The two men stared at each other for a long time. Meng Fei felt his heartbeat sound like it was inside his ears. Obviously this man hated the other Meng Fei with all his might. What if he didn't believe they weren't the same person? Would he kill him?

If it was already hard for him to believe that someone transmigrated from a cultivation world to a modern world with so many movies and books available depicting this, how could a man coming from a backward world believe that a society like that could exist in another dimension? Meng Fei also realized that Huo Bai had brought his sword into the office, but by the looks of it, he could easily be killed without the cultivator even touching him.

The pain in his stomach had already eased and he was no longer spitting up blood, although that wasn't cause for concern just yet He was still on his knees. What a humiliating situation. Should I start begging for my life?

He slightly raised his eyes, Li Jiong was still standing before him, not moving. Apparently, the shock was fatal. Then there was a low, low noise. It was a stomach growl.

Li Jiong came out of his trance state at last. Since he was preparing the ambush against Meng Fei, he had only taken care of that. He was close to reaching a stage of cultivation where he almost didn't feel hungry but here in this world it was as if he was regressing. As a result, in this strange, qi-less world, his body decided to show signs of dissatisfaction. He felt hungry. What could be more embarrassing than that? Just now that he had managed to command some respect!

Meng Fei ran a hand over his face. Of all the possibilities in the world, why did this end up in his hands???

"Ah...um...well..." I think I lost the ability to speak, how wonderful! Meng Fei got up and took the shoulder bag he always carried from the shelf, taking out a small rectangular lunchbox from inside.

"You...you can eat this if you want." He held out the meal almost as a peace offering. Seeing the expression on the other's face reminded him that they were supposed to be enemies in the other world.

"Oh, sure! It's not poisoned or anything like that, it was my lunch, so I wouldn't poison myself, would you, haha..."

Who knows, this evil Meng Fei must be really stupid to make such a powerful enemy. 

"And what are you going to eat?"

"I?" Meng Fei scratched his head awkwardly. "Well, I'll buy something later. There are lots of food stalls around."

Li Jiong hesitated, but on second thought, he picked up the small pot. Meng Fei instantly felt relieved, perhaps this was a step towards building some sociable relationship. Heaving a sigh, he sat down at his desk, in front of his notebook, and turned it on.

Li Jiong returned to the chair he was in before and probed the contents of the lunch box. There was a generous portion of assorted sautéed vegetables, chard, rice, and a portion of flat meat topped with plenty of sauce [1].

Li Jiong tasted the vegetables first and realized that they were edible. Then he concluded that the seasoning, consistency and flavor were good. Finally, he ended up devouring everything without leaving a grain of rice behind.

Meanwhile, Meng Fei had downloaded the matrix image he had received on his cell phone, transferred it to his notebook and printed it out. Li Jiong spied the artifact working on its own. Didn't he say that there were no powers or magic in this world? Meng Fei picked up the image and carefully analyzed it.

"Well, now that that's cleared up, we have to think of a way to send you back. I don't recognize any of those symbols. It looks like ancient chinese characters."

"How did you get the matrix pattern? It's already gone!"

"Oh, I had asked to photograph this before, in case I had problems afterwards." Meng Fei mumbled awkwardly. How distrustful! "Um... there are a few things you need to know, let me see, where do I start..." He tapped his fingers on the table.

"In this world, things run on a source of energy called electricity."

He pointed to the wires and plugs. "It runs on that and allows devices to be turned on. If you take that off, they stop working."

"But this other one doesn't have that." Li Jiong looked at the cell phone.

"This one can store that energy for a period of time. Then you have to recharge it again. This one is a smartphone and this one is a notebook. Both do that." Meng Fei took the notebook out of the socket and showed that it was still functional.

"It's impressive." Li Jiong nodded after a while of reasoning. "And what do you use it for?"

"For many things. You can communicate, write texts, see and create images, listen to music, watch videos... oh, video is like a moving image."

Meng Fei covered the impression he had made with tracing paper and started copying the blueprint from the matrix.

"And what are you doing now?" Li Jiong questioned, filling himself with suspicions, after all Meng Fei was redesigning the matrix about the role. It could be another trick, he could be lying, hiding his true power!

"You came here through this, didn't you? So it must serve to come back too. What's this called, is it a mandala?"

"Yeah..., no, actually it's just similar, it's a Spiritual Matrix, it's similar to the ones we use for long distance transportation."

"Okay, so there's a matrix just for transport and that's not the one in this case. Apparently you've never seen it either." Meng Fei concludes, biting the tip of the pen. The cultivator nodded in agreement.

"So let's call it the Transmigration Matrix to differentiate it from the Transport one. This transport one, can you reproduce it?" Meng Fei handed him paper and pen.

The Transport Matrix is basic knowledge for cultivators of Li Jiong's level, and he quickly drew it with that amazing brush that already had ink. Meng Fei compared the two drawings, looking for similarities.

"Yeah... looks like the Transmigration Matrix was derived from the Transport Matrix itself. When the workers' shift is over we'll go back to where you were and reproduce it. Do you need something special for that, ink or something?"

"We use an enchantment to activate the matrix. The Transport one usually only needs that."

"Okay, are we settled like this?" Meng Fei stood up smiling as if he had just concluded a business contract. He had extended his hand, which Li Jiong stared at in disbelief.

"Uh, shaking hands here is the same as having an agreement. But you don't have to shake hands anyway." He withdrew his hand a little disappointed. My neck must still be at risk. He won't trust me.

"What agreement?" Li Jiong narrowed his eyes uncertainly. He's asking me to accept what terms?

"After work we'll go to the construction site in wing 3 to draw the matrix and send you back to your world! What else would that be?"

"After work? What work do I have to do?"

"No! You don't have to do anything! It's my job. You can stay here for now and wait until the evening when everyone leaves. I can't leave a civilian hanging around the site."

Li Jiong then understood the situation. Meng Fei had his duties to fulfill in that place and he was not allowed to be there. He would make an exception for them to try the arrangement when everyone left.

But only at night! How were the other cultivators doing without him? Would they have even managed to get away as they planned?

Li Jiong felt indescribably helpless, as he had never felt this way in his entire life.

Meng Fei left the cultivator in the office, but without any peace of mind. The cultivator could run away, destroy the office, or who knows what. However, he had much work to do which could not be treated lightly. He spent the entire morning moving back and forth, talking on his cell phone, contacting suppliers, surveying the foundation, noting changes to the blueprint.

The subject of the morning had died and did not appear again. The workers concluded that good Meng dismissed the trespasser without reporting it to the police because it was a personal matter. And no one wanted to take a pay cut either. From the small office window Li Jiong couldn't be seen, but he could see everything. He followed the busy man with his eyes, fully concentrated and focused on dealing with rocks and people.

At one point he was lecturing a man without a helmet who almost got his head crushed by a brick. He put his own helmet on the employee and spent another 20 minutes screaming at him.

Evil Cultivator Meng Fei didn't have a good temper, he preferred to express his cold voice in a low and gravelly tone, with all the sarcasm and cynicism he had instilled in his soul. He rarely yelled, unlike this other one.

However, he wasn't yelling unnecessarily, some mistakes were very gross like the case of the helmet and he was genuinely worried about the safety of those men. His personality wasn't choleric, apparently he was just stressed. Li Jiong watched him a little longer and then proceeded to investigate the objects in the office. He didn't recognize just some of the characters written in the books and papers. With a sigh, he put away one of the architecture magazines he'd pulled from the shelf and sat down to rest on a small sofa.

He ran a hand over the bandage on his forehead, reflecting on recent events. Around lunchtime Meng Fei came back carrying two portions of chow mein with tofu [2]. He handed her the hot pack.

"This is for me?"

"Yes, it's lunch time. You don't eat once a day. Or do you?"

Li Jiong opened the package.

"Thanks." Both eat in silence. From time to time Li Jiong would peek at him from the side, only to find the out I was fiddling with my cell phone or laptop, while mechanically bringing the chopsticks to my mouth. Was he working even while eating? That person really is so...!

In the afternoon, the hours passed at a snail's pace. Tired, Li Jiong ended up napping on the sofa. The qi in his body returned just a little bit more. He woke up when Meng Fei arrived, full of anticipation.

"They're gone! Let's try to make the matrix!"

The sky was dark with rapid dusk, and Li Jiong noticed that the stars were barely visible. Another shocker to put on your list of surprise events. At least there was a beautiful full moon crowning the sky. Meng Fei started to draw the matrix in the exact spot where he found Li Jiong with a chalk. For a moment he wondered how cultivators managed to make such a complex drawing in a few seconds, and only then did he realize that maybe he didn't need to draw.

"Oh, I don't know if I'm doing it right. Am I supposed to trace it anyway? Like, you said you had an enchantment for this?"

"In the beginning, when learning a new matrix, we draw it by hand first and then we can copy the spiritual essence when it is activated."

"Hmm... let me do this drawing well done."

Meng Fei finished the drawing perfectly. He was meticulous and detail-oriented when it came to technical drawing. His projects were known for being very well designed, beautiful and at the same time sustainable. He had even won a first place award in the faculty of architecture in a Design for a Junior Construction Company.

"Done! I think it's pretty similar." Meng Fei exclaimed after he was satisfied with every detail of the sketch. Li Jiong himself recognized that both Meng Fei's were quite proficient in the art of drawing matrices.

"Let's see if it's activating." Li Jiong took a step forward and loudly recited the incantation: "Jade circle, perfect open!" The matrix glowed with a characteristic green glow. "It's active! If there was an error in the design, it wouldn't open." Li Jiong explained full of hope.

"Ah! That's great! Duty accomplished then. Good-bye and good riddance." Meng Fei waved playfully.

"Actually, there's still a problem. But I'll see if there's a solution."

Meng Fei: "........"

"In matrices there is always another charm, one of execution, encoded in the symbols. I need to recite it mentally this time. Meng Fei uses different symbols, not just writing characters, so I have half the charm. Besides, this matrix definitely requires some kind of sacrifice."

Please don't offer me up as a sacrifice. Meng Fei managed a wry smile.

"I've looked at the matrix before and written a few lines, maybe one of them triggers the execution. As for the sacrifice I think a little blood should suffice." Having said that, Li Jiong slashed his palm with his sword and dropped a few drops onto the circle and remained silent, concentrating. He mentalized the verses he had written on paper.

Meng Fei admired that slender figure so intent on reciting the incantations. It could be compared to a beautiful statue. Then he looked closely at the drops of blood on the floor, waiting for something to happen. Li Jiong finished reading and after waiting for some time, he let his arms hang down in dismay.

"None of these will do."

Meng Fei: Stung.

[1] It is a hamburger that Meng Fei made himself. He cooks really well by the way.

[2]Chow Mein: Stir-fried Chinese noodles with vegetables, meat or tofu. Looks delicious!!!

The good thing about writing Chinese novels is being able to get all buggered with these delicacies. Freedom is gone, because I won't feel like it 😋.