Chapter Three: The Hidden Sanctuary

The black wooden box was long and rectangular, adorned with intricate patterns, exuding an aged, antique charm. One couldn’t help but admit that its appearance was strikingly similar to the Moonlight Treasure Box depicted in the movies.

Chen Ling couldn’t be certain whether this artifact possessed the power to traverse time, like the Moonlight Treasure Box. However, he was sure of one thing: this box was undeniably linked to his journey back to 1995.

When it was auctioned abroad, he had simply felt that since this black wooden box was a relic of his homeland, he didn’t want it to fall into foreign hands. He hadn’t given it any deeper thought. As for the Sakura Auction House’s claim that the box was a secret imperial chest from the Tang Dynasty’s Tianbao era, he dismissed it as mere hype, clearly designed to lure wealthy, gullible bidders.

Though the box’s wood was unknown and it couldn’t be called exquisite, it carried a rich, ancient aura, making it quite a fine collectible. An elder companion with a keen knowledge of antiques, familiar with methods for verifying authenticity, confirmed that the box was indeed an old domestic artifact, but no one could guarantee it was from the Tang Dynasty.

Chen Ling had never cared much about such details. He wasn’t there to profit but simply wanted something from ancient China. After the auction ended and a soak in the hot springs, he idly fiddled with the box. Later, when friends suggested experiencing local customs, he shyly tucked the box under his pillow and didn’t think much of it.

What happened after that, he couldn’t quite recall. All he knew was that when he opened his eyes, he was Chen Ling in a parallel 1995.

“Ah, after a lifetime of hard work, can I not just enjoy life?” he sighed. “This time travel has taken everything from me…”

“Though there are virtuous wives rare to find among ten thousand in this era, there are also dear friends and family from the future I can’t bear to leave behind…”

Chen Ling toyed with the black box, opening and closing it with a faint click, as waves of melancholy slowly welled up inside him.

“I’m fine here, but if the other me in that world disappears, my old friends watching the Olympics with me will surely be affected.”

“Secret Box, Master Box, can you send me back?” he murmured.

“Prajñāpāramitā! Back to the original world, the year 2021!”

“Open sesame…”

He tried over and over again, but the box remained inert.

He was convinced the box was connected to his time travel, but whether it could send him back remained uncertain.

Chen Ling hadn’t forgotten that his soul had crossed into this parallel world, replacing this world’s self. In a sense, the two versions had merged; he was no longer the man he once was. The chances of returning were slim.

After hours of fruitless study, Chen Ling spent the night restless. Knowing the box’s significance, even if return was impossible, he was determined to uncover its secrets—it was only natural.

The next morning, Chen Ling woke and turned the black box over and over again, still to no avail. The frustration of glimpsing hope but finding no entry made him increasingly gloomy.

Wang Susu, noticing his bad mood and that he had spent the whole night clutching the box without finding any money inside, felt uneasy and dared not disturb him. Silently, she removed the spent charcoal from the stove and took it outside to discard.

Chen Ling, holding the box, drifted into thought, recalling details from before and after his time travel when he obtained the box. He was lost in reflection until Wang Susu entered and spoke.

“I heard outside that Erzhu has been exchanging farmland with several families in the village. Some refuse to trade, so he’s paying to lease the land…”

“Leases for several years, apparently to build greenhouses.”

“Greenhouses?”

Chen Ling blinked and looked at Wang Susu, then recalled the policies around 1995 encouraging greenhouse farming and the second round of household land contracting.

Though Chen Erzhu was a ne’er-do-well who had even been arrested some years ago, he seemed to have some connections after release—befriending a few influential county figures and gaining access to the county’s sand mining operations, earning a decent sum, enough to lease large swaths of land.

He must have heard about the new land distribution and seized the chance to swap farmland with others; if he couldn’t swap, he simply paid to lease.

“Trying to make a fortune with greenhouses? This year, he’s probably going to lose everything,” Chen Ling scoffed inwardly.

Why? Because in 1995, there was a massive flood!

According to his memory, several counties, including this one, were severely hit.

“I…”

Wang Susu, unaware of Chen Ling’s thoughts, noticed his odd laughter and hesitated, almost about to speak.

“What’s wrong, Susu?” Chen Ling snapped out of his reverie.

“I was thinking, maybe we should negotiate with Erzhu and lease our land to him, just like those who refused to exchange with him. If he objects, we can lease him the land for a couple more years at the amount he subsidized for the exchange,” she said softly, clearly terrified of Chen Ling.

Though speaking to her husband, her tone was more like a supplicant’s.

Her eyes avoided his gaze, knowing well that the subsidy money Chen Ling had received from Erzhu was likely squandered, or at least he wouldn’t return it.

She lacked the courage to ask Chen Ling to refund Erzhu, so she tried delicately to propose leasing the land at the subsidy amount for a few more years.

This way, Chen Ling wouldn’t have to use his own money, and their land would remain safe, reducing the chance of his opposition.

Besides, someone like Erzhu, lazy and selfish, wouldn’t bother negotiating without some gain.

“I heard from others that the village leases land to Erzhu at 100 yuan per mu per year. He subsidizes us 200 yuan per mu for swapped land. We could lease it to him for three or four years at that rate,” Wang Susu pleaded.

“Just don’t swap our land…”

“Is that okay?”

Chen Ling, surprisingly, nodded and smiled, saying, “After breakfast, I’ll go to the county to renegotiate the land matters with Erzhu!”

Wang Susu was stunned, doubting her ears. Chen Ling’s temper was never so easily swayed. Could he be regretting?

She wanted to ask but dared not. When Chen Ling left, she sighed helplessly and prepared breakfast.

Little did she know, Chen Ling was no longer the man he had been. How could he still lash out at her whenever displeased? He was simply distracted by the box, absent-minded.

Otherwise, how could he so carelessly disregard her feelings as before?

“This thing’s troublesome!” Chen Ling set the box down, took in the fresh morning air, stretched his limbs to clear his mind. Otherwise, the box would drive him insane.

“Cluck, cluck…” The old hen in the yard was loudly boasting after laying eggs.

Chen Ling scooped some bran into a stone trough in the chicken coop, mixed it with water to feed the hen.

Then he washed up at the hand pump, feeling much more alert.

He pulled out the box again and studied it carefully in the sunlight.

“Huh?”

“Is that a character?”

Chen Ling’s gaze froze on a distorted symbol inside the box. It was a faint, nearly vanished character etched in the center of the box’s interior. Twisted like a cryptic glyph, resembling ancient bronze script, it looked like a monstrous eye.

Chen Ling couldn’t decipher it or grasp its meaning.

“Wait, there’s one here too…”

The other half of the box bore a similar character, equally faint and almost invisible unless closely inspected.

Chen Ling stared at the two mysterious symbols for a long time in the yard but gleaned nothing. Instead, he grew dizzy and nauseous.

This was bad!

Such cryptic scribbles shouldn’t be stared at too long—they caused problems!

“Fugui, Susu, something’s wrong, something’s really wrong!” Chen Ling was about to crouch down when a voice from outside startled him.

A thin, dark old man pushed open the gate and hurried inside.

“What’s wrong, Fifth Uncle? What happened?” Wang Susu, cooking, quickly came out.

“Erzhu has used connections in the county to get early approval for building greenhouses. The township has issued documents approving it, and the land for his greenhouses is now officially designated.”

“If the land is leased, then it’s leased; if it was swapped, then it legally belongs to Erzhu.”

“Swapped land can’t be changed back. Your land can’t be reclaimed.”

Wang Laishun’s urgent words drained the color from Wang Susu’s face.

Chen Ling only heard the voice as the world spun before his eyes, vision blurring until he blacked out with a thud.

“Aling!”

“Fugui!”

Two shocked voices called out, but Chen Ling could no longer hear.

***

After an unknown time, Chen Ling opened his eyes, surrounded by a thick white mist.

Before him stood a stone tablet engraved with a line of mysterious, twisted characters.

Looking closely, the first two characters were exactly the same as those inside the box.

“Sun and Moon…”

“Cave Heaven?”

For some unknown reason, Chen Ling now instantly recognized the cryptic symbols he had been unable to understand before.

“So, the two characters engraved inside the box are ‘Sun’ and ‘Moon’…”

“The box brought me here!”

He stared at the inscription, murmuring to himself.

Touching the stone, he found it surprisingly smooth and warm, like polished jade, contrary to its rough appearance.

“Whew…”

But the moment Chen Ling touched the stone, a gentle breeze swept by, and the dense white mist began to converge toward the tablet.

“What’s happening?”

Startled, Chen Ling quickly withdrew his hand.

Then, an even more astonishing event occurred—the thick mist surged wildly into his body.