"Hiss—so painful...."
After an unspecified amount of time, Xu Yun rubbed his forehead with one hand and supported himself with the other, slowly awakening from the bed.
Wait, a bed?
Realizing something, Xu Yun quickly looked under himself—sure enough, he was lying on a bed.
It was an ordinary single bed, entirely made of wood, covered with a gray fleece blanket.
Then he lifted his head and looked around.
He was in a small but well-lit wooden building, about thirty square meters in size.
Besides the wooden bed he was lying on, there was a wooden wardrobe, a desk, two chairs, a recliner, and several lamps, with some clothes messily piled on the recliner.
A particularly notable item was a garment resembling long stockings or tight pants, something Xu Yun learned about in his elective Western history class, called Hus pants.
The Hus pants draped over the chair revealed its inner materials, showing some tattered cloth and blackened wool—a common occurrence in the 17th century. Hus pants were typically luxurious on the outside but chaotic inside, known as legendary facade pants.
Some families with limited means but concerned about 'decency' even stuffed them with straw and barley.
Don't ask, if you do, it's gentlemanly.
Besides that.
The crops and fences outside the window indicated that this room was on the ground floor, and judging from the eaves structure above, this was a single-story partitioned house.
Then Xu Yun touched the most painful part of his head and found it had been simply bandaged with a circle.
At this moment, Xu Yun's memory was still on the black leather book cover rushing toward him, but judging by the present situation, he probably had been saved by someone—70% chance by Newton, 30% chance by a passerby.
After all, Mr. Niu's temperament was widely known, and even in his youthful version, his actions were quite extreme.
So indeed, it couldn't be ruled out that he acted irresponsibly, knocking someone out without taking responsibility.
However, judging by Newton's age and attire at this moment, it was likely not after 1672 when he was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society—previously, Xu Yun had also seen Newton's school badge on his chest.
This meant that this boss probably hadn't yet clashed with Hook, just like in local novels where the protagonist had yet to fight against a higher power, relatively less of a peerless, unbeatable hero.
Meanwhile, a huge pile of questions arose in Xu Yun's mind:
Clearly, this should be between 1660 and 1670.
Such a thing as rebirth happened, so that mysterious halo sending him to this era wasn't completely unacceptable.
But the thing is....
What specific year is it now?
What is the purpose of that gate sending him to this point?
In this life, he was obviously studying biology, so why was he sent around a physics boss?
Would what he did affect the future? Like giving Newton a stab?
Additionally...
How exactly was he supposed to get back?
Just when Xu Yun was perplexed, a light screen suddenly appeared in front of his eyes:
[Newbie Task: I've heard you can't let go of many things? Be a bit more carefree in life!]
[Task Difficulty: ★☆☆☆☆]
[Task Requirement: Become friends with the young Isaac Newton in any meaningful way, without easily involving yourself in any historical events that he wasn't a part of]
[Task Duration: Two months]
[Task Reward: Determined based on evaluation]
[Penalty for Task Failure: All females' favor in reality -1]
[Supplementary Note: This world is a parallel world with no intersection with reality. However, much like how a springtime dream may leave some marks on the bed, what you do here might leave traces that cross time and space...]
Xu Yun: "...?"
Parallel world, unrelated to reality?
So, does that mean the space-time gate he walked into is considered a dungeon?
I understand the logic, but why does the prompt feel so cryptic?
Could this thing have come from Celestial Rot City?
Then, looking at the task details, another thought suddenly popped into Xu Yun's mind:
Since there's no major penalty for not completing the task, what would happen if he simply ran off at this point in the timeline in the local world?
But this thought was dismissed by Xu Yun himself in less than half a second:
Firstly, the time given for the task is too short, and secondly, he has no power or influence locally; trying to make a big splash is still too difficult.
But come to think of it.
The task provides Xu Yun with some information, but clearly, there are still many secrets Xu Yun needs to explore himself.
Such as what exactly the evaluation mechanism for the so-called scoring is, does it involve the characters? Time? Or something else?
In short.
The fact of rebirth makes Xu Yun inherently more receptive to the surreal concept of time travel, while the necessary surprise gradually diminishes during the wait for Newton to awaken.
Therefore, soon, a strong interest began to arise in him.
After all, it's Mr. Niu, Newton...
You don't see how many people in the past life longed to pin down his coffin board?
And a very important part of completing this task is...
Determine the exact current time!
All current indications show it must be before 1672—1672 was when Newton officially joined the Royal Society of the United Kingdom, creating enmity with Hook over the reflecting telescope, and thereafter his personality shifted completely from aloof to rebellious, even violent.
Therefore, at this moment, Newton was still a proud young man, reclusive but far from being an academic tyrant in the field.
But merely determining a general timeframe isn't enough, as Newton's young years almost saw a yearly change in both personality and achievements.
Especially during that special 18 months...
As for the specific time...
Xu Yun suddenly recalled the apple tree he fell from.
While waiting for Newton to awaken, Xu Yun took a brief look at the surroundings.
It was evident that this was a small village, and the surrounding apple trees had mostly ripened.
It is widely known.
In the apple cultivation domain, the United Kingdom is very special; for over a thousand years, it has grown only one variety known as Bramley cooking apples.
The acidity of these apples far surpasses their sugar content, leaving a rich apple flavor even after cooking.
Bramley apples typically ripen around late October, much later than the usual 7-9 month ripening period for apples domestically.
And coincidentally, Xu Yun in a past life had studied a year at Cambridge, knowing the Trinity College holiday schedule:
Trinity College takes summer vacation annually starting from June to August, takes a Christmas holiday from December 6 to January 15 without fail, and again has a floating three-week holiday around March.
So the ripening time of the Bramley apples clearly occurred during Trinity College's term.
Moreover, as a top student, Newton never missed a day of his university term—even after receiving the Lucas Mathematics Professorship around late 1667 to 1669, he continued studying theology at Cambridge's Trinity College.
Therefore, analyzing Newton's records after Newton University and before 1672, the only thing that could separate him from London in August was:
The London Plague, also known as the Black Death!
And in the 18 months Newton spent away from London, the latter half was spent at Hanfley Babington's estate—a cotton plantation, not planting apples.
So the only matching time is.....
October 1665, eight months after the plague appeared!
The achievements of Newton during this period are....
We'll discuss this in the next chapter.