"Master Fan, I beg you, please spare my daughter. She's just been born. Take me instead to repay the debt. I'm strong, and I can do any kind of work."
"You filthy dog! What value do you have? Taking your daughter as payment is already a bargain for you. We're leaving!"
The rural youth, Li Er Gou, knelt at his doorstep, crying out desperately.
But his cries could not stop the heartless merchant, Fan Tong, from taking away his newborn daughter.
"Er Gou, the bleeding won't stop... she's already... she's already passed away!" the midwife shouted in panic from inside the house.
Li Er Gou's sobs suddenly ceased. He looked up at the sky, his eyes filled with tears of blood.
"Cursed heavens, why do you treat me so cruelly?!"
Above all living beings, the heavens remained silent.
"Heh... heh... heh..."
Li Er Gou let out a pitiful laugh, then rushed toward the dilapidated doorframe, slamming his head against it with all his might.
...
Li Gou opened his eyes from sleep.
The thick stench of blood made him instantly alert.
Before him was a dilapidated mud-brick house, with cracks everywhere allowing the wind to pass through.
Huh? Wasn't I at home, studying for the "Three Years of High School Entrance Exam, Five Years of Simulation Papers"? How did a quick nap bring me to the countryside?
Do such houses still exist in the rural areas today?
Hissâ
Li Gou drew a sharp breath, a tearing pain suddenly shooting through his forehead.
A surge of unfamiliar memories flooded into Li Gou's mind.
Wu Kingdom... Li Family Village...
Li Er Gou... orphaned from a young age... married early...
Borrowed money to treat his wife's illness... and his creditor took away his newborn daughter...
His wife died in childbirth... Li Er Gou, in despair, smashed his head against the door...
Li Gou was stunned!
He had somehow transmigrated into another world, becoming the tragic rural youth, Li Er Gou!
At this moment, a strange black bottle appeared in Li Gou's mind.
The Treasure Gathering Bottle?!
Li Gou somehow knew its powers instinctively.
Anything placed into the Treasure Gathering Bottle would double in quantity by the next day.
The maximum amount of items that could be placed inside depended on the size of the bottle's space.
The size of the space was determined by Li Gou's own strength.
Only one type of item could be placed inside at a time, but it could be retrieved at any moment.
Hissâ
What a terrifying ability!
This must be the legendary "cheat" skill!
Li Gou was secretly delighted and immediately picked up a stone to test it out.
With a single thought, the stone appeared inside the small bottle.
Currently, the Treasure Gathering Bottle was very small, and it could only hold two pigeon-egg-sized stones at most.
Li Gou tried retrieving it!
The stone inside the bottle instantly appeared in Li Gou's palmâit was incredibly convenient.
After familiarizing himself with the bottle's abilities, Li Gou began to seriously consider his current situation.
Ever since he gained Li Er Gou's memories, Li Er Gou's emotionsâhis love, hatred, joy, and sorrowâhad also started to affect Li Gou.
The instinctive love for his daughter, the hatred towards the heartless merchant Fan Tong, and the grief over his wife's death all weighed heavily on Li Gou's heart.
Luckily, with the black bottle, rescuing his daughter should not be a problem.
As long as he put gold or silver into the bottle, it would double by the next day.
However, Li Er Gou's home was bare.
There wasn't any gold or silver, and even the last copper coins had been given to the midwife.
It seemed another method would be needed.
Li Gou sighed.
He glanced around at the wind-leaking mud-brick house, deciding not to enter again.
She was gone, and the past was over.
This house would serve as her final resting place.
Li Gou took out a fire starter, lit a handful of straw, and threw it onto the thatched roof.
In no time, the entire mud-brick house was engulfed in flames.
Li Gou wasn't worried about the fire spreading because Li Er Gou's family had no relatives or friends in the village, living a life of solitude.
Li Gou turned and left Li Family Village, heading toward Sanhe County.
Fan Tong lived in Sanhe County.
Not long after setting out, Li Gou saw two streaks of red and green light flash across the sky.
'Huh, does this world even have airplanes?'
Li Gou knew that was impossible. He shaded his eyes with his hand and saw, faintly, two figures chasing each other high in the sky.
Immortals!
The concept appeared in Li Gou's mind.
In Li Er Gou's memories, it was not uncommon to see people flying through the sky in this world.
These people were called "Immortals" by ordinary folk like Li Er Gou.
Every time Li Er Gou saw one, he would bow in respect.
Just as this thought crossed his mind, a loud explosion sounded from the sky.
The two streaks of light fell as if an airplane had crashed.
The red one landed farther away, while the green one came down closer.
Li Gou could clearly see that the figure within the green light was an old man wearing a green robe.
The green-robed elder was in a miserable state, with half of his body missing and his head severely deformed.
Li Gou gaspedâhow terrifying, that the old man had not died immediately.
The green-robed elder eventually crashed into a small forest.
Li Gou hesitated, wondering if he should go over to see if there was anything to loot.
After all, as someone possessing extraordinary powers, he must have valuable items on him.
But the risk was great.
If the old man wasn't completely dead, it would be his own life on the line.
Well, fortune favors the bold.
Without the courage to take risks, even with such a heaven-defying artifact as the black bottle, what use would it be?
Li Gou ran directly toward the small forest.
The small forest had few trees but plenty of bushes, so it wasn't too dark.
Li Gou quickly found the place where the green-robed elder had landed and quietly crept over.
Fortunately, the green-robed elder had already stopped breathing!
Li Gou quickly stripped the green-robed elder and picked out the useful items to wear himself.
A jade hairpin carved with ancient cloud patterns replaced the thin wooden stick on Li Gou's head.
A belt made of beast hide, covered in green scales, replaced Li Gou's straw rope belt.
A brocade pouch, covered in tiny characters and swarming with mosquitoes, replaced the torn cloth bag at Li Gou's waist.
A pair of black leather shoes, engraved with silver patterns, replaced the straw sandals on Li Gou's feet.
A seemingly ordinary wooden sword was tucked into Li Gou's waistband.
The tattered robe of the Daoist was bundled up as a pack.
All the remaining unusable items were stuffed into it.
Li Gou hoisted the bundle onto his back and slipped away quickly.
Shortly after Li Gou left, a pale-faced man with a red beard arrived at the scene.
Seeing the green-robed elder stripped to his undergarments, the red-bearded man's expression grew dark.
"Damn it, I worked so hard to kill this old Daoist, only to have someone..."
The red-bearded man grumbled angrily, but before he could finish speaking, a green light ball shot out from the green-robed elder's forehead and entered the red-bearded man's skull.
After an unknown amount of time, the red-bearded man began to smile sinisterly.
"Fortunately, this old Daoist practiced the soul-transferring technique; otherwise, I would truly have perished this time."
The red-bearded man cast a cold glance at the corpse of the green-robed elder, his eyes full of resentment.
"You little brat! Since I, Qingyun Shangren, started cultivating, I have never suffered such humiliation. When I recover from my injuries and catch you, I'll grind your bones to dust."
...
On the official road to Sanhe County, Li Gou was moving at a brisk pace.
Li Gou noticed that these black leather shoes, once worn, not only made walking effortless but also made him run faster than before.
Truly remarkable!
If these shoes are so powerful, could the other items also be extraordinary?
Li Gou's curiosity was piqued.