In the year 145 of Great Zhou, the second year of Zheng Sheng's reign.
Yunzhou, Jiankang City, Huaiyuan Town.
The air was thick with autumn, and the night was faintly cool.
...
...Cough... Cough...
From within a thatched cottage, a weak coughing continued to sound.
Muffled sobs and cries could also be faintly heard.
"Big brother! Big brother!"
A child dressed in rough hemp clothes, thin and dark-skinned, knelt by the bed, clinging desperately to the bedding.
In his numb eyes, there was a sadness, watching the youth whose coughs had ceased and whose breathing was growing ever fainter.
Soon the youth's breath disappeared entirely, before the child could even cry out.
But the breathing that should have stopped somehow started again, his chest slowly rising and falling.
A flash of delight crossed the child's eyes.
He quickly stood up, took a bowl of warm soup soaked with broken pieces of cake from the table, and walked over to the bed.
'Where am I? Did I fail?'
Liang Hui felt a piercing pain in his chest and murmured to himself.
The pain in his body didn't seem to affect him much.
Ever since his boss tricked him into traveling to a neighboring country, he had endured such pains far too often.
Now, to him, the most important thing was to confirm whether he had successfully escaped or not.
After a year of investigation and planning, he had escaped from that park area, even swam across the great river, getting closer and closer to his homeland.
Before he could give it much thought, memories surged in his mind like a tide.
Intense pain made him bite down hard, with large sweat beads forming on his face and then sliding onto the bedding.
But he never lost consciousness.
"Great Zhou... Yunzhou... Liang Hui... Wild Wolf Gang... So that's how it is, huh? How lucky!"
Liang Hui murmured intermittently to himself.
Through the memories of the teenager with the same name as him, he knew a little about what was happening.
He should have, or rather, he probably transmigrated into a world with supernatural powers.
"Big brother, you're awake, that's so good, I thought you were going to leave Xiao Si just like dad and mom did."
A voice mixed with joy and crying interrupted Liang Hui's thoughts.
By now the boy had brought the bowl of soup to the bedside and held it to the youth's lips.
"Big brother, drink up, if you drink more, you'll surely get better."
Looking at the boy's thin and dark face and his constantly swallowing throat, Liang Hui was silent for a moment.
Then he began to drink in large gulps.
The weakness in his body and the stabbing pain in his chest were both telling him that if he didn't want to die, he should not be polite.
Only by living could there be a future.
Liang Si, standing beside him, gazed longingly at the diminishing warm soup, swallowed his saliva heavily, but made no other move.
Huh~
Liang Hui, having finished the warm soup, felt a warmth in his belly, struggled to sit up, and was about to speak his thoughts and plans for the future.
Suddenly, the entire world seemed to freeze.
A segment of memories deeply imprinted on the human world.
It was the story of a young man named Liang Hui who rose from ruins, ascended from dust, with a pair of fists that defeated all the wild lands and heroes of the past and present, leading countless beings to transcendence, establishing the Divine Court, and waging war across the Boundary Sea of the void.
At that moment, as if time had been frozen, it finally began to flow again.
This instant, the noise reverberated through the whole world, with everyone whispering:
"Huaiyuan Town, Liang Hui!"
Some thought it was merely a grand dream, others believed it to be a divine oracle descended from the gods!
Some took it for truth, willing to become wings for the youth, hoping for compensation after his eventual ascension; others, regardless of its truth, sought to kill the youth while he was still weak.
All the mightiest beings from across the world, regardless of their purpose, were now speeding towards Yunzhou, Huaiyuan Town—this remote little town.
"Big brother, becoming an immortal?"
Liang Si stared blankly, struggling to sit up his elder brother.
"What did you see?"
As Liang Si's words fell, Liang Hui's expression changed for the first time, and his voice was no longer composed.
"Big brother, I saw you defeating the world with your fists, no hero from any era was able to withstand your punches."
Liang Si's face was full of admiration, such a radiant future was something he, as a farmer's son, could hardly dare to dream of.
Seeing the original owner's younger brother's expression, Liang Hui felt a chill from his core.
He paid no attention to the damaged bronze bell that had suddenly appeared in his mind after the memory ended.
That sudden burst of memory, it wasn't just known to him alone, Liang Si by his side had also witnessed such a scene, so what about others?
"Xiao Si, go outside and take a look." Liang Hui concealed the tumultuous emotions in his heart, put down the soup bowl, and gave a weighty command.
He needed to know whether that vision of, perhaps, the future, was known only to him and Liang Si, or to others as well...
"Yes, big brother."
As his words fell, Liang Si had already started heading quickly towards the door.
Creak!
As the door opened, Liang Si darted out and vanished in front of the door.
Now within the cottage, only Liang Hui remained. He slowly immersed his consciousness in his mind, observing the damaged bell that had suddenly appeared.
The scratched copper bell radiated a dim yellow glow, each strand shining with immortality, indestructibility.
And these strands of glow intertwined to form myriad intricate characters.
Artifact Name: Flowing Light Bell
Bearer: Liang Hui (**)
Divine Skill: Dream Entry
Extraordinary Profession: None
Skills: None
'The Flowing Light Bell, a treasure of Divine Court that collects countless precious materials, was it crafted by a suspected future self?'
'It even made the gods and demons of all realms fall from the sky!'
Liang Hui murmured to himself, the image of the broken bell in his mind was not unfamiliar; the memories that seemed to be from the future had appeared too often.
What he valued was the Divine Skill 'Enter Dreams', which seemed to be an ability produced by the fusion of his own soul with this body, rather than being brought by the Flowing Light Bell.
How interesting!
Liang Hui's eyes drooped, concealing his inner thoughts.
Bang!
In the midst of his thoughts, the door was directly knocked open.
The figure that appeared was not Liang Si, who had gone to investigate, but three robust Great Hans dressed in gray tight-fitting clothes with a green wolf's head embroidered on the chest of the garments.
The wolf's head was wide open, appearing to be roaring, full of ferocity.
Such attire in Huaiyuan Town belonged to only one underground force—the Wild Wolf Gang.
And the leader, named Hong Er, was a low-ranking member of the Wild Wolf Gang and the prime culprit behind the original host's death.
A few days ago, due to his desire to forcibly take the land deed of the original host's house, an argument ensued, which ended with a punch from Hong Er.
That heavy punch to the chest had the original host struggle for days before dying.
The leading Hong Er, having seen the slightly surprised expression on the face of the youth upon their appearance, had his eyes blaze with an even fiercer killing intent.
His right hand reached into his chest and pulled out a Fine Iron knuckle-duster, slipping it onto his fist.
"Kid, lucky we've been waiting around here these days for you to die. Though I don't know why that memory appeared or believe that a farmer's son like you could turn the world upside down!"
"But still, killing you will make me feel more at ease."
As he talked to himself, Hong Er had already taken big strides towards the bed, while the two gang members hesitated, their eyes revealing a trace of doubt—they had no irreconcilable conflict with the young man.
Just a few days ago, they had come merely to bolster Hong Er's show of strength without laying a hand on the young man.
And now, Hong Er had reached the bed.
His right fist recoiled, gathering strength.
Then.
He rapidly slammed his fist towards the head of the young man.
Gazing at the indifferent youth, his eyes flickered with a hint of cruelty and satisfaction.
What did it matter if he had a brilliant and dazzling future? At this moment, wasn't he about to become a ghost under his fist?
Thud!
Ancient and solemn bell sounds suddenly rang out in the room.
In that instant, the air froze, everything in the room came to a halt.
Following that.
The punch Hong Er had thrown lost its force and dropped powerlessly.
He opened his mouth but could not make a sound, only blood continuously flowed from the corner of his mouth, followed by the shattering of internal organs.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The two hesitating gang members outside the door also collapsed.
Liang Hui watched the scene before him dispassionately, as even in its broken state, the Flowing Light Bell was still a powerful weapon of gods and demons—disposing of small fry was all too simple.
"Big brother! This is... this is..."
A somewhat terrified voice came from outside the door.
Liang Si looked on, pale-faced, at the three figures collapsed on the ground.
But Liang Hui leaned against the bed, his eyes unfathomably gazing at Liang Si by the door.
"Xiao Si, the place you went to investigate was quite far away."
Only then did Liang Si realize, coming quickly to the young man and saying,
"Big brother, I ran beyond the streets and checked other places too. It's strange, many homes in town have candles lit. Shouldn't everyone be resting at this hour?"
Hu~
Liang Hui slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air, looking up at the dilapidated roof, his eyes deep.
Based on Hong Er's words and Liang Si's investigation, he had already prepared for the worst.
He pointed to the corpses on the ground.
"Just now, Hong Er and his men came, but they've been taken care of."
He paused for a moment, then continued, "Xiao Si, go take the knuckle-duster from Hong Er's corpse."
"Got it, big brother."
The boy did not hesitate, immediately bending down to shaky remove the knuckle-duster from the corpse, passing it to Liang Hui.
Liang Hui examined the weapon in his hand closely upon receiving the knuckle-duster.
The back of the knuckle-duster was pieced together with Fine Iron, and the palm part was made of the leather of an unidentified animal—a very ordinary weapon.
Yet Liang Hui clearly sensed a trace of aura on the knuckle-duster,
An aura he believed could enable him to use the Divine Skill 'Enter Dreams', but ultimately, he did not activate it.
The current situation was too dangerous for him. He must be safe before he could try it, as no one knew what the Divine Skill's use would consume or how much commotion it would cause.
Having thought it through, Liang Hui placed the knuckle-duster aside and spoke seriously, "Xiao Si, do you remember the temple on the western side of town, near the outskirts?"
"Big brother, you're talking about that nearly abandoned temple," Liang Si replied.
He paused, his face revealing an understanding, and said excitedly, "Big brother, are you planning to see Sister-in-law?"
The 'Sister-in-law' Liang Si referred to was, of course, neither a wife nor a fiancée the original host might have had—given the original host's family circumstances, such things were better not thought about.
Rather, it was the beautiful woman from the known future, who would be following the young man. The place where they first met in the memories was that very dilapidated temple.
Liang Hui did not explain his true thoughts, but said, "Now help me up, let's head to that temple."
Upon hearing this, Liang Si did not hesitate and extended his hand to help the young man rise.
After getting out of bed, Liang Hui dressed in a tattered brown cloth, picked up a piece of rag to wrap the knuckle-duster, and then, with the support of Liang Si, slowly stepped over the corpses towards the door.
The closer he got to the door, the calmer his heart became.
At the threshold, the moonlight cast a silver glow upon the young man's figure.
The young man looked up, a slight smile on his lips.
Whomever it was that brought him to this fascinating world, he was sincerely grateful!
Supernatural powers! How many heroes from ancient to present have exhausted everything in pursuit of them, yet to no avail.
Now, as long as he overcomes the current crisis, they are within his reach!