"Hurry, hurry!"
"Faster!"
A black warhorse galloped through the lightless night, shattering the curtain of rain ahead. Li Guan felt himself slowly waking, as if from a long dream. The hazy glow of a computer screen still lingered before his eyes, but then, a sharp pain shot through his chest, like he had plunged into an icy abyss, trembling from the cold and agony.
Immediately, he realized—his body had shrunk, almost like that of an infant.
A woman was riding the galloping horse, holding him close, racing desperately through the rain. The dark clouds above parted slightly, and he struggled to lift his head. Through the folds of the clothes wrapped around him, with the faint moonlight filtering through, he could vaguely see into the distance. Then, an instinctive shiver ran down his spine—
In the distance, a troop of ancient armored cavalry silently reined in their horses.
The towering warhorses stood over two meters tall. The misty breath they exhaled stirred the leaves around them. Upon their backs, the riders were clad in full suits of iron armor, their faces obscured by visored helmets. On the right shoulder of their armor hung long, flowing arrow sleeves, adorned with delicate white cloud patterns.
They stood with silent authority.
The clouds overhead gradually closed again, leaving only faint starlight. Rain poured down, splattering against their armor, droplets bursting like sparks in the darkness. Under the dim light of the stars, it was as if a faint halo enveloped them.
Fully-armored heavy cavalry.
"Chen Kingdom's Night Riders…"
Li Guan heard a voice by his ear, but before he could respond, the voice was suddenly drowned out by the sharp whistle of arrows splitting the air. At that moment, he seemed to see the image of a white tiger leaping toward him. His body was flung into the air, and in the next instant, a radiant arc of light sliced through the galloping horse's legs.
With a terrible scream, the warhorse collapsed. The woman holding him tumbled down with it.
Still holding the infant tightly, she rolled across the muddy ground, turning her back toward the approaching cavalry who had drawn their bows.
"Li Nu'er…"
Thousands of arrows cut through the rain-filled sky—
And descended.
Clang!
——
"Little Apothecary, wake up!"
——
It was the tenth year of the Tianqi Era. Inside the largest pharmacy in Guan Yi City of the Chen Kingdom—
An old man was tapping his knuckles on the wooden counter in front of him, the sharp sound cutting through the imagined storm of arrows. Li Guan was jolted out of his memories, slowly lifting his head. The sunlight spilled onto his face. In front of him stood an old woman, holding out a prescription for herbs.
With an apologetic smile, he acknowledged her and took the prescription, turning to open the drawers of the medicine cabinet behind him.
Seeing the young apothecary finally starting to gather the herbs, the old woman didn't rush him further. Instead, she began studying the youth carefully, with the kind of thoughtful gaze that only the elderly possess. Thirteen years old, slightly taller than boys his age, his complexion a bit pale and thin, but his features were clear and sharp, and his eyes were bright with spirit.
What's more, word around was that this boy was skilled in numerology, and even knew some medicine.
Yes, yes.
A good child.
It was just a pity that his family lacked any strong young men—just a sickly aunt at home, bedridden for years.
Such a shame…
Still, he could be a good one to recommend to the neighborhood girls for marriage prospects.
What was his name again… Li Yi?
Or was it Li Da?
The old woman mulled it over.
Unbeknownst to him, Li Guan had already been silently added to this grandmother's internal matchmaking list, part of the neighborhood gossip beneath the old locust tree at the village entrance. Meanwhile, Li Guan swiftly gathered the herbs, calculated the price, and handed the medicine to her, a warm, gentle smile resting on his youthful face.
The smile was truly pleasant to look at. The old woman couldn't help but mentally promote him a few ranks on her "eligible young men to recommend" list. Finally, she remembered his name.
Something common, like Zhang San, Li Si, Zheng Er, Wang Wu…
Li Yi?
No—now she remembered why the name stood out.
Li Guanyi.
Yes, that was it. His name was Li Guanyi.
A good child indeed.
She received the medicine and, smiling, probed about whether he had any marriage engagements. After receiving the information she wanted, she turned around satisfied, and walked out of the shop. As she pushed open the carved wooden door, sunlight spilled over the paved bluestone street, and the townspeople bustled back and forth.
The wheels of the carriage rolled swiftly along the ruts of the street. The curtain fluttered slightly in the wind, revealing either upright scholars or beautiful women dressed in light gauze dresses, holding delicate fans to conceal their lips.
By the reckoning of the great emperor of Zhongzhou, this should be the tenth year of the Tianqi Era.
But no one cared much about that now.
The world had been fragmented for three hundred years.
The Chen Kingdom occupied the southern regions of the eastern lands, blessed with lush rivers, beautiful scenery, fine culture, and beautiful women.
Though they had been defeated by the Xuan Kingdom in a great war more than a decade ago—
They still boasted the legendary General Xiao Wuliang, whose charge of seven riders through enemy formations had shaken the world.
Guanyi City lay not far from Jiangzhou, the capital of Chen, a day's ride by fast horse, and was naturally prosperous and bustling.
Li Guanyi withdrew his gaze from the passing scenery outside, rubbing his brow. Perhaps because of the warm autumn afternoon sunlight, his mind felt lazy and unfocused.
His thoughts drifted once again to those events of ten years ago.
When it was time for the shift change, Li Guanyi slowly walked into the back room of the pharmacy. He took off the thick, dark green long robe he wore for work. Checking that no one was around, he opened the front of his undershirt.
There, over his chest, was a small brand only visible to him—shaped like an ancient bronze cauldron, covered in iron-blue kui dragon patterns and bird motifs. Within the cauldron, faint crimson light flowed softly.
Around his heart, dark black patterns converged like writhing, venomous serpents, twisting grotesquely as they danced around the glowing cauldron. Against his pale skin, the contrast was stark and unsettling—like some primitive, ancient blood ritual from the barbaric past.
Ancient. Brutal.
Savage and bloody.
This was poison. A deadly venom, or perhaps something in the vein of sorcery or curses.
It was the lingering curse from that incident ten years ago. It was also this very poison that had awakened the bronze cauldron, breaking through the veil of his infancy, allowing a two-year-old child to awaken with the mind of an adult. And it was this bronze cauldron that suppressed the poison—though it would still flare up now and then, causing him such agony that he'd break into a sweat, wishing for death. But at least he was still alive.
Yet recently, the frequency of the poison's attacks had been increasing.
Over the past ten years, his aunt had taken him everywhere to consult doctors, but none had a cure. At this rate, he wouldn't even live to adulthood—he'd be tortured to death by the poison before that.
Li Guanyi's expression darkened.
Suddenly, a commotion erupted outside.
He glanced again at the jade-like liquid inside the cauldron on his chest—it had accumulated to about eighty percent full now.
Even though he knew it wouldn't suddenly surge up just from looking, he still couldn't help but check it repeatedly.
Right now, his only hope was that once this bronze cauldron, which had suppressed the poison for ten years, was finally filled with jade liquid, some change might occur—hopefully enough to completely dissolve the deadly poison in his body.
And regarding how to accumulate the jade liquid inside this cauldron, Li Guanyi had finally begun to piece it together about a month and a half ago.
The noise outside was getting louder.
Li Guanyi frowned, wondering if customers were arriving at this hour. He changed his clothes, tied the dark green apron around his waist, hung a water gourd at his side, and walked out of the back room. As he lifted the curtain and stepped into the front room, he called out: "Uncle Chen, what's going on—"
His voice abruptly cut off.
Boom!!!
A heavy, muffled sound echoed, like someone grabbing the throats of everyone present.
Three hired guards of the pharmacy were thrown like sacks of rags, crashing hard against the wall beside Li Guanyi before slumping to the ground, coughing up blood with ashen faces, their eyes filled with terror.
!!!
The carved wooden front door of the pharmacy was kicked apart, the falling door slamming against the wall.
A burly man strode inside. His head was wrapped in a warrior's headscarf, and he wore a parrot-green crossed-collar robe, fastened at the waist with an iron belt from which hung a long saber. His expression was fierce, and he moved aggressively, grabbing the collar of the youth kneeling beside the wounded guard—Li Guanyi—and lifting him off the ground with one hand. His tiger-like eyes swept across the room as he shouted:
"Bold! Harboring a fugitive of the imperial court!"
"Do you have a death wish?!"
Li Guanyi dangled in midair, struggling to breathe, his face flushing red. His gaze drifted past the savage man to the street outside.
There, a young scholar sat astride a fine steed, his sword hanging at his waist, his expression calm as he quietly observed the struggling youth gripped by the throat. The right sleeve of his black robe hung down, embroidered with delicate cloud patterns.
Just like that rain-soaked, moonless night ten years ago.
(End of Chapter)