
The Great Master/大国师- I’m not really certain if this is the proper translation for this but if translated literally it means great national teacher/master? I simplified it to keep the flow of English.
Smashing the pot if it’s already broken/破罐子破摔- figuratively it kinda means something along the lines of, something is already hopeless or ruined so you might as well act recklessly
Other World people/异界人- I might be using this phrase more later to describe people from the other world
Pretty boy/小白脸- this can be literally translated to ‘little white face’ and in this context it has a negative connotation.