Chapter 77: Returning to the Other World Together
At Lin Guoqing’s house.
“Mom, you’re back? Did you see Zhihao?” Lin Yuan asked.
“Don’t even bring it up,” Zhao Hong said, flopping onto the couch, clearly upset. “I saw him—he’s become more and more outrageous.”
Lin Yuan looked puzzled. “What happened? He didn’t give you face?”
“Exactly! He doesn’t stutter anymore, and now he’s got a temper too.”
Lin Yuan shook her head. “Strange things keep happening lately. Cousin Chu Feng wins the lottery, and Cousin Zhihao suddenly stops stuttering after all these years.”
Zhao Hong nodded. “Exactly! Shen Yuying says it’s because he works in sales now, meets more people, and somehow got cured. It’s just too strange.”
Both Chu Feng and Zhihao had recently had great luck. Why hadn’t her own family gotten a stroke of fortune like that?
Lin Yuan thought: Zhihao had seen countless doctors for years with no improvement. Then he goes into sales for a few days and is suddenly cured without medicine? Too weird.
“Three million! How did that punk win such a huge prize?!”
Before, Lin Yuan had been jealous even when she thought Chu Feng won 300,000. Now, hearing it was actually 3 million, she felt even more bitter—like she wanted to crawl out of her skin. If she had 3 million, she could finally buy all the designer bags, shoes, and clothes she’d dreamed of.
Zhao Hong shook her head. “Chu Feng’s a cautious one. He won 3 million and told everyone it was only 300,000. Who’s he trying to hide it from?”
Lin Yuan deeply regretted not grabbing hold of Chu Feng while they were out shopping earlier. With such a big win, he could’ve at least shared some of it. She should have asked him to buy her a few outfits.
As the saying goes, “Don’t let fertile water flow into outsiders’ fields.” Better he spend the money on her—his cousin—than waste it on some seductress.
“I bet Zhihao got quite a bit from Chu Feng,” Zhao Hong said.
Lin Yuan frowned. “Really?”
“Of course. Otherwise, why would he speak up so much on his behalf? Look at his car. He’s just a low-level employee—how could the boss give him a car right away? I bet Chu Feng bought it for him.”
Lin Yuan thought it over and began to feel like that made a lot of sense.
Zhao Hong gave Lin Yuan a look and said, “You said Chu Feng’s been spending time with a man?”
Lin Yuan nodded. “Yeah.”
Zhao Hong frowned. “What’s wrong with this kid? Doesn’t want a girlfriend… Could he be looking for a boyfriend?”
“Who knows?” With money, her cousin could afford to play however he liked.
“Still, that’s ridiculous. Even if he wants to chase trends and date a man, how can he just blow over 80,000 like that?!”
Lin Yuan thought back and muttered: The guy with Chu Feng may have looked like a man, but he was absurdly good-looking—so pretty that even TV actors couldn’t compare. Who knew why a man would look that beautiful?
While Chu Feng was enjoying food and fun with Illya, he had no idea his phone had been blowing up with missed calls.
By evening, Chu Feng finally turned on his phone and saw a call from Chu Anzhi.
“Anzhi! What’s up? How’s college life treating you?”
On the other end, Chu Anzhi rolled his eyes. “College is fine. Seems like you’re doing great too! I heard you got a boyfriend?”
Chu Feng blinked, thinking: News travels fast! It hasn’t even been that long, and somehow Anzhi—miles away—already knows?
“Something like that.”
“What do you mean ‘something like that’? Lin Yuan says she couldn’t even tell if you’re with a guy or a girl—said maybe it’s a ladyboy.”
Chu Feng’s face twitched. Illya was beautiful in a androgynous way, but he was clearly a man. That cousin of his really couldn’t say anything decent.
Chu Feng’s tone grew cold. “Don’t listen to her nonsense.”
Illya glanced at him while biting a spoon, looking confused.
“By the way, Aunt Zhao contacted my mom. Sounds like she wants to borrow money from you.”
Chu Feng snorted. “Not happening.”
“I figured,” Anzhi muttered.
He thought to himself: Brother Feng may seem cool on the outside, but he keeps a mental ledger of everything.
“Borrowing is easy—getting the money back is the hard part.”
Chu Anzhi agreed wholeheartedly. “Exactly!” When someone borrows money, they act like a king. But if you ask for repayment, suddenly you’re the bad guy.
After chatting a bit longer, Chu Feng ended the call.
Illya leaned over curiously. “What’s a ladyboy? A foreign race?”
Chu Feng: “…No.”
Illya tilted his head. “Not a foreign race? Then a half-beast?”
Chu Feng: “…Still no.”
Illya frowned. “Then why are they called ‘ladyboys’ if they’re neither foreign nor half-beast?”
Chu Feng: “…” How was he supposed to answer that?
“Your cousin said I’m a ladyboy. Did she see something I didn’t?”
Chu Feng: “…”
“Do you want to eat some ice cream?”
Illya nodded eagerly and said, “Yes! Yes!”
Chu Feng: “…” Finally managed to distract him!
Chu Feng opened the freezer. When Illya saw boxes and boxes of ice cream inside, his eyes lit up. “So many!”
Chu Feng gave a dry laugh and said, “Eat too much and you’ll get a stomachache, so don’t overdo it.”
Illya nodded. “Got it.”
Chu Feng rolled his eyes, thinking: Illya’s learning ability is top-notch. Next time, he’ll probably be able to open the fridge and find food on his own.
“This stuff can’t be taken with us?” Illya asked.
Chu Feng frowned. “It can be taken, but it’ll melt quickly. Besides, it’s getting cold over there now, so it’s not the best time to eat this.”
Illya nodded. “That’s a pity.”
He actually felt a little guilty about enjoying such a delicious treat all by himself.
Chu Feng looked down at the lightning-shaped mark on his hand, his brows furrowing. The “charge” in the mark had nearly run out—he figured the time for the next crossing was drawing near.
Inside the room, Illya was packing up supplies.
Chu Feng glanced at him and noticed his expression seemed off. “What’s wrong? Is there something you didn’t get to buy?”
Illya shook his head. “It’s nothing. I just don’t know if I’ll ever be able to come back after this.”
Chu Feng frowned. He still wasn’t exactly sure how Illya had crossed over the first time. Now that he was here again, it was uncertain whether he’d be able to return in the future.
Chu Feng thought for a moment and said, “There will always be a chance.”
“Should we bring the rabbit?” Illya asked. Chu Feng nodded. “Let’s bring it.”
He had previously conducted tests with rabbits coming from the other world, but not in the other direction.
Illya nodded and placed the rabbit on top of a box.
He looked at it and said, “This rabbit is really fat!”
“I chose it on purpose.” A fatter rabbit would likely handle the shock of the crossing better.
Chu Feng looked nervously at the lightning mark on his hand. Although he had crossed many times before, this was his first time bringing someone else through while conscious. He couldn’t help feeling tense.
The space portal activated, and the lightning-shaped mark on Illya’s arm glowed, enveloping him in a soft halo.
The crossing happened quickly. In a flash of white light, Chu Feng and Illya were back in Crescent Village.
Three days had passed since they vanished. Their reappearance made Gray let out a huge sigh of relief.
Illya glanced at the rabbit Chu Feng had brought—it was lying still in its cage, dead. Blood was seeping from its mouth, ears, and nose.
Seeing this, Illya felt a chill. He touched the mark on his own arm and thought, If not for this mark, I might’ve ended up like that rabbit.
Crossing dimensions clearly wasn’t so simple.
As soon as Illya returned, he was surrounded by curious villagers. Most people had already guessed that Illya had followed Chu Feng across the sea. Now that they appeared together, it confirmed their suspicions.
“Big Brother, you’re back!” Gray shouted excitedly, running up to hug Illya.
But the other villagers quickly crowded him out of the way.
“Illya, did you really go to the other side of the sea?”
Still a bit dazed from the crossing, Illya nodded reflexively.
That one nod made the small crowd explode with questions.
“What’s it like over there?” Tilie asked, full of curiosity.
Illya blinked and said, “It’s amazing! Everywhere you look, there are tall buildings and cars everywhere…”
He began telling his companions all about it, and the half-elves and half-beastkin around him listened intently.
“It sounds so great over there. I want to go too!”
“I want to go eat their food! I want to take a bath over there!”
“I want to ride one of those really fast cars!”
Illya shook his head. “You can’t. The rabbit died. The one we brought from the other side—it didn’t survive.”
Chu Feng had said this before, but some villagers thought maybe he was lying to keep them from going. But now that Illya had confirmed it, they were more inclined to believe the truth. After all, Chu Feng had crossed over several times already, but this was Illya’s first, and he explained things far more clearly.
Chu Feng saw everyone crowding around Illya and figured it would be a while before they let him go. Shaking his head, he called over a few people to help unload supplies.
The dwarf and highlanders had already been waiting. While they were curious about how Illya had crossed over, they held back and didn’t bombard him with questions.
Chu Feng hadn’t even finished processing the supplies from his last trip before he left again. Now with two full trips’ worth, the village had more resources than ever.
As Chu Feng was organizing supplies, Illya was pulled into what was basically a village tea party.
