Three days later, outside the City of Chill Water.
Yun Zhonghe stood on the top of a hill, overlooking a city that seemed both familiar and brand new.
It had already been three days since he time-traveled here, but he knew very little about this world. How should he describe his feelings?
Since he was already there, maybe he should relax and make the best of it?
No, that phrasing wasn't quite right, because he wasn't sentimentally attached to his former life. He did have a family. He had mistresses, but he didn't love them. If he had, he wouldn't have quit his job at a renowned tertiary grade-A hospital and gone to the X Psychiatric Hospital located in God-knows-where.
Even though he had been kidnapped and brought there in the first place, he knew that deep down, he had always longed for adventure and the unknown.
Furthermore, he couldn't stay in the tertiary grade-A hospital any longer because three beautiful doctors were already going to divorce their husbands. Don't ask why. A nurse had prepared a solution of potassium cyanide, and she planned to use it to force Yun Zhonghe to marry her. If he refused, she would kill both Yun Zhonghe and herself.
"Each of the women agreed that we were only going to have a casual relationship, but all of them ended up wanting to marry me and stay together forever. They were all liars, totally insincere."
Yun Zhonghe might have been astonished and apprehensive after he first time-traveled to this world, but excitement soon overwhelmed all other emotions.
He didn't deliberately dig up the memories of the body's original owner. He only felt a little nostalgia stir deep in his soul when he saw the city.
His body's original owner had lived in this city for fifteen years, and Yun Zhonghe could feel both the other man's hatred toward this city and his reluctance to leave.
"You are about to leave this city. Is there anything you still wish to do here? Unfinished business? Or anyone that you would like to see?" Feng Xingmie asked. "There is still time if you say it now."
Yun Zhonghe thought for a while. "It would be nice to say goodbye to someone, but I can't think of anyone."
"You are such a heartless person," Feng Xingmie said. "Trouble, or perhaps even catastrophe, has befallen Mister Li because of you. You would have been torn to pieces long ago without his protection all these years."
"If I asked the Order of the Black Dragon to help him, to rescue him, would you say yes?" Yun Zhonghe asked.
"Of course not."
"Then there you go," Yun Zhonghe said simply.
A carriage appeared on the trail running through the pine forest in front of them, and Feng Xingmie said, "The carriage is here, time to take off."
Yun Zhonghe didn't say anything. He boarded the carriage right away, took off the sack that was covering his head, and let out a long exhale. He hadn't dared to take the sack off during the whole journey through the City of Chill Water. Too many people in the city wanted him dead, especially some pretty ladies.
He remembered vaguely that there was a girl from a super-rich family who was good at kung fu. She had tried repeatedly to disfigure Yun Zhonghe so he would be forced to stay with her.
"What sort of joke am I as a sugar baby? Our profession requires very sophisticated techniques; I would rather be a con artist than someone's dependent."
As Yun Zhonghe was whispering to himself, he suddenly saw a fiery and curvy figure standing in the middle of the crowd that had gathered by the gate of the city. He found the person to be somewhat familiar, and memories began to rise in his mind.
At that very moment, as the woman's piercing gaze shifted toward Yun Zhonghe, he remembered that she was the rich girl who wanted to disfigure him and drag him home to marry her.
"Sh*t, sh*t, sh*t!" he thought. "Go, go, go!"
The sight of that woman was too scary. Yun Zhonghe quickly shut the window of the carriage.
"Let's go, drive!" Yun Zhonghe called impatiently.
"Farewell, City of Chill Water. I'm only leaving behind what I want to."
His heart was already flying toward the City of Torn Gust, longing for a beautiful yet tragic spy romance between two enemies who loved each other.
The driver of the carriage was a mute, and they left the City of Chill Water and moved south-westward in silence.
"Should I say that the wheel of history has begun to turn?"
"With some background music perhaps?"
Then, Yun Zhonghe, like a conductor of an orchestra, moved his arms and a low-pitched melody like that of a cello came from the bottom of Yun Zhonghe's throat.
"If there is no background music, I will do it myself."
"Hmm… Hmm, hmm hmm hmm… Hmm, hmm (Do) hmm hmm."
"Hmm… Hmm, hmm hmm hmm… Hmm, hmm (Fa) hmm hmm."
***
Feng Xingmie still stood atop the hill, watching the back of Yun Zhonghe's carriage as it disappeared into the horizon.
"My Lord, why didn't you tell him the truth?" A commander of the Order of the Black Dragon walked out of the dark.
"What should I tell him?" Feng Xingmie asked casually.
"It was not a coincidence that you rescued him," the commander said. "Mister Li gave up almost everything, and the Order of the Black Dragon paid a very high price to save his life. He wasn't the original candidate chosen to execute the mission in the City of Torn Gust; you let Yun Zhonghe take on the mission in order to help Mister Li save the young man. You not only risked your career, but also your life for Yun Zhonghe. If he fails to accomplish the mission, you will be punished by the order."
"All those things are meaningless. The price we paid to gain his loyalty was actually an incredibly good deal," said Feng Xingmie.
"Then at least give him some training," the commander responded. "I'm really worried that he won't last three days after entering the City of Torn Gust."
"What kind of training? He is in a pretty good condition," Feng Xingmie said.
"But you have already failed once," the commander said in a trembling voice. "Lord Xu had to sign a military order to give you another chance. If this mission fails, you aren't the only one who will be punished by the order; Lord Xu will also have to step down."
Feng Xingmie didn't say another word, and his gaze remained fixed on Yun Zhonghe's carriage until it disappeared completely.
He had far more secrets bottled up than the commander knew. Some things were more important: for example, the truths about Yun Zhonghe.
The kid had bathed in the filthiness of the world for far too long. If he wasn't given a chance to turn over a new leaf, Feng Xingmie wouldn't have any peace of mind for the rest of his life.
"Rascal, don't let me down, and don't let the spirit of your parents down!"
"Do something wondrous in the City of Torn Gust and clear their names. Once and for all, wash away the humiliation they have born for their whole lives!"
***
The Land of No King occupied an area of 500,000 square kilometers. It was located in the middle of three powerful kingdoms: the Great Liang Kingdom, the Southern Zhou Empire, and the Great Ying Empire.
The Great Liang Kingdom was located on a freezing highland. Its cavalry was tough and strong; its soldiers were fearless. Although its population was small, it occupied vast lands. The kingdom's rugged environment was a nightmare to almost all of its enemies. However, the kingdom had always been better at plundering than conquering.
The Southern Zhou Empire had existed for hundreds of years; it was an old and powerful kingdom. It was originally on the wane, but the Resurgence of Tianyan a few decades ago had revived the old kingdom. It conquered the southern barbarians within only twenty years. As a result, its population grew by ten million, and its territory expanded by 1.5 million square kilometers.
Five years ago, Emperor Tianyan, a legendary hero, handed his sovereign authority to the crown prince and became the Emperor Emeritus. As the new emperor ascended to the throne, the designation of the imperial reign was changed to Wanyun.
Everyone thought that Emperor Tianyan's abdication was just an act, since he had been ruling for fifty years and did not want to exceed the regime of the founder of the dynasty. Despite "stepping down," people believed that he would maintain absolute control over the kingdom. Until the old man actually died, the new Emperor Wanyun would not be allowed to rule the empire independently.
However, everyone was wrong. After Emperor Tianyan's abdication, he stopped managing almost all the affairs of the nation and didn't summon any ministers. He handed the political power to Emperor Wanyun fully.
After his coronation, the young and strong Emperor Wanyun, like a sword drawn from its sheath, showed his ability to the full extent by completely changing the strategies that the Southern Zhou Empire used to conquer the south. He wanted his forces to march north instead. He wanted a part in the game of conquering the world.
On the other hand, the Great Ying Empire that Yun Zhonghe had time-traveled to had only risen to power about a century before. The empire might be young, but it was like a rising sun, full of vigor and vitality. Within only a few dozen years, the Great Ying Empire had already expanded its territory more than tenfold, wiped out about a dozen countries, and subsequently turned from a third-class nation to one of the most powerful kingdoms in the world.
Their rapid expansion had slowed after the coronation of the Emperor Yongzuo twenty years ago. The Great Ying Empire altered its aggressive military strategies to focus on building up their defenses, accumulating national resources, and assimilating the gains from their previous conquests.
After twenty years of recuperation and revitalization, the Great Ying Empire had entered its most splendid and powerful years.
The world was now divided into north and south: everything north of the River Tian was known as the Northern Zone, and everything south was called the Southern Zone.
The whole Southern Zone consisted of seven countries of varying sizes, but only three of them were powerful kingdoms. The Great Liang Kingdom, due to its special location, could hardly participate in the world-conquering game. The only qualified participants of the game were the Southern Zhou Empire and the Great Ying Empire.
In the past decade, the Great Ying Empire focused on its defense strategies, while the military strategies of the Southern Zhou Empire focused on marching south. Although there were conflicts between the two kingdoms, they generally got along well.
As the new emperor of the Southern Zhou Empire ascended to the throne and changed its strategies to marching north, the two kingdoms were suddenly in opposition.
A few years went by, and the hostility between the kingdoms grew. Everyone in the world could tell that there would be a war between the two kingdoms eventually. Whoever won the war would become the only overlord in the south, and he would then compete with the northern overlord for the sovereign position of the Lord Paramount.
In the past several decades, the three nations had been relatively peaceful. The Land of No King, which acted as a buffer between them, was also rather harmonious.
However, following the growing hostility between the Southern Zhou Empire and the Great Ying Empire, the Land of No King was thrown into ever-worsening turmoil as the conflict between the empires heated up.
As the saying went, "Whoever conquers the Land of No King conquers the future."
Therefore, chaos was now raging like a storm in the City of Torn Gust, and knives and swords were flashing and rattling. No one knew what would happen next.
Feng Xingmie didn't tell Yun Zhonghe that the Order of the Black Dragon had once experienced a gigantic failure in the City of Torn Gust. The undercover operations in the Land of No King had fallen under a catastrophic attack, and half of the planned strategies directed against the Land of No King had to be aborted. It had become a black mark on the glorious history of the Imperial Order of the Black Dragon.
Yun Zhonghe didn't know anything at the moment; he was like a uniquely beautiful venomous snake, gliding into the City of Torn Gust, a cave full of dangers and temptations.