Xia Xuan-Xuan (1)

"Aargh!" an intense headache came to Yanglin without warning. The torture exceeds all the pain he experienced so far in his life.

But as the pain subsided, it felt like the original memories from this body had integrated with his own. This allowed him to spontaneously remembered what the owner of this body had gone through before he passed away.

'To think that both of us had such an experience... Is this how good people like us would get treated, no matter what kind of world we're in?' Yanglin took the village identity token out from his waist belt. The only thing left to differentiate between him and the original owner was this token in his hand.

He's also called Yanglin.

But the name and cause of death was the only similarity between them. Unlike the Yanglin from the modern earth, the one who originated here was illiterate. He couldn't even memorize over ten letters, including his own name, let alone writing.

Based on the memory that belonged to the original owner of this body, it seems the language and writing were similar to the modern earth.

And there was another difference between this place and modern earth.

The concentration of Spiritual Energy, known as Qi, was richer here. This allowed the land to groom cultivators, where each of them was at least two to threefold stronger than a commoner. But for him to understand more about cultivation, he would have to research more about it after going back to the village.

Using the fragment of memory still left in this body, Yanglin tried to look for his way back to the village. He knew that he was an orphan here. Both of his parents passed away two years ago due to a disease.

So far, he was managed to live on comfortably due to the help of a widow living next door. But his heart was eventually crushed to shards after knowing the reason she was taking care of him.

It was because she wanted him to be her daughter's servant when both of them were at the age to be accepted into a nearby sect. That was also the last straw that kept this world's Yanglin attachment to this world. To someone who lost his parents, this was like a betrayal to his fragile heart.

Disappointed with his life so far, he chose to end his own life. But as the original soul left this body after suicide, it was taken by the modern world's Yanglin. As the soul and body seem to be compatible, the assimilation process went on smoother as he thought.

By the time he opened his eyes, the modern world Yanglin already took over this body before he knew.

"I should make my way back to the village... But before this, I should make you a memorial tablet to remember that you existed..."

"This world's Yanglin... Rest in peace, and let me continue to walk the path you left behind. If you may, please protect me from up there." he said.

After feeling that he had done everything he should, Yanglin departed. Following the trail that leads him back to the upper part of the cliff, he finally found the road leading back to the village where he came from.

By the time he entered the village, he was the laughingstock of the people here because of what happened earlier. It seems that the youths from this village were another reason this world's Yanglin was heartbroken.

As someone with between five to ten million words read in his lifetime, he can be said to have the knowledge of a master saint level in eastern fantasy. Being thrown into a setting like this was like giving him a handicap that he doesn't even need.

Until...

"Idiot. Are you still not coming over to eat? You want to die before going to the Guangming Sect?" a lady about Yanglin's age pushed the door open. Since it was a broken shack with nothing much, the thieves wouldn't even be interested in this house.

Yanglin gave up. He understands that to achieve independence, what he need was not strength nor attitude, but food. It came as a surprise to him to notice that this house practically had nothing. Not even a piece of meat jerky can be seen inside the claywares.

And for water, he had to go to the nearby well to pull it up by himself. As someone who never does these kinds of heavy works before, it was torture.

"Quickly come and grab something to eat. Then get back to sleep after that. Don't forget that you're going to accompany me to the village library tomorrow." said the young maiden before she turned and getting ready to leave.

Once again, he dragged his tired body to the widow's house.

Looking at the leftover dishes left on the table, Yanglin felt that maybe the widow was not as a terrible person as he had thought. But he soon found out that the reason he was fed well wasn't that the widow is concerned about him.

It was because a servant can only work his hardest while he's fully fed. If it was not because feeding Yanglin would only take a few potatoes and wild mushrooms, how could she, a single woman, able to pay for the expenses?

"Yanglin, make sure you stay beside Xuan-Er's side at all times when you're at the library with her tomorrow. Since you can't read a single word from the manuals anyway, so don't bother to loiter around for nothing." the widow said.

Before this, an order like this was all he could have asked for. That was because to the Yanglin from this world, being able to stay by Xia Xuan-Xuan's side was the greatest blessing he could have wished for.

But for the Yanglin right now, it was a bother. If it was not because the place she's going was the library full of books, he would be crying stomachache tomorrow morning to escape from accompanying her.

"Yanglin! Did you hear what I was saying?" the widow asked.

"Yes... I'll accompany her to the library tomorrow. Is there anything else?" Yanglin answered the widow.

"Nothing. Go back and sleep. You better not fall asleep tomorrow in the library and end up making Xuan-Er lose face tomorrow." the widow added before keeping returning to her room. It seems she's expecting Yanglin to clean the dishes after eating.

'Well... I won't be courteous then.' Yanglin stuff the leftover bun and potatoes inside his robe before cleaning. After finishing what he had to do, he returned to his own broken shack.