Zhao Da
The woods were dim beneath a canopy so dense it blocked out the sky. Dampness and chill, as if sunlight had never reached the ground, hung in the air. Shen Rong followed the navigation across two ditches, waded through water three times, then followed the heart-shaped arrow up onto the rafters. The system swore this was as close as he could get to his target. Shen Rong glanced down at the men below. It was certainly close. Any closer and he’d be sitting on someone’s head.
Since arriving in this world, Shen Rong hadn’t been fearless. A homebody just had his own way of being afraid. He looked calm and collected, but in truth, he was out of options. He couldn’t exactly eat, use the toilet, and sharpen knives all within ten meters of these people. Eating and sharpening knives were fine. Using the toilet was absolutely not happening!
Shen Rong might not have been much good at history, but he knew that anyone who rose from nothing to become emperor had to be a powerhouse. Either he had enough charisma to draw talented people from every corner to his side, or he was strong enough to crush everyone with his fists. The truly formidable ones had both. In a feudal age, a man like that would be wasting his talents if he didn’t become emperor.
Then Shen Rong finished that thought and looked down.
The battered soldiers recoiled several steps in alarm. Only one man stayed where he was.
He was probably the guy the system wanted Shen Rong to get close to.
Xiao Yuanyao was still standing beneath the eaves.
His palm rested on the hilt of his sword. He hadn’t drawn it, but he was ready to. His clothes were poor, even tattered, with several slashes and patches. His hair was tied up in a bun, but not neatly; loose strands fell around his temples and ears.
Shen Rong’s left brain: Look at this poor grunt, with no gear to speak of, relying on whatever he can scavenge.
Shen Rong’s right brain: Wake up. This is ancient times, and the man in front of you is a future founding-emperor big shot!
Blood rushed to Shen Rong’s head, turning both his ears a rosy pink. He gave the formidable man below a stiff smile. The next second, the other man drew his sword halfway out of its sheath.
Shen Rong’s expression immediately went blank again.
He got to his feet and walked along the roof. He could climb up, but he couldn’t get down. If this man didn’t do something, Shen Rong would probably have to sleep up there tonight and feed the bugs.
Xiao Yuanyao kept his eyes fixed on the strange man.
Only after he stood up did Xiao Yuanyao see that, despite his handsome face, the man was practically indecently dressed. His shoes were strange, and made of less material than their straw sandals. Mosquito bites dotted his fair calves, red and swollen in a way that would barely have shown on anyone else.
Strange in his movements, delicate as a hothouse flower. He had the build of a young man, yet couldn’t even jump down from a roof eight or nine feet high.
But he seemed to be human.
He looked like someone from a fallen family, and not much of a threat.
Xiao Yuanyao slowly sheathed his sword and clasped his hands. “Thank you for your help, honored benefactor.”
His voice wasn’t as deep as Shen Rong had expected. It was crisp and resolute, the sort of voice that would stand out at once giving orders on a battlefield.
The successful introduction eased Shen Rong’s nerves, and he started rambling. “I was just passing through and happened to see you. I climbed onto the roof and now I can’t get down. Why don’t you stand back? I’ll see if I can jump.”
Jump.
Jump off this roof, that was.
Maybe he’d hit the ground and die with a nice crack, and wake up back in his little workshop.
He shut his eyes, steeled himself, and leaped down, clutching his toolbox.
The system didn’t force him back up. Instead, it chimed brightly, brimming with unrestrained excitement.
“【Newbie tutorial period (critical hints cannot be skipped): Congratulations, host! You’ve made your first intimate contact with Xiao Yuanyao and successfully unlocked the Shuangshen Mountain map! Shuangshen Mountain lies on the border of Anhui and Jiangxi. The river divides it into North Shenshan and South Shenshan. The northern mountain belongs to King An, and the southern mountain belongs to King Liang. Explore to your heart’s content with Xiao Yuanyao!】”
Shen Rong opened his eyes. He and his precious toolbox were held in the crook of Xiao Yuanyao’s arm.
He even felt himself bounce once. The other man had caught him as easily as if it were nothing.
Shen Rong: “…”
Damn, those arms were strong.
Honestly, ten years of sharpening iron hadn’t made Shen Rong’s biceps half as hard as Xiao Yuanyao’s.
He glanced behind him and met a whole crowd of stares. Shen Rong sprang out of Xiao Yuanyao’s arms so abruptly he nearly lost a slipper.
Xiao Yuanyao’s expression didn’t change. His eyes simply continued to follow Shen Rong.
People in ancient times respected heaven, earth, and the spirits. They might be willing to fight an enemy to the death, but when anything supernatural was involved, no one could truly remain unmoved.
Take these battered soldiers, for instance.
Aside from Xiao Yuanyao and two brothers who looked almost exactly alike, the rest were all gaunt and malnourished. Now they were staring Shen Rong up and down, terror in their eyes.
Shen Rong took a breath, making a great show of it.
The men opposite him immediately let out a breath of relief, just as dramatically.
Alive. He was alive. Not the god of the land, not some little demon.
The temple had been built in a clever spot. Its front door faced a patch of open sky, and the evening glow poured through it, passing straight through Shen Rong before lighting up the bodhisattva statue inside.
The soldiers, who had just begun to relax, tensed up all over again.
At this hour, in this place, Shen Rong might as well have fallen from the sky. Zhao Shu and Zhao Guo looked to Xiao Yuanyao. He only said, “Go pick up the things.”
The two brothers obeyed at once. They slipped past Shen Rong on either side, then bolted away with their arms pumping.
Shen Rong: “…”
Xiao Yuanyao walked over. “May I ask your surname, honored benefactor?”
Shen Rong rubbed his nose. “Uh, no need for formalities. My surname is Shen. I’m Shen Rong. You can just call me by my name.”
Xiao Yuanyao repeated, “Shen Rong?”
Shen Rong instinctively replied, “That’s right. And you? What’s your name?”
“Zhao Da.”
Shen Rong: “…”
Xiao Yuanyao remained expressionless. “The two who just went by are my brothers, Zhao Er and Zhao San. This place isn’t safe. Where do you live? We’ll escort you home.”
Shen Rong had just gotten a close-up look at what it meant to lie through your teeth with a straight face.
Zhao Da? How did either of those two characters fit Xiao Yuanyao?
If Shen Rong didn’t have a system, he might really have believed the founding emperor had started out with a lowborn name like that!
But he couldn’t call Xiao Yuanyao out, and he didn’t dare laugh, in case the man drew his sword again. So he put on an equally grave expression. To anyone watching, he looked rather inscrutable.
“I can’t go home,” Shen Rong said.
Someone picked up the thread. “What do you mean, you can’t go home? Are your parents dead?”
Another voice asked, “Did bandits wipe out your village?”
Someone else said, “Or did the magistrate conscript you by force?”
In three short questions, they had summed up the brutal state of the world. Ordinary people either lost their families, suffered at the hands of officials, or, worse still, got robbed and slaughtered by bandits.
“Neither. I just can’t go back, that’s all.”
The men who had spoken fell silent. They bowed deeply to Shen Rong several times, then turned and bowed to the bodhisattva, as if they thought Shen Rong was the bodhisattva in human form.
Just then, Zhao Er and Zhao San returned with the things they had gone to collect. Xiao Yuanyao led the men into the temple and shut the doors behind them.
Shen Rong followed. “We’re not leaving after all?”
“We are, but not yet. If you can’t go home, you’ll have to beg along the road. But you saved our lives, so I’ll escort you to the nearest county seat. You can find work there and support yourself.” He paused, then added, “If you do well, you can get yourself some decent clothes.”
Shen Rong couldn’t let that happen. Xiao Yuanyao had clearly lied about his name because he didn’t trust Shen Rong. That was understandable, given Shen Rong’s spectacular entrance and his short-sleeved shirt, shorts, and giant slippers. But Xiao Yuanyao couldn’t just send him away.
Without Xiao Yuanyao, he’d be running into trouble everywhere.
Shen Rong’s mind raced. Seeing Zhao Er and Zhao San in their tattered uniforms, he immediately said, “Why don’t I enlist with you? At least I’ll have a way to earn my keep.”
“No.” Xiao Yuanyao refused without a second thought.
Shen Rong widened his eyes. “Why not? I just turned eighteen!”
Xiao Yuanyao didn’t mince words. “Someone like you would die the moment you set foot on a battlefield.”
Shen Rong: “…”
That made sense, but somehow it still made him want to hit someone.
“Squad Leader, the swords.” Zhao Guo came over with several swords. Xiao Yuanyao turned to look.
“What’s in your palm?”
Zhao Guo opened his hand. “I don’t know. I found these near the swords.”
In his palm lay several round beads, like pearls. They felt heavy in the hand. Xiao Yuanyao picked one up, and Shen Rong immediately said, “Those are mine. I fired nine of them in all, to scare off those horsemen.”
Zhao Guo gave Xiao Yuanyao a subtle nod. Nine, just as Shen Rong had said.
Xiao Yuanyao took the handful of beads and quietly rubbed one between his fingers. He couldn’t crush it.
Then he handed them back to Shen Rong. “Keep them safe.”
Shen Rong hurriedly gathered them up. If he’d known he’d end up in another world, he would’ve brought a few more packs of steel pellets for protection.
As he wondered how to attach himself to Xiao Yuanyao’s group, the Zhao brothers spoke up. “Squad Leader, we looked around while we were gathering the things. Shuangshen Mountain is high and densely wooded, and it’s right next to the river. The paths will be hard to follow at night.”
Someone else added, “Before I joined the army, I lived nearby. The villagers say there are two immortals on this mountain, which is why it’s called Shuangshen Mountain. They built several temples here, and this is one of them. There is something strange about the mountain. At night, people always lose their way, and even the best hunters don’t dare come up here after dark.”
Xiao Yuanyao said, “We can’t spend the night here.”
Zhao Shu was very composed. “The Squad Leader is right. The pursuers have retreated, but they could come back at any time. And we’re close to King Liang’s territory. It’s too dangerous.”
Zhao Guo added, “So we have to leave, whether we want to or not.”
The others looked utterly forlorn.
As they discussed their plans, Shen Rong took the chance to pack his tools back into the box. Xiao Yuanyao caught a glimpse of them, only making out what seemed to be a small hammer. He didn’t recognize anything else.
So the sounds from earlier had come from this little hammer striking something?
Xiao Yuanyao listened with half his mind while watching Shen Rong fuss over the toolbox as if it were precious. It probably held a family heirloom.
He looked away. “This temple has two doors. The front door is here, and the back door is behind the bodhisattva statue. It’s small and buried under a mound of collapsed earth, so most people wouldn’t find it. We’ll leave that way.”
Zhao Guo suddenly understood. So that was it!
The Squad Leader had spotted the escape route long ago. There was no other reason he would have set fire to the temple. Even if it really caught, they could still escape like a cicada shedding its shell! The Zhao brothers looked at Xiao Yuanyao with shining eyes.
Shen Rong knew that look.
The big spenders who came to him to have knives, swords, and gear sharpened looked at him the same way.
It was a look full of both admiration and trust. The Zhao brothers’ was even more intense. No wonder they were among the first to follow Xiao Yuanyao. They were hardcore fans.
But the Shuangshen Mountain they were talking about… Wasn’t this the mountain the system’s navigation had lit up for him?
With a thought, a 3D model of two mountains appeared in Shen Rong’s mind. He could even spin it around a full 360 degrees.
Maybe he’d judged the system too soon. This useless thing might actually be good for something.
In the lower-right corner of the 3D map were a few lines of text. Shen Rong focused on them. The first read: Secret Rendezvous Route (Recommended). The second: Romantic Sunrise Route (Must-See). The third: Shuangshen Mountain Day Trip, Local Specialties (Optional).
Shen Rong: “…”
He’d praised it too soon. Useless system. With everything going on, all it cared about was romance!
He shouted in his mind: Give me the fastest route down the mountain!
【Of course, host. Walking navigation is now on! The scenery may be beautiful, but it can’t compare to the one in front of you. Today you don’t mind his ragged clothes, tomorrow he’ll give you a whole world of splendor. Take Xiao Yuanyao with you and start down the right path!】
Zhao Guo ran over, covered in dust. “It’s dug out!”
“Let’s go.”
Xiao Yuanyao strode ahead, then turned to call, “Come on. We’ll head down first.”
Shen Rong: “…”
The navigation’s pink marker pointed toward the main entrance, which was the exact opposite of the path Xiao Yuanyao had chosen.
The 3D map showed that the only things straight ahead in the general direction of Xiao Yuanyao’s route were a sheer cliff and the rushing river.
Shen Rong: “…”
Author’s Note:
First step to joining the team: challenge the captain’s authority. (shrugs)