Volume 1, Chapter 144: Ancestor Chen Xingchen.

No time to overthink it; just take it one step at a time, Jiang Chen thought. He leaned forward and asked the young girl, "May I sit here?"

The girl looked up, assessed Jiang Chen’s face for a moment, and then shyly lowered her head. "Please, make yourself at home."

With her permission, Jiang Chen sat down beside her.

"Is that outfit of yours for school?" Jiang Chen asked tentatively.

The girl nodded, though she seemed hesitant to meet his gaze.

"I see. Heading south for school—I’m guessing you’re going to Shanghai?" Jiang Chen had been observing her attire. While not overtly opulent, her clothes were clean, and her hands were free of callouses; she was clearly from a wealthy family. Added to the fact that she was traveling south, Shanghai was the only logical destination.

"How did you know?" The girl looked up. Only then did Jiang Chen see her clearly. She had a pair of peach-blossom eyes, watery and bright; after a single glance, Jiang Chen felt himself instantly drawn in.

It wasn't that he was being controlled, but rather that he felt naturally, completely immersed.

"I guessed. I’m going to university in Shanghai, too," Jiang Chen said, rubbing his nose as he instinctively lied.

Upon learning that Jiang Chen was also heading to school, the girl happily reached out a hand. "Nice to meet you, fellow student. My name is Chen Xingchen."

Chen Xingchen...

Boom.

Jiang Chen’s mind exploded. This name...

He was all too familiar with it. Chen Xingchen was one of the founding members of the original Institute 509. She had once broken through to the realm of an Earthly Immortal and was said to have attained enlightenment and passed away beneath a Bodhi tree.

There were two reasons Jiang Chen remembered that name. One was that before the old lady passed away, she had visited the Jiang family specifically to see him and hold him. The entire capital had been shocked by that visit; Ancestor Chen Xingchen had simply held the young Jiang Chen and whispered a few words to him.

No one knew exactly what she had said, as she hadn't wanted anyone else to hear. After that, she returned to the Bodhi tree and passed on.

Looking at the girl before him, the age certainly matched, but to be honest, he had no idea what was happening. Why was this ancestor on this train, and why was she so young?

"Fellow student? What are you looking at? Is there something on my face?" Chen Xingchen waved her delicate, fair hand in front of Jiang Chen’s eyes.

Realizing that the person before him was highly likely the ancestor, Jiang Chen set aside his devil-may-care attitude and straightened up.

"Hello, fellow student. My name is Jiang Chen. 'Jiang' as in the great rivers, 'Chen' as in Chen Xingchen."

"Giggle, you’re quite funny," Chen Xingchen laughed.

Her laugh didn't help matters. Jiang Chen couldn't bring himself to smile back. If this ghost train could ever be exited, he suspected that when Ancestor Chen Xingchen reached school and realized there was no record of a "Jiang Chen," she would be quite angry. Connecting it to his own memories, the ancestor had visited him when he was young.

That meant they likely knew each other, and their connection probably began right here on this train.

Though she was just a young girl now, once she reached school and encountered her destiny, she would likely embark on the path recorded in history.

"By the way, are you staying in the school dorms?" Chen Xingchen asked, sensing that Jiang Chen didn't seem like a bad person.

Jiang Chen didn't know what mindset to adopt when talking to her. If he treated her as an equal, it felt wrong given her status as an ancestor; but if he didn't, it would be difficult to carry on a conversation. Besides, he was here to find clues, not to reminisce.

"What’s wrong? If you don't want to say, then I won't ask. But after we get off the train, we could head to school together. It would be nice to have company on the way. What do you think?" Chen Xingchen clasped her hands together, praying the boy would agree so she wouldn't be bored on the journey.

Jiang Chen’s heart sank. He had no leads, and even if he wanted to go back, he had no way out. Furthermore, he had already eliminated those imposters on the train; there seemed to be no other way.

"That sounds fine. But I have to find a few people first. If there’s time, I’ll come see you before we reach Shanghai." Jiang Chen stood up and left.

In order to find Shen Huaizhu and Ye Zhi, Jiang Chen searched every carriage, even the restrooms. He discovered that the train had suddenly changed; the people inside were no longer acting like mechanical, programmed dolls, but had become as lifelike as real people.

"It seems this train isn't a mere illusion as I thought, but a real time-traveling vessel. Why, then, would it take Shen Huaizhu and Ye Zhi away?" Jiang Chen couldn't fathom the reason. Shortly after, he returned to the original carriage and happened to run into Li Changsheng.

The two exchanged a glance, both shaking their heads in despair. Neither had found a thing.

However, Jiang Chen still told Li Changsheng about his conversation with Ancestor Chen Xingchen.

"This train is very strange. You must have noticed it's not a normal train, but one that can travel to the past. The problem is, we don't know how to get back," Li Changsheng analyzed, rubbing his chin.

Jiang Chen suddenly had a bold thought. "Do you think it's possible they didn't disappear at all, but stayed on the original high-speed train, and only the two of us mysteriously vanished?"

His hypothesis wasn't without precedent. Institute 509 once had a case where a surgeon entered an operating room and found himself in the nineties, while he belonged in the two-thousands. To save the patient, he performed the surgery with extreme precision. When he walked out of the operating room, the world had returned to normal, and everyone else was still waiting exactly where he had left them.

He had been forced to perform the surgery all over again.

Jiang Chen looked up, considering this possibility. If someone or something had snatched them, he would have noticed, but he hadn't felt any hostile presence lurking nearby.

After reaching this conclusion, he explained everything to Li Changsheng. Li Changsheng felt a moment of joy, but then looked at the two of them, his eyes filled with dejection again.

"So, we’re the ones trapped here, while they’re perfectly fine? What are we supposed to do? We can't stay on this train forever," Li Changsheng fretted.

The situation seemed even worse than before.

"I'm not sure. We have to take it one step at a time. But we can follow Ancestor Chen Xingchen; perhaps that will lead us to some clues. After all, she is the darling of the era," Jiang Chen planned.

Li Changsheng thought about it and realized there was no other choice.

Jiang Chen brought Li Changsheng back. Seeing them, Chen Xingchen looked delighted. "Are these your friends?"

Jiang Chen nodded. "Yes, they are. He’s also heading to Shanghai for school. We can go together—a bit of company for the road, provided you trust that we aren't bad people."

Chen Xingchen wasn't afraid; she had her own confidence. Since she was a child, she had practiced martial arts at home—not just ordinary martial arts, but lethal combat techniques. That was why she dared to come to Shanghai alone.

"Of course not! How could you two be bad people? You look like perfectly good folks. Are you hungry? I brought some green rice balls from home. The taste is nothing special, but they’ll definitely fill you up. I can't finish them all, so..."

Chen Xingchen blinked her peach-blossom eyes and pitifully pulled a large bag of green rice balls from her luggage to place before them.

Li Changsheng had intended to wait until they got off the train to eat, but it appeared they didn't know when that would be.

"Then I'll have one," Li Changsheng said, though in reality, he began to wolf them down.

Jiang Chen planned to send Chen Xingchen to her school once they reached Shanghai, then head to Longhu Mountain to see if anyone there in this era knew how to return home.

This era didn't belong to them; they had to go back.

After traveling for nearly two days, they arrived at Shanghai Station.

Upon getting off the train, Jiang Chen was exhausted and wanted nothing more than a good sleep.

Chen Xingchen was also worn out. "Let’s go to school, get some rest, and we can meet on the playground in the afternoon."

Jiang Chen nodded. "That works."

He took Chen Xingchen to East China Normal University. Only then did it occur to Jiang Chen that they weren't students there. After Chen Xingchen completed her enrollment, Jiang Chen made an excuse and took Li Changsheng to the administration office.

Although they weren't students, as the saying went, "Open a path through the mountains and build a bridge across the water." He solved the problem by sneaking into the office while no one was there, stealing a stack of files, and writing their names down under the Literature Department.

Some might say this was dishonest, but Jiang Chen would only smile. When had he ever done things in a "proper" way?

"Let’s go. I specially arranged a private room for us. Let’s get some sleep, and when we wake up, we’ll figure out how to get back," Jiang Chen said.

Li Changsheng was already dazed with sleep; he followed Jiang Chen to the dormitory and collapsed onto the bed.

Jiang Chen dozed for a while, but he couldn't fall into a deep sleep. Even though they were in their own country, everything here felt far too different from the world he knew.

Unable to sleep, Jiang Chen left the dormitory and went outside. On the playground, many students were reciting poetry, while others sat quietly reading books. It was a peaceful and serene scene.

But this peace did not belong to Jiang Chen.

He went to the cafeteria and instinctively pulled out his phone to scan a payment code. The cafeteria lady looked at him and smiled. "Child, you must be a freshman. We don't charge for meals at this school, as long as you don't waste any."

Jiang Chen, who possessed a net worth of billions, found it completely useless here. It was worth nothing in this place.

"Thank you, ma'am. I'll take two portions; one is for my roommate," Jiang Chen said politely.

"Alright, alright, I'll serve you right up," the lady replied.

When he returned with the food, Li Changsheng had already woken up. For a cultivator, a half-hour nap was usually enough, but the constant exhaustion of the last two days had taken its toll.

As Li Changsheng ate, he praised the food. "This cafeteria food is even better than what we have at Institute 509! By the way, what are we doing next?"

Jiang Chen thought for a moment. "I don't know. Let’s take it one step at a time. If all else fails, we’ll go to Longhu Mountain. I believe they’ll have a way to solve our problem."

Li Changsheng took a sip of cold water. "Right, didn't Ancestor Chen Xingchen say she was waiting for us? Are we going down now?"

Between waking up and eating, Jiang Chen had truly forgotten about the ancestor.

"Eat up, and we'll go down. Remember, be respectful to the ancestor. If we get back and she happens to run into the younger you, be careful she doesn't hold a grudge," Jiang Chen warned.

He had read plenty of sci-fi literature while abroad. This wasn't his original world, and in these fifties and sixties, he had to be cautious. He couldn't do anything to change history, or they might vanish into the river of time entirely.

Li Changsheng patted his chest. "Don't worry, it'll be fine. Besides, I admire Ancestor Chen Xingchen a lot. I’ve heard legends about her; now that I can see her in person, I’m dying to get an autograph. I could show it to my colleagues when we get back, though I doubt they’d believe me."

Indeed, if it weren't for this train, he wouldn't have believed in time travel either.

"Let’s go. Ancestor Chen Xingchen should be waiting downstairs."

When the two went down, sure enough, Chen Xingchen was waiting. She greeted them warmly when she saw them.

Jiang Chen said, "We were just eating. I hope you didn't wait too long."

Chen Xingchen tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "No, I’ve only been waiting a little while. I intended to take you out to eat, but it seems you’ve already finished."

Li Changsheng popped up from behind. "No, no, I haven't finished! I'm still hungry; I didn't get my fill earlier."

Chen Xingchen’s eyes brightened. "Is that so? Then let’s go out to eat! I haven't tried the food in Shanghai yet."

Jiang Chen rolled his eyes. He hadn't heard Li Changsheng complain about being hungry before; why the sudden change of heart?

"Fine, let’s go." Jiang Chen led them toward the school gate, where the old man at the entrance was rolling a cigarette.

"Students, go and return early. It hasn't been very peaceful outside the school gates lately; don't linger for too long," the old man said with concern.

Li Changsheng, however, was indifferent, as they were the biggest threats in this era.

"Don't worry, sir. We'll be back as soon as we finish eating. We won't stay out long."