C9 I will Fight with You for a Hundred Days

Lee Yu scrutinized the room's layout with a discerning eye.

It bore a striking resemblance to a bandit's hall, with each wooden stool draped in animal hides.

"This pattern seems so familiar..." Lee Yu stroked the skin beneath him and gasped in astonishment, "Holy smokes, it's tiger skin!"

His surprise was short-lived, as five or six agile women emerged from the side of the room, each carrying something in their hands.

Some bore wooden platters heaped with roasted meat, others held brown jars brimming with mysterious fruits, and there were sealed black urns...

Elder Mu, with a beaming smile, gestured invitingly with his hand. All eyes in the hall turned to Lee Yu, clearly expecting him to take the first bite.

Lee Yu gazed bewilderedly at the spread before him. Are they inviting me to dine?

If it's a meal, where's the rice? The chopsticks?

"Let's eat, let's eat," Lee Yu managed to say, though not without effort.

He then watched as the others at the table began to feast unabashedly, tearing into large chunks of meat and gulping down the contents of the black urns, now uncorked to release a heady aroma of alcohol.

Soon, the room was awash with the intoxicating scents of meat and wine.

"You folks sure know how to party!" Lee Yu remarked, slightly uncomfortable. On one hand, he faced an empty bowl with no chopsticks or rice in sight.

Another reason for his reluctance was the concern that, while these indigenous foods seemed harmless to the locals, as someone from Blue Star, he might suffer adverse reactions. What if these delicacies turned out to be poison to him?

Then it would be a case of "wine and meat pass through, and Lee Yu ascends to heaven."

"This... tastes great."

As Lee Yu wavered, many in the hall, including Mu Yinhua, watched him closely.

She picked up a slice of roasted meat from a wooden platter and placed it in Lee Yu's bowl, saying, "Tiger meat."

Buddy, eating a nationally protected animal is a serious offense!

That's a firing squad offense.

Lee Yu looked up and saw that many had paused their feasting to observe him, clearly noting his reluctance to partake.

This wasn't good... Too many odd behaviors could raise suspicions.

Lee Yu swallowed hard, insisting to himself that his desire for tiger meat wasn't out of gluttony but for the advancement of his Otherworld enterprise.

"Delicious!" Lee Yu exclaimed as he devoured a chunk of tiger meat, his mouth watering for more, prompting him to take several more hearty bites.

With Lee Yu tucking in, the others in the hall resumed their meals.

"Cough, cough..."

Lee Yu choked, erupting into a fit of coughs. Mu Yinhua, at his side, handed him a wooden bowl, which he eagerly drank from in large gulps.

"Much better," Lee Yu sighed with relief. But before he could finish, blood gushed from his nose, and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

The hall went dead quiet, a dozen pairs of eyes staring in shock at Lee Yu sprawled on the floor.

"The wine's poisoned!" one man realized, hurling the bowl he was about to sip from to the ground.

Chaos ensued as others followed suit, tossing their bowls away.

Elder Mu sprang into action, examining Lee Yu's eyes and checking his pulse before channeling a warm energy into his body.

"He's had too much to drink," Elder Mu grumbled, clearly annoyed. "The boy's constitution is too frail to handle even a few sips of fruit wine. Carry on eating, everyone. Little Mu, help him back to his room."

...

Who would have thought that a bowl of fruit wine, meant to be sipped like soup, could knock someone out?

The tension in the hall dissipated. This fruit wine was a village specialty, crafted from a blend of over ten fruits and ingredients that replenished Qi and blood, hardly qualifying as medicinal liquor.

When Lee Yu came to, groggy and disoriented, he found Mu Yinhua keeping watch. It dawned on him that the village might hold him in high regard.

Scratching his head, Lee Yu pieced together the events, realizing he'd passed out after just a few sips of the slightly alcoholic fruit wine.

Reflecting on this, Lee Yu almost wanted to smack himself. How could he have lost control like that, acting as if he'd never experienced the world? It wasn't like he hadn't seen a tiger, though he hadn't actually eaten tiger meat... or had he?

"I got dizzy from drinking. Could the wine have been poisoned? No, that can't be it; I've drunk on Blue Star before without any issues... Odd, why do I feel so energized now, like I have endless strength?"

This wasn't a hangover! Lee Yu was at his wit's end trying to make sense of it all.

"Are you okay?" Mu Yinhua sensed something was off in the room and came in after knocking.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Through the open door, Lee Yu caught sight of the starry sky and the two luminous moons.

While Mu Yinhua was distracted, Lee Yu sneakily checked the time on his phone and suddenly had no desire to admire the Otherworld's nightscape.

"Oh no, it's already past midnight."

With a few quick words, Lee Yu hurried Mu Yinhua out and then, with a mere thought, he was back on Blue Star.

Back in his room, Lee Yu carefully checked the small traps he had set up to ensure no one had entered, then quietly opened the door with a creak.

"Yawn," he let out a huge yawn and ambled into the living room, bleary-eyed.

"You're home? Why didn't you answer me earlier?" Huang Xiu, who was doing homework in the living room, saw Lee Yu push the door open and her mouth quivered as she spoke with a tearful voice, "I thought you..."

"You thought what?" Lee Yu scratched his head and lied smoothly, "I went out for drinks with a classmate this afternoon and have been sleeping in my room ever since."

"Are you okay? Are you hungry? Want something to eat?" Huang Xiu asked, dabbing at the tears in her eyes.

"I'm good, not hungry. Let's have a look at your homework first." Lee Yu shook his head, relieved that the scent of alcohol and food on him was still strong, which kept Huang Xiu from being too suspicious, and she readily agreed.

Lee Yu reviewed the homework quickly. His academic foundation was solid across all subjects, and having taken the Purification Pill, he was able to recall many previously fuzzy details.

"This answer is incorrect, and this one too... How could there be so many basic errors?"

Lee Yu tapped Huang Xiu's head with a red pen, a note of exasperation in her voice. "I..." Huang Xiu's mouth twisted in frustration.

After getting home, she tried calling Lee Yu, but got no answer. She knocked on his door, but no one was there. It felt just like a few years ago when he had disappeared once before.

She spent the whole night restless, so managing to sit down and work on the test was an achievement in itself. How could she possibly ensure every answer was correct?

"Alright, alright, when you're doing something, you need to put your heart into it to do it well," Lee Yu said, setting aside the test paper. "The college entrance exam is right around the corner. You need to throw yourself into the preparations."

"Work hard for a hundred days, and you'll make it to Tsinghua University," Lee Yu encouraged with a wave of his hand.

"Work hard for a hundred days, and I'll be your classmate..." Huang Xiu murmured.

Her voice was so faint, Lee Yu didn't catch it.