Peninsula: I'm being supported by a top idol.

Dede—

Dede—

The horse's hooves were like a leech clinging to bone, relentlessly pursuing its prey.

"They've caught up again..." Cui Shi'an was sweating profusely, and with each step he took, a tearing pain shot through his lower back.

If it weren't for the woman beside him supporting him the whole way, he probably would have given up long ago.

"Young master! Hang in there a little longer!"

The woman had several bloody marks on her face, and her eyes were filled with panic and fear. Even so, she gritted her teeth and struggled to save him in the forest.

"The Hakuba River is just ahead!"

The two stumbled and walked for a while longer, and then a great river gradually came into view.

"Young master! The boat!" The woman spotted the small boat moored on the shore at a glance, her voice filled with a hint of relief at escaping a disaster.

"There's a boat over there!"

She helped the injured Cui Shi'an and ran with all her might toward the boat. With all her might, she pushed him onto the sampan. Before she could catch her breath, she staggered to the side to untie the mooring rope.

Dede dede—

The horse's hooves were already at the edge of the woods behind them, and a murderous intent was palpable.

The woman grew even more anxious and hurriedly pulled out her hairpin to untie the knot, loudly instructing as she did so:

"Young master, you can reach the sea by following the White Horse River!"

Cui Shi'an seemed to realize something, his expression turned to shock, and he gripped the sampan with one hand while reaching forward with the other to try and pull her onto the boat.

But the woman ignored it, untied the rope, and with all her might plunged into the water, pushing the small boat toward the center of the river.

"Young master, please go first!"

The moment the current propelled the small boat, a sharp arrow darted out from the forest like a venomous snake, piercing her back with a "thud," embedding itself deeply into her bone.

The woman's body trembled violently, but she did not give up. Her hands remained gripping the gunwale, and she whispered in a trembling voice:

"Please take good care of yourself, young master... I hope..."

Despite spitting blood, she still tried to push the small boat into deeper water: "I wish for an afterlife... that I could serve you again, my lord... and..."

Cui Shi'an stared intently at that tragic face, as if she wanted to say something, but blood gushed from her chest, spreading rapidly across her plain silk dress.

The woman opened her mouth, and more bloody foam gushed out; only a hoarse urging could be heard:

"Go... young master... quickly... go... don't come back..."

The faint voice, like a red-hot branding iron, burned fiercely into Cui Shi'an's heart.

He reached out again, trying to grab something, but his throat felt like it was being choked. He watched helplessly as the figure, with that tragic look in its eyes, slowly fell into the water.

"don't want--!!!"

Cui Shi'an suddenly sat up in bed, his chest felt like it was going to explode, and a sharp pain came clearly from his lower back.

He was breathing heavily, the cold air from the dormitory air conditioner filling his lungs, bringing a refreshing coolness.

It was just a dream…

"Hmm? What's wrong..."

My roommate, who was playing Delta Force on the computer, took off his headphones and turned around in surprise: "Oh my god? Did you have a nightmare and cry?"

Cui Shi'an touched his cheek, his fingertips brushing against a warm, moist spot.

"No, it's just sweat."

"Really? Is 21 degrees still hot?" My roommate said with a teasing look, deliberately glancing up at the air conditioner.

"It's hot even at 21 degrees!"

Cui Shi'an rolled her eyes at him, reached for a tissue, but accidentally touched a hard, angular object in the blanket.

He picked it up and looked at it, and found that it was a triangular arrowhead.

This is what my roommate Tian Ming brought back yesterday evening. I was so proud of him at the time:

"Shian, look at this! I found it at a street stall in Dongdaemun. The seller said it's an antique from the Silla period! It's over a thousand years old!"

Although Choi Si-an majored in ecology at Korea University, he also had some knowledge of history, and he scoffed at it after just one glance:

"Thousands of years? I think it's more like last week. Things that old would be buried in the soil for a long time, and the oxidation and corrosion would be extremely severe. How could it still retain such clear edges and textures?"

Tian Ming didn't argue at the time. Instead, he twirled the arrowhead between his fingers and asked a meaningful question:

"Oh? What if...it wasn't buried in the ground?"

Seeing Cui Shi'an's confusion, he leaned closer and said mysteriously:

"Perhaps... it was preserved so well because it was buried inside a person, wrapped in flesh and blood, and isolated from air?"

"That's impossible!" Cui Shi'an categorically rejected.

"But the seller said it's silver! As long as you keep it..."

"Silver is even less likely to be used for arrowheads. It's hard and expensive. Who would use something like that to make arrowheads? Ceremonial objects for high-ranking officials and nobles?"

"Perhaps it belongs to a high-ranking official or nobleman?"

Although it was an argument last night, Cui Shi'an still finds it laughable when he thinks about it now. Even if it is pure silver, it will oxidize after more than a thousand years, okay?

That little incident probably caused me to have that strange dream.

Now, recalling the woman's desperate act of protecting him, it feels as if I experienced it myself.

With an arrow piercing her chest, she must have been in a lot of pain.

Thinking of these things, Cui Shi'an suddenly felt a sudden, inexplicable pang of heart pain.

That uncomfortable feeling made Cui Shi'an's expression even more unfriendly as he stared intently at the back of the guy's head in the gaming chair:

"Hey, why did you put something so dangerous on my bed?"

"Huh?" Tian Ming glanced back at the arrowheads in his hand, looking suspicious. "I remember putting them in the box. How did they end up with you?"

"Damn it..."

He wouldn't admit it, and there was nothing Cui Shi'an could do, since this wasn't the first time something like this had happened.

Tian Ming is always forgetful. A couple of days ago, when he was on a date with a female student, he left his phone in the garden, which made me spend most of the night searching for it with him in the bushes.

"Hurry up and put your precious darling away!" Cui Shi'an threw the arrowhead onto his desk, but the other man threw it back at him.

"Here you go. You like researching these things anyway, consider it an apology." Tian Ming turned off the computer, stood up, and stretched.

"Fiona asked me out to dinner, wanna come along? Her best friend will be there too~"

Fiona is the new junior student this guy recently met. There aren't many other things at Korea University, but there are a lot of international students like them.

Presumably because this guy is of Chinese descent from Ontario, he particularly likes to date some fair-skinned European female international students.

According to his own confession, he really enjoyed hearing those white girls shyly call him "Oppa" in their broken English.

Uh… this orientation…

In short, Choi Si-an is different; he embodies the traditional East Asian male aesthetic.

"I'm not going to be a third wheel for you. I'll do a live stream first, then I'll go eat."

"What a waste of your 188cm height." Tian Ming looked at him with a disappointed expression.

"Hey, haven't you gotten enough of being cursed at during your livestream yet? Be careful, you might actually get cursed to death one day!"

Cui Shi'an simply smiled wryly after hearing this:

"Curse someone to death? It's not that easy. Do you think those curses are master keys that can open any lock you want?"

He picked up the arrowhead, his fingertips casually tracing its cold, sharp edges, his expression somewhat dismissive:

"That kind of witchcraft involving incantations sounds sinister, but its origins are actually quite complex. Shamanism does have a primitive way of thinking similar to the 'law of resonance,' which believes that by influencing someone's hair, clothing, or even name, one can affect that person. But this is more of a form of mental intimidation and psychological warfare."

"Moreover, in history, especially in the imperial court, such things were often not about killing people with metaphysics. The key was 'framing' them. During the Qianlong era, a concubine used this method to frame her opponent. As a result, the opponent was not cursed to death, but she herself was deposed because of 'witchcraft'."

"So what's truly terrifying is never the curse itself, but the human heart behind it. Most of the people who curse and insult me ​​online are just venting their emotions. If someone could kill someone remotely with telekinesis, the world would have been in chaos long ago."

While Cui Shi'an was explaining the science, Tian Ming had already changed his collar. Hearing this, he turned around and gave him a strange smile:

"Maybe."

The guy said casually, "But... sometimes, an 'object' that carries enough obsession and hatred might actually become a kind of 'channel'? Who can say for sure?"

His gaze swept over the arrowhead that Cui Shi'an had placed on the table:

"So you'd better be careful. Say something positive during your live stream, otherwise you'll keep getting insulted. It's bad luck, isn't it?"

"You're a foreigner, why are you so particular about this..." Cui Shi'an shook his head and chuckled.

"It's okay. Those trolls can say whatever they want, but I always tune in right when they're streaming. I make some pocket money that way, it's not shameful."

He usually streams on YouTube in his spare time, mainly focusing on ancient history of the Korean Peninsula, especially ancient history of East Asia.

This infuriated some of the more "self-respecting" trolls, who then formed cliques to hurl insults at him.

Later, it's unclear who started it, but to let him see the long history of the Korean Peninsula, some netizens began to connect with him and ask him to appraise antiques, bringing out some that they claimed to be from the Goryeo Dynasty or even the Three Kingdoms period.

Without exception, they were all counterfeit.

The most valuable antique that Choi Si-an has ever acquired is a coin issued during the reign of King Jeongjo of Joseon.

Worth 6000… Korean won.

"It's not even enough for the streamer to have a meal of grilled pork belly."

But that's how the internet works; the more sarcastic he is on the channel, the more trolls want to join in the fun.

Everyone wants to see someone produce a piece of ancient Tibetan artifact from the peninsula that will leave the anchor speechless, then make them burst into tears, and finally repent and change their ways.

To put it bluntly, they just wanted to see his reaction when he was embarrassed.

This time is no exception.

As soon as Cui Shi'an started his live stream, a netizen started shouting in the comments.

He claimed to have a family heirloom that the Ming emperor presented to Yeonsangun, and challenged the streamer to connect with him, saying it would absolutely dazzle him!

Huh? Tribute from Emperor Xiaozong (Zhu Youcheng)? Or was it for Prince Yeonsangun (Yi Yi)?

"Come on, Xiao Xiba! Get on the mic!"