#472 - The beginning of all things

The hour of Chen. Dawn had just broken, and the morning sun pierced through the thin mist, enveloping the small Guanghan County.

An old woman with a full head of white hair was sweeping the dust in the courtyard with a broom. Her movements were slow, and she had to stop and rest every dozen or so breaths, panting slowly.

However, even so, the old woman still managed to sweep the small courtyard before the sun fully rose. Then, she put down the broom and slowly walked into the side room to start a fire and cook porridge.

From the earthen chimney, milky white smoke curled and spread into the air.

The old woman sat on a short bamboo stool, slowly fanning the flames with a palm-leaf fan. The firelight in the stove flickered with her movements, and the crackling sound of the firewood was soft.

Thanks to the stable grain prices in Shu Prefecture, the white porridge in the pot was not too thin. Fine bubbles floated between the crowded rice grains, and a faint aroma of rice wafted out with each burst.

In these times, ordinary people usually only had two meals a day. Only wealthy families and armies during wartime could "luxuriously" add a breakfast.

Judging from the old woman's living conditions, she didn't seem like someone who could afford "three meals a day." So, this "extra meal" today must be for another reason.

...

After an unknown amount of time, the firewood in the stove gradually died down.

The old woman slowly stood up, supporting herself on the stove. She took a large bowl from the side and filled it with thick porridge.

A large portion of the porridge was gone from the pot, leaving just enough for another half bowl.

However, the old woman didn't take any more. Instead, she covered the pot with a wooden lid and slowly walked out of the kitchen with the bowl of porridge.

A bowl of porridge, a pair of wooden chopsticks, and a small dish of pickled radishes.

Just as this simple breakfast was set on the table, the small courtyard door was gently pushed open and then closed.

A man in cloth clothes slipped into the courtyard. After looking around, he stepped towards the cottage in the morning sun.

It was Wei Changtian, who had just taken advantage of the approaching dawn to scout around.

Wei Changtian definitely couldn't sleep last night given the situation, so after briefly adjusting his Qi and blood, he quietly went out.

He originally planned to leave and not come back, but after walking out of the courtyard, he found that he had been transported back to Guanghan City!

Guanghan City was now completely controlled by the imperial army, making it very difficult for him to leave the city.

He either had to use a "Bixing Talisman" to conceal himself and sneak out, or use "Escapism" to teleport out.

However, both of these methods had some problems.

Yesterday, in order to delay the Zhenshan Camp, he first used a 300-point "Tianyuan Pill" to restore his state, and then used 500 points to exchange for the Qingjue Jade Pendant.

Although he later earned 150 points, even with this 150, his system points were now only 700.

A "Bixing Talisman" also cost 300 points. If he bought it, his remaining points would not be enough for 500.

500 points, a Qingjue Jade Pendant—this was the "bottom line" Wei Changtian had set for himself to prevent any unexpected situations.

So, he didn't want to use the Bixing Talisman to leave the city.

And if he used the newly learned Escapism...

The disadvantage of this thing was the same as the Qingjue Jade Pendant: if the teleportation distance was too far, he couldn't control the "landing point."

Now, there were imperial army camps everywhere inside and outside Guanghan City. If he accidentally teleported into the enemy's face, wouldn't that be suicide?

Difficulty leaving the city, unhealed injuries.

The above two problems were actually relatively easy to solve. At worst, he could ask Han Zhao to open a "back door."

However, Wei Changtian currently had no way to contact Chu Xianping and Han Zhao.

Because his upper garment was torn when he broke through to the third rank yesterday, and the items he carried with him naturally fell out.

Wei Changtian was too emotional at the time, and only cared about protecting the most valuable "Divine Strike Talisman." The other items were left near that outhouse.

Among them were the two mother-child jade pieces used to communicate with Chu Xianping and Han Zhao, as well as that "Codebook."

So, he was actually completely ignorant of the outside situation.

Had the Zhenshan Camp been scared away?

Had the Shu army successfully broken through?

Had Han Zhao led his troops to pursue as planned?

He didn't know any of these things, so he had to return and reconsider what he should do next.

Especially those two mother-child jade pieces and the codebook, which were of great importance. If they fell into the hands of the imperial army, it might trigger a series of uncontrollable consequences.

However, if these things were really discovered, they should be handed over to Han Zhao, so the problem wasn't too big for the time being.

Maybe he should try to see Han Zhao first...

Thinking this in his heart, Wei Changtian had already pushed the door open and entered the cottage.

"Granny, I went out for a walk just now."

Looking at the white porridge on the table, Wei Changtian said, while subconsciously reaching for his chest.

And after he realized that the silver notes on his body had also fallen off, a moment of embarrassment appeared on his face.

"Cough, Granny, don't worry. If you allow me to stay here for a few days, I will definitely repay you handsomely before I leave."

...

Looking at Wei Changtian, the old woman just nodded.

She pointed to the white porridge on the table, and then continued to lower her head to do needlework, seemingly not caring about the lodging request of such a suspicious man.

Is she so carefree?

Or has my appearance reached the point of being "appealing to all ages?"

Wei Changtian naturally couldn't explore the thoughts of a mute, so after saying thank you, he didn't think much about it. He didn't stand on ceremony and sat at the table to drink the porridge.

Although he was already in the third rank, people still needed to eat.

Plus, he was injured, so he was indeed a little hungry now. He ate the porridge with the pickles and swallowed a large bowl of thick porridge in a few mouthfuls.

"Uh, Granny, I wonder if there is any more porridge?"

Wiping his mouth, Wei Changtian only felt that this bit of porridge was just enough to whet his appetite.

The old woman looked at the clean bowl, and then put down the torn clothes in her hand, seemingly preparing to get up and serve him porridge.

Although Wei Changtian was used to being served by Yuan'er on weekdays, he wasn't so lazy as to "open his mouth when food came."

"Granny, I'll go myself."

He hurriedly stood up, took the bowl himself, and went to the kitchen.

The old woman looked at his back, and then continued to lower her head to mend the clothes.

This was a man's garment, and it should belong to the same person as the one Wei Changtian was currently wearing.

This person should be taller and stronger than Wei Changtian, so Wei Changtian looked a little loose wearing it now.

And the old woman might have noticed this, so she wanted to make the one in her hand more suitable.

The needle passed through the linen, and the stitches were dense and meticulous, looking very delicate.

The old woman slowly worked, and then at some point raised her head, staring blankly at the smoke rising again above the kitchen.

Obviously, the half bowl of porridge left in the pot should not be enough for Wei Changtian to drink, so the latter directly came up with a "self-reliance" plan, and actually started a fire to cook rice himself.

This behavior was undoubtedly very impolite.

What's more, with Wei Changtian's appetite, one meal could probably top the old woman's rations for several days.

However, the old woman did not stop Wei Changtian's actions.

She just stood up, scooped a few more pieces of pickled radish from the porcelain jar in the corner and added them to the small dish, and then sat down again to pick up the needle and thread.

Her full head of white hair was carefully combed, and her back was slightly hunched.

It could be seen that the old woman's eyesight should not be very good anymore. She had to try many times to find the eye of the needle when threading it.

However, she was not impatient, just trying again and again. If her hands trembled badly, she would rest for a while and then continue.

Outside the window, the golden sunlight shone through the window, bringing the freshness of the beginning of all things.