Exile Road: My Wife Brought Supplies Across Time - Chapter 5

Moonlight spilled across the wilderness, reflecting in eyes rimmed with red.

Ye Fengyu’s lashes trembled as she gazed at the “immortal chariot,” which seemed to be surrounded by an ethereal aura in the light. She remembered that earlier, when the immortal had entered and exited the vehicle, this side of the chariot had been able to open completely. However, that had been on the driver’s side. Ye Fengyu wasn’t sure if her side could open entirely as well, or if it was limited to just the top half, as it was now.

Just as she was about to ask the immortal how to board, she heard her speak again.

“By the way, put all your things in the back.”

Ye Fengyu looked up. The immortal wore a solemn expression, her gaze fixed on the general’s waist. “Your sword, and the bundle you’re carrying, put them all in the back.”

Hearing this, Ye Fengyu hesitated. She glanced behind her. If she put everything down and the immortal drove away, what if someone happened to pass by and picked up her things? The bundle didn’t contain anything important, but her sword had been with her for many years.

“What’s the matter, don’t want to put them away?”

Wei Xi’s brows furrowed, her face stern. She couldn’t allow anyone to bring such controlled weapons into the passenger seat. It was too dangerous; she had nearly lost her life last time.

After weighing the options, Ye Fengyu chose the immortal chariot. Her sword had been a gift from the Princess Royal, but even if she lost it, getting another wouldn’t be impossible. If the chariot left, she didn’t know if she would ever see it again.

Ye Fengyu unbuckled her sword and was just about to place it to the side when, suddenly, she saw the chariot change! Something at the rear of the vehicle rose up.

“What are you dawdling for? Hurry up and put your things in the trunk.”

The immortal’s voice sounded again. Ye Fengyu bent down to look; the immortal seemed impatient.

“The… trunk?”

It wasn’t to be thrown on the ground? Ye Fengyu’s eyes lit up. She realized her previous understanding might have been off. Clutching her sword, she tentatively walked toward the back of the car. The immortal did not stop her.

When she reached the rear, she saw that the chariot had opened an “opening.” Ye Fengyu’s heart gave a violent jolt. Her eyes widened, adding to the stinging pain in them, but this only confirmed that she was not dreaming. The chariot could actually open itself!

Seeing the open space shaped like a box, Ye Fengyu immediately understood: this was the “trunk”! The immortal hadn’t wanted her to abandon her bundle or discard her sword; she just wanted her to store her things in the back!

Ye Fengyu couldn’t help but marvel. The chariot was designed so thoughtfully, with a dedicated place for luggage, and it was so unique. The inside was lined with a black material, and a soft, static light spilled into the compartment, allowing one to clearly see the interior even in the dark.

Her heart raced. Ye Fengyu secretly thought that the chariot was truly extraordinary.

She placed both swords and the bundle inside, but then a new problem arose: how was this trunk supposed to be closed? She walked back to the side of the car, just about to ask, when she heard the immortal speak first.

“Do you have any other controlled weapons on you?”

Ye Fengyu was confused. “What is a ‘controlled weapon’?”

“Swords, knives, daggers—things like that, things that can hurt people.”

Ye Fengyu understood. Right in front of the immortal, she searched herself. “No. Everything has been placed in the trunk.”

Wei Xi watched her patting her body, listening to the pats and thwacks. Her brows knitted; this person had a lot of strength. Even without weapons, she was still a dangerous individual. She had to be careful.

“If that’s all, get in the car.”

As she spoke, Wei Xi pressed the trunk button, closing it. Ye Fengyu, having finished her self-search, heard a slight sound from the back of the car. Turning her head, she saw the lid that had just opened slowly closing itself.

Surprise flickered in her eyes once more. The chariot was truly amazing! It could open and close without any human effort!

“Get in.”

Wei Xi watched the person standing motionless outside the car and reminded her again, her tone clearly impatient. She needed to figure all of this out quickly; what was this person dawdling for?

The person outside the car bent down, meeting her gaze again. “Immortal, how does one board this chariot?”

The question left Wei Xi speechless. How else do you get in a car? You open the door and get in!

Wei Xi took a deep breath and pointed to the door. But before she could speak, she saw two weathered hands grab the window frame, and then a pair of black boots appeared in her line of sight. Following that came the legs, waist, chest, shoulders, and head!

The movement of jumping through the window was fluid and seamless. In almost the blink of an eye, the person outside was sitting steadily beside Wei Xi!

Wei Xi: “……!”

It felt like watching a classic movie scene where a fugitive jumps into a getaway car. Looking at the person now seated, Wei Xi set aside all her previous judgments. Looking at that move alone, she had only one thought: Cool!

Even in movies, that required rehearsal and editing. Wei Xi was certain no actor could perform that move so smoothly and perfectly. It was just a pity—Wei Xi looked at the excited person—that she clearly hadn’t done it to show off.

She saw the other party’s eyes turn red, and she asked with complete seriousness, “Immortal, how is this ‘door’ to be closed?”

Wei Xi followed her gaze to the open window. It was obvious: she had mistaken the window for the door.

Her temple throbbed fiercely. Things seemed to be confirming her fears in a direction she didn’t want… Wei Xi stiffened her face and reached over to press the button on the driver’s door that controlled the passenger window.

Ye Fengyu watched the “door” slowly rise. Her pupils trembled again. So, this door also required no human effort to close! When the “door” rose to a seamless fit, Ye Fengyu was surprised to find that even though the door was closed, she could still see the scenery outside, though it was slightly dimmer.

It was truly miraculous and inconceivable!

Once the door was closed, she couldn’t feel even a trace of wind. In an instant, the car was filled with a lingering fragrance. Ye Fengyu could be certain: this was the immortal chariot she had ridden that night!

Ye Fengyu tried hard to restrain herself, but she couldn’t help but take a deep breath. It smells so good, this fragrance! Could this be ‘immortal energy’ (‘immortal air’)?

Wei Xi didn’t know that the person next to her was mistaking the car air freshener for immortal energy. As she watched her while closing the window, she noticed something she hadn’t paid attention to before. Last time, she had noticed the person had many scars, but now, up close, she saw numerous small scars on her forehead, temples, and neck, and a very deep, long scar behind her ear extending into her collar.

They all looked like injuries from controlled weapons. In a society governed by law, this was almost impossible. Wei Xi couldn’t think of a profession where someone would get injured like that.

Seeing her turn her head, Wei Xi looked at her face. Last time, she hadn’t been able to tell her age, and even up close this time, she couldn’t tell. She might be in her thirties—looking young—or in her twenties—looking mature. The unique temperament she possessed completely overshadowed the age-related signs on her features. Just like her hands… they looked as if they had weathered a lifetime.

Wei Xi took a deep breath and spoke in a low voice. “What did you say your name was before?”

Ye Fengyu had seen the immortal studying her and hadn’t dared to interrupt. Now that the immortal spoke, she felt a flicker of joy. “I am Ye Fengyu.”

Wei Xi nodded. That was the name she had said before. “What kind of sauce was it again?”

“A garrison general of Yezhou.” Ye Fengyu cupped her hands and bowed solemnly. “On the night of the Lantern Festival, thank you, Immortal, for giving me a ride—”

Wei Xi interrupted her gratitude: “How old are you?”

Ye Fengyu swallowed her words of thanks and answered the immortal’s question first: “Eighteen.”

Hearing the number, Wei Xi instinctively pulled her neck back, looking surprised. How is that possible? No matter how young she is, she can’t be just eighteen. Who has this level of composure at eighteen?

“Let me see your ID card.”

“ID… card?” Ye Fengyu was confused. “What is that?”

“Something that proves your identity.” Wei Xi stared at her, hoping she would say, ‘I was just joking with you.’

Ye Fengyu realized, and untied the waist plaque from her belt, handing it to the immortal with both hands. “My journey was rushed, I only have my waist plaque.”

At that time, she was in a hurry to reach Cangzhou to deliver the news and hadn’t carried her copper general’s seal or the ribbons denoting her official rank, only this plaque.

Wei Xi looked at the object in her hand in the car light; there were characters on the palm-sized plate.

“Wind? Rain?” Wei Xi guessed based on the shapes. These two characters were the same as the ones she had seen on her sword last time. Thinking of the name she had just reported, Wei Xi guessed, “Your name, Fengyu—the wind and rain of a storm?”

Ye Fengyu nodded, secretly marveling that her mundane name, spoken from the lips of an immortal, sounded unusually distinct… perhaps because the immortal’s voice was clear, gentle, and like celestial music.

“And what character is this?” Wei Xi asked, pointing to a character above “Fengyu.”

“Ye. The Ye of Yezhou.” Ye Fengyu was a little surprised. “Does the Immortal not read?”

Wei Xi glanced at her: “You’re the illiterate one.”

As she said that, something occurred to her. Wei Xi unzipped her pocket and pulled out her ID card. Few people carried this with them nowadays; she had it in her pocket because she had gone to the bank during the day for errands. “Do you have one of these?”

Ye Fengyu had been watching closely when the immortal moved. Listening to this, she looked at the object in the immortal’s hand—a small plate, square, very flat and thin, whitish in color, marked with patterns and some black characters that looked like they were missing strokes.

“I do not have such a thing.” Ye Fengyu looked up at the immortal, curious. “May I ask, Immortal, what treasure is this?”

Wei Xi looked at her, seeing a performance so natural it didn’t look like acting at all, and let out a heavy sigh. Things were really getting bad—she didn’t seem to be a madwoman after all.

Wei Xi returned the waist plaque; it was useless to her, as she couldn’t tell if it was real or fake.

After putting away her ID, Wei Xi looked at her, her expression stern. “Sit properly and behave yourself.”

As she spoke, Wei Xi looked at the person’s still-red eyes. Pepper spray usually left a person unable to open their eyes from pain for a while… This person was truly tenacious; she didn’t utter a single sound of pain. If it weren’t for the state of her eyes, Wei Xi would have suspected the spray was useless.

“You know my power. If you dare do what you did last time, I won’t be polite!” Wei Xi warned her again, showing her the stun baton she kept in the side storage compartment.

Hearing the immortal mention last time, Ye Fengyu looked apologetic. “Last time was my fault, Immortal—”

“Shut up, sit properly, don’t move.”

Wei Xi needed to verify something first; everything else had to wait.

Without waiting for a response, Wei Xi shifted gears, stepped on the gas, and drove forward.

Ye Fengyu was still surprised by the immortal’s sudden solemnity. She was caught off guard when the chariot moved, feeling a force push her forward. She steadied herself. Her hands instinctively wanted to grab onto something, like tightening the reins when riding, but there was nothing to grasp, so she could only press her hands on her knees.

The immortal had told her to shut up, so even though Ye Fengyu had a thousand questions in her heart, she obeyed and remained silent.

But once she realized the situation, her heart began to beat wildly! This immortal chariot truly required no human effort, nor did it rely on mules or horses. The massive cabin sped forward, its speed not inferior to a thousand-mile steed! And not only was it fast, but compared to ordinary horse carriages, it was much steadier, with only slight bumps—comfortable enough for one to fall into a peaceful sleep.

Ye Fengyu finally realized why, on the night of the Lantern Festival, she had waited until they reached Cangzhou to wake up; it had been this comfortable. She lowered her eyes slightly and glanced at the seat beneath her… She had never seen such a chair. She shifted her hips slightly—the sensation of comfort was an experience like no other. Ye Fengyu was certain that even the Princess Royal’s mansion didn’t have such a fine object!

Beep-beep-beep-beep…

A strange sound broke Ye Fengyu’s train of thought. She regained her senses and looked at the immortal, who was holding a “circular wheel.” The immortal was staring ahead with a solemn face, her red lips pressed into a thin line; it didn’t seem like the sound came from her.

The sound continued. Ye Fengyu listened and confirmed it was indeed coming from the car, but no matter how she looked around, she couldn’t identify the source, nor did she know what it signified.

Wei Xi, however, knew exactly what the alert meant. She quickly glanced at the person in the passenger seat—sure enough, she wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. Thinking about how the person had thought she was “tying her up” when she put it on last time… Wei Xi decided to forget it and let the alert sound while she continued to accelerate.

After driving for quite a while, Wei Xi finally determined that she had shaken off the “ghost wall” from before!

Determined that she wouldn’t return to the starting point, Wei Xi slowly stopped the car and looked at the person who had caused everything to change.

Sure enough, as she had expected, she had to have this person in the car to leave that place.

Ye Fengyu hadn’t expected the chariot to stop there. She turned to see the immortal looking at her. She didn’t understand the emotion in the immortal’s eyes, but she felt her blood boiling, and her crimson eyes could not hide her excitement. “Immortal, this immortal chariot is truly marvelous and extraordinary! It is so powerful!”

Wei Xi: “……”

What she had originally intended to say came to a sudden halt because of those sparkling eyes. Her tightly pressed lips twitched slightly. This was the first time Wei Xi had heard someone praise her car like that, and with such a burning, brilliant gaze…

In reality, in Wei Xi’s eyes, a car was just a means of transportation. Within her economic means, performance was everything; that was why she had refused her ex-boyfriend’s offer to pay for a better car, choosing only one she could afford herself.

Truthfully, her car was very ordinary… in secular eyes, it was even a bit “low.” Many internet jokes teased that those driving this car were ride-share drivers. Even Shen Shiyuan, when she learned Wei Xi had bought it, had guessed if she was going to drive for a ride-sharing service…

How could someone use such an expression to marvel at her car as an ‘immortal chariot’…?

Wei Xi looked at her with a complicated expression. “Who exactly are you?”

Ye Fengyu didn’t understand why the immortal asked this question again. “I am Ye Fengyu, a garrison general of Yezhou.”

Wei Xi shook her head. She didn’t want to know her name. She looked at her and changed the question: “What is the time now?”

Ye Fengyu looked up at the night sky far ahead of the car and estimated: “It is roughly the hour of the Rat (11 PM – 1 AM).”

“No, I don’t mean that time.” Wei Xi searched for an appropriate word. “The year and month. What year and month is it?”

Ye Fengyu wasn’t very surprised by this question; it was normal for an immortal living in the immortal realm to not know the dates of the mortal world. She answered: “This year is the third year of Jianyuan, and today is the twenty-third day of the first lunar month.”

On the night of the Lantern Festival, when she went to Cangzhou, Ye Fengyu remembered clearly. She had been recovering from her injuries in Cangzhou for seven days. During this time, she had counted the days, lamenting how long they were, until tonight, when she could no longer bear it. She had secretly left the Princess Royal’s mansion without telling anyone. She wanted to return to Yezhou to see for herself that everything was well in Yezhou; only then could she truly put her mind at ease.

When Wei Xi heard the term “third year of Jianyuan,” she knew it was bad… Even if she were illiterate, she knew that was how ancient people spoke. She glanced at the screen of the car: 2026/3/12. Wei Xi looked back at the person in the passenger seat.

“Have you ever heard of the year 2026 A.D.?”

Ye Fengyu raised her brows. “Gongyuan (Imperial Examination Hall)? Two zero two six?”

Seeing her expression, Wei Xi knew she hadn’t. The pronunciation was even off. The situation was truly heading in the most ridiculous direction she had guessed. Wei Xi gave a bitter smile: “It’s where I come from, and today’s date.”

The place where the Immortal comes from… Ye Fengyu raised her brows slightly; was the Immortal speaking of the date in the immortal realm now? Before she could ask, the Immortal spoke again.

“Do you know what holiday today is?”

How could Ye Fengyu know what holiday it was in the immortal realm today? Wei Xi didn’t expect an answer, so she answered for herself: “Arbor Day.”

“Arbor?” Ye Fengyu was very surprised. “Does the Immortal mean there is a festival for planting trees?”

Wei Xi nodded, but that wasn’t the point. “Do you know what day it is in three days?”

Ye Fengyu still indicated she didn’t know.

“March 15th—a day specifically for exposing frauds.”

Wei Xi saw her confused expression and explained as if out of kindness: “If you lied on such a holy day as Arbor Day, the thunderbolt that strikes you will arrive right on time in three days.”

In the end, Wei Xi added earnestly: “Though it may be late, it will arrive; though it may be far, it will definitely strike!”

Ye Fengyu didn’t understand the last sentence, but she understood the part before it. “Immortal, everything I have said is true.”

Wei Xi let out a “humph,” not saying whether she believed her or not. She had one most important question that required an honest answer. “I’ll ask you this: Does my coming here have anything to do with you?”

Ye Fengyu frowned. “Immortal, what does that mean?”

Wei Xi stared at her: “Do you have any superpowers or anything like that?”

“Superpowers?” Ye Fengyu looked confused. “What does that mean?”

“Like… traveling through time and space.” After asking, Wei Xi felt like she had gone crazy.

“Traveling through… what?” Ye Fengyu was even more confused.

Wei Xi took a deep breath and slapped the steering wheel, accidentally pressing the horn. A loud honk pierced the silent night.

The sudden strange sound startled Ye Fengyu. She instinctively looked ahead, only to see that a dense fog had filled the road ahead of the car before she knew it.

Wei Xi saw the fog, too. Unlike Ye Fengyu’s surprise, she had seen a fog this thick once before, and now, all she felt was the absurdity of “it’s happening again.”

The emotions that had been suppressed all this time erupted at once!

“Oh heaven, I’ve actually time-traveled!”

The immortal’s sudden exclamation surprised Ye Fengyu even more than the earlier noise. She couldn’t help but stare, confused: “Traveling through… what?”

In her puzzlement, Ye Fengyu’s gaze landed on the immortal’s attire. Since she first saw the immortal exit the chariot that night, she had studied her attire; it was a style she had never seen before. The immortal’s clothes were separated into two pieces, with the upper piece extremely short, reaching only to the waist, and the lower piece being long trousers. The entire outfit looked a bit like the short tunics of a farmer. Ye Fengyu had never seen a woman dress like this.

Although the attire was a bit peculiar, it was not frivolous or revealing; on the contrary, it had a sense of dignity. Ye Fengyu had a guess. She asked softly: “Immortal, is that an ‘immortal garment’ you are wearing?”

Wei Xi turned around to hear the question and saw her pointing at her clothes with curiosity. Wei Xi looked down and gave a bitter smile. What kind of immortal garment was this?

“It’s a windbreaker. It’s windproof and waterproof, but not ‘time-travel-proof’.”

Ye Fengyu heard the garment was called a “windbreaker,” and thought that this garment must be powerful—it could charge into battle and fear neither water nor fire. She didn’t understand the rest.

“The Immortal’s words always leave me puzzled.”

On this night, Ye Fengyu’s heart was full of confusion. Wei Xi heard this and continued to smile bitterly: “You’re confused? I’m even more confused! You tell me, why did you drag me to ancient times?”

She looked at her, finding joy in her misery, and said as if joking: “Surely you didn’t make me drive all the way here just to give you a ride!”

This thought was based on the fact that only after she picked her up had she broken the cycle of driving in circles.

Hearing this, Ye Fengyu’s breath hitched, and she looked stunned, as if she couldn’t believe it. “The Immortal came here… just to give me a ride?”

Her words were full of panic. Who am I to deserve such a thing…

After speaking as a driver, Wei Xi suddenly thought of something. She unzipped her pocket and pulled out a string of copper coins. The archaeologist Su Man, whom she had given a ride to before, had said they were antiques, so Wei Xi had kept them in her pocket.

She held the items out for the person in the passenger seat to see. “Are these yours?”

When Ye Fengyu saw the copper coins in the immortal’s hand and recognized the weaving method and the pure gold lotus pendant, she nodded: “They are mine.”

She looked at the immortal, her expression apologetic: “On the night of the Lantern Festival, my eyes were injured, and I did not know it was the Immortal who was giving me a ride in an immortal chariot. I only offered these mundane coins as payment for the ride… It was truly rude. I hope the Immortal will not take offense at my ignorance.”

After a long string of words, Wei Xi extracted the keyword: payment for the ride.

Wei Xi blinked and looked at the person in the passenger seat: “You mean, this money is what you paid me to ride in my car?”

Ye Fengyu hurriedly explained: “I definitely did not intend to use worldly objects to humiliate the Immortal. I beg the Immortal’s forgiveness—”

“No need for forgiveness!” Wei Xi interrupted: “You can humiliate me—no, I mean, of course you have to pay to ride in a car!”

Why would paying for a taxi be a humiliation!

Knowing the value of this string of copper coins, Wei Xi suddenly realized that time-travel might not be a bad thing after all!

“Do you have any more coins like this?”

Hearing the immortal say that paying for a ride was only right, Ye Fengyu felt another kind of anxiety; her purse was empty… “Yes… in my bundle, there is a small string of coins”

“Don’t use such quantifiers, just tell me how many coins you have!”

“One hundred coins…” After saying this, Ye Fengyu cupped her hands: “Immortal, please forgive me. I know this will surely not be enough to pay for the immortal chariot’s fare. Could the Immortal wait until we reach Yezhou, and I will return home to retrieve some…”

These copper coins couldn’t even rent a decent ordinary carriage, and Ye Fengyu didn’t dare to take advantage of the immortal.

Just as she was thinking this, she heard the immortal speak again, her tone appearing extremely pleasantly surprised.

“That’s enough, that’s enough!”

A hundred pieces! That’s one hundred! One piece is twenty thousand—my god, two million!!!

Wei Xi leaned toward the passenger seat and reached out to grasp Ye Fengyu’s broad shoulders. She looked at her, her eyes shining brightly: “They’re all for me, right?”

Ye Fengyu didn’t understand why the immortal was so excited. She nodded slightly: “If the Immortal does not mind—”

“I don’t mind, I don’t mind! How could I mind!”

Wei Xi was so excited that she cupped the other person’s face with both hands. If she weren’t so unfamiliar with her, she would have wanted to take a bite out of her.

“Only now do I realize that you are the god!”

Ye Fengyu, held by the immortal, felt the warmth of the immortal’s palms, and inexplicably, her face felt burning hot. She was glad her complexion made it hard to see any difference.

“What does the Immortal mean by that?”

Ye Fengyu’s ears twitched as a burst of fragrance wafted into her nose, the scent of the immortal, which smelled even better than the fragrance in the chariot. “I am but a mortal; the Immortal is the deity.”

Wei Xi shook her head excitedly: “No, no, no—you are!”

Unable to take a bite, Wei Xi pulled the person closer to her and gave her a big hug!

“My little God of Wealth! Why didn’t I meet you sooner!”

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