Two Books

Lu Ming had already stuffed the grass roots into his mouth and chewed them to pulp. Sweet juice filled his mouth, and what reassured him was that the taste was not much different from what he remembered.

He had not made a mistake.

So he greedily swallowed the juice with relief, leaving only some coarse fibers in his mouth, like sugarcane dregs.

With time pressing, and in order to fill his stomach quickly, Lu Ming did not choose to spit out those dregs. He swallowed them as well.

Then he grabbed several more handfuls and wolfed them down.

After several handfuls of grass roots went into his stomach, Lu Ming finally regained a little strength. He did not leave immediately, instead planning to chew as he gathered some to stuff into his clothes and take away.

After all, this was another world. Who knew how long it would be before he encountered another familiar plant that could serve as food?

Once his clothes were packed full, and his strength had more or less recovered, Lu Ming finally struggled to his feet.

Although he still felt somewhat dizzy this time, he could at least stand steadily.

After steadying himself and roughly identifying the direction, he set off with heavy steps.

Judging from the original owner's memories, this place should not have been far from Shuofeng City, where he had eked out a living.

As for why the original owner had left the city and appeared in this desolate wilderness, there was a reason for it as well.

Wherever there were people, there was Jianghu. Shuofeng City was naturally no exception, and it contained people from all walks of life.

The various Lineages, gangs, merchant houses, and escort agencies were tangled together in a web of complicated forces. Even beggars had a force for huddling together for warmth, called the Beggar's Gang.

Though the original owner was a beggar and not a member of the Beggar's Gang, he was still controlled by one of its members. Most of what he begged for every day had to be handed over to that man.

If he came back empty-handed, he would be beaten.

He would not usually be beaten to death. After all, even if he was useless, keeping him alive would still bring in some gains.

But he would certainly suffer plenty.

For some reason, perhaps because his luck was poor, the original owner had failed to beg for anything for several days in a row. Afraid of being beaten, he had simply fled the city yesterday.

In truth, he knew that leaving the city meant certain death. In weather like this, the nighttime temperature in the wilderness was simply not something his frail body could withstand.

But he had long been unable to endure the days of being oppressed. With death already in his heart, he had hoped to end this painful life sooner.

In the end, he truly had died, and Lu Ming had inexplicably crossed over into his body.

"Don't worry. I'll keep walking the road ahead for you."

As Lu Ming chewed grass roots to replenish his energy and continued onward, he deeply sympathized with the original owner's plight and felt it as though it were his own.

Yet he was not angry. Instead, he was remarkably calm.

Because in his view, taking revenge was not difficult at all.

Or rather, taking revenge on some petty lackey was not even worthy of being his goal.

He had always been a tenacious person. Once he set his sights on a goal, he would forge ahead toward it without rest or pause.

Just like in his previous life, he had relied on that very temperament to build an enormous fortune from nothing.

Only, heaven delighted in making fools of men. After waking from one sleep, he had somehow arrived here.

Fortunately, this world was even more interesting. Though things were difficult now, it did not make him despair. Instead, it made him even more excited and filled him with fighting spirit.

He liked this feeling of striving.

Returning to the present, he had already formed a grand goal: to join the mainstream of this world and practice martial arts.

And to keep walking that path, to see whether the legendary immortality and indestructibility were truly real.

So taking revenge on a petty lackey was somewhat too insignificant.

"Should be close by now, right?"

No longer dwelling on it, Lu Ming found a tree and stopped to rest. Along the way, he had roughly kept track of the time while remaining alert to movement around him. He had already walked for more than an hour.

The place he needed to reach now was the official road leading to Shuofeng City. Then he could continue along that road.

That would reduce the risk of encountering fierce beasts and make things much safer.

Fortunately, this place seemed to be quite close to Shuofeng City. The journey had been alarming but ultimately without danger.

After resting for a while as he chewed grass roots, Lu Ming looked up at the sky and estimated that it was already afternoon.

He decided to quicken his pace.

After walking for a while longer, a road winding into the distance finally appeared in his sight. Following it with his gaze, he could also clearly make out the outline of a massive city.

"I finally made it."

Seeing the city's outline, Lu Ming breathed a sigh of relief. He could not help feeling that the original owner had run quite far just to find some leftover meat abandoned by a fierce beast and taste meat before he died.

Still, it was worth mentioning that although the original owner had failed to get his wish even until death, he seemed to have found something else.

And that thing was now in his clothes.

"Don't disappoint me."

Temporarily out of danger, Lu Ming touched the hard objects in his clothes. Aside from his reserve of grass roots, there were also two books.

The original owner had left them behind. Lu Ming had discovered them long ago, but with an unknown fierce beast threatening him, he had suppressed his curiosity and not taken them out to look at them.

As for where those two books had come from, according to his memories, he learned that the original owner had found them yesterday while searching for scraps of meat left behind by a fierce beast. They had come from a tomb that might have been washed out by a mountain flood.

Because it had happened only yesterday, the memory was exceptionally clear.

He remembered that when the original owner came across the tomb, he had been badly frightened at first, but soon afterward, he had been overjoyed.

After all, Shuofeng City had no shortage of tales about someone accidentally finding treasure and soaring into the heavens in a single bound.

Naturally, the original owner had hoped to find treasure in the tomb, turn his life around from a salted fish, perhaps even gain the chance to study martial arts at a martial academy, and then seek revenge on the beggar who oppressed him.

Thus, filled with excitement, he began searching. And he really did find something: a Stone Coffin, its heavy lid already half lifted open.

Borrowing the increasingly dim light of the sky, he gathered his courage and looked into the coffin. Inside lay a set of dry bones. Though the flesh and blood had already turned to dust, strangely enough, the clothes were as pristine as new.

He did not think much of it, instead looking toward the skeleton's abdomen. Two books lay there, held in a pair of bony palms.

Upon seeing them, he guessed that they were the martial arts manuals he had often heard about.

So he hurriedly took them out in excitement and stuffed them into his clothes.

Then he continued searching. What he wanted most was still some treasure.

But just as he continued examining the tomb, a beast's roar suddenly rang out. The sound drew closer and closer, clearly heading toward him.

He therefore had no time to keep searching for treasure and fled for his life.

In his panic, he did not know how long he ran before finally stopping to rest. The moment he stopped, exhaustion overwhelmed him, and unable to hold on any longer, he fell asleep.

In the end, he froze to death, which led to the current situation.

After receiving those memories, Lu Ming had naturally known about the tomb from the start, and he also knew that treasure remained there.

But he did not intend to go look for it, because the risk was too great.

On one hand, the fierce beast that had pursued the original owner might still be wandering nearby.

On the other hand, if his luck was bad, he might encounter those Monster Hunters in Shuofeng City.

Those people were Martial Artists who spent all year in the wilderness, making their living by hunting demonic beasts.

If he carelessly ran into them, not only would he lose what he had obtained, but he might lose his life as well.

When one lacked strength, knowing when to stop while ahead was the best choice.

Therefore, Lu Ming resolutely headed for Shuofeng City first.

Now that he had reached the vicinity of the official road, he was not in a hurry to step onto it and enter the city. His clothes were thin, and one glance would reveal that he had something hidden inside them.

And after entering the city, there was a high chance he would encounter the beggar who had controlled the original owner.

So, to keep his things from being snatched away, he decided not to bring them into the city. Instead, he planned to find a place to hide them.

He would only come retrieve them after gaining a certain foundation.

But before hiding them, he decided to take a look.

After finding a somewhat concealed spot, he finally took the two books from his clothes with excitement.