Pei Yan stood behind Hu Wenjun, watching the elevator descend floor by floor, filled with anticipation, excitement, and a hint of fear for the unknown world.
The elevator abruptly stopped at the basement garage level. Just as Pei Yan was readying himself for the elevator doors to open, the light inside the elevator suddenly dimmed, and when the light came back on, the elevator swayed once more.
Discovering this secret for the first time, Pei Yan asked in shock, "Do we have a basement below the garage?"
Hu Wenjun replied with an unexpected statement in a calm voice, "No, we’re not in the original world anymore!"
"What? We’ve arrived at the alternate dimension?" Pei Yan was instantly tense, his body hair standing on end, as he touched the unaltered elevator compartment and exclaimed.
"Sort of. Alright! Welcome to the real Otherworld Incident Investigation Bureau!" As they spoke, the elevator stopped again, and Hu Wenjun strode out as the doors opened.
Pei Yan closely followed, refusing to be left behind, and stepped out of the elevator. The smell of smoke and the sound of chatter overwhelmed him momentarily, as familiar and unfamiliar faces, a diverse crowd, bustled noisily in a vast office area.
"Get down! You know you crossed the border illegally! You’re a repeat offender! I’m fed up with you! How many times has it been, huh? I don’t get it, why can’t you just stay peacefully in your Daoist Realm? What’s the point of coming here and trying to be a godfather?" Ye Jiumu, with long hair, sat in a chair scolding a young Daoist cultivator in traditional garb, who seemed indifferent, with an impudent look.
As Hu Wenjun led Pei Yan past him, Ye Jiumu stood up and nodded at Hu Wenjun, then extended his hand with a smile to Pei Yan, "So, you’re officially joining the team today?"
"I guess so! Is he, is he from the Daoist Realm?" Pei Yan dumbly extended his hand to shake with Ye Jiumu, then looked at the young Daoist with a stutter and asked.
The young Daoist stiffened his neck at Pei Yan, suddenly rising with a conjured watermelon knife, and shouted in a Northeast dialect even more standard than Pei Yan’s, "What’s up! Do I look like I don’t belong? What are you staring at! Believe it or not, I’ll cut you!"
As he rolled up his sleeves and flexed his arms, Pei Yan rubbed his eyes in disbelief, seeming to see two large floral tattooed arms...
"Stop boasting! Sit back down! I haven’t locked you up only because of your sect’s reputation. When they come to take you back, we’ll see if you’re still cocky!" Ye Jiumu unceremoniously kicked the Daoist’s calf, harshly reprimanding him. The Daoist stiffened his neck, pointed at Pei Yan with his finger in a look of retribution, and reluctantly squatted back down.
"Do they speak the same language as ours? And why is he like that? Cultivators are acting like thugs?" Pei Yan pulled Ye Jiumu closer, whispering.
"Hey, who the hell are you calling a thug, say it again! I’m in the Triads! You understand!"
Ye Jiumu yelled fiercely at the young Daoist again, then wrapped his arm around Pei Yan’s neck, "We don’t speak the same language, but he’s different."
Saying so, Ye Jiumu nodded at the young Daoist, "He’s a veteran, even a prodigy in his sect, spoiled since childhood. Over twenty years ago, he accidentally entered the present world, hid for a year before being found. Then somehow got addicted to gangster films, with the highest life goal being founding a gang here. He’s been sent back countless times, punished by his sect, but it’s useless; whenever he escapes and finds a dimensional gap, he comes here, speaking Mandarin, Cantonese, and various dialects more fluently than I do. He was just caught this time as soon as he arrived."
"I can speak English too, damn it! Next time I won’t come here, I’m going to Japan! To Italy!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah! Little ancestor, hurry up and go, spare me some trouble!" Ye Jiumu amusingly cupped his hands to the young Daoist, then turned helplessly to Pei Yan, shrugging, "Alright, you go and get your equipment from Captain Hu. Later everyone can have a meal together to celebrate your joining!"
With that, Pei Yan quickly followed the already distant Hu Wenjun out. Under his guidance, they passed through the entire office hall, filled with bizarre creatures and oddly dressed humans, making Pei Yan’s head spin, his emotions surging uncontrollably.
"Instructor Hu, is this the alternate dimension?" Pei Yan asked excitedly as he followed Hu Wenjun into the stairwell after pushing open a door in the corner of the hall.
"Well, you can think of it as a huge Jiezhi Space that is independent of the other dimensions I told you about. It’s a transit station for returning border-crossing personnel to their original dimensions. We bring captured cross-dimensional travelers here and send them back to their homes from here." Hu Wenjun said as they climbed two flights of stairs, then led Pei Yan into a long corridor, opening a door at its end.
To Pei Yan’s surprise, he found an acquaintance here.
"This is the deputy head of the Equipment Department, who you’ve met before, Gao Yaping! You can just call her Sister Gao!" After entering the room, Hu Wenjun pointed at Gao Yaping, who sat at the desk playing video games with a controller, briefly introducing her, then plopped down on the sofa unceremoniously, grabbing an apple from the table and took big bites.
"Why don’t you consider yourself a guest, that apple was for Wenlin! You always mooch when you come, eat your peanuts instead," Gao Yaping rolled her eyes, pressed pause, and tossed the controller onto the desk in dissatisfaction.
"It’s just an apple. If Wenlin was here, he’d peel it for me personally. Don’t forget, I introduced you guys. Look at you, stingy, what did Wenlin see in you?" Hu Wenjun put his legs up as Gao Yaping spoke, eating more vigorously, quickly finishing the apple.
"Alright then, what’s your business today?"
"Picking up equipment for him!" Hu Wenjun raised his hand, tossing the apple core to Pei Yan, who caught it and turned to throw it into a side garbage can.
"Oh, the crying kid from before can take on tasks now. Heard you made a name for the bureau in the army." Gao Yaping said, observing Pei Yan and opening a drawer for documents.
"By chance, by chance!" Pei Yan replied with a hint of pride.
"Here, stamp and sign!" Gao Yaping placed the document on the table, Hu Wenjun got up from the sofa, flipped through a few pages of the document, took out a stamp and pressed it onto the last page, then picked up a pen and signed his name, sliding the document aside, "Sign here."
"Oh!" Pei Yan responded, leaned in, squinted, glanced, and signed his name in the recipient field.
Once Pei Yan signed, Gao Yaping sandwiched the document in a clipboard under her arm, then picked up a large plastic bag beside the desk and walked out, "Alright, follow me!"