The Lord of Void and Real

Chapter 32: Chapter 31: A Dream of Thousand Years

“Tsk, tsk, I really didn’t realize until now, Brother Shen is indeed very handsome. You must be careful, there are many girls but few men in this world. The moment you step out, I can’t imagine how many young ladies will have their eyes on you.” Yu Meng was already waiting outside, walking around him and commenting.

Shen Luo just chuckled, not taking Yu Meng’s jests to heart.

“Dinner will take a while to prepare, come, let me show you around our place.” Yu Meng wrapped his arm around Shen Luo’s shoulder and started walking out without further ado.

This was the residence of an Immortal Master, Shen Luo couldn’t wait to look around. Naturally, he would not refuse.

The Yu Residence covered quite a large area, about twenty to thirty acres, with over a dozen large houses, a sizable garden, and a big pond. It felt slightly worn out, but the scenery was rather pleasing.

In addition to that, there was a significantly large training ground, a myriad of weapons like swords, spears, and halberds were on display.

Yu Meng was a hospitable man. He gave Shen Luo a full tour of the house, constantly introducing his surroundings.

“Brother Yu, that place looks rather special. May I ask what it is?” Shen Luo pointed at the lone ancient tower next to the pond, and asked.

“That’s my father’s study. I’m not boasting, but we definitely have the largest collection of books in the whole county. Come on, let me show you around, you might find some books you like.” With that, Yu Meng banged on his chest and said.

“I’m not sure about this…” Shen Luo hesitated for a bit before responding.

“Nah, it’s just a look. He always wants me to come here every day, and I’m reluctant in usual times.” Yu Meng wasn’t bothered a bit, and he led Shen Luo into the study.

Seeing this, Shen Luo had no choice but to follow Yu Meng inside.

The study was rather large, nearly fifty steps square, surrounded by shelves that were taller than most people. The shelves were filled with books and in the center was an eight treasure auspicious table, a white jade paperweight, and a green jade brush holder, all high-quality goods.

“What an extensive collection of books. Your father surely loves acquiring all sorts of knowledge. No wonder he has pursued talisman techniques to such high levels of mastery.” Shen Luo praised.

“It’s just okay.” Yu Meng replied with a tinge of indifference.

Shen Luo noticed the change in Yu Meng’s countenance and moved his attention to the books on the bookshelf.

The study was filled with a number of books, a lot more than in the Spring and Autumn Pavilion. However, the books were quite disorderly and improperly classified. It looked like they had been acquired by a nouveau riche to display for aesthetic purposes and to enhance their reputation.

Shen Luo remembered Yu Yan’s ostentatious appearance and couldn’t help but chuckle to himself as he soon took a geographical record off the shelf.

This dream world bore a striking contrast to the world he lived in. He was beginning to suspect if this indeed was part of the Great Tang. To investigate this, browsing through the geographical record was the most convenient method.

“Dengyun Province, Qingzhou, Chishui…Donglai County.” As he laid eyes on the familiar names, Shen Luo felt ever more confused.

After flipping through this geographical record, he quickly found the location of Donglai County, which was quite far away from Chunhua County and across several provinces. However, it was exactly like what he remembered!

“The geographical position is correct, it’s not wrong, this is definitely Donglai County,” Shen Luo affirmed.

But if Donglai County is so far away from Spring and Autumn Pavilion, how did he get here?

“Huh!”

Shen Luo lightly exclaimed as he skimmed through the record. The part explaining Chunhua County revealed some place names that were different than what he knew.

For instance, a large river in Chunhua county which had always been named “Bailian River” since he could remember and where he often played as a kid, was referred to as “Yupu River” in the book here.

Moreover, “Tianping County”, which lay east of Chunhua County and where he had made countless trips, was referred to as “Fengrao County” here.

“What’s going on?” He pondered silently.

“Brother Shen, are you interested in this geographical record? This is not worth researching. These days, even the court doesn’t care about these details anymore. That book was published in the 20th year of the Guanghua era, it is over a hundred years old. Instead of that, Brother Shen, how about checking out this sword manual?” Yu Meng took a glance at the book Shen Luo was holding, shook his head and then passed him a green book.

Shen Luo responded, placed the geographical record aside, accepted the sword manual, only to freeze in his movement.

“Brother Yu, did you just mention when this book was published?” Shen Luo picked up the geographical record again, looking at Yu Meng intently, he asked.

“Yes, in the 20th year of the Guanghua era. Just take a look at the back of the book, the year of publication is written there. What’s the matter?” Yu Meng pointed at the backside of the geographical record, speaking in a somewhat puzzled manner.

Shen Luo quickly flipped the book around, and sure enough, he saw the words “Printed in the 20th year of the Guanghua era” at the back of the book.

Shen Luo stood still for a while, put down the two books and quickly walked forward, swiftly flipping through books from the shelves.

“Brother Shen, are you looking for something? Should I help?” Yu Meng was taken aback, then asked.

Shen Luo didn’t reply but merely continued rifling through the books on the shelves. After a while, he finally stopped with a thick royal calendar in his hand.

“You’re searching for the royal calendar, what for?” Yu Meng walked over, chuckling as he asked.

Shen Luo’s face was etched with gravity. He started from the last page of the calendar and quickly flipped forward until he came to a halt nearly halfway through the book.

The year written on that page of the royal calendar was the 29th year of the Kaiyuan era.

Shen Luo looked at the royal calendar, his mind a whirlwind of thoughts.

The 29th year of the Kaiyuan era was the year he was in. According to the royal calendar, there were nearly a thousand years between that and the 20th year of the Guanghua era Yu Meng mentioned.

“Could it be that I’ve dreamed my way a thousand years into the future?” Shen Luo pondered to himself.

Such a hypothesis would easily account for the change of the place names in the geographical record, the architectural style of the city, the difference in clothing style, and so on.

Yu Meng saw the change in Shen Luo’s facial expressions. Not really understanding why, he scratched the back of his head but didn’t disturb him.

“Young Master, dinner is ready. The master invites you and Master Shen over.” Just at that moment, Little Shunzi came to the entrance of the study room and called through the window.

“Alright, we’re coming.” Yu Meng turned around and responded.

“I’m sorry, I just remembered something and searched for this royal calendar to check the date, it seems I have delayed us a bit,” Shen Luo put down the royal calendar, his demeanor returning to its usual calm as he explained a little apologetically.

“Oh, not at all. I really envy your ability to concentrate on reading books. My father always forces me to read books and draw talismans. I’m a simple man and prefer playing with my weapons. If I had your fondness for reading, I wouldn’t have had such a tough time growing up.” Yu Meng laughed heartily in response.

Shen Luo also laughed, but said nothing.

“Alright, enough with all this talk. After an entire day of fighting, let’s go and have a proper meal. My father likes you, there should be plenty of good food tonight.” Yu Meng rubbed his hands and said.

Shen Luo put all the books back where they belonged. Only then, under Yu Meng’s urging, did he finally leave the study.