"What are you doing?"

Li Jiong asked rather rudely as he still harbored certain misgivings about this Meng Fei. He could be casting some kind of spell on his sword or even putting some kind of poison on his robes. Meng Fei was instantly startled, not because he was caught off guard grabbing other people's clothes, but because Li Jiong appeared naked right before his eyes!

Meng Fei was in a delicate situation, he had just got out of a tragic relationship, in which he was betrayed and exchanged for another and had not been seeing anyone for some time. So when he saw the droplets of water on that well-structured and defined body, his mouth went dry and his body reacted immediately.

He turned onto his back, clutching his clothes as if it were his lifeline, and spoke at a near-scream as he ran out of the room. "Ah! I-I saw that your clothes were dirty, I came to get them to wash! There's a bathrobe over there that you can use for now!"

Li Jiong: "..............."

Aaaaah! IT'S BIG! What do they feed these guys???

Meng Fei stopped to breathe alone in the laundry room. He should tell Li Jiong not to show up like that out of the blue. He put the dirty clothes in the washing machine and noticed that there were some red marks. Blood? His forehead creased into a small line. He hadn't realized it before. He then went to get the first-aid kit from the kitchen.

"Why did you run away?"

A voice came from behind him, making his hair stand on end and a shiver ran down his back. Stop scaring me like that! It was because you appeared suddenly as you came into the world that I ran!

Meng Fei turned around, this time Li Jiong was dressed.

"Ah, I saw that there was blood on your clothes! Are you hurt somewhere?" Meng Fei smiled clumsily, feeling that he was too careful when it came to that person.

"It's a few abrasions, nothing serious." Li Jiong replied indifferently. He was used to suffering injuries like this and took pain easily. However, this was unusual for Meng Fei.

"Nevertheless, let's disinfect and bandage." Meng Fei placed the box on the table and determinedly opened it.

Li Jiong frowned slightly. Is it serious that he lived a day to see Meng Fei bandage him? Without commenting on this, he just lowered the top of the robe. There were some cuts on the arms and back, made by the supposedly evil Meng Fei's whip. The blood had already clotted superficially, but with the bath some wounds were reopening, softened by the heat of the water. Hands once Meng Fei's eyes had to come across the broad and well-crafted back. He held his breath for a few seconds seeing this

Li Jiong continued to watch Meng Fei's movements with suspicion, as he began to carefully disinfect the worst wounds and then applied a bactericidal and healing cream, then covered with a plaster.

"Actually, they're not very deep. But you wouldn't want to get some kind of infection, would you?" He said as he completed the job well done. Li Jiong got dressed again and turned to look him in the eye.

"Thanks."

He thanked her in a low voice. It still wasn't a sincere feeling but he knew how to behave in the face of a hand that was extended to him.

"Uh, fine." Meng Fei smiled awkwardly and changed the subject. "So, shall we go get something to eat? I'll fix something real quick."

He turned to the fridge and started sorting out some ingredients and started making sandwiches while he said, "Tomorrow I'll see if I can buy you clothes. Mine won't. Then I'll see if I can get some information about the symbols you didn't recognize in the migration matrix with a colleague of mine."

"You're right, if we don't know all the information about the matrix we have no way of knowing how to make it work." Li Jiong nodded. Meng Fei handed him the first sandwich he'd made, a soft, round bao filled with mushrooms and pork, accompanied by leaf mix and drizzled with lots of bright, glossy sauce. Luckily, when he prepared his lunch boxes, there was always something left in the freezer for later.

"What else can you tell me about matrices?"

Li Jiong thought for a while. Would it be reliable to share this information?

"Well, while I was cultivating I didn't delve too deeply into the study of matrices. I know a few basic ones, such as protection matrices, communication matrices, and the simple transport matrix. All matrices are activated with the simple incantation recited aloud, then you must recite the specific enchantment of the matrix mentally. The matrix reflects the identity of the cultivator's spiritual core as well."

"Did you say before that some matrices require a sacrifice?"

Li Jiong smiled bitterly. "The Demonic ones do. Surely the matrix that Meng Fei used has nothing spiritual about it. Offering a little blood is sometimes enough."

"That's why you used yours, since you You were wounded when you were sent here. But the other could have used his own blood, does that interfere?"

Meng Fei finished making his own sandwich and took a good bite and the sauce ran out of his mouth. Li Jiong watched the brownish liquid run down the corners of the thin lips and Meng Fei automatically wiped it away. He suddenly felt slightly frustrated.

Meng Fei didn't notice the other's gaze, he was deep in thought.

Something didn't feel right, a lot of details were missing. What was the sacrifice for? Why is only the first part of the spell said aloud? Other questions popped into his head. Li Jiong finished eating and analyzed the man in front of him carefully.

He was identical to the Meng Fei he knew, if not for his short hair. Obviously his intelligence was as sharp as the other's, if not more so. He had never had the opportunity to see Meng Fei so closely if he wasn't in a fight and in that case, he never stopped to pay attention to the details of the other's face. He was a little shorter and had an athletic, elegant build. Too bad he didn't invest in this area instead of indulging in Demonic Cultivation.

"Do you want another snack?" Meng Fei asked after he came to his senses and saw that Li Jiong looked scattered. "No, actually I'm going to retire now to meditate. My spiritual powers are taking some time to come back here."

"Oh, right." Meng Fei would never have guessed that Li Jiong was weak, especially after the demonstration he had given in the office that morning. Can you imagine how powerful this man would be in the world he came from?

Li Jiong went into the bedroom and sat in the lotus position in the center of the bed. He made a great effort to empty his mind and soon managed to enter a cultivation state. He stayed like that for about two hours and felt a little tired. Cultivating in such an energy-poor world was exhausting and inefficient. He got up, stretched his arms and decided to get some water in the kitchen.

Meng Fei said that he could be at ease in the house and although he didn't know anything about what was there, he was observant and paid attention to how the other acted in the environment. He grabbed a glass from the sink and pressed the button on the box Meng Fei called a refrigerator. It was curious how the water already came out cold. Another strange detail was these people accumulating so many things in such a small space. Did everything there have a very specific and essential function?

Meng Fei gave him a quick look at the objects lying around, television, microwave, stove... the list was endless.

Returning to the room he heard low voices. He silently approached Meng Fei's room, but he was not there. The voices came from the office. Was he talking about that smartphone again? He peeked around the corner of the ajar door.

Was he talking to the notebook? Could you talk to someone about this too? And then Li Jiong realized, distraught that he didn't understand a word that was being said!

Indeed, Meng Fei went to contact his friend who is an expert in Chinese symbols. It was a friend he met during his graduate studies in the United States.

He sent the matrix design and they both discussed the possibilities avidly. Li Jiong entered the room irritated. "What are you doing? You said you didn't have any power, how are you now speaking these strange incantations??"

"..........."

This guy is imagining things again! Meng Fei interrupted the videoconference with a weak smile, an embarrassed farewell to his colleague.

"Ah, Li Jiong! You don't need powers to speak another language!" He wiped his hand across his forehead, feeling tired.

"This is the colleague I told you about, the specialist in symbology. But he is from another country, a country called the United States and they speak English there! Where you come from, there must be tribes, dialects and something like that, right? the same thing."

Li Jiong was quiet for a while, so that it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. Then he let his arms fall to his sides.

"I'm sorry... I'm... really sorry. You took me in, you're helping me and I can't give you a vote of confidence! I just can't! It's really hard to believe that there can be a good Meng Fei!"

Meng Fei felt real compassion for the cultivator and thought it would be good to say something that would comfort him.

"That's perfectly normal. You're in a strange world, worrying about your friends and your homeland while being watched over by someone you don't trust. How could you be okay with that? You really don't need to force yourself to treat me well or sympathize with me."

Li Jiong "..............."

Meng Fei managed a gentle smile. "Look, Li Jiong, my friend is going to send me some references and he's going to review the drawing himself too! So somehow we'll manage to send you back sooner or later. Of all the worlds you can stop, at least this one here should have the right conditions for us to be able to do that."

Li Jiong looked at that man with admiration. This time he could no longer see this Meng Fei as the enemy demonic cultivator. There was no longer any doubt that he was not the same person. The cultivator lowered his head, smiling slowly. And then he looked up again, feeling refreshed and confident.

"And aren't you going to sleep too? It's late, with so little qi flowing in this world, how do you manage to stay awake?"

Meng Fei watched him in amazement. Is it just me or is he worried about me now?

Author's Note:

That's right, baby, you already got yourself a husband in a single day. The secret is to be kind and treat them well, give them plenty of food, clean clothes and shelter them at home ❤. Too bad one of these doesn't show up in my life for me to put into practice 😅.

And to brighten our day:

Almost the same vibe as Jigokuraku: