Swaying back and forth.
Zhu Ju opened his eyes and found himself in what seemed to be a horse-drawn carriage.
"You're awake."
The young woman in ancient-style clothing sitting across from him spoke, her face cold.
"This is outrageous! Father worked his entire life to build this huge family fortune, and they only gave you this little?"
"Let it go." The short, stout man sitting snugly beside the young woman advised.
"As the saying goes: It's better to bully an old man with a white beard than a young man who is poor."
"Leping County is where the Old Master got his start. They're sending you back there now, but that doesn't mean you can't leave it in triumph one day, just like he did."
?
'What happened?'
'Who are these two people in front of me?'
Zhu Ju's eyes were vacant. He wanted to ask something, but when the words reached his lips, they somehow came out completely different.
"Sister..."
"I'm fine."
'Sister?'
His expression froze. Countless scattered memory fragments surfaced in his mind, and the look in his eyes slowly began to change.
"Little brother."
Zhu Shuang, her eyes red, took Zhu Ju's hand and said with a sob:
"Father and Mother met with a terrible fate. I know you're grieving, but life must go on."
"If you ask me, the Prefecture City is no good anyway. It's just a big quagmire. You'll be much freer and happier in Leping County."
"My wife speaks the truth." The stout Luu Pu nodded in agreement.
"The powers in Hejian Prefecture are a tangled mess, and Martial Arts masters are everywhere. With your personality, without my father-in-law to protect you, you'd have probably offended someone important sooner or later. You won't have to worry about that in Leping County."
"What are you talking about?" Zhu Shuang's pretty face darkened.
"Do you think so little of my brother?"
"Not at all." Luu Pu waved his hands repeatedly.
"I was just saying..."
Zhu Ju sat motionless to the side, silent, as if his Soul had left his body. In reality, his mind was racing, not stopping for a single moment.
'I've transmigrated.'
He, a workplace newbie fresh out of school in modern society who hadn't even had the chance to experience the 996 grind, had transmigrated into the body of a fourteen-year-old boy in an Otherworld.
All sorts of memory fragments were flooding in, but they were extremely scattered, mostly just deeply etched moments.
Parents, friends, relatives, learning to read, practicing Martial Arts...
Although he hadn't received the original owner's past experiences in their entirety, it was enough for him to get some understanding of his current situation.
The good news was, his new identity wasn't a beggar or a vagrant with a disastrous start in life, but a Noble Young Master from a prominent family.
The bad news was... the original owner's parents had recently died during a bandit-suppression mission organized by the Government Office, and his status as a Noble Young Master was no longer secure.
Today, just after the seventh-day mourning ceremony for the original owner's parents, he had been driven out of the estate by the first branch of the family.
Yes, the Old Master had three wives and concubines. The third branch had no heirs and wasn't relevant, while this body of Zhu Ju's came from the second branch.
Although they were from the second branch, his mother's family was powerful. As a result, the siblings Zhu Shuang and Zhu Ju had been pampered since childhood, never bullied, and had no experience living on their own. That was why the original Zhu Ju couldn't handle the shock of the first branch's arrangement and fainted, allowing the transmigrated Zhu Ju to take over his body.
He didn't know how much time had passed, but by the time he slowly recovered from the shock of the memory fragments, the other two people in the carriage had stopped talking, and the sky outside had already grown dark.
The interior of the carriage was exquisitely decorated, furnished with an incense burner, a dressing table, and other feminine items. It clearly belonged to Zhu Shuang.
Zhu Ju craned his neck, turning sideways to the bronze mirror on the dressing table. The mirror's surface reflected the face of a youth with red lips and white teeth.
He wasn't exceptionally handsome, but he was above average. Moreover, he was quite tall, the tallest of the three people in the carriage.
"Back with us?"
Hearing the movement, Luu Pu rubbed his cheeks and looked over, sighing.
"The first branch's arrangements were unfair, but three years of mourning will also be an opportunity for you to temper your personality."
"You really did lack discipline before."
As he spoke, he cautiously glanced at his wife, who was feigning sleep with her eyes closed. He only breathed a sigh of relief when she didn't react.
'Three years of mourning?'
Zhu Ju rubbed his throbbing temples, finally recalling why he had to go to Leping County.
The Old Master was from Leping County and was to be buried there. As his son, he had to go there to observe the mourning period.
During the mourning period, one was forbidden from marrying, drinking, gambling, and especially from frequenting brothels.
'Hmm...'
'Even though the original owner was only fourteen, it seems he already had experience in... that department. Quite impressive, I have to say.'
"You won't have to worry about food or clothing," Luu Pu continued.
"After all, it's where he got his start. The Old Master left quite a few things behind in Leping County, enough to support your living expenses."
"That's right." Zhu Shuang stopped pretending to be asleep, opening her eyes and speaking slowly.
"Father left two residences and a pharmacy in Leping County, as well as a Forest with a ten-year lease. These things might not seem like much to the wealthy families in the Prefecture City, but in a county town, it's quite a decent inheritance."
"As for those subordinates..."
"With your brother-in-law backing you up, I doubt they'll dare to act presumptuously in front of you!"
Zhu Ju's eyes lit up.
He had thought he was being driven out, but now it seemed more like the family assets were being divided, even if he did get the short end of the stick.
But, 'one must be content!'
'In my past life, I couldn't even afford a mortgage, but now I'm a bona fide landowner.'
"I can't stay in Leping County to protect you forever. Ultimately, you'll have to rely on yourself," Luu Pu added.
"In three years, as long as you put your heart into it, you can definitely cultivate this Cultivation Technique to a certain level. In a small place, that'll be enough for self-protection."
"Besides, you'll have Elder Qin looking out for you on a daily basis."
Zhu Ju looked down at a book on the small table. A title was written on its cover in large, flamboyant calligraphy.
Thirteen Body Refinement!
"Although Thirteen Body Refinement is a Body Refining Hard Skill, if you cultivate it to the Perfection Realm, it's an incredibly powerful technique."
Luu Pu rubbed his chin and explained.
"A hundred years ago, a Body Refining genius appeared in Hejian Prefecture. Relying on the Thirteen Body Refinement at the Perfection Realm, he defeated numerous masters in the Prefecture City and was known as the Iron Butcher."
"Of course..."
He paused slightly before continuing.
"Body Refining Hard Skills are easy to learn but difficult to master. Progress is also slow, so you don't have to force it. You can always switch to a different technique later if it comes to that."
"You have the foundation your father built for you while he was alive, and with the aid of Great Medicine Body Tempering, it shouldn't be difficult to master the First Three Realms as long as you calm your mind and focus on your Cultivation."
'A Martial Arts Secret Manual?'
'When you're young, who doesn't dream of roaming the Martial World with a sword in hand?'
Zhu Ju's heart leaped. He reached out, picked up the Thirteen Body Refinement manual, and began to flip through it. His expression immediately turned to one of complete confusion.
'I can't understand it!'
He recognized all the characters, but when strung together, he couldn't grasp their meaning.
Luu Pu had been observing his expression the whole time. Seeing this, his eyes darkened, and a look of displeasure crossed his face.
The Cultivation Method for Thirteen Body Refinement wasn't complicated. This manual in particular was written almost entirely in plain language, with no obscure or difficult characters.
'He can't even understand this? It just goes to show how appallingly bad my wife's little brother's foundation in Martial Arts is.'
Just as the original owner had disliked the short, stout, and ugly Luu Pu, Luu Pu likewise had no fondness for the ignorant and unskilled Zhu Ju.
'Sigh!'
'He's family, after all.'
Shaking his head, Luu Pu said softly:
"The Entry Level for Thirteen Body Refinement isn't difficult. At least the first few realms of External Training are easy to get the hang of. The hard part is perseverance."
"Brother-in-law." Zhu Ju opened the Secret Manual, his expression frank.
"I can't understand what's written here. Could you explain it to me in detail?"
He truly couldn't understand it. After all, the memories he inherited were incomplete, and the original owner had never liked practicing Martial Arts to begin with.
To him, this Martial Arts Secret Manual was like trying to read a Celestial Book.
Luu Pu's mouth twitched.
"Teach him well."
Zhu Shuang patted her husband's shoulder from the side, then comforted Zhu Ju.
"There's no rush. We'll head back to the Prefecture City whenever you've learned this technique."
'Sigh!'
Luu Pu sighed again in resignation.
"Thirteen Body Refinement is divided into two volumes. The one in your hand is only the first volume, which covers what I call the Five Realms of External Training: Skin and Flesh, Tendon and Bone, Vital Organs, Blood Marrow, and Opening Essence. If you can cultivate to the Opening Essence Realm, even I wouldn't be your match."
"External Training Body Tempering is mainly accomplished through breath control, Strength tempering, and nourishment from Great Medicine."
He took the Secret Manual, flipped to the last page, and pointed at the prescription on it.
"This prescription is for the Great Medicine that aids Cultivation. You're interested in Medical Skill, so you should be able to make some sense of it, right?"
The original owner hadn't liked Martial Arts, but he was very interested in Medical Skill, and had even been praised as naturally gifted because of it.
Zhu Ju nodded slowly.
Compared to his earlier blank confusion, he could actually make out a thing or two from the prescription. It was a formula for Body Tempering.
"The prescription here isn't complete. There's a part I have to recite to you verbally to prevent outsiders from stealing the technique through the Secret Manual."
Luu Pu, naturally unaware of Zhu Ju's thoughts, gave him a serious warning.
"You must prepare this part of the medicinal formula yourself. Do not, under any circumstances, let anyone else do it for you. You should know that anyone versed in pharmacology could easily reconstruct the full prescription from it, and this prescription is worth nearly as much as the Secret Manual itself."
"Little brother," Zhu Shuang added.
"You must take your brother-in-law's words to heart. He went through a lot of trouble to obtain this Cultivation Technique."
"With Father and Mother gone, we're all each other has in this world. I can't stay with you forever, so how will you manage on your own...?"
"*Sob...*"
As she spoke, her eyes filled with tears and she began to sob, her words filled with concern and worry for her brother.
"Sister."
Zhu Ju opened his mouth.
"It's okay. I... I can take care of myself."
Having just arrived, he hadn't fully adapted to his new identity yet. His heart was filled with confusion and uncertainty about the future.
But from the two people before him, he could feel a deep sense of familial affection.
Even Luu Pu, who had been cold-faced and somewhat harsh with his words, had not forgotten to offer earnest advice along the way. This helped Zhu Ju quickly begin to accept his new identity.
"It's good that you can think that way." Seeing him comfort Zhu Shuang, a trace of surprise appeared in Luu Pu's eyes.
'It seems it's true that you don't grow without experiencing hardship. The old Zhu Ju never had this kind of attitude.'
'What a pity!'
'The Old Master isn't here to see it.'
"Whoa!"
The carriage slowly came to a halt, and the voice of Elder Qin, the driver, sounded out.
"Young Master, we've arrived."