CH 91

Thank you to Magpie for the ko-fi~

The heart-wrenching Gu Lanyi didn’t want to speak. He gazed at Shu Shuishui with a sincere expression. Gu Lanyi was unwilling to believe that he had overthought things, leading to his identity being revealed. He would rather believe that his opponent was exceptionally clever and powerful.

However, Shu Shuishui’s curiosity was piqued. The little dormouse rarely showed interest in anything other than food, sleep, fur, and Gu Langu. He circled around Gu Lanyi. “Aren’t you called Lin Huang, Lin Huang? Is it a temporary lie? You’re called Gu Lanyi? The Gu of Gu Gu? Which “Lan” is it? Unexpected meaning?”

Gu Lanyi was a bit puzzled. What did he mean by “Gu of Gu Gu” and “unexpected meaning”?

In the current situation, Gu Lanyi was truly in a dilemma. Fight? There was no way he could defeat such a massive mutated creature. It’s possible that he might not even have the chance to move before being smashed into a pulp by a claw. Run? Could he outfly someone?

Shu Shuishui tilted his head. “Why aren’t you speaking? You look quite famous. Maybe I can ask someone else.” Like asking Gu Gu. Gu Gu would definitely know.

Gu Lanyi, however, felt a bit exasperated. “You really are quite cunning!”

Shu Shuishui looked back with sincerity. It was the first time someone had used the word “cunning” to describe him, and it felt somewhat novel. “Really? Am I cunning? I never thought I looked like that.”

Gu Lanyi: “…” He felt an urge to spit blood. What was this new and strange situation?

Shu Shuishui was indeed quite curious. He even reached out to touch his own face. Speaking of which, after his transformation, he hadn’t had the chance to carefully examine his appearance. What would a face described as “cunning” look like?

Gu Lanyi also knew he couldn’t avoid it. Even if Shu Shuishui didn’t know right now, as mentioned just now, anyone who paid even a little attention to the Gu family would eventually uncover all of his information.

Gu Lanyi let out a heavy sigh and then found a stone staircase by the roadside, casually sitting down as he tapped his stiff limbs. “I’m called Gu Lanyi, the ‘Lan’ of Gu Langu, not an unexpected meaning. I’m from a collateral branch of the Gu family, specializing in cultural and historical aspects. When I followed my elder brother, I mainly handled intelligence gathering and decryption…”

“Big brother?” Shu Shuishui quickly caught the key point. He remembered hearing about it before – Gu Gu’s family was extremely renowned in the Canghai Galaxy, ranking among the top families. It wasn’t surprising for such a family to have collateral branches.

“Yes, big brother naturally refers to Gu Langu. From a blood relation perspective, I’m his cousin, albeit a distant one. But we attended the same school, joined the same military division, and ended up on the battlefield together. Later, my big brother encountered some trouble and was exiled to the Desolate Star. Most of our division disbanded after that.” Gu Lanyi unintentionally revealed his relationship with Gu Langu. After all, it wasn’t much of a secret.

Recalling the days of fervent battles, Gu Lanyi first chuckled and then let out a gentle sigh. “I don’t know why, but nowadays, I don’t feel as reckless as I used to be on the perilous battlefield. Back then, even though it was dangerous, I never knew what fear was. Now, on this desolate star, I feel uneasy even when my back is against the wall.”

Shu Shuishui clearly didn’t quite grasp Gu Lanyi’s sentiment, nor did he fully understand the brotherhood of the battlefield. After all, his limited experience of brotherhood was centered around Shu Bao. The camaraderie among teammates might have involved seeking shelter from the rain together, crossing small trenches together, and evading the traps set by humans for mice. “Were you also exiled with Gu Gu?”

Gu Lanyi paused for a moment. “Gu Gu? Is that the nickname you gave my big brother?” Gu Lanyi scrutinized Shu Shuishui from top to bottom once again. “I can’t believe it. You’re quite audacious. My big brother doesn’t have a great temper. If he finds out someone calls him that, it probably won’t end well.”

“No way, Gu Gu is the best! Gu Gu is the gentlest person in the world, the cutest person in the world, Gu Gu is the world…” Shu Shuishui immediately defended Gu Langu’s reputation.

“Stop!” Gu Lanyi shuddered, his skin crawling. “Big brother isn’t here, and now isn’t the time to flatter. Besides, terms like ‘gentle’ and ‘cute’ would never apply to him. You’re not a troll, are you? Watch your choice of words.”

Shu Shuishui’s brows slightly furrowed. “You’re the fake little brother here. Anyway, Gu Gu is cute and gentle!”

Gu Lanyi was speechless. He had meant well, but if someday he were to encounter Gu Langu and this kid really said these things, he would probably get slapped.

When it came to the matter of Gu Langu, the two couldn’t understand each other. One thought the other was a fake fan, while the other believed the first to be a fake little brother.

Sensing Shu Shuishui’s persistence, Gu Lanyi didn’t plan to keep correcting him. After all, the world was so vast, and the chances of encountering Gu Langu were truly minuscule. In the more than half a year he had been exiled to the desolate star, he had never once come across Gu Langu.

Gu Lanyi had been exiled later than Gu Langu and not to the same Desolate Star as Cang Zhan Star. So, once he found his footing, Gu Lanyi immediately logged into the simulator to search for Gu Langu’s traces. However, collective tasks were already rare, and the chance of encountering someone familiar was even lower. Little did Gu Lanyi know that after Gu Langu arrived at Cang Zhan Star, he had never logged into the simulator.

“I wasn’t exiled with my big brother. There were some later developments,” Gu Lanyi said without going into specifics, but he did explain why he felt he had exposed himself.

In the current Canghai Galaxy, the universal language had long been popularized, and many cultures had faded away in the course of history. Even the small remnants that survived were no longer widely known.

Characters like traditional Chinese characters, difficult to write and recognize, had naturally faded from the historical stage. Those who could still recognize them were few and far between. People like Gu Lanyi, who specialized in cultural aspects, could identify them. Coupled with the fact that Shu Shuishui had inexplicably given the ring the character “Lan,” Gu Lanyi naturally believed that he had been exposed.

After all, knowing traditional Chinese characters, being exiled to the Desolate Star, and having a connection with “Lan,” wasn’t that practically hinting at herself?

Shu Shuishui hadn’t expected this kind of misunderstanding, but thinking about it, he could understand. Not just in today’s interstellar era, even on the former Earth, there weren’t many people who recognized and could write traditional Chinese characters. Shu Shuishui had only recognized them because the books Shu Bao had given him were in traditional characters. Everything was just too coincidental. “Xiao Yi Yi, were you in the replica’s transfer within that barrier?”

Gu Lanyi took a moment to realize that “Xiao Yi Yi” was referring to himself. His face darkened slightly. He felt that this nickname was even worse than something like “Little Cutie.” “I’m twenty-five years old, and you don’t even look older than me. Just call me Brother Yi.”

Shu Shuishui exclaimed, “Xiao Yi Yi, you’re very brave! You saw it just now, I’m already ten thousand years old.”

“That was just nonsense, right? After all, that monster didn’t seem to know its numbers.” Gu Lanyi was vying for the position of being called “brother.”

Jiaolong, not happy with this, gave Gu Lanyi a glance, and he immediately fell silent.

Shu Shuishui patted jiaolong’s head. “Xiao Jiao Jiao here is a jiaolong. Unless things go awry, it will eventually turn into a dragon. It’s not a monster. If Xiao Yi Yi makes that mistake again, he’ll get a scolding.”

Gu Lanyi timidly uttered an “oh.” Even though he didn’t quite understand what sort of creature a jiaolong was, his intuition told him it was better to comply.

“Let’s go, let’s take a stroll around the city. This place looks ancient, and I don’t know if we’ll find any useful clues here. Then we can leave and find Gu Gu,” Shu Shuishui said, giving Gu Lanyi’s head a pat.

Being patted on the head by someone who looked younger than himself, Gu Lanyi awkwardly tilted his head. “You really have a wild imagination. Can you just find Gu Langu whenever you want? I’ve been looking since the day I arrived.”

Shu Shuishui gave Gu Lanyi a sympathetic look. “Well, that’s unfortunate for you.”

Gu Lanyi: “…”

They say there’s a generation gap every three years, and Gu Lanyi felt there was at least a three-year age gap between himself and Shu Shuishui. During their conversation, Shu Shuishui often seemed to miss the point.

But in reality, their gap wasn’t just in age; there was also a gap in their races, destined to create situations where their conversations would often go in opposite directions.

For example, Gu Lanyi explained that right after he was transported, he encountered a mutated frog. As for the two people who were eaten, their fate was even worse – they fell right onto the frog’s head, nearly stunning it. Although they tried to escape immediately, unfortunate as it was, both of them were devoured like insects.

After listening, Shu Shuishui fell silent for a moment, then sighed, “A happy little frog.”

Gu Lanyi: ???

As a dormouse, Shu Shuishui clearly wouldn’t shed tears for those two strangers he hadn’t even met. However, he did remember the frog that had an encounter with them.

Gu Lanyi decided not to bring up the frog again, afraid of getting himself worked up. Instead, he carefully observed his surroundings, becoming increasingly shocked. “There’s no trace of modern technology at all. The buildings are made of basic wood and stone, and the tools are iron and stone products. Is this the era of agrarian civilization?”

Walking amidst the ruins of the city, they seemed to still feel the ancient charm that once prevailed – a life and civilization that neither Shu Shuishui nor Gu Lanyi had ever experienced.

“It’s too strange. Setting aside whether this kind of agrarian civilization could trigger biological mutations, the simulator shouldn’t be capturing civilizations this primitive. The simulator is supposed to focus on civilizations similar to the Canghai Galaxy to avoid too much cultural disparity, leading to meaningless strategies.”

Only similar civilizations had research value, and this wasn’t something the Galactic Alliance could control. It was a recognized axiom of physics and cosmology – the exploration of civilizations was irreversible. In simple terms, the Canghai Galaxy was now in the interstellar age, so the simulator could capture and explore interstellar civilizations and above. This was probably the universe’s way of protecting less advanced civilizations, though no one could provide a precise reason.

Shu Shuishui stopped by a stall on the side of the road. He had only seen such stalls in TV dramas before – those street vendors selling accessories.

The wood of the stall had rotted away, but the jade had survived. It was scattered and piled on a dull, dusty cloth. With a gentle touch, the supporting cloth disintegrated into dust.

Gu Lanyi naturally noticed as well. It wasn’t just the cloth; many things on the street would crumble with the slightest touch. Even the houses were the same. The first time Gu Lanyi reached out to touch a house, he was caught off guard and ended up covered in dust.

“How much time has passed, exactly? In a city like this, a gust of wind would be enough to destroy it…” Gu Lanyi’s words halted, as if there hadn’t been any wind or sound since their descent – as if nothing existed.

Shu Shuishui picked up a jade pendant. The tassels on the pendant had weathered away. “This isn’t just a simple agrarian era.”

“What do you mean?” Gu Lanyi turned to look at Shu Shuishui.

Shu Shuishui handed the jade pendant to Gu Lanyi, who took it and felt its smooth, watery texture. “This jade is of good quality.”

“It’s not only good jade but also good talismans. They ward off evil, bring good fortune, and carry luck.” The jade stones sold at this little stall weren’t just accessories; they were inscribed with talismans. There weren’t any high-level talismans, and their effects were mostly gentle – like talismans for blessings, fortune, matchmaking, and dispelling evil.

In any world with modest spiritual power, these talismans could be considered treasures or even game-changing tools. However, here, they were simply laid out on the street. How could this place be a mere agrarian civilization?

Coming out of the barrier, this is the first city they’ve encountered. Therefore, the previous barrier should have belonged to the realm of immortals, while this city falls under the jurisdiction of the first city managed by the immortal sect. It’s quite close to the sect, and it naturally has abundant cultivation resources.

After all, within the barrier, there existed divine creatures like the Ice Phoenix. The first city under their jurisdiction wouldn’t be too shabby. This is a world of cultivation, and not just any world – it’s a world of grand cultivation! A world of a ruined immortal realm!

Shu Shuishui couldn’t determine whether the cultivation civilization or the interstellar civilization was higher, but since it could be captured by the simulator, this ruined immortal realm was at least not beneath the Canghai Galaxy.

“Li Dream Study?” Shu Shuishui pondered. The signboard seemed to convey nothing at first glance. However, while he was lost in thought, Gu Lanyi had already run to the side and was now standing in front of a pavilion. He looked up at the plaque on the pavilion.

Shu Shuishui suddenly raised his head, took a few steps, and quickly made out the characters on the plaque. It indeed read “Li Dream Study”! This place… this world…

No wonder! In the previous dungeon, Li Meng’s time was independent, which was why the laws of the universe couldn’t affect him. This caused Li Meng’s time to remain detached from the world and flow backward. Given the level of modern civilization in the previous dungeon, it was impossible to reshape the memories of a higher civilization!

So, it turned out that Li Meng came from a world of cultivation civilization!

Translator’s corner:

I’ll post the remaining weekend chapters tomorrow after the exam. I still have to prepare for the exam >.