Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Where am I? The bomb should have blown me to pieces.
When Shen Lang opened his eyes, he was greeted by an unfamiliar scene. Looking around slowly, he found himself lying alone on a soft, antique bed in a lavish room, the likes of which he had never seen in his previous life.
An exquisitely carved mahogany table, a beautifully crafted silver candlestick, a soft rug—the atmosphere created by these details suggested this was more than just a wealthy man's house. The only oddity was that everything in the room had an ancient, classical feel, completely devoid of modern interior design.
He looked down at his clothes. The material was a familiar, high-quality silk, but the design resembled the costumes worn by actors in historical dramas. To get a better look at himself, he scanned the room and found a slightly blurry, indistinct bronze mirror by the bed.
Shen Lang struggled to sit up. Mustering his courage, he cautiously approached the mirror and looked at his reflection. It was only natural that he needed courage to look in a mirror. After a tragic accident had robbed him of his face and appearance, confronting his reflection had become a terrible nightmare. But now, he was certain that nightmare would no longer haunt him. The face staring back at him, though gaunt and pale, was his own from before the accident—no, it was a normal face, handsome enough that the word "comely" wouldn't be an exaggeration.
In that moment, Shen Lang was certain he had traveled through time. Upon death, his soul had drifted into a strange world and entered the body of this unfamiliar yet familiar man.
It's been a while, my handsome face.
Shen Lang stared greedily at the face in the mirror. It seemed the heavens had granted his wish, giving him a new life and a handsome face once more. After his parents passed away, Shen Lang had held no attachment to his own life. So, unable to hide his joy, he savored the feeling of being reborn. Just then, a flood of complex information began pouring into his mind. They were the memories of this body's original owner.
This was a world both familiar and strange. It was familiar because it resembled ancient China. It had a similar culture, the same written language, and people of a similar ethnicity. But it was strange because the maps and geography were completely different from the Earth he knew.
This world seemed to have China's Four Books and Five Classics, the works of ancient sages, and the origins of Chinese civilization. However, none of the Chinese dynasties he knew existed. There was no Qin Dynasty, no Han Dynasty, no Jin Dynasty.
How strange. The geography and history were entirely different, yet the culture was the same.
According to his memories, this world had gone through a period of great chaos long ago, after which a fallen civilization was rebuilt. The aforementioned books were said to have been unearthed and put to use as civilization began to rebuild and flourish. Thus, ancient texts like the Four Books and Five Classics were treated as treasures, proof of a glorious past civilization. Moreover, martial arts existed in this world. The martial arts of individuals were even more developed than in ancient China.
The ruling dynasty here was a vast empire called the Great Yan Dynasty. It was truly a vast empire; converted to our world's measurements, its territory exceeded fourteen million square kilometers, larger than any ancient Chinese dynasty. And the Great Yan Dynasty operated differently from the ancient dynasties of China. It was similar to the system of the Zhou Dynasty, where various feudal lords formed a state centered around the Son of Heaven, but the Great Yan Dynasty held far greater power and influence. However, it did not treat the surrounding feudal states as vassals. Therefore, all the feudal states revered the Yan Emperor as the True Dragon, Son of Heaven. (In ancient China, the emperor was believed to be a true dragon descended from heaven, so 'True Dragon, Son of Heaven' became a term symbolizing the emperor.) Furthermore, the level of civilization in the Great Yan Dynasty seemed far too advanced to be compared to China's Spring and Autumn or Warring States periods; if one had to make a comparison, it would be to the Tang or Song dynasties.
The country Shen Lang had arrived in was the State of Yue, a large feudal state in the south. The State of Yue had three provinces, forty-five commanderies, and one special autonomous prefecture. Its total area was about five hundred ninety thousand square kilometers, with a population of around ten million. Commerce was well-developed, its people were sharp-witted, and the martial way flourished.
The Ning Clan had ruled the State of Yue for over 400 years. Shen Lang lived in Xuanwu City, Nu River Commandery, Tiannan Province of the State of Yue. The name of the body's owner was, surprisingly, also Shen Lang. Although he couldn't know the reason for now, the similarity in not just name but also appearance didn't seem like a mere coincidence. There was surely a complex reason behind it, but with no way to find out at the moment, he decided to focus on understanding his current situation. As he delved into the memories of this world's Shen Lang, into whom he had been transmigrated—or whose body his soul now inhabited—he realized that this Shen Lang's life had been just as dramatic as his own.
Shen Lang grew up in Maple Leaf Village, Hanshui Town, Xuanwu City. His family were outsiders who had settled in this village when he was just over two years old.
His parents were ordinary farmers. Although Nu River Commandery boasted a vast area with many mountains and rivers, the actual amount of usable farmland was very small. Thus, Shen Lang's family of four sustained themselves on just about two *mu* of paddy fields and two *mu* of mountain land. Both his parents were incredibly diligent, but it was still a struggle to feed themselves year-round with what they harvested.
Despite not being an only child, he had monopolized his parents' affection ever since he was born. They never scolded him or made him do farm work. Instead, despite their poverty, they sent him to study. He spent a considerable amount of time on his studies, so perhaps his parents had hoped he would become a scholar.
But studying depends on innate talent. His learning pace was so slow that after more than ten years of dedicated study, he had learned fewer than a thousand characters. If he had been naturally lazy or uninterested in his studies, it would have been easier to give up hope. But it was truly a pity that his lack of progress was due to a deficiency in natural intelligence. Of course, he wasn't intellectually disabled, but like Gump from *Forrest Gump*, he spoke haltingly, had a dazed expression, and was slow to react. Aside from his handsome face, he had virtually no strengths, so the villagers regarded him as useless.
His younger brother, Shen Jian, unlike Shen Lang, fell in with a bad crowd and took an interest in martial arts. But perhaps a lack of talent ran in the family, for after several years of training, his skills hadn't improved much, and he was seen as nothing more than a local hooligan.
His parents grew older, and the family's financial situation worsened. They sank into a mire of poverty, to the point where they had to worry about their next meal.
This year, he turned eighteen. It had been over nine years since he started studying in Hanshui Town, but his scholarly achievements remained meager.
While some of his peers had already passed the imperial examinations, he was still in the basic class, attending lessons with ten-year-old children every day. It was as if all his classmates had gone to university while he hadn't even graduated from elementary school.
He became the shame of the Hanshui Town Academy, and even the teachers gave up on him. He was so dull that he was deemed beyond help. Eventually, he was expelled from the academy.
Because his parents had doted on him and pushed him toward scholarly pursuits since childhood, he had never experienced, or even thought of, something as menial as killing a chicken. So after being expelled from the academy, he was of no help with farm work, let alone chopping firewood. He simply spent his days like an idler, picking up a stick to write characters or draw pictures in the dirt of his front yard.
Despite this, his parents didn't cast him out; they continued to care for him attentively. His brother, though still a ruffian, cherished and loved his older brother. He would come home every day with bruises on his face and a few coins he had earned, using them to look after his useless brother without a single word of complaint.
As these memories surfaced, Shen Lang felt a lump in his throat. When he was a child, he ate white rice at every meal while his parents and brother had watery corn porridge. On the rare occasion his father caught a wild rabbit in the mountains, he would sell it at the market but always saved one leg for Shen Lang. While Shen Lang ate the rabbit leg, his brother would stand beside him, drooling, and pick at the dried corn kernels stuck to his bowl.
Yes, his parents had shown favoritism. They had loved a simpleton like him as if he were a family heirloom, while treating his brother, Shen Jian, like a weed. Yet, his brother never resented him, only embraced him with love. In his childhood, the intellectually slow Shen Lang was often bullied. Each time, his younger brother Shen Jian would fight to protect him. Perhaps his ruffian-like nature and reputation as a hooligan had started from there.
It was truly a happy and warm memory. All the memories that had surfaced so far were beautiful. His family had been dirt-poor, but they were happy. So how did someone from such a poor background end up in such a luxurious house?
Because he had married a very rich wife. To be precise, he had married into a wealthy and powerful family as a live-in son-in-law.