Courtyard Houses: From Bronze Compasses to Global Reach

Chapter 281 Lin Yan with Warmth

The car stopped at the edge of Times Square. In the 1960s, this place was far from the glamorous place it is today. The air was thick with the smells of sausages, gasoline, and the sweat of the crowd. Huge neon signs flashed in the twilight, and the signs for cheap theaters, strip clubs, and penny game arcades were crammed together, creating a noisy, rough, yet vibrant sensory kingdom.

"This is it!" Tom exclaimed excitedly, pointing to a brightly lit storefront that emitted bursts of electronic sounds and the roar of machinery.

As soon as you step into the arcade, a wave of noise hits you. The clanging of machines, the clatter of pinballs hitting the barriers, Elvis Presley's rock music from the jukebox, and the cheers and screams of teenagers all blend together.

"Let's play this first!" Mike headed straight for a state-of-the-art pinball machine. Its casing was adorned with rocket and moon designs, brimming with the fervor of the space age. He inserted a coin, intently pulling the spring lever; the steel ball bounced wildly behind the glass, navigating a series of scoring rings and buffers. "See that, Lin! This is a real man's game!" Although this "real man's game" skirted the edge of New York law, frequently drawing criticism due to its gambling implications.

Tom was drawn to a mechanical force gauge called "Test Your Manliness!" He tossed in a coin, swung the mallet hard at the pedal, and with a loud "clang," the pointer shakily stopped in the "weak" range, drawing Mike's merciless laughter.

Lin Yan looked around, feeling both novel and nostalgic. The "high-tech" here seemed clumsy and amusing to him. He tried a claw machine; the prizes weren't plush toys, but cheap plastic soldiers and whistles. With his cultivator's control, he could have easily won them, but he deliberately restrained himself, enjoying the ordinary pleasure of failure.

They also played the coin-operated jukebox, choosing a popular rock song at the time, and received a prophetic note from a "future fortune teller" filled with flashing lights, which said, "You will embark on a long journey"—Lin Yan looked at the note thoughtfully.

In a secluded corner, the three even discovered an extremely rare early version of the "two-player tennis video game." It displayed simple tennis ball trajectories on a small oscilloscope screen and was controlled with a large knob. Tom and Mike found this "slow-moving block" far less exciting than pinball, but Lin Yan was mesmerized—he seemed to see the toddler form of a vast future industry taking its first steps.

All afternoon, they were immersed in the simple joys of machines, lights, and coins. Tom and Mike spent all their hard-earned spare change, but they were happier than ever. On the way back, they were still arguing fiercely about whose pinball score was higher.

Looking out the window at the dazzling, chaotic yet authentic 1960s New York, and listening to the carefree chatter of his friends beside him, Lin Yan felt the unpleasantness he had felt at the club and the slight sense of alienation he had experienced during his spiritual practice were quietly healed by this lively afternoon.

He smiled slightly, thinking that "wasting" time like this wasn't so bad.

The days flowed by peacefully until the morning assembly a week later. Tom, unusually, didn't make a fuss. Instead, he mysteriously pulled a neatly folded newspaper from his schoolbag and slammed it onto Lin Yan's desk.

"Lin! Look! Breaking news today!" His voice was low, but it couldn't hide his astonishment.

Lin Yan looked down and his heart skipped a beat. The newspaper occupied an entire page, the sensational headline burning like a brand—"The Lies of Hollywood's Perfect Gentleman: The Secret Life of Rock Hudson." Below, it detailed Hudson's unknown past, even including anonymous interviews with several "ex-boyfriends," the details meticulous and every word piercing.

In an instant, Lin Yan understood. This was Ethan's doing—precise, efficient, and… ruthless.

An indescribable feeling welled up inside him. Yes, he had been shocked and angry at the time, feeling offended, and the words "blacklist him" had slipped out in anger. But he had never imagined that he would destroy someone's private world in such a thorough way. Looking at Hudson's once spirited face in the newspaper, now appearing incredibly pale in the black and white photo, Lin Yan felt not pleasure, but a heavy... unease.

Punishing someone by exposing their deepest secrets is going too far.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, his gaze had returned to calm. A mental command entered Ethan's mind, far away on the other side of Manhattan:

"Ethan, I saw the newspaper. Let's leave it at that."

"Send someone to contact him. Make sure he's not driven to desperation by this. Give him a generous compensation, arrange the channels, and if he's willing, send him away from this troublesome place to a place where no one knows him, so he can live the life he wants in peace."

"Solving problems doesn't necessarily require destroying a person."

After delivering the instruction, a weight seemed to lift from his heart. He pushed the newspaper back to the dumbfounded Tom and looked out the window.

Tom and Mike exchanged an incredulous look, then leaned closer and whispered, "Lin, this...this couldn't really be something you did, could it? The other day you said you were going to blacklist him, we thought you were just bluffing!"

Lin Yan looked at the mixture of shock and confusion on his two friends' faces and sighed softly. He didn't want these powers and methods beyond ordinary people's comprehension to cast a shadow on their innocent world.

"How could it be me?" He forced a completely natural, helpless smile, casually folding the newspaper and pushing it back to Tom. "I don't have that kind of ability. He probably just accidentally caught the eye of some shrewd reporter."

He shrugged casually, feigning nonchalance: "Who can really know the private lives of these Hollywood stars?"

Hearing Lin Yan's answer, Tom and Mike visibly relaxed. Tom patted his chest forcefully: "Thank goodness it wasn't you! You really scared us."

The three walked out of the classroom side by side, the afternoon sun streaming through the corridor windows onto the floor. Mike immediately regained his usual liveliness, sidling up to Lin Yan and chattering away:

"Lin, let's go for a drive again this weekend! I promise I won't drive the convertible this time." He scratched his head sheepishly, "Your hair was ruined by the wind last time."

Tom chuckled and added, "And Mike said he'd treat us to some good cheer, right?"

"Hey! When did I ever say that...?"

Watching his two friends start their usual bickering again, Lin Yan smiled softly. Just as they were noisily heading towards the classroom for the next class, he quietly sent out a wisp of his divine consciousness.

"Ethan, the arrangements remain the same. Also, find him a reliable agent and let him start over in Europe."

Ethan was reviewing documents when his pen paused slightly, and he left a checkmark on a sticky note.

He is still Lin Yan, capable of anger at being offended, but his revenge should not come at the cost of utterly crushing a person's dignity and livelihood. This bottom line, rooted in a modern soul, is perhaps the reason why he has never lost his true self throughout his transmigration.