All the heavens, starting as the ruler of the universe

Lin Yan took Xu Che to a tailor shop to make him a new outfit, replacing the rags he had stripped from the dead man, and then they went outside.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

A man dressed in tattered hemp clothes with disheveled hair, looking like a beggar, crawled on the ground while constantly apologizing.

Behind him, two officers holding whips were constantly lashing him.

"Still dare to slack off! Still dare to run away! Huh!"

The shouts came down with the whip, leaving the man still crawling on the ground with his skin torn and bleeding.

As Xu Che stepped out of the tailor shop and saw this scene, the smile on his face disappeared, replaced by the sweat on his palms.

If it weren't for Lin Yan's rescue, his fate might not have been as good as the one in front of him.

"I won't run anymore, please let me go, I'm just too hungry."

"Still dare to talk back!" The whip didn't stop because of his pleas for mercy; instead, it became even heavier.

"Yi Xiaochuan! Where are you?! Come save me!!!"

Hearing the name called out by the man being beaten on the ground, Xu Che was startled: "Yi Xiaochuan?"

Then he turned around, his face full of disbelief: "Brother Lin... this can't be a coincidence, can it...?"

"Brother Lin, is he... that Gao Yao?"

Lin Yan nodded: "It seems you've seen this TV series."

Xu Che's heart skipped a beat. For the past few days, he had thought he had arrived in the ancient world of Earth, but he never expected that he had traveled into a TV series.

"Then what should we do?" Xu Che didn't know what to do and looked to Lin Yan for help.

"This is your world. I'm just an outsider. You can make your own decisions."

Lin Yan actually restrained himself in every world he went to. He didn't want to become a heartless Heavenly Dao that viewed all living beings as ants. He still enjoyed the feeling of being human.

"Brother Lin, do you have any money left?"

Xu Che made up his mind that he must save Gao Yao, not for any other reason than that the two had such similar experiences.

Lin Yan didn't say anything, but stretched out his hand, which held a few taels of silver.

"Sirs, sirs, please have mercy!"

Xu Che approached the two soldiers and handed them the silver. "What did this man do to deserve such a severe punishment?"

The two officers stopped whipping him and looked him up and down.

A constable with a mole on his face took the silver, weighed it in his hand, and put it in his pocket.

Another tall, thin man looked at Xu Che and asked, "What's your relationship to him?"

"Fellow villager, fellow villager," Xu Che said with a smile. "When you're traveling, it's always good to lend a hand."

The tall, thin officer snorted, "These people are government slaves, they're going to be sent to the Lishan Mausoleum." He pointed his whip at the man on the ground, "Your fellow villager, you're quite the runner."

Xu Che took out a few more silver coins and stuffed them into the hand of the tall, thin official: "Gentlemen, please have mercy. He's so weak, he'll die if you beat him any more. Here's some silver for you two to have some tea."

The tall, thin officer glanced at the silver, then at the man on the ground, and hesitated for a moment: "There's a roster for this group..."

"If one person is missing from the roster, the two of you will say that he died of illness on the way."

Xu Che interrupted him and handed over all the remaining silver: "A government slave, no one will investigate carefully."

The two officers exchanged a glance.

The one with the mole on his face nodded, and the tall, thin man put away the whip and draped it over his shoulder.

"Alright, I'll give you face. But let me make this clear: if he gets caught again, it won't just be a matter of a few lashes."

"I understand, I understand." Xu Che nodded repeatedly.

The two officers turned and left.

Xu Che squatted down and looked at Gao Yao on the ground.

Gao Yao lay on the ground, moving slowly. The blood on his back had soaked through the burlap, and several wounds were still oozing blood.

"Stop hitting me, stop hitting me, I won't run away anymore... Stop hitting me..."

"Gao Yao! It's alright, it's alright." Xu Che patted Gao Yao's shoulder lightly, which made him tremble all over.

"Don't be afraid, they're gone," Xu Che continued to comfort her.

Gao Yao lay on the ground and slowly turned around. After confirming that no one was hitting him anymore, he hugged Xu Che and started crying bitterly.

After a long time, Gao Yao's crying gradually subsided. He loosened Xu Che's sleeve, stepped back a little, and wiped his face with his sleeve.

His face was covered in mud and blood, and wiping it made it even worse.

"Thank you, I will definitely repay you in the future."

Xu Che stretched out his hand: "Can you get up?"

"Yes, yes, yes." Gao Yao trembled as he reached out his hand and staggered to his feet.

"Thank you. You called my name just now. Do you know me?" Gao Yao suddenly remembered that he seemed to have heard someone call his name.

"This isn't the place to talk. Let me take you to get some food first," Lin Yan's voice came from behind.

It was still the same little shop, but the difference was that Xu Che had been wolfing down his food earlier, but now it was Gao Yao.

"Slow down, no one's going to take it from you." Xu Che started instructing Gao Yao, completely forgetting that he himself had just looked pretty much the same.

"I haven't had a proper meal in ages, thank you so much," Gao Yao kept saying thank you.

"How did you become like this?" It had been too long, and Xu Che had forgotten a bit of the plot.

"It's all because of Liu Bang. Xiao Chuan and I were both drunk by him, and when we woke up, we were here."

Gao answered while shoveling food into his mouth.

How did you know my name was Gao Yao?

Xu Che turned to look at Lin Yan, and seeing that he didn't intend to answer, he started making up a story himself.

"We also traveled from the past. I saw you and Yi Xiaochuan before I traveled, at that archaeological site."

Gao Yao's chopsticks fell to the ground instantly, bounced twice, and rolled to the corner of the table with a thud.

He froze there, his mouth still open with half a biscuit stuffed inside, having forgotten to chew.

Tears welled up in his eyes and streamed down his dirty face, leaving two white streaks amidst the mud and blood.

"I feel like I've finally seen my family again," Gao Yao said, crying. His voice was broken and intermittent, as if someone was choking him.

"You have no idea how I've been these past few days. I can't even understand the people here. I can only eat garbage and I keep getting beaten up. I thought I was going to die here."

Xu Che sat opposite him, unsure of what to say. His situation after transmigrating was no better than Gao's.

"You also came from another time, so do you know how to get back? I want to go back, I don't want to stay here anymore." These were Gao Yao's words, choked with sobs.

Xu Che shook his head: "We can't go back for now. But there might be a way in the future."

Gao Yao's eyes dimmed for a moment, then brightened again: "Can you take me with you? I don't eat for free. I'm a cook, I can cook for you. Sichuan, Shandong, Huaiyang, Cantonese, all kinds of cuisines!"

Xu Che looked at Lin Yan.

"Don't look at me. Make your own decision. I'll be leaving in a while."