Yang Wu

"Hey hey, I'm in luck!" Yang Wu thought as he carefully hid the piece of bread he found in the street, he looked around to be sure no one else saw him and quickly left towards a corner away from the busy avenue.

His stomach spontaneously twitched in excitement for its first meal in the morning.

He carefully wiped away the dirt on the bread and slowly savored it, "It's fresh! Hah!"

After the banquet, Yang Wu went to the river and cleaned himself and his clothes. That was the Gang River, one of his two supports since he crossed over to a place he deemed as "another world."

It was not a very big river, but wide and deep enough for big boats and ships to come and go as they pleased. It traversed the whole Han State and cut Ying City in half before sailing to the Western Sea

"Mu Boy, help me here!" an old woman shouted as she was busy trying to carry some pottery, she was struggling to stay straight.

"No!" Yang Wu shook his head and quickly ran away, he hated that old woman as much as he could. He never forgot the meals she stole from him when he was younger.

Ying City was a prosperous city, for those who are prosperous. And a dirty city, for those who are dirty.

Yang Wu crossed over to this unknown world as a little baby, waiting to be devoured by feral dogs or worse things. Luckily, however, he was found and taken care of by an orphanage until he had enough strength to find food by himself, at around five years old.

Since then, he lived struggling to keep himself alive and help the orphanage as he could.

"Mu Boy, it's good you keep the habit of cleaning yourself," an old man said as he was busy repairing the orphanage's main door, "Life in the streets is difficult, I know it well."

"Old Gu, I found some lost coins yesterday," Yang Wu went directly to the business, "Seven copper coins are enough to keep the kid's stomach full for a whole day, right?"

Old Gu stopped what he was doing and sighed as he wiped the sweat from his forehead, "You are a kid yourself, keep some to you."

"I already ate enough," Yang Wu smiled and stuffed the coins inside Old Gu's pocket before he could react.

"We are lucky to have a smart kid like you around," Old Gu smiled and stroked his beard in melancholy, "To think that lost skinny baby would grow to help us so much"

"I'm just repaying the cause and effect," Yang Wu said in a low voice, "If not for you, I would have been devoured by either beasts or humans."

"Any bullshit cause and effect," Old Gu laughed hard, "I only know about the human heart, and how dark it is."

Both stayed silent for a moment before a young girl suddenly appeared from inside the orphanage and begged, "I'm hungry, Grandpa, there's food?"

Yang Wu eyes's shook for a moment before he hurriedly ran away, as if afraid of something.

Old Gu sighed upon seeing this but didn't stop him and instead went inside to arrange the other kids.

At sunset, Yang Wu was sitting beside the Gang River, looking at the busy course of boats and ships. Some bones were at his side, he was lucky enough to catch a fish and even luckier to not be robbed as he grilled and ate it.

This time he didn't give the fish to the orphanage, since he also needed nutrients to stay alive and grow, he was still a kid after all.

He looked at the sky and wondered about his life and his past life.

"Not bad..." he muttered to the wind, and only he knew how conflicted his feelings were.

He never thought about practicing martial arts in this world, since he discovered the people there didn't seem to know about anything similar to it, only some mediocre health-preserving techniques.

'Since there are no martial arts like the ones in my original world, why bother?' he thought to himself, the years since his death were not enough to wash some negative feelings he had.

Time passed as quickly as it always passed.

Eight, Ten, Twelve, Fourteen years old.

At this time, Yang Wu didn't need to beg and search for lost food anymore. He used his previous life knowledge to make a small name for himself inside one of the city's many smithies (forges).

When one of the smithies seemed to need a strong arm to hammer, Yang Wu didn't hesitate to brag a lot about his skills to the owner, who was comically dubious of his words, the words of a small beggar, so much that he challenged Yang Wu to show his "mighty skills" after the same bothered him non-stop during days. If it was true, he would be rewarded by the owner, but if not... he would not like the result.

Of course, Yang Wu didn't show all his skills, but only enough to be considered a very talented youngster by the owner and then be hired as an apprentice.

Since then, Yang Wu was promoted from a beggar to a regular worker in the busy streets.

"Big Guy! Bad news!" a young kid interrupted his work one day, it was one of the orphanage's many kids.

Yang Wu wiped the sweat out of his forehead and had a bad premonition after seeing the tears on the kid's face

It turned out that Old Gu died suddenly after a strong ache in his chest.

Yang Wu didn't hesitate to run to the orphanage while carrying the kid in his arms.

"Little Mu, you were finally here..." Madam Su was crying at the orphanage's door, she was the lifelong companion of Old Gu.

"It's okay to cry, it's okay to cry..." he gently embraced her and tapped the back of her head.

Yang Wu couldn't help but be deeply sad and cry, they were the closest thing to a family he had since crossing into this new world.

Old Gu died just a few days before his eighty birthday, he was full of days by the standard of this world.

Yang Wu carefully arranged Gu Sheng's funeral while comforting Madam Gu and the kids. He didn't spare his money and even borrowed a lot to quickly reform the decaying orphanage, all for the sake of making them feel a bit better.

He knew the time of Madam Su was coming as well, so he also made plans for the future of the kids, he didn't want to take the orphanage over.

He was right, when he just turned sixteen, Madam Su fell seriously ill and died a few days later. The two pillars of the orphanage were dead, and so the weight of the kid's future was about to fall on Yang Wu's shoulders.

But he was prepared for it, and already found someone willing to take care of the kids. It was a rich old couple who came from afar, they are new to the city and had good hearts, or at least they strongly appeared to have.

After seeing the well-nourished kids and reformed orphanages, they praised Old Gu and Madam Su for doing a good job, Yang Wu didn't interrupt them and smiled instead.

The couple wasn't taking over only that orphanage, but also eight more. They are adepts of the folk belief of accumulating merits for a good next life. And as they are filthy rich, numbers are only numbers for them.

They tried to contract Yang Wu as the caretaker of the orphanage, but he gently refused arguing that his dream was to become a great Smith.

The kids are sad at his refusal, but he didn't falter. He would help the kids with money and visit them from time to time, but he didn't wish to stay the rest of his life bonded to this heavy duty.

Moreover, over time the faces will change, and so will the hearts.

When he turned seventeen, he was promoted and became an official blacksmith, the youngest in the city. Many were in awe of his talent, but that was it. Outside Ying City, there were more talented people anyway, and that was the reason Yang Wu choose to show more of his skills, he didn't want to attract more attention than he could bear.

Of course, the Smithy owner was extremely happy that fame came to his place, for it normally meant more money.

Indeed, the smithy had more income as the days passed and their reputations spread. Many smiths wanted to work there and many young people wanted to learn from the owner, but he knew well he wasn't a great teacher at all, Yang Wu was just "talented."

Yang Wu was satisfied with his current life, he had no more worries about money and could make a living for the rest of his life. The orphanage was no more a heavy burden and the only people he had heavy emotional attachments to died of old age.

It was empty, yes, but he liked it this way, he didn't want to be in the limelight as he was in his past life. He had enough of it. He didn't even care about the reason he crossed over, he only wanted to live his life calmly and die of old age as the Gu couple, and then be buried close to them. Even if there is war, and even if those close to him might be in danger, he won't regret not practicing martial arts.

"That would be a fulfilling life," he always said to himself.

But... Since when life was as people wanted it to be? And since when was the human heart controllable?

When he turned eighteen, the flames of war spread from the capital of the Han State, the king was dead and his brother was a king slayer.

Ying City wasn't spared, many fled, and many couldn't. The smithies were in the center of the vortex since they were essential to the war effort.

Yang Wu was forcibly enlisted into the second army of the king slayer, and the owner of the smithy was sent to the first army.

Yang Wu's only reason to comfort himself was that he would be valued regardless of the side he goes since he was an official blacksmith. He wouldn't be killed as cannon fodder and will always have the chance to switch sides. But of course, he didn't really care much about his fate in this world.

His image was that of a blacksmith who specialized in swordsmith, so he was ordered to forge as many swords as he could. Every sword forged was one more credit to him. As for how valuable those so-called "credits" were, Yang Wu knew well, it was shit.

He had no choice anyway, but as his only revenge, he was sure to make swords that will turn brittle only after a long time, to not be suspected. This way, they will act normal for a while, but when everyone forgets who forged them, they will turn as brittle as sand.

Army swords don't need to be marked with his name anyway, only the mark of the "mighty second army."

After a few months of the war, it was clear that king slayer was going to win, so the neutral parties joined him and quickly crushed the former king's remaining forces.

After a year, Yang Wu was sent back to Ying City with papers proving that he had redeemable "credits." That's right, he was unable to redeem the credits he had, on the excuse that the Han State needed resources to help the poor and victims of war.

All he could do was curse since he was just a small mob. But even then, he didn't regret not practicing martial arts, he would rather die.

He continued his life as a smith, sometimes enjoying the orphanage's kids' company, and also going to some "entertaining" places with some orphanage's guys that managed to survive the tough times and grow up to be independent adults like him.

"I miss them," Gu Xi, the only adopted son of the Gu couple, said as he drank a mouthful of strong beer.

Along with him were Yang Wu and the other three guys from the orphanage, they are all taken care of since they were little by the orphanage... and Yang Wu.

"Big Brother," Gu Xi said with red eyes, "Do you think I should try and take over the orphanage?"

Yang Wu stayed silent for a moment before saying, "You are too stupid to take care of so many kids."

"Kekeke" the others laughed after hearing this and provoked Gu Xi, "You are about to be sucked dry by those witches from the red building, and still want to take care of others?"

Gu Xi snorted at them and stayed silent as he drank more.

"Big Brother, what are your plans for the future now that the war has ended?" Fang Xi, the youngest of them, asked.

"Just do what I can do," Yang Wu said without much change of expression, "You guys are the ones who should be thinking about the future, not me, I'm just waiting for my time."

"You really never change, Big Brother..." Gu Xi and Fang Xi said in unison, they knew well the kind of temperament he had.

"I once heard a rumor in the orphanage," Fang Xi suddenly mentioned while holding his laughter, "It was said that Big Brother had problems in his... well, in his masculine parts...

"And that it was the reason you were so grumpy..."

Yang Wu twitched the corners of his mouth and almost slapped Fang Xi out of anger, he remembered those rumors, but he hoped everyone would just feign ignorance and never mention them in his presence, it was too... awkward.

"Who was the one who spread those lies!?" Gu Xi shouted in anger as if he never heard about it before, "I will tear his mouth apart!"

Fang Xi looked at him as if looking at a piece of shit, "Bai Ying."

Gu Xi staggered when he heard the name and asked with a dubious expression, "Who?"

"Bai Ying," Fang Xi said with a mischievous smile, "What? You chicken?"

Gu Xi almost cursed at his own loud mouth and feigned ignorance as he returned to his drinking as if nothing happened.

"Big Brother, do you like Bai Ying?" Fang Xi asked suddenly, almost making Yang Wu spit all the wine he had inside his mouth.

"Bastard!" he cursed Fang Xi, "Can't you control your tongue for a single moment?"

"I can!" Fang Xi said righteously, "Could it be that I will be talking all day long? There will be a moment when I have to occupy my mouth with other things."

"Like a dick," Gu Xi muttered high enough for everyone to hear.

Fang Xi gave Gu Xi a sharp look and was about to curse his three generations of ancestors and descendants that would be born, but was stopped by Fang Wu, who gently...

"Stop! I'm wrong!" Fang Xi shouted with all his might but to no avail as Yang Wu kept punching him where it hurts but not hurt. (Just try to understand it, practice your interpretation skills!)

As a retired Martial Sage, Yang Wu naturally knows how to teach a good lesson to a disobedient junior like Fang Xi.

As the reason he was angry enough to beat the shit out of him, to the point of scaring the others enough for them to think he was committing murder, it was... the feeling of absurdity.

He was someone who could be their ancestors by a large margin, someone old enough to be called an old monster. He was indeed in a young body, but it didn't change who he was. And now a junior that he saw growing up was daring enough to "humiliate" him by asking if he was interested in a kid young enough to be his grand grand granddaughter or even more distant, Bai Ying.

"Listen well, young bastard!" Yang Wu scolded after seeing Fang Xi was about to pass out from the pain, "You all will always be kids in my sight, don't try to set me up again!

"And you guys!" he then looked at the others, who immediately felt chicken, "Don't you dare mention this to anyone, did you understand!?"

They could only nod and make oaths to the heavens, their ancestors, the ancestors of their ancestors, the earth, the emperor, the king, the human race, the rivers, the seas, the clouds, and anything that could bear an oath, that they would never say this to others.

Yang Wu knew well their oaths were valuable as shit, but he had to keep the bearing of a "Senior" in any case, it was something engraved in his mind.

"Tell me," Yang Wu then asked Fang Xi, who feigned death on the ground, "It was Bai Ying that asked you to come and ask me?"

"How do you know?" Fang Xi was so surprised he forgot to continue feigning death.

"Tell her to forget her stupid thoughts," Yang Wu said with a dark expression, "Otherwise I will personally find her a new surname!"

After kicking the others from his house, he sighed and massaged his temples with a bitter smile.

He knew young people in this world gave great importance to finding partners while still young, but it was a headache to be looked at with romantic affection by a "small girl." No matter how beautiful she grew up to be, she was still a kid to him, he couldn't accept her, even if it hurt her.

The next day...

"Big Brother! How dare you!?" Bai Ying shouted with an unbelievable expression, "How can you find me a new surname without my permission?"

Yang Wu's face was as dark as charcoal, and he didn't bother to waste his words. He knew her well, and she wasn't stupid enough to not understand he was just trying to keep distance, and would never do such a thing.

He just tapped her forehead with his middle finger ruthlessly, saying, "Stop wasting your time, go work before your boss kicks you out of his shop."

Bai Ying didn't retreat at his words, and said, "No! I won't go before you apologize for doing such a thing to me!"

"Wha the fuck..." Yang Wu smiled out of rage, "What did I even do!?"

"You broke my heart!" Bai Ying shouted with all her might, attracting the attention of many passing by his home, they looked at them as if looking at a bored couple.

Yang Wu looked coldly at her and then sighed, "You are really hard to deal with."

Bai Ying was about to feel triumphant but then heard him say with a voice as calm as the surface of an old pond: "I'm not saying this out of petty feelings... It's really impossible for us."

Looking at Yang Wu's calm but not cold eyes, Bai Ying suddenly felt bad all over, and asked, still not believing she had no chance, "Why? Am I not beautiful?"

Yang Wu shook his head and bitterly laughed, "It has never been about your skin and bones but about the difference between us."

"Are you that kind of person?" Bai Ying asked with sadness in her voice, believing he was referring to the difference in social status between them.

Guessing what she was thinking, Yang Wu explained, "It's not about money and status either, but about who we really are.

"I'm superficially young but already rotten fruit, beautiful at a glance but without room to develop. You are both beautiful and full of youthful taste, and have a lot of room to mature.

"Even if you think I'm a good partner to you, the truth is that you have seen too little of this world, and your vision is still shallow."

Bai Ying had many questions about his words, but she had no chance to ask as he simply entered his house and refused to listen to her.

Yang Wu felt an increasingly big headache coming the next few years. He knew the reason for it.

Since when he was little, he was always more quick-witted, strong, and independent than other boys, and this would naturally attract the attention of young girls who grew up alongside him.

"Alas..." he sighed and used the back door of his house to leave and go to his work, but stopped after seeing Bai Ying just outside, obviously foreseeing his actions.

"This girl is hopeless..." he massaged his temples hard and decided to take a day off to arrange his thoughts and figure out what he would do about this.

But things were beyond his expectations.

As if a pie fell from the sky, the owner of the smith visited his house and asked, full of worry, why he didn't go to work.

"I'm just feeling a bit unwell, I will be alright after a short rest..." Yang Wu said with a smile as he served a cup of tea.

"Oh! That's right! I got some good news for you!" the owner, whose name was Yu Wentai, said, "The new royal court sent an invitation to you, asking whether you are interested in being a trial royal smith at the capital."

"Trial royal smith?" Yang Wu showed great surprise, "I don't think my level of skill is enough for it."

"I think so..." Yu Wentai nodded, "But the key is your age. You are still too young, they might value your potential rather than your actual self."

Yang Wu was about to refuse but then remembered the little girl outside, just waiting for the opportunity to importune him.

'Do I want to go to the capital?' Yang Wu seriously asked himself.

"I think it's hard for you to decide soon, so I..." Yu Wentai saw his pensive look and was about to give him some time to think.

"I agree," Yang Wu agreed and smiled bitterly, "I think it will be a good thing for my future."

He was lying, he didn't give much thought to his future.

But Yang Wu was suddenly embarrassed in his heart, 'To think the mighty Martial Sage would choose to run away from a little girl.'

But he did not have much choice, even if they were not romantic, he had feelings towards Bai Ying, he saw her as a precious adopted grand grand granddaughter. He didn't want to hurt her too much and also wanted her to forget about him in a romantic view.

He hoped time would fix things.

And, they seemingly did. After a few years working as a trial royal smith, he received some letters from the orphanage "no-more-kids-but-adults" and discovered Bai Ying found a nice young partner for her, he was a scholar and had a good upbringing and reputation, they would marry a few months later.

After receiving the news, Yang Wu was so happy he spent a whole night at the capital's "pleasure" street. He enjoyed as much as he could and didn't care about the whispers of jealous people trying to smear his righteous reputation.

In just seven years, he was promoted to be an official royal smith. He was the youngest in Han State history and was personally praised by the new King Han, Han Huang.

He looked at the Han State capital, Yang Royal City, from a high building. And muttered to himself, "This world is better than my previous one."

He was talking about a single fact. In his previous world, even if the king and nobles were cruel, it was too difficult for the common people to successfully rebel. Martial Arts were the dominant factor in that world. But in this world, there's no such thing as a one-man army. No man was invulnerable to a rusty sword in the hands of a farmer, no matter how strong their mortal bodies were.

Common people only needed good leadership to rebel and overthrow the corrupt nobles, martial arts were nowhere to be seen.

While looking at the scenery, Yang Wu drank a mouthful of rice wine and began to sing an old folk song from his previous world.

"...The people might die but the land refreshes."

Since he didn't practice martial arts, he aged like any normal human being. When he was thirty, he showed the first signs of the time's erosion. When he was forty, his body was beginning to lose its strength.

Yang Wu was successful in his life, he became a royal smith when still young, and gained the reputation of a Smith Sage when he turned forty, it made him silent for many days...

The people in Ying City remained in contact with him, and he would occasionally visit them, and vice versa. He felt his present life was more meaningful than his last one.

When he turned fifty, Gui Xi died of sickness. Yang Wu was deeply sad and stayed in Ying City for a whole year, ignoring the royal court and its mechanisms completely.

He felt the time was coming for everyone, so he decisively retired from his "throne" in the capital, saying he was tired of the court's political schemes. Thanks to the connections he built, he didn't suffer any serious consequences, the king even bestowed him the title of a viscount, hoping he would leave being a few talented descendants.

But unfortunately, Yang Wu never had the thought of being a father.

When he was sixty, only Fang Xi and Bai Ying remained from the original orphanage kids. They were old but happy. They spent their last days in the company of Yang Wu. They died soon after, because of a harsh winter.

When he was sixty-five, Yang Wu felt his time was coming. His body had no more strength, and his voice was hollow.

He silently picked up a pen and wrote a lot about his Smith experience. Of course, he kept it to the level of an ordinary mortal, but it would still be a great treasure to this world. He sent it to the current king and asked him to build new orphanages in Ying City.

The king was happy with his offering and ordered orphanages to be built both in Ying City and Yang Royal City.

After a few days, Yang Wu died. Full of days and happy by seeing the new orphanages being built. His heart healed a little...

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He looked around and found himself alone in a dark unfamiliar corner, and all he could see was... his tiny body badly wrapped in a rag. All he could feel was the deadly cold biting his skin and lungs.

The moon was the only light, and the floor was his only embrace. The wind was his only comfort...

"A dream...?" his first thought was if he was dreaming, but then remembered his identity. Yang Wu, the Martial Sage. Mu Xing, the Smith Sage, who was just then dying with a smile on his old face.

'Did I go back to the past?' he thought to himself after seeing his tiny baby body but then dispelled this idea. He still remembered well the day he was reborn in the Han State, the surroundings were similar but different, moreover... he remember he wasn't wearing green rags at that time, but brown ones.

'What is wrong with me...' Yang Wu felt really tired, and for the first time since the first time he was a baby, he cried like a newborn.

"A baby?" a surprised voice interrupted the wind's melody.