Chapter 1: The Young Man

Boom! Boom! Whoosh... The sky was roiling with dark clouds, and a tornado whipped up towering waves amidst thunder and lightning. In June, the temperature plummeted, as cold as midwinter.

A fishing boat had been torn in half by the waves and fierce winds, its engine exposed and still spinning on the turbulent sea. Whales in the deep sea were driven to shallow waters, flailing their tails in a desperate struggle.

The sky seemed unable to withstand the hurricane's relentless pull, as if a gash had been torn open. The ocean's towering waves appeared to attempt to patch the sky. From the torn sky fell two objects, glowing like fireflies, vanishing into the sea.

The once-in-a-century tornado and tsunami ravaged the eastern coast of the Qin Dynasty. In just a few minutes, nature unleashed its terrifying power, leaving a two-hundred-mile stretch of coast in ruins, with shattered walls and debris everywhere. The air was filled with ashes, and the ruins smoldered with black smoke.

This disaster affected three countries along the East Sea, claiming over a million lives, marking the greatest natural catastrophe since the appearance of civilization in the Ball.

After the catastrophe, the sea calmed. If it weren't for the disappearance of several islands, everything seemed as if it had never happened. On a fishing village's beach lay two men: one bare-chested in beach shorts, and the other in a long, exotic robe with long hair. Nearby, a woman in a long dress slept, with a prominent wound on her arm. She bent over, clutching a swollen belly, as if pregnant.

"Cough, cough..." A coughing sound awoke the woman, and she slowly moved towards the man not far away.

The man in the robe opened his drowsy eyes, and as the scene slowly came into focus, he leaped up, flying three steps into the air to stand in front of the woman. "Zhan Zhan, are you alright?"

The woman weakly shook her head. "Senior Brother, I'm fine. Where are we?"

The man looked around in confusion. "Let's not worry about that. We need to find a place to rest. I'll wake that person first." He then walked towards the man in the beach shorts.

Twenty-two years later.

In the 1990s of the Qin Dynasty, in a remote town on the western frontier—Changping.

The town was nestled by the mountains and water. To the east were the towering peaks of the Songshan Range, shrouded in mist, the highest mountain in Qin. To the west, the Li River flowed southward with its muddy yellow water. Decades ago, this was a strategic location, and despite the ravages of war, Changping remained a simple, poor, and backward town.

Today was the fourth day of the second month in the Qin lunar calendar, one of the three market days each month in the town.

In the bustling market, a middle-aged man walked slowly with a blank expression, his limbs stiff and unresponsive.

"Move, move, move!"

"Bang!" The advertisement board on the hand-pulled cart was knocked to the ground by the man's back, causing the frame to loosen.

"Didn't you hear me telling you to move? Are you deaf or what..." Shouts of anger filled the air. The man, weakened, staggered a step but straightened up and continued walking forward.

"Ugh?! Is he some kind of madman?"

The cart driver quickly untied the ropes and went to pick up the sign, placing it back on the cart. He reassured the angry foreign shopkeeper, "Hey, Boss Cai, that's Mr. Liu, a poor soul. Don't get too worked up. You'll need to open up tomorrow, so hurry up and move on!"

Realizing there was no point in arguing, Boss Cai sat back in his cart, and the cart driver deliberately avoided the man as he walked away.

The man's expression grew increasingly feral. Remembering the two bloated corpses, he felt humiliated and sorrowful, gripping the dagger hidden in his sleeve tightly.

Aimlessly moving forward, he didn't know where he was headed. He looked up at the fiery red sky, the red light reflecting off his dazed face, causing him to squint. Suddenly, in a state of panic, he turned into an alley, shaking his head, his heart pounding.