Huang Shang glanced back at the gates of Kaifeng Prefecture, his eyes filled with emotion.
He was finally leaving this place.
He had been in this world for less than half a year.
But it felt like much longer.
Whether it was the fulfillment of learning or the twists and turns of his clashes with the Reincarnators, every moment had kept him on tenterhooks.
In the end, he left the capital and headed home to take the Provincial Examination.
Wu Que and Nightingale knew that Xu Feng and Xu Yue were surely looking for Huang Shang, so they didn't dare delay and left at once.
Huang Shang had already planned to go home for the examination, but these two Reincarnators had practically carried him off. He hadn't even had time to say goodbye to his classmates.
They headed south.
Huang Shang's hometown was Yong Prefecture, in Jinghu South Circuit.
In the Song dynasty, place names were often arranged as XX Circuit, XX Prefecture, XX County.
A circuit was roughly equivalent to a province in later times, a prefecture to a city, and a county was still a county.
Yong Prefecture in Jinghu South Circuit was the same as Yongzhou City in Hunan Province today.
Of course, a thousand years separated the present from the future, and even the landscape had changed somewhat.
Perhaps people weren't familiar with Jinghu, but surely everyone had heard of the eight-hundred-li Dongting Lake.
At the heart of this vast lake lay Jun Mountain, where the Beggar Sect's headquarters stood.
Its scenery was beautiful, and green bamboo cast its shade everywhere. The sect occupied one of the most picturesque spots in all of Jinghu, while also holding a position of strategic importance, with the advantage of being able to advance or retreat at will. That was how the world's greatest gang had managed to stand firm.
When Huang Shang realized this, he felt that he really did have a connection with the Beggar Sect.
Of course, they hadn't reached Jinghu South Circuit yet.
This journey was a perfect chance to see what people were really like.
"Beggar's chicken, coming right up! Young master, eat it while it's hot!"
In the forest, Nightingale dug a charred black lump out of a pit, patted away the lotus leaves wrapped around it, and revealed a roast chicken, crispy on the outside and tender within. Smiling, she brought it over.
Looking at the fragrant beggar's chicken in his hands, Huang Shang couldn't help feeling amused and helpless.
Ever since Huang Rong won Hong Qigong's heart with delicious food, similar scenes had appeared in countless novels.
Someone would win a beauty's or an important figure's heart with good food, making them instantly see the protagonist in a new light, and even become unable to leave his side.
As if those beauties and big shots had never eaten anything good before.
So if you saw a male lead use beggar's chicken on a heroine, you could bet on what would happen: her heart would race, and she'd give him her heart.
Now he had run into that very same strategy.
Sigh, chicken is so delicious. Why do we have to hurt them?
Mm, that's good!
"Country bumpkin! What era is this? And you're still using that old trick!"
Wu Que was also railing against it in his heart.
Of course, he was green with envy.
He realized that he had underestimated Nightingale's methods.
From where he stood, Huang Shang had been wary of them both at first, which was only natural.
But these past few days, under Nightingale's attentive care, Huang Shang's attitude had softened considerably. It was obvious that he was growing fond of her.
A man pursuing a woman had a mountain to cross; a woman pursuing a man had only a veil.
Huang Shang, Huang Shang, who would've thought that even a straight-laced fellow like you couldn't resist a cute girl!
Where was the example of Liu Xiahui? Where was the integrity of Song dynasty literati?
Wu Que would've loved to make beggar's chicken himself and offer it up with both hands.
But a woman doing something like that made a man's heart go pitter-patter. When a man did it, it was just gross and perverted.
"I'd planned to wait a little longer, but it looks like I need to give him the Bright Jade Art as soon as possible."
Wu Que knew perfectly well that being a lapdog never ended well.
He and Xu Yue had the same idea: make Huang Shang indebted to them, rather than fawning over him nonstop.
But he couldn't compete with a cute girl who'd already started winning him over. If he kept up his aloof act, he wouldn't even get to lick the plate.
That night, while Huang Shang was asleep, someone gently shook him awake.
"Couldn't wait any longer?"
He opened his eyes and saw Wu Que gesture to him. Huang Shang's heart stirred, but he put on a puzzled expression and followed him outside.
The two walked several li before Wu Que stopped and turned to bow to Huang Shang. "My dear brother, I have an unreasonable request to make."
"Brother Hua, go ahead."
By the way, when Wu Que had introduced himself, he'd used the name Hua Wuque.
What a shameless guy.
Wu Que took out a manual and handed it over. "Please accept this!"
Huang Shang took it without looking inside. His expression solemn, he said, "Brother Hua, tell me what's troubling you. I'll do everything in my power to help!"
Wu Que sighed and rolled up his sleeve. A mark was clearly visible on his forearm. "I fell victim to a scheme by a foreign race, and I may not have long to live. Before I die, I don't want this divine art to be lost, so I'm entrusting it to you!"
"A cancer ploy? You guys are getting more and more creative!"
Looking at the convincing mark on Wu Que's arm, Huang Shang played along and put on an angry expression. "Is there any way to cure it?"
Wu Que thought, I made up this nonexistent cancer just so you'd come with me to find a way to save my life. Then we'll share hardships, and after spending time together, won't our feelings develop naturally?
So he said, "The chances are slim, but it's not impossible. For instance, if you mastered this divine art, you might be able to save my life."
As he spoke, he tried to press the manual into Huang Shang's hands.
Huang Shang accepted it with a solemn expression. "I won't let you down!"
Only then did he steady himself and look at the manual in his hands.
Three elegant characters on the cover made his heart skip a beat.
Bright Jade Art!
Along with the Wedding Dress Art, the Four Illuminations Art, and the Formless Art, it was known as one of the four great divine arts of the Gu Long universe!
Huang Shang opened the first page.
From Wu Que's perspective, a glimmer of light drifted out and disappeared into Huang Shang's body, signifying that the manual had recognized its new owner.
Even though he'd been prepared for this, Wu Que's eye still twitched.
In theory, a manual could be read by any number of people, but only within the Heavens Consciousness worlds.
For example, in this world's Shaolin Temple, anyone could read the manuals for the seventy-two supreme arts. But to take one out of the [Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils] world, you needed a contract card to turn it into an [Item Card].
That required completing main or side quests. Only the contract power granted among the rewards distributed by the Main God Temple could transform an item in a Reincarnator's possession.
This wasn't an unnecessary complication. The Heavens Consciousness worlds protected themselves, preventing Reincarnators from plundering the items within them. Only the power of the Main God Temple could break through that restriction.
Even so, once an item had been taken out, it became a consumable, and only one person—or a small number of people—could read it.
That was another reason the Main God Temple kept invading the Heavens Consciousness worlds.
Otherwise, all you had to do was enter each world once, empty it out completely, and be done with it.
Now that Huang Shang had read Bright Jade Art, just like Xu Feng's copy of the Dao Scripture, he had become its new owner.
While Wu Que and Huang Shang practiced their martial arts outside, Nightingale turned over in her tent.
"Wu Que must have given Huang Shang that Bright Jade Art he couldn't sell."
"You think that's enough to stop me? Once the time is right, I'll use the Love Potion and make Huang Shang fall hopelessly in love with me!"
"Heh heh heh!"
Nightingale covered her head and laughed under the blankets.
But as she laughed, a thought suddenly struck her, and her face flushed scarlet. "Can a Reincarnator and a character from the story have a baby? Probably not..."
What one thought about during the day, one dreamed of at night. Before long, Nightingale dreamed that she and Huang Shang had a second child. They'd even picked out a name, but couldn't afford a house in a good school district.
She jolted upright.
Her hair fell loose around her as she looked around in a daze. Then she remembered that she'd already reached the Main God Temple and was living in a huge mansion. Only then did she wipe away her cold sweat, drowsily check that the warning spell was intact, and flop back down, arms and legs sprawled.
(Please support me with votes! Also, the Reincarnator application thread is up in the book review section. You're welcome to submit designs; see the post for details. Many characters in my earlier books came from your ideas, and this book will be the same. Brief or detailed designs are both welcome, but the better the design, the more screen time the character will get.)
Before you continue