Chapter 491
Chapter 491
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 491
>Chapter Title: Cowheart Village
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On the flat threshing ground in Cowheart Village used for drying rice, a group of village militiamen were training. Gao Zhijian sat on a large rock with furrowed brows, watching the militiamen practicing martial arts in front of him, but his mind was still dwelling on what had happened before.
"None of the other fellow disciples believe a word I said."
By all rights, he should have felt angry, but Gao Zhijian did not—because even he himself could not fully trust his own gradually awakening, chaotic memories.
It was very likely that he had been the emperor. In his memories, he lived in the palace, surrounded by people who attended to his every whim, and he could have anything he wanted.
But those memories were incomplete, fragmented with huge gaps. The broken parts were filled in with all sorts of bizarre deaths and lives utterly different from the palace.
The memories in his mind did not seem to belong to one person. They felt like a patchwork sewn together from fragments large and small.
This made Gao Zhijian deeply doubt whether everything in those chaotic memories was fake—or perhaps he was a madman just like Senior Brother Li.
By all rights, he should seek out his past, sift through the chaos to find the real him.
But unless absolutely necessary, he did not want to go back. He wanted to stay here. He decided things were just fine as they were now. Because he liked Cowheart Village. He liked the name Gao Zhijian. That was who he was.
Then a fluffy figure flashed through his mind, and a simple, honest smile crept onto his face.
Living together with everyone was peaceful and free. As for the past in his memories—even the glittering, golden palace where he had plenty to eat and warm clothes to wear—it had felt so... cold in his impressions. So uncomfortable. He did not like it there.
It was rare to be blissfully ignorant in this world. Why make everything so clear? Just live in the moment. Besides, there did not seem to be anyone in those past memories worth seeking out.
Gao Zhijian sat there thinking about many things. When he finally snapped back to reality, he saw the dozen or so militiamen flopping about haphazardly as they swung their wooden halberds. The bunch of them were slacking off while he had been lost in thought.
"Hm?" Gao Zhijian picked up a thin stick and walked over. Wherever he saw a wrong stance, he rapped them—hard enough to sting, but not to injure. His technique was extremely practiced.
These people were too scrawny. They needed to train up some strength, build up enough spirit and vigor before they could cultivate those military arts.
His current job was to train a Cowheart Village militia, per Senior Brother Li's orders.
Time passed amid the militiamen's sighs and wails. At dinner, the heavy training had turned them all into big eaters, wolfing down their food.
What made them willing to endure such hardship without a single one thinking of deserting? Besides the daily white flour, it was the one hundred cash pay per month.
Tonight's dinner was soy sauce fried rice—oily and salty, made with heaps of lard. It was perfect for replenishing lost energy, and extremely easy to prepare.
Gao Zhijian did not see Chun Xiaoman eating among the crowd, so he quietly took note.
After dinner, he went to the kitchen, fired up the stove, and fried two sunny-side-up eggs. He placed them atop a bowl of soy sauce fried rice and carried the bowl and chopsticks toward the Bai family ancestral hall.
When he arrived in the main hall below the ancestral shrine, he saw Chun Xiaoman leading several people in reciting the White Lotus Cult's spirit possession chants.
"Eat." Gao Zhijian held the bowl out to Chun Xiaoman.
"Hey! Big tall guy, you're something else—bringing food for just one person? We haven't eaten yet!" Lv Xiucai complained from the side, thoroughly displeased.
But Gao Zhijian did not even bother to glance at him. He held the bowl out to Chun Xiaoman again.
Chun Xiaoman paused and said to the others, "That's enough for today. Go eat dinner first."
The four young women nodded respectfully and headed down the stairs, Lv Xiucai trailing behind with a look of disdain.
Once they were gone, Chun Xiaoman held the bowl and ate as she asked, "How's it going on your end? Are those people still behaving?"
"St-still... st-still... okay!"
"Sigh, things aren't going well on my side. With all these spirit possession chants, there's hardly anyone in the village who can memorize them, and they need good aptitude too. People with low aptitude get no reaction no matter how they recite."
"They're all people—why the huge differences? Who knows how long it'll take for everyone to master them. Sigh, get this—you won't believe it—the one with the highest aptitude is that jerk Lv Xiucai. You should have seen how smug he was."
Gao Zhijian stood quietly by her side, listening. He watched peacefully as Chun Xiaoman went on and on.
By the time she finished venting her frustrations, she had polished off the bowl of soy sauce fried rice.
Just as Gao Zhijian reached to take the empty bowl, Chun Xiaoman's voice came from behind him. "Zhijian, you don't need to bring me food anymore. The kid in the kitchen will save some for me."
With a complicated expression, Chun Xiaoman pursed her lips and finally spoke. "I made a vow before—to be a lifelong unmarried sworn spinster. I still have no intention of changing that. So do you understand what I'm saying?"
"Mm."
"Don't blame me for being too blunt, but we're fellow disciples who've shared life and death. I just want to be upfront about it now, so we don't end up unable to even be brother and sister. And I'll say the same to Zhao Wu."
Gao Zhijian stood there in silence. Only he knew how much his heart ached. The empty bowl in his hands cracked under his grip.
Chun Xiaoman walked up beside him and looked seriously into his eyes. "In this chaotic world, it's not easy for us outcasts to have such a stable home. We absolutely have to cherish it."
"You know, anywhere else, people like us only get sold, beaten, treated like monsters—not even seen as human. So Zhijian, let's keep our minds on the important things. We have to work hard to protect this home."
"Mm." Clutching the empty bowl, Gao Zhijian nodded forlornly and turned toward the stairs.
Watching his back, Chun Xiaoman felt a pang of reluctance, but she still believed it was better to say it sooner rather than later.
Chun Xiaoman sat back down on the floor and picked up the book from the ground to recite again.
Though these spirit possession rites could not compare to Senior Brother Li's divine abilities, she still studied them with utmost seriousness.
Her aptitude was not as good as Lv Xiucai's, but diligence could make up for it. If six hours a day was not enough, then seven or eight it was.
Sincerity could move mountains and part stone. Now she could barely manage some of the simpler possessions.
In any case, she never wanted to return to those days when her own father sold her off, and she had no power to resist.
As Chun Xiaoman focused intently, a clamor of footsteps echoed from the stairwell.
Soon, a panicked Lv Xiucai came rushing down. "Quick, quick, quick!! Trouble! A gang of highwaymen on horseback has charged into the village—they're killing on sight!! Several people are already dead!"