Then Su Yuntao began his journey.
He followed Zhuge Liang out of Longzhong to meet Liu Bei.
"I know I lack the virtue and strength to measure myself against my ambitions. Yet I wish to uphold the righteous cause beneath Heaven. My wisdom and strategy are shallow, and so I suffered defeat and came to this pass. But my ambition remains undiminished. What plan would you propose?"
Zhuge Liang gently waved his feather fan. "I would gladly serve you to the best of my ability."
At that moment, goosebumps rose all over Su Yuntao.
He followed Zhuge Liang across the winds of Jiangdong and watched him debate the assembled scholars.
"Among scholars, there are gentlemen and petty men. A gentlemanly scholar serves his ruler and loves his country, upholds what is right and detests evil, striving to benefit his own age and leave his name to posterity. As for petty scholars, they concern themselves only with trivial matters and the art of writing. They compose poetry in their youth and study the classics until their hair turns white. Though their pens may produce a thousand words, their minds hold not a single plan!"
At that moment, Su Yuntao had nearly slapped the table and cried, "Bravo!"
He followed Zhuge Liang as he borrowed the east wind and burned Red Cliff.
"Everything is ready. We lack only the east wind."
When the east wind rose, Su Yuntao trembled all over, his eyes hot with tears.
He followed Zhuge Liang through his three bouts with Zhou Yu.
"Having been born, why was Liang born too!"
Zhou Yu spat blood and collapsed. Su Yuntao's heart was a tangle of emotions.
He followed Zhuge Liang as he captured and released Meng Huo seven times.
"Capture him, then release him. Release him, then capture him. Only when his heart submits will the trouble be ended for good."
When Meng Huo knelt in submission, Su Yuntao finally understood what it meant to "win hearts first."
At last, he followed Zhuge Liang on his six campaigns against Qishan.
On the Wuzhang Plains, the autumn wind rustled mournfully.
Zhuge Liang looked up at the heavens and sighed. "I can no longer take the field to fight the enemy! Vast Heaven above, when will this end?"
The Seven Star Lamp went out.
A star of the generals fell.
Su Yuntao dropped to his knees and burst into tears.
"Prime Minister—!!!"
No one knew how much time had passed.
Su Yuntao slowly opened his eyes.
The eastern sky had begun to pale like a fish's belly.
Dawn had come.
He lowered his gaze to the copy of Romance of the Three Kingdoms in his hands. Tears slid down his cheeks and dampened the pages.
He had cried for a long time.
When he was done, he wiped his tears and prepared to close the book.
The instant his fingers touched the back cover—
A beam of golden light surged out of the book and shot straight into his brow.
Su Yuntao shuddered.
A flood of information poured into his mind—
The art of war, strategy, the human heart, the state of affairs, the timing of Heaven, the advantages of the land, and the unity of men...
Everything Zhuge Liang had spent his life learning now grew wildly inside his mind.
He closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his gaze had changed.
It had grown profound.
It had grown clear.
[Resonance Reading] [Reader: Su Yuntao] [Book: Romance of the Three Kingdoms] [Resonance Level: Deep Resonance] [Inheritance Gained: Demonic Wisdom (Wisdom greatly increased; strategy approaching the demonic. Able to see through people's hearts, anticipate the state of affairs, and plan a thousand miles ahead.)] [Feedback Recipient: Crouching Dragon]
Su Yuntao stood where he was, quietly feeling the new things taking root in his mind.
Then he smiled.
It was a light, faint smile.
He looked toward Holy Soul Village, toward the place where the child he had seen that day lived.
By day, the child had awakened his martial spirit in the ancestral hall.
By night, his book had "fallen" here.
It had happened to be picked up by him.
He had happened to read it.
And he had happened to receive its inheritance.
How could there be so many coincidences in the world?
Su Yuntao drew a deep breath, his gaze growing incomparably complicated.
"Mr. Su Mo..." he murmured. "You left it here on purpose, didn't you?"
Yes.
It had to be.
He had wanted so badly to read the book that day. Su Mo must have noticed.
He must have known that they were fated to meet.
So he had deliberately let it "fall" here, waiting for him to pick it up.
This was a chance Su Mo had bestowed upon him.
And he had come in such a hurry, empty-handed.
Su Yuntao looked down at the book in his hands, then felt the money pouch inside his robe. It held his salary for the month: thirty Silver Spirit Coins.
He thought for a moment, then took out the pouch and placed it gently on the threshold of Su Mo's home, together with Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Then he stepped back three paces, straightened his robes, and bowed deeply.
"I, Su Yuntao, came in haste and failed to observe proper courtesy."
His voice was soft, for fear of waking the people inside.
"When the time comes, I'll bring a gift and come thank you in person."
Having said that, he gave the tightly shut door one last, deep look.
Then he turned and left.
His figure disappeared into the morning mist.
Su Mo yawned as he pushed open the door.
He had been up half the night the day before, so he'd gone to bed late and gotten up late.
He was about to go look for the copy of Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Then he glanced down.
A book lay quietly on the threshold.
Beside it sat a bulging money pouch.
Su Mo froze.
He bent down and picked up the book. It was Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
He flipped through it. The pages were intact, and someone had even carefully smoothed out the creased corners.
Then he opened the pouch. Thirty Silver Spirit Coins lay neatly stacked inside.
The purchasing power of those thirty Silver Spirit Coins was equivalent to three thousand yuan in his previous life.
Su Mo: "???"
He looked around. There was no one.
He looked down at the book, then at the money.
Suddenly, he remembered something and raised his right hand.
The character "Dao" appeared on the back of his hand. What he had seen and learned from Romance of the Three Kingdoms the day before had turned into information and entered his mind.
Su Mo stared at the character in silence for three seconds.
Then he looked down at the money in his hand.
He fell silent for another three seconds.
"So..." he murmured. "Su Yuntao thinks I deliberately dropped this book here as a chance for him?"
"Then he read it, understood it, was moved by it, and brought me money?"
Su Mo's mouth twitched.
He swore, the book had really fallen by accident.
Really.
But Su Yuntao clearly didn't see it that way.
Su Mo looked at the thirty Silver Spirit Coins in his hand. They were enough to feed him and his mother for three months.
Then he looked at the record that read "Deep Resonance."
Suddenly, he felt that this misunderstanding...
Wasn't so bad after all?
"Su Yuntao..." Su Mo put away the money pouch and muttered to himself, "He's a pretty decent fellow. He even knows to pay for a book."
He turned and went back inside, ready to give the money to his mother.
As for Su Yuntao's belief that he had "deliberately bestowed a chance" on him?
Let him believe it.
People on Douluo Continent seemed to have something wrong with their heads. His mother was the exception, of course.
Early that morning.
Su Mo pushed open the door, ready to head out and set up his stall as usual.
But when he looked up, he froze.
Someone stood outside.
A six-year-old boy with short hair. The three bumps on his forehead hadn't quite faded yet. He stood ramrod straight, holding something wrapped in a lotus leaf.
It was Tang San.
Su Mo was silent for a second.
He wondered if he'd opened the door wrong.
"...How long have you been standing here?"
"Master, this disciple arrived at mao hour." Tang San answered respectfully. "I was afraid of disturbing your rest, so I didn't dare knock. I've been waiting here."
Mao hour?
Su Mo looked up at the sky. It seemed to be a little past seven in the morning.
That meant the kid had been standing outside for nearly an hour and a half.
"You..." Su Mo started to say, "Aren't you cold?"
"I'm not cold." Tang San shook his head. "I have the Mysterious Heaven Skill to protect me."
Then, as if remembering something, he added excitedly:
"If Master wants to learn it, this disciple can teach you."
Su Mo: "...No need."
I already know it.
Tang San stepped forward and offered the lotus-leaf bundle with both hands. "Master, this is the breakfast I prepared for you early this morning. It's simple fare, but I hope you'll accept it."
Su Mo took it and opened it.
There were two coarse-grain steamed buns, a dish of pickled vegetables, and a bowl of warm rice porridge. Wrapped in lotus leaves, they were still steaming.
Su Mo looked up at Tang San.
Tang San looked back at him expectantly.
Su Mo looked down at the breakfast again.
This kid was serious.