Chapter 1: Troubled Times

"Brother Changsheng, wake up..."

In a daze, Lu Zhangsheng heard a crisp voice calling out beside his ear.

A sensation of weightlessness, as if in a dream, lingered in his heart.

Just then.

An extremely bitter liquid flowed directly into his mouth, causing him to shiver several times.

A moment later.

Lu Zhangsheng struggled to open his eyes.

"Where is this?"

What met his eyes was a completely unfamiliar environment.

It was a thatched hut only a few meters in circumference, the roof covered with unknown wild grasses.

Wisps of sunlight spilled into the room through gaps in the eaves.

The entire room was quite dilapidated, with only an old wooden bed placed in the western corner.

A faint, strange, musty smell drifted through the air, somewhat pungent.

A delicate-looking youth stood by the edge of the bed, his brow furrowed with concern.

The youth looked to be about thirteen years old, dressed in coarse hemp clothes, his frame thin and his face sallow.

However, a pair of bright, large eyes appeared remarkably spirited.

The voice calling him earlier had come from this person.

"Brother Changsheng, you scared me to death. I thought you wouldn't make it. Those bastards are too damned, striking so hard..."

Seeing Lu Zhangsheng remain motionless for a long time, Fang Tao cursed through gritted teeth.

Another while passed.

Seeing Lu Zhangsheng still wearing a look of confusion, he couldn't help but tense up.

"It's me, Taozi. Don't you remember? Did you injure your brain..."

"It was me who carried you back from the street corner the day before yesterday. A month ago, you even promised to take me to Yuanyang Lou to see the sights..."

Fang Tao began to speak incessantly, trying to "awaken" Lu Zhangsheng.

Having grown up in Changping County since childhood, he had heard of strange cases of lost souls.

It was very similar to his Lu Big Brother's state, so he thought of mentioning past events to try and wake him.

Hearing the youth mention his brain, Lu Zhangsheng seemed to react; a piercing pain shot from the back of his head.

"Hiss... so painful."

It was heart-wrenching.

He couldn't help but cry out, reflexively touching the back of his head, which felt damp.

Bringing his hand before his eyes, he saw a smear of fresh red.

His skull had been cracked open!

Just then, a massive surge of memories flooded into the depths of his mind.

"Ah..."

With a scream, Lu Zhangsheng fainted from the pain.

When Lu Zhangsheng woke up again, it was already evening.

The setting sun spilled through the doorway into the room, revealing a hint of crimson that seemed somewhat eerie.

Lu Zhangsheng leaned quietly against the mud-brick wall, lost in thought.

Only now did he realize that he had transmigrated.

From an ordinary twenty-something youth on Blue Star, he had arrived in this strange world after a bout of heavy drinking.

The body he now occupied was also named Lu Zhangsheng, just turned twenty years old this year.

Influenced by the internet explosion of his past life, he recognized the reality of his situation in an instant.

And he began to carefully recall the memories in his mind.

A moment later, Lu Zhangsheng had a preliminary understanding of his situation.

This place was located within the Dazhou Dynasty, Qingning Prefecture, Changping County.

It had been several hundred years since Qin Muyun swept across the world with absolute force six hundred years ago to establish the dynasty.

However, due to Qin Muyun's advanced age and frailty, he had not attended court for the past three years.

Dark forces throughout the Dazhou had begun to stir.

Because Changping County was on the frontier of the dynasty, near the territory of the Southern Man Tribes, the changes were even more pronounced.

Bandits ran rampant and heretic cults were rife within the territory; it was extremely dangerous.

"Martial Dao? The Dazhou Emperor?"

Lu Zhangsheng's eyes flickered; the tip of the iceberg in his memories shattered his previous understanding.

To think there were martial artists who could live for hundreds of years; it was truly terrifying.

"Brother Changsheng, you rest well first. We can slowly investigate Lu Shu's matter later."

At this moment, a voice interrupted Lu Zhangsheng's contemplation.

The speaker was Fang Tao; seeing Lu Zhangsheng improving, he prepared to leave.

Lu Zhangsheng came back to his senses and smiled slightly: "Thank you for these past few days."

He and the Fang siblings were neighbors, their families had been distant relatives, and their relationship had always been good.

This time, after his predecessor had his head cracked open and collapsed in a stinking ditch, it was the two of them who carried him back.

As for the Lu Shu mentioned, he was the father of this body.

As an ordinary escort master, he usually took on labor-intensive work for the escort agency, but unexpectedly, he had gone missing half a month ago and never returned.

Even the compensation from the escort agency had been issued, so he was likely in grave danger.

In this world, a human life was only worth ten taels of silver.

But this ten taels of blood-money hadn't even warmed his pocket before he was ambushed while going out, which led to his transmigration.

It seemed someone had long been eyeing the money in his hands.

Thinking of this, Lu Zhangsheng felt extremely cold.

At this moment, he was not only injured but also weak, so he could only choose to lie low for now.

"What are you saying, Brother Changsheng? I'm waiting for you to recover so you can take me out to explore."

Fang Tao gave a sly smile and then turned to walk away.

Watching him leave, Lu Zhangsheng said nothing, leaning quietly against the wall to recover his strength. The air was very still, and his breathing was clearly audible.

By the time night fell, he felt that the sense of dizziness had lessened significantly.

Lu Zhangsheng propped himself up and walked slowly outside.

He soon arrived outside the house.

Surrounding them was a small courtyard made of withered wood, only about twenty meters in circumference.

Four thatched huts were situated to the south, consisting of two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a storage room.

He walked straight toward the storage room.

He attempted to search for some useful items inside.

He knew from his memories that there were many small things his cheap father had collected over the years.

Although his predecessor had always scoffed at this "junk."

As an external member of the escort agency, traveling north and south for a long time, there might be some unexpected gains.

Before long, Lu Zhangsheng arrived outside the storage room.

The wooden door in front was half-ajar and somewhat damaged, clearly having been kicked open violently before.

His expression turned cold.

He didn't need to think to know that the entire courtyard had been ransacked by that group of thugs.

"Creak..."

Lu Zhangsheng pushed open the wooden door and walked in.

The room was not large, and everything was in disarray.

Scattered on the floor were a few damaged beast furs and some useless books.

There were also some bottles and jars of unknown purpose.

At a glance, they looked worthless.

He walked slowly toward the northwest corner, crouched down, and picked up a book from the floor.

"Travels of Shuofang"

The four large characters on the cover met his eyes; fortunately, his predecessor had learned to read, otherwise, he would be completely blind.

Books were the primary channel for understanding this world, so it was naturally his first choice.

After opening the pages, he began to study them carefully.

The book was only twenty pages long, all recounting the story of a martial artist named Zhao Shuo who traveled the world hundreds of years ago.

It recorded many customs and traditions from various parts of the Dazhou, as well as some bandits and heroes he encountered.

Lu Zhangsheng gradually became engrossed.

Time passed quickly; the moon climbed onto the branches, and night quietly descended.

The surroundings were very quiet, with only the "swish-swish" sound of turning pages remaining.

"In the 350th year of the Dazhou Calendar, all the villagers of Xitou Village in Qingyun County disappeared mysteriously; the county government searched to no avail and let the matter drop..."

"In the 363rd year of the Dazhou Calendar, the villagers of Caoping Village in Nanqiong County were scared to death..."

Half an hour later.

Lu Zhangsheng slowly closed the book, his face icy cold.

This world was far more terrifying than he had imagined.

The most terrifying things were not the bandits, but the mysterious existences hidden in the shadows.

Using the faint light from outside, he proceeded to flip through all the books on the floor.

The more he understood, the more vigilant Lu Zhangsheng became.

Without sufficiently strong power, the area outside the county city was absolutely the most dangerous place.

Night had gradually deepened.

Outside, twisted tree shadows intertwined, resembling a group of demons wanting to devour people.

Everything around was silent.

"Phew..."

Lu Zhangsheng let out a breath and was about to get up and leave.

Suddenly, he seemed to remember something and walked quickly to a corner on the far right.

Then he knocked on the stone tiles on the floor with the back of his hand.

"Thump, thump..."

The crisp knocking sound echoed in the room.

Clearly, there was a hidden compartment underground to produce such a sound.

Only then did he recall what his predecessor's father had said: "Changsheng, if you ever encounter difficulties, remember the ground in the northwest corner of the storage room..."

Lu Zhangsheng no longer hesitated and immediately pried open the floor tiles.

He saw a black wooden box lying quietly in a small dirt pit.

He picked up the wooden box and opened it to take a look.

Inside lay a yellow book and an item resembling a medicinal herb.

A fresh fragrance rushed to his nose.

This is...? Lu Zhangsheng picked up the medicinal herb, his face full of confusion.

"Century-old Yellow Essence detected, absorb or not..."

At this moment, an electronic synthesized voice suddenly rang out, giving Lu Zhangsheng a start.

"Who!"

He shouted softly, but received no response.

"Could it be a golden finger?"

With no response for a long time, he immediately realized what it was, his expression shifting slightly.

What followed confirmed his guess.

"Energy source detected, absorb or not..."

Another electronic synthesized voice rang out, extremely cold and devoid of any emotion.

"Absorb."

Lu Zhangsheng thought silently.

Just then, a warm current flowed rapidly into his body.

Immediately after, a blue panel visible only to him appeared in the void in front of him.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 2 =====