Du Yu saw nothing but darkness. His whole body felt weightless, and he had no idea where he was.
"Du Yu, can you hear me?"
"Dong Qianqiu?"
"That's right, it's me. I'm transmitting my voice to you. I'll be your main contact for this mission."
Dong Qianqiu's voice rang directly inside his head.
"Where am I now?"
"Your physical body is being transported and reconstructed in the void. For this mission, you'll arrive as a traveler named Pang Meng. To avoid affecting the course of history, try not to reveal your real name. Also, multiple versions of the legend have been included in your Crossing Starter Pack. Remember to read them carefully once you wake up."
Du Yu finally understood. What did you call this?
A fully immersive murder-mystery role-playing game with 360-degree sensory feedback, body and soul included.
Before Du Yu could even complain, a speck of light suddenly appeared in the darkness. As it grew larger and larger, he realized he was hurtling toward it at high speed.
A dazzling glare struck him. Once the blinding light passed, Du Yu found himself lying facedown on the ground, which was scorching hot.
Location: Eastern Victory Divine Continent.
Era: the reign of Emperor Yao.
Character: Pang Meng had arrived.
"Wake up, brother."
A hand kept shaking Du Yu.
Du Yu struggled to get up, dizzy from the sensation of weightlessness. A man and a little boy stood before him.
"Wonderful, you're awake!"
Du Yu looked at the man before him. He was unmistakably the Hou Yi he had seen on the screen earlier, face to the yellow earth and back to the sky.
"Hou Yi?"
"Hou... Yi?" The man seemed surprised, but also puzzled. "My name is Da Yi, not Hou Yi. Are you looking for someone?"
For some reason, Du Yu kept feeling that this man named Da Yi spoke indistinctly, as though he had something in his mouth.
Unsure what was going on, Du Yu stood and looked around. He had been lying at the entrance to a village, as though he had walked a long way before collapsing here.
He looked up. A full ten suns hung in the sky.
It was hot, but not terribly hot.
Unfortunately, he had never learned this in school: if one sun could bring the temperature to twenty degrees Celsius, what about two?
If one sun could raise the temperature of the universe from minus 273 degrees to twenty, wouldn't two bring it close to three hundred?
With ten suns continually baking everything and emitting solar radiation, wouldn't they keep heating the atmosphere like an oven, killing every living thing on the planet instantly and keeping the seas boiling all day?
But that hadn't happened. Du Yu felt as though he were experiencing a summer in the south. The temperature was probably around forty to fifty degrees Celsius. It wouldn't kill anyone instantly, but it was certainly unpleasant.
"Is this guy an idiot?" the little boy asked after staring at Du Yu for a while.
"He probably passed out from the heat," Da Yi said. "Brother, come to my house. I still have a little water you can drink."
Du Yu felt around his body and found a coarse cloth pouch slung at his waist. A few crooked words were written on it: Crossing Starter Pack.
Honestly, judging by the quality of the bag, its contents couldn't be much better.
Are these people screwing me over...? Du Yu cursed inwardly.
"Brother?" Yi called again, but Du Yu still didn't answer.
"Brother Yi, this guy really is an idiot," the little boy said, picking his nose.
"You're the idiot." Du Yu glared at the boy, then suddenly grew puzzled. Was there a child in the story of Hou Yi shooting down the suns?
"Youqiong, don't talk nonsense." Da Yi patted the little boy's shoulder, then turned to Du Yu. "Brother, what's your name?"
"My name is Du... Pang Meng."
"Du Pang Meng?"
"No, no, just Pang Meng."
Da Yi looked at Du Yu as though he were looking at an idiot.
"Seriously. Me, Pang Meng. I haven't forgotten my own name. Stop looking at me like that."
A jumble of emotions filled Du Yu's heart. He glanced at the ten suns overhead, then felt the shabby Crossing Starter Pack at his waist, wondering whether it was too late to regret this.
At the Legend Management Bureau, a group of people gathered around the screen.
"Director, are you sure he'll be all right?" Dong Qianqiu was deeply worried after watching Du Yu's performance.
"Whatever else happens, our world still only has one sun right now, doesn't it?" He Suoyi said. "This kid is quick-witted. Just wait and see."
With that, He Suoyi glanced toward the door and said quietly, "If you're here, stop standing outside. Come in and sit down."
At those words, the door slowly opened, and three people walked in.
A closer look revealed that the first two were Grand Judge Cui Jue and Seventh Master Xie Bi'an, the White Impermanence. The third had an exceptionally cold, sinister face. He wore fitted black robes, held a soul-snaring chain, and had a tall black official's hat bearing four large characters: "Peace Under Heaven." The moment he appeared, the temperature throughout the room abruptly dropped.
Xie Jin and Fan Xiaoguo immediately knelt in greeting upon seeing the three, but the other staff at the bureau went about their work as though they hadn't noticed them at all.
"Even Eighth Master is here?"
Eighth Master, the Black Impermanence, nodded without speaking.
"Oh, old He, old He. If Da Yi doesn't shoot down nine suns, the three of us are going to have an awful lot of work." Xie Bi'an shook his head helplessly, then glanced at the nearby screen. "What's the situation?"
He Suoyi glanced at Dong Qianqiu. She nodded and began briefing them as she leafed through the documents.
"As the Grand Judge predicted, Du Yu can indeed become an 'operator' and return to the legends. The problem is that his very first assignment is already 'Super Grade A.' For a mortal, that's no different from suicide. Judging by his performance just now, he's also rather rash and clumsy. I fear he'll have difficulty completing the mission."
Cui Jue smiled. "Really? He'll die in the legend of Yi Shoots Down Nine Suns?"
"All I can say is that the probability of failure is extremely high."
"He won't fail," Cui Jue interrupted Dong Qianqiu. "Although I don't know how a mortal like him could shoot down the suns, he certainly didn't die here, because I also met him in Zhenguan Year Nineteen."
He Suoyi said with a faint, ambiguous smile, "Cause must come before effect, Grand Judge. If this kid dies here, you'll forget your memories of Zhenguan Year Nineteen."
"So that's how it works?" Cui Jue suddenly looked rather crestfallen, but he soon recovered. "Those memories aren't important. If he comes back alive, promise me you'll let me meet him."
With that, Cui Jue swept his sleeve and walked straight out the door.
"Director, the Grand Judge..." Dong Qianqiu watched Cui Jue's retreating back, lost in thought.
"Yes. Even as a Yin Immortal of the underworld, he still has an attachment he can't let go of." He Suoyi turned back to Seventh Master and Eighth Master. "Well, what do you two youngsters have to tell me?"
"Nothing," the Black Impermanence said. "Just checking whether an old man like you needs my help."
"Oh, listen to him!" The White Impermanence pointed at the Black Impermanence and said to He Suoyi, "Old He, he's all tough talk. The moment he heard there was an operator, he insisted on coming over without even changing his clothes."
The Black Impermanence snorted. "Weren't you exactly the same?"
"All right, guests are guests. Sit wherever you like. This old man won't stand on ceremony with you."
Du Yu sat in the shabby little house, looking at the wooden bowl in his hands. Rather than drinking water, it looked more like the dregs left behind after someone washed the bowl and failed to empty it properly.
"Brother, have a drink. We don't have much water either." Yi watched Du Yu, worried that he thought it was too little.
Unable to refuse, Du Yu lifted the wooden bowl and drained the tiny amount of water in one gulp.
Delicious. This water was absolutely delicious.
That was Du Yu's first thought.
In fact, it wasn't just the water. Even the air in this world seemed exceptionally sweet to Du Yu.
What was going on?
"Brother Pang Meng, are you feeling better?"
"Much better, Brother Da Yi."
"That's wonderful." Da Yi still spoke indistinctly, but he seemed like a decent man. "Brother Pang Meng, you aren't from this village. Are you here to look for someone?"
Du Yu thought for a moment, then nodded.
"Yes, I'm looking for someone."
"Oh, wait a moment, then. I don't know many people, so I'll have to ask my wife." Da Yi turned toward the inner room and called, "Wife, come out and meet our guest."
Du Yu looked curiously toward the inner room. He should have read the script beforehand. So Da Yi had a wife?
In the blink of an eye, a delicate fragrance drifted over. Accompanied by approaching footsteps, an extraordinarily beautiful woman lifted the curtain and emerged from the back room.
"My name is Heng'e. Greetings, brother."
The woman bowed, and that brief moment left Du Yu utterly spellbound. In an age without skincare products or cosmetics, could such a beautiful woman truly exist?
Two slender brows graced her fair, flawless face, above drowsy almond-shaped eyes. Her glossy black hair fell in neat strands. She was the very image of a woman whose loveliness could stir even another woman's tender affection.
"Husband, why did you call me?"
Yi smiled. "Wife, Brother Pang Meng seems to have come from far away to find someone. I don't know many people, so I called you out to help."
"I see. If you're looking for someone, brother, please tell me. I know everyone in this village."
Du Yu finally managed to come back to his senses and tear his eyes away from Heng'e's face. After steadying himself, he slowly said, "I... came to find someone who can shoot down the suns."
As soon as he spoke, the expressions of Da Yi and his wife visibly changed.
Da Yi stood, hurried to the entrance, and shut the wooden door. Then he returned and respectfully addressed Du Yu. "Brother Pang Meng, such startling words. Could you be an immortal?"
Du Yu shook his head. "No, I'm just a mortal."
After saying that, Du Yu felt puzzled. Why had their first reaction to hearing about shooting down the suns been, "Is this man an immortal?" Shouldn't a normal person's first reaction have been, "Is this man an imbecile?"
Upon hearing Du Yu's reply, Hou Yi shook his head. "Ah, then you must be joking, brother. You and I are both mortals. How could we discuss something like shooting down the suns?"
Du Yu looked at the couple, thought for a moment, and said, "Although I'm not an immortal, I do have a few means at my disposal. And the person I'm looking for is named Yi. Yi can shoot down nine suns."
"Me?"
Da Yi's eyes widened in alarm, and he glanced at Heng'e.
"Brother Pang Meng, please stop joking. Tell me, there are ten suns up there. How am I supposed to shoot them down? What am I supposed to use?"
The words "With a bow and arrows" caught in Du Yu's throat. He simply couldn't say them. That was right. Those were ten suns.
Hou Yi had once shot down nine suns with a bow and arrows. In a legend, that sounded perfectly natural. But when ten suns were laid bare before his eyes, he couldn't bring himself to say it.
"Ah..." Du Yu sighed. He didn't know what to do either.
"Brother Pang Meng, you must be exhausted from your long journey. If you don't mind our humble lodgings, rest here for today."
This was simply the worst possible start. Du Yu understood that Da Yi still thought he was an idiot.
But what could he do about it?
Du Yu couldn't leave Da Yi. He didn't have much time left.
"If I could stay for a night... that would be wonderful," Du Yu said, shamelessly imposing on him.
"Of course. Make yourself at home." Da Yi patted Du Yu's shoulder and led him to a side room.
"You can rest here today," Da Yi said, tidying up a little as he spoke. But the room was already kept exceptionally clean. Clearly, the woman of the house was a capable, devoted homemaker.
"Oh, right." Du Yu looked at Heng'e and asked, "Apart from Da Yi, is there anyone in this village named Hou Yi?"
Du Yu felt that he might have jumped to conclusions. Seeing this man on the screen earlier didn't necessarily mean he was the protagonist. Perhaps the real protagonist was someone else.
Heng'e bowed and gently replied, "My knowledge is limited, but in the nearby villages, I know no man named Hou Yi."
"Really... all right, I understand..."
Du Yu remained alone in the side room, unsure whether it was day or night.
Lowering his head, Du Yu felt the shabby little bag at his waist.
"Hah. Crossing Starter Pack." With a cold chuckle, Du Yu opened the so-called gift pack.
There were two jars, each with a paper label bearing handwritten words: "Victorious Fighting Buddha Sun Wukong" and "Han Chancellor Crouching Dragon Zhuge Kongming."
"They actually used such ordinary glass jars..."
Most absurdly, when he turned them over, he could still see the instructions on the bottoms:
"Please consume before the expiration date."
Du Yu tossed the jars aside and spotted a stack of papers.
Many versions of Hou Yi shooting down the suns were written on those papers. Du Yu was just about to study them when he noticed there was something else in the shabby bag.
"What's this?"
A stack of very worn yellow paper, with patterns drawn on it in red cinnabar.
"Those are talismans."
Dong Qianqiu's voice suddenly sounded in his ear, startling Du Yu.
"Come on, Sister Qianqiu. Could you stop scaring me like that?"
"My job is to keep watching you and answer your questions."
"But I haven't even started asking!" Du Yu shook his head, then asked, "Are these talismans the sort they always talk about in cultivation novels?"
"More or less," Dong Qianqiu said. "But you have no magical power whatsoever. These are all the most basic talismans, and they can only provide support."
Du Yu turned each talisman over and discovered that their functions and instructions for use were actually printed on the backs.
Two Teleportation Talismans, one Eavesdropping Talisman, one Loudness Talisman, and one Rejuvenation Talisman.
Of the five talismans, the Teleportation Talismans were actually the most powerful. As for the others, he could barely stand to look at them. There was even a Loudness Talisman that increased the volume of his voice.
"This is nothing like what cultivation novels say!"
Where were the ice spikes? The fireballs? The rolling heavenly thunder?
Du Yu couldn't find any opening at all. This mission was far too difficult for him.
He clutched his hair and stared at these practically useless items. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became.
"To hell with you!"
Du Yu hurled the five talismans against the wall, but only four fell down. One remained firmly stuck to it.
"The Eavesdropping Talisman?" Du Yu saw the talisman begin to glow faintly. Then a low voice reached him.
"Do you think Brother Pang Meng might know something?"
"Surely not, husband. You've kept it hidden very well all these years. If he wants to shoot down the suns, let him find a way himself. We can't do it anyway."
"Ah, true enough. Let's just hope nothing goes wrong."
Before you continue