When Aedric came to, he saw a red off-road jeep parked right in front of him.
"Still in the modern world, huh."
He patted the dust off his pants and stood up. Realizing the story was only just beginning, he glanced at the tiger-shaped pendant in his hand. This time he didn't hang it around his neck — he tossed it straight into his spatial inventory.
After all, he had no intention of getting tangled up with Meng Tian's sister this time.
With the strength he possessed now, he had no need for the protection of the Meng family army. It was better to keep things clean and separate.
Nothing annoyed him more than messy, entangled relationships.
But hold on — where was that bastard who planted the poisonous snake in the car? He needed to find him fast and finish him off before he could run.
Aedric had always prided himself on never letting revenge wait until morning. He pricked up his ears and began listening.
There was no need to go into detail — with his current cultivation, anyone who entered his field of vision had no chance of escaping.
After pouring some corpse-dissolving liquid over the two bodies, Aedric looked around curiously. In the TV show, shouldn't Gao Yao's men be showing up around now? It had been several minutes — not a shadow of them. Pity, he'd hoped to ask about Gao Yao's current status.
"Forget it. I'll just head straight to Dad and my brother's excavation site."
Shrugging, Aedric waited until the two corpses were completely gone, then pulled out a cell phone and called Yi Xiaochuan's girlfriend, Gao Lan.
He was about to leave — at least a goodbye was in order.
When she saw it was her boyfriend calling, Gao Lan quickly answered. "What is it this time? Car trouble again?"
"No, I just… missed you," Aedric said smoothly, perfectly mimicking Yi Xiaochuan's tone. After a few lines of casual flirting, he softened his voice: "Gao Lan, I've got something important going on, and I might not be able to contact you for a while. Take care of yourself, okay?"
"Yeah right, Yi Xiaochuan," Gao Lan shot back, instantly suspicious. "You only call when you're up to no good. You're not chasing girls again, are you?"
Damn! How did you know? Wait — seriously, lady, if you already know what kind of guy he is, why haven't you dumped him yet?
"No, no! I swear this time it's serious business!" Aedric said quickly, invoking the gods like a veteran liar. "I, Yi Xiaochuan, swear to Heaven that for the next hundred years, I will love only Gao Lan. If I break this vow, may I die a terrible death!"
Technically I'm not lying, he thought. It's "the next hundred years." Two thousand years ago doesn't count. Also, I'm not even Yi Xiaochuan — I'm Aedric.
"Hey, hey, don't say such nonsense!" Gao Lan panicked at the word death and hurried to comfort him. "I was just teasing you! Don't take it seriously."
"Don't worry," Aedric cooed, "you're my sweetheart, how could I?"
He laid on the honeyed words thick — the man was a pro at this — and added, "I'm heading to my dad's archaeological site. My father's in charge, and your brother's there too. You can ask him — I'm not doing anything shady."
"Alright, alright, I believe you," Gao Lan said at last, relieved. "Go do your thing. I love you~" She blew him a kiss through the phone and hung up.
A moment later she thought again, and called her brother Gao Yao. She told him what Yi Xiaochuan had said and asked him to keep an eye on her boyfriend, just in case he tried to fool around. Hearing his sister's concern, Gao Yao readily agreed.
Meanwhile, Aedric put his phone away and couldn't help muttering: "That Gao Lan really is something. She knows exactly what kind of scumbag Yi Xiaochuan is, yet she still puts up with him. Incredible."
Seriously, beauty — where's your self-respect?
Ah well, not his problem. From now on, his "brother" could be the one to play loving boyfriend. At least that guy wouldn't cheat — on women, anyway.
Maybe on ancient relics, Aedric mused. Better make sure he doesn't get too obsessed with mummies.
Shaking the thought away, Aedric pulled out the Predator wrist computer from his spatial storage and started tapping.
Don't get the wrong idea — he wasn't about to blow himself up. The thing was actually a portable quantum supercomputer; the self-destruct function was just one of its many features. Its true power lay in data gathering and computation — far beyond any Earth supercomputer. Only the 550W from The Wandering Earth could even come close.
For a "standard-issue" gadget owned by teenage Predators to rival the top sci-fi tech of humanity — that was the sheer might of an interstellar civilization.
Once he linked the Predator computer effortlessly to the government's intranet, Aedric uploaded a batch of cutting-edge knowledge — genetic engineering, anti-fraud algorithms, and more. Consider it his contribution to the nation.
As for counter-tracing? What a joke. The technological gap between the two sides was several centuries wide.
"Alright, that's done. No regrets left." He stretched. "As for Yi Xiaochuan's parents — they've got Yi Dachuan. He'll be a dutiful son. No need for me, a stranger, to meddle. Time to head for the Qin Dynasty."
After triple-checking that nothing was forgotten, Aedric hopped into the red jeep and drove toward his father's and brother's excavation site.
Since everyone there knew him well, the guards at the entrance waved him through without question.
Driving straight in, he soon spotted Gao Yao in the kitchen, pretending to cook while sneaking glances in his direction.
Yeah, definitely Gao Lan tipped him off, Aedric thought, amused, then went over to his older brother — who was sulking nearby — and started casually probing for information.
Like whether they'd unearthed a bronze box with a tiger-shaped hollow on its lid.
Just as they were talking, a staff member came by to announce that the second coffin was ready to open.
At that, archaeology-obsessed Yi Dachuan immediately dropped everything and ran off.
Watching him go, Aedric smiled faintly. The bronze box was about to appear. He scanned the area, ready to intercept when Gao Yao's black-clad men made their move to steal it.
As for the cook Gao Yao — still pretending to chop vegetables while watching him?
He can stay in the modern world this time. Crossing dimensions was dangerous business — no need to drag him into it.
As for whether that would cause any kind of time-space paradox, Aedric couldn't care less. For him, the mission came first.
After all, if Gao Yao never went to the Qin Dynasty, there'd be nothing to betray in the first place.
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