Megan Brooks had just been quite moved by Ethan Cooper, so when she heard his question, her tone was unusually gentle. “What is it? It’s okay, just ask whatever you want.”

“Big sister, what exactly does ‘miss’ mean here?” Ethan Cooper had already sensed from Megan Brooks’s reaction and that pockmarked man’s tone that it wasn’t a good word, but in their Great Liao, ‘miss’ was clearly a term of respect.

Megan Brooks was mortified, and the voice she had just managed to lower suddenly became sharp again, even shriller than before: “Kid, why do you have to bring up the most awkward things? Are you just looking for trouble?”

Ethan Cooper quickly covered his ears and didn’t dare show his curiosity anymore.

When they arrived at the front of the house, there was a not-so-large courtyard with a small, two-and-a-half-story white stone house inside.

Before tonight, Megan Brooks had never imagined she would bring a man home, especially one dressed so strangely and several years younger than herself.

This kind of thing—she would never have dared to even think about it before, but now she had done it without hesitation! Why was that?

Why else? Just bad luck! Megan Brooks fumed inwardly.

Seeing him look around the house with curious and amazed eyes, Megan Brooks couldn’t help but feel a bit proud. She had just renovated this house earlier this year, from the interior design down to the color and shape of the floor tiles—she had handled every detail herself.

At this moment, Ethan Cooper was like Granny Liu visiting the Grand View Garden, his eyes darting everywhere, full of wonder and excitement!

Suddenly, with a loud “bang!” like a gavel striking in court, a thunderous sound rang out in the house without warning. Immediately after, Ethan Cooper heard an incomparably authoritative voice: “Insolent commoner, do you know what a grave crime it is to deceive the emperor?”

Ethan Cooper was chilled to the bone and his face changed dramatically. He hadn’t expected that after fleeing so far, he’d still be caught by the Liao Emperor. Terrified, he quickly lowered his head and muttered, “This humble subject admits his guilt! This humble subject admits his guilt!”

“If you know your guilt, why do you not kneel before me?”

Ethan Cooper immediately knelt down, not daring to breathe or lift his head. “Your Majesty, spare my life! Your Majesty, spare my life!”

It was a bit strange—the house wasn’t that big, so why did voices echo?

“Hehe!” A tinkling laugh rang out. Ethan Cooper mustered his courage and looked up, only to see Megan Brooks standing there holding a little gadget covered in numbers. On the wall beside her, in a frame, the emperor sat majestically on the dragon throne, with someone kneeling below and civil and military officials standing all around. They were all a size smaller, and their clothes and surroundings clearly didn’t belong to the Great Liao.

At this moment, they were talking to themselves, completely ignoring Ethan Cooper as if he were air. The reason he thought there was an echo was because his words had matched exactly, even in tone, with the kneeling person in the frame.

What was this? A demon-revealing mirror? Ethan Cooper scratched his head, completely baffled.

“What are you doing?” Megan Brooks asked, laughing so hard she was shaking.

“I…” Ethan Cooper looked at Megan Brooks, then at the frame, and asked in confusion, “What is this?”

“It’s an LCD TV. Haven’t you seen one before?” Megan Brooks stopped laughing, her smile replaced by a deep sense of guilt. If it hadn’t been for her running into him, he wouldn’t be acting so crazy now. Still, she had to admit, his performance just now was so realistic, it was like he was really filming a historical palace drama.

Ethan Cooper shook his head. He really hadn’t seen this ‘liquid’ thing before, nor did he understand how so many people could fit inside a frame. He walked behind the frame and found there was no space at all, just a thin box. Only then did he realize there were no people inside, but he was even more confused—how did they get those people in there?

“How is this strange thing made?” Ethan Cooper studied the LCD TV from all angles.

Megan Brooks gave him a helpless look. She didn’t know how an LCD TV was made either, and even if she did, she probably couldn’t explain it to him.

“You play by yourself for now, I’m going to take a shower!” With that, Megan Brooks grabbed her clothes and went into the bathroom, not caring about Ethan Cooper at all.

She didn’t know why, but even though she’d only known him for a few hours, Megan Brooks felt an inexplicable sense of trust toward him. It wasn’t because his brain had been damaged by her and he wouldn’t try anything forceful—no matter how silly, he was still a man, and he didn’t seem so foolish as to not know about that kind of thing. Rather, it was because… she couldn’t say exactly why. She just didn’t feel uncomfortable around him; in fact, she felt an indescribable sense of security.

Chapter Six: A Man with Presence

The sound of running water came from the steamy bathroom. One could almost imagine how stunning Megan Brooks’s long, perfect body must look at this moment, but Ethan Cooper wasn’t thinking about that at all. His attention was completely absorbed by all the novel things in the room—looking at this, touching that. Even in the resplendent, luxurious palace, there was nothing like these.

As his gaze wandered, he unintentionally noticed a thick perpetual calendar hanging on the wall. The past dates had been flipped up and clipped, and on the newest page it read: June 3, 2010 AD, lunar year of Gengyin (Year of the Tiger), month of Xinsi, day of Jiashen.