Yang Zhengshan had a very, very long dream. He dreamed that he had become an ancient man.
As a child, he had learned martial arts from his father. His father had been very strict with him, often whipping him with a little wooden stick.
When he was a teenager, his father had gone hunting in the mountains, only to be attacked by a fierce beast and die from severe injuries. He watched the villagers carry his blood-soaked father down the mountain, then threw himself over his father's body and wailed until his voice broke.
Then he dreamed that he had enlisted in the army. After a year of service, he had been severely wounded in a brutal battle, retired from the military, and returned to his hometown.
He got married and took a woman with bright eyes and pearly teeth as his wife.
A year after their marriage, his wife gave him a son, and he seemed very happy.
He only seemed happy because the dream did not feel like something he had personally experienced. It was more like watching a documentary.
Fragmented scenes continued to unfold. In the blink of an eye, twenty years seemed to have passed. There were more and more people in the household, and life at home grew increasingly lively.
But one day, his wife suddenly fell ill. She became bedridden, and as he watched her grow weaker and weaker, he felt lost and terrified.
His wife died of illness, and the dream darkened.
The warmth was gone forever, replaced by emptiness and confusion.
The dream became more fragmented and more blurred. Just as Yang Zhengshan thought it was about to end, a pool of clear water suddenly appeared before him.
Stone Pool was embedded in the ground, surrounded by endless darkness. Only the clear