A Blade of Grass in Hand

August—the season hot enough to kill.

At ten thirty in the morning, the scorching sunlight streamed through the window and fell on Bai Yang, who had no blanket over him, roasting him awake.

He'd graduated from college two months ago. With no one keeping him in line, he was like a wild horse off its reins, sleeping until he woke naturally. As for counting money, that could only happen in his dreams.

"Is anyone supposed to survive this?"

Still groggy, he got out of bed and felt the sweat covering him. Muttering complaints, he staggered toward the bathroom, half asleep and half awake.

After a frantic round of washing his face and brushing his teeth, he finally felt a little more alert. He went to the dining room and was instantly speechless. His parents hadn't even left him breakfast. Was there no justice in the world?

"Oh, come on! I may be an adult now, but, Mom, did you really have to be so heartless? You could've at least left me something. Am I even your real son? You said that no matter how old they get, children are still little babies who need looking after in their parents' eyes..."

After grumbling bitterly, Bai Yang ambled into his room without much concern and took a box of instant noodles from the drawer.

"Did you think I'd starve just because you didn't leave me food? You underestimated me."

Feeling rather pleased with himself, Bai Yang poured hot water from the dispenser into the noodles. He carried them to the coffee table in the living room and left them to steep for a bit. Then he sprawled on the sofa in a pose of supreme comfort, like Ge You, and randomly flicked through the channels. There was nothing but commercials and mind-numbing dramas. Watching them was infuriating.

The war drums thunder, the homeland lies to the north...

His phone rang. Bai Yang reached for it with extreme reluctance, fumbling a few times before finally grabbing the phone, which was only ten centimeters from his fingers. He couldn't help it. It was so hot that even moving was torture.

He picked it up and saw that it was his mother calling.

"Hello, Mom. You still remember you have a son?"

"You little brat, you just got up, didn't you? You may as well sleep yourself to death. Tell me, how much did I owe you in my last life to end up with a son like you in this one? You're probably eating instant noodles again, right? When are you going to grow up? Honestly, you're going to worry me sick..."

They said no one knew a child better than his mother. Even over the phone, she'd guessed his situation perfectly.

Bai Yang let his mother complain for a while, then replied with three words: "Get to the point."

"You little brat, is that any way to talk? Here's the situation. You graduated two months ago, and you've had enough fun. Now you have two choices. First, find a job and start working within a month..."

"And the second?" Since there was a choice, Bai Yang naturally wanted to hear all the options.

"The second is, if you don't want to work, I think there are a few nice young women at my workplace. Bring one home to be my daughter-in-law. I'll cover your expenses while you're dating..."

"Mom, I choose the first one. I'll look for a job right away, and I'll definitely start working properly in a couple of days. My noodles are ready, so that's it. Bye..." With that final word, Bai Yang promptly hung up.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead. That was terrifying. How could a fine young man of twenty-four throw his life away in a hurry? Having a girlfriend was fine, but going on a blind date with marriage in mind? No thanks. He hadn't had enough fun yet.

He tossed aside his phone and reluctantly got up, sticking out his butt to pick up the instant noodles from the coffee table. He grabbed a fork and shoveled a mouthful into his mouth, then plopped down...

"Holy crap!"

Bai Yang felt himself drop straight to the floor as he sat down, as if the sofa had vanished beneath him. The sofa had been only a few centimeters from his backside. How could the drop have been so enormous?

He hit the ground, spilling the noodles and splashing soup all over himself. He yelped as the hot broth scalded him, then sprang up and began patting the burned spots. The next moment, his movements froze, and the howl that had burst from him in reflex abruptly stopped.

His eyes fixed rigidly on what lay ahead, his pupils widening.

"What's going on?!"

Just a moment ago, Bai Yang had been in his living room. Now, somehow, he'd appeared in a lush, verdant forest. Ancient trees towered all around him, and old vines coiled like dragons. A gentle breeze stirred, and a floral fragrance from somewhere nearby filled him with an intoxicating calm. The air was so fresh that one breath felt as if it had cleansed him from head to toe.

Bare-chested, in oversized shorts and flip-flops, with a mouthful of instant noodles, a fork in one hand and a half-spilled noodle cup in the other, Bai Yang stood frozen in a bizarre pose.

He gulped. Unfortunately, he swallowed the noodles too, and they went down the wrong way, leaving him coughing nonstop. After finally catching his breath, he took in his surroundings and nearly burst into tears.

Rustle, rustle, rustle...

Three meters away from Bai Yang, a three-foot-long black centipede appeared in a patch of grass, waving its legs menacingly. It took a turn and disappeared into a crevice between two stones...

"What kind of hellhole is this?!"

Bai Yang muttered in terror. The centipede, nearly a meter long, had frightened him into stepping backward. A sharp pain shot through his foot. He sucked in a breath and lifted it—one of the thorns had pierced right through his flip-flop...

Another sharp pain came from his shoulder. It hurt so badly that he flung away the cup of noodles and slapped the spot. His hand came away bloody. He'd killed a mosquito the size of a baby's fist!

"A giant centipede, a giant mosquito... Did I fall through some bug portal into an African jungle or something?!"

Staring around in utter shock, he saw countless trees so huge that several people would have needed to link arms to encircle them. As far as he could see, he recognized hardly any of the plants.

He looked up through a gap in the leaves and was stunned. Was that thing in the sky the sun? But why was its color wrong? The morning sun was red, and the midday sun was golden, so what was that white orb, as big as a cartwheel?

"Did I transmigrate? I really transmigrated! But I'm not ready! At least let me get some gear first. Why dump me in this hellhole wearing flip-flops and oversized shorts?!"

A moment ago, the weather had been so hot that he hadn't wanted to move at all. Now his whole body was ice-cold. He'd appeared in a place like this out of nowhere. Who wouldn't be scared?!

Whoosh...

A gust of wind slammed in from behind him, accompanied by a thunderous tiger's roar. Bai Yang felt as if his skull were about to explode. He finally knew what it meant for a tiger to roar through the mountains.

He turned around. A yellow-striped tiger, five meters long, was pouncing at him.

"I'm done for! To hell with transmigration—I want to go home!"

A despairing cry rang out in his heart, and Bai Yang vanished with a whoosh.

With a thud, the tiger landed on empty ground. It turned its head slightly to one side, as if asking, Where'd the guy go?

The tiger shook its head and padded off into the forest on all fours. All that remained was a flip-flop with a thorn still stuck through it and a spilled cup of instant noodles.

Whoosh...

A sound like a sob cut through the air. A black shadow flashed by, and with a sharp thwack, a jet-black arrow pierced the eye of the tiger that had just been swaggering about. It crashed to the ground, twitched instinctively a few times, and fell still.

The sound of brisk footsteps drew near. Three men as burly as iron towers appeared. They wore animal hides and carried large bows on their backs, their eyes as sharp as knives.

"Haha, Brother Zhao, what a shot! You pierced both the tiger's eyes with a single arrow and didn't damage its hide. This tiger pelt will fetch a fine price!"

One of them, a young man who looked the strongest but also somewhat green, had a scar across his face. He felt around on the dead tiger and spoke with an expression of admiration.

"This is nothing. As long as you practice your archery, Hu Zi, you'll surpass me one day," said the man they called Brother Zhao with a shake of his head and a smile. He stood about six feet tall, with oily-dark skin and arms so muscular you could race a horse along them. His whole body was packed with muscle, though the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes showed that he was already middle-aged.

The third young man crouched on the ground with a frown. He sniffed a few times, pushed aside a leaf, and spotted the half-spilled cup of instant noodles and the pierced flip-flop.

"Brother Zhao, Hu Zi, come over and look at this. What is it? It smells so good. I can't stop drooling..."

"What did you find, Zhu Zi?" the young man called Hu Zi asked as he strode over on his long legs.

"Look at this thing. Doesn't it smell good?" Zhu Zi pointed at the noodles on the ground, looking as if he were about to drool all over them.

"What is this thing? It looks strange, but it really does smell good." Hu Zi swallowed.

"Hu Zi, do you think it's edible? Hey, look at this bowl. It's so pretty. Huh, there's a person on it too. I wonder who painted it. It's so detailed, almost as if he were alive. Is that writing on it? It must be writing, but I don't know what it says. There's nobody in our village who can read..." Zhu Zi lay on the ground, staring at the noodle cup and chattering away.

"What did you find?" Brother Zhao approached cautiously. When he caught the scent of the noodles, his throat bobbed with a gulp too. He looked at the noodle cup and was just as baffled as the other two.

"This bowl is so exquisite that it must be worth a fortune. I wonder which lord dropped it here. Hu Zi, Zhu Zi, we'll take the bowl with us. Be careful not to damage it. We might even be able to trade this bowl for a precious manual," Brother Zhao said with utmost seriousness.

And so, the three men abandoned the tiger they'd hunted and carefully carried off the noodle cup as if it were a treasure. As for the noodles that had fallen on the ground, the three of them ate them. They tasted so good that they nearly dug a huge hole in the dirt with their teeth...

Bai Yang had arrived here for no reason and left just as mysteriously. If he'd seen those three men abandon a whole tiger in favor of a worthless noodle cup, he probably would have collapsed on the spot. But there'd been no point anyway. He couldn't understand a word they said...

Thud...

Bai Yang fell backward onto the sofa in his living room, ice-cold and terrified out of his wits. He stayed in that position for a full ten minutes before he finally came around.

"Where am I?" Looking at his familiar home, Bai Yang's mind was a blank.

It was like waking up after a drunken blackout. He thought it over for a long time before remembering that he'd somehow appeared in a forest, then nearly been eaten by a tiger. He'd never seen a tiger that big, not even on TV...

"What the hell happened? Could the heat have given me heatstroke and made me hallucinate?" Bai Yang muttered, still dazed. He raised his arm to wipe the sweat from his forehead, then froze. He was holding a blade of grass!

He was holding a blade of grass!

"When the tiger pounced, I think I grabbed something without even looking..." Bai Yang stared at the grass in his hand, his throat dry...

(A new book. Please add it to your favorites, recommend it, and leave a tip. Every bit of your support is the greatest encouragement to Stone. A different story, a different beginning.)