The days that followed were simple and joyful. Jack Young trained the choir three more times, and during that period, he didn’t run into any of those mysterious “Elders” you always find in urban webnovels. Honestly, anyone worthy of being called an “Elder” in a novel is usually some big shot with a packed schedule—like they’d just show up out of nowhere.
Still, that’s not to say there weren’t any surprises. One day, Jack got in the mood and played a lively version of "Defend the Yellow River" on the piano. Right then, an old man barged in, face flushed with excitement, shouting about "piano virtuosos" and the like. Sophie Soo chatted him up and found out he’s the president of some musicians’ association—apparently also the head judge for the college red song contest.
Jack wasn’t interested and ignored him. If Jack were still just a regular student who treated singing competitions as a big deal, then this old guy might barely qualify as an "Elder." But for the Jack Young of today, he’s just an old man. Calling him "old man" is already being polite—if Jill Young were here, she’d probably stick a "dead" in front and a "geezer" at the end.
These days, it’s getting harder and harder to earn the title of "Elder" from Jack Young.
In the end, the choir’s rehearsals were a total success, and the final performance was excellent. The student council crew swapped contacts with the old man, so this contest is pretty much in the bag. With the choir sorted and finals done, Sophie Soo was officially free. She switched into full-on play mode and seemed determined to drag Jack all over Sichuan.
Naturally, they didn’t skip any of Chengdu’s sights, and they hit up a bunch of places outside the city too. Besides Qingcheng Mountain and Dujiangyan, they also visited a spot called Shunan Bamboo Sea. That’s where they had their "biggest discovery yet": they updated their list of the grossest bugs!
For some reason, ever since Jack Young set foot in Sichuan, this land bursting with wildlife has kept raising the bar for disgusting. In the Shunan Bamboo Sea, Jack and Sophie encountered a creature no cuter than a cockroach—bamboo bugs.
These bugs look pretty much like cockroaches: similar size, similar shape, similar color. But there are two differences. First, they’re way thicker top to bottom—a bit round and heavy. Second, they’ve got a big, fat, needle-like mouthpart, so it’s basically a cockroach-mosquito hybrid.
The worst part isn’t how they look—it’s that, around here, people actually cook and eat them! When a whole plate of fried bamboo bugs gets served up, it’s straight out of a horror flick. Supposedly, they taste great and science says insects are high in protein, but sorry, neither of them could bring themselves to take a bite.
They snapped a couple photos to memorialize the horror on their phones, then wrapped up their Shunan Bamboo Sea adventure. After that, they finally visited Sichuan’s famous Mount Emei. They say Mount Emei is the most beautiful, Qingcheng Mountain the most tranquil, and Mount Emei’s scenery really is something else. We won’t go on about its beauty—what’s worth mentioning is the monkeys.
It’s not that these monkeys are cute—far from it. They’re actually super annoying. The monkeys in cartoons are always adorable, but Jack Young can say with full confidence: the real-life monkeys on Mount Emei are stinky, ugly, and shameless. For some reason, these monkeys are obsessed with groping and flipping skirts. They can tell men from women and go full perv on female tourists.
At the foot of the mountain, vendors sell bamboo sticks—not just for hiking, but as monkey defense weapons. Old ladies and gents solemnly advise every tourist to grab one, which shows just how wild these monkeys are. These little punks also love to steal. When crossing the Monkey Stream suspension bridge, one monkey suddenly popped up from underneath and tried to snatch Sophie Soo’s bag.
Of course, Jack Young just used a quick joint lock and tossed the monkey aside. Then a whole gang of monkeys swarmed over, ready to gang up on Jack—and started reaching behind their butts. Yep, these little monsters actually throw poop! (Seen it with my own eyes—absolutely shocking.) Jack squinted, and a wild beast-like aura flashed across him. The nearby tourists just felt a chill and hunched their shoulders, but those poop-flinging monkeys freaked out and ran, screeching.
“Trying to mob us, huh? Can’t steal in secret so now you want to rob us in broad daylight?” Sophie Soo was mad too, and started chucking a bunch of stuff at them. “I’ll finish you little punks!”
Jack noticed Sophie was throwing compressed biscuits. "Compressed biscuits?" For some reason, Jack instantly got what she was thinking: "You want these greedy monkeys to eat the biscuits and drink water until they explode?"
"Exactly."
"You’re diabolical..." That kind of silent, untraceable monkey-killing method is honestly genius. Jack immediately joined in and tossed his own compressed biscuits: "But it’s definitely a good idea!"
Near Emei’s Leidongping area, there are a bunch of temples—some open to tourists, some closed off from the world. Jack Young got curious and took Sophie Soo for a nighttime monk temple raid. With level three Dragon Elephant Extraction and razor-sharp senses from Prajna Technique, he was basically the ultimate cat burglar in a world without superpowers.
In the deep night, Jack carried Sophie through layer after layer of buildings and courtyards, pausing now and then to dodge wandering monks. Nobody caught them the whole way. Sophie was loving it—it felt just like a martial arts movie. In the end, they found the quietest courtyard, drew a tongue-out smiley face on the ground, signed it "Peach Blossom Bandit," snapped a photo, and dashed off.
Who knows what kind of effect that smiley will have on the reclusive temple.
After coming back from Mount Emei, they’d pretty much covered all of Sichuan—except for Jiuzhaigou. They’d spent ages sightseeing, and Jack Young finally got a chance to relax and unwind after all the nonstop fighting. Checking the calendar, it wasn’t long until Jill Young would return. Jack planned to head home, dig into those old stories his mom never wanted to talk about, and finally clear up his own mysteries.
Plus, it was about time to come clean with his parents. Let them see the whole process of Jack Young switching to Jill Young after entering the dream world—maybe it’d help them accept things better.
But then a phone call came in and threw a wrench in Jack’s plans. It was Jonathan Black. They’d agreed before—if Jonathan ran into something he couldn’t handle, he could ask Jack for help. Jonathan had helped out a lot and never schemed behind Jack’s back. Jack didn’t know if there was some deeper reason, but facts were facts, and he had a pretty good impression of Jonathan.
If someone gives you an inch, you don’t have to give a mile, but Jack Young figured he could at least return the favor. The family mysteries could wait—first, he’d help Jonathan out and tackle whatever crisis was brewing.
"Hey, Queen, it’s Jonathan." Jonathan was actually speaking Chinese, and his accent was pretty legit. If Jack hadn’t recognized his voice, he’d have thought it was someone else calling. "I’ve got a problem and need you to come back and help me out."
Jack replied, in a male voice and in Chinese: "I’m not the Queen. She can’t come out right now. Whatever it is, I’ll handle it for her."
Jonathan was stunned when he heard Jack’s voice. He really hadn’t expected to call the Queen and get a guy answering. "Who are you? Why do you have the Queen’s phone?" There was a weird hint of hostility in his voice.
Jack couldn’t help but laugh: "Weren’t you trying to reach me in the first place? You really don’t know who I am?"
"You’re..." Jonathan hesitated. "Jack Young?"
"Yep."
"Alright," Jonathan’s voice instantly relaxed. "I’ll send someone to pick you up."
Looks like Jonathan’s situation was urgent, so that afternoon Jack Young headed to Chengdu Airport. The Four Little Swans all came to see him off—it was basically a grand farewell. Sophie Soo patted Jack’s shoulder. "Old Geng, I’ll pay you back when I’ve saved up enough, but for now, just let me owe you."
"Pay back what?" Jack was confused. "If you mean clothes, buying you an outfit is totally normal."
"Buying me clothes is normal, sure, but being a teacher, finding a venue, and fronting money for choir training—that’s not normal." Sophie Soo snorted. "Do I look stupid? That fancy venue for just ‘KTV prices’?"
Jack laughed too—the music hall was actually pretty pricey. The fact that Uncle Abo managed to book it on short notice was already impressive. Jonathan Black’s main base is in Hong Kong, so he can’t just comp a Chengdu music hall yet. A well-intentioned lie, but he didn’t expect to get caught.
"Alright, I’ll figure out a way to skim some cash from the student council budget and pay you back!"
After saying goodbye to the four girls, Uncle Chao showed up with a scowl and led Jack through a special channel. Behind the crowd, the Queen Sister gasped in disbelief. "Yueyue, he’s taking the private jet channel—how do you know a guy like that?"
"Uh, childhood friends." Sophie Soo was surprised too. "He wasn’t always like this, but at some point, he just started flying private. Turns out the ‘secrets’ I know are probably just the tip of the iceberg with Jack Young."
"He’s a real tall-rich-handsome type—gentle, thoughtful, smart. Yueyue, you really hit the jackpot!" Glasses Girl slapped Sophie’s shoulder. "If it were me, I’d hurry up and have two kids with him, then keep him tied down forever!"
"Speaking of high-quality rich guys, did you see the news lately? There’s this guy called Xiao Jingzhe who’s super famous now. Supposedly, he’s an heir to a big family, a total heartthrob, and always ready to help out. So far, he’s caught thieves in the act, busted human traffickers, rescued women from muggers—they call him the real-life Batman!" The Queen Sister’s eyes sparkled. Then she clapped in frustration. "Why can’t I meet a top-tier dream guy like that?"
Just then, the Loli, who’d been staring at her phone, suddenly looked up, her face full of shock: "My editor just told me—my novel got banned…"
"Huh?" Everyone was surprised. "Did you write something illegal?"
"It’s just about a girl traveling to another world, learning magic, coming back to Earth, face-slapping and turning the tables—totally normal stuff!" The Loli was freaking out. "Time-travel novels are super popular right now, mine’s just a regular one—why ban it?"
Ding—another message came in. The Loli glanced at it and her eyes went wide: "No way… It’s not just mine. Every time-travel novel—ongoing, finished, abandoned, whatever—every single one got banned!"
At that moment, Sophie Soo and the others sensed something strange too. The Queen Sister was stunned: "I don’t really get novels, but this is nuts! The internet’s full of time-travel stories—why ban them? Just a couple days ago, there was a post called ‘Real-Life Time Travel,’ and it sounded super convincing. I even bookmarked it—look…" She previewed it on her phone, but all that popped up was a notice saying the post had been deleted.
She tried a few other similar posts, but none of them would open—they’d all been deleted.
The four girls exchanged glances, suddenly feeling like something was off. They looked up at the cloudy sky, brewing with a coming storm. Sophie Soo frowned and muttered, "Let’s hurry home—it’s about to rain." (That’s the end of the Chengdu slice-of-life arc. This chapter is a tribute to the city I love so much. If I get the chance, I’ll definitely go back and play around in Chengdu again. Great food, great fun—pretty much everything’s great, except for cockroaches. Next up: Part Two—A Changing World, The Tide Approaches. Just a little bit left, and I’ll try to finish it within a week. It’s short, but super important. By the way, I think the best way to read this book is to let me write a coherent arc, everyone stockpile it, and when I post a chapter with “(Slaughter Begins!)” in the title, you can all come mow it down together—maybe that’ll work better. What do you think? Also, about the reader group—I’m a total QQ slacker, my first group went to my club, and I still don’t have the rank to make a second one… So I’m working on it. Hang tight, Twins fans!)