Chapter 42: Anomalous Time 08

Amid the low, slightly hoarse murmur of voices, the two sets of footsteps came to a halt right there.

In the quietly spreading silence, the voice-activated lights suddenly flicked off.

Yan Jing, who was walking ahead, spotted He Xi approaching alone and instinctively glanced back in confusion. “Little Bai, how come you’re not keeping an eye on our He Xi anymore…”

To his left was a hunchbacked little boy, and to his right a frail little girl. He suddenly felt like an overworked gym teacher herding his students.

As Yan Jing spoke, the hallway lights flickered back on.

Under the dim ceiling lights, the brown-haired young man’s pale cheeks flushed with a clear red hue. The intense pressure that had hung over him faded away, replaced by an awkward sort of rawness.

Especially when compared to the serious expression on the man standing beside him.

Yan Jing couldn’t help but let out an “Eh?” at the sight.

“Little Bai, why are you—”

He didn’t finish. Yu Bai snapped out of it and hurriedly shifted his gaze away from Xie Wufang, shooting Yan Jing a sharp glare instead. At the same time, he accused, “It’s all your fault!”

There was a faint edge of gritted teeth in his voice.

It was all this idiot’s fault for calling him scary.

The non-human had no idea what kind of “scary” he meant.

So he’d comforted him in the most direct way possible.

And Yu Bai really wasn’t good at handling such sincere, fervent words.

It made him want to run, left his brain short-circuiting.

“…Huh?” Yan Jing flinched on instinct, then exclaimed in shock, “Why blame me? Why not blame global warming!”

Yuan Yuxing looked utterly baffled, unable to keep up with the young people’s wildly leaping train of thought. “What the heck? Global warming?”

He Xi racked her brains to recall what she’d heard before and kindly whispered an explanation to the other little kid. “I think it’s because us humans didn’t take good care of the environment, so the Earth’s getting hotter.”

Yan Jing said in disbelief, “Exactly! The temperature rising isn’t my fault alone—it’s all of humanity’s mess. How can you blame me for your blushing—”

“What nonsense is this!”

Yu Bai cut him off at high speed and urged, “Quit yapping! Hurry up. I want to go home and rest.”

“But you’re the one lagging behind! How are you the one rushing us?”

“Oh, but I’m ahead of you now.”

Amid the lively banter, he lowered his head to slip on his glasses and strode forward, ignoring whatever Xie Wufang had said.

In his peripheral vision, the space beside him remained empty. The other man seemed rooted to the spot.

Yu Bai’s steps faltered for a moment.

A slightly awkward, clear voice slipped out quietly under the lights.

“…Hurry up too. Let’s go home together.”

Another set of footsteps soon fell in lightly beside him.

“Okay.”

Yu Bai walked even faster.

When he pulled out his keys to unlock the door, the faint flush on his cheeks hadn’t fully faded. Luckily, the black frames of his glasses hid it, making it less obvious than before.

Glasses really were a brilliant invention.

Thanks to human ingenuity.

He pushed open the door to his home and switched on the warm yellow lights. His companions filed in behind him one by one.

Yan Jing was still muttering in indignation. “How come even global warming’s my fault now? I’m such a fall guy…”

Yuan Yuxing twisted his head to talk to He Xi, speaking in a grandfatherly tone. “Little one, global warming’s due to the greenhouse effect. Remember that term—greenhouse effect.”

“Got it, thanks.” The little girl replied earnestly, then asked out of curiosity, “Why do you call me little one? I’m a tiny bit taller than you.”

The hunchbacked little boy’s expression froze. He abruptly straightened his old-man back. “You’re definitely the little one! You’re way younger than me!”

“How old are you?” He Xi grew even more curious and introduced herself. “I’m eight this year, in second grade.”

“…” Yuan Yuxing suddenly didn’t know how to respond. He was afraid of scaring the little girl.

His eyes darted around before drifting toward Yu Bai in a desperate silent plea. “Well, uh, that’s a good question. How old am I again?”

Yu Bai pretended not to catch the hint and teased with a smile, “Yeah, how old are you this year?”

But a calm voice soon came from beside him.

Xie Wufang said, “Sixty-seven.”

He Xi’s eyes went wide. “S-sixty-seven?!”

Yuan Yuxing paled in horror. “Wha—how did you just blurt that out?!”

Yu Bai blinked, then couldn’t hold back a chuckle. “You’ve got a great memory.”

Before the Doom Orb had hurled them into this timespace, he’d shown Xie Wufang Yuan Yuxing’s ID and taken the chance to remind him…

Xie Wufang ignored the little boy, who had started pacing in panic, and turned to Yu Bai instead.

“I won’t alter any more IDs from now on,” he said. “I didn’t know I’d cause you trouble in this timespace. Sorry.”

Yu Bai just shook his head and replied on reflex, “It’s not trouble you caused. I was the one who dragged you into running away.”

So there was no need to apologize.

If anything, they were accomplices.

Besides…

An ID that could change clothes was kind of cute.

But as an upstanding, law-abiding citizen, he probably shouldn’t say that out loud.

So Yu Bai smiled and smoothly changed the subject. “I’m starving. Time for dinner. What do you want to try today?”

No matter how big the world got, food came first.

Night was deepening outside the window. This was humanity’s dinnertime.

After an exhausting afternoon of chaos, they could finally catch a breath.

Even if the world ended tomorrow, that could wait until after dinner.

Yu Bai pulled out his phone and started browsing delivery options as he headed for the sofa, ready to sit and rest for a bit.

“Still craving something sweet? Let’s try a different place. They have purely sweet dishes—like candied sweet potatoes?”

“Candied sweet potatoes?”

“It’s like…” Yu Bai tried to describe it. “Sweet potatoes with pulled silk?”

“…”

Xie Wufang didn’t object to the strangely magical-sounding food. Instead, he asked, “Do you have time after dinner?”

Yu Bai was a bit surprised. “Huh? Yeah, I should. What’s up?”

The man looked at him earnestly. “You said today that you wanted to learn Go.”

“…” His memory didn’t have to be quite this good.

“I… yeah, I do want to learn.” Yu Bai gave a dry laugh. “But I’m wiped out today. How about tomorrow? Definitely tomorrow.”

The non-human clearly didn’t grasp the true weight of “definitely tomorrow” in human speak. He simply nodded lightly. “Okay.”

Yu Bai’s overworked brain cells got a temporary reprieve, and he let out a silent sigh of relief.

But before he could fully relax into the sofa, a hint of hesitation crept in.

Ever since Xie Wufang had abruptly brought up Go, Yu Bai felt like he’d overlooked something important.

He glanced around the room. All the unlucky souls who’d been swept into this timespace from the Golden Elevator that morning were here now. Everyone was accounted for.

By his earlier timeline deductions, the Go-loving old man Zhang Yunjiang shouldn’t run into trouble anytime soon. He ought to be healthy for at least the next couple of days.

He and Xie Wufang had successfully and legally escaped the police station too.

He should be able to relax for now.

…Was there anything else he’d missed?

Puzzled, Yu Bai adjusted his glasses.

His gaze swept over his companions and suddenly locked onto the conspicuous striped hospital gown.

“Uncle Yuan, how exactly did you get here from the hospital?”

Yuan Yuxing was busy pondering how to explain his age to the little girl. Without looking back, he replied, “How else? I ran!”

“Whoa, I nearly keeled over on the way. Lucky this neighborhood’s close by!”

…Running away again!

A bad premonition stirred in Yu Bai.

He asked gravely, “Did you tell anyone before you left the hospital?”

“Huh? Tell who? What?” Yuan Yuxing turned in surprise. “You have no idea— I timed my return perfectly. I was in the room changing into the hospital gown, and no one was watching. Otherwise, if they’d blinked and seen me turn into a kid, they’d have been terrified!”

Amid his long-suffering complaints, Yu Bai finally realized what he’d overlooked.

“So you snuck out of the hospital without anyone knowing where you went?”

Yuan Yuxing shot back at once, “Sneaked out? I was in a hurry to get back to the elevator, see if it could send me home. Besides, I was dropped off there alone in the first place. They hadn’t even finished the paperwork. The doctors are swamped—they won’t care about one missing patient…”

As he spoke, he realized something was off too. His eyes bulged wide.

Just as the little boy opened his mouth to cry out, a ringtone chimed.

In the clear, melodic trill, everyone turned as one to Yu Bai’s palm.

The phone screen had switched from the delivery app to an incoming call.

The caller’s saved name read: Zhang Yunjiang.

Yuan Yuxing stared in shock. “How do you have Old Zhang’s—”

He cut himself off short. Yu Bai was already staring at the name with a serious expression, thumb pressing the answer button.

He also turned on the speakerphone, broadcasting the call for everyone to hear.

In the room so quiet you could hear a pin drop, an elderly voice laced with barely concealed anxiety suddenly rang out.

“Is that Little Doctor Yu?” Zhang Yunjiang on the other end was clearly burning with anxiety, yet he still tried to stay polite. “Sorry to bother you with a call so soon—I’m really sorry—but I really need to ask you something!”

Yu Bai already knew what he wanted to ask. He immediately replied, “It’s me, Uncle Zhang. Don’t worry—what happened?”

“I only realized when I got to the hospital that Old Yuan is missing! I’ve searched high and low, but there’s no sign of him. The doctors and nurses don’t know where he went, and even the security footage shows nothing. I’m at my wits’ end…”

Yu Bai continued to soothe him in a gentle voice. “Calm down first. Take a deep breath, find somewhere to sit, and tell me slowly.”

Right now, he was genuinely worried that Zhang Yunjiang—who should have been safe and sound today—might get so worked up over Yuan Yuxing’s disappearance that he triggered some fatal heart or brain condition early.

“Okay, okay, okay. I’m sitting down now.”

Zhang Yunjiang followed his instructions and took a deep breath. His tone eased a little as he went on, “Old Yuan’s always been hot-tempered. Do you think he got impatient about learning chess and snuck out of the hospital to find you guys?”

“So after thinking it over, I figured I should call and ask you. Sorry again—it’s so late, and I’m disturbing you.”

With a note of hopeful expectation in his voice, he asked, “Little Doctor Yu, is Old Yuan with you? Or have any of you seen him later?”

Yu Bai turned his gaze toward Yuan Yuxing, who sat there looking dazed.

It wasn’t exactly because of the chess lessons that he’d run off, but they had ended up in the same place anyway. Old Yuan was indeed right here.

Though, to be precise…

It was Little Yuan now?

Yu Bai wasn’t sure how to answer the question. He didn’t want to worry the old man too much, so he said vaguely, “Uncle Zhang, I might have some news about Uncle Yuan, but I’m not certain yet. Can you give me a few minutes?”

“Really? That’s great!” Zhang Yunjiang said eagerly. “I’ll wait. Thank you so much, Little Doctor Yu!”

Yu Bai then hit the mute button to keep their side of the conversation from carrying over.

He asked the others in the room, “What should I say?”

The old man on the phone fell silent. The speaker picked up muffled ambient noise—the clamor of the hospital—and the sound of his patient, quiet breathing as he waited.

Yan Jing, experiencing this resurrection-from-the-dead scenario for the first time, was a bit at a loss. “Is that the… uh, Uncle Zhang? Why does he call you Little Doctor Yu?”

“Yeah.” Yu Bai gave a succinct reply. “Because I pay special attention to his health, he thinks I’m a doctor.”

He turned to Yuan Yuxing, who looked stunned, and asked, “Uncle Yuan, do you remember which day he passed away?”

The little boy was murmuring to himself, “I’d forgotten… he’s still alive right now.”

After zoning out for a while, he finally answered Yu Bai’s question. “…Anyway, it wasn’t today.”

Yu Bai could imagine the shock of hearing the lively voice of a departed friend again. He didn’t rush him but calmly asked, “Can you imitate your old voice now? Call Uncle Zhang and let him know you’re safe?”

They still didn’t know how Yuan Yuxing could return to normal—or rather, Old Yuan no longer existed for the time being.

Rejuvenation to youth sounded too outlandish. Yu Bai worried that if Zhang Yunjiang found out, something might happen to him.

“I’ll try.” Yuan Yuxing had thought of the same thing. He cleared his throat and attempted to alter his voice, though he said worriedly, “Old Zhang had a brain hemorrhage from being pissed off by those turtle bastards, and they couldn’t save him. Sigh, what am I supposed to do like this? It’ll scare him half to death!”

The little boy’s strained attempt at an old man’s gravelly tone made He Xi, who was listening in confusion, instinctively cover her ears.

“…” Yu Bai wanted to cover his ears too. “Forget it. Don’t bother. That won’t work.”

It would just land Old Zhang in the hospital!!

Yuan Yuxing awkwardly gave up, looking troubled. “Then what do we do? We can’t just leave Old Zhang hanging like that. I’m afraid he’ll worry himself sick. How about I send him a text? But I think I left my phone at the hospital…”

From the speaker, the old man waiting patiently at the hospital remained silent and cautious. Every now and then came a muffled cough he was trying to suppress.

Yu Bai subconsciously reached for his pocket.

The one thing that didn’t belong to this timespace—the Pen Fairy Game Paper—was still there.

Yuan Yuxing’s handwriting was on it.

He had a flash of inspiration. “Your handwriting hasn’t changed! You can leave Uncle Zhang a note.”

A handwritten message would be far more convincing than any text anyone could send.

“Right, right!” Yuan Yuxing slapped his thigh and immediately went looking for paper and pen. “I’ll write it now. You guys deliver it to Old Zhang for me!”

“Then I’ll reply to him now.”

As Yu Bai spoke, his hand paused. He couldn’t help asking Yuan Yuxing, “Don’t you want to see Uncle Zhang?”

“How could I in this state…”

The little boy’s reflexive refusal trailed off. After a long pause, he mumbled, “I do.”

Yu Bai nodded. “Okay.”

He turned off mute and softly called out to the patiently waiting old man on the other end. “Uncle Zhang, are you still there?”

“I’m here, I’m here!” Zhang Yunjiang responded almost instantly. “Little Doctor Yu, any news on Old Yuan?”

“Yes. Are you at the hospital?” Yu Bai said. “I’ll come find you. It’s hard to explain over the phone.”

“I’m here, sitting on the first floor of the inpatient building.” Zhang Yunjiang asked him nervously, “This is too much trouble for you… Is it bad news?”

“No.” Little Doctor Yu smiled reassuringly. “It’s not bad news.”

After the call ended, Yu Bai stared at the sofa up ahead—the one no one had sat on to rest—and let out a regretful sigh.

Then he turned to the others. “Once Uncle Yuan finishes the note, we’ll head out. Do you want to come along?”

Yan Jing was rummaging through Yu Bai’s snacks at home and casually handed some to the little girl beside him. “Wherever you go, I go! But I’m hungry. Can we grab something to eat first?”

He Xi accepted the snack from the big brother a bit shyly and said softly, “I’m hungry too… I want to go too.”

Yuan Yuxing was sprawled over the coffee table, deep in thought as he scribbled furiously. “Wait a sec—almost done!”

Xie Wufang, standing nearby, asked, “What are you going there for?”

To witness the miracle of the living and the dead reuniting across timespaces.

That was what Yu Bai thought, but when he glanced sideways at Xie Wufang, he simply said, “To eat dinner outside.”

A faint smile rippled in his eyes, like scattered, subtle starlight.

“I’ve suddenly decided that candied sweet potatoes taste better eaten in the restaurant.”