Chapter 172: Cultivation without Time
In the crowded port of Fangting City, passengers and goods were moving in an orderly manner along their respective routes. In this prosperous scene, no one noticed a dark figure blending into the crowd without a trace.
Yuan was wearing her tattered Taoist robe, holding a package in her arms and carrying the fairy she called "Semi" on her shoulder, strolling aimlessly in the harbor.
"It doesn't really look like a small place, Fangting."
She spoke as if she was talking to herself: "I heard it was a small city in the southern part of Donghua Prefecture, but it is not much bigger than the big city I remember."
"How many years has it been since you last visited a city in the material world?"
Semi glanced at her and said, "Thirty years? Fifty years? It's not like human cities won't develop. After so many years, their scale will eventually expand."
"Hmm... I forgot."
Yuan squinted his eyes in confusion: "But it feels like it should be longer than you said. Indeed, I don't even know if my hometown still exists now."
"You, there must be a limit to your nerves."
Semi was somewhat helpless: "I'm beginning to worry whether you can survive normally in the city. Human cities are not that simple. Every once in a while, the lifestyle there will change drastically. If you want to complete the task as smoothly as possible, you must have the necessary common sense."
"You can rest assured about this. After all, I am also a human who was born and raised in the material world."
Yuan yawned subconsciously as he walked. "No matter how much I retreat from the world to practice, I spent my childhood in a human city. I will definitely have no problem with basic common sense."
"Really?"
Sammy asked suspiciously, "You've been back in the material world for so many years, and you've almost never left the base, right? The material world now is very different from before."
"Don't worry, I know. Isn't this the port? A place where land ships dock. There were also such places in my time, but not like now..."
Yuan looked around and took in the shops in his sight. He paused for no apparent reason: "What kind of shops are these? They look magnificent. Are they money houses? Pawn shops?"
“It’s a store.”
Seeing that she could point to a fast food restaurant and describe it as "money shop", Semi felt his heart sink to the bottom: "It's a place to sell things. What you see now is a restaurant."
"It's a restaurant, right?"
“Yes, but no.”
Semi pushed Yuan's shoulder and said, "Anyway, hurry up and move on. Don't embarrass yourself here."
The man and the fairy continued to move forward, walked out of the port, and came to the city blocks. All they saw along the way were towering buildings and busy roads. Looking at the busy streets in front of them, Yuan fell into confusion again.
“…Are people so rich now?”
She was a little surprised and asked, "Can you all afford a car?"
"What kind of antique knowledge do you have? Cars are now the most commonly used means of transportation!" Semi couldn't help but raise his voice.
"What about tricycles and motorcycles? Have they been eliminated?"
"Isn't that a matter of course?"
"Human cities are really changing with each passing day." Yuan touched his chin and said with some surprise.
"Why are you, a proper human, not as familiar with the city as a fairy like me?"
Sammy sighed: "I think I need to ask you one more question. What do you plan to do after coming to this city?"
"Anyway, let's find a place to take a shower, have a meal, and have a good sleep?" Yuan was still looking at the surrounding scenery.
"I agree with this, but then what? How are you going to get the Beast Source?"
"Hmm... Let's create an incident and lure all the magical girls here."
Yuan thought and said, "First, find a crowded place and find a way to get a remnant beast out. When the magic girls come to defeat the remnant beast, I will jump out and confront them. When Cornflower and the girl named Bai Jingxuan are here, I will defeat them and take away both the people and the source of the beast."
"Face-to-face confrontation?"
Sammy was shocked by her words: "Are you serious? Are you going to fight Cornflower so openly?"
"What else?" Yuan gave it a strange look, "I should have told you yesterday morning."
"I thought you were talking about a situation where we had to face off head-on. Who told you to just come and pick a fight?"
Sammy said angrily, "You were a flower card, but Cornflower is also a flower card. What if she has some incredible trump card and defeats you directly? How are you going to report back then?"
"Don't worry, I am not the same person now as I was back then."
Yuan folded his arms and said confidently, "To defeat my past self, I only need one hand now."
“I didn’t ask you that…”
Sammy's voice dropped. "I mean, your plan is really too crude. I don't think it's appropriate."
"Why would it be inappropriate? It's open and aboveboard, and I think it's good. Even my subordinates do this, and they have no objections." Yuan looked at Semi strangely.
"Your subordinates...ah, that is to say, when Sparrow was here, he was also..."
"Well, probably because he went to Cornflower's house and got defeated."
Yuan nodded: "Behave properly, be impartial, and live up to the standards of our generation. Even if you lose, it's honorable."
Sammy was completely silent.
It began to think about whether it was a wise choice to accept the assignment and complete the mission with this idiot who just stayed in the base every day practicing Taoism and martial arts.
It was just that this trip was a very important mission specially assigned by the leader White Wolf and the deputy leader Black Cat. Otherwise, they would not have sent a high-level fighter like Yuan to a small place like Fangting. Even if I wanted to refuse at that time, I was afraid there would be no room for it.
Thinking of this, it realized that its tangle seemed meaningless, and it felt relieved and spoke again: "Forget it, let's do as you say."
Pointing to the traffic not far away, Sammy continued: "Anyway, let's find a car and leave here. We have been standing on the roadside for too long and have been noticed."
After it said this, Yuan realized that she had attracted the attention of many passers-by just by stopping for a short while. Perhaps because she was wearing shabby clothes and her words were strange, many people thought she was a beggar.
"Ah, I thought I wouldn't notice anything if I dressed like this."
Yuan blinked innocently: "So are we leaving now? Where to?"
"How should I know where you should go? I have never been to Fangting City before."
Sammy was helpless: "Anyway, let's go to a more prosperous place to stay first, and stop a car on the roadside."
"Going for a ride?"
Yuan looked at the traffic not far away, her eyebrows slightly raised: "What if they are not going the same way as me?"
"I asked you to take a taxi..."
Sammy tried not to sound too excited: "Just look for those cars with lights on the roof that say 'Taxi'. If you see the sign in front that says 'Vacant', then you can..."
"Doesn't the red and blue light look more artistic? I'll go ask that one."
"Red and blue? Ah, idiot, don't go there, that's a police car! Come back here!"
It took a long time to stop Yuan. Semi said breathlessly, "Don't make things worse for yourself! Just find the one with the light on the roof saying TAXI!"
"oh."
Yuan nodded her head in agreement and waited on the roadside for a while before finally seeing the 'empty car' that Sammy had mentioned before. She reached out to stop it, walked forward, talked to the driver through the car window for a while, then stood up and watched the taxi drive away.
Then she turned and walked back to where she came from.
"The driver said he had to make a reservation via mobile phone because his car had been booked by someone else."
Yuan looked thoughtful: "He also said that we came at a bad time. We shouldn't come during working hours. It's hard to get a taxi at this time."
"Let's not talk about the latter part, mobile phone reservation is indeed a method."
Sammy nodded, "So where's your phone?"
"I don't have a cell phone." Yuan tilted his head.
"ha?"
Sammy's eyes widened immediately: "Didn't the leader equip all of you cadres with personal mobile phones? Why don't you have one? Is it broken?"
"That's not the reason... It's probably not damaged, so it's still intact."
Yuan gave a somewhat hearty smile: "It's just that I never figured out how to use it, so I just threw it in the base to avoid losing it."
Semi was stunned on the spot, as if struck by lightning.
"So, how are you going to stay and eat?"
After a long pause, it spoke again, but its voice was trembling: "How are you going to live in the city without a cell phone? You didn't even bring any money, did you?"
"How could that be? I brought money."
Yuan was calm and composed: "I usually don't have anywhere to spend money so I've been saving it. It will definitely be enough."
"Are you sure you're carrying money from the material world?"
Sammy asked worriedly, "Could it be silver coins from the kingdom?"
"I am just practicing without age, I am not suffering from Alzheimer's disease."
Yuan rolled his eyes at it and said, "It must be the currency from the material world. I left it with me when I left the city. I just happened to bring it all with me this time."
"Ah, is that so? That's right, no matter how lacking common sense you are, you shouldn't go to this extent."
Sammy then breathed a sigh of relief: "I thought we would be sleeping on the streets in the city next."
"Actually, sleeping on the streets is nothing. It's not like I haven't experienced this before."
Yuan tightened the package in her hand, with a touch of nostalgia on her face: "My memory is very good, and many of the experiences I summarized at that time should still be universal. How about we give it a try?"
"No way! After walking in the wilderness for half a month, my wings are already covered with dust!"
Sammy shook her head: "I want to take a shower!"
"Pity."
Yuan had no choice but to spread his hands: "Well, let's find a breakfast shop to fill our stomachs first, and then find a place to stay. I also feel like taking a shower."
Unable to get a taxi, the two could only walk along the street. During the walk, Yuan kept looking around, and was very interested in the familiar yet unfamiliar human civilization. It was only with Semi that she was dragged to move forward.
After a while, they finally found a breakfast shop on the roadside that was still open and walked in exhausted.
Because the owner of the store couldn't see the goblin, Yuan specially ordered a few more snacks and took Sammy to a corner of the store to sit down. Then he drank half a bowl of soy milk quite boldly and ate half a steamed bun directly.
Like a reincarnated hungry ghost, he devoured a table of breakfast. After that, Yuan walked back to the counter at the entrance of the store leisurely, ignoring the surprised looks of the people around him, and shouted, "Boss, check out!"
"Okay."
The boss, who was still preparing meals at the door of the store, took a break from his busy schedule to count Yuan's table and tapped on the calculator. He calculated a number: "Beautiful lady, you have a big appetite. You ate 5 steamed buns, 4 steamed dumplings, and 2 bowls of soy milk, a total of 53 yuan."
"Give me the change." Yuan Yun calmly took out a hundred-dollar bill from his Taoist robe and placed it lightly on the counter.
The boss took the money she gave him and wanted to check its authenticity carefully, but before he could take a closer look, he realized something was wrong: "Beauty, you can't use this money? Do you have anything else?"
"Can't be used? How is that possible?"
Yuan took out another banknote from his robe and said, "All the money I have is like this. It must be real."
"But, no... your money is too old. It must have been used forty years ago."
The boss wiped his forehead and said, "I only saw this kind of banknotes when I was a child. Now even the exchange period has passed, so it is definitely unusable."
"Expired?"
Yuan couldn't help but take the banknote back, shook it in front of her eyes, and then handed it out again: "But even if it's old money, there must be someone who wants it, right? I'll give this to you, you can exchange it with someone, no change."
"It's a small business, beautiful lady, don't make fun of me."
The boss smiled awkwardly and said, "Banks can't exchange money now. I'll have to find another way to get it. And I can't tell whether your money is real or fake. You should just give me cash. If that doesn't work, can you transfer it to me via mobile phone?"
"What should I do if I have nothing else except this money?"
Yuan threw the banknotes on the counter: "Since you don't want this, I have no other choice."
“You, this…”
Seeing that Yuan was about to give up, the boss wiped his sweat anxiously and was thinking about what to do when his sight suddenly shifted to the sidewalk not far away.
At this moment, a patrolling policeman was passing by.
…
…
At noon, Lin Yun put down the documents in his hand, closed the computer in front of him, and closed his eyes tiredly.
He reached out and rubbed his shoulders, only to feel that the inflammation that had finally eased was showing signs of recurring. Just as he was wondering if he had been overworked recently, he heard a gentle knock on the door.
"Come in."
As he said this, he secretly pulled the silk thread at the door, and saw a female employee from the Intelligence Department walked in cautiously.
"Hello, Chief. Sorry to bother you."
She greeted him softly, then picked up her phone and got down to business: "We just received a case of a disturbance on the magic side. It was said that a magician ate a breakfast stall in Lixing District and then used magic to cause trouble in order to avoid paying... He has just been arrested by the police."
"A free meal?"
Lin Yun raised his eyebrows. "It's not that bad, is it? Give him some criticism and education for a while, and then urge him to pay more money to the merchant. After a while, conduct a review, and the case should be closed."
"Yes, that was the original decision of the bureau, but after the interrogation room received the person, they insisted that you go over and take a look."
The employee said cautiously: "They said that you are the only one who can make the decision on this matter."
"Why? Does this matter involve Black Cinder Dawn?" Lin Yun subconsciously speculated.
"No, not the Dark Dawn."
The employee shook his head, looked at Lin Yun's expression, and said slowly:
"They said that the person who was arrested didn't seem to be a magician, but a... magical girl."
(End of this chapter)
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