When the three of them arrived at Guanyuan Temple, the sky had already darkened.
Feng Qingyi woke up Xu Linghe, "Linghe, we've arrived. Let's go in together!"
"Alright." The three of them got off the carriage one by one and entered Guanyuan Temple.
A young monk sweeping the grounds approached them and asked, "Visitors, what brings you here today?"
"Is Master Guang'an here? I have an extremely important matter to discuss with him. I'd be grateful if you could inform him," said Feng Qingyi.
The young monk looked at Feng Qingyi and replied, "Master Guang'an is not in the temple today. If you wish to see him, please wait until tomorrow."
"...Then do you know where he is now? I really have a very urgent matter. It's a matter of life and death!"
She wondered where Qian Jue had been transported to, hoping nothing bad had happened.
Seeing Feng Qingyi's anxiety, the young monk said, "No one knows the abbot's whereabouts, but he said before leaving that he would return tomorrow."
"It's already late, and it's not safe to go down the mountain. Why don't you stay here for the night? When the abbot returns, I'll notify you immediately. How does that sound?"
Xu Linghe comforted her, "Qingyi, the young monk has a point. Master Guang'an isn't here now, and worrying won't solve anything. Let's rest here tonight, and you can seek his help when he returns tomorrow."
Feng Qingyi had no choice but to nod. This was the only option for now.
The young monk prepared side rooms for the three of them, with Feng Qingyi and Xu Linghe sharing one room.
The temple's vegetarian meal was very plain, and the two barely ate before putting down their chopsticks.
Xu Linghe asked, "Qingyi, what's so urgent that you need to find Master Guang'an?"
"I accidentally made someone disappear." She wondered if he was safe now.
Xu Linghe exclaimed, "Made someone disappear? How can a person just disappear!"
"I don't know how to explain it to you. He just vanished suddenly," Feng Qingyi said.
Xu Linghe scratched her head, "Making a living person disappear... You didn't use witchcraft, did you? I've read about such things in novels. Are you some kind of demon?"
"...How could that be possible? There are no such things as demons and monsters in this world. You're overthinking it. You can just consider that I know some secret techniques that can make people vanish," Feng Qingyi explained.
Xu Linghe asked eagerly, "Secret techniques? Can you teach me?"
"I can't teach you, but I can let you experience it. However, I'm not sure if it might make you disappear too."
After what happened with Qian Jue, she suddenly felt that this teleportation array might not be entirely reliable.
Xu Linghe said, "That's fine, let me try it! If I disappear too, we can ask Master Guang'an to find me tomorrow as well."
"...You're really brave. But we need to agree on something first. You must keep this a secret and not tell anyone," Feng Qingyi said.
Xu Linghe nodded, "I swear, I'll keep it a secret and won't tell anyone."
"Then come here and hold my hand tightly. We'll do this together," Feng Qingyi extended her hand.
Xu Linghe grasped her hand, "Do I need to do anything else?"
"Close your eyes," Feng Qingyi instructed.
Xu Linghe did as told, and in an instant, the two of them were in Feng Qingyi's bedroom.
Feng Qingyi looked at Xu Linghe in front of her. The teleportation array indeed could bring people back, but what happened with Qian Jue then?
"Qingyi, is it done?" Xu Linghe asked.
Feng Qingyi replied, "Yes, you can open your eyes now."
Xu Linghe opened her eyes and looked around, very surprised. "Qingyi, where are we?"
"This is my home. We belong to two different worlds. Due to some special reasons, I can travel between these two worlds," Feng Qingyi explained.
Xu Linghe asked, "Is it like the divine realm and mortal world in the novels?"
"You can understand it that way, more or less." Feng Qingyi led Xu Linghe to the sofa, made her sit down, and sat beside her.
Xu Linghe said, "No wonder you always talked about going to class, but I never knew where you were studying, and I couldn't find you at your home."
"You're accepting this quite well. I noticed you didn't eat much earlier, you must still be hungry. Let me take you to the kitchen to see if we have anything to eat," Feng Qingyi said, pulling Xu Linghe towards the door.
As they walked, Xu Linghe looked around curiously, "Qingyi, is that a night pearl hanging up there?"
"That's an electric light, for illumination," Feng Qingyi explained.
Xu Linghe exclaimed, "It's so bright!"
The two went downstairs, and Feng Qingyi led Xu Linghe to the dining room.
"Sit here for a moment. I'll go to the kitchen to get you some fruit and then cook some noodles."
Feng Qingyi entered the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, took out some grapes and strawberries, washed them, and brought them to the dining table.
"Eat these first, I'll go cook the noodles."
Feng Qingyi returned to the kitchen and started boiling water for the noodles.
Xu Linghe sat in the dining room, looking around. Everything here seemed incredibly novel to her.
Feng Qingci, who had returned to the villa, heard sounds from the kitchen and walked over.
To reach the kitchen, he had to pass through the dining room. He had only taken a few steps when he saw Xu Linghe in her goose-yellow Hanfu. He froze for a few seconds.
"Who are you?"
Seeing Feng Qingci's exposed arms and legs, Xu Linghe quickly averted her gaze, "I'm Qingyi's friend. My name is Xu Linghe."
"Oh, I'm her brother. I'll go to the kitchen to see what she's doing," Feng Qingci said as he walked towards the kitchen.
Entering the kitchen, Feng Qingci saw that Feng Qingyi was also wearing Hanfu. "Did you go to some event? And you brought back a young girl who looks underage."
"Why are you back today? Isn't it comfortable staying at Xi's place?" Feng Qingyi asked.
Feng Qingci replied, "I can't always freeload at their place, can I?"
"I never saw you being so considerate before," Feng Qingyi said as she put the noodles into the boiling water.
Feng Qingci explained, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder. If I stay at their place all the time, we might get tired of each other after a while. Keeping an appropriate distance helps maintain family harmony. Cook more noodles, I haven't had dinner either."
Feng Qingyi asked, "Go ask Linghe if she wants eggs."
Feng Qingci went to the kitchen door, "Little sister, do you want eggs?"
"...Yes, I do," Xu Linghe nodded.
Feng Qingci: "She wants eggs. Add two for me as well."
"Got it. Go keep her company and chat," Feng Qingyi shooed him out.
Feng Qingci sat down in the dining room. Xu Linghe felt a bit nervous facing him.
"You said your name is Xu Linghe, right?" Feng Qingci asked.
Xu Linghe nodded, "Yes."
"How old are you?" Feng Qingci inquired.
Xu Linghe replied, "Just turned sixteen."
"Only sixteen? You should be in high school then. Which school do you go to?" Feng Qingci asked.
Xu Linghe looked confused, "School? I don't go to school!"
"You don't go to school? Did you drop out, or is there some other reason?" Feng Qingci probed.
Xu Linghe didn't know how to answer and just shook her head.
Seeing this, Feng Qingci didn't press further, "Have some more fruit."
Feng Qingyi quickly finished cooking the noodles, "Feng Qingci, come and serve yourself."
Hearing her voice, Feng Qingci quickly went to the kitchen.
Feng Qingyi brought out a bowl for Xu Linghe, "Linghe, this is for you. It's quite late today, and we don't have many ingredients at home. I'm sorry for the poor hospitality. Next time you come, I'll prepare a feast for you."
"This is already very good. Thank you so much," Xu Linghe said gratefully.
Feng Qingyi brought her own bowl as well, and the three sat at the dining table eating the steaming hot noodles.
Xu Linghe said, "Qingyi, you're amazing. You can even cook! I've never even been in a kitchen."
Feng Qingyi replied, "It's just cooking noodles. Eat up, and if it's not enough, there's more in the pot."
"This bowl is already plenty. You two eat more," Xu Linghe said.
After eating, Feng Qingyi instructed Feng Qingci to clean up the dishes and took Xu Linghe back to her room.
"Qingyi, your brother's clothes are so revealing. Do all the people here dress like that?" Xu Linghe asked.
Feng Qingyi thought back to what Feng Qingci was wearing - a T-shirt and shorts, his standard summer outfit. It wasn't really that revealing.
"It's summer now, so he might have dressed lightly because of the heat. Both men and women dress like this here," Feng Qingyi explained.
Xu Linghe asked in surprise, "Doesn't that invite gossip?"
Feng Qingyi: "In our world, we have the freedom to dress as we like. Of course, there are some people who gossip, but they can talk all they want, and we'll wear what we want. There's no need to care about others' opinions."
Xu Linghe sat motionless on the sofa, "It's really nice here."
Feng Qingyi patted her shoulder, "Stop daydreaming. I'll find you some pajamas and take you to bathe. Let's sleep early today and go to Guanyuan Temple tomorrow morning to find Master Guang'an."
After handing the pajamas to Xu Linghe, Feng Qingyi first helped her remove the hairpins from her head, then led her to the bathroom and taught her how to use it.
Once she had taught her everything, Feng Qingyi returned to sit on the sofa in the bedroom.
After much contemplation, she decided to send a message to Qin Yuchuan about Qian Jue's situation.
If something really happened to him because of her, she wouldn't know what to do. She needed his help to think of a solution.
[Qingyi: Yuchu, are you busy now?]
[Yuchuan: Did something happen?]
[Qingyi: I mentioned Qian Jue to you before. Today, I went to Wenyuan Pavilion with Linghe and saw him. He asked me to bring him over to buy some food, so I was about to bring him, but somehow he got teleported somewhere else!]
[Qingyi: Do you think he might be in danger? I'm really worried now!]
[Yuchuan: Where are you now?]
[Qingyi: I heard Qian Jue say he had a good relationship with Master Guang'an, so I thought we might be able to save him and went to Guanyuan Temple.]
[Qingyi: Linghe and Zhao Yiqing came with me, but Master Guang'an wasn't there. The young monk said he'd be back tomorrow. It was getting late, so we were going to stay in the guest rooms, but they were a bit too basic, so I brought Linghe back to stay with me.]
[Yuchuan: Don't worry. You mentioned before that he's also from another world. He must have some ability to protect himself. He'll be fine.]
