I Start with a Mysterious Island-Chapter 123: Found: A Small Village in the Otherworld
"Officers, this is what happened..." Xia Qing then recounted everything in detail for the security officers, explaining how Wang Haiyan and Zhou Dazhuang had come to her door to stir up trouble and how Lin Li had been forced to step in.
After listening to Xia Qing’s account, the two security officers first glanced at Lin Li. He didn’t say a word, simply nodding in agreement with her description. Then, they turned their attention to Zhou Dazhuang and Wang Haiyan.
"Officers, these two..." Zhou Dazhuang and Wang Haiyan had wanted to claim that Lin Li and Xia Qing were having an affair and couldn’t be trusted.
But when they met the two officers’ stern gazes, the false accusations they had prepared died in their throats.
"Listen, you two, slander and defamation are criminal offenses. You’d better think carefully before you say another word."
Having heard Xia Qing’s story and witnessed Zhou Dazhuang and Wang Haiyan’s reactions, the two experienced security officers already had a clear picture of the situation.
"I..." Upon hearing the officer mention criminal charges, Zhou Dazhuang and Wang Haiyan, who had been planning to make false accusations and raise a fuss, were immediately silenced.
"Alright, we understand the situation. You two are not to harass Miss Xia again, starting today. Otherwise, we’ll have to take you down to the station."
The older security officer said to Zhou Dazhuang and Wang Haiyan, his expression stern.
"Yes, yes, we won’t bother her ever again..." Zhou Dazhuang and Wang Haiyan, so arrogant just a moment before, were now the picture of compliance. They nodded eagerly in agreement after hearing the officer’s warning.
For civil disputes like this, mediation was the first step. If the offending party admitted their fault and showed a good attitude, that would be the end of it. If they reoffended, however, the two security officers would have them down to the station for a "chat."
Seeing that Zhou Dazhuang and Wang Haiyan’s attitude was sufficiently repentant, the two security officers nodded. Then, they escorted the pair into the elevator and left.
"Lin Li, thank you." Xia Qing’s face was full of gratitude as she thanked him once the officers had departed with Zhou Dazhuang and Wang Haiyan.
"Don’t mention it. It was no trouble at all," Lin Li said with a smile. "You did the right thing by calling the police. After that warning from the officers, I doubt they’ll dare to harass you again."
"Yeah." Xia Qing nodded. "If I’d known it would come to this, I would have cut ties with them from the very beginning..."
As the saying goes, even the wisest judge can’t settle a family dispute. Hearing Xia Qing’s lament, Lin Li just scratched his head and didn’t know what to say.
......
「The next morning.」
A figure holding a Spiritual Longsword materialized out of thin air in a field in an unknown Otherworld.
Lin Li surveyed his surroundings, then began trekking toward the rising sun.
He had been ambushed by that Giant Eagle Beast the day before, forcing him to take refuge on the Mysterious Small Island. As a result, he had wasted an entire afternoon of exploration time.
So today, he had risen early. After eating breakfast, he immediately entered the Mysterious Small Island and passed through the arched Stone Gate into this world.
Time flew by in a flash.
During his trek, Lin Li encountered several more Mutant Beasts.
Fortunately, the Mutant Beasts he encountered weren’t very powerful. The strongest was only at the First Rank High Stage, and a beast like that couldn’t last three minutes against Lin Li.
The other Mutant Beasts he came across were generally at the First Rank Initial Stage or First Rank Middle Stage, and Lin Li dispatched them in a single blow.
Walking toward the rising sun, Lin Li covered forty to fifty kilometers over the course of the morning.
Around noon, just as he was looking for a place to eat lunch and rest for a bit, he spotted several columns of black smoke in the distance.
’What’s that?’
Lin Li stared at the distant plumes of smoke, mulled it over for a moment, and then broke into a run toward their location.
A short while later, he crested a hill. As he gazed into the distance, a small village came into view.
’I found it!!!’
A thrill of joy shot through him. A moment later, with a mere thought, a pair of binoculars appeared in his hands.
Whitewashed walls, green-tiled roofs, and shady green trees. A small stream flowed past the edge of the village.
Within the village, children in cotton and linen short-sleeved shirts and shorts chased one another down the packed-earth roads.
Nearby, a few elderly Indigenous People sat in the shade of a large, leafy tree, chatting idly.
’Haha, I finally found it.’
Lin Li had been searching for a settlement of this world’s Indigenous People for so long. As he watched the small village through his binoculars, wisps of cooking smoke rising from it, his face was filled with pure delight.
Though the village before him wasn’t large, it would be his starting point for learning more about this world.
’Time to change and head into the village.’ Lin Li stored the binoculars on the Mysterious Small Island and took out a backpack.
He unzipped the pack and pulled out a set of all-black training clothes he had prepared.
「A moment later.」
Dressed in the cotton and linen training clothes and carrying an ordinary-looking backpack, Lin Li descended from the mountain. He stepped onto the dirt road that led to the small village, his heart a mix of curiosity and nervousness as he walked forward.
......
"Hee hee... Come and get me!" a running boy with a shaved head called out, looking back with a laugh at the little girl chasing him.
"Don’t run so fast!" the little girl with two small pigtails shouted back.
"Hurry up and catch me..." the boy with the shaved head said with a grin.
"Stop! You’re going to hit someone!" the girl with the pigtails yelled anxiously.
"Huh?" Hearing the girl’s warning, the boy with the shaved head started to slow down, looking ahead of him.
THUD.
The moment the boy looked forward, before he could even get a clear look at the person in front of him, he ran right into them.
"Oof!"
The boy who had run into the person cried out in surprise and stumbled backward. Just as he was about to land hard on the ground, the person he’d collided with reached out and grabbed his clothes, stopping his fall and saving him from a bruised backside.
"Zhuangzhuang, are you okay?" The little girl with pigtails ran up to the boy, asking worriedly.
"I’m fine. Thanks to this mister for catching me, or I would’ve been in real trouble," the boy with the shaved head said to the girl with a smile. He then turned to apologize to the person he had run into. "I’m sorry, Mister."
The young man the boy had run into didn’t say anything, simply offering a smile and a nod.
Seeing that the man wasn’t angry, the boy took his friend’s hand, and the two of them skipped away.
......
