Chapter 3: The World

The riverbank was strewn with boulders, but Yun Ye walked steadily. Just last night, he vowed to never be weak again. His wife and son were in his heart, filling his chest with warmth. He was going to take his family and venture into this unknown world. He believed that as long as they were not in the wild, it would not be difficult to build a home here with his own nimble hands. He was no longer afraid of any wild beasts, and the situation could not be any worse. Leaving the herd and surviving alone in the wilderness, Yun Ye took it as the first step in living here.

His feet left deep marks in the yellow sand, and a small horse limped behind him. It was a wounded horse that had been abandoned by the herd. The wolf had torn the skin of its hind legs, and in the scorching sun, it soon rotted. In the morning, the herd went to the grassland to graze, leaving it alone by the river to die.

Yun Ye cleaned the wound and applied precious white medicine to the wound, believing that it would heal in a few days. Yun Ye took this as a final repayment to the herd. Then, waving goodbye to it, he set out on the road to find the herd.

For some reason, the little horse struggled to get up, looked at the place where the herd of horses had left, and walked with difficulty in the direction of Yun Ye. Yun Ye heard the little horse’s footsteps, but did not turn back, only slowing down. Yun Ye stopped, the little horse stopped, Yun Ye walked, the little horse walked. Walking and stopping, one person and one horse, walking quite affectionately along the long river.

The midday sun became fierce, and the sweat soaked the clothes. Yun Ye found a patch of shade, which was a huge locust tree. The curved branches covered a full half acre of land, and there was only short grass under the tree, making it a good place to rest.

Yun Ye sat heavily on the protruding roots of the tree, unbuttoned his shirt, and drank a big gulp of water, which quenched the summer heat. Just as he was about to take a short nap, Xiaoma came over and gently nudged his head back and forth, looking as if he wanted to drink. Yun Ye took out a frying pan, filled it with water, and Xiaoma was not polite, bowing his head and drinking.

Yun Ye put down his backpack and checked his wound. Fortunately, the wound had not split. He didn’t know if it was the miraculous effect of the medicine or the good constitution of the pony, but the wound had actually grown a layer of membrane. No wonder it could follow him for so long. Yun Ye rested his head on his backpack and chewed the remaining wolf meat in his mouth. There wasn’t much food left, so he saved as much as he could. The pony lay next to Yun Ye, chewing the grass that Yun Ye had cut, mouthful after mouthful.

“You’re just following me? I don’t even know where I’m going yet. You deserve to be unlucky.”

“You know, following a boss with no future, it’s agreed, you can’t regret following me.”

“The heavens have abandoned me to my fate in the wilderness. I’ve accepted my fate. We’ll live a wonderful life in this world, and you’ll have a good time in the future.”

“You can be called Wangcai from now on, bringing us both fortune and wealth, how about it?”

“That’s a great name. You can’t come up with a name like that unless you’ve got a lot of character.”

“Don’t spit. I like this name very much. Look at you, you’re covered in mud. It would be a shame not to call you this name.”

Yun Ye babbled on, and Wangcai listened with his eyes closed. After a while, Yun Ye’s voice became lower and lower, gradually inaudible…

A burst of hooves woke Yun Ye, who rolled over and looked in surprise at the dense forest to the right, from where the sound had come. Wangcai also stood up, standing obediently next to him, wagging his tail without making a sound.

There were two horses, and the sound of their hooves was quick and regular. It wasn’t wild horses running. Yun Ye felt his blood rushing to his head, and he picked up his engineer’s shovel and rushed into the woods like the wind, cutting through the weeds and breaking off the bushes, scaring countless birds and birds. Wangcai stayed far away, not understanding what his master and big brother was crazy about.

When Yun Ye panted and hacked down the last bush, the sound of hooves gradually faded away. Looking at the dust on the Yellow Earth Avenue gradually subsiding, Yun Ye burst into laughter. His face was covered with tears and snot, but he didn’t care, and he fell to the yellow earth and burst into tears again.

This is the trace of human civilization, it winds its way into the distance, parallel to the Yellow River. Yun Ye decided that this was the road that connected Lanzhou, and now, it might be called the Chidao. Two ancient people had just passed by on horseback, and Yun Ye felt strange. Although he had seen many ancient people, they were mummies and dry corpses. The beauty of the Mawangdui tombs was no better!

The afternoon sun shone on the deserted ancient road, making it seem quiet and desolate. To Yun Ye, it was a road leading to the unknown, a step into heaven and a step into hell.

Yun Ye found people, and at the moment when he was about to return to the crowd, he hesitated. Heaven or hell? Should he take this step? In this world, he is a non-existent person, like a pool of water. If he throws a stone in, will the ripples drown him? The unknown is terrifying. He, who knows nothing about this world, is filled with great fear.

Sweat dripped down his chin. Wangcai stuck his head over and licked my sweat, as if to comfort him.

Standing by the river, I carefully washed away the dirt on my body with the river water. My clothes were in tatters, barely covering my body after nearly a month of hard work. I still washed them clean and tied them on my body. Fortunately, the backpack was made of soft leather and was not damaged in any way. Seeing Wangcai covered in mud, I washed him as well. The cold river water poured over his body, and Wangcai liked it and “neigh-neighed” happily.

He walked on the yellow earth road, not caring where he was going. He followed the road and could always see people. The footprints, hoof prints, and ruts on the road became denser and denser, and he believed that he was getting closer and closer to the village and the city. He had no panic in his heart, and he had to be bold when the time came.

After passing through a meadow, the sound of people came. Looking in the direction of the sound, he saw a dozen ox carts parked in a circle on the side of the road. A flag was inserted into the cart, and a large Tang character fluttered in the wind. Yun Ye’s heart jumped. Sure enough, he returned to the Tang Dynasty and didn’t know who the emperor was.

Yun Ye looked at the group of ancient people with great interest. They were dressed in blue robes that reached their knees, linen pants, cowhide shoes, and their hair was tied up in a high bun and held in place with a wooden stick. Is this the attire of the common people? Several of them were wearing leather armor and had a sword at their waist, looking very imposing. The leader, a bearded man, saw Yun Ye peeking at him and walked towards him with a sword in his hand.

“Qiang kid, you dare to rob the grain cart, you really have a lot of guts!” After saying that, the bright cross-sword was unsheathed and was about to be chopped down.

Great, the familiar Guan Zhong accent. Yun Ye quickly stepped back, waving his hands in confusion, and the Shaanxi dialect came out of his mouth: “This brave man, who is a Qiang person? You must have mistaken someone.”

The man’s hand did not let go of the knife, which stopped in mid-air. His eyes were full of doubt: “Hey, a boy from Guanzhong, why did you come to Longyou? Where is your family?”

“There is no adult, the master is dead, I came out of the mountains alone, I am alone.”

The man unsheathed his sword and put it back in its sheath, staring at Yun Ye up and down, and then walked up to him and sniffed. “There’s no smell of sheep. He’s a native of Guanzhong. What’s a little kid like you doing wandering around?”

“What if you feed the wolves?”

Wangcai saw that the strong man was not letting go of Yun Ye, so he gave up and bit him. The strong man let go, raised his left hand, and flashed his right hand to grab Wangcai’s chin. Wangcai screamed in pain, and the strong man laughed and let go. He pressed Wangcai’s back and said, “Good horse!”

The other men laughed heartily at the sight of Yun Ye and Wang Cai. Wang Cai was afraid of meeting strangers and hid behind Yun Ye to secretly watch these men. The leader of the men was also watching Yun Ye. Seeing that Yun Ye’s clothes were cut by the branches and thorns like strips of cloth, although they were broken, they were well-made and had a strange style. The material was like hemp but not hemp, and it was definitely not ordinary. Seeing Yun Ye’s handsome face, delicate skin, and slender hands, it was obvious that he was not the son of an ordinary family. He was wearing a pair of leather boots, which looked strange but fit well. He couldn’t help but regret his rudeness just now, so he slowed down his tone: “Where do you want to go, young master?”

“I have lived in the mountains with my teacher since I was a child. Not long ago, my teacher died. After I guarded his body for three months, the place where I lived was washed away by a flash flood. I had no choice but to go down the mountain. I didn’t expect to encounter a pack of wolves at the foot of the mountain. Fortunately, I escaped and became what I am now. I decided to go to Chang’an. I hope the officer will tell me how far it is to Lanzhou.”

“Lanzhou is less than 60 miles away. With your body and a wounded horse, it will take two days.”

“Brothers, where are you transporting the grain to? What year is it now? I don’t know the time in the mountains, so please tell me.”

“The confused master leads a confused apprentice, and he doesn’t even know that His Majesty ascended the throne last year. Remember, it is now the second year of the Zhenyuan period. As for where the grain is being transported, this is a military matter.” The strong man was full of disdain for Yun Ye’s question, as if everyone in the world should know that his great emperor, Li Er, ascended the throne last year.

Yun Ye felt as if his head had been hit by a sledgehammer. In the second year of the Zhenguan period, Li Shimin. The Qin King, in the end, did not escape the ambush of the wormhole and was thrown back 1,300 years. Thinking about his wife and children, who were completely out of reach, he could not help but ask himself, “How can I live this long?”

“Don’t you like it? Isn’t it a great thing for His Majesty to ascend the throne?” The strong man saw that Yun Ye was pale and unsteady, and stared at him with a look of hatred in his eyes. As long as Yun Ye said half a word, the sword would definitely be cut across his neck.

“Like it? How could I not like it? The enthronement of His Majesty should be celebrated by all.”

“Then why are you crying?”

“I’m crying with joy!”

“Then cry more, and cry for your master, too.”