Strapping Qing Xia’s dagger and sword to his body, Qin Zhiyan removed the dried outer robe and draped it over Qing Xia’s shoulders. He turned his back and said in a deep voice, “Come up, I’ll carry you on my back.”

“You’ll carry me?” Qing Xia stared blankly, eyes wide with confusion.

“What? You could carry me, but I can’t carry you?”

“No, no,” Qing Xia quickly shook her head. “I just feel overwhelmed by your grace—a prince of a nation stooping to carry me on your back.”

Qin Zhiyan smiled bitterly, looking at the wounded Qing Xia. “Without you, this prince would have long since turned to dust.”

He walked to Qing Xia’s front, bent down slightly, and presented his straight back to her.

Qing Xia’s lips immediately curved into a wide smile. She spread her arms and jumped right on.

Though Qin Zhiyan looked thin, his back was broad and warm. No matter when, no matter how disheveled, he always carried a pleasant scent of fritillaria herbs. His neck was slender, and as Qing Xia wrapped her arms around it, her small head resting on his shoulder, everything felt perfectly comfortable. Qin Zhiyan’s hands supported Qing Xia’s legs, and carrying their entire worldly possessions—two fire stones, a precious sword, and a dagger—he walked out through the gates of the earthen great hall.

Qing Xia’s small body lying on Qin Zhiyan’s back looked like a little cat, light and delicate, weighing almost nothing.

“Yima’er,” Qin Zhiyan’s voice was warm as he called softly.

“Mm?”

“Are you in pain?”

“No pain.”

“Oh.” He nodded slowly and continued walking forward silently.

“Yima’er.”

“Mm?”

“Are you tired?”

“I’m not the one walking.” Qing Xia’s voice sounded muffled. She lay drowsily on Qin Zhiyan’s back, several days of exhaustion suddenly flooding her heart as she mumbled.

“Oh, then are you hungry?”

“I’m way past being hungry.”

“Yima’er, once we get out, I’ll definitely treat you to a great feast. All the delicacies in the world—you can eat whatever you want.”

“No need for fancy delicacies. Right now I could devour anything I see. Even if you gave me KFC, I swear I could finish an entire family bucket by myself.” Qing Xia closed her eyes, her thoughts becoming fuzzy.

“Mm?” Qin Zhiyan paused slightly, saying in a deep voice, “What kind of chicken is this ‘gnawing chicken’? I’ve never heard of it.”

“You don’t have it here. It’s a type of Western fried food—not very nutritious and not particularly delicious, but very convenient.”

“Western? You mean Xichuan?”

“No, even further west than that.”

“Further west? That would be Xiongnu territory. Have you been to the Xiongnu king’s lands?”

“No, even further west than the Xiongnu.”

Qin Zhiyan furrowed his brow, thinking hard. “Further west would be the Cangwu Sea. Yima’er, are you talking about food from the sea?”

“No!” Qing Xia felt somewhat frustrated, speaking in muffled tones. “It’s beyond the sea. Anyway, you’ll never be able to go there in this lifetime.”

“Never able to go?” Qin Zhiyan raised an eyebrow, a rare brilliance emanating from his face, filled with powerful confidence and strength. “Even if it’s just for your ‘gnawing chicken,’ I will definitely defeat the Xiongnu, pacify Xichuan, conquer the world, restore the great Qin empire, then sail across the sea to catch one of these chickens for you to eat.”

“Qin Zhiyan, you can’t reach it.” A wave of sadness slowly crept into Qing Xia’s heart. “Even if you defeat everyone in the world, you still won’t find it. Even I can’t go back. Qin Zhiyan, I’ve been abandoned by my country. My friends and comrades all don’t want me anymore.”

A warm drop fell slowly, landing on Qin Zhiyan’s neck. He suddenly froze, then said firmly in a deep voice, “Yima’er, if they don’t want you, I want you.”

“Mm.” Qing Xia nodded wearily, burying her head in Qin Zhiyan’s neck, sniffling softly. “Good. I’ve long wanted to rest. I wanted to go to university, to fall in love. I never really wanted to do that job anyway.”

“Good. Come back to Great Qin with me. I’ll take you to the study hall to read books.”

“Mm.” Qing Xia hugged Qin Zhiyan’s neck tightly, suddenly feeling very drowsy. Her voice was soft and light as she agreed.

“Yima’er?”

“Mm?” The girl was about to fall asleep, responding softly.

“What’s wrong? Are you in great pain?”

“No,” Qing Xia said softly. “Qin Zhiyan, I’m so tired. I want to sleep well for a while. Since coming to this place, I’ve never had a good night’s sleep. I’m so sleepy.”

“Good,” Qin Zhiyan nodded, smiling faintly. “Sleep. When we get out, I’ll wake you.”

“Mm. When I open my eyes again, I’ll be able to see the sun.”

Qing Xia’s voice became muffled as she gradually fell asleep.

Qin Zhiyan really hadn’t lied to her. When she opened her eyes, she truly saw the bright, dazzling sun.

Qing Xia’s mouth fell open, her tongue nearly tied as she struggled to speak. Everything before her eyes was so unbelievable. She stared at that enormous, brilliant, blazing round orb in the sky, radiating fierce heat, feeling that her entire worldview had been completely destroyed. Everything was so absurd and unrestrained, so inconceivable that it was impossible to believe.

Speechless, she tugged at the corner of Qin Zhiyan’s clothes. After a long while, she finally stammered, “Where… where is this?”

Qin Zhiyan smiled faintly, reaching out to push open the small wooden door ahead, saying with a smile, “The Eastern Green Wood Divine Temple.”

Though called a divine temple, it bore no resemblance to a great hall at all. Looking at the dense bamboo forest before her, the serene bridges over flowing water, the bright and alluring flowers, and the graceful dancing butterflies, Qing Xia’s first reaction was that her eyes had gone bad. She rubbed them for a long time before accepting reality.

It turned out that none of it was an illusion.

She suddenly remembered a movie she’d seen called “Journey to the Center of the Earth.” Could it be that she too had arrived at the center of the earth’s crust?

All of this could hardly be expressed with just the phrase “miraculous craftsmanship.”

The finest fragrance of orchids drifted out faintly. A delicate bamboo door was slowly pushed open, and everything visible was a sea of green.

Bamboo tables, bamboo chairs, green curtains gently swaying on the green bamboo bed, landscape paintings with distant artistic conception on the walls, elegant white candlesticks in the corners, boxes and cabinets all perfectly arranged in the room’s corners. The small room wasn’t large, but it was exceptionally quiet. Outside the window, the bamboo sea rustled softly in the breeze, and a serene fragrance wafted through the windows. White flowers swayed and danced in the bamboo forest, as beautiful as a fairy realm.

On the bamboo bed lay neatly arranged bedding, and the bookshelf was filled with books. In front of the door, there was even a light green wooden basin, though the water inside had clearly dried up long ago, but a clean white towel still hung over the basin.

The entire room was so peaceful and elegant, only covered with a thick layer of dust, looking like a treasured collection that had been carefully sealed for many years and had just had its covering removed.

Qin Zhiyan strode inside, carefully placed Qing Xia on the bed, then picked up the wooden basin from the floor and walked out, instructing as he went, “I’ll go get some water. Wait here for me, don’t wander around.”

Enormous confusion and shock rose from Qing Xia’s heart. Ignoring the pain in her feet and Qin Zhiyan’s instructions, she carefully stood up and slowly moved toward the long table. The table was covered with a thick layer of dust, and as soon as Qing Xia moved, dust began rising in the room. She was choked into a coughing fit, her eyes red, and it took a while to recover.

On the long table sat a tray with a complete tea set—an elegant and simple set of bamboo utensils, very exquisite.

Beside the tray were the Four Treasures of the Study covered in dust. Fine wolf-hair brushes rested on a brush stand, and the paperweight beside it was carved with a pure white magnolia flower, very elegant and noble.

Behind the long table was a bamboo chair. Qing Xia couldn’t help but frown—she remembered that during the Qin Dynasty there were no chairs. The history here had changed from the time of Emperor Qin Er Shi. Could it be that even the products and technology had changed?

Behind the chair was a large bookshelf filled with thick, ancient books. Qing Xia walked forward and randomly pulled out one. A choking cloud of dust immediately rose, and Qing Xia quickly covered her mouth and nose, but still ended up gray-faced.

On the pale white surface were delicate patterns. It didn’t look like modern paper, yet it was smoother than modern paper. A faint fragrance wafted toward her, making Qing Xia unconsciously sniff. She didn’t know what material this was made from, but remarkably it showed no signs of decay after all these years.

Qing Xia marveled silently and slowly opened the book. She saw beautiful small regular script written within, clearly from a woman’s hand.

“When the three great armies of the allied nations met at Zhulu, an elder appeared to mediate, saying: ‘War is not advisable.’

The Chuan nation said: ‘If we don’t fight, we’ll cede fifteen cities as compensation.’ The Xia nation said: ‘If we don’t fight, we’ll pay five thousand cavalry units’ worth of money and silk as tribute.’ The Qin nation said: ‘If we don’t fight, we’ll submit written surrender and become vassals.’

The elder said: ‘Instead of war, let’s compare wines. The strongest wine wins. Fifteen cities ceded, five thousand cavalry units of money and silk, written surrender, loyal vassalage.’

The three nations agreed: ‘Excellent.’

The Chuan nation had wine called Green Flower Sweet Dew. They caught a mouse and fed it the wine. After the time of one tea cup, the mouse became drunk and fell over peacefully. The Chuan envoy rejoiced greatly, saying: ‘Our nation’s wine is the strongest, incomparable!’

The Xia nation had wine called White River Jade Stream. They caught a mouse and fed it the wine. After half a tea cup’s time, the mouse became drunk and fell over peacefully. The Xia envoy rejoiced greatly, saying: ‘Our nation’s wine is the strongest, incomparable!’

The Qin nation had wine called Burning Blade. They caught a mouse and fed it the wine. The mouse drank it unharmed and ran back to its hole.

The Chuan and Xia nations asked: ‘What happened?’

The Qin envoy smiled lightly: ‘Don’t be hasty.’

Indeed, after a short while, the mouse ran out from its hole, carrying a huge rock, shouting loudly: ‘Where’s the cat? Where’s the cat? I’ll fight it!’

The two nations sighed deeply: ‘We concede.'”

Qing Xia was greatly shocked. She never expected to see such a joke written in classical Chinese here. Moreover, what was strangest was that this joke seemed familiar—she’d heard it before, about Chinese, Americans, and French people comparing wines. Could this joke have been passed down from ancient times?