Chapter 1: Distant Lands

Wen Gu's city was reduced to a wasteland by war; electronic equipment and communication networks collapsed, and countless buildings became ruins.

The ancient buildings and museums that represented the city's culture and had been passed down for hundreds of years were completely destroyed.

Similar situations occurred all over the world.

Wen Gu and his family were forced to leave their hometown and head to a city guarded by the military that was relatively orderly.

After moving from place to place, the family finally settled down in a new city.

His parents joined a local cultural relic protection organization to perform restoration and appraisal work; their knowledge found the most suitable place to be put to use.

Wen Gu re-enrolled in school.

Year after year, the chaos of war slowed, a new order was being rebuilt, and more cities had military garrisons.

The protection of cultural heritage was once again emphasized by the higher-ups; Wen Gu's parents were assigned to a higher-level organization and worked away from home year-round. Wen Gu himself remained in this second hometown to continue his studies.

At twenty-two, Wen Gu finished his studies. Instead of taking a safe and secure position as his parents had arranged, he joined an ancient artifact search team to go to those ruins of cities or villages and towns caused by the war—places that once had museums, collections, or ancient ruins—to search for remaining cultural relics.

Influenced by his parents, he was more interested in this.

The turmoil outside had not yet completely subsided, and every trip out was dangerous. Wen Gu had a certain ability to protect himself, and with the help of the team and some new technological means, his safety could be considered guaranteed.

It was another return from a trip out.

The doors and windows of his home were sealed with thick anti-theft grilles; Wen Gu knocked on the door next door.

A moment later, the door next door opened, and a girl of similar age poked her head out to look. Seeing it was Wen Gu, she smiled and said, "You're back!"

This neighbor was also Wen Gu's university classmate, and she worked in the community after graduation. When Wen Gu was away, she helped keep an eye on the house to prevent people with ill intentions from breaking in.

Although this city had military stationed and the community had a police office, it could only be said that there were no major riots; there were still many hidden disturbances in the shadows. It was more reassuring to have someone keeping an eye on things.

"Yeah, another safe return," Wen Gu replied with a smile.

"Looks like the harvest was good this time?"

"Not bad."

While speaking, the other party handed over the key she had been keeping.

"Thanks! Oh, by the way, Yandai!" Wen Gu took the key, then called her back and took out a small velvet package containing a jade pendant; the jade was fine and warm, with classical auspicious cloud patterns carved on both sides.

He handed it over.

"One of the harvests this time, a modern imitation of an ancient piece, still quite intact," Wen Gu said.

Although it was a modern imitation, the war had destroyed too many things over the years; most things were left with not even a scrap remaining under the chaos of war. Being able to find a jade pendant that was so intact, with a classical style and decent material, was already very rare, and it could be sold for a high price on the market.

Yandai took the jade pendant, a smile appearing on her face, and asked Wen Gu to wait a moment.

She went into her room and brought out a wooden box.

"The old gentleman in the community who loved calligraphy and painting moved to another city and left a few things for us; I snatched this one!"

The wooden box opened.

"The Four Treasures of the Study! A gift for you; I remember you also studied calligraphy and painting!"

Wen Gu was pleasantly surprised and took it with care.

Nowadays, these things are not easy to find!

The last time he used brush, ink, paper, and inkstone was when he was a child.

"I haven't touched them for many years, my skills are rusty; wait until I've practiced well and I'll give you an ink wash painting," he said.

"Then how long will it take for you to practice well?" Yandai asked expectantly.

"With my talent, very soon! Hmm, two or three years, maybe."

"..."

"Hahaha, I'll get familiar with them first and try painting one in a few days."

Wen Gu took the wooden box containing the Four Treasures of the Study, opened the security door, walked into the house, and went to the study.

The study had an entire wall of bookshelves and a set of wooden tables and chairs.

They were all made by him collecting materials himself, in a classical style.

Wen Gu opened the wooden box and quietly looked at the Four Treasures of the Study.

"Can't bear to use them!"

The war was not yet over, everything was waiting to be rebuilt, and he didn't know when workshops would produce these things again, or if the craftsmanship level still existed.

Years had passed, order was returning, and the economy would also recover its former prosperity.

Art and culture would rise again, and the city would be rebuilt upon the ruins.

But some things, once lost, could not come back. Even if they appeared again, they might only be fakes.

Those introductory books on ancient culture he read as a child, the selected electronic courses on the computer, the painting tools he used, and the treasured prints of famous ancient and modern paintings... all of those were reduced to ruins by the war along with the city.

Nowadays, if one wants to learn calligraphy and painting again, one can only wait for the future, wait for social order and the market to recover, and wait for those surviving calligraphy and painting artists to teach their techniques. Two or three years was already a very optimistic estimate.

Wen Gu put the brush back and rummaged through his backpack to find a ceramic cup.

This was also a harvest from the trip, a genuine antique.

The cup body was a simple, pale sky-blue, lustrous and elegant; there was an inscription on the bottom of the cup, but two large cracks destroyed its integrity.

However, this was already considered relatively minor damage.

Wen Gu set it aside, waiting for his parents to return from their leave to restore it.

There were still some antique fragments in the backpack, with severe scratches and unrecognizable patterns; even if his parents were here, they couldn't restore them and could only create a file. He didn't even know what they looked like before.

The database data was severely lost, and many records of ancient cultural relics were difficult to retrieve.

Amidst the flames of war, there were too many regrets, and cultural treasures were just one of them.

Above the wasteland, a desolate wind blew across the barren land, whipping up sand and dust, as if grieving and resentful.

Inside the house, having sorted out the harvest from this trip, Wen Gu pulled a book from the bookshelf.

The pages were scratched, but he could roughly see the content printed on them—paintings of ancient architecture.

With a large amount of text and only a few black-and-white illustrations, it is very difficult to imagine how delicate and colorful the actual objects were.

Those stunning crafts and aesthetics represent a once-powerful artistic and cultural heritage.

Every time he looks at these, Wen Gu sighs with regret.

"I can't see it!"

He flipped through the book again.

Tucked inside the book was a leaf, a leaf specimen that Wen Gu had pressed himself, serving as a bookmark.

The veins of the leaf were clear; starting from the petiole and moving forward, lines extended from the leaf base.

The main veins, lateral veins, branch veins, and the parallel, intersecting, varying-thickness, web-like vein patterns seen up close—these exquisite lifelines, like tendons and blood vessels, supported the leaf as it stretched out in space.

He closed the book and put it back on the bookshelf.

Wen Gu leaned against the back of his chair, gazing at the various books and objects he had collected over the years, his mind drifting.

The treasures left by history had long since been gradually destroyed in one war after another.

At first, he could still feel anger and pain, but later, having experienced more and more, he was becoming numb.

Electronic equipment was destroyed, numerous images were lost, and countless precious scrolls and objects were ruined in the wars.

The historical heritage passed down from generation to generation, imbued with deep emotion, had already largely disappeared.

The images he had seen in his childhood were becoming increasingly blurred.

In earlier years, one could still glimpse the cultural landscape of thousands of years ago from those scattered records.

Based on limited information and the power carried by cultural relics, he traced the veins of time in reverse to find the footprints of humanity's existence on this planet.

From the mere fragments that had luckily slipped through tens of millions of years of time, he tried to guess what kind of colossal beast it had once been.

After many years of war, hope was even more remote.

He dreamed of seeing the flying eaves and bracket sets, the Tingtai Louge recorded in books; to see the stone bridges and misty waters, the flower docks and slanting sun; to see the golden spears and iron horses at the mountain passes, the thatched cottages and green mulberry trees by the Village streams... following the footprints of history to see the lights of ten thousand homes from a distant era.

The greatness and mystery hidden in the time of history must surely be magnificent and incomparably splendid!

Wen Gu yearned for it, yet felt deep regret.

If the few remaining cultural relics were also lost, decades or a century later, even if there were luckily still written records, it would be inevitable for people to question—did those things truly exist?

Looking at the sunset outside the window, Wen Gu was silent for a long time.

If there really were parallel worlds and a multiverse, the things that had disappeared should still exist in another world, right?

Before falling asleep at night, the leaf with a length of less than Ban Chi Xia that was tucked inside the book suddenly appeared in Wen Gu's mind.

On the leaf, those parallel, intersecting, complex veins appeared clearly before his eyes again.

The world might produce different consequences due to the occurrence of a certain event—on the timeline, they exist simultaneously, yet have different directions.

Just like the different branch veins extending from a base point on a leaf.

Below Ban Chi Xia, beyond the fourth dimension.

The parallel, intersecting, and variously curved veins were like countless tunnels of time spreading out before his eyes.

His consciousness seemed to be swept into a magical space, traveling upstream along those timelines, instantly crossing the distance of billions of light-years!

Information composed of countless rules was transmitted through his consciousness in an instant, surpassing a thousand words, profound and extraordinary!

In the universe, miracles are born every minute and every second.

The only question is whether you can encounter them.

To encounter one is fortune.

Wen Gu felt that he had traveled through time and space and found another "self" in the multiverse!

It was as if he had glimpsed a loophole in the rules, or as if he had made a deal with this world that both sides were very satisfied with.

With the intuition that his wish was about to be fulfilled, Wen Gu, filled with anticipation, traveled against time and space to a distant land.

The door to a new world is about to open for me!

It must be incomparably... incomparably...

His rapidly traveling consciousness finally froze.

Immediately following this, he felt an exhaustion and weakness from his spirit to his body, as if he could just drop dead the next moment.

His five senses gradually became clear.

Through his breathing, he smelled some strange odors, like medicinal herbs with some seasoning added, then deeply fermented, and then wafting out with the flow of air...

Bizarre, abstract, and yet vaguely reassuring?

His brain was still a bit chaotic as he looked up.

Before him was a person, sturdy and strong, squatting on the ground, tears and snot streaming down his face.

Coming directly at Wen Gu was a sonorous, emotionally explosive, and hoarse cry: "Father—"

Wen Gu, who had just returned to his senses:???

Wait a minute!!!

Who are you calling?!!

At this very moment, he wanted to reject this world.