SGSHE105

[Beginning to wipe the host’s memory.]

……

[Congratulations, host, on obtaining a high-grade perk: Divine Strength. It can only be used in the next world.]

Upon hearing the words divine strength, Jing Heguang, whose memory was currently being erased, felt a sudden, inexplicable sense of foreboding.

Yet, that feeling was quickly replaced by an overwhelming sense of calm and reassurance.

He asked, “Does ‘divine strength’ mean having immense physical power? I should be able to control it freely, right?”

[Your understanding is absolutely correct, Host.]

Jing Heguang nodded and said, “Then let’s go carry out the mission.”

Strangely, he felt a sense of urgency as he spoke, as if he were eager to get started on something.

However, Jing Heguang kept these odd feelings to himself.

After all, he was complete strangers with the system, Little Yellow Peach, and didn’t trust it.

Little Yellow Peach was blissfully unaware of its host’s wild speculations and suspicions, it worked as diligently as an old ox: [The lucky draw is complete, time to enjoy your life, Host! If you have any questions, just call out to your attentive Little Yellow Peach in your mind~]

***

After a dizzying, world-spinning sensation, Jing Heguang slumped weakly against the wall.

His clothes were in tatters, making him look just like a beggar as he slid down to sit on the wooden floor.

A sharp arrow was embedded deep in his leg, causing him excruciating pain.

His head was spinning violently, too.

The arrow was poisoned, how underhanded!

He had stumbled into a room where a light was visible in the distance. He only managed a quick glance and a cry for help before losing consciousness.

Jing Heguang wondered: Surely Little Yellow Peach isn’t going to get me killed like this?

Just before passing out, he caught a glimpse of a cool, refined face, fair and flawless as jade, and caught the faint scent of tea.

Jing Heguang slumped against the wall and lost consciousness without making a loud commotion.

Watching the man collapse, Xing Ming, holding an oil lamp in one hand and a teapot in the other, let out a sigh of relief.

Outside the door.

Chun Fen, a young attendant, shouted in a panic, “Master! Those government soldiers are back! They say a thief has entered our area.”

Xing Ming hesitated for a moment, recalling the man’s accent, distinctly from Wu country.

Then, a cool, calm voice spoke up: “What is there to panic about? Uncle Yu and the others are patrolling the theater, no thief would dare come here.”

Hearing this, Chun Fen felt somewhat reassured, and his chest stopped heaving so violently.

The young boy, only eight or nine years old, spoke in a clear, crisp voice: “You’re right, master! King Li enjoys our troupe’s performances, they wouldn’t dare cause trouble at our theater! I’ll go down and check, just so they don’t scare Li Xia.”

Xing Ming gave a soft “Mm,” listening as Chun Fen’s footsteps clattered away.

Chun Fen and Li Xia were children he had taken in, much like he himself had been rescued and adopted by his master.

They were located in Wucheng, a city that had once been a major northern stronghold of the Wu country.

However, sixteen years ago, Wucheng was seized by Jin Country. Half the population had been reduced to slavery, while the other half eked out a precarious existence, living in terror of the brutal Jin soldiers.

The theater troupe had struggled greatly at first, but in the last two years, they had produced several acclaimed plays. Having won the favor of King Li, who held military command over the city, they finally commanded some respect.

At the thought of King Li, a cold glint flashed in Xing Ming’s eyes.

Everyone in Wucheng knew the old King Li was a lecher. Had the Jin people not disdained homosexual and had the king not preferred women exclusively, Xing Ming, as the theater’s master, would likely have met a terrible fate.

Xing Ming performed female characters and was renowned for his striking appearance and graceful bearing.

The soldiers, not daring to displease King Li, merely searched the area around the theater and dragged away a few random people before leaving.

***

Only when it had gone completely quiet outside did Xing Ming summon Uncle Yu, the troupe member skilled in medicine, up to the second floor.

Upon seeing the man, uncle Yu immediately realized that this was the very ‘intruder’ they had heard about.

Even Chun Fen’s eyes went wide. “Is this the intruder?”

Xing Ming said, “He is likely the one they were looking for. Judging by his speech, he has the Wu country accent.”

At the mention of the ‘Wu country’, everyone was momentarily taken aback.

Sixteen years had passed, while they still remembered themselves as people of Wu and knew that the Jin country did not view them as their own, their connection to their homeland had grown distant over time.

After all, in all these years, Wu country had made no move to reclaim Wucheng or rescue them.

Uncle Yu helped extract the arrow from the unconscious man and fed him two detoxifying pills.

After tending to the wounds, uncle Yu said, “Troupe leader, this man has numerous old sword scars and thick calluses on his hands, I fear he might bring trouble.”

Xing Ming’s expression remained indifferent. “Once he is able to walk, let him leave.”

The man had nothing to do with them, after all.

***

As Jing Heguang drifted in and out of consciousness, he found himself hazily reliving the memories of the body’s original owner in his dreams.

The original owner shared the name Jing Heguang and hailed from a noble military family, he was the legitimate son of the Earl of Dingnan.

Sixteen years ago, turmoil had erupted simultaneously in both the north and south of Wu country, resulting in the loss of territory in both regions.

The south was a fertile grain-producing region home to many wealthy merchants, Wu country had spent years reconquering the south, a campaign that gave rise to a new class of military nobles. The Earl of Dingnan had earned his title precisely through these southern reconquest efforts.

Warfare offered military officers a path to rapid promotion.

The original owner had joined the army at sixteen and was now twenty-two. Having caught the tail end of the conflict, he had managed to secure a share of the spoils, rising to the rank of a fourth-rank military officer.

The original owner’s rank as a fourth-rank official was certainly aided by his family background, yet he possessed genuine talent in martial arts and had fought bravely on the battlefield, he was no mere figurehead.

With the military occupied in the south, there were insufficient forces to handle the north. Moreover, after years of continuous warfare, a period of recuperation was necessary, so Wucheng had been left unattended.

Upon concluding the southern campaign, the original owner returned to the capital to rest.

He returned in high spirits, believing that as a promising young man, the time was ripe to marry his childhood sweetheart, Cui Leyou.

He imagined that with his handsome looks and formidable martial prowess, ‘little sister Cui’, who had treated him so kindly in their youth, would surely be delighted to see him.

Little did he know that Cui Leyou had blossomed into a woman of exquisite, spirited beauty and renowned talent, attracting countless admirers.

Among these admirers were the Crown Prince (born of the Empress), the Fourth Prince (son of a Noble Consort), and the top scholar of the Imperial Academy…

At this point, Jing Heguang felt a headache coming on!

According to the original owner’s memories, Cui Leyou had been making ‘cartoon’ body pillows at five, writing poetry at eight, and penning excellent essays by ten. At twelve, her rendition of the song ‘Shui Diao Ge Tou’ (water melody) had captivated the capital, cementing her reputation for brilliance.

Jing Heguang felt weary: …Couldn’t she have picked a different song?

Naturally, with so many talented and powerful young men surrounding Cui Leyou, the original owner found himself overshadowed upon his return to the capital. Far from winning the exclusive favor of his beloved as he had hoped, he paled in comparison to the others.

It so happened that during a philosophical discussion, Cui Leyou mentioned Wucheng in the north, expressing deep sympathy for the suffering inflicted upon its people by the Jin country.

Taking this to heart, the original owner committed the name Wucheng to memory and requested a military assignment to the north.

It wasn’t that he cared about the plight of the former subjects of Wu country, he simply wanted to show off and win the admiration and awe of his beloved younger sister.

The original owner had traveled to the northern territories, where the Jin country’s veteran royal, King Li, held command.

King Li was the very man who had conquered Wucheng years ago. Over time, he had turned the city into an impregnable fortress, with the surrounding towns also under Jin control, gathering intelligence on Wucheng’s military strength proved nearly impossible.

Relying on his martial prowess and exceptional lightness skills, the original owner led a small group to infiltrate Wucheng.

His companions perished along the way, and he barely managed to break into the city himself.

Before he could find a hiding spot, however, he was spotted by the Jin night patrol, struck in the leg by a poisoned arrow, and collapsed inside an opera house.

Because of his distinct Wu accent, he was rescued by Xing Ming, the troupe leader of the opera house.

Although saved, former subjects of Wu held no status in Wucheng and were easily oppressed or thrown into dungeons to die. The troupe members, fearing he might cause trouble, kept a close watch on him.

Born into wealth, the original owner could not tolerate the troupe members’ attitude and planned to leave as soon as his injury healed.

However, he unexpectedly learned that King Li’s estate housed defense maps for the surrounding cities and that the King was fond of the opera troupe’s performances.

Therefore, he changed his approach, striving to befriend and get closer to Xing Ming.

Upon discovering that Xing Ming, the troupe leader, was attracted to men, he began to seduce him.

The people of Jin country looked down on same-sex relations, and for over a decade, the atmosphere in Wucheng had reflected this prejudice.

Because he openly displayed such inclinations, Xing Ming, who had long kept his own sexuality hidden, mistook him for a kindred spirit and refrained from driving him away. Thus, the original owner was able to remain with the troupe.

Ten days after the Qixi Festival, the troupe was commissioned to perform for King Li’s birthday.

After Qixi passed, the original owner tentatively asked Xing Ming to take him along to the King’s estate so he could broaden his horizons.

Given his mysterious background, any trouble he caused could implicate the entire troupe, so naturally, Xing Ming refused.

However, the original owner had become well-acquainted with Wucheng and knew countless ways to ensure the deaths of everyone in the troupe at the hands of the Jin. He used this knowledge to blackmail Xing Ming.

He also claimed his motives were to secure the city defense map and to seek justice for the former citizens of the Wu country who had been enslaved in Wucheng, using the freedom of everyone involved to exert moral pressure on Xing Ming.

Once the original owner revealed his true intentions, Xing Ming readily agreed, asking only that he look after the members of the troupe should the opportunity arise.

On the night of King Li’s birthday, the original owner stole a look at the city defense map and then fled.

After escaping Wu City, he learned that Cui Leyou had been sold into the city. Out of concern, he joined forces with the nearest Wu army to launch a lightning raid deep into enemy territory.

The Wu forces advanced with unstoppable momentum, and the Jin naturally realized something was amiss.

King Li discovered that the city defense map had been compromised and scoured the city until he found Xing Ming, the troupe leader.

When the original owner breached Wu City, he found that Xing Ming, who had dispersed and hidden the other troupe members to ensure their safety, had bitten off his own tongue and died in prison, thereby bearing the brunt of King Li’s wrath.

King Li then propped up the corpse to make it appear alive and hung it from the city walls to taunt and terrify the original owner. Without batting an eye, the original owner led his troops to storm the city, regardless of the cost.

After breaching the walls by piling up the corpses of his own soldiers, his only thought was of Cui Leyou. He rushed to the estate of a Jin noble to rescue her.

The tale of a general breaching a city for the sake of a beauty became a legend that later attested to just how stunning Empress Cui truly was.

The original owner was even hailed as a hero of immense valor for that campaign.

Yet few knew that the key figure behind the city’s rapid fall, and the return of so many former Wu citizens to their homeland, was actually an opera actor.

Nor did anyone know that, had he chosen a more cautious strategy, countless soldiers’ lives could have been spared.

As for Xing Ming, the troupe leader, he became nothing more than an acquaintance from the past, garnering merely a few words of pity.

Jing Heguang sighed at the tragedy, only to be instantly enraged by what followed.

Once the Wu army took control of the city, the troupe members emerged in sorrow to collect Xing Ming’s remains.

But when the original owner learned of this, he feared that news of his involvement with Xing Ming might reach Cui Leyou, who was still in the city pacifying the populace, so he had the entire troupe slaughtered under the pretext that they were Jin spies!

Jing Heguang cursed inwardly: Scum!!

Fortunately, the original owner met a wretched end, which kept Jing Heguang from dying of sheer rage.

He had rescued Cui Leyou, and she was deeply moved, nearly falling in love with him.

But then came a twist: Cui Leyou was accidentally blinded, forcing him to send her to the Valley of the Divine Physician.

By the time he finished the war, Cui Leyou had sorted out her feelings and distinguished gratitude from love. His chances were gone.

Cui Leyou eventually became the crown princess. When the crown prince ascended the throne, he had the original owner buried alive in Wucheng out of jealousy and spite, after all, the original owner had dared to covet the emperor’s woman.

Of course, that emperor wasn’t exactly normal either. However, Jing Heguang felt a strange, deep resonance with Xing Ming, the troupe leader of the opera troupe, and found the situation immensely satisfying.

Jing Heguang opened his eyes just as Xing Ming finished speaking and turned to face him.

The young man was strikingly handsome. His phoenix eyes tilted slightly upward, and his expression was one of cool detachment. His fair complexion only heightened that icy air.

Yet, a small red mole sat just beneath the corner of one eye, a stunning detail, like a spring of red plum blossom emerging in the dead of winter.

This man was Xing Ming, the very same Xing Ming from the original owner’s memories.

But why did he feel like Xing Ming was his lover?

A voice echoed in his mind: “He is searching for someone, that person is his Xingxing.”

And by a stroke of coincidence, Xing Ming’s name actually contained the character for star!

Even that aloof expression of his made Jing Heguang’s heart leap with joy.

Jing Heguang thought excitedly: This beauty must be my lover!

He smiled at Xing Ming, only to…suddenly feel dizzy and faint dead away.

Xing Ming’s heart skipped a beat at the man’s smile, but his thought made him frown.

It was too strange.

He had just told the man to leave, yet the moment he woke up, he immediately passed out again.

Xing Ming glanced at Uncle Yu, a hint of displeasure at being deceived in his tone: “Check his pulse.”

Feigning unconsciousness wouldn’t fool anyone.

A moment later, Uncle Yu said, “A sudden surge of excitement caused his blood and qi to stir, driving the toxins to his heart. He really has fainted.”

“Truly?” Xing Ming’s tone remained calm, though he was inwardly astonished.

He wasn’t surprised by the man’s reaction, but rather by his own anger. He had actually felt annoyed at the thought that the man might be deceiving him. He rarely experienced such fluctuations in emotion.

Uncle Yu nodded. “Truly.”

“Mm.” Xing Ming nodded as well. He took one last look at the man’s face and said, “Then let him rest on my bed here. I’ll go to the room next door.” ”

Having said that, Xing Ming added, “Moving him again might aggravate his internal injuries.”

Chunfen remarked, “You’re so kind, Master! Letting a man that filthy sleep in your own bed…”

Xing Ming gave Chunfen’s small ear a playful pinch. “Off to bed with you now, and don’t slack off on your vocal exercises tomorrow.”

Xing Ming lowered his lashes to hide his guilty conscience. It wasn’t kindness, really. He simply found that filthy man.. strangely alluring.

Xing Ming was startled by his own thoughts. Could it be…that he actually had a thing for the filthy type?!

Author’s Note: This bears some resemblance to the second story, though not entirely. There is still a whole narrative thread from Xingxing’s perspective to come, and the world-building will be fleshed out gradually.