Two Books

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

He had not picked the wrong plant.

Thus, he quickly and greedily swallowed the juice into his stomach. Only some coarse fibers remained in his mouth, like sugarcane pulp.

With time pressing, and needing to fill his stomach quickly, Lu Ming did not spit out the pulp. Instead, he swallowed it all.

Then he grabbed several more handfuls and rapidly devoured them.

After several handfuls of grass roots reached his stomach, Lu Ming finally recovered a little strength. He did not leave at once, but planned to chew as he gathered more to stuff into his clothes and take with him.

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 stuffed full and he had mostly recovered his strength, Lu Ming struggled to his feet.

This time, although he still felt somewhat dizzy, he could at least stand steadily.

After getting his bearings and roughly identifying his direction, he left with heavy steps.

Based on the original owner's memories, this place should not be far from "Shuofeng City," where he made his living.

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

Wherever there were people, there was Jianghu. Shuofeng City was naturally no exception, and all kinds of people could be found there.

The various Lineages, sects, trading houses, escort agencies, and other forces were intertwined and complex. Even beggars had a group that banded together for warmth, known as the Beggars' Sect.

Although the original owner was a beggar and not a member of the Beggars' Sect, he was controlled by one of its members. Every day, he had to hand most of what he begged for to that person.

If he gained nothing, he would be beaten.

Although he basically would not be beaten to death—after all, keeping him alive meant he could still bring in some gains, useless as he was—

he would certainly suffer a great deal.

The original owner did not know whether he had simply been unlucky, but he had begged for nothing for several days in a row. Afraid of being beaten, he had simply fled the city yesterday.

In fact, he knew that coming out this time meant certain death. In such weather, the nighttime temperature in the wilderness was simply more than his frail body could endure.

But he had long been unable to bear his daily life of oppression. His heart was already set on death, and he hoped to end his painful life sooner.

In the end, he had indeed died, and Lu Ming had inexplicably crossed over.

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

As Lu Ming chewed grass roots to replenish his energy, he continued forward. He deeply sympathized with the original owner's plight and felt as though he had experienced it himself.

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

In his view, taking revenge was not difficult at all.

Or rather, taking revenge on a mere underling was not worthy of being his goal.

He had always been a tenacious man. Once he fixed his sights on a goal, he would press forward toward it without giving up.

In his previous life, he had relied on that very character to build an immense fortune from nothing.

Yet fate had toyed with him, and after falling asleep once, he had somehow arrived here.

Fortunately, this world was more interesting. Even though things were difficult now, they had not made him despair. Instead, they had left him even more excited and filled him with fighting spirit.

He liked this feeling of striving for something.

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

He would keep going, wanting to see whether the legendary immortality and imperishability were truly real.

Therefore, taking revenge on a mere underling was insignificant.

"I should be almost there, right?"

Without thinking further, Lu Ming found a tree and stopped to rest. Along the way, he had roughly kept count while remaining alert to any unusual movement around him. He had already been walking for more than an hour.

The place he was heading toward was the official road leading to Shuofeng City. From there, he would continue along the road.

This would reduce the risk of encountering ferocious beasts and make things much safer.

Fortunately, this place seemed to be quite close to Shuofeng City. The journey had been dangerous only in appearance, with no actual mishaps.

After chewing grass roots and resting for a while, Lu Ming raised his head and glanced at the sky. He estimated that it was already afternoon.

He decided to pick up the pace.

After walking for another short while, a winding road finally appeared in his sight. Following it into the distance, the outline of a huge city also became clearly visible.

"Finally."

Seeing the city's outline, Lu Ming let out a breath of relief. He could not help but sigh at how far the original owner had run in search of a bite of leftover meat from a ferocious beast before his death, just to taste meat.

However, it was worth mentioning that although the original owner had failed to fulfill his wish before dying, he seemed to have found something else.

That thing was now in Lu Ming's clothes.

"I hope it doesn't disappoint me."

Temporarily out of danger, Lu Ming touched the hard objects against his chest. Besides his remaining grass roots, there were also two books inside.

These had been left behind by the original owner. Lu Ming had discovered them long ago, but because of the threat from an unknown ferocious beast, he had kept his curiosity suppressed and had not taken them out to look.

As for where the two books had come from, he learned from his memories that the original owner had found them yesterday while searching for leftover meat from a ferocious beast. They had been inside a tomb that might have been exposed by a mountain flood.

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

He remembered that when the original owner encountered the tomb, he had been thoroughly frightened, but he was soon filled with immense delight.

That was because Shuofeng City was not without rumors of "someone accidentally finding a treasure and soaring to greatness overnight."

Naturally, the original owner had also hoped to find treasure in the tomb, turn his life around, and perhaps even get the chance to study martial arts at a martial arts school before taking revenge on the beggar who oppressed him.

With his heart pounding, he had searched through the place. He had found a Stone Coffin, its heavy lid pushed halfway open.

Thus, taking advantage of the increasingly dim sky, he had summoned his courage and looked inside the coffin. There was a skeleton within. Although its flesh and blood had already turned to dust, strangely, its clothes remained as good as new.

He had not thought much of it. Instead, he had looked toward the skeleton's abdomen, where two books lay cradled in two white-bone hands.

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

He had hurriedly taken them out and stuffed them into his clothes in excitement.

Then he had continued searching. What he wanted most was to find some treasure.

But while he was still inspecting the place, a beast's roar suddenly rang out, and the sound drew closer and closer. Clearly, it was coming for him.

Thus, he had no time to continue searching for treasure and had fled down the first path he found.

In his panic, he had run without knowing how long, only stopping once he could go no farther. The moment he stopped, he had felt completely exhausted and unable to hold himself up, and he had fallen unconscious.

In the end, he had frozen to death, leading to what had happened now.

After receiving the memories, Lu Ming naturally knew about the tomb from the start. He also knew that treasure remained there.

However, he had no intention of searching for it, because the risk was too great.

For one thing, the ferocious beast that had chased the original owner might still be prowling nearby;

for another, if his luck was bad, he might encounter the Monster Hunters from Shuofeng City.

These people were Martial Artists who spent years roaming the wilderness, making a living by hunting demonic beasts.

If he happened to meet them, not only might he lose what he had already obtained, he might also lose his life.

Without strength, knowing when to stop after gaining an advantage was the best choice.

Thus, Lu Ming resolutely headed for Shuofeng City first.

He had now arrived near the official road, but he did not hurry onto it and into the city. His clothes were thin, making it obvious at a glance that he had something hidden against his body.

Moreover, after entering the city, he would very likely encounter the beggar who had controlled the original owner.

Therefore, to prevent his things from being robbed, he decided not to bring them into the city. Instead, he planned to find somewhere to hide them.

He would return for them once he had established a certain foundation.

Before hiding them, however, he decided to take a look first.

After finding another somewhat secluded spot, he finally took the two books from his clothes with an excited heart.