ISOL Chapter 19
Translator: Kira
Editor: KongoIsamu
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Thoughts are Italicize
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“Su Xiao Pei.”He shouted, also noticing her.
Su Xiao Pei looked around and saw that the people around them had noticed him shouting and they were staring at him.
She frowned. It can’t be, he wasn’t a hallucination?
“Su Xiao Pei, why are you back?” Yue Lao anxiously said. Without waiting for her to respond, he rushed up and pulled her to the side.
“Where did you come from?” Su Xiao Pei deliberately said in a cold voice.
Time traveling, aren’t you wearing it? It’s earlier than what I expected; I thought it’ll take a bit longer, regardless, you cross through. Still, you’re back too early, did you get a chance to meet him?
“Meet who?”
“Cheng Jiang Yi!” Yue Lao anxiously turned around. “You haven’t met him yet?” He looked at Su Xiao Pei’s expression and knew that she had not met him.
“Aiya, I thought that you were very efficient and did it all in one go, resulting in you passing through.” He was still talking to himself which led to Su Xiao Pei glaring at him.
“Wait, wait!” Yue Lao was in shock, his eyes rounded as he said: “Unless you’re dead?”
“Yes, there’s a ghost in front of you.”
“Aiya, don’t joke.” Yue Lao scratched his head, “You seriously saying a joke is quite scary.”
Yue Lao was about to continue talking when Su Xiao Pei’s colleague walked by. He smiled at them and said, “Xiao Pei, is he your boyfriend? So handsome.”
“Hehe.” Yue Lao, having been praised by someone, embarrassingly replied with a smile.
The colleague didn’t continue to play around and waved as he left.
Yue Lao looked around and when he saw that there was no one nearby, he began to say, “Su Xiao Pei, after you pass through, there are only two situations in which you can come back. One is that you found him and the other is that you are dead. What did you experience over there? Did you die?”
Su Xiao Pei frowned; she fell into a river. Dead?
“Aiya, you died too fast.”
Leave! What’s with that carefree tone?
“Su Xiao Pei! Where have you been? Did you see anyone? Tell me. When you came back this time, he’s still over there so you’ve failed! After a while, you’ll be pulled over once more, so you still have a chance. I will help you analyze the situation, otherwise, if you fail again, then even I will not be able to help you.”
What the hell? I still have to cross?
Su Xiao Pei was about to flare up but after thinking through for a short while, “With so many people, you expect to be able to inspect them one by one?” Her tone was not good.
Yue Lao scratched his head, “You’re right, if the story’s too long, I won’t have time to listen to it.”
Who doesn’t have the time?!
If it wasn’t because Su Xiao Pei really wanted to figure out what happened, she would’ve left by now.
“Why don’t we do it this way, who was the first person you met when you had cross over?
“A man and a woman.”
“Is there no Cheng Jiang Yi? He only crossed a month or so before you and he should be easy to recognize.”
“No, both were from that era. Also, I hate my accent.”
“How could this be?” Yue Lao was puzzled. He pulled out a large screen mobile device from his pocket and looked at something, saying, “Your red string is still tightly tied, and it is not a single bit of loose!”
**, how ironic?
“After you were pulled over, the place you arrived at shouldn’t be too far from him. Think again, you’ve met two people, one of them must have a connection with Cheng Jiang Yi. Perhaps he or she can help you find him.”
Take her to find him?
Su Xiao Pei thought for a moment and remembered that he said he was going to send her to a nunnery. There wasn’t a young man passing by. What about Tang Lian? Though, she can’t be certain, Tang Lian might be suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. There is a possibility of her helping the thief to rob herself. If she says that she will bring herself to someone…
It can’t be, when Cheng Jiang Yi passed through to the past, could it be he decided to do bad deeds, becoming a thief and committing crimes?
Tang Lian was robbed about a month ago and Cheng Jiang Yi crossed over a month ago…
It can’t be, right?
“You said that when I find him, we can return together. What is considered ‘finding’ him?
“What do you mean?” Yue Lao looks at her blankly.
“If I see him, does that count as having found him or do I have to shout Cheng Jiang Yi and he has to responded; what is considered being found?” When I find him, how do we return? Would holding hand in hand and shouting “Go” suffice?”
“Ah, I’m not sure.” Yue Lao wonders. He thought about it for a bit and smiled. “That line about the hand in hand is quite amusing to hear.”
As he said that, he laughed, but when he saw Su Xiao Pei’s serious expression, he retracted his smile. He coughed twice.
“It seems that I haven’t found any more detailed instructions in my memo. If I find any, I’ll find a way to tell you.”
“Can’t you be a little more reliable?”
“Hey! I’ve been working hard all this time.” Yue Lao tried to say convincingly. He then stressed to Su Xiao Pei, “Quickly go to the hospital to see Cheng Jiang Yi and familiarize yourself with him; only like this will it be easier to find him. Your red string is very tight meaning he can’t be too far from you. If the person you meet is not him, then they must be able to bring you to find him. It is related somehow. You don’t have to be afraid there. If you die, you’ll return. Think of it like vacation, you can always go back.”
Don’t be afraid, he said. Why doesn’t he try dying?
“Anything else?”
“What do you mean?” Yue Lao was lost.
“Anything else you have to explain?”
“Well, I can’t think of anything else for the time being.”
Su Xiao Pei pulled out her cellphone, “Give me your name and number.”
“I am YueLao2238, no name, no phone.”
“Number 2238?” Her face turned black, “Are there a lot of Yue Lao’s?”
“Yes, otherwise how would I come here if I was busy? We have a lot of stuff to deal with.”
“Being handled by you, no wonder the divorce rate is so high.” Su Xiao Pei’s rude words made one want to vomit, “Unable to get married and there’s not a lot of wives. Is it because your training prior to this job was not up to par? Is every one of them like you, so unreliable?”
Yue Lao felt humiliated: “I’m also working hard, alright? Anyone can have a bad marriage with their own problems. You can’t blame others and you can’t blame Yue Lao. It’s because more and more people are prioritizing the individual. Su Xiao Pei don’t think you have the right; I’ll give you some news. Even if Cheng Jiang Yi didn’t get into a car accident and you two met, you won’t have an easy time in love. Yours and his temperament will clash. I have done a lot of homework to help you. I am also working hard, so don’t blame other people. Everyone has their own hardships.”
Being told that by him, Su Xiao Pei could not actually refute him.
“In short, when you go back, it’ll be easier for you since you are more familiar with the surroundings. I wish you a safe trip. Ah, yes, don’t forget to visit the hospital before you go. Last time you didn’t listen to me, but I don’t blame you. Last meeting, the timing was inappropriate. The time allocated was too short as well. The display on the work log shocked me.”
“I took a picture of you, why is it gone?”
“We won’t leave any evidence behind. Once your case is over, I will disappear from your memory. For example, your colleague that saw me just now, once she turned around she will forget who I was, she would only remember that you were talking to a man, and eventually she would forget all about this encounter. So, naturally you won’t see me in the photo you took.”
Su Xiao Pei raised the cellphone and took a picture. Yue Lao smiled while cautiously making a V with his fingers, striking a pose for her to take.
“When will I go back again?” Su Xiao Pei didn’t want to believe it, but she still had to asked.
“Don’t know”
“Where will I arrive at when I go back?”
“Don’t know.”
“So, what do you know then?”
“I know that when you go back, you’ll find him and once you find him, you can come back. Ah, no, correctly speaking, the only ways to come back is to find him or die.” Yue Lao said as he nodded, strengthening his tone.
So knowledgeable ah, he sure knows a lot. Su Xiao Pei is really angry.
“So, what do I do if I have a problem and need your assistance?”
“You won’t find me. We’re working by ourselves. There’re too many people with problems; if we could still carry out consultation services, then we would really be too impressive. In your case, if there is any updated news for you, I will let you know. If there’s nothing, then you won’t hear anything on our side. You should rely on yourself more. Just be natural. You should work harder. Fighting!”
This unreliable ‘God’ is telling her to work hard? Really, he needs to work harder himself!
Having said everything he needed to, Yue Lao waved his hand, disappearing into the crowd.
Su Xiao Pei looked at his parting back. He passed by a person and accidently bumped into him. He nodded, smiled, and continue walking. Su Xiao Pei thought, the person who was bumped, will you also forget Yue Lao and the encounter as well?
She looked down at her phone and the picture of Yue Lao was still there.
She put the phone in her bag and walked towards her car.
After getting into the car and started the engine, Su Xiao Pei drove for a bit before stopping at a red light. She thought of something and took out her phone. In the picture, there was a tree and a street view, but no Yue Lao.