Leaving the amusement arcade, each of the four women carried three plush toys in her arms. Lu Zheng went further, hugging a large cat plush nearly as tall as a person, drawing countless stares.
“Cannot put them in the bracelet?” Liu Qingyan asked.
“Use an illusion spell?” Shen Ying asked Lu Zheng. “Or go to that… um… toilet and store them?”
Before coming out, they had agreed not to use magic in public, at least not in ways that set them apart from ordinary people. Lu Zheng had even given them a special briefing on the omnipresence of Skynet cameras.
The women did not particularly mind, but none of them wanted to make things difficult for Lu Zheng, so they had been carefully concealing their abilities. Still, they could hardly keep running to the car park to stow things.
“Then let us go to the toilet and put them away,” Lin Wan said. “It is no great issue.”
By the time they reached the fifth-floor cinema, they were once again empty-handed and unburdened.
“What film shall we watch?” Lin Wan asked.
“Watch… eh? Who is that?” Liu Qingyan, arm linked with Lu Zheng’s, pointed at a person nearby who was completely black from head to toe.
Lu Zheng, “…”
“That is a person from another country,” Lu Zheng explained. “When we were buying clothes on the second floor earlier, did you not see the posters with white-skinned, golden-haired people? Blue Star has many countries and many races. I will give you all a proper introduction when we get home tonight.”
“Yes, yes, good!” Liu Qingyan nodded repeatedly, unable to resist adding, “So black. Even blacker than that great black bear from the east of Wanfu County when it took human form!”
It was not just Liu Qingyan. Shen Ying and Si Lingxi were curious too, but none of them pressed the matter. Today was for opening their eyes and ears, seeing and listening as much as possible. Deeper understanding could wait.
Still, looking at the black brothers and sisters nearby, and at the blond, green-eyed figures on the film posters, they could sense that this small Blue Star, though not large, was full of variety.
…
After watching a film, browsing the menswear section to buy Lu Zheng two new outfits, visiting the first-floor Huawei store to purchase three of the latest phones, and finally stopping at the bookshop for three copies of the Xinhua Dictionary plus simplified editions of World History and Chinese History, they made it home just after eight in the evening.
“Stay here tonight!” Lin Wan invited. “There are plenty of beds!”
“Yes!” Shen Ying agreed at once. “Perfect chance to enjoy these electrical appliances.”
Lu Zheng shook his head helplessly. “But I suspect you will not use many of them.”
“Who says? Let us try!”
Lin Wan first took the three women for a hot shower that served no real purpose, then changed into pyjamas, and finally began a leisurely tour of the large flat.
“This is the gas water heater. It uses natural gas to heat water. That is where the hot water we just used came from.”
“This is the gas hob. Open the gas, light it, and cook.”
“This is the microwave oven. It heats food using microwaves when powered on.”
“This is the fridge. It keeps things cold or frozen to preserve food. Look, there are still some seafood Lu Zheng brought over from the other side.”
“This is the television, this is the air conditioner. You already know those.”
“This is the washing machine. It washes clothes automatically.”
“This is the treadmill. The belt moves so you can run in place for exercise. I used to use it a lot.”
These were the large, obvious items. There were far more small ones. Lin Wan only gave a brief overview, but there were two or three times as many things as in the previous rental flat. After all, Lu Zheng had only treated that place as a transit point.
…
That night, while Lu Zheng was happily exercising with Liu Qingyan and Shen Ying, Si Lingxi burst in excitedly. “China has legends of phoenixes too? So Blue Star and our world are both seen by the upper realm?”
Lu Zheng, hands on Shen Ying’s waist, froze in place.
Liu Qingyan slipped under the quilt with a whoosh.
“This… can we talk about it tomorrow?” Lu Zheng asked, speechless.
Si Lingxi pouted, a faint blush barely visible on her cheeks, then turned and left. The moment she closed the door, Shen Ying’s voice rose high again.
Si Lingxi was lost for words. In her excitement, she had broken Lu Zheng’s sound-insulation array.
…
Early the next morning, Si Lingxi, who had mastered simplified characters overnight and finished reading World History, sat solemnly opposite Lu Zheng.
“This planet is very strange,” Si Lingxi said.
“How so?” Lu Zheng asked.
“Because many upper-realm immortals or gods have left legends here,” Si Lingxi said.
Liu Qingyan and Shen Ying, now refreshed, were lazily leafing through the Xinhua Dictionary, learning simplified characters, browsing world history, and practising with their phones.
“Yes,” Lu Zheng nodded. “For example, the Three Pure Ones, the Eastern Duke and Western Queen Mother, dragons, phoenixes, qilin.”
“No,” Si Lingxi shook her head. “I mean Ra, Zeus, Odin, Brahma.”
Lu Zheng stared, stunned. “They count too?”
Si Lingxi looked puzzled. “Why would they not?”
“You know of them?” Lu Zheng asked in shock.
“No!” Si Lingxi shook her head as if it were obvious. “There is no inheritance of them in Southern Border.”
Lu Zheng was speechless. “Then how do you know they truly existed and were not simply imagined by people?”
Si Lingxi looked at him without speaking.
“Alright, alright.” Lu Zheng raised his hands in surrender. “And then? Their faiths are gone now. They have almost become mere entertainment symbols.”
“That is exactly what I find strange,” Si Lingxi said curiously. “This is clearly a mortal world with no spiritual energy and no cultivation. How did so many upper-realm immortals or gods come here, whether by dream entry, dharma crossing, or divine thought projection, leave legends, and then all depart?”
Lu Zheng shrugged. “You are asking me? Who do I ask?”
“Wow! Completely naked!” Shen Ying exclaimed, pointing at a Western fresco. “This painting is so bold. I wonder if the Virgin Mary would strike the painter with lightning if she knew?”
Lu Zheng, “…”
Si Lingxi, “…”
Watching Shen Ying and Liu Qingyan’s carefree manner, Si Lingxi felt she might be overthinking things and living too heavily.
Strange was strange. Thousands of years had passed. Whatever had happened back then, the present reality was that inheritance had been severed and only mortals remained. The upper-realm immortals had probably long abandoned this place. What was there to ponder?
Since Lu Zheng treated this place as a safe house and sanctuary for the soul, and the world had advanced technology and abundant entertainment, she and the others could simply treat it as a place to relax and enjoy themselves.
With that thought, Si Lingxi put the matter aside, took out her phone, and said, “Very well, that is settled. By the way, yesterday when I watched a film, it prompted me to top up. Recharge it for me first, and find time to get me a bank card.”
Lu Zheng was speechless. Was Si Lingxi adapting to Blue Star this quickly?
