Seeking Truth with a Sword-Chapter 589 - 531 Hunger
In the dark, they lay flat in the tent, chatting pleasantly about their past lives.
Like carefully piecing together seashells found on a beach, they fumbled to assemble memories of those former existences.
The banner on the elementary school wall stated, "Mandarin is our campus language." There were the little snacks from the shop by the school gate, costing fifty cents each.
They remembered hiding under the covers, listening to the radio on an MP3 player. They talked about their favorite singers, and the movies and novels they had experienced.
"Do you remember you said home is the only castle..."
"It looks like it’s going to rain, I really want to live next to you..."
"Ho Baby, say a little more sweet nothings. Look at me one more time if you miss me..."
The tent echoed with their off-key duet. They would occasionally stop to argue if a lyric was remembered incorrectly. When no one could recall it, they just hummed along with the melody.
Most of the time, their conversations began with "Do you remember..." or "Hey, I remember..."
Li Ang increasingly felt that in his past life, he might have been from the same province, even the same city as Lu Yunan—their childhood memories had too many overlaps, including the on-demand TV stations they watched as children, and the grape sodas bottled in glass from the little street shops.
An unprecedented sense of fulfillment filled Li Ang’s heart. He felt that the part of him that had long been missing had finally been filled and repaired.
Restlessness, anger, anxiety, fear—all negative emotions gradually receded, transforming into tranquility and gentleness.
Unknowingly, their hands found each other, fingers interlacing.
Li Ang heard the sound of hair brushing against the tent’s carpet beside him—Lu Yunan had turned his head and was gazing at his face in the dark.
So he also turned his head, his blurred vision meeting the other’s gaze.
In the abyss-like depths of the cave, two lonely souls faced each other with complete honesty, gazing directly at one another’s true selves.
Outside the tent, the pitter-patter of rain could be heard. The raindrops hit the bamboo they had set up earlier, making a rustling sound. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞
"By the way," Li Ang quietly asked, "back on land, you mentioned you felt some jealousy towards me. Can I ask what that was about?"
Silence fell from the other side. Just as Li Ang began to regret his words and wished he could take them back, Lu Yunan slowly began, "Unlike you, I was born into this world with memories of my past life."
"The Northern Territory, Black Mountain. The climate there was bitterly cold. The mountains and fields were covered in forests of a uniform dark, bluish-black, hence the name."
"My mother was a widow. Her husband had died in a hunting accident a few years prior. In a Black Mountain village, it was very difficult for a widow to survive on her own. And so, I was born."
"I don’t know who my father is, and I don’t want to. For the first few years of my life, I was still immersed in memories of my past life. Mentally, I refused to acknowledge this coarse-jointed, rough-skinned, unattractive Barbarian woman as my mother."
"She was very... clumsy. When she fed me, she was often rough and didn’t know her own strength. Once, she put me in a hot bath. Then, a wolf started dragging a sheep away, so she rushed out to find it, forgetting all about me. If I hadn’t been agile enough to climb out myself, I might have perished in that bath.
When she returned, she was terrified. Holding me, she knelt on the ground, murmuring her thanks to the heavens. All the while, I just lay in her arms, rolling my eyes."
"I grew bigger day by day, gradually learned the Barbarian language, and came to understand the environment around me. I wanted to use the knowledge in my head to improve our lives."
"But the Black Mountain Tribe was too poor. There was very little flat land suitable for cultivation, and reclaiming wasteland was extremely difficult. Every autumn and winter, the soil would freeze as hard as rock. There was neither the environment nor the conditions for me to put my knowledge to use."
"Even more fatal were the Turkic People."
"The Turkic had an activity called ’Autumn Sweeping,’ which involved entering the Northern Territory in autumn to plunder livestock and grain from the various tribes."
"Actually, it’s quite laughable when you think about it. Thanks to the scientific achievements of Yu Country’s Academic Palace, the Turkic could meet their nation’s annual grain needs simply through trade with Yu Country. By that time, ’Autumn Sweeping’ was largely a recreational activity for the Nobles, much like going out hunting."
"My village, even within the vast expanse of Black Mountain, was considered remote and poor. Everyone knew the Turkic Army was coming, so they prepared their ’tribute’ of livestock and grain well in advance."
"However, that Turkic lord, perhaps having had a fall when entering the mountains, was in a very bad mood. He casually named a number and demanded to take ninety percent of the village’s food."
"A few men in the village tried to resist, but their stone knives and bone arrows were useless against the Turkic soldiers’ armor. Soon, all who resisted were dead.
The Turkic lord, riding a tall horse and draped in a silver fox shawl, spat on the ground. He ordered his soldiers to take the supplies and had the bodies of those who resisted tied to their saddles with ropes, dragging them along as they departed the village."
"When the harsh winter arrived, my mother and I searched every corner of our home. We only found the tiniest bit of food left, not enough for us to survive the winter."
"She went to plead with other families, but every household was short of food. No one offered any help."
"She and I tried to find food in the mountains. However, during the cold winter months, even the bears were hibernating. Walking through the snow-covered forest, we simply couldn’t find any food."
"Overcome with despair, I prayed to all the gods I knew: Immortals, Buddha, God, Jesus—anyone. But there was no response."
"One snowy winter morning, I woke up to find that hot water had been heated and firewood chopped in our home, but my mother was nowhere to be seen. I searched frantically. Eventually, I learned from the villagers that someone thought they had seen her heading towards the mountains that morning."
"Braving the blizzard, I followed her footprints, struggling up the mountain. Finally, beneath a tree, I found her, frozen stiff."
"A faint smile still lingered on her face. In her hand, she clutched the cloth I had been wrapped in at birth."
If the remaining food wasn’t enough for two people to survive the winter, then one person had to go.
"I carried her back to the village. Under the uncomprehending gazes of the villagers, I followed the traditions of my past life, carving out a grave for her in the frozen earth and erecting a tombstone."
"From that moment on, I swore to kill every last Turkic Person. Not a single one would be spared."
Lu Yunan’s tone was exceptionally calm, without the slightest ripple. Only his palm unconsciously tightened its grip on Li Ang’s hand.
Outside the tent, the rain continued to fall. Li Ang hesitated for a moment, then placed his other hand on the back of Lu Yunan’s, patting it comfortingly.
"Sorry..."
"There’s nothing to apologize for. It’s fate’s design, isn’t it?"
Lu Yunan shook his head slightly, saying indifferently, "After that, perhaps my ’golden finger’ from transmigration finally activated. I also awakened the ability of foreknowledge. From then on, I could always seize opportunities and turn perilous situations to my advantage. I organized a merchant caravan to Chang’an and became a merchant."
