A Hundred Years

Between the two continents of Shambhala, the westernmost Gulf of Aden and the easternmost Xiantai Prefecture are 11,000 kilometers apart, and even the fastest ships take 35 days to reach their destination.

Between the two continents lie 4,463 scattered islands, dotting the fjords and canals with the lights of Homo sapiens civilization. Yet all of this has nothing to do with the mundane world, and is even vastly different from the social environment of the railway system.

According to the Arcane Library, the earliest record of trade with Shambhala dates back to 556 AD. After that, Shambhala and the underground dwarfs (thin and slender ancient people without the protection of sunlight) used the same calendar and writing system, and their cultures and bloodlines intertwined and influenced each other.

Since the Pompeii Sea is a sea without light, astrological methods of location are completely useless in the underground world. The sun seen in Eureka Volcano City belongs to Shambhala —the sun's orbital period is more like a Mobius Ring, cruising along the eastern and western continents of Shambhala.

Every twenty years or so, the ocean current patterns of the Pompeii Sea are completely overturned, and these harsh weather conditions cause the large-scale Shambhala immigration plan to be aborted.

It is a primitive and wild land, with order from hundreds of years ago, technology from decades ago, and even primitive tribes from thousands of years ago. It is like a series of strange human settlements that have gathered on the same land from different times and spaces.

Wood Plark and Luo Ping'an both came from Shambhala; one was a scholar from the Lenin Dynasty in the western countries, and the other was a Xiabang Qi cultivator from a turbulent and unstable region.

The story begins in Chabang--

--This "Eastern" superpower occupies one-third of the territory of Shambhala, and adopts the official dress and official system of the Ming Dynasty's History of Carriages and Clothing, and is a feudal imperial state.

Yes, you heard right. In an era when the mortal world embraces atomic energy and social sciences begin to study how to achieve human harmony, Shambhala, one pole of the world, is a feudal empire.

Therefore, discarding some preconceived notions and some of our common sense, we realize that this is an unfamiliar environment that has been closed off for thousands or even tens of thousands of years. Apart from the imported culture brought by trade, Shambhala is no different from some primitive slave-owning tribes in Africa today.

Oh no, I'm sorry, there are still some differences.

Even the poorest regions of Africa possess American aircraft carriers, but those carriers cannot reach Shambhala.

There is a map, drawn by the Luo Ping'an himself, titled "Lichun Jiangshan Scroll: Thirty-sixth Year of Emperor Aizong | Sixteen Copper River Kingdoms". This is a geographical and hydrological map that Luo Ping'an made in Shambhala when he traveled thousands of miles hundreds of years ago. Since then, it has become the location of the dragon vein of the Great Xia.

The Spring Mountains are the origin of the three mother rivers of the Great Xia. From the northeast to the southwest, they branch off into countless mountains and hills. The Tong River is one of them. Surrounding this river are forty-six large copper mines. In an era when humans could not control high-temperature flames, copperware was a divine tool for seizing power.

The Sixteen Copper River Kingdoms mentioned here refer to the sixteen warlords during the era when Luo Ping'an created the map.

The Great Xia today cannot be described as being in dire straits; it is more accurately described as falling apart.

Internally plagued by demons and externally ravaged by foreign religions, bandits rose up along the trade routes from Rao Xia to Xia Dang and from Bangzhou Binzhou Prefecture to Yongpi County, aiming to seize the mountains and establish their own independent strongholds. Local officials, now free from imperial control, seized the opportunity to use the pretext of suppressing bandits to maintain their own private armies and become local tyrants.

This has been the case for the past hundred years. There has never been a complete and independent regime. It has been constantly splitting and reorganizing, with puppet emperors taking turns to assume the throne, and local warlords fighting and killing each other, seizing land and people.

These lofty background narratives might be boring, so let's narrow our focus a bit.

While the gunsmith was still trying out his new toy, we arrived in Rao Xia in the sixteenth year of the Lingzong's reign (2033 AD), in Danqiu Country of Ax Peak Mountain, and came to the side of a young boy.

This boy's name is Li Fengtang. He is not a protagonist, not a chosen one, not someone favored by the goddess of fate—there is no railway here, and no cat goddess Best.

Li Fengtang was a tenant farmer in Ermao County, Yiyang Prefecture, Danqiu Country. He had never been to school and usually worked with his father. During the busy farming season, he had work to do, and during the off-season, he would ask the innkeeper and the county government for help to get the father and son to do whatever they wanted. By the time he was eighteen, he had learned many skills, and the neighbors all praised the boy for being smart. It was a pity that he hadn't gone to school to take exams.

The ruler of Danqiu Country is a powerful warlord who has risen to prominence in the Copper River Basin in recent years. Since establishing his kingdom, he has been building walls and stockpiling grain to prepare for war. With the cessation of trade, the inn's business has declined day by day, and the relationship with the county magistrate has been severed, causing the Li family to gradually fall into poverty.

Coincidentally, it snowed heavily during the few days of the "biting spring" (a traditional Chinese custom of eating snow in early spring).

Old Li went back to his ancestral home to bring his wife's memorial tablet back to his ancestral home. He first paid homage to the God of Grain, and then to the God of the Sun. He couldn't find a shop on the way, so he went home to prepare food for the New Year. He hadn't taken good care of the food, so the father and son stared at each other in the house, only concerned with how to divide the grain in the rice jar into twenty-four meals.

On this freezing cold day, not a single villager came out to sell their grain or goods, especially since there was still a war going on. If anyone had surplus grain and Commander Yu's conscription and grain collection officials saw it, they would definitely make things difficult for them.

The past few days have been fine; the chill of late spring has passed. I went to the woodshed to gather some firewood, and even after sitting down to sleep by the clay stove, I didn't feel hungry.

A cold wave seemed to arrive in the following days, and the weather became increasingly strange. It was so cold that people's teeth chattered and their arms developed sores. Even the young and strong Fengtang boy began to feel sleepy, and Old Li was about to die.

Li Fengtang didn't understand why the weather was so strange, so he went to ask his father.

"Father, how many more days? This yellow fur coat can't keep out the wind. How many more days until we see the sun?"

Old Li had studied some books with the shopkeeper, but they were all strange and superstitious texts and miscellaneous tales by sorcerers.

"Commander Yu wants to fight the imperial court and contend with the four southern kingdoms for the strategic advantage of Yiyang Prefecture. It seems that some extraordinary person has invited a sage to perform magic. Ermao County is the first county in southeastern Yiyang Prefecture where troops are stationed. To attack Danqiu, we must pass through Ermao County. If the weather gets warmer, war will break out, and we won't survive either."

Li Fengtang felt utterly hopeless upon hearing this.

--Last year there was also a severe cold wave, and my mother starved to death in that frost and snow. This year, it's my father's turn to suffer.

The claim that this powerful being used magic to bring snow and defeat enemies is likely the work of a powerful psychic or a demon kept by local tyrants. These extraordinary beings can arbitrarily alter the course of Shambhala's history and rewrite the fates of countless people. This is the root of Shambhala's chaos—the price of acquiring power is far too little, while the rewards gained through power are far too great.

Old Li dragged his frozen legs to the rice jar, found some grains, and poured some snow water outside to start cooking porridge. As soon as he stepped out, he saw a vast expanse of white vegetable garden, as if the tears shed by heaven had turned into salt grains; one step and you couldn't see your knees.

I heard a call from behind.

"Dad, let me help you."

Old Li waved his hand. "Don't move, you won't be hungry if you don't move."

Li Fengtang was unaware that his Old Li had entered a state of hypothermia and was on the verge of death. By the time his father returned to the clay stove, his yellow fur coat had stopped emitting heat, and his skin had turned purplish-red.

"Don't join the army."

"Put the copper pot on the fire," Old Li said.

"Your mother said you wanted to make something of yourself. You've been following me around doing chores, learning and seeing a lot, and I've realized your heart has become wild."

Li Fengtang did not reply.

Old Li continued, "Some time ago, probably during the busy autumn harvest season, I took you to the private tutor's house to repair his stable. You saw the tutor's wife and stared at her for a long time. I knew then that you were very anxious."

Li Fengtang quickly explained, "No, that's not it."

But the young man thought to himself, those educated women are indeed different, unlike the women walking around the streets of the county town, or the women he saw in the villages and fields.

Perhaps Father knows, Father has seen it, Father has been to the Capital City.

Are all women in the Capital City like this?

The county magistrate's wife was also from Ermao County. Unlike the private tutor's wife, who was fair-skinned and whose smiles were carefully chosen, she was different.

"What's wrong with joining the army?" Li Fengtang immediately asked, "Fortune favors the bold. If I make meritorious contributions, kill enemies, and receive rewards, the Commander-in-Chief will promote me, and I'll get you a bigger house—even if it snows heavily, someone will bring food to your house!"

Old Li stirred the porridge. "Fortune and wealth are sought amidst danger, and lost amidst danger as well. When you succeed, you have a one in ten chance; when you lose, you have nine out of ten chance."

Li Fengtang immediately fell silent; he couldn't win an argument with the old farmer.

"Your mother froze and starved to death, I don't blame the Commander. Last year's harvest was poor, it seems to be due to the curse of the Long-Whiskered Immortal, all the grain in the fields was eaten by insects." Old Li continued, "The Commander chased away the Long-Whiskered Immortal, but the Snow Maiden is still here, I was thinking..."

"Your mother isn't from Yiyang Prefecture; she married into the family from afar."

"I must give her a proper status and send her memorial tablet to the ancestral temple. I'm just hoping that the snow will be lighter this year, and that the Snow Maiden will show mercy."

"There was no result, there was never any."

"I ran slowly on the way back. The snow was too heavy on the sixteen-mile mountain road, and I couldn't walk fast. I went to Yanjiapu to look for good food for the winter, but all the chickens in their coop had frozen to death. The food was too expensive for me."

"I went to your Uncle Zhao's house to ask, and it turned out his father had also frozen to death and they were mourning him. I didn't dare to bring it up. In a few more days, we won't even be able to leave this house—I guess that's fate."

"Don't join the army, Fudo, don't go."

"From childhood to adulthood, I've watched Yiyang go through six different commanders. I followed the officials in the county government, doing odd jobs for six different families—the houses were always beautifully built, but not a single one of them had a good ending."

As he was talking, Old Li suddenly froze.

I'm leaving.

Before he could finish speaking, Li Fengtang heard the hissing of boiling water in the clay furnace. Amidst the gurgling sounds, Old Li's spirit left his body and became a stiff corpse.

Feng Tang eventually joined the army, enlisting in Yu Danqiu's Fire Camp, aiming to complete the defenses before the weather warmed up completely. He did a lot of work with his father and became a skilled craftsman, quickly rising to become a leader in the battalion.

A month later, a scholar arrived at the Fire Camp. This was very rare in Danqiu Country. Since the country built walls and closed itself off, few outsiders had entered Yiyang Prefecture. Local scholars all wanted to leave, and none of them had any intention of joining the army.

The task of welcoming the new brothers fell to Li Fengtang.

Just as the snow was about to melt, there was a strange, damp, and chilly smell in the air. A scholar-like young man in a long robe walked out from the entrance of the county government office. He had a fair complexion and an elegant demeanor.

Upon seeing the portrait, Li Fengtang went up to identify the person. A month later, the man had grown a beard and now looked like a disheveled burly man.

"Is it Yu Datong?"

Feng Tang, with a staff of authority at his waist, dressed in armor and cotton-padded clothes, stood imposingly in front of the scholar.

"Come with me to the camp to sign the warrant."

The scholar named Yu Datong didn't reply, but simply said with a cold expression, "Fine."

Back in the barracks, Li Fengtang still felt that the scholar seemed aloof and unapproachable, so he squeezed into the scholar's barracks late at night, wanting to talk to him, otherwise how could the construction work continue the next day?

The two introduced themselves by name and talked about their backgrounds, thus acknowledging their kinship as brothers in the barracks.

Later, Yu Datong heard that Li Fengtang's parents had died, especially the fact that Old Li had starved to death in his old house, the scholar asked one more question.

"Your father is dead, don't you hate him?"

Li Fengtang: "Whom do you hate?"

Yes, he didn't even know who he should hate.

Should he blame heaven and earth, and the Snow Maiden his father spoke of?

He didn't even know what the Snow Maiden was, whether she was a human or a ghost.

"You finally survived, thanks to that jar of rice?" Yu Datong pressed, "Brother Li, did you eat human flesh?"

"Nonsense!" Li Fengtang immediately shouted, "How dare you... you..."

Seeing that the foreman of the craftsmen was getting agitated, Yu Datong continued, "I was demoted from the Capital City and came here to take the imperial examinations, all for the sake of wearing such beastly clothes! I was a first-class scholar in the provincial examination and a third-class scholar in the county examination!"

"--Just as I entered the capital for the Capital City examination, I was falsely accused and exiled to Danqiu!"

"Do you know what people say about Danqiu outside, outside this wall?!"

Li Fengtang didn't know; he had never been outside before, but he was very curious.

If this scholar is a prisoner sent by the imperial court, how could he be qualified to enter Commander Yu's Fire Camp? This is a crucial and strategically important location for the city's defense.

"I feel like a meat dog," Yu Datong said. "This barren land is devouring people. The city you built is a giant alchemy furnace. Someone wants to become an immortal! They need to build a giant alchemy furnace!"

"Danqiu must keep fighting, fighting non-stop, defeating Puyang and Puyin, conquering Jiangxi and Jiangdong, and after defeating the four southern kingdoms, there are still the ten northern kingdoms."

"It's a giant alchemy furnace! It's a giant alchemy furnace!"

Yu Datong's eyes widened, and he suddenly started to go berserk.

"I am a dog, I am a meat dog!"

Li Fengtang couldn't understand, and he didn't know what to say. He was just terrified by this eccentric outsider. The battle hadn't even started, he hadn't even touched a real weapon, and he hadn't earned any merit. How could he be content with this?

As dawn approached, a group of military prostitutes, about twenty in total, were sent out from the county government office. When they were handed over to the Tusi in the military camp, the Tusi pointed at the escorting soldiers and cursed, "Damn bastards! What happened to the promised hundred?"

The escorting soldier replied, "Sir, what's the use of scolding someone like me who's just doing his job? Why don't you go and scold the County Magistrate instead?"

As the women and girls with mournful faces entered the barracks, Tusi chieftain felt a chill run down his spine—how were they going to divide such a small amount of meat among these two thousand-plus men?

Li Fengtang knew that this opportunity was not for him, so he and a few close and sensible men from the barracks gathered outside the centurion's house to listen in and have some fun.

But even the centurion couldn't get any, so he took a few of his capable assistants and went to the Young General's tent, listening carefully even though it was only a hundred paces away in the drill ground.

They craned their necks, and the snow melted completely, a warm current rising between heaven and earth.

Although the sound was very, very faint, and it was so far away that it was almost inaudible.

When guards came to chase them away, they only managed to move them a few steps, like a flock of crows that sometimes gather and sometimes disperse, unable to escape this mesmerizing sound.

Li Fengtang and his companions spoke with great conviction.

"I want to be Young General too! I want to be Young General too! Watch closely! I want to be Young General too!"

The guard drew Li Fengtang's disciplinary rod and struck him on the head. The heat of melting snow was nothing compared to the burning pain on his forehead, instantly waking Fengtang up.

"You dare call yourself Young General?!"

Li Fengtang lost his spirit. When he returned to his tent, he saw Yu Datong still going crazy, muttering about alchemy furnaces, elixirs, and medicinal ingredients.

He was furious and picked up a stick, giving the madman a good beating.

He continued beating Yu Datong until he was exhausted, until he was panicked and afraid of killing him, until Yu Datong's head was covered in blood.

He felt powerful and triumphant again, and his heart was filled with joy.

Even scholars from the Capital City had to obey him when they came into his hands.

The guards who bullied him were certainly not as wealthy as the scholar; beating up the scholar was equivalent to beating up three or four guards.

Li Fengtang chuckled as he wiped the disciplinary stick clean.

"Good! Hehe! Good!"

That laugh has lasted for a hundred years.