When the first rays of morning sunlight shone on Hunter Town,
the animals in town were the first to stir.
The crowing of roosters and the cries of ducks, sheep, and other animals mingled with the smoke from the town's hearths.
A new day had begun.
The previous night, exhausted from all his travels after transmigrating and without any electronic entertainment, Li Xing had gone to sleep early.
Just as Li Xing was getting ready to wash up that morning, an unexpected visitor arrived at his door.
A knock sounded.
After answering, Li Xing moved the stone that held the door shut. Then he opened it and saw a familiar figure.
"Good morning, Li Xing!"
"I really didn't expect you to repair the entire framework of this house and make it look as good as new on your very first night here!"
"You flatter me! It's all thanks to the uncle at the lumberyard teaching me so well. I've only finished repairing the main structure for now; there's still a lot to do! Once it's done, I'll invite everyone in town over to see it again!"
Looking at the young man his own age, Li Xing asked in puzzlement,
"Yilaikesi, did you need something?"
Yilaikesi asked sheepishly,
"Last night, when you were telling your story, you mentioned in passing that I looked a lot like Thorin Oakenshield, one of Durin's Dwarves from your story. Is that true?"
Li Xing asked in puzzlement, "Yes! When I first met you, you really did look familiar. Later, I realized you bore some resemblance to Thorin Oakenshield, the dwarven king's grandson, especially your beard and your features. Only your hair color and race are different! What's the matter?"
Yilaikesi smiled awkwardly and said, "Actually, I just wanted to ask if I might be a descendant of one of Durin's Dwarves..."
Watching Yilaikesi awkwardly ask the question, Li Xing replied with a look that said, "Are you kidding me?"
"Aren't you afraid your parents might hear you saying something like that?"
In response to Li Xing's question, Yilaikesi's expression remained unchanged as he explained.
"Actually, I know it's a ridiculous question. But I really don't know who my parents are. I have no memories from before I was seven. Traveling merchants who came to town took me in when they found me in the wild. As for what happened after that, you can see for yourself. Thanks to Uncle Totena, I'm living well in this town now."
After Yilaikesi told him about his background, Li Xing expressed his sympathy and apologized, then explained his assessment of the situation.
"That idea of yours is basically impossible. First of all, you're one hundred percent human. Second, Thorin Oakenshield died in battle at the very end! He couldn't have any descendants!"
"What! He died in battle? What happened? Hurry up and tell me!" Yilaikesi stared at Li Xing in shock, urgently pressing him to explain what happened next.
Seeing Yilaikesi like this, Li Xing had a rough idea of what was going on. He figured the guy was too curious about the rest of the story and had come early to ask him about it.
Once he understood, Li Xing began to comfort Yilaikesi.
After Yilaikesi had calmed down, Li Xing reminded him that they were meeting at the tavern that evening and mentioned his own plans for the day.
"Yilaikesi, I'll still be going to the tavern tonight. You don't need to be so impatient. I'm sure you have things to keep you busy during the day too, right? Why don't we both take care of what we have planned today and meet up tonight?"
With that, Li Xing picked up the coat on his simple wooden bed and headed toward the center of town.
"I'll be going now, then. I won't disturb you!" With that, Li Xing closed the door from the outside, turned around, and headed for the center of town.
Standing in front of the door, Yilaikesi saw that Li Xing was about to leave. He caught up and called out a reminder.
"Wait, Li Xing, where are you going? Your door doesn't even have a lock yet!"
Li Xing stopped and said helplessly to Yilaikesi, "Don't worry, Yilaikesi! There's nothing in that house, so there's no need to worry about anything being stolen! Besides, I haven't installed a lock yet!"
And so the two walked down the road together.
Before long, Li Xing looked at Yilaikesi walking beside him and asked a question that had been puzzling him.
"Yilaikesi, don't you work during the day? Won't following me around like this keep you from getting your work done?"
Hearing Li Xing's question, Yilaikesi replied with a puzzled expression:
"Work? Why do I have to work during the day? Are you short of money?"
Thinking of what Li Xing had just said about the state of his house, Yilaikesi suddenly realized something and hurriedly explained.
"Sorry! I didn't think of that! I'm a hunter in the village. As long as I hunt enough food for myself, that's enough. Besides, I don't lack anything, so there's no need to force myself to work every day." Yilaikesi showed Li Xing his hunting bow and went on, "Today, all I need to do is give my tools a routine check and keep my skills sharp!"
As Li Xing listened to Yilaikesi's explanation, he had wanted to argue against this idea of lying flat, but he suddenly realized this was the new world he had transmigrated to, and there was indeed nothing wrong with the way Yilaikesi lived.
He sighed inwardly, That damned, utterly evil capitalism!
Then Li Xing told Yilaikesi about his plans for the rest of the day.
"Yilaikesi, I'm going to get breakfast in a little while. Then I'm planning to work for the uncle at the lumberyard. Want to come?"
"Me? No, I won't go. If I spend too much time with the uncles, my fellow hunters will start making trouble again, so I'll pass!"
As they walked and talked along the way,
it turned out Yilaikesi was just as Li Xing had thought: he was simply curious about what happened next in the story and had questions about his own origins. That was why, after getting up that morning, he had eagerly come to the little house Li Xing had mentioned living in to ask about them.
But after seeing Li Xing's current circumstances and learning about his plans for the day,
Yilaikesi realized that showing up so suddenly had indeed disrupted Li Xing's routine.
Just as the two were about to enter town, Yilaikesi said to Li Xing,
"Sorry, Li Xing! I think I disturbed you just now. I won't keep you company any longer. See you at the tavern tonight."
Then, after taking a couple of steps, Yilaikesi still couldn't put his mind at ease and said to Li Xing again, "I'll be waiting all evening for you to come tell the story. We have a deal, so you have to come!"
With that, he ran back into town by himself!
Li Xing stood there, looking at Yilaikesi, whose face resembled Thorin Oakenshield's, as they chatted and laughed together.
Li Xing couldn't help but smile.
If circumstances allowed it one day, perhaps he could stage The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy as plays!
"Damn it, I used to mistake The Lord of the Rings for Warcraft. Now that I've transmigrated, I'm going to connect these two completely unrelated worlds!"
An embarrassing past! What counted as an embarrassing past? If an embarrassing past could be made respectable, was it still an embarrassing past?
And so, on his second day after transmigrating,
Li Xing set himself a small goal: to make Middle-earth a sensation across Azeroth!