Xu Yuan felt the world spin. Countless memories surged through his mind like a flood, until he hallucinated that he had returned to that age.
Yet it all felt like a past buried deep in his memory.
It had always been there.
It was—
A long, long time ago.
A certain Epoch.
Winter.
A snowy day.
A magnificent snow mountain rising straight into the heavens came into view.
Xu Yuan found himself gazing at the mountain.
As he gazed, memories began to flow into his mind.
His body and soul returned to that moment as well, taking on the Identity of a human from that Epoch.
Lead-gray clouds hung low.
The mountain pierced the clouds, its summit nowhere in sight.
Wind and snow howled.
"Looks like no one will come today."
Xu Yuan spoke without thinking.
Only after speaking did he notice how old and deep his voice sounded, and how strange his pronunciation was.
...That was simply how humans spoke in this Epoch.
He steadied himself and looked at the sky again.
The snow was falling thicker by the minute.
He could no longer see the Mountain Forest nearby.
In Evil weather like this, snow buried the mountain road and carts and horses could not pass. No one would climb up to burn incense.
Burn incense...
In the depths of winter, with no one coming to the temple to worship, he had it easy.
As an experienced Temple Keeper, he had begun stockpiling wood and coal back in autumn. He had also prepared several large sacks of cornmeal. The holes in the roof had been repaired, so wind and snow could no longer blow in.
The whole temple was much warmer than before.
Luckier still, some mountain households nearby had brought him salt and vinegar a few days earlier.