Just as Gustave, Po, and Tom were preparing to leave the third-floor guest area, the Gate of All Worlds suddenly shimmered open once again with its characteristic otherworldly light.
"Did Shin-chan and the others return so quickly after completing their rescue mission? Or have the operational rules of the Gate of All Worlds somehow changed?" Gustave wondered to himself before actually seeing who was emerging from the portal.
After all, Shin-chan and his friends had only arrived through the Gate of All Worlds about half a day ago. According to everything Gustave understood about the portal's typical patterns, it should have been impossible for the next guest to arrive so soon.
However, Gustave had miscalculated—the next visitor had indeed arrived with unprecedented speed.
The newcomer was a young man of approximately thirteen or fourteen years old, wearing a gray coarse cloth robe that bore numerous tears and scratches across its surface. He had clearly experienced some form of serious danger during his recent travels.
When Gustave saw the boy's face, he was momentarily stunned. There was something striking about his features—so well-formed that it caught Gustave off guard. It wasn't easy to describe, and any words he could think of felt insufficient. If he had to make a comparison, it would be like a bright light standing out in a dim room—unmistakable and impossible to ignore.
What seemed somewhat inconsistent with this flawless appearance was the considerable amount of dirt and grime covering his features, combined with an expression of obvious terror that made him appear quite disheveled despite his natural beauty.
When the young man spotted Po and Tom in the room, he finally spoke, though his expression shifted dramatically from initial fear to fierce hostility:
"Who are you monsters? Why have you kidnapped me and brought me to this place? Where is my sister? What have you done to her?"
The youth clenched his fists tightly, positioning himself as if he were prepared to launch an immediate attack at the slightest provocation.
"Please don't be nervous! We absolutely mean no harm whatsoever—let's all just take a moment to relax, okay?" Gustave hurriedly attempted to calm the agitated young man down.
He had no idea what traumatic experiences this boy had recently endured or why he displayed such immediate hostility upon seeing the three of them.
Po and Tom both nodded frantically in agreement with Gustave's peaceful intentions, their facial features trembling constantly with obvious nervousness and concern.
Both Po and Tom possessed inherently gentle and adorable natures. Even if they were technically classified as "monsters," they would certainly be the type who were more afraid of humans than humans were of them.
Observing the genuinely innocent expressions on Po and Tom's faces, and recognizing that Gustave showed absolutely no signs of malicious intent, the boy gradually loosened his tightly clenched fists.
"Where exactly is this place? And where is my sister?" Although his initial hostility was slowly fading, the young man remained extremely tense and continued frantically asking about his sister's whereabouts.
"Wait, please wait," Gustave said with careful patience. "We haven't seen any sister of yours, and you were completely alone when you arrived through the portal."
"Think carefully—what exactly happened immediately before you came here?"
Gustave gently guided the young man to recall the events that had transpired prior to his arrival.
"Before I came here?" the boy repeated thoughtfully.
Upon hearing Gustave's question, the youth began mentally retracing the recent traumatic events that had brought him to this point.
The boy had been fleeing desperately with his younger sister when the crisis began. If it hadn't been for the protective jade pendant that his mother had left him, both he and his sister would have been discovered long ago by the brilliant sun blazing overhead—an entity that was actively hunting them.
Because his sister was still quite young, she couldn't maintain the pace of their escape for very long. The boy had been forced to carry her on his back while continuing their desperate flight. Their father and older brother had died directly in front of his eyes during the initial attack. If it hadn't been for their mother's final sacrifice and protection, both the boy and his sister would have followed in the footsteps of their father and brother.
The boy had continued running while carrying his sister on his back, unsure of how much time had passed during their endless flight. After finally locating a well-concealed cave, he had taken his sister inside to hide from their pursuers.
Unfortunately, his younger sister was still just a child. The traumatic deaths of their father and brother had left her crying inconsolably, and combined with the exhausting journey, she could no longer maintain consciousness. The moment the boy had set her down inside the cave, she had immediately fainted from physical and emotional exhaustion.
With no other options available, the boy had been forced to risk venturing outside the cave to search for water and food. However, just as he was preparing to leave their hiding place, a mysterious door had suddenly appeared in his mind, accompanied by a faint voice that promised him that behind this door lay everything he desperately needed. Driven by hope and desperation, the boy had pushed open this mental door.
After experiencing a period of complete darkness, the boy had found himself arriving at the Bamboo Staff restaurant.
"A door! Yes, it was definitely a door!" the boy exclaimed as the memory crystallized in his mind.
"Exactly—it was the door," Gustave confirmed with obvious relief. "You pushed it open and came here. This is indeed another world entirely. As for your sister, she should still be safely located in your original world."
Seeing that the young man had successfully pieced together what had occurred, Gustave felt much more relaxed about the situation.
"This is truly another world?" the youth asked with obvious amazement upon hearing Gustave's explanation.
"Yes, this is definitely another world," Gustave replied with certainty.
"Wonderful!" After hearing Gustave's confirmation, the boy's expression brightened with genuine hope for the first time since his arrival.
If this was indeed another world, then as long as he could somehow bring his sister here, they would be able to escape from their relentless pursuers completely.
However, the practical question of how to return and bring his sister back quickly became another pressing problem that troubled the young man.
"Then how exactly do I get back to my world?" the youth asked Gustave with obvious urgency.
"Simply open the door behind you and you'll be able to return directly to your original world," Gustave explained, noting the boy's ancient-style clothing and adapting his language accordingly. "The passage of time there will be less than a cup of tea's duration. If you want to return here again and bring your sister with you, just concentrate on this place and think about coming back."
"Thank you so much!" the boy said with heartfelt gratitude.
This was the first time Gustave had heard genuine appreciation from the youth's lips since his arrival.
After expressing his thanks, the young man immediately prepared to open the Gate of All Worlds and return to rescue his sister.
"By the way, young brother, you haven't told me your name yet," Gustave called out.
After such an extended conversation, he still had no idea about the boy's identity. Unlike Shin-chan and his friends, this youth possessed no obvious identifying characteristics that would reveal his origins. Before the boy departed, Gustave felt compelled to ask.
"Yang Jian," the youth replied simply.
With that brief response, the young man opened the Gate of All Worlds and stepped through, disappearing back to his original world.
"Yang Jian?" Gustave though.
The name is not foreign, in his time learning eastern culinary, he did also spend time checking all the culture and story there.
And Jang Jian is an iconic figure from Chinese mythology, folklore, and later Taoist tradition. He appears in various classical works, including Journey to the West
Meanwhile, in his original world, Yang Jian opened the Gate of All Worlds and returned to the cave where he had left his sister. However, he found himself immediately surrounded by hostile forces the moment he materialized.
"Yang Jian!" roared the Great Golden Crow, who had been specifically ordered to capture both Yang Jian and his sister.
Upon seeing Yang Jian's sudden appearance, the massive solar deity's voice thundered with fury and triumph.
"How did you manage to find ne?" Yang Jian asked with obvious confusion and growing dread.
He couldn't understand how the Great Golden Crow had been unable to locate him and his sister during their long flight, yet somehow managed to discover their hiding place during the brief time he had spent at the Bamboo Staff restaurant. Gustave had clearly stated that the time passage would be less than a cup of tea's duration.
Although the Great Golden Crow didn't fully understand how Yang Jian had suddenly appeared moments earlier or whether someone was secretly assisting the boy, he felt completely confident in his own superior abilities and believed that Yang Jian would definitely be unable to escape from under his divine surveillance this time.
Therefore, the Great Golden Crow decided to indulge Yang Jian's curiosity and fulfill what would likely be the boy's final wish before his inevitable death:
"Do you truly believe that a mere mortal like yourself could escape from my grasp? If it weren't for that protective jade pendant your mom gave you to help conceal both your aura and your sister's presence, do you think you would have made it this far?"
As a sun god with dominion over all solar light, the Great Golden Crow possessed far more than conventional divine sense for tracking people. As long as sunlight touched any surface, it fell under his direct surveillance—unless someone employed tremendously powerful magic to completely block their spiritual aura.
The jade pendant that Yang Jian wore had been a precious treasure bestowed by his mother, specifically designed to shield their auras and avoid detection by the Great Golden Crow. However, after Yang Jian's journey to the Bamboo Staff restaurant, the protective artifact had somehow become ineffective. The Great Golden Crow had immediately sensed Yang Chan's exposed aura and followed the trail directly to the cave where Yang Jian and his sister had been hiding.
While the Great Golden Crow continued his explanatory monologue, Yang Jian quietly moved toward his unconscious sister Yang Chan. He grasped her hand firmly, concentrated his thoughts on the Bamboo Staff restaurant, and opened the Gate of All Worlds before rushing through with his sister.
"Where did they go?" the Great Golden Crow exclaimed in absolute bewilderment, watching Yang Jian and Yang Chan disappear right before his eyes.
Back at the Bamboo Staff restaurant, just as Gustave was preparing to provide Po and Tom with a brief introduction about Yang Jian's background, the Gate of All Worlds opened once again. Yang Jian emerged carrying his unconscious sister in his arms.
Gustave immediately noticed that Yang Jian was breathing heavily and appeared as though he had just experienced tremendous danger.
Just as Gustave was about to ask Yang Jian what had happened during his brief return, the Gate of All Worlds suddenly issued a severe alarm that resonated directly in the minds of all three restaurant staff members. Then, to everyone's complete shock, an unexpected and uninvited entity forcibly breached the dimensional barrier and arrived at the Bamboo Staff restaurant!