Simultaneously traversing: the pinnacle of all realms

Lu Ze squatted by the roadside, staring blankly at a nest of ants for almost half an hour.

It's not that ants are unusual.

Strangely, he could simultaneously see what another pair of eyes were seeing—his perspective was upside down on a branch, watching a caterpillar slowly crawl across the back of a leaf. He was so focused on both that his legs went numb before he suddenly snapped back to reality and plopped down on the ground.

I thought it was strange enough that I could be reborn as a fetus while waiting at a traffic light, but I never expected there to be such an expert.

"Given the situation, let's get going."

Standing up and dusting himself off, Lü Ze continued walking along the official road. He had no choice; he was too timid to take the shortcuts deep in the mountains and forests.

He had finally managed to remember his past life these past few days, and he wanted to live longer, but he absolutely couldn't feed the beasts.

……

Young people always want to make a living outside, and only when they have no other choice do they return to the fields to forage for food.

So, his father wrote a letter, and his mother packed a package, asking him to come to Guanzhong to seek refuge with his cousin, Lü Qinghou.

That's Lü Qinghou.

My Own Swordsman.

The name popped into his head as he stood at the entrance of Tongfu Inn, carrying an old bundle containing two changes of clothes, a few coins, two portions of dry rations, and a copy of the Analects that he had read so many times that it was almost falling apart.

Half of the paint on the door panel had peeled off, and a woman's voice with a Shaanxi accent could be heard coming from inside, scolding someone.

"...Look at you! I asked you to wipe a table, and you broke a vase. I asked you to serve a dish, and you dumped it on a guest. Zhan Tang, did you do this on purpose?"

Another voice, with a playful yet slightly aggrieved tone, said, "Shopkeeper, I really didn't mean it. I just didn't sleep well last night..."

"When did you get a good night's sleep?"

Lu Ze's lips twitched slightly.

He peeked inside and knocked on the doorframe: "Excuse me, is this Tongfu Inn?"

Tong Xiangyu turned around with a feather duster in her hand and saw a boy standing at the door.

She is of medium height, and her features are neither particularly beautiful nor unattractive; she has the kind of face that you would have to look for a long time to spot in a crowd.

Truly—ordinary and unremarkable.

He was wearing a slightly worn short-sleeved shirt and linen trousers, washed until faded but clean, and standing there with a bundle on his back, slightly hunched over but standing straight.

"Yes, who are you looking for?"

Lu Ze took out a letter from his pocket and handed it over with both hands: "I'm looking for Lu Qinghou. I'm a relative of his, my name is Lu Ze, and my family sent me to seek refuge with him."

Before Tong Xiangyu could even open the letter, a tall, thin man came running out from behind the counter. He was wearing a slightly worn long robe and clutching a book in his hand, shouting as he ran, "The person's here? Where is he?"

Lü Qinghou.

As Lü Ze watched him run down, a somewhat unfamiliar face automatically popped into his mind. But the one standing in front of him was much older, in his early twenties, as thin as a bamboo pole, with bright eyes that were unfocused—he looked like he had just pulled himself out of a book.

They are quite different from the actors in their previous lives.

Lu Qinghou craned his neck to read a few lines of the letter, then turned around with a warm expression. "Oh, Zedi! I remember, you were only this small when we last met—" He gestured to a height barely reaching waist height, "—and now you've grown so much!"

After reading the letter, Tong Xiangyu's expression shifted from "a stranger of unknown origin" to "a relative visiting, I must offer a meal," then to "more people in the house means more chopsticks," and finally settled on a warm smile: "Oh, it's the scholar's brother! Then he's family. Don't stand there, come in and sit down. Zhantang! Pour some tea!"

"Alright!" Bai Zhantang replied, deftly pulling the teapot out from behind the counter with a smooth and effortless movement.

The group pulled Lü Ze to sit down at the table. Bai Zhantang looked him over with a grin and said, "Scholar, your brother here is more energetic than you."

"Why am I not energetic?" Lü Qinghou retorted, "I've had a great appetite these past two days, I can eat two bowls of rice in one meal!"

"Hey, that's because Big Mouth made the food too salty."

Tong Xiangyu sat down beside him and began questioning Lü Ze about his family background. She wouldn't feel at ease if she didn't find out the details of a grown man who had traveled all the way to Qixia Town to stay with relatives.

Lu Ze recited the same line from the letter: his family saw that he was eager to go out and make his way in the world, so they sent him to stay with them; he had been to school for a few years, could read and write, could do accounting, and could do any kind of work.

Upon hearing "good at accounting," Tong Xiangyu's eyes lit up slightly.

Lu Ze's heart skipped a beat.

"I can do accounting," Lü Ze said carefully, "but not as well as my brother. I can't compare to my brother in academic matters. I do know some odd jobs, like chopping wood, carrying water, feeding horses, and doing repairs. I can do all of those."

When he said, "I am not as proficient as my elder brother," I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Lü Qinghou straightened his back by two inches.

Tong Xiangyu thought for a moment. The inn's current staff: she was the manager, Bai Zhantang was the waiter, Li Dazui was the cook, Lü Qinghou was the accountant, and Mo Xiaobei was a troublemaker who didn't need any assignments. They were indeed short-handed for odd jobs—the heavy work like chopping wood and carrying water used to be done in shifts, but Bai Zhantang was always lazy, Li Dazui complained of back pain, and Lü Qinghou could fly the axe while chopping wood.

"Alright," Tong Xiangyu decided, "You'll do odd jobs first, with food and lodging provided. Your monthly wage will be two qian of silver, and it will increase if you do well."

"Thank you, shopkeeper." Lü Xiucai pulled Lü Ze to his feet and thanked him sincerely.

Bai Zhantang then hooked his arm around Lü Ze's shoulder and walked towards the backyard. The room he pointed out was on the left side of the backyard. It wasn't big, and it contained a bed board, a bench, a small cabinet, and a rickety table propped up with bricks in the corner. The window paper was torn in two places, and it rattled loudly when the wind blew.

But it's habitable, and it's eight hundred times better than the dilapidated temple he slept in last night.

"The conditions are a bit basic," Bai Zhantang leaned against the doorframe, "but it's better than sleeping on the streets, right?"

"It's already very good." Lü Ze put the bundle on the bed.

"You're quite patient," Bai Zhantang said, a little surprised. "Okay, then you can start packing. I'll call you for dinner. Oh, by the way—"

He covered his face with his hand and lowered his voice, "Don't take anything from the kitchen. Big Mouth is possessive of his food. Tell me what you want to eat and I'll get it for you."

"Understood. Thank you, Brother Zhan."

After Bai Zhantang left, Lü Ze closed the door and leaned against it, letting out a sigh of relief.

First, I tore at the window paper, but it wouldn't cover anything. I figured I'd have to ask the shopkeeper for a few more sheets. Then I checked the table; the crippled leg was broken at an angle. I used a brick to stabilize it. I wiped the dust out of the cabinet with a rag. Finally, I placed the Analects on the table.

Looking around, it looks much better now.

I had just sat down on the edge of the bed to catch my breath when I heard footsteps outside the door, accompanied by a little girl's shout.

"I heard there's a new person here? Where is she?"

She knocked on the door twice symbolically, then pushed it open with a creak. Mo Xiaobei stood in the doorway, her hair in two little pigtails, her eyes bright, looking Lü Ze up and down.

Lu Ze stood up: "You must be Xiao Bei? I've heard the shopkeeper mention you."

Mo Xiaobei circled around him and said, "You're Lu Xiucai's cousin? You're not that much older than me."

"Hey, can you tell stories?"

"...I know a little."

"Alright, then tell me more stories from now on." Mo Xiaobei patted his arm. "Scholars are boring; they always ramble on about classical Chinese when they tell stories."

"Let's go have dinner."

At this point, Lü Ze officially met all the staff of Tongfu Inn for the first time.

Li Dazui brought out a bowl of stir-fried cabbage, a dish of pickled vegetables, a bowl of stewed tofu, and a bowl of steamed buns. The dishes were simple but the portions were generous; the cabbage was stir-fried until it was glistening with oil, and the steamed buns were steaming hot when broken open.

The scholar pulled Lü Ze to sit down at the table. Li Dazui, sitting opposite him, munched on a steamed bun while sizing him up: "Kid, can you handle spicy food?"

"I can eat a little."

"Okay, I'll make you a chicken tomorrow. But you'll have to buy the chicken yourself."

"OK."

Tong Xiangyu laughed from the side, "Get lost!"

As she spoke, she placed some food on Lü Ze's plate. "That's just how Big Mouth is, don't mind him. It's late tonight, we'll treat you to a welcome-back dinner tomorrow."

At the dinner table, Bai Zhantang wolfed down his food, as if he was ready to put down his bowl and run away at any moment; Lü Qinghou chewed slowly, his chopsticks holding a piece of tofu suspended in mid-air for a long time in a daze; Li Dazui didn't eat much himself, but loved to watch others eat; Mo Xiaobei only picked out the minced meat from the cabbage; Tong Xiangyu ate the least, constantly putting food on everyone's plate.

Lu Ze ate at a moderate pace, without being picky about food, and without saying much.

After the meal, the group had become acquainted.

Lying on the bed at night, Lü Ze stared at the roof beam above his head, listening to the clucking of the hens in the neighboring chicken coop, and slowly closed his eyes.

The window paper wasn't pasted on yet, and the night wind, carrying the chill of late autumn, seeped in through the holes. He decided that the first thing he would do tomorrow was to go to Tong Xiangyu and ask for the window paper. The second thing was to take a stroll in the streets. The third thing…

In this small, dilapidated house in the backyard of Tongfu Inn, the paper windows rattled in the night wind like a tune out of tune.

Lu Ze turned over at the sound of the voice, his breathing gradually becoming steady.