Incense Burner

"What's going on?" Yuan Ming's heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly looked toward the spot on his right arm that was growing hot.

For the past half month, he had remained in a dim environment, and his eyes had gradually adapted to the darkness. The heated spot was a faint bluish mark, which looked somewhat like an incense burner.

The originally extremely faint mark was now becoming clearer at a visible rate, giving off wisps of weak light.

"Huh? When did this strange mark appear on my arm?" Yuan Ming was stunned. He touched it with a finger, but the bluish mark was neither painful nor itchy, with nothing unusual about it.

After pondering briefly, he tried to mobilize the thread of magical power within his dantian, gathering it at his fingertip and pressing it onto the bluish mark.

Though the light emitted by the mark was weak, it carried a barely perceptible fluctuation of magical power, inexplicably stirring within him an urge to do exactly that.

The bluish mark suddenly released a suction force and, with a "whoosh," swallowed that thread of magical power!

Yuan Ming's face changed drastically. He had painstakingly accumulated that thread of magical power over half a month, yet it had vanished in a single stroke.

In his panic, he circulated the Blood Qi Method, trying to draw the magical power back out of the mark. But how could he possibly pull it out? His heart sank straight down.

Accumulating magical power had been difficult enough, and now all his previous efforts had gone down the drain.

Just as Yuan Ming was sinking into utter despair, a stream of heat surged out from within the bluish mark, followed by a hazy glow lighting up on his arm.

Yuan Ming widened his eyes and looked toward the glow.

Then, to his astonishment, he saw a palm-sized bluish incense burner emerge from within the light. Supported by the glow, it landed steadily before him.

The incense burner appeared to have been fired from clay. It had three legs and two handles, but no lid. One side was carved with a yin-yang double-fish Taiji pattern, while the other was dotted with stars, engraved with an array diagram like a stretch of starry sky.

The yin-yang Taiji pattern gleamed brilliantly, looking exceedingly mysterious.

Stuck in the incense burner were three sticks of Black Incense, one short and two long.

Yuan Ming was startled by the strange sight. After staring blankly for several breaths, he finally extended a hand and gently rubbed the incense burner with his fingertips. A fine, real texture came through his fingers.

"Not an illusion."

Yuan Ming sat upright and gently touched the three sticks of Black Incense again. The material seemed no different from ordinary incense, though it felt somewhat finer and smoother.

He lowered his head to look at his arm again. The mark there had already vanished, leaving behind only a faint burning sensation.

"Strange. Where did this incense burner come from? How did it end up on my arm?"

As Yuan Ming stood there in bewilderment, a memory suddenly surged into his mind. In a daze, he recalled falling into the river, tumbling and crashing amid the rolling waves before eventually being swept into the depths by an undercurrent.

In that chaos, he had seen a ball of light beneath the water and struggled to reach out and touch something.

That object had been the incense burner.

Yuan Ming's pupils instantly contracted. When he looked at the incense burner again, his gaze became even more astonished.

Though he still did not know what exactly this incense burner was, since it could attach itself to his body, it was certainly no ordinary object.

Yuan Ming placed his palm against the incense burner and felt a stream of heat seep through it, rapidly entering his mind.

A cool sensation swept through his head. The exhaustion accumulated from days and nights of cultivation vanished without a trace, and his spirits became extraordinarily invigorated.

"This incense burner truly is a divine object. It actually has such an awakening effect." Yuan Ming muttered delightedly.

Looking at the three sticks of Black Incense standing in the burner, he pondered briefly, then once more used the fire-drilling method to kindle a flame and light a piece of cloth wadding.

Holding the burning cloth wadding in his hands, he carefully brought it toward the incense burner and lit one of the sticks of Black Incense.

A spark ignited at the incense tip, lighting a tiny point in the pitch-black cave as wisps of smoke curled upward.

Yuan Ming immediately caught a unique scent unlike anything in his memories, somewhere between sandalwood and pine. He had only taken the faintest whiff, yet his consciousness grew heavy and his vision blurred.

"Bewildering Incense?"

The thought had barely flashed through Yuan Ming's mind before he plunged into darkness and lost all consciousness.

He did not know how much time had passed before his consciousness gradually returned, accompanied by a burst of noisy sounds all around him.

"Not good, wild beasts are attacking!" Yuan Ming's heart jolted, and he abruptly opened his eyes.

Yet what entered his sight was not the dim cave, but an exceedingly broad carved table draped in golden embroidered silk.

The table was neatly arranged with the four treasures of the study and a stack of books wrapped in yellow satin. The inkstone was carved with dragons, and the writing brushes had jade shafts with wolf-hair bristles. Every piece was exquisite and luxurious.

"Was I dreaming?"

Yuan Ming suddenly came alert. Looking up, he discovered that he was actually inside a magnificent, resplendent hall.

Below the hall stood four people in white brocade garments, two men and two women, all lowering their heads as they stood in rows on either side.

"Your Majesty, you're awake?" At that moment, a shrill voice suddenly sounded beside him.

Only then did Yuan Ming notice a delicate-looking middle-aged man standing nearby, dressed in brocade robes and holding a whisk. His face was pale and beardless.

"Your Majesty?" Yuan Ming narrowed his eyes. Was this person addressing him?

Seeing the obsequious smile on the man's face, Yuan Ming frowned deeply and shifted his gaze to a smooth bronze mirror beside the carved table. It clearly reflected his figure, yet it showed a young man dressed in magnificent golden robes, with a five-clawed golden dragon embroidered over his chest.

That young man was about the same age as him, but his face was completely different!

Yuan Ming involuntarily leaned back and struck the backrest of the dragon throne.

"Oh! This servant deserves death for startling Your Majesty." The delicate-looking man jumped in fright and hurriedly knelt in terror, crying out.

The four people below also shuddered and immediately knelt on the ground, lowering their heads without daring to raise them in the slightest.

Stormy waves rose within Yuan Ming's heart, but he ignored the delicate-looking man and the others.

Just moments ago, he had been in a dim underground cave. How had he suddenly arrived in such a place? If this was a dream, everything around him was far too real. Whether touch, hearing, or smell, it was no different from usual.

"Could it be that incense burner? Did it bring me here?" Recalling what he had done earlier, a thought suddenly surfaced in Yuan Ming's mind. The more he considered it, the more likely it seemed.

"I... I'm fine. You may all leave first." He took a deep breath, steadied himself, and spoke slowly.

"Yes!"

Though the delicate-looking man hesitated slightly, he still hurriedly agreed and led everyone out of the palace, backing away as they went.

Only after the hall had been completely emptied did Yuan Ming rise from the dragon throne and walk to the bronze mirror, looking himself over from every angle. At last, he confirmed that this body was not his own.

The hall was filled with carved dragons and painted phoenixes, with gold as its dominant color, representing the supreme dignity of the Nine-Five. Combined with the way that delicate-looking man had addressed him and the golden dragon robe on his body, this body seemed to belong to a Young Emperor.

"Did that incense burner kill me, then send me to be reincarnated? But shouldn't reincarnation put one into a newborn infant? How could I have been reborn in the body of a half-grown youth?" Yuan Ming was utterly puzzled.

He paced around the room for a while before returning to sit behind the table. After calming himself for a moment, a strange thought could not help surfacing in his mind. Could my soul have left my body and possessed someone else?

Other than that, he could not think of a more plausible answer.

At that moment, Yuan Ming sniffed and caught a fragrant scent. Following it, he saw a foot-square porcelain food box resting at one corner of the table, its surface carved with green floral patterns resembling birds and beasts.

He hurriedly reached out and lifted the lid, and a rich fragrance rushed straight at him.

Inside the box were exquisite pastries in all kinds of shapes—square, round, and even flower-shaped. They came in many colors and were still steaming hot.

For the past several days, Yuan Ming had eaten nothing but raw meat. Moreover, to conserve food, he had eaten very little each day. He instinctively swallowed, then without another word grabbed a translucent square cake, crystal-clear like white jade, stuffed it into his mouth, and began chewing in great bites.

A sweet, refreshing date flavor mixed with the fragrance of osmanthus instantly filled his entire mouth.

"Delicious!"

Before he had even finished chewing what was in his mouth, he eagerly grabbed another pastry shaped like a lotus and swallowed it. It was truly crisp, soft, and sweet.

Yuan Ming simply stood up and used both hands, sweeping the pastries from the box clean as a wind rolling away scattered clouds. Then he snatched up a teapot beside it and gulped down the tea until not a single drop remained.

"Burp."

Yuan Ming let out a full belch and flopped back onto the dragon throne. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve, rubbed his slightly bulging belly, and felt indescribably satisfied.

Being full felt wonderful. It had been a long time since he had eaten so heartily!

Only after eating and drinking his fill did Yuan Ming begin considering everything before him again.

Had the incense burner brought him here? If it had, perhaps he could find some clues.

He looked around, searching for that incense burner. There was indeed one on the table before him, but it was antique bronze in color and entirely different in style from the one that had emerged from the mark on his arm.

"The mark on my arm!" Yuan Ming suddenly remembered something. He hurriedly rolled up the sleeve on his right arm, and his eyes immediately widened.

Near the elbow of his right arm was a bluish mark, identical to the one on his original body. A faint stream of heat circulated within it.

Yuan Ming inwardly thought that it was indeed as he had suspected.

Now he could basically confirm that the incense burner had brought him here. But could he still return?

Though this body belonged to an emperor and was about the same age as his own, he still wanted to return to his original body.

Yuan Ming touched the bluish mark with a finger, but there was no response.

He tried using other things as well, but the mark remained completely still.

"Unfortunately, this Little Emperor is not an immortal cultivator and has no magical power in his body. Otherwise, I could test whether I can summon the incense burner here." Yuan Ming gave up helplessly and sighed inwardly.

After gathering his thoughts, Yuan Ming shifted his gaze to the yellow satin books piled on the table.

Since he did not know whether he could return to his original body, he should first understand the current situation, play the role of the Little Emperor properly, and avoid letting anyone see through him.

With that thought, he picked up a book and opened it. It was a report from a provincial official about flooding within his jurisdiction, begging the emperor for mercy and permission to open the prefectural granary for disaster relief.

What should have been a few simple sentences had been made exceedingly cumbersome by the provincial official. First, he busied himself apologizing to Heaven, then said Heaven had shown no mercy, and afterward used a long passage to describe the scene in the disaster-stricken region.

After writing thousands upon thousands of words, he finally presented the specific disaster conditions and relief measures at the end of the memorial, making Yuan Ming's head throb.