Chapter 15: Temporal Reversal

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Northern Pass, military camp.
The sunset bled crimson, gently casting its glow over the rolling hills, bathing the tranquil borderlands in a golden radiance.
Today, the north wind had not blown; the weather was mild, and even the air carried a leisurely calmness.
Han Lei sat on the hillside, softly singing—
“My hometown lies in Shigatse,
Where a beautiful river flows,
Mother says the hills are full of cattle and sheep,
Because the Bodhisattvas bless us so.
Blue skies adorned with fluffy white clouds,
Clear waves ripple in the lovely river,
Eagles spread their wings and soar,
Leaving behind a touching song.
Om mani padme hum...”
Her ethereal, sweet voice drifted across the hillside, infusing life into the withered grass and sparse trees nearby.
Zhao Zun, leaning on his cane, walked steadily though slowly, approaching Han Lei from behind. At last, he sat down beside her, his gaze gentle as it looked into the distance.
“You sing beautifully.”
Han Lei turned her head. “Your leg isn’t well; how did you manage to come all the way here?”
“You’re hiding on this hillside; if I want to find you, I have to come up here.” Zhao Zun said matter-of-factly. His injury did not affect his bones or tendons; it had mostly healed over these past days, though his steps remained unsteady.
“Did you come looking for me?”
“Can’t I come visit you without a reason? Besides, if I hadn’t come, how would I have learned your true hometown isn’t in Huaxia, but in Shigatse?”
“Heh…” Han Lei laughed softly. “My hometown is really in Huaxia; that’s just the song lyrics. If I made you sing, your hometown would be Shigatse too.”
“You said after this busy period you’d tell me who you really are. Can you tell me now?”
Han Lei looked deeply into Zhao Zun’s eyes, meeting his gaze, thinking to herself, “This guy still remembers that, huh?”
Sooner or later, she would have to tell him anyway. Han Lei decided to reveal everything.
After all, Zhao Zun had personally witnessed her buying provisions through the system—what was there left to hide?

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But she felt the need to give a disclaimer first, lest she be mistaken for a demon and be captured or burned alive.
After all, before her sat an antique from thousands of years ago.
“Since you’re so persistent, I’ll tell you. Just don’t treat me like some kind of monster.”
“A monster? Haha, no way!” Zhao Zun chuckled lightly. “I’ve led troops for years; I have some insight, you know?”
“That’s good!”
Han Lei picked up two small wooden sticks and placed them parallel by Zhao Zun’s feet as she began to explain.
“See, this one represents the Great Jing Dynasty you live in, and this one is Huaxia, where I come from.”
Han Lei pointed to the sticks, then glanced at Zhao Zun, who nodded in understanding, so she continued.
“The two spaces we live in are unrelated, but somehow a time-space reversal happened, like this...”
Han Lei rotated the two parallel sticks and crossed them in the air, then pointed to the intersection.
“The two realms intersected, and I just happened to pass through this crossing point into your Great Jing Dynasty. Maybe one day, I’ll find a way to return to my original Huaxia through this point, but for now, I haven’t found the path back.”
“Ah? This…”
Zhao Zun’s mouth opened slightly, his expression a mix of confusion and shock, as if he had just heard a fairy tale.
“Sounds unbelievable, doesn’t it? But it really happened.”
“Time-space reversal? So... this is what you meant by ‘traveling through time.’” Zhao Zun had never heard the term before and found it hard to believe. “Sounds like a story from mythology.”
Han Lei smiled gently, inexplicably enjoying seeing Zhao Zun’s simple, unworldly expression.
“Hehe! The term ‘time travel’ may be unfamiliar to you, but it’s quite popular where I’m from.” Recalling the time-travel novels of the modern era, Han Lei spoke enthusiastically. “Time and place vary, and the ways to travel through time are countless.”
“How did you travel here?” Zhao Zun wasn’t interested in others’ journeys; he only cared about Han Lei before him.
“I don’t know! I was a military medic, ordered to carry out a mission. Our vehicle went off the cliff on a mountain road, and that’s how I ended up here.”
“Can you go back?” Zhao Zun looked into Han Lei’s beautiful eyes and asked.
“I don’t know! Some travelers return, others never do.” Han Lei left unsaid that it depended on how the author chose to write the story.
Hearing this, Zhao Zun bit his lip and stroked his chin thoughtfully.
He asked again, “When you bought provisions, who were you talking to in midair?”
“That’s my system, which I got when I traveled here.” Han Lei tried to explain simply. “It’s like carrying a store with me, selling everything. I use silver awarded by the system to make purchases.”
“Oh, I see!” Zhao Zun caught on quickly and hurriedly pulled out several silver notes from his pocket to hand to her.

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“I know you spent a lot of silver buying food and medicine for me. This is all I have for now; take it, and I’ll have everyone pool more when we return.”
Han Lei grabbed them eagerly; all were notes worth a thousand taels each. Counting them, there were five notes—five thousand taels of silver, equal to five hundred taels of gold.
“Hehe, you’re considerate. Although this silver can’t be used in the system’s store, it’s still a fair compensation.”
Han Lei counted the notes with a sweet smile.
Zhao Zun glanced at the love-lock pendant hanging on her chest, covered his mouth with his hand, and smiled subtly.
It seemed the pendant had some effect; at least today their conversation had been pleasant, and their relationship appeared to have taken a step forward. Their titles naturally shifted from ‘Lord’ and ‘Miss Han’ to the simpler ‘I’ and ‘you.’
Just as Han Lei finished counting and tucked the notes into her bosom, the system chimed again.
“Ding! Congratulations, host, on earning income through your own effort for the first time. Reward: fifty taels of silver.”
Hmm? You can complete tasks just by chatting?
Han Lei thought this system was utterly useless.
It promised rewards for completing tasks, yet she had never actively accepted any. It was as if the system had arranged the entire storyline, and she simply walked along the predetermined path. When she reached certain points, the system would declare a reward, or not.
Whether there was a reward, and how much, was all controlled by the system. She had no say in it.
Han Lei wanted to complain to the lousy system but thought better of it.
Though fifty taels was almost negligible, she hoped the system would remember her when it mattered most.
“Are you free tomorrow?” Han Lei asked.
“Yes!”
With the war over and this month’s supplies delivered, besides drills, there was nothing pressing.
“Your injury has almost healed. I’ll remove your stitches this morning. In the afternoon, can you accompany me to that mountain valley where you were saved that day?”
“What for? Did you leave something behind?”
Han Lei shook her head. “No. I just want to see if I can find a way back to Huaxia.”
The person was saved, supplies delivered. Her mission in this place should be complete, right? And she had even collected five thousand taels of silver. If not now, then when would she return?
“You want to go back?” Zhao Zun’s usually cold face darkened with a hint of melancholy.