"Thank you, Brother Wu. It's rare to find someone willing to comfort me when I've fallen so low." Du Wenyan gave Su Jin an odd glance and managed a thin smile.
Su Jin sighed. "I wish I were just comforting you... But let's leave that aside. Tell me about the two of you. I need the whole story before I can feel safe traveling together."
"If I tell you everything, will you be honest about where you came from?" Du Wenyan met his gaze. "It's not that I don't trust you, Brother Wu. You're simply too mysterious. I've met plenty of people, but I can't make sense of you or anything around you."
"I know you mean us no harm. I'm still afraid, though. I can't imagine what might happen if we keep following you."
"All right. Tell me your story, and I'll tell you everything."
"Very well. I came from an ordinary family. My sister is fourteen this year, ten years younger than me. Our parents died ten years ago..."
Du Wenyan told his story while Su Jin occasionally jotted down important points.
An ordinary family. Parents dead. When Yunlian's ability appeared, Du Wenyan had raised her alone, playing both mother and father.
Life had been difficult at first. Later, he thought of using her ability to earn money and eventually found his way into noble circles.
The city frequently inspected women, and Tanyu Temple had a way to detect Suzai.
He usually stayed at the well-known Drunken Flower Pavilion, with Yunlian beside him as a servant.
Staying somewhere so prominent helped them avoid inspections while letting him make money from the nobles and build connections.
Then, yesterday, someone had caught Yunlian using her ability indoors. The commotion that followed had led to everything else.
After hearing the whole account, including the details, Su Jin couldn't find an obvious flaw.
But Du Wenyan had lied to him before, and a man who could move among nobles was surely good with words. Su Jin couldn't believe every word.
On the whole, though, Du Wenyan seemed reasonably dependable.
He cared deeply for his sister, was wanted by the authorities himself, and Yunlian was a Suzai.
"Brother Wu, I've told you everything about my life. Whether you believe me or not, I have nothing more to add," Du Wenyan said.
"Then it's my turn. I hope you..." Su Jin paused. "I hope you can stay calm when you hear this."
Du Wenyan nodded solemnly. "I will."
"The truth is... an immortal gave me guidance and sent me to save the world."
"..." Du Wenyan's expression changed at once. He looked unmistakably disappointed.
Yunlian looked equally bewildered.
"This vehicle," Su Jin said, pointing to the RV, "and everything in it were given to me by an immortal. There's chaos in heaven and on earth. The end of the world is coming in one hundred and seventy-nine days."
Du Wenyan opened his mouth, but couldn't find a question to ask.
He had imagined any number of explanations for Su Jin's origins. This one had never occurred to him.
It was absurd!
The RV and its contents were astonishing, certainly, but Tanyu Temple possessed remarkable things too.
Even Tanyu Temple didn't dare claim an immortal had guided them and charged them with saving the world.
Could one person really save it?
"I know you don't believe me. But the immortal said he hadn't guided only me. You know the other person: Shen Yufeng!" Su Jin went on. "With all the chaos in heaven, the messages we received were incomplete. I know when the end will come; he knows what will happen."
"And he is the key to stopping it. If he survives, there's a way out. That's why I need to go with you to Jiuzhao City."
"Ahem... That's..." At a loss, Du Wenyan said, "That is unexpected. Brother Wu, do you have any proof? Where did you meet this immortal?"
"Shushan."
"Shushan? I've never heard of it."
"Of course you haven't. It's an immortal mountain across the sea. I used to be a fisherman, and a wave washed me ashore there," Su Jin improvised. "I wasn't supposed to know any of this, but the immortal said he couldn't contact Shen Yufeng because of the demons from beyond the realm, so he sent me instead."
"Ah... I see..." Du Wenyan answered vaguely, plainly overwhelmed.
Once he recovered a little, he asked, "But shouldn't the immortal have gone to Tanyu Temple? Why choose a fisherman like you?"
"Because Tanyu Temple defies heaven and reason! They're not Suzai at all. They're Spirit Girls who could save the world, and the temple has harmed them all. Why would an immortal turn to them?"
Su Jin had had enough of making things up. He stood and opened the RV door. "I know this is hard to accept. But I know what's happening in heaven, and the immortal left something inside this vehicle for me to see."
"Really?" Du Wenyan sprang to his feet, swallowing hard.
"Come on."
....
The three sat down in the RV's living area, and Su Jin switched on the television.
He had downloaded plenty of good films onto all his devices in advance, ready for unusual situations.
The Lord of the Rings, 2012, Resident Evil... He had most sorts of scenes covered.
After browsing briefly, he made his selection.
Three blood-red Chinese characters appeared on the screen.
[The Legend of Zu]
He sped up the playback. As the film unfolded, the siblings stared at the screen, stunned and transfixed.
They couldn't read a word on it, but they could still grasp the story well enough.
The righteous Emei and Kunlun sects joined forces against the evil leader Youquan Blood Demon, amid one dated special effect after another.
The film was old and its effects weren't much to look at, but they clearly made a tremendous impression on people from this world.
Su Jin watched the siblings' reactions in secret.
If a film worked on them, it would make it much easier to win over and indoctrinate the team he planned to build.
So far, it seemed to be working. Even the well-educated Du Wenyan looked shaken.
Forty minutes later, Yunlian had curled up on the sofa and was crying from fright.
Du Wenyan wasn't faring much better. His face was white, and he looked utterly lost.
His thoughts were in turmoil.
Immortals! Immortals really existed!
They could soar through the sky, dive into the sea, and fly on swords. No mortal could do such things!
And the magical device before him that recorded these scenes couldn't be made by mortals either.
When the villains gained the upper hand over the righteous sects, Su Jin promptly switched off the television.
"The immortals up there must speak a different language, so I don't know what they were saying. But you probably understood the gist. If even immortals are in trouble, things won't go well for us down here."
"..." Du Wenyan's throat went dry, and the world seemed to spin.
Immortals in peril. The end of the world. Demons from beyond the realm. And only one hundred and seventy-nine days left.
He rose and stumbled out of the RV. "Brother Wu... I... I can't quite breathe. Let me calm down alone for a moment."
Su Jin smiled and shook his head, then turned to Yunlian.
The poor girl was so frightened she sat in a daze, her nose running.
Su Jin sat beside her and nudged her. "Yunlian, don't worry. There's still hope for us."
"Ah!" Yunlian jumped, looked around, then hurriedly turned to him. "B-Brother Wu, where's my brother? Where'd my brother go?" A subtitle beside her words made Su Jin blink.
Su Jin jerked. "Ask me that again."
"I... Where did my brother go?" Yunlian asked nervously.
"No, no. Not like that. Ask where he went."
"Brother Wu, are you all right?" Yunlian edged away.
"I'm fine. Just ask."
"W-Where did my brother go?"
The RV's subtitles appeared again.
[W-Where did my brother—she—go?]
"Huh?"
The subtitles vanished. Su Jin slowly tilted his head, puzzled.
She?
Was that a typo?
Looking for more free chapters? Visit www.skynovelvault.com to read over 5,000 free chapters and continue exploring more stories from SkyNovelVault.