Chapter 48: The scapegoat, Liu Dezhu
As the night faded away, Qing Chen reappeared in his little apartment on Xingshu Road, still sweating.
Despite the fact that it had only been a second, Qing Chen looked outside at the gloom, he already missed that dark prison.
Qing Chen took out the flash drive from his mouth and took a look at his palm. The gold that he got from the Inner World was still there in his hand.
This was a remarkable discovery for him, it entailed that he could bring items back and forth between the two worlds much easier than others.
Taking a look at his arm: Countdown 168:00:00.
Another seven days.
Last time it was seven days and now seven days again, making the time travelers spent at the two places longer and longer.
Is it possible that the time was extending longer with each consecutive visit? Could there possibly be a time where they would be stuck in one world for the rest of their lives?
He didn't know the answer to these questions.
Qing Chen smiled to himself. He didn't go to sleep but instead laid a blanket down on the ground, continuing his training as he would with Ye Wan.
Although no one was looking after him anymore, he knew that the training was for his own improvement.
Since he promised to train until 3 o’clock in the morning, he would persist even in the Outer World.
Taking a deep breath, he started the breathing technique, and the fire patterns on his cheeks revealed once again.
No matter if it was in the Outer World or the Inner World, self-discipline was one's greatest freedom.
Hold up, he forgot something very important.
After training, Qing Chen sat on the floor, letting his sweat drip down.
Opening his voice translator app, he repeated word for word what Kamidai Soraon said to him.
The Japanese the girl said very quietly made him feel like there must be some important information inside.
Just like… When you travel to a foreign country, the locals would use their language or a local dialect to curse you.
Qing Chen repeated to his phone, "こんなに静かに座っているのもよさそうですが、この少年の沈黙ぶりは本当にきれいですね。 ”
Soon, the words were translated onto his screen, "It's quite nice just sitting here in silence., but this teenager looks very handsome being silent. ”
Qing Chen was frozen in place. What was this supposed to mean?
Also, the Kamidai Family speaks Mandarin in the Inner World too, so why was she speaking Japanese?
Is that to say she was a time traveler as well? Or did the Kamidai family continue to speak Japanese as a family tradition?
If she was a time traveler, how come she could speak Mandarin so flawlessly? Surely there aren't many Japanese natives that know how to speak Mandarin, right?
The next morning, Qing Chen woke up to the sound of his phone's buzzing notifications.
He opened his WeChat and saw that it was Nan Gengchen, "Qing Chen! Qing Chen! Qing Chen! Do you know how lucky Liu Dezhu was from the class beside us? ”
Qing Chen was confused, but he still sat up immediately from his bed, "What do you mean by that? ”
"Quick, come to the school!" said Nan Gengchen.
Qing Chen put on his blue and white school uniform. Before leaving the house, he didn't forget to check the mirror, and seeing that there were no more signs of him being starved, he left with no worries.
As he got to the school, he saw that the classroom beside him was surrounded by students. Some dozen students were waiting outside Class 4, waiting for something.
"This way," said Nan Gengchen on his tip-toes, waving his hand and trying to greet Qing Chen.
Qing Chen squeezed in and asked, "What's happening here? ”
"Did you check today's trending searches?" Nan Gengchen opened his WeiBo.
Then, with a look, he was shocked.
A man, Mr. Jian, was on a business trip to Luo City from Sichuan, and accidentally became a time traveler, transmigrating into the Prison 18 of the Inner World.
The person was identified as a time traveler in the Inner World and was isolated in solitary confinement.
He got there for seven days and stayed there in that cell for seven days.
From what Mr. Jian told us, there is a time traveler who already became a bigwig in the prison. The person could enter and exit all parts of the prison freely, and there were supernatural beings obeying the person's orders.
Mr. Jian is currently seeking this time traveler and is willing to pay or provide service to gain some degree of freedom in the prison.
Qing Chen was shocked. He didn't expect that Jian Sheng would be brave enough to seek media support to find a solution.
Looks like he must have gotten really bored in that cell for the past seven days.
But honestly speaking, he felt bad for Liu Dezhu and Jian Sheng. They got their status as time travelers, but all they could do was sit in a prison all day.
The others all had different experiences in the Inner World, experiencing the 3-D visual effects on the streets, touring the cyber city, yet these two just got the experience of being imprisoned in a different place.
If they could choose again, they probably wouldn't have chosen to transmigrate in the first place.
Now, Qing Chen probably guessed why everyone wanted to gather in front of Liu Dezhu's class.
Even if Liu Dezhu still hadn't got to the school yet, they would still be willing to wait.
The last time he got back from the Inner World, he admitted that he got in Prison 18 and talked to Li Shutong!
Then when the classmates asked him for more details, he just said the rest were secrets.
The more he was unwilling to share, the more that everyone was curious about.
Then, everyone guessed that Liu Dezhu must have found a way to obtain some methods from Li Shutong to become a supernatural being.
After these classmates saw the news about Jian Sheng, they immediately thought of Liu Dezhu!
In the minds of these people, there wouldn't be anyone else that could have done this except for Liu Dezhu.
As the search got on the leaderboard, there was one student who commented, "My classmate said that he was a time traveler and has recently gotten support from Li Shutong! ”
Before that, Jian Sheng's search ranking was only around 40ish places, but after the comment, it immediately jumped to the top ten.
And the number was still rapidly increasing.
In the eyes of the public, other than mysterious people like He Xiaoxiao, there weren't many known supernatural beings.
More critically, Li Shutong was mentioned, who in He Xiaoxiao's video, was said to be the most possible route to become a supernatural being.
So after the people saw this comment, they simultaneously thought that Liu Dezhu must be that time traveler in Jian Sheng's report.
Just as everyone was busy chatting, Liu Dezhu arrived at the school. As he turned and saw the crowd of people in front of his class, his face instantly turned pale, "What… is all this about? ”
Everyone was disappointed. Looks like the person himself still didn't know what's going on.
"Did you not see the trending search today? Even if you didn't see the search, you should at least check your phone," said one of the students.
"There is a person called Jian Sheng who claimed to have seen you in Prison 18. He wants to meet with you and ask you to get him out of solitary confinement. ”
Liu Dezhu felt that his mind was about to explode. He got put in prison for seven days, and only now could he sleep on his soft bed for a night. In the morning, he woke up late and didn't even check his phone before riding his bike to school.
He took out his phone and checked out what they were talking about.
Except… He felt like there was something wrong. According to Jian Sheng, that mysterious person asked him a few questions alone in a cell.
He knew that he had never done that.
So, in Prison 18, there was someone other than Jian Sheng and him who actually got power, and he was just a scapegoat!
"Please, whoever you are, get me out of that prison, too!!" At this point, Liu Dezhu wanted to cry.
He wanted to deny his identity, but the news had already spread like wildfire.
Liu Dezhu gave it a try, "So, I don't think I'm the right person that Jian Sheng was talking about. There's someone else… ”
One of the classmates questioned him, "We asked if there are more transmigrators in Prison 18 yesterday, and you said there weren't any. ”
He said that before he transmigrated, but for him, it had been a week since he said that.
Looking at this, Qing Chen felt that it would be quite convenient if Liu Dezhu kept attracting all his attention.
But he does have to find a way to solve this problem. Maybe ask Li Shutong to transport them into a different prison?
As he was thinking, four cars from the local news station arrived at the school, and the reporters dashed toward the school as soon as the cars came to a stop.
The two security guards stationed outside the school attempted to stop them, but there were simply too many of them.
When Qing Chen noticed this, he headed back to his class, pulling Nan Gengchen behind him.
Someone might recall his face if he was seen on TV, causing him unnecessary grief.
……