Chapter 1 A New Era

Because it was past rush hour, and this was the old district, the bus was unusually empty. The driver leisurely steered through the district with its old flowering trees and gentle slopes, lending it a relaxed air.

Wei Yuan wracked his brains, trying to explain the principles of modern currency to a girl whose memory roughly stopped after the Qin and Han dynasties, around the time of the Jin Kingdom's conquest of Wu. He needed to make her understand that things were different now than in ancient times; she couldn't just eat dinner by the roadside and offer a few pieces of silver or gold beans as payment.

The celestial maiden quickly understood Wei Yuan's meaning.

"So, something else has replaced silver?"

Wei Yuan nodded and explained the existence of mobile payment.

The girl fell into contemplation, looking at the numbers on the phone with some suspicion.

Wei Yuan was about to explain, roughly in terms of money shops, but he suddenly realized that he wasn't even sure if money shops existed in the era the girl lived in. He felt a headache coming on. Nearly two thousand years was no longer a generation gap in daily life; it was a chasm.

Just as he was feeling a bit of a headache, the girl smiled and said softly, "It's still very interesting, this human world."

"There are always new things, always something that makes us feel fresh. That's why everyone on the mountain wants to sneak down. Only a few thousand years have passed since humans built cities. Emperor Xuanyuan probably couldn't imagine that later generations would be like this."

Wei Yuan hesitated and asked, "You've seen the Yellow Emperor?"

The celestial maiden shook her head. "I haven't. His era is too ancient."

"I'm too young, but I've heard that two older celestial maidens once met him."

"Those two were..."

"The elder sister is Xuan Nv, and the other is called Ba."

Wei Yuan suddenly fell silent.

…………………

Wei Yuan and the celestial maiden got off the bus not far from the appliance shopping center.

Choosing based on function, they quickly bought a new refrigerator, specifically requesting that it be large enough to make plenty of ice-cold cola at once. It also came with popsicle molds, so they could pour the cola in, put it in the freezer, and freeze it overnight. The next day, they could eat cola-flavored popsicles, specially designed for the museum.

They arranged a time for the shopping center to deliver the refrigerator to the museum.

It was a rare opportunity to go out for a stroll, especially with the celestial maiden.

Wei Yuan didn't know if the people from the Celestial Master Mansion had forgotten or simply didn't care about these things.

They hadn't explained this era to the celestial maiden beforehand.

Thus, Wei Yuan was able to witness her incomprehension and curiosity about the changes in this era, explaining things to her as needed. Soon, it was noon, and Wei Yuan suggested simply eating near the mall. The celestial maiden slowly nodded. Wei Yuan thought for a moment and said, "Jue, what did you eat back then in the human world?"

He planned to choose some food that the girl could at least easily accept.

The celestial maiden first replied, "We don't need to eat to survive."

After thinking for a moment, she added, "However, the staple foods of ordinary people at that time were mostly cakes and rice, as well as fresh and pickled vegetables. Wealthy families would preserve meat with salt and make it into meat strips. Generally, it was mostly vegetarian, and even wealthy families would only eat meat during festivals."

Wei Yuan nodded and said, "I roughly understand."

He randomly entered a restaurant, ordered a few light dishes and a porridge and noodles. In ancient times, at least in the Wei and Jin dynasties, *bing* referred to all kinds of pasta, whether boiled, steamed, or baked. He originally wanted to order Century Egg and Lean Pork Congee, but thinking that the girl might not be able to accept century eggs, which appeared later, he had to order vegetable and lean pork congee.

The celestial maiden tasted it, and a look of surprise appeared on her face.

"It tastes very good."

She took a second sip. "It tastes much, much better than the food during the Jin Dynasty."

Wei Yuan smiled and said, "After all, more than a thousand years of history have passed."

The girl stirred the porridge with a spoon and slowly nodded. "Yes..."

"Some customs, I... can't understand for the time being."

She looked out the window. Spring was already nearing its end, and it was getting warmer every day. Some young girls were wearing fashionable and revealing clothes, exposing their arms and slender legs, walking on the street, a modern urban scene. Everyone had slowly become accustomed to it.

If hot pants and tank tops would still cause a "Mom's gonna kill you!" reaction, shorts and short sleeves were already basic outfits. Even the elderly wouldn't mind or find it strange. But this excluded the girl in front of Wei Yuan, who had come alive from the Qin and Han dynasties, which emphasized dignity and elegance.

She frowned slightly, looked at Wei Yuan, and said, "The women of this era are all, all so..."

Wei Yuan looked at the celestial maiden, who was wrapped up tightly, with a shirt and knitted vest on top and a long skirt that reached her feet below. He explained with a headache, "It's the trend. Everyone is slowly becoming more confident and open. It's a bit different from ancient times."

The celestial maiden slowly nodded.

But Wei Yuan felt that it would still take a long time, or rather, she could only accept it.

And she would probably still dress like she did now.

Wei Yuan thought of something and looked at the celestial maiden.

"By the way, did the people from the Celestial Master Mansion prepare a phone for you?"

The celestial maiden nodded. "Yes, they did."

She took out a black phone, the same encrypted type that Wei Yuan had for the Special Operations Team. Wei Yuan explained the functions of the phone and smiled, "With this, you can contact friends even if they're far away."

He entered his phone number into her phone and then demonstrated how to operate it.

Seeing that the celestial maiden's phone was empty except for a network chat software, he felt a little strange. The celestial maiden said, "This was prepared by that little Taoist from the Celestial Master Mansion. He said that when it's not convenient to call, I can use this to contact him."

The little Taoist from the Celestial Master Mansion?

Wei Yuan was stunned for a moment, thinking of the Taoist named Zhang Ruosu that the girl had mentioned.

With the surname Zhang, he should be a direct descendant of the Celestial Master Mansion.

Wei Yuan was thoughtful. He thought that he had been left with a talisman by Bo Qi, but he couldn't be sure whether this talisman was only on him, or whether Zhou Yi, the Special Operations Team members, and the soldiers of the Divine Machine Camp who had participated in this matter were also cursed. He had been freed from the nightmare curse by the celestial maiden, but the others didn't have such an opportunity.

This matter involved a lot, so instead of telling Zhang Hao and Zhou Yi, it would be better to find a way to tell the direct line of the Celestial Master Mansion.

This way, the matter could be given more importance.

After thinking for a moment, Wei Yuan said, "Jue, can you recommend his account to me?"

The celestial maiden didn't mind and readily agreed. With Wei Yuan's help, she recommended the account. In this kind of software, when one party recommends a friend, they will be identified as the referrer, and both parties will know. Wei Yuan saw that Zhang Ruosu's avatar was a black cat sleeping in the snow.

Soon, Wei Yuan's friend request was approved.

After thinking for a moment, Wei Yuan typed a line of text.

"Hello, Taoist friend Zhang, this humble one is Wei Yuan."

"I apologize for disturbing you, but I have something I want to tell you."

The other party replied almost instantly.

"So it's Taoist friend Wei, I've heard so much about you."

"I don't know what it is, please speak, please speak."

The other party's attitude was very good. Wei Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. After exchanging a few pleasantries, he told Zhang Ruosu about Bo Qi's curse and the news that the Mountain Lord might be staying at a Taoist temple in the Jiangnan area. The latter quickly said that he knew, and then sent a hip-hop cat head gesture.

"Thank you, Taoist friend, for informing me of this matter."

"No, I'm the one who should be thanking you for not blaming me for being presumptuous."

"How could I, how could I."

"Um, you're too kind, you're too kind."

…………

After finally agreeing to keep in touch often when they had time, Wei Yuan ended the short chat and looked at the celestial maiden opposite him, who was playing with her phone. He smiled and said, "This Taoist priest is quite trendy."

"Not as old-fashioned as I thought."

The celestial maiden nodded, looked at her phone, switched the input method, and slid her fair fingers across the screen.

Wei Yuan's phone rang.

Thinking that it was Taoist Zhang who had sent a message, he lowered his head to look, but it was from the celestial maiden in front of him. It was the first message she had sent since coming to this era.

"I am Jue."

Then, she attached a standard smiling emoticon.

Wei Yuan looked at the girl in front of him and explained with a wry smile, "This emoticon is no longer just a simple smile. It generally expresses the emotion of feeling that the other party has a problem, um, that's how it should be."

He casually opened his phone and sent a message back.

"I am Wei Yuan (*'▽'*)♪."

Closing his phone, Wei Yuan smiled and said, "Something like that."

………………

At this time, the ghosts waiting in the museum heard a knock on the door.

"Hello, is anyone there?"

The water ghost's eyes lit up.

The refrigerator is here?!

He immediately rushed to the door, but saw a man in his thirties carrying a cardboard box.

The cardboard box was full of books.