《Hit!》


 Chatper 0: End of the beginning

    ¡°Ahh¡­¡± says a tired voice as it exhales in a relaxed manner.


    Li Yi looks up at the cloudless night sky, that is blocked by a towering skyscraper.


    ¡°Hahaha. So even on such a tall building, something must still obstruct me.¡±


    Clenching his fist, a single tear leaked from Li Yi¡¯s right eye as he is reminded once more of why he is standing on the roof of this seventy storey building.


    For all his life, Li YI had struggled to survive despite being one of the more ¡°well-to-do¡± people.


    Borned in a wealthy family, people would expect Li YI¡¯s life to be an easy one. Unfortunately, it wasn¡¯t long after his birth that his mother died. Grief stricken, his father fell sick and took a few years to recover.


    In that time, cunning relatives who sought the family wealth used the pretext of helping his father run the business to take over control. By the time his father recovered, he could only continue to run the business as a CEO in name thanks to some relatives who still supported him and others who wanted to control from the shadows.


    While Li Yi¡¯s growth wasn¡¯t particularly affected by this, many of the benefits given to him to aid his growth were shared with his cousins. From food to lessons, his cousins would be there with him.


    Li Yi was happy to have such companionship as a child. But after growing up, he realised that this companionship was largely due to his uncles and aunties wanting their children to benefit in whatever Li YI got.


    This became extremely clear when Li Yi was in college, and his father had to officially retire from being the CEO. In an instant, his close cousins distanced themselves from him, and he became a new target for the school bullies.


    Swearing to take revenge, Li Yi worked hard to graduate. With a fairly respectable score, he made it into one of the top universities in the world to study business management.


    But as fate has it, he soon found himself unable to cope with the course and eventually opted to transfer to another university to study computer science.


    Of course, Li Yi found it weird that a business management course would be as challenging as it was after mixing with other business major students in his new university. But the time he graduated, he discovered the truth.


    When his relatives heard that he was going to study business management, they feared that he was planning to take the company back from them. As a result, they used their connections to make the course extremely hard for Li YI¡¯s batch. In fact, the moment Li Yi transferred away, the course was purposefully made easier to make it up for to the rest of the students.


    Li Yi was infuriated. But he also knew that he was powerless. His father was now a weak old man. Furthermore, his father had fallen sick and took years to recover when his mother died. If he were to find out that his own siblings had plotted against him to such an extent, he might just die in anguish.


    Unable to do anything to about it, Li Yi decided to give up and instead start from scratch. Under the recommendation of a fellow graduate, Li Yi joined an international IT company as a programmer.


    Everything went exceedingly well for two years, and Li Yi became the most promising rookie. As a result, he was posted to work as an assistant to a senior programmer. The project was an computer program that could predict the prices of stock market for the next few days.


    Alas, Li Yi could not escape destiny as his senior stole the project materials on the day of its completion, and had pinned the blame on Li Yi!


    Initially, everyone found it suspicious for Li Yi to have been the one responsible. But after various pieces of evidence were produced to set him up, even Li Yi himself wondered if he really did steal it.


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    The police was contacted, and Li Yi was about to give up when he received a call from his father¡¯s phone. To his shock, the maidservant who was in charge of taking care of his father reported that his father was dead.


    Li YI dropped his phone, and rushed out in a hurry as his colleagues chased after him. Breaking his way through security on the ground floor, Li YI got on a taxi and managed to get away.


    However, as the taxi drove along, it dawned upon Li Yi that everything was pointless. So what if he went back now to see his dead father? He couldn¡¯t do anything to bring back the dead. And not to mention, he just ran away after being accused of a crime.


    There was no way for him to escape from arrest and no way to prove his innocence ether. Laughing sorrowfully, he asked the taxi driver to turn around and to drive him back.


    Feeling extremely tired, Li Yi got off at the building next to his company building, which was the tallest skyscraper in the entire city, and made his way up to the roof where he is now.


    ¡°Ahahahaha¡­!!! How foolish of me! Of course there is something blocking my way! I knew it all along, didn¡¯t I!?¡± Li Yi cries out in grief as more tears fell from his eyes.


    ¡°Is this pain lesser than that which father felt when mother died?¡± Li Yi wondered.


    Spending another five minutes or so standing on the edge of the building, Li Yi finally wipes his tears with his sleeve and decided to accept his fate.


    At this moment, Li Yi realised that someone was looking at him. From several floors above on the skyscraper opposite, an office lady looked down at Li Yi from her office. With one hand on her chin and another twirling her long wavy hair, Li Yi could feel a cold glare as a shiver is sent down his spine.


    Just as he was about to take a step back, a strong gust of wind blew from behind.


    ¡°Ah.¡± says Li Yi blankly as his body is blown off the edge.


    As the distant street view below came into sight, Li Yi closed his eyes and await the ground below to put an end to his misery.


    ¡°Oh god. What wrongs did I commit in my previous lives that you cannot forgive me for even in my end?¡±


    Splat. Li Yi clearly feel his face being smashed into. A cold soggy feeling wraps him all around, and his body turned cold.


    ¡°Oi¡­¡±


    Li Yi laid there, not wanting to move. After all, can he even still move after landing face first on a rock hard road from a fifty storey fall? He should be dead on impact!


    ¡°OI!¡± came a loud shout as Li Yi felt a sharp jab at his torso.


    ¡°WHAT THE HELL?! CAN¡¯T YOU LEAVE A DEAD MAN BE?!¡±screams Li Yi as he jerks up into a sitting position.


    ¡°Erh?¡± Li Yi thought in wonder and he sees a group of children in rags staring in surprise at him.


    ¡°Ah. Damnable. He must have stolen luck from us! Run and tell the adults!¡± shouts a slightly better dressed boy as the entire group of children turns and runs away from Li Yi.


    ¡°What the hell, did I accidentally fall onto some Chinese drama set?¡± Li Yi mumbled aloud.


    Rubbing his hand on his head, the strange soggy feeling finally slaps a sense of awareness onto Li Yi. Looking his two hands, followed by his body, Li Yi realises that he is covered in mud. Not to mention, his entire body was a lot smaller!


    ¡°No no no. This cannot be.¡± Li Yi speaks aloud once more to himself.


    ¡°ISN¡¯T THIS JUST LIKE ONE OF THOSE CHINESE WUXIA THAT I READ BEFORE?!¡±


    After screaming that out loud, Li Yi ran forward without looking and rammed head first into a concrete wall.


    *BAM*


    That was the last thing Li Yi heard as blackness took over once more.

 Chapter 1: Wu Si

    Li Yi is without thought. Just like in a dreamless sleep. Or maybe it¡¯s actual death.


    ¡°Big Brother Si. BIG BROTHER SI!¡± Li Yi jolts to life as a strong tug on his sleeve pulls him forward.


    Suddenly, Li Yi realised that a little girl who is of the same height as him is now staring at him angrily.


    ¡°Is playing with us so boring?! Just say so and we won¡¯t!¡± Pouting angrily, the girl runs off to join a group of children playing nearby.


    Without knowing what to do or say, Li Yi looks at his surroundings to find himself in a large garden. Behind himself stood a large mansion, which reminded Li Yi of those he had seen before in drawings of ancient Chinese mansions. To the left were children playing on a large grass patch with hoops and bean bags. And to the right was a large pond and a pavilion with some uncles and aunties talking over tea inside.


    But in front of Li Yi was a clear view of the ocean. As the only thing that resembles a common view to Li Yi, he walked towards it thoughtlessly. Only when he got closer to the cliff edge did Li Yi notice a stone platform in front.


    Li Yi squints his eyes in surprise as he realised that a modern table accompanied with chairs and tea set was on the platform before him. In addition to that, a strangely dressed man is seated on one of the chairs while swirling a cup of tea in his hand.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Li Yi asked blankly.


    The man who was looking at the ocean turns to face Li Yi. An equally strange mask covers his face, but a glint of light from the eye sockets makes Li Yi shiver in fear.


    ¡°It is too soon.¡±


    The moment the man ended his sentence, Li Yi¡¯s head started aching horribly. The view in front of him distorts, and the headache is accompanied with flashes of countless pictures. With the pain from the headache, Li Yi lost all sense of time while being mentally bombarded with what he feels to be memories.


    ¡°AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH¡­... !!!¡±


    The painful headache stops abruptly. With his eyes wide open, Li Yi looks straightforward to see a shocked girl drop her dagger.


    ¡°BLOODY HELL. WHAT IS WITH ALL THE NOISE BACK THERE!¡± comes an angry shout as the girl scrambles to her feet to apologise and announce that the dumb kid just woke up.


    ¡°Am I the dumb kid?¡± wondered Li Yi as the girl now turns around to glare at him.


    In one swift motion, she bends forward to pick up her dagger and charges at Li Yi. In the blink of an eye, she is now right front of Li Yi with the dagger stabbed at the wooden board next to his head.


    ¡°Listen, you little curse doll. Don¡¯t cause me trouble the moment you wake up. In fact, don¡¯t ever cause me any trouble or this dagger will go through your head the next time even if you are worth...¡±


    She pauses for a bit and looks like she wants to say something else. Before she does, a questioning look appears on her face as she leans forward a little more.


    ¡°Hey. are you even listening?¡± the girl asks with a surprisingly concerned look.


    ¡°So my name is Wu Si.¡± says Li Yi with an understanding expression on his face.


    ¡°Huh? Why do I care about your name? Do you even know the situation you are in now, kid?¡± the girl says in an annoyed tone.


    The blank look that was on Li Yi¡¯s face the entire time now changed to a surprised one.


    ¡°What kid? Aren¡¯t you the kid with that board?¡± answers Li Yi.


    A look of confusion first appeared on the girl¡¯s face, followed by extreme anger as she pulls the dagger out and plunges it at Li Yi¡¯s throat.


    Just when Li Yi realises his mistake in angering the girl, he noticed that she was moving rather slowly. Furthermore, Li Yi felt his body itching to guard itself as if it was very used to things like this. Letting nature take its course, Li Yi let his body move based on its instincts.


    ¡°Huh?¡± was all the girl could say again when she found herself with one arm up in the air. The dagger clanks down harmlessly on the wooden flooring behind.


    Li Yi too, was surprised by this, and didn¡¯t know how to react till a tight slap struck him across the face. The girl who slapped him turns around quickly, picking up her dagger before jumping out of the wooden cart.


    Only at this point did Li Yi recall his body¡¯s motion. He had used one arm to push her arms upwards before using the other to knock the dagger out of her hands. In the process, he also stood up, doing the same to the girl as he had grabbed onto her wrist. By the time he was done, the two were physically very close to each other¡­


    However, this was not important to Li Yi right now. The headache he had just now, and the odd experience which he now came to understand was a dream, gave him the memories of the previous owner of this body!


    This person that Li Yi now is was called Wu Si. He is now twelve years old, but has an unbelievably complicated family background. To be exact, Wu Si was a very successful young master but hated by the gods at the same time!


    From birth, his parents discovered that Wu Si had a devious birthright in his body. Wu Si would passively take the luck of things around him and turn it into his own. While this was good for Wu Si, it meant that nothing around him was safe from having their luck drained. Anyone with such a body was known as a cursed child and would normally be killed for the better good.


    But Wu Si was born into a very powerful family. In order to keep this a secret, his father killed the family¡¯s divine priest who watched over his birth and discovered his ability. That truth was then covered up as an accident and a new divine priest was hired, except this one was specifically weak in order not to reveal Wu Si¡¯s secret.


    As such, Wu Si managed to live and was personally trained by his parents in the various disciplines of the world. However, even his parents could only guide him for so long before his curse played its part on them. When Wu Si was eight years old, the Emperor summoned his parents to join an expedition to look for some long lost relic in the desolate lands of the empire.


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    They had no choice but to go...and never returned. In their place, some relatives invited Wu Si to stay with them. Discovering how talented Wu Si was, they happily looked after him and even got him to train their own children.


    Needless to say, misfortune soon befell them. Their children either fell sick or met with a horrible accident, crippling them for years or even life. Even the adult had some misfortune befall them, although not as bad as the children.


    When this happened at first, Wu Si would just be invited to stay at another relative¡¯s place. But as time when by, this trend of misfortune became prevalent enough for his relatives to treat him as a jinx.


    He was eleven years old by then, and had long noticed this himself. Not wanting to impose on anyone else, Wu Si moved back to his family home. Upon returning, Wu Si continued training himself while looking through the records in his study room.


    Wu Si was young, but he was no fool. After seeing so many books about sealing birthrights and luck draining, Wu Si figured out that he had to be a cursed child. At the same time, Wu Si was still a child. The thought that he had killed his own parents, crippled his cousins, and will continue to bring misfortune to all around him devastated him.


    He fired the family attendants, and went into the first secluded training of his life. As he trained, he wondered why he was cursed from birth, why the gods had oyed with him by giving him a golden spoon from birth, only take everything else from him. Was he meant to be alone?


    Unfortunately for Wu Si, the Wu family¡¯s cultivation techniques was largely based on humanly bonds like trust and strength through numbers. Wu Si¡¯s thoughts not only deviated from that, it went against everything he had learned from young.


    As a result, Wu SI deviated and went down the devil¡¯s path while training. Going on a violent rampage, Wu Si destroyed his house, and wrecked havoc out on the streets before making his way out of the city in a berserk rage. By the time he woke up, his body was in badly wounded and was somewhere in the middle of the forest.


    Wu Si wasn¡¯t sure why no one stopped him, but he wasn¡¯t too keen on going back to find out why. Like a frightful child who just made a seemingly unforgivable mistake, Wu Si ran till his reached a small village.


    The first to spot him were an elderly couple, who were shocked to see such a horribly injured child. Thinking that he escaped from bandits, they kindly took him in and care for him till he recovered. Knowing that he was cursed, Wu Si tried repeatedly to leave but was restrained each time by the sad look on the elderly couple¡¯s face.


    Eventually, Wu Si settled in and helped them whenever he could, planning to leave quietly one day when he accumulated some traveling funds. But the village was too small. Wu Si had no way to earn much and had almost nothing extra to keep after contributing his earnings to the elderly couple.


    One day, a soldier on horseback rode into the village, announcing that an examiner would soon come by the village and all children were to report to him to be examined for talent. Wu Si had a bad feeling about this, but when the elderly couple encouraged him to, he decided to go even if he was discovered.


    Obviously, the examiner had to be a divine priest of some standing to be an examiner for talent. Although he could not tell immediately, he noticed that Wu Si was abnormal, and called him out to perform extra tests. When he conducted the spirit signalling ritual, countless evil spirits showed up and darken the skies.


    Everyone was horrified and frightened. If not for the fact a master warrior was guarding the examiner, the testing grounds would have been cursed. After forcefully destroying the spirit altar, the divine priest used various curses to weaken Wu Si and got the master warrior to maim him by severing his tendons and destroying his cultivation base.


    With no other talent discovered in the village, the examiner¡¯s party did not stay any longer and Wu Si¡¯s fate was left to the villagers. The divine priest did not say much about what was exactly wrong with Wu Si, but the villagers were frightened enough from what they saw to know that Wu Si was bad luck and probably an evil spirit that they needed to chase away.


    At the same time, they didn¡¯t want to kill him within the village or even go close to him for that matter. After some discussion, the village chief ordered the two useless oafs in the village to carry the injured Wu Si to the nearby valley and toss him away.


    With the two oafs being useless as they were, Wu Si was instead left to die a few days ago in the nearby ruins. This led to the incident a while back, where a bunch of children playing in the ruins found Wu Si, and attacked him for the ¡°evils¡± he had committed back in the village based on what their parents had told them.


    These ¡°evils¡± was of course everything bad that has happened to them. Be it the village being poor all the time to the children in the village not being recognised as talented by the examiner, and many other trivial matters that occurred even before Wu Si arrived at the village.


    Wu Si didn¡¯t know this, and was actually finally on the verge of death as he cursed his fate for the last time. When he actually died, Li Yi took over his body and through some otherworldly means, recovered it to the point before Wu Si was maimed.


    There are so many other things about Wu Si that Li Yi now knew about and wanted to time to carefully consider, but now was not the time.


    ¡°Yan-er, I thought you said that one little village boy could never cause you any trouble. Not to mention a cursed...¡±


    The girl from before has returned with a burly man. The man looks at Li Yi briefly before nodding in an approving manner. The girl refuses to look Li Yi, but instead throws a some rags that looks like crude clothes over to Li Yi.


    ¡°He is well built for a twelve year old. And should make for a convincing tool in the next job. I admit you have good taste, Yan-er, but that is just still too small.¡± says the burly man in a teasing manner.


    The girl¡¯s fist smashes the side of the wooden cart, punching a hole in it. The burly man laughs heartily, and walks back in the direction he came from.


    ¡°If you are not dressed and off this cart in the next ten breaths, I will waste you like you should have been.¡± says the girl called Yan-er in a deathly cold voice.


    Li Yi looks down for the first time, and finally understood that he had been naked and covered by nothing more than a sack till he stood up earlier.

 Chapter 2: Bad luck charm

    Considering his bodily natural ability to defend itself earlier, Li Yi wondered if the girl could really carry out her threat. That said, he didn¡¯t know that much about the world he was in from Wu Si¡¯s memories, and still needed some time to go through the memories in greater detail.


    Picking up the rags, it was nothing more than a loose robe with a thin robe around the waist. Li Yi slip it on in one breath and took a step forward quickly. Little did he expect his body to use much more force than expected!


    His body lunged forward as he could hear and feel the wood below his feet being smashed apart. In the blink of an eye, he clumsily flew out of the wooden cart, past the girl, and even the horse that was in front of the cart.


    ¡°Oh snap. How do I land? How can I even safely land?!¡± screams Li Yi in his mind.


    Just before he hit the ground, his body twisted itself and performed a backflip naturally before landing Li Yi firmly on his two feet. Li Yi reeled in surprise for a few moments before using both hands to feel for his face and body to see if anything was broken. Amazingly, he feels better than all his years before coming to this world.


    ¡°How long are you going to make me wait for? You are sure slow...huh? Where did you go, brat?¡± says the girl, who did not notice Li Yi performing that accidental acrobatic move over her.


    She runs about in a panicky manner for a few breaths before noticing Li Yi standing there with a smug look on his face. Before he could react, the girl appeared in front of him and e could feel a blunt force hitting him hard on the top of his head.


    ¡°Huh?¡± says Li Yi in a surprised tone while rubbing his head.


    The blunt force that hit him hard hurts a lot less than he thought it would. In fact, there was almost no pain at all. The girl, on the other hand, had a look of surprise on her face before it contorted into one of immerse pain. Her hand that was used to hit Li Yi is shivering quite badly by now, which she tried to control by gripping onto it tightly with her other hand.


    ¡°Ah. Erm...are you all right?¡± asks Li Yi out of concern.


    Before she could reply, a shout comes from behind Li Yi, asking if they were trying to make life by taking so long. By now, tears started to form at the girl¡¯s eyes as she turns around.


    ¡°Just go...¡± she murmurs as she walks away.


    Li Yi wanted to check to see if she was okay, but had a feeling that he injured something more than the girl¡¯s hand. Without another word, he turns around and walks in the direction which the shouting voice came from either.


    Passing by a few more carts and a carriage, Li Yi walks up to a group of ten men sitting by a campfire while eating their dinner. Their dinner didn¡¯t appear to be too lavish, consisting of nothing more than a bun and what appears to be dried meat. As for the men, apart from the burly one, the rest were of average build if not skinny.


    ¡°Oi kiddo, over here.¡± signals the burly man sitting on a tree stump to Li Yi.


    Unsure of their true identity, Li Yi decides to play it safe and walks to the point the burly man signalled to before standing there quietly. The burly man eyes him without a word for a while. In a swift motion, he grabs a large wooden bat from behind and slams it down onto the ground, causing the rest of the men to look over.


    ¡°Hmm...not very good slave material, are you?¡± grunts the burly man.


    Li Yi wondered for a bit before understanding that it is due to the fact he calmly looked at the burly man the entire time without flinching. Considering that when the burly man had made the grab for his bat, everything suddenly slowed down for Li Yi and his swift motion looked like he was moving at normal speed.


    ¡°So be it. I am Da Di. The rest here are my men and we are the Da Chuan mercenaries.¡± declares the burly man called Da Di in a proud voice.


    Feeling like he has seen this in some show back in his original world, Li Yi couldn¡¯t hide his unimpressed expression. Fortunately for him, it seems like the rest of his men thinks the same way, and are only surprised when they noticed Li Yi having the same expression that they had.


    ¡°That¡¯s some guts right there. Are you sure that he shouldn¡¯t be made as one of us, Da-ge?¡± says a skinny man by the campfire.


    ¡°I would have liked to. But as Yan-er has said earlier...¡± answers Da Di with a sigh.


    ¡°Yes, he is indeed too dangerous to keep around for long.¡±


    Walking past Li Yi from behind, the girl from before stops next to Da Di. Even though she tried to hide it, Da Di noticed the medical scent and grabbed on her arm. The girl does not resist, but looks away without a word as he examines her bandage over her hand.


    ¡°How did you get injured?¡± asks Da Di while looking fiercely at Li Yi.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. A crate dropped onto my hand by accident earlier when I got those rags for Wu...the brat.¡± says the girl.


    Li Yi didn¡¯t understand why she didn¡¯t say it was caused by her hitting himself. Even Da Di gave her a look of doubt before releasing her arm.


    ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, your pay from the next deal is halved for the medicine used and the fact we have less manpower due to your injury!¡±


    The girl grimaced when he said that, but she didn¡¯t argue with him. Instead, she threw Li Yi a very angry glare. On Li Yi¡¯s part, he could only look downward apologetically for the injury that was caused by him. Then again, wasn¡¯t she the one who attacked him with so much force to begin with? If Li Yi had been any weaker, she might have cracked open his head!


    ¡°It¡¯s late now. Get to business, Yan-er.¡± orders Da Di, who looks like he figured out what was the cause of her injury.


    ¡°As Uncle Di should have mentioned by now, we are the Da Chuan mercenaries. Back when we found you, you were bleeding profusely in the head and about to die. Since you had a good build for a young boy, we decided to save you and to sell you at the slave market.¡± explain the girl called Yan-er.


    Li Yi was shocked once more. Slave? There is slavery in this world? Searching through Wu Si¡¯s memories, nothing about slavery popped up in his head. In fact, his memories suggests that people who dealt in any form of slavery would face capital punishment from the empire!


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    ¡°There is a slave market?¡± asks Li Yi.


    Da Di and the girl turns to look at each other in a surprised manner, but seemed to come to some unspoken conclusion between themselves.


    ¡°Considering the time we found you half dead, you looked like a bloodied beggar in rags. As a fellow peasant, you should know that slave markets are commonplace. But if you are telling us that you are some rich young master, sister here will believe you and convince Uncle Di to escort you back to your family even. So which are you?¡±


    Li Yi was tongue tied. On one hand, he could say he was from the Wu family, and be escorted to one of his relatives¡¯ place. Although they might not welcome him to stay, but they should at least recognise him and pay off these people. On the other hand, he did not actually know these people, and considering Wu Si¡¯s memories of the last place he stayed at, they almost hired a divine priest to check on their family, which would have exposed Wu Si as a cursed child for his luck draining birthright earlier.


    Becoming a slave definitely isn¡¯t an option. Or what about Wu Si¡¯s body? As a blessed child who was mostly brought up by his parents and relatives till the recent years, Li Yi knew that his body is abnormally powerful. Is it possible to take down these mercenaries or to just run away from them?


    ¡°Don¡¯t keep us waiting. You either are, or are not.¡± demands the girl.


    ¡°About that, miss...¡± answers Li Yi with a trailing voice to buy time.


    The girl look at Li Yi strangely for a while till Da Di whispers something to her.


    ¡°Ahem. I forgot to mention it earlier. My name is Li Yan. I¡¯m okay with you calling me Miss Li.¡± says Li Yan in a declaratively manner.


    Oh, thought Li Yi as he realised that his words caused them to misunderstand it as his way of asking for her name. In any case, Li Yi didn¡¯t want to know get to know these slave traders any better, especially since they plan on trading him as one!


    ¡°You guessed right. I¡¯m indeed a young master. My family is Wu, and I would like to request the Da Chuan mercenaries to escort me safely to the abode of my relatives in Qingshan.¡±


    A sparkle could almost literally be seen in Li Yan¡¯s eyes when she heard that. But before anyone could do anything, a fear inducing slam shook the campsite. The one who caused that slam was none other than Da Di himself.


    The night was dark, but the moonlight and campfire shone enough light on Da Di¡¯s face for it to be visibly pale with cold sweat.


    ¡°Wu family, you say.¡± mumbles Da Di in a daze aloud.


    ¡°Uncle Di, what¡¯s the matter?¡± asked Li Yan, who is in shock from Da Di¡¯s sudden change in behaviour.


    ¡°You have bad luck, kiddo. Now we all have bad luck too.¡± answers Da Di.


    It was at this point that Li Yi noticed some of the other men shivering with fear as well, accompanied with some other with shocked expressions on their face.


    ¡°You see, kid. I know the famous Wu family. But most of the rest here didn¡¯t until earlier today. And they only know because the Wu family was just convicted of treason by the empire earlier today. News doesn¡¯t spread fast normally. But when the empire accuses people of treason, it transmitted to most of the empire within a day.¡± explains Da Di.


    Li Yi takes a step back in shock. How can this be? Am I really that unlucky even with Wu Si¡¯s body?! Clearing his throat, Li Yi proceeds to speak.


    ¡°In that case, can¡¯t you just surrender me as a traitor? The empire will even reward you, won¡¯t they?¡± asks Li Yi.


    ¡°WE CAN¡¯T. Look, after finding you yesterday, we went into the city to sell the goods on those wooden carts over there and resupplied our provisions at the same time. While we were doing so, the Imperial messengers arrived to make the announcement. When they did so, the city also restricted entry and exit to specific few for a week. As we were friends with the city lord, we were allowed to leave on the account we make a blood oath that none of us had anything to do with anyone of the surname Wu.¡±


    What? That makes no sense to Li Yi. Then why were some people like Li Yan looking like they had no idea what was going on?


    ¡°Well, when I said we, only half of us went in since not everything we had could legally enter the city. Now, the problem is not because we left you outside the city. The problem is that we had confidently made that blood oath knowing you!¡± answers Da Di with a deep sense of regret in his voice.


    By now, even Li Yan had turned pale from the news. Although she was not one of those who made the blood oath, she seems to care about this group enough to be concerned about their fate should half of them along with their boss perish.


    ¡°Wait. But you did not know he was of surname Wu at that time!¡± declares Li Yan in a desperate tone.


    ¡°Yan-er. You know that the Imperial soldiers do not care. Neither does the blood oath. If you are caught with breaking the oath and the enforcement is activated, the blood oath will still claim your life. Also, they will not stop with just us and probably execute the whole group.¡± says Da Di sadly.


    ¡°Hmm...doesn¡¯t that mean you just do not have to be caught?¡± mumbles Li Yi aloud.


    A second passed by before Li YI noticed that everyone now stared at him wide-eyed.


    ¡°Impossible! How can we escape the Imperial guards?!¡±


    ¡°Then again, we have no choice if we are to survive, now don¡¯t we?¡±


    As the men argued amongst themselves, Da Di thought about this quietly by himself before slamming his bat down again.


    ¡°Kiddo¡¯s right. If we are going to die if we are caught, might as well test our luck first!¡±


    Upon saying that, Da Di cast a knowing look at Li Yan, who nods in response.


    ¡°Hold on. What¡¯s with the nodding? What are you planning to do?¡± asks Li Yi with a hint of fear in his voice.


    ¡°Oh, Young Master Wu? What a silly question. We will sell you as a slave, of course.¡± answers Li Yan with a frighteningly sweet smile.

 Chapter 3: Making a deal

    ¡°What? No!¡± cried out Li Yi before taking a step backwards.


    By now, everyone was looking at Li Yi as if he were prey in a hunt. Just a few moments ago, there was still hesitation in some of the men¡¯s eyes. But this disappeared when Li Yan said that they were still going to sell Li Yi away as a slave.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, kiddo. But if it was yesterday, we would probably have become your escorts and...¡± says Da Di with a shiver at the end at the thought of being implicated by Wu Si.


    *swish!*


    Before Li Yi could say a thing, he heard a sharp swishing sound coming from his right. In fact, it was not one sound, but three! Once again, Li Yi could feel time slowing down as he turns to see three disk-like objects flying towards his neck. Before Li Yi could think of anything, he froze in place for the time that was half a breath but felt a hundred times longer to him.


    The reason he froze was due to a sudden attack of fear. He did not know why, but when Li Yi saw the disk-like objects, he also looked into his attacker¡¯s eyes. Li Yi wasn¡¯t too sure what it was, but he guess that this is what people meant by killing intent.


    Fortunately for Li Yi, the time lost is insignificant, with plenty left for him to recover and even consider how he should deal with this attack. Taking a half step back is more than enough to dodge the spinning projectiles, since trying to catch them is probably a bad idea if he fails in his attempt.


    Evading them as planned, Li Yi decided his attacker was too dangerous to be kept around unchecked. Leaping towards the skinny man who threw the disk-like objects, Li Yi intends to knock him out with a strike to the back of his neck like he have seen in those old martial arts movies!


    *whoosh*


    The scenery flickers before Li YI¡¯s eyes. In one moment, he was looking at the skinny man by the campfire. The next, he is looking down at some trees that was behind the campfire just a moment ago.


    Landing at the edge of the clearing, Li Yi now stood behind the men who are still looking at the spot he was standing at just a few breaths ago. At this point, Li Yi began cursing his inexperience at controlling this body. It was like giving a high end computer to an office worker who only needs to type out word documents!


    ¡°What...where did he go to?!¡± shouts one of the men.


    ¡°Behind us! When did he get there?!¡± shouts another man a few breaths later.


    Li Yi turns out to face them, with a frustrated look on his face as he wondered when he would ever get a chance to practise controlling this over-specced body. To the men who were trying to capture him however, it looked like he was getting irritated by them.


    ¡°That¡¯s enough fooling around, boy! Surrender peacefully or uncle will have to hurt you.¡± says one slightly buffier man who draws his sabre.


    ¡°Put that away, fool! Are you trying to hurt the goods?¡± shouts Da Di as he stands up.


    Waving his hand at them and raising the large wooden bat in the other, Da Di walks over to Li Yi in an imposing manner.


    ¡°Considering we saved you at one point, can¡¯t you be a little more cooperative?¡± asks Da Di as he taps his bat on his empty hand intimidatingly.


    ¡°Saved? More like picked up thrown out goods that can still fetch a price at a secondhand shop!¡±


    Hearing Li Yi¡¯s reply, everyone else had a strange look on their face.


    ¡°Secondhand shop? What is this kid talking about?¡± asks one man.


    ¡°Oh! I think he meant junk shop. No one calls them a secondhand shop though...¡± says the skinny man, to which the rest of the men nods in agreement.


    ¡°Oops. Said something unnecessary.¡± thought Li Yi to himself.


    With the distraction cleared, the attention returns to Li Yi as Da Di stands in front of him with his towering figure.


    ¡°Are you going to obey?¡± asks Da Di.


    ¡°Over my dead body, old fool.¡± answers Li Yi with a sense of regret building up inside.


    Before Li Yi knew it, time slowed down once more. To his surprise, Da Di¡¯s bat, or rather club, was just a few inches from his body and closing in quickly. Jerking to the clear side, Li Yi hits the ground as he narrowly dodges the attack.


    ¡°Oh? As expected of Young Master Wu. The next ones won¡¯t be as easy to dodge!¡± declares Da Di.


    In the next few breaths, time repeatedly slowed down and returned to normal for Li Yi as he barely escapes Da Di¡¯s furious club attacks each time.


    ¡°Dang it! What did I do to deserve this? I am just scraping by from this now!¡± cursed Li Yi inwardly as he was almost hit a swing which knocks out a clump of dirt as it misses his head.


    ¡°Wow! Big brother is as impressive as always!¡±


    ¡°Look at that force! Killing the boy would probably be just as god at this rate.¡±


    The men cheered Da Di on in his barrage of attacks, who looked like he was messing with Li Yi as each strike narrowly missed the boy¡¯s body.


    On the other hand, Li Yan was paying attention to Li Yi now. Having fought as Da Di¡¯s partner on several occasions, she knew that Da Di wasn¡¯t playing around. But every time his blow should have landed, Li Yi somehow evades in the same narrow window of time.


    As for Li Yi, he was thoroughly displeased initially. But after the tenth attack or so, he started to realise that dodging wasn¡¯t that hard since time slowed down every time he was about to get hit. In fact, he could use this as an opportunity to get used to this ability of his!


    The batting practice continued on, with Da Di swinging his club at Li Yi and the latter narrowly dodging it each time. It was unnoticeable to most, but as more swings went by, Li Yi¡¯s dodges were becoming less narrow.


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    ¡°Hey, big brother has been attacking the kid for a while now. Isn¡¯t it time to stop and put naughty kids to bed?¡± asked the skinny man to his companions.


    On Da Di¡¯s part, he was beginning to tire. It was not known to anyone here, but Da Di was once a master warrior himself. Due to certain circumstances, he had to go into hiding and even change his name and weapon. When he first attacked Li Yi, Da Di did hold back a bit but not as much since the fear of being hunted down by the Imperial Guards was still fresh on his mind.


    However, his later swings were slightly more controlled as he became aware that he might end up killing Li Yi. But that was only up to the twentieth swing. When he realised his attacks were completely missing, he started increasing his power and accuracy. But Li Yi continues to dodge and it has now gone past fifty swings!


    As Da Di¡¯s face becomes more flushed and his breathing becoming ragged, the men became concerned. Is their big brother having trouble with one kid? He might be the young master of a rich family, but aren¡¯t those kind spoiled to the core and useless when it came to actual fighting?


    ¡°Wow. This is great. I never thought the opportunity to practise would come so soon and in such a manner.¡± thought Li Yi to himself as he begun taking notice of more peculiarities about his ability.


    First, the time slow wasn¡¯t immediate each time. But as the threat gets closer, the limit of time slow is reached such that there was at least five breaths worth of slowed time for Li Y to react. Of course, the speed of the attack might change this, as compared to the flying projectiles from where he had a lot more time to react. More experiments are needed before this factor can be ascertained.


    Second, before the time slow limit is reached, there is an easing period in which the flow of time goes from normal to the limit of slowing. In the first dozen of swings, Li Yi did not realise this. But as he attempted to dodge faster, this became apparent as he realised that he could actually begin predicting the path of a club¡¯s swing starting from the time the slowing effect is halfway to its limit. Hence, Li Yi would make his evasive maneuver just before the time slow reaches the limit.


    As great as this training was, Li Yi knew that dodging forever is not a solution to all his problems. What happens if he faces an enemy that can attack forever? Or an attack that he cannot dodge even with the effect of time slow? But for now, Li Yi wanted to get Da Di off his back.


    Seeing Da Di getting tired, Li Yi was thrilled! What would be an appropriate way of beating this burly guy as he gets tired? And what about after defeating him? Should he take him as a hostage and force these mercenaries to let him go? As these thoughts ran through Li Yi¡¯s head, Da Di suddenly stopped and the time slow came to a stop as well.


    *boom!*


    In a swift and powerful move, Da Di smashes his club into the ground. The resulting shockwave sends Li Yi flying into a tree. The tree is completely smashed through, leaving Li Yi rolling in the dirt for a few breaths before stopping.


    ¡°Wow! As expected of big brother!¡± cheers the skinny man as the others join him in praise of their big brother.


    Li Yi¡¯s mind reeled from the shock of the final attack. But not just that alone, he was confused as to why the time slowing ability stopped!


    ¡°Ahem! That¡¯s enough for now.¡±


    The voice that stops the cheering did not come from Da Di, but instead from Li Yan as she walks up to Da Di, who was in the middle of executing a breathing technique to recover from his swinging exercise. After whispering something into his ear, Da Di nods in agreement as Li Yan walks up to Li Yi.


    ¡°Young Master Wu, you can stop the pretense and get up now.¡±


    Having recovered from the shock for some time now, Li Yi was surprised to see that it was Li Yan who realised first that he was just pretending to be unconscious. As he gets up to his feet, Li Yan continues to speak.


    ¡°Although we can force you to obey, it would be a lot better if you cooperate so we will let you in on our plan.¡± says Li Yan with a sigh.


    ¡°Plan? What can there be left for me as a slave? Anything I have would belong to my owner, won¡¯t it?¡±


    Upon hearing that, Li Yan shows a surprised look before clearing her throat to answer the question.


    ¡°Yes, you will be a slave. But only till your masters die.¡±


    Li Yi was confused. Till my masters die? He did not understand, and waited patiently as Li Yan took a few breaths to herself before getting rid of her hesitation to tell Li Yi everything.


    ¡°Da Chuan mercenaries are actually odd job workers. Our customers make a request, and if we agree to do it, a contract is made. One of these requests is to get rid of a small underworld family in this area. I won¡¯t go into details, but we basically have to kill every family member in order for the job to be considered as complete.¡±


    Kill? Li Yi was flabbergasted. Looking at the men around, they now had a very serious look on all their faces.


    ¡°I do not know about Young Master Wu¡¯s stance on morality, but I want you to know that everyone in that family deserves to die for the evils they have committed. As for consequences, you do not need to fear about someone going after you for revenge. There are many local underworld families and destroying one is only going to make the rest happier.¡±


    ¡°Hold on. Why me? How does me becoming a slave help with killing these evildoers?!¡± exclaims Li Yi.


    ¡°About that, I was in that village the day you were tested by the divine examiner. Apparently, you are a bad luck charm so just by being around them, our job would become easier...¡± answers Li Yan sheepishly.


    Li Yi had an urge to put his palm hard to his face from hearing that answer, but held back his comments about the numerous shortcomings he could think of with this plan.

 Chapter 4: Some time alone

    ¡°Fine. But what¡¯s in it for me?¡± asked Li Yi, who didn¡¯t feel like complaining before hearing her out.


    ¡°The Wu family is now wanted for treason, right? By becoming a slave, you can lie low for a while and earn some travelling expenses when we pay you your share of the deal. As a slave, the Imperial Guards are a lot less likely to find you as you will also be given a new name by your owner.¡±


    With a serious expression, Li Yan watches Li Yi in silence to see how would he react. In essence, she was dealing with a twelve year old boy. Would he accept her suggestion as is? Or would he surprise her again as he did with his ridiculous strength?


    On Li Yi¡¯s part, it wasn¡¯t as if her suggestion made no sense at all. But the reasoning she gave him just a while ago made him think twice before agreeing. What if he chose to leave after all? Just how powerful are the Imperial Guards anyway? Da Di seemed to fear them enough.


    ¡°Tell me first, what does becoming a slave involve? Getting labeled as one with a branding iron?¡± asks Li Yi with a frown.


    Strangely enough, everyone else looked frightened by Li Yi¡¯s words. As this was definitely not the first time this has happened now, Li Yi wondered if he should keep his guesses to himself to prevent this recurring trend from becoming a pattern.


    ¡°No. Of course not. For slaves, there are many buyers who would rather have their purchases in their best shape.¡± answers Li Yan, who takes out a smooth black stone from a pouch around her waist. ¡°This is a binding stone. As the name suggests, it can be used to restrict the actions of living creatures. For most normal people, it can either weaken or cause enough pain to incapacitate.¡±


    Li Yan pauses a bit and looks at Li Yi as if she was regretting having to tell him all this.


    ¡°Kiddo.¡± continues Da Di as he fully recovers from his earlier exhaustion. ¡°This binding stone was of the eighth grade, one above the weakest, that would weaken a bound slave. It was used on you, but I¡¯m not wrong to say it had no effect, right Yan-er?¡±


    Li Yi frowns again upon hearing this. So he was already branded as a slave to them? These people didn¡¯t hold back even against a kid. If not for Wu Si being overpowered to begin with, Li Yi couldn¡¯t imagine what would have happened to him by now.


    ¡°Yes, Uncle Di is right. Since you could act as you wish with an eighth grade binding stone limiting you, Young Master Wu do not have to be afraid of them as few people even have access to sixth grade ones at best!¡± reassures Li Yan.


    ¡°And what if they really use a sixth grade one on me?¡± asks Li Yi out of curiosity.


    ¡°Getting away with your life will not be a problem.¡± says Li Yan with a smile.


    Li Yi was dumbstruck. Getting away with my life? So there will definitely be repercussions if such a binding stone¡¯s effect is used on me!


    Just then, a hearty laugh comes from the skinny man, causing everyone to look at him as if he has gone mad.


    ¡°Young Master Wu will be just fine!¡± declares the skinny man. ¡°I, Tie Bang, swears on my life that this boy will not be harmed so badly by a mere sixth grade stone. After all, he took my chilling gaze straight on and evaded my attack earlier as if I did nothing!¡±


    Some of the other men were surprised once more, while the rest look like they knew about the skill the skinny man used earlier. Da Di slaps his hand hard on Tie Bang¡¯s back, causing him to only stagger half a step forward.


    ¡°Brother Bang. You are lucky he survived. If he died just after I decided to sell him away, won¡¯t I lose face as leader?!¡± exclaims Da Di in a hearty manner, causing the others to laugh after the tense situation so far.


    Although he has not agreed to anything, Li Yi was beginning to feel as if the best option at hand is to go through with this crazy idea. Fixing his gaze on Li Yan, Li Yi claps his hands to stop the laughter.


    ¡°Before I give you all an answer, I would still like some time to think. Will that be okay, Miss Li?¡± asks Li Yi.


    It was Li Yan¡¯s turn to frown. She looks at Da Di, who closes his eyes in thought for a breath before answering.


    ¡°The deal is to take place tomorrow night, and we need the day to travel, kiddo.¡± says Da Di in a firm tone. ¡°You have the night to think, but I do not expect you to decline. If you try to run, we will kill you.¡±


    Seeing how this was Da Di¡¯s limit for negotiations, and that Li Yi couldn¡¯t escape for certain nor did he have any plans if he did, Li Yi nods in agreement.


    ¡°Is there a quiet spot around here for me to spend the night then?¡±


    Hearing Li Yi¡¯s question, Li Yan gestures to him to follow her. As the two walks away, some silly whistling noises could be heard, which were stopped by Da Di ordering the men to stop messing around.


    Reaching back to the same wooden cart that Li Yi was in earlier, Li Yan points at it and signals Li Yi to get inside. Climbing on into the cart normally, Li Yi could smell the medical scent coming from Li Yan¡¯s bandaged hand.


    ¡°Ahem. Sorry about that. Does it hurt a lot?¡± asks Li Yi with a concerned tone.


    Li Yan scowls upon hearing his question, but sighs as she turned to leave.


    ¡°Even if it hurts, it¡¯s my own fault for being weak and careless, is it not?¡± says Li Yan in a soft tone with a hint of sadness before walking away.


    ¡°I suppose it was obvious, but it looks like no one here has lived a particularly easy life to this point either, huh.¡± thought Li Yi to himself while watching her leave.


    Other people¡¯s problems aside, Li Yi knew that he now needed to focus on his own. Despite having Wu Si¡¯s memories and being able to imagine them ridiculously well, Li Yi found that he still needed time to go through them in greater detail in order to really make this knowledge his own. The feeling is akin to having a whole set of notes to refer to for an examination, but that was obviously too slow given the time limit of the test!


    Lying the sack over the wooden flooring, Li Yi sat down on it and begun to sieve through his memories. The first thing Li Yi wanted to know was how this world works! Wu Si may have only been a twelve year old, but his parents and relatives spared no expense in educating him with the basics of worldly affairs. Li Yi felt a bit jealous, since Wu Si¡¯s relatives were much kinder than his own who were only interested of making use of him.


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    Focusing his thoughts and skimping through some of the earlier memories, Li Yi narrowed down his options to three sets of memory that he should review first.


    One was when Wu Si was five years old, and his father explained that it was time for him to formally beginning training his body and cultivating his soul. By reviewing this memory, Li Yi believes that he would be able to learn how to control Wu Si¡¯s body better!


    Next was when one of Wu Si¡¯s uncle came by to visit, and at the request of his parents, went through quite the elaborate overview of various places in this world. At that point, young Wu Si was mainly attracted to the tales of heroic battles against various monstrous beasts. Despite that, his memory of the lesson was still very clear, meaning Li Yi could probably learn from it if he took the time to go over it.


    The third memory, however, was something Li Yi felt that was one of the most important memories to go through first, but in terms of immediate usefulness, is probably something he could actually hold back on till his circumstances are better. The reason is that the memory is about the basics of Worldly Refinement!


    The subject was taught to Wu Si when he was six years old by his mother, who was evidently some powerful expert in the subject based on the many memories with Wu Si watching her concoct numerous powerful looking items. Needless to say, she had all the materials required to do so, which Li Yi did not have right now and probably will not any time soon.


    ¡°Worldly Refinement is definitely something I want to know more about, but knowing about it without being to practise it is kind of pointless...¡± thought Li Yi as he considers the second choice. ¡°Having more general knowledge about the places in this world is bound to be useful, considering I randomly asked to be brought to Qingshan earlier without actually knowing how far it is from here...¡±


    Despite these thoughts, Li Yi was set to become a slave at this rate. Not forgetting the sudden discovery that the Wu family has been found guilty of treason. How can he possibly roam the lands freely? This knowledge would end up being like vividly imagine a cold tall glass of cooling tea while dying of thirst in a desert!


    ¡°I suppose I only have one realistic option out of this three now.¡± thought Li Yi as he settles down to review the first of the three memories.


    With unprecedented clarity of mind and of the memory, Li Yi started feeling as if he had gone back in time to when Wu Si was young and his father was peacefully instructing him on bodily training and soul cultivation.


    Wu Si stood in the middle of a large garden, facing his father who held open a book in one hand. A new cool wind from behind accompanied by the scent of the sea awoke Li Yi¡¯s senses as Wu Si¡¯s father begins to speak.


    ¡°Since time immemorial, there has only been one goal for any mortal creature. And that is immortality. To be immortal is not only about living forever, but is proof of achieving a pinnacle of life.¡±


    After saying that to Li Yi, the middle aged man stopped to look at him in the eyes. Words were unneeded, Li Yi could feel the profound sadness within Wu Si¡¯s father¡¯s gaze. A sadness that his child was cursed from birth. A curse that might make him peerlessly strong, but incredibly lonely. Or it would cause him to be killed off by others around him.


    ¡°Father doesn¡¯t know if immortality is indeed the only one goal of mortals.¡± continues Wu Si¡¯s dad. ¡°But I do know that the lifespan of a mortal isn¡¯t sufficient to answer that question.¡±


    Tapping his foot twice, Wu Si¡¯s father begins to pace around him in a circle as he continues to speak aloud.


    ¡°To become immortal, the body will have to be forsaken. But doing so with a weak mind is as good as dying. Hence, to become an immortal, both body and soul have to be trained together. Only when the mind is strong enough, can the abandonment of body be successful and immortality achieved.¡±


    ¡°As a child of the Wu family, one of the hundred and eight lower households of the empire, you have the blessings of two ancestors who have achieved immortality. However, where two have succeeded, many others after have failed.¡±


    Stopping for a second time, Wu Si¡¯s father frowns as he close the book he was reading. In the flick of his arm, the book flies towards a pavilion in the distance and lands smoothly on the table there in the way it would if a person was actually there to put it down.


    ¡°That¡¯s enough preaching for now. Take it slowly and all that will come naturally someday.¡± says Wu Si¡¯s father as he raises a palm towards Li Yi.


    Placing his hand on Wu Si¡¯s father¡¯s palm, Li Yi felt a strange sense of warmth entering his body.


    ¡°The Wu family have many techniques to train the body and the soul. However, the basis of our methods is to be without. Without strength, can we climb into the heavens? Without spirit, can we stay clear of hell?¡±


    As he speaks on, Li Yi could feel the warmth becoming a hot sensation within him. However, it did not hurt him, but instead energised him.


    ¡°Father learned that to be without, is a very frightening experience. The fear of being without will push you when you train your body and when you cultivate your soul.¡± explains Wu Si¡¯s father with a warm smile on his face.


    ¡°At the same time, when you are really without, you must perverse. While being without usually puts you in grave peril, it will also rise you by great heights if you manage to survive! It is a combination of not wanting to be without and making it through without that makes our Wu family as strong as we are.¡±


    As Li Yi was pondering over the words said, Wu SI¡¯s father withdrew his palm and took up a stance.


    ¡°Now, Father will teach you the famous survival technique of the Wu family. Because without life, you will be without a chance to become immortal in the first place.¡± says Wu Si¡¯s father as he begins to demonstrate the fundamentals of the technique Li Yi is most familiar with.


    The time slowing technique, Focus Dilatation!