Chapter 1: The Life of a Transmigrant
Do you believe there are people in this world who can live forever, never dying?
I didn’t either.
Until that day...
My name is Zhang Yang, and I transmigrated.
Well, the place I transmigrated to was terrible—a rushing, roaring river.
Bloody hell, I can’t swim.
But thankfully, I knew how to scream for help.
Perhaps it was fate smiling on me—in my final moments, I caught sight of a beautiful woman...
She wasn’t exactly a breathtaking beauty with flawless, porcelain skin, but her oval face held a classical charm, especially that figure—simply stunning.
Her name was Wu Niang.
Her husband’s name was Xi Feng.
Xi Feng was a good man—simple, honest, and quite skilled.
It was Xi Feng who went into the river and pulled me ashore.
Ahem, I must apologise—at the time, I was so distracted by the beautiful woman that I failed to notice the hero who saved me.
However, according to Wu Niang’s recollection, after I was rescued onto the shore, I was dazed and confused, clutching Xi Feng while laughing and crying, babbling in a language no one could understand.
Most importantly, I was completely naked, which left Xi Feng feeling rather awkward.
I was speechless.
For a few months after being saved, Xi Feng kept avoiding me and left my sister-in-law to take care of me instead.
Sure, I’m a good guy, but you were a bit *too* trusting.
There’s a saying, isn’t there?
Nothing tastes better than dumplings, and nothing’s more fun than… well, you know.
With my sister-in-law being such a great beauty, how could I possibly relax?
And so, I settled down at Xi Feng’s place. For the three of us to live well together was the most important thing of all.
In the second year after crossing over, I finally learned the local language and understood the situation.
This was a small mountain village called Tuzhai.
The nearest town to Tuzhai was called Yuan City, which belonged to Yuan State.
Yuan State was a feudal state under Great Heng, consisting of no more than three cities and an area of around a hundred li.
Great Heng was the overlord state of Yuan State and the ruler of the entire realm.
Two hundred years ago, the ancestors of Great Heng established Heng State, then divided their clan members to spread across the land, founding a total of one hundred and eighty feudal states.
By this time, there were already hundreds of states, though exactly how many was far beyond what the villagers of this small mountain settlement could know. I, of course, had no idea either. But it didn’t matter—what was the point in thinking about it so much? Living well was the true path.
In the third year after crossing over, I achieved something significant.
Agriculture in Tuzhai was extremely primitive, still at the slash-and-burn stage. Typically, a patch of land would be farmed for one year, then left fallow for two, repeating this cycle over and over again. Wasn’t this a colossal waste of resources?
As for farming tools, there were pitifully few, mostly made of wood or stone. Bronze craftsmanship did exist but bronze was precious and mainly reserved for weaponry.
Drawing on memories from my past life, I crafted a variety of common rural tools I was familiar with—hoes, ploughs, harrows, and the like—greatly enriching Tuzhai’s array of agricultural implements.
As for more complex farming tools, don’t put me on the spot. I’m not an encyclopedia.
Besides agricultural implements, I also accomplished something major—I produced farmyard manure.
By combining dung with wood ash, I fermented fertiliser to nourish the soil.
In the early stages of my experiments with farmyard manure, the people of Tuzhai all mocked Xi Feng for bringing home a complete fool.
Who in their right mind would mess around with dung? Were they crazy?
However, the proof came swiftly.
The land treated with farmyard manure grew better, yielding fifty per cent more than the untreated soil!
That year’s bountiful harvest prompted the elders of Tuzhai to invite me over.
An elder said, “Young Zhang, you truly understand us.”
“We’ve always treated you well, haven’t we?”
I suppressed a bitter laugh in my heart.
Treated me well, my arse. It was you lot, a bunch of bastards, trying to drive me out—calling me an outsider, untrustworthy, a villain.
Then, the elders presented their gifts.
A deed to a field, a deed to a house, three slaves, and a stunningly beautiful woman with a youthful face and ample curves.
The elders said, “Young Zhang, you’ve been with us here in Tuzhai for three years now. We’ve seen your efforts all along and have always considered you one of our own.”
“From now on, stay here. This house, the slaves, the land—all yours. Settle down, start a family, and you’ll be one of Tuzhai.”
I remained pragmatic.
“My mother always taught me never to accept gifts from strangers.”
However, the elders were right.
We’ve been together for three years, side by side every day—what can you call that?
That’s...
Ah, it doesn’t matter.
What matters is that the gift may be small, but the sentiment behind it is deep!
I shamefully fell for the elders’ sugar-coated trap.
I married, settled down, established myself, and became a slave owner.
But the woman I married was naturally not a youthful beauty with ample curves; she was a concubine.
What is a concubine? Male slaves are called 'chen'. Female slaves are called 'qie'. A 'qie', or concubine, is the official term for a female slave.
I married the daughter of Shan Hu, the elder of the Tuzhai tribe—Xiao Yuan, aged fourteen, just the right age for marriage.
Since the wedding, my heart had settled at last.
At the same time, I gained a special privilege.
I was allowed to practise the witchcraft of the Tuzhai!
Though called witchcraft, it resembled martial arts more closely—an external family technique.
This was also the first time I had encountered the mysterious powers of this world.
Present-day martial arts—or rather, witchcraft—have three levels: Skin as Tough as Leather, Bones of Bronze, and Blood of a Raging Steed.
In the entire Tuzhai tribe, only two people had reached the level of Skin as Tough as Leather. One of them was Xi Feng.
In the fifth year since crossing over, the Son of Heaven of Great Heng issued an order to launch a northern campaign against the Di People. The various Feudal States were to contribute—those with wealth provided funds, those with strength offered manpower.
Yuan State was no exception; it had to assemble an army of a thousand soldiers to answer the call of the Son of Heaven.
Because of his extraordinary archery skills, Xi Feng was personally appointed by the ruler of Yuan State.
That day, it rained, and the air was chilly.
Xi Feng and I sat by the river—the very river where he had once saved me.
Xi Feng perched on a green stone, a sombre look on his face, and said, "The battlefield is perilous. I may not come back."
I opened my mouth but finally only sighed.
I was not used to offering words of comfort. I had never witnessed the true savagery of the battlefield, but I could imagine it to some extent.
To speak of it now would only sound like bitter sarcasm.
Not good.
Xi Feng said, “If three years pass without news from me, marry Wu Niang.”
“She’s just a woman alone, no man to lean on; in this cruel world, she'd be devoured alive.”
I replied earnestly, “What do you take your brother for?”
Xi Feng responded firmly, “A good brother—one worthy of entrusting your wife to.”
I was left speechless.
The next day, Xi Feng left—it was unavoidable.
That year, he was twenty-three, I was twenty-six, and Wu Niang was twenty-one. Three more years passed, yet Xi Feng still gave no news.
Not a single word.
The northern campaign had ended, Heng State was utterly defeated, with countless casualties.
Xi Feng was neither seen alive nor found dead.
I was a good man.
Marrying my brother’s wife—well, that was...
The ninth year since the transmigration.
It was a very hot day.
I went to visit Wu Niang.
She wore a simple garment and was bent over by the stove, preparing a meal.
She had a seductive figure; in that position, her curves stood out even more prominently, her hips round and full, plump as a ripe peach.
We drank together.
I couldn’t quite recall what happened next; it seemed as if...
Well, I was no longer pure; she'd had her way with me.
It was truly a sorrowful tale.
In the tenth year since the transmigration, I married Wu Niang.
“The three of us just need to live well together; that’s more important than anything else.”
That year, Xiao Yuan gave birth to a daughter for me.
By the fifteenth year since the transmigration, the Son of Heaven of Great Heng had died.
It was said that after the crushing defeat years before, he fell into despair, gathering 300 beauties from among the common folk, indulging day and night in carnal pleasures, and died of grief and fury.
Truly a tragic end. The devastating defeat inflicted heavy losses on Great Heng.
In the following twenty years, there were no more large-scale wars.
With the nation abstaining from military affairs, the world enjoyed a period of peace.
Thirty-five years had passed since the transmigration.
That year, I was fifty-six, my temples streaked with silver, and I had two sons and a daughter.
By then, I was the elder of Tuzhai, respected and revered.
Under my leadership, Tuzhai had grown beyond a village into a bustling small town, renamed Tu Town.
Many outsiders had settled there.
Tu Town's bronzeware was renowned far and wide; even the Barbarians favoured its bronze utensils.
However, disaster struck once again. That year, after twenty years on the throne, the King of Heng decided he was back on top.
Following two decades of recuperation and strengthening, Great Heng’s national power had climbed again, and the new king planned another northern campaign against the Di People.
As a feudal state of Great Heng, Yuan State had no choice but to comply.
This time, however, Tu Town was to send forth five hundred soldiers.
Five hundred — that was no small number.
The entire population of Tu Town barely exceeded ten thousand.
What worried me most was that, by regulation, both of my sons, now married, were required to be conscripted.
If not them, then my grandsons would have to go.
In short, the king’s favour had yet to be fully repaid; every family had to contribute men.
Thinking of Xi Feng, who had disappeared without a trace, my worries did not ease, and I ultimately decided to go in place of my two sons. I was the only shaman in Tu Town who had reached the Bones of Bronze realm.
By myself, I could take the place of two sons.
At the beginning of the thirty-sixth year after crossing over, the weather was cold.
On this day, I led five hundred soldiers from Tu Town to march north.
We were about to journey a thousand miles, with an uncertain future ahead.
Before parting, my children wept uncontrollably, and my wife was awash with tears.
Watching them, I felt as if I had no regrets left in this life.
Though I had not become a king or dominated realms after crossing over, having toiled for more than thirty years, blessed with children and a thriving family estate, what was there to hesitate about?
Laughing heartily, I set off with carefree resolve. However, sometimes I really wanted to slap myself twice.
What a jinx.
It was the thirty-sixth year since crossing over, in September.
The unit I led was betrayed and ambushed, and the entire force of five thousand troops was utterly defeated on the spot.
Although I was a shaman at the Bones of Bronze realm, I was still only human—how could I stand against the elite cavalry of the Di People?
I broke two bronze swords and snapped three long spears.
How many did I kill?
I couldn’t remember.
All I knew was that I went mad with bloodlust. Limbs were severed and arms broken, with endless cries of agony.
But in the end, my age caught up with me, and my strength gave out.
Eventually...
I saw a ghost-faced figure.
The man wore a terrifying demon mask, as red as blood, and slashed my throat with a single stroke.
My head was sent flying from my shoulders. As I closed my eyes, I saw my own body.
My body was covered in wounds, and blood was pouring.
I looked around.
Limbs lay scattered everywhere, and raging flames engulfed the scene.
Who knew how many of my fellow countrymen would ever return to their homeland.
At that moment, a question occurred to me...
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