Tavern of the Spear: Desire for Pleasure

Cheng Yu, Bai Yu, and Chong Quan pushed open the door and rushed into the room. Their sudden appearance clearly startled the others inside. At this moment, Hei Ze, who was in the most central position in the room, looked at the two strangers who had suddenly appeared with some confusion. He wore a pair of wooden-framed glasses, held a ruler in one hand, and a book in the other, clearly dressed as a teacher.

Below his lecture sat another white dragon youth. This youth was very thin, but his appearance suggested he was highly learned. At the same time, the other white dragons outside rushed in, watching Cheng Yu and his group warily, fearing they might do something harmful to Hei Ze.

Bai Yu stared in surprise at the thin, white dragon before him. Although he looked very different from Bo Wen, Bai Yu could still tell from his eyes and features that the other man was Bo Wen. Cheng Yu was also scrutinizing Bo Wen. Bo Wen, in turn, was observing the two who had suddenly appeared.

However, when he saw Heavy Fist, he suddenly felt puzzled. Why did his brother's appearance change so drastically? But soon, he noticed something was wrong. Among the ten white dragons at the door, there was another one, Heavy Fist, who was his brother. Why were there two Heavy Fists suddenly?

However, this question only lingered in his mind for a moment before he began to ponder more complex issues. He glanced at his teacher, Kurosawa, wanting to observe his reaction, but after a while, he found that his teacher's reaction was quite normal, seemingly unsurprised by this sudden turn of events.

"Who are you?" Kurosawa asked, his voice calm yet authoritative.

“We…” Cheng Yu was about to explain when Bai Yu interrupted him.

“We’re here to see you, Kurosawa,” Bai Yu said. “We have some questions for you.”

"Looking for me?" Kurosawa raised an eyebrow. "What do you want with me?"

“We want to know about the time fragments,” Bai Yu said. “We know you’ve been researching time fragments, and you’ve even hidden a fragment of the ‘present’ time here.”

"Oh?" Kurosawa's eyes sharpened. "How do you know all this?"

“You don’t need to worry about that,” Bai Yu said. “You just need to tell us, where is the fragment of 'now' time?”

"What if I don't tell you?" Kurosawa retorted.

“Then we’ll have to find it ourselves,” Bai Yu said. “I don’t think you’d want us to turn this place upside down, would you?”

Kurosawa was silent for a moment, then said, "Alright, I can tell you where the 'current' time fragment is, but you must answer a few questions for me first."

"What's the problem?" Bai Yu asked.

"Who exactly are you? Why do you know about the time fragments? And how did you get here?" Kurosawa asked three questions in a row.

“We…” Cheng Yu tried to explain again, but Bai Yu interrupted him once more.

“We are from another timeline,” Bai Yu said. “We came here to stop the chaos in the timeline.”

"Another timeline?" A hint of surprise flashed in Kurosawa's eyes. "You mean, you're not from this timeline?"

“That’s right.” Bai Yu nodded. “We come from a point in time where the timeline hasn’t completely become chaotic yet.”

“I see.” Kurosawa nodded thoughtfully. “It seems the timeline chaos is more serious than I imagined.”

"So, can you tell us now where the 'now' time fragment is?" Bai Yu asked.

“Yes,” Kurosawa said. “The ‘current’ fragment of time is…”

Just then, the door to the room was suddenly kicked open, and a group of people rushed in.

"Kurosawa, are you alright?" the leader asked. He was Kurosawa's eldest disciple, Blade, and also the leader of this group of white dragons.

"I'm fine," Kurosawa said. "What brings you all here?"

"We heard a commotion over here, so we came to check it out," the eldest apprentice said. "Who are these people?"

"They are..." Kurosawa was about to explain when Bai Yu interrupted him.

“We are friends of Kurosawa,” Bai Yu said. “We’ve come to see him about something.”

"Friends?" The eldest disciple looked at Bai Yu and the others suspiciously. "How come I've never heard Master mention you guys before?"

“We only met recently,” Bai Yu said. “We have a lot to discuss with Hei Ze, could you please step outside for a moment?”

"No!" the eldest disciple refused resolutely. "We cannot allow our teacher to be alone with people of unknown origin."

"You..." Bai Yu was somewhat annoyed, "We really meant no harm!"

“Regardless of whether you have malicious intentions, we cannot allow you to be alone with the teacher,” the eldest apprentice said. “It is our duty.”

"It seems we can't continue this discussion." Bai Yu sighed. "Cheng Yu, let's go."

"Trying to leave?" The eldest disciple sneered. "What do you think this place is? You think you can just come and go as you please?"

"What do you want?" Bai Yu asked.

"Arrest them!" At the eldest disciple's command, the surrounding white dragons immediately pounced on Bai Yu and the others.

"Looks like we have no choice but to take action," Bai Yu said helplessly. "Cheng Yu, heavy punch, watch out!"

Another chaotic battle erupted, with Bai Yu, Cheng Yu, and Chong Quan clashing with Hei Ze's disciples.

"Stop!" Just then, a voice suddenly rang out, "Stop it, all of you!"

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked in the direction from which the sound came. There stood Kurosawa, looking at them with a serious expression.

“Master…” the eldest disciple said, somewhat aggrieved, “They attacked first.”

"I don't care who started it," Kurosawa said. "All I know is that it's wrong for you to fight here!"

“But…” The eldest disciple wanted to explain, but was interrupted by Kurosawa.

"There are no 'buts'!" Kurosawa said. "All of you, get out of the way!"

"Yes..." Although the eldest disciple was unwilling, he could only lead the others to retreat to the side.

"Now, can you tell me what exactly happened?" Kurosawa asked, looking at Bai Yu and the others.

"We..." Bai Yu was about to speak when he suddenly felt dizzy and then knew nothing more.

When Bai Yu woke up again, he found himself lying in a bed. He sat up, looked around, and realized he was in an unfamiliar room.

"You're awake?" a voice suddenly rang out.

Bai Yu turned his head and saw Kurosawa sitting in a chair in the room, looking at him.

"Where is this?" Bai Yu asked.

“This is my room,” Kurosawa said. “You fainted just now, so I brought you here.”

"I fainted?" Bai Yu asked, puzzled. "How could I have fainted?"

“I don’t know either,” Kurosawa said. “But how are you feeling right now?”

"I feel fine," Bai Yu said, "just a little dizzy."

"That's good," Kurosawa said. "You should rest for a bit. We can talk again when you're feeling better."

"Okay." Bai Yu nodded, then lay back down on the bed.

Kurosawa looked at Bai Yu lying on the bed, a complex expression flashing in his eyes. He didn't know who Bai Yu and his group were, nor what their purpose was in coming to find him, but he knew that these people were definitely not simple.

"Hopefully, this won't be too bad..." Kurosawa murmured to himself.

Bai Yu closed his eyes tightly, his thoughts racing like a high-speed computer, rapidly analyzing the complex problems in his mind. His interruption of Cheng Yu's speech in the room earlier wasn't unfounded; it was based on his keen observation and meticulous analysis. He discovered that their time jump seemed to have transported them to a completely new timeline, one entirely different from the previous one. This meant that the fragments of time they had been desperately searching for in their original timeline would be useless in this new one.

Why did an extra timeline suddenly appear out of nowhere? This was the core question Bai Yu was currently pondering. In the previous timeline, after Kurosawa gave them the fragments of "present" time, they were transported to this place by a mysterious force. Logically, having collected all three time fragments, they should have started a new time loop, returning to that void, and only he would retain this memory. However, reality had brought them to this entirely new timeline, which undoubtedly created even more thorny problems.

Bai Yu knew he had to find a way to lead Cheng Yu and Chong Quan back to their original timeline, then completely break this chaotic time loop, ultimately return to the Void, escape from there, and return to their original world. Thinking of these myriad problems, Bai Yu felt a splitting headache.

He probably already guessed why he had fainted. As the apprentice of the God of Time, he possessed a time perception far beyond that of ordinary people; however, in such a place where time was extremely distorted, this ability became a burden. The more chaotic time became, the more terrifying the negative impact on him. However, if he could successfully solve the puzzle of time, his abilities would be greatly enhanced.

But right now, he couldn't establish any connection with time and could only rely on his own intellect to solve this problem. At this moment, he began to shift his attention to Kurosawa. Although he knew nothing about Kurosawa, the man was simply too strange. The Kurosawa of this timeline was completely different from the Kurosawa of the previous timeline. Perhaps he should seek help from Bowen in this timeline, but his previous encounters with Bowen had left him with a very poor impression. Although the Bowen of this timeline wasn't the future Bowen, the other party would certainly be wary of him.

"Perhaps I should try to understand Kurosawa in this timeline first," Bai Yu thought to himself. "Since he is Bowen's teacher, perhaps I can find some breakthroughs from him."

He slowly opened his eyes and found himself still lying on that soft bed. The room was quiet and dim, with only a faint sliver of light coming in from the window. He gently sat up and looked around, trying to find some clues in this unfamiliar environment.

"Squeak-"

Just then, the door to the room was gently pushed open, and Kurosawa appeared in the doorway. He was holding a glass of water, and when he saw Bai Yu wake up, a faint smile appeared on his face.

"You're awake? Are you feeling better?" Kurosawa's voice remained calm and gentle, giving one a sense of inexplicable peace of mind.

"Yes, much better." Bai Yu nodded, took the water glass handed to him by Kurosawa, and took a small sip. "Thank you, Mr. Kurosawa."

"You're welcome." Kurosawa sat down on the chair by the bed and looked at Bai Yu quietly. "Your sudden fainting just now gave me quite a fright."

"I'm sorry to have worried you," Bai Yu said apologetically. "I don't know why I suddenly fainted. Maybe it's... the effect of time."

"The influence of time?" A barely perceptible glint flashed in Kurosawa's eyes. "You seem to have a deep understanding of time."

"I know a little bit," Bai Yu said modestly. "After all, I am also a student of the God of Time."

"The God of Time..." Kurosawa's eyes deepened, "He must be an extraordinary being."

"Yes," Bai Yu said with emotion, "It's a pity I wasn't able to learn properly from him."

“It’s not too late now,” Kurosawa suddenly said. “If you’re willing, I can teach you.”

"You'll teach me?" Bai Yu looked at Hei Ze with some surprise. "You're willing to teach me about time?"

How could this be? Bai Yu felt that the other party was completely joking. When it came to time, apart from his master who understood time better than him, he felt that no one else understood time better than him.

"Why not? It seems you're quite skeptical?" Kurosawa smiled slightly. "I'm very interested in you."

"Me?" Bai Yu pointed to himself. "Is there anything special about me?"

“There’s a very special aura about you,” Kurosawa said. “An aura… related to time.”

"An aura related to time?" Bai Yu frowned. "How come I don't know?"

Bai Yu was somewhat probing. He had indeed become the disciple of the God of Time because of this reason, but why could the other party also sense this aura?

“You don’t know? Haha, don’t tease me. I’m a teacher, I can tell if someone is lying,” Kurosawa said. “If you really don’t know, it’s probably because you haven’t truly mastered it yet.”

"Then... can you help me?" Bai Yu asked tentatively.

“Of course.” Kurosawa nodded. “However, I have one condition.”

"What conditions?"

“Tell me your real purpose for coming here.” Kurosawa’s eyes sharpened. “Don’t try to fool me with those clumsy lies anymore.”

Bai Yu was silent for a moment, then said, "Okay, I can tell you, but you must promise not to tell anyone."

“I swear,” Kurosawa said. “I swear in the name of the God of Time.”

“We’re here to find fragments of time,” Bai Yu finally revealed the truth. “We come from another timeline, where time has become completely chaotic.”

“Fragments of time…” Kurosawa murmured to himself, “So that’s it, no wonder you were here.”

"You know about the time fragments?" Bai Yu asked.

“Of course,” Kurosawa said. “I am a learned teacher, how could I not know about time fragments?”

Why did Kurosawa specifically mention that he was Bowen's teacher? This puzzled Bai Yu greatly, but he still needed to ask about the time fragment issue.

"Then... do you know where the fragments of time, 'now' or other time periods, are?" Bai Yu asked.

“I know,” Kurosawa said, “but I can’t tell you.”

"Why?" Bai Yu asked, puzzled.

“Because the fragment of ‘now’ time is within me,” Kurosawa said. “And I cannot give it to you.”

"Why?" Bai Yu pressed. "Don't you want to stop the chaos in time?"

“Of course I want to stop the chaos of time,” Kurosawa said, “but I can’t do it this way.”

"What do you mean?" Bai Yu was getting more and more confused.

"Because the fragments of 'now' time are the key I use to maintain the stability of this timeline," Kurosawa explained. "If I hand them over to you, this timeline will collapse, and everything will cease to exist."

“But…” Bai Yu wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Hei Ze.

“I know what you’re trying to say,” Kurosawa said. “You’re saying we can go back to the original timeline and stop the chaos in time, right?”

“That’s right.” Bai Yu nodded.

"But have you ever thought about what would happen if you went back to the original timeline?" Kurosawa asked. "Have you ever thought about what would happen to us in that timeline?"

Bai Yu was stunned; he had never thought about this question before.

"You only think about your own timeline, but never consider the feelings of other timelines," Kurosawa said. "How are you any different from those who cause time chaos?"

"I..." Bai Yu opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

“Therefore, I cannot hand over the fragment of ‘now’ time to you,” Kurosawa said. “I must protect this timeline, and protect everything here.”