"Could it be... that I originally belonged here?" Yuan Ming's heart gave a jolt as he couldn't help but speculate.
That feeling seemed to come from the depths of his soul, unlike the fusion of memories with the original owner.
The procession arrived at an open area to the south of the city, where the City God Temple stood.
On the temple's outside square, a large crowd had already gathered, but because the temple doors were closed, everyone held long incense, waiting outside in a crowd that somehow remained rather quiet despite its size.
When the General's Wife's procession arrived, the soldiers immediately parted the crowd, leaving a wide passage in the middle.
The temple priest, an old Taoist with grizzled hair, came forward to greet the General's Wife as soon as he saw her arrival.
Yuan Ming, along with others, stepped aside to wait quietly.
At that moment, the General's Wife descended from her carriage in a resplendent long robe that trailed behind her.
The guard commander stepped forward, carrying an exquisite sandalwood box. Opening it, he took out three thick and long black incenses and presented them to the side.
Only then did the temple priest scurry to open the temple doors.
Holding the three black incenses, the lady entered the temple. The remaining commoners and merchants, depending on the amount of their incense money, were sorted according to their social status and followed inside.
Yuan Ming and other attendants, except for the guard commander, could only wait outside.
As the incense offering ceremony began, the sound of bells and drums mixing with the chanting of some incantations wafted out from the City God Temple.
The commoners on the outside square, one by one, raised their lighted long incense with both hands and began to kneel and worship.
Yuan Ming leaned against the carriage and looked around.
The City God Temple's incense offering was prosperous enough to attract the General's Wife for worship, which spoke volumes. Looking at the reverent and solemn expressions of the surrounding commoners, it was clear their respect came from the heart.
A somber and solemn atmosphere began to permeate the surroundings.
Yuan Ming gazed at the ancient City God Temple, watching plumes of smoke rising from within. For a moment, he too felt the urge to press his palms together and worship from afar.
He turned his gaze towards the other end of the street where there was a cacophony of gongs and firecrackers. Various juggling acts and stilt-walkers performed amid the constant cheers—just as lively and bustling.
Only then did he feel some relief. Although this possession hadn't granted him a Cultivation Method like the last time, it had given his long-drifting heart in the Southern Border a touch of solace. Enjoying the story? Find more at *.
The mortal world's simple pleasures, are the best balm for the heart.
At that moment, he felt like the most ordinary member of the city, briefly enjoying the long-missed atmosphere.
That's when the round-faced man approached him again.
"Wang Shun, what's the matter with you today?"
"What do you mean?" Hearing the question, Yuan Ming looked at him and responded.
"You seem out of sorts today, very off. Are you sick or something?" the round-faced man asked with some concern.
"No, I'm fine. Maybe I just didn't rest well," Yuan Ming replied noncommittally.
"Are you still worried about the Young Master's safety? Look, you shouldn't think too much about it; the lady came to offer incense today, probably to pray for the Young Master's blessings," the round-faced man said.
"The Young Master... sigh!" Yuan Ming sighed deeply, following the man's words.
His sigh seemed to touch the emotions of the round-faced man, who couldn't help but give a sigh of his own and said, "Thinking about our Young Master, the sole son of General Yuan, missing for so long. Even if he's still alive, who knows what hardships he's endured?"
General Yuan's only son, missing for over a year?
A tremor ran through Yuan Ming at that key piece of information in the man's words.
He pondered how to phrase his questions, wondering how to probe for more information, when he heard the round-faced man continue:
"It's said that even the Emperor has been grieved by this for some time. The Young Master has been the Emperor's study companion since He was a Prince. He had great prospects, but now..."
Yuan Ming, listening, desperately wanted to ask directly, "What is the Young Master's name?" But he couldn't ask like that, as doing so would likely make him appear mad.
"If only the Young Master hadn't gone there, none of this would've happened..." Yuan Ming considered his words before offering a noncommittal response.
"With a royal command at hand, embarking on a mission to the Southern Border was a matter of great honor; he couldn't possibly refuse. Moreover, the Young Master needed this mission to earn military merits and build his resume," the round-faced man said, and upon hearing this, Yuan Ming's mind buzzed, and he became momentarily distracted.
Seeing Yuan Ming's dazed face and his silence, the round-faced man shook his head with a sigh and stopped talking.
Towards noon, the General's Wife returned to the mansion.
Yuan Ming followed the returning carriage, his mind heavy as he listened to scattered words from the commoners along the road, confirming that the bustling city he was currently in was indeed the Capital of Da Jin Country.
The most prosperous place in a country was naturally extraordinarily wealthy and thriving.
The caravan returned to the General Mansion, and after unloading the carriage, Yuan Ming led three fine horses back to the stables.
According to the original owner's duties, he should first wash the horses, and then feed them soybean meal and forage.
He planned to find a way to move about the mansion after returning, to look for things related to the only son of General Yuan.
However, just as he was nearing the courtyard where the stables were located, Yuan Ming suddenly encountered two tall, oddly-dressed middle-aged men walking out from another courtyard.
Both men were wearing uniquely styled leather armor, resembling red-brown vests that protected only the chest and abdomen, leaving their arms uncovered.
On these vest-like leather armors were clearly embossed or engraved runes, obviously magic artifacts worn by those who practiced cultivation.
Among the two men, the one on the left looked no different from the Central Plains people, albeit with slightly darker skin, rugged features with sharp angles, and disheveled black hair that reached his shoulders.
The man on the right had a round face and flat nose, wide mouth, and large ears, with the top of his head shaved bald, leaving only a ring of short hair around it, and large circular earrings hung from both ears, his appearance and attire very similar to those of the Southern Border People.
Yuan Ming's attention was drawn to them primarily because of the latter.
He didn't understand why there were Southern Border People in the Capital of Da Jin Country, especially within the mighty General Mansion.
Before he could get a proper look at them, the two men disappeared from his sight, and Yuan Ming could only lead the horses back to the stables.
While he was doing this, Yuan Ming suddenly felt a buzzing in his ears, his head felt heavy, and the world seemed to spin before he tumbled to the ground.
In the blink of an eye, Yuan Ming woke up leisurely within his own room.
"I'm back..." Yuan Ming said despondently, muttering to himself.
In front of him on the bed, a quaint green pottery incense burner sat before him, with a delicate piece of Black Incense inserted, and another that had burned down to its last ember, slowly extinguishing.
As all light completely faded away, the incense burner once again turned into a stream of stardust, flowing into Yuan Ming's arm and disappearing from view.
Yuan Ming felt a headache coming on, and after taking a moment to rest, he eagerly mobilized a shred of Mana into his arm, retrieving the incense burner once again.
Although this possession had not brought him back to the body of the little Emperor, nor had he obtained the latter part of the Nine Elements Technique, the information he garnered struck him with great impact.
"No, I must attempt possession again, clear up who I really am?" Yuan Ming furrowed his brows with concern; he strongly suspected that he was the missing Young Master of General Yuan's Mansion who had been lost in the Southern Border.
He looked at the fading Tai Chi Pattern on it, thought for a moment, then mana flowed from his palms, entering into the incense burner once more.
As Mana surged into the burner, the Tai Chi Diagram lit up with a hazy glow, twinkling like fireflies.
Yuan Ming put forth all his effort, pouring all of his Mana into the incense burner without reservation, until all the Mana within his body was drained. Suddenly, everything went black before his eyes, and a sharp pain shot through his head, followed by complete unconsciousness.
In the darkness, he suddenly had a confused and prolonged dream.
In the dream, he saw himself dressed in a splendid brocade robe of Central Plains style, standing on the deck of an imposing seven-story tower ship and looking out into the distance.
The tower ship was exquisitely decorated with carved beams and painted rafters, gilded and silvered, the epitome of opulence, surrounded by many armored soldiers, holding halberds and swords, radiating an intimidating presence.
Even though he knew it was a dream, Yuan Ming could feel his spirited demeanor in the dream.
However, the scene quickly shifted before he had time to enjoy it; he was escaping from the tower ship, injured and disheveled, with a short-haired youth in a cross-collared robe chasing after him with a bow.
Out of desperation, he jumped off the tower ship, fell into the rolling floodwaters, and drifted far away.
Afterwards, he saw himself lying on a muddy riverbank, while a burly man with a tiger-head tattoo on his chest roughly forced something into his mouth.
Through his bleary vision, he could faintly see a group of people watching from a distance, including a slender woman in white, wearing a hat and veiling her face with white gauze.
Yuan Ming tried to open his eyes to see the person's face clearly, but before he could, the scenery changed and his figure appeared in a familiar pitch-black cave.
Inside the cave, he saw himself chained together with a group of wild men from the Southern Border.
Looking up, he saw Hu Zha shirtless, carrying a large saber, and ordering, "Kill them, kill them all..."
The next instant, Yuan Ming suddenly opened his eyes, fully awake.
Sweat drenched his body as he woke up, his chest heaving, gasping for air, and his head still throbbing.
The scenes from his possession remained sharply clear in his mind upon awakening, as if they were memories that had just been revived.
"That was really happening..." Yuan Ming murmured contemplatively.
At this moment, he was nearly certain he was the sole son of General Yuan who had been sent on a mission to the Southern Border, only to be pursued and fall into the water, which after many twists and turns, brought him to Biluo Cave.