Chapter 6: The Tragedy of the Parents

In the end, A Fei hastily dug a hole and buried the couple who were theoretically his parents. After an extreme shock, he recovered much faster than the neighbor Old Wang, who had just lost his old dog. If he were not himself, but rather the original owner of this body, he would undoubtedly be a completely cold-blooded and ruthless individual, one so despicable that he would even look down on himself.

However, after enduring an entire winter, in a person's life, a winter is so brief, yet when one experiences it, it seems so long... More importantly, whether in the previous life or this one, this is the first time A Fei has faced death so closely, and it is such a tragic death

Later, he left the county town clutching the bamboo piece, while Old Wang followed closely behind, incessantly inquiring about the amount of reward the young master had received. As soon as the words "one hundred and fifty coins" left his lips, Old Wang's expression changed dramatically; he bent at the waist, and his hand instinctively reached for a stone by the roadside. If it hadn't been for Ah Fei's timely shout and the display of his old bow, Old Wang might have committed "master-killing" on the spot

Ah Fei originally planned to go home to say hello before heading to North Korea. No matter how he looked at it, one hundred and fifty coins seemed insignificant to him at that moment. He would even reluctantly crawl through someone’s legs if necessary. Moreover, he began to consider that spending his entire life in that impoverished mountain valley would surely lead to either starvation or suffocation. As this new body gradually grew, he would inevitably need to address physiological issues

However, as soon as he returned home, he was confronted with a chilling scene—what was supposed to be a home consisted of only three earthen walls, with one side covered by a bundle of firewood to shield against the wind and rain. Now, the firewood lay scattered all over the ground, and two of the three earthen walls had collapsed, though it was unclear who or what had caused the destruction.

A Fe widened his eyes and rushed into the room, only to find the parents of the foreigner lying in a pool of congealed blood. Each of them had a long wound on their back, with the flesh rolled up, looking as terrifying as a demonic maw that seemed to be choosing its prey!

A Fei watched him write, and suddenly realized that the gentleman was not surnamed Shi... No, he was not Shi Gongzi at all, but should be Shi Gongzi. Speaking of which, this surname is quite rare, and he even marked his hometown, Beihai County in Qingzhou, at the front of his name. It seems that this Shi family has quite a background. Logically, the amount of remuneration should be written next, A Fei silently shouted in his heart: "Ten thousand taels of gold! Ten thousand taels of gold! No, in such a remote place, even the local tyrants wouldn't have that much money; it should be a hundred taels of gold. If there are a hundred taels, I would reluctantly accept the loss."

At that moment, upon hearing the argument, Young Master Tang smiled faintly—he had once again regained the composed and elegant demeanor he had when they first met, no longer resembling the disheveled figure he was when he planned to flee through the southern gate during the dark night. He pointed to the old bow that A Fei was reluctant to part with and said: "Unfortunately, there are no good bows in the county, so I will temporarily give you this bow. I will inform the county magistrate about it."

I can't believe it! You only gave one hundred and fifty coins, and there are still some leftover! So your life is only worth a little over a hundred coins! How miserly and despicable you must be! Ah Fei almost lunged forward to snatch that bamboo stick and use it to teach Young Master Shi a lesson.

In fact, on the second day after the Goguryeo people retreated, Old Wang from next door pulled him along, intending to return to the impoverished valley. However, Ah Fei was both afraid that there were still marauding cavalry outside the city, making it too dangerous to leave the city at this moment, and he also harbored a glimmer of hope. The scholar and the *Tu* *Shuzi* said, "There will surely be generous rewards," but he was uncertain whether this would be fulfilled

No! Ah Fei shouted inwardly, do you think you can dismiss me with a broken bow? Moreover, this is not even your own property; you must be quite stingy to come up with such a poisonous scheme of borrowing flowers to present to the Buddha!

However, it is fortunate that Young Master Shi has further words: "I do not possess much wealth, but since I have made a promise, I will certainly not go back on my word. I shall leave a few words; if you have the leisure, come to Korea to seek your reward."

The county troops arrived three days later—if the Goguryeo people insisted on not retreating, it was estimated that within these few days, the county town could have been sacked seven or eight times—then the young master planned to return to the county seat in Korea with the county troops. Before leaving, he called for A Fei and said to him: "You saved my life, and I will never forget it—only your archery skills still need to be honed"

The distance from the county town to Shijiazhuang Courtyard is not actually far, less than one hundred miles. A Fei spent an entire day on the journey, and that evening, he finally entered the courtyard's vicinity. It was a complex covering several acres, surrounded by earthen walls and wooden fences, with a few crude arrow towers erected at the corners. He had not yet found the entrance when suddenly a cacophony of barking erupted in his ears. A pack of fierce dogs, seemingly appearing from nowhere, charged at him with the intent to attack his throat!

While speaking, one needs a brush and a bamboo slip to write a neat line of Han clerical script: "The Northern Sea Lord's merits and rewards in response to the Yi people, A Fei..."

On the second day, A Fei set off on an uncertain journey to North Korea, carrying a bag of wild vegetables and fruits. This journey was undoubtedly fraught with dangers, but fortunately, he had an old bow by his side, which deterred ordinary thieves from recklessly causing trouble. Of course, this was also because they could not see the quail feather arrows hidden in his bundle; otherwise, the *illustrated book* would certainly not have been polite to this half-grown child.

A Fei blushed as he made excuses for himself: "This... the bow is too soft, and the arrows are also lacking in maintenance..."

Old Wang watched his actions in astonishment: "How is it that you can write?"

A Fei stared blankly at the scene before him, standing there in a daze, feeling as if all the blood in his body had turned icy, even frozen. In fact, he had lived with this couple for merely one winter, and many memories of this body’s past still lingered in his consciousness, but the emotions had perished with the original owner’s death. This meant that he had no familial bond with them. Moreover, both the father and the mother spoke very little in their daily lives, and there had never been any emotional exchange with their theoretical son. For A Fei, this brief winter meant that this couple was merely akin to landlords in his life.

Therefore, he considered whether to take this opportunity to ingratiate himself with the young master of the Shi family and simply become a servant in his household. Although theoretically speaking, peasants are free individuals while servants lack personal freedom, when one is still struggling to fill their stomach, who would dare to hope for any freedom

When he moved the two rigid corpses, he merely felt as if he were bearing his own body; when he placed the corpses into the pit, he only sensed that it was himself lying in that exceedingly simple grave; when he filled the pit with soil, he felt as if he were throwing dust onto his own face

Do you know him/her

What is a symbol again

No, I don't recognize it... I cannot read.

The grave pit was filled in. A Fei removed the wooden shovel's blade and stood it upright on the grave. Then he picked up a stone knife, intending to carve a few words, but he did not know what to inscribe. He was not clear about his parents' names; they usually just referred to each other simply as "you." In the end, he could only laboriously carve the characters "考" and "妣" in Song typeface.

It is unclear how much time has passed, when suddenly the sound of Old Wang's heart-wrenching cries from next door reached my ears; he was mourning his old dog

Who could have imagined that the young master would subsequently write: "... ... In response to the Yi people, A Fei, a sum of one hundred and fifty, this serves as evidence."

The so-called Lishui refers to a large river that flows outside the northern wall of the city of Pyongyang. According to the memories of A Fei from another life, it must be the Daedong River, which is certainly located next to Pyongyang.

Later, A Fei comforted Old Wang by saying that it is not necessarily true that the old dog has been eaten. The scattered bones on the ground might have belonged to a badger hunted by the Goguryeo people themselves. As for the old dog, the Goguryeo people saw that it was skilled at hunting, so they casually took it away. Of course, even he did not truly believe this, but Old Wang did not refute him; he simply asked, "What is a badger?"

Of course, he doesn't have the guts for that. To be honest, for someone like him, who might not see a single cent all year round, one hundred and fifty coins is already a fortune that is grand enough to bring joy to the masses. Although A Fei is not clear about the current price levels in this area, he estimates that it could at least allow a family of three to eat their fill for an entire year.

So this is not a word, Ah Fei sighed deeply, it is merely a symbol

War, chaos, death, this is the era he has traversed to, this is the almost inevitable fate he is about to face, can all of this not be changed? Will he ultimately encounter the same fate? Then who will bury him, if they have him to bury? ... Will he become food for wolves, crows, or even just ants, silently born and then silently decayed

He stared intently at the two already stiffened corpses, and his limbs, even his neck, eyelids, and pupils, seemed to have become equally rigid. He wanted to look away, but he simply could not. At that moment, it seemed as if everything in the world had ceased to exist; hunger, cold, and pain appeared to have vanished, as if they had never existed at all. ... His mind was a blank ... At that moment, it seemed as if everything in the world had ceased to exist; hunger, cold, and pain appeared to have vanished, as if they had never existed at all. ... His mind was a blank ...

One should go back and ask the old man how, with his extremely lowly conditions, he managed to deceive a woman who is relatively healthy in all four limbs into being with him

This must be the misdeeds of the Goguryeo soldiers who invaded Lelang County. Not only did they kill people, but they also looted the little grain that the two families had. Furthermore, they roasted and consumed the old dog from the neighbor Wang's family, taking away even its skin, leaving behind only some remnants of bones covered in bite marks

In his previous life, his parents passed away early. At that time, he was merely a child, unable to possess a sufficient rational understanding of death. Then came the parting from friends and his girlfriend—this was a separation that, for him, who had awakened in another era, could be described as a departure from life. To cope with this difficult separation, which was hard to reunite from, he spent an entire winter on psychological preparation. Just as this sorrow gradually sank deep within him with the passage of time, he unexpectedly experienced the death of another in this life.

He first returned to the county town to gather information at the Shi family's warehouse. In the warehouse, there were a few familiar faces who had planned to escape through the south gate with the Shi and Xun young masters that night. They knew he had once saved the young master's life, so they treated him with a degree of courtesy. Indeed, Shi Xun had already returned to Korea, but it was very likely that he had not entered the city; instead, he was residing in the family estate north of Lishui.