Binshui Prefecture, Qingyun County.
It had just rained. Stray wisps of dark cloud lingered across the sky, veiling the sun like a blotch of prickly color.
Wealthy District was mostly mud and ramshackle huts. When the rainwater swept through, it carried the chicken and duck droppings each family had stockpiled for fertilizer straight onto the street, where they mixed with the yellow muck and stank to high heaven.
Into this filthy neighborhood suddenly strode a tall, handsome youth in plain clothes, the words "Azure Cloud Martial Hall" embroidered across his chest.
He stood out starkly against the ragged, emaciated commoners around him. The neighbors looked at him with envy and jealousy. A bold, sharp-tongued auntie stood by her pigsty, hands on her hips, and called out,
"Pingsheng, off to Azure Cloud Martial Hall again to practice your stance and fists?"
Li Pingsheng stopped and smiled faintly, replying in a gentle voice,
"Yes."
"Oh, you're so lucky! We all scratch a living from the fields, who'd have thought your family would produce someone with such fine bones? In five days, once your qi and blood have settled, they'll take you into the hall. Then your family can move into the Inner City, too."
Li Pingsheng's expression remained unchanged. After exchanging a few more pleasantries, he hurried away, heading for the ramshackle huts at the far end of Wealthy District.
Behind him, the neighbors' voices rose, no longer holding back their envy.
"The Li Family sure is lucky. They've tightened their belts to pay for Li Pingsheng's martial training, and now they're finally seeing a return."
"Tell me about it. I heard the old master of the Li Family even dug into his coffin money to buy precious blood-nourishing herbs, all so Li Pingsheng could get into the hall."
Their chatter drifted to him on the wind. Li Pingsheng lowered his eyes and turned the corner. Before him stood a large hovel made up of three smaller ones.
His mother and Second Aunt were laboriously weaving bamboo baskets. His grandfather and Second Uncle had probably gone out to work the fields; they were nowhere to be seen.
Li Pingsheng paused, composed himself, then stepped inside. He greeted his mother and Second Aunt before striding into the finest of the three huts and closing the door behind him.
"Pingsheng, the Blood Strengthening Powder's ready. It's warming on the stove, so hurry and drink it!"
Hearing his mother's nagging, Li Pingsheng leaned against the door, the corners of his lips lifting in a bitter smile. He cursed the original owner inwardly for the mess he'd made.
He wasn't from this world. After an accident, his soul had transmigrated into the body of a youth who shared his name.
In this world, war raged and demons ran rampant. To live in peace and comfort, one had to take the martial path.
Martial training had its prerequisites: first, one's bone structure; second, one's qi and blood.
Those with inferior bones weren't qualified to train. Those with middling bones had limited prospects and couldn't enter Azure Cloud Martial Hall. Only those with superior bones would be accepted into the hall, earn the right to take the military examinations, and gain the power to rise above their station.
Half a month ago, the original owner had gone to Azure Cloud Martial Hall for a bone assessment. For some reason, his qi and blood had surged, throwing off the instructor's judgment. Unable to make a determination, the instructor had told him to return in twenty days, once his qi and blood had stabilized.
But the original owner had seized on that uncertainty, insisting he had superior bones. He'd even wheedled a set of disciple robes and a Health Preservation Stance for stabilizing qi and blood out of the hall, then loudly spread the story around. Before long, he'd become the talk of Wealthy District.
The original owner's true worth was plain as day to Li Pingsheng.
He had only inferior bones. He'd taken medicine on the day of the assessment to make his qi and blood surge. By now, the medicine's effects had long since worn off. When he returned to Azure Cloud Martial Hall for another assessment in five days, it would all be over.
That would've been bad enough, but the original owner had fooled himself and hidden the truth from all six members of the family.
To help him strengthen and stabilize his qi and blood, the entire family had emptied their savings.
His father had gone into the city to haul stone until he nearly worked himself to death, exhausted enough to cough blood.
His grandfather and Second Uncle had gone to help with the wheat harvest and hadn't returned in ten days.
Second Aunt and his mother had been weaving baskets and mending clothes day and night.
Worse still, his grandfather had borrowed ten taels of silver from the Black Water Gang at an interest rate of sixteen for every nine borrowed. If they failed to repay it within a month, the women would be sold into brothels, and the men sent to work on the sea embankment—leaving no hope of survival.
One lie needed more lies to cover it. The original owner had gradually come to his senses, but it was already too late. He'd worried himself to death, leaving Li Pingsheng to take over the wreckage.
"Should I come clean?"
Li Pingsheng rubbed his furrowed brow and shook his head to himself.
There was no turning back now. The moment the Black Water Gang had lent his family money, their fate had been sealed. Either the truth came out and the whole family was skinned and dismembered by the gang, made into kindling to pay off the debt, or...
Suddenly, someone softly knocked on the hut's door.
Through a crack in the door, he saw a small, frail child standing outside.
"Brother, the food's ready, and the medicine's brewed. Mother says to come eat."
With a creak, Li Pingsheng pulled the door open from inside.
He lowered his gaze to Yunmei. Though she'd already celebrated her ninth birthday, she barely reached his waist. Her limbs were as thin as dry kindling, and her skin was sallow. Only her watery eyes held a hint of a little girl's liveliness.
He patted Yunmei's head and answered gently,
"All right."
In the yard, a small table had been set up on the only patch of ground untouched by animal droppings. Three bowls of bran porridge sat on it—the meal for Second Aunt, his mother, and Yunmei.
There was also a chipped clay basin filled with oily broth. It held half a free-range chicken, its savory aroma carried by the breeze straight to their noses.
"Gulp!"
Out of the corner of his eye, Li Pingsheng saw Yunmei swallow unconsciously. But she quickly looked away, obediently took her seat, picked up her bowl of bran porridge, and drank in silence.
"Pingsheng, what're you standing around for? Come on over, before the broth gets cold!" Madam Li called, hands on her hips. She bustled over with another bowl, this one filled with pitch-black medicinal soup.
Li Pingsheng sat down and sniffed the medicine. It wasn't fishy or foul. Instead, it had an enticing, appetizing fragrance that made his whole body feel at ease.
"This is Blood Strengthening Powder prepared by a master from Herb Hall in the Inner City. Try it and see how it works. One dose costs a tael of silver!"
The bowl in Li Pingsheng's hands suddenly felt heavy. Even if his family scrimped and saved for a whole year, they might not manage to put aside a single tael of silver. Yet for the beautiful future he'd spun out of lies, every member of the family had staked everything.
Madam Li and Second Aunt paid him no mind. They ate their porridge quickly, with a few dried wild vegetables on the side.
After all, there were still plenty of bamboo strips to weave once the meal was over.
As they ate, Second Aunt set down her bowl and said with a sigh,
"Remember Stone Mason Chen?"
Madam Li immediately picked up the thread.
"How could I forget? He was our neighbor for more than ten years. If a stone hadn't crushed his leg and left him unable to pay the Black Water Gang's dues, forcing him to leave Qingyun County, we could've borrowed money from them to buy medicine for Pingsheng."
"Isn't that the truth?" Second Aunt sighed. "I only found out yesterday, while chatting with someone, that after Stone Mason Chen's family was driven out of the city, they took shelter in a village near Zuojin Village. They didn't lock their door properly at night, and a pack of over a dozen wild wolves, each as big as a calf, tore the whole family to pieces!"
Li Pingsheng knew this world was no place to live in peace. War was everywhere, and yin and yang had been thrown into chaos. Seeing ghosts in broad daylight was nothing unusual. The wild wolves and dogs that gathered along the roads outside the city had grown even more brazen after eating human corpses. Anyone foolish enough to walk alone outside at dusk or after dark was sure to be eaten until not a bone remained.
At that, Madam Li and Second Aunt both looked toward Li Pingsheng, their faces full of relief and heartfelt emotion.
"Thankfully, Pingsheng has made something of himself. In a few days, he'll be accepted into Azure Cloud Martial Hall, and the rest of us will be able to move into the Inner City with him. Then we won't have to fear those beasts."
Li Pingsheng paused with his chopsticks, then replied calmly,
"Mother, Second Aunt, don't worry. I'll do my best."
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