The Change at Six

On the day of his sixth birthday, Lin Yun got up very early.

It was still dark when he climbed out of the hard little bed and tiptoed over to the window. Outside was the familiar sight of Yangzhou City's civilian district: dilapidated houses, narrow alleys, and the faint outline of the enormous city walls in the distance. The morning mist had yet to clear, and the air was tinged with the faint smell of rust. It drifted in from the Wilderness Area outside the city and was said to come from monster blood.

Lin Yun touched his chest. The Small Bronze Tripod lay quietly against his skin, showing no signs of anything unusual.

Six years.

Six years ago, he had gone from being a graduate student who died in a plane crash to a baby in this post-apocalyptic world. Over the past six years, he had learned one thing: some things couldn't be rushed.

"Yun'er, are you up?" His grandfather Lin Guodong's voice came from the main room, old but still full of vigor.

"I'm up, Grandpa," Lin Yun replied, hurrying out.

A cup of milk and a few steamed buns sat on the table in the main room. That was his birthday breakfast. Lin Guodong sat opposite him, with only a bowl of thin porridge in front of him. The old man saved everything edible for his grandson, yet couldn't bear to take even a bite himself.

"Grandpa, you should eat too." Lin Yun offered him a steamed bun.

"Grandpa's already eaten. You're still growing, so eat more." Lin Guodong pushed the bun back. His cloudy old eyes were full of affection.

Lin Yun didn't insist again. He knew his grandfather was more stubborn than the city walls. Once he made up his mind, nothing could change it.

After breakfast, Lin Yun went out to find Luo Feng. He was Lin Yun's best friend in this world, and the only person he'd truly confided in during the past six years.

Luo Feng's family lived right next door. A corridor separated their homes. Before Lin Yun even entered, he heard the sound of "ha! Hah!" coming from inside as someone practiced punching. He peeked in and saw Luo Feng standing in a horse stance in the living room, his little face taut as he threw one punch after another.

"Luo Feng, up early again?" Lin Yun walked into the living room.

Luo Feng stopped, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and grinned. "My dad says you have to start training warriors when they're little. Why are you up so early today? Isn't it your birthday?"

"Couldn't sleep." Lin Yun sat down nearby. "I'm six now. Feels like I've gotten a year older."

Luo Feng rolled his eyes. "You're calling yourself old at six? Does that make me an old man too?"

Lin Yun couldn't help laughing.

Luo Feng seemed more mature than his age, probably because of his family. His father, Luo Hongguo, was a plainspoken laborer, his mother was in poor health, and he had a younger brother to look after. Children from poor families had to grow up fast. That was true in any world.

"Come on. I'll take you somewhere nice," Luo Feng said suddenly, all mysterious.

"Where?"

"Just follow me."

Luo Feng led Lin Yun through several alleys, taking one turn after another, until they reached an abandoned factory. The factory's iron gate was mottled with rust, and the slogans on its walls had faded until they were unreadable. Inside, though, it was spacious.

"This is my secret base." Luo Feng pushed open a crooked iron door and pointed inside. "See? This used to be a Mechanical Processing Plant. It was abandoned after the monster attack."

He went to a corner of the factory, moved a pile of junk aside, and revealed a hole in the floor.

"There's a basement down here. I've cleaned it up, so it's really tidy. We can practice in there from now on without anyone bothering us."

Lin Yun peered into the hole and saw that the place had been put in order. There were even two simple beds made from wooden planks.

"You did all this yourself?" Lin Yun asked, surprised.

Luo Feng nodded, looking rather pleased with himself. "It took me two months."

Lin Yun was suddenly overcome with emotion.

In the original story, Luo Feng had been just this kind of person: precocious, resilient, and deeply loyal. He worked hard in the ruins, pushing himself to grow stronger in places where no one paid attention. Then he rose to prominence and made everyone see him in a new light.

And now Lin Yun was the person closest to him.

"Luo Feng," Lin Yun said seriously, looking at him, "let's train together from now on."

Luo Feng was taken aback, then smiled. "Of course. Why else would I have brought you here?"

The two boys looked at each other, both seeing a quiet understanding in the other's eyes.

On the night of the third day after his birthday, everything changed.

Lin Yun awoke from his sleep, feeling a familiar warmth in his chest—the same sensation he'd felt six years ago on the day of the plane crash.

He opened his eyes and looked down.

The Small Bronze Tripod, which had shown no reaction for six years, was now glowing with a faint azure light. The glow brightened and dimmed, like some kind of signal—or a summons.

"Finally..." Lin Yun murmured, his heart suddenly racing.

The azure light pulsed faster and faster. Light began to spill from the tripod, spreading outward until it enveloped the entire room in a blue-green glow. A tremendous force pulled at Lin Yun from his chest. His consciousness began to blur, and it felt as though an invisible hand were dragging his soul out of his body.

He knew this feeling all too well.

Six years ago, aboard that doomed plane, he had experienced it once before.

But this time was different. This time, he wasn't afraid. He was only filled with anticipation.

The azure light grew brighter and brighter. The tripod lifted away from Lin Yun's chest and floated in midair, slowly rotating. The ancient patterns on its surface began to flow as if they had come to life, tracing an incredibly intricate magic array in the air.

Then a crack split open in the void.

On the other side of the rift lay another sky, another world.

Carrying Lin Yun's soul, the tripod plunged into the rift.

When Lin Yun regained consciousness, he felt himself lying on a soft bed.

The air carried a completely different scent—not the smell of rust in Yangzhou City, but the fragrance of grass and earth, along with a faint trace of incense.

He slowly opened his eyes. An unfamiliar room came into view.

The room wasn't large, but it was very tidy. Its walls were made of bluestone, and colored glass filled the window. Sunlight streamed through it and cast dappled shadows across the floor. A wooden table stood beside the bed, with several books and sheets of parchment covered in writing on top. In the corner stood a wardrobe, its doors carved with emblems he couldn't quite make out.

Where was he?

Lin Yun sat up and realized his body had grown smaller—he looked about five or six years old, much as he had in the Swallowed Star World. He looked down at his chest. The Small Bronze Tripod rested quietly against it, the last traces of its azure glow fading away.

Just then, a flood of memories surged into his mind.

He saw a woman—gentle and beautiful, with long chestnut hair. She held a baby in her arms and softly hummed a lullaby.

He saw a man—tall and strong, with a heroic air about him. He held a child in each arm and stood before an ancient manor, his gaze resolute and deep.

He saw two children chasing each other around the manor's courtyard. One was a cute little boy. The other had been born a few minutes later, the younger of the twins.

That younger brother was him.

Six years of memories poured into Lin Yun's mind in a matter of seconds. He learned that his new body was named Lin Yun Baruch, a young master of the Baruch Clan. The other boy was his twin brother, Linley Baruch. The man was his father, Hogg Baruch, and the woman was his mother. She had "died of illness" not long after his other younger brother, Wharton, was born.

He also learned that the Baruch Clan had once been glorious. Dragonblood Warrior blood flowed through their veins, and they had been one of the most powerful warrior clans on the Yulan Continent. But now the clan had long since fallen into decline, leaving only this dilapidated manor and a few loyal servants.

Lin Yun sat on the bed for a long time, trying to absorb these memories.

The Baruch Clan, Dragonblood Warriors, his twin brother Linley...

He knew those names and that setting all too well.

Wasn't this the novel he'd once read?

The story of magic, Battle Qi, divine planes, and Chief Gods—Coiling Dragon.

Linley Baruch, the protagonist of Coiling Dragon and the future Grandmist Controller.

And in this world, Lin Yun was Linley's twin brother.

Lin Yun took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.

Six years ago, he had transmigrated to the Swallowed Star World and become Luo Feng's neighbor.

Six years later, the Small Bronze Tripod had brought him here, where he had become Linley's younger brother.

What secrets did this bronze tripod hold?

Just then, the door swung open.

A boy who looked almost exactly like Lin Yun poked his head in. When he saw Lin Yun sitting on the bed, he froze for a moment, then broke into a wide grin.

"Lin Yun, you're awake? That's great! You've been asleep all day. I thought you'd gotten sick."

This was Linley Baruch, his twin brother.

Lin Yun looked at this familiar yet unfamiliar face, a strange feeling welling up inside him.

"I'm fine," he said. His voice was calmer than he'd expected. "I just had a really long dream."

"What kind of dream?" Linley asked curiously, coming over to sit on the bed.

"I dreamed of..." Lin Yun paused. "Somewhere very, very far away."

Linley nodded as if he understood, then took his hand. "Come on, get up. Father said that today we'd start warrior training with the other kids in town! Uncle Hillman is already waiting in the courtyard!"

Lin Yun let Linley lead him out of the room, while his thoughts raced.

In the Swallowed Star World, he'd trained with Luo Feng, but they'd had no one to guide them, so their progress had been slow. They were also too young to dare train too hard. Now that Hillman, a Level 6 Warrior and a formidable expert in the early part of the story, would guide their training, Lin Yun figured he'd make much faster progress!

At six years old, his life in both worlds had begun. This was only the beginning.

He touched the Small Bronze Tripod at his chest and smiled faintly.

From this moment on, the fates of the two worlds were intertwined.

In the Swallowed Star World, he was Lin Yun, Luo Feng's neighbor and childhood friend, an orphan struggling to survive in a post-apocalyptic world.

In the Coiling Dragon World, he was Lin Yun Baruch, the second son of the Dragonblood Warrior Clan and Linley's twin brother.

One soul, two bodies, two entirely different worlds.

After completing this journey, the Small Bronze Tripod had fallen silent once again, hovering quietly between Lin Yun's two souls as it waited to be awakened next time.