Chapter 5: The Cross-Time Search Engine
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Li Nian lay on the bed—or rather, on the couch—and went over everything that had happened to him that day, wondering what he should do next. Now that he had crossed into this world, he had no choice but to accept reality and seriously consider how to survive in this era, and how to live well.
“If I’m not mistaken, that man was the First Emperor. How can I ensure my own safety? Should I rely on my knowledge of history and pretend to be some sort of mystic, like the protagonists in certain novels?”
“Judging from the fact that the First Emperor sent Xu Fu across the seas in search of immortals and dreamed of eternal life, he really was somewhat superstitious. Perhaps I could actually fool him.”
The moment the thought arose, Li Nian dismissed it.
“No. Leaving aside the fact that I’m not cut out for it, I’ve already lost all dignity by crossing through time like this. Even if I revealed things about the future and claimed to be an immortal, the First Emperor would probably grow suspicious. What kind of immortal is this weak? Nine times out of ten, I wouldn’t manage to fool him—and would end up losing my life instead.”
“Besides, even if that plan worked, what would I do when the First Emperor wanted eternal life and asked me for an elixir? Would I roll him a pill out of grime and sweat? And even if I somehow managed to bluff my way through the elixir business, when he decided to send someone overseas in search of immortals, who do you think he’d send?”
“Claiming to read the secrets of Heaven, you can’t make accurate predictions. Summoning wind and rain, you can’t do it. An elixir of immortality, you don’t have one. And now that I want someone to search overseas for immortals, you still refuse to go? Do you think my oxen are too weak to pull you apart?”
Li Nian could almost see the fate awaiting him if he chose to play the mystic: being cut to pieces, torn apart by five oxen, or turned into a human meat fritter.
“Pretending to be a mystic is out of the question. That leaves only one path: tell the First Emperor where I come from. But how much should I reveal? Should I hold something back, or tell him everything?”
“If I tell him everything, I’ll have to mention what Huhai, Li Si, and Zhao Gao did. If word gets out and Huhai or Zhao Gao learns of it, won’t I be making enemies for myself?”
Though he worried about becoming enemies with Huhai, Zhao Gao, and the others, Li Nian truly wanted to see the First Emperor’s reaction when he learned that his beloved son Huhai would one day seize the throne and slaughter his own brothers and sisters, while Zhao Gao would point at a deer and call it a horse.
“No. It wouldn’t be limited to Zhao Gao and Huhai. If word spread that I came from the future, many people would fear me, because I could fabricate accounts of their deeds, and judge whether they were loyal or treacherous, good or evil. That would pose a considerable threat to them.”
“But if I hold something back, how can I deceive the First Emperor without letting him notice? He may be an ancient man, but that doesn’t mean he’s stupid. He isn’t someone I can casually fool.”
“To become the first ruler in China to call himself emperor, he must be the sharpest of the sharp. How could I possibly deceive him to his face? And if he sees that I’m hiding something, will I be able to escape unscathed?”
Just thinking about the punishments he knew from the Qin dynasty made Li Nian ache all over: slicing off the nose, severing the legs, gouging out the kneecaps. A swift death might not be so bad, but if he were subjected to those punishments, he knew he lacked the willpower to endure them.
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He was merely an ordinary man—greedy for life and terrified of pain.
“So I can’t deceive him. Although I come from the modern age, I’m still just an ordinary person. If I try to match wits with a legendary schemer like the First Emperor, I might die without ever knowing how. It’s best to tell him everything honestly.”
“But if I tell the First Emperor everything, I’ll inevitably become enemies with Huhai, Zhao Gao, and the others... There’s nothing to be done. If we must become enemies, then so be it. What I need to do now is win the First Emperor’s trust. He is the greatest support I have in this era. Of course, that depends on my actually gaining his trust—and on the First Emperor staying alive!”
At that thought, another problem occurred to Li Nian. Even if he earned the First Emperor’s trust and the emperor chose not to kill him, how many years could the First Emperor protect him?
The Qin dynasty would perish under its second emperor. From its founding to its fall, only fourteen short years would pass, while the First Emperor’s reign over the unified empire would last merely eleven.
“I wonder what year it is. The First Emperor looked rather young and healthy tonight. I probably don’t need to worry for the next few years. Probably...”
Putting himself in the emperor’s place, Li Nian believed that once the First Emperor learned his true origins, he would never let him go free. Instead, he would place him under strict surveillance—both to protect his safety and to prevent this visitor from the future from escaping and creating a threat to the Qin Empire. The First Emperor might even order his execution before he died, taking him along to the grave.
Even if the First Emperor were magnanimous enough not to order his death before the end, what would the next ruler do once the throne changed hands? The Qin Empire had too many deep-seated problems. While the First Emperor was alive, he could suppress them. But once he died and those problems erupted, plunging the world into chaos, could Li Nian survive—and thrive—in such troubled times?
In a sense, from the moment Li Nian crossed through time and appeared before the First Emperor, his life had become bound to the emperor’s. If he wanted to live long and live well in this era, he had to win the First Emperor’s trust, help him live longer, and somehow make the Qin Empire stronger.
“To gain the First Emperor’s trust, I can’t merely explain my origins honestly. I also have to demonstrate my value, so that he feels killing me would be a waste, and that keeping me alive would be more useful.”
“If I’d known I was going to travel through time, I should have studied more things that might come in handy afterward—how to make paper, soap, or cement. But who could have known?”
Just then, a light flashed in Li Nian’s mind. He “saw” a long rectangular box appear there, with two blue characters at its far end: Search.
“Is this my special advantage?”
Overjoyed, Li Nian opened his eyes and glanced around. Seeing that the guards and attendants some distance away had noticed nothing unusual, he silently began examining the rectangular box.
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After studying it for a while, Li Nian gained a rough understanding of its functions.
It was a search engine, seemingly connected to the modern internet. With a thought, he could enter whatever he wanted to search for.
There were limits to the searches, though Li Nian had not yet figured out the pattern. When he entered, “I’ve traveled through time and appeared before the First Emperor. How can I survive and live well?” he found no results. But when he searched for papermaking or cement production, results appeared.
He also discovered something else. The search engine could not only search for information and display the results; it could even show live comments and messages. However, he could neither reply nor comment himself. In other words, he could forget about asking modern internet users for advice across the ages.
Although it had its limitations, this mysterious search engine would be a powerful guarantee of Li Nian’s survival in this era.
“With this, I can demonstrate my value to the First Emperor. I won’t have to worry about being executed simply because I’m useless.”
With the search engine in his mind, Li Nian’s anxious heart finally settled somewhat.
“Judging from the results I just found, I really have traveled back to the Qin Empire!”
While studying the search engine, Li Nian had searched for all kinds of information related to the Qin dynasty. Every result told him the same thing:
You really have traveled back to the Qin dynasty. Stop clinging to false hope!
“Ah, well. Since I’m here, I might as well make the best of it. At least this is a dynasty I know fairly well, and I’m still on Earth. I haven’t been thrown into another world. Perhaps one day I’ll fall asleep and wake up back in the modern age.”
“Sleep. Sleep. The most urgent task is to learn the language here. Until I solve the language problem, all my thoughts are useless.”
After everything he had experienced that day, Li Nian was utterly exhausted. Before long, he drifted into a dream.
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