Chapter 1: Perishing Together

Northern frontier of Shuozhou, inside the Poplar Fortress.

Winter’s chill wind swept across the entire city. In a dilapidated shack, Yu Chengfeng suddenly opened his eyes, gulping down the icy air.

As a chemistry teacher, his instincts upon awakening were to quickly survey his surroundings.

The roof above was crumbling, beams gnawed by rats and moths, and walls patched haphazardly with mud and straw—all exuded a sense of decay.

Once he had fully absorbed the memories of this body, he could not deny the fact: he had crossed into another world.

He had been a chemistry teacher. On his way to work, he witnessed a child drowning in a river. He managed to save the child, but exhausted himself in the process. Darkness claimed him, and when he awoke, he found himself in this strange world.

The nation he now found himself in was called Northern Yan, a land still ruled by feudal traditions.

Perhaps by the will of fate, the original owner of this body was also named Yu Chengfeng, a conscripted soldier whose parents had both passed away, and whose only sister had married and left the household.

The Poplar Fortress was a military settlement of Northern Yan, where men became soldiers in times of war and farmers in times of peace.

No foreign enemy had threatened this place for decades. The soldier-families here had long lost their fighting spirit, living lives no different from the peasants. Yet recently, with the bitter cold settling in, the Tatars on the steppe had set their sights on the south, provoking several skirmishes. Now, this fortress near the grasslands was shrouded by the shadow of war.

The original owner’s parents had named him Yu Chengfeng in hopes he would soar high like the legendary roc, but fate saw him become the fortress’s most notorious scoundrel.

He was a drunkard and a gambler. When he lost, he would beat and curse his wife—he had even contemplated selling her to a brothel.

His wife was a foundling, taken in by Yu’s parents from outside the fortress and raised to be Yu Chengfeng’s child bride.

After sifting through the original owner’s memories, Yu Chengfeng sat up on the brick bed, pressing his hand to his forehead with a bitter smile. “What a mess…”

Suddenly, he felt a pair of eyes watching him from the doorway. He turned, alert, but relaxed when he saw who it was.

Standing in the doorway, clothed in threadbare rags and shivering from the cold, was the girl he had yet to marry—his young child bride.

Her name was An Ning.

She appeared to be no more than thirteen or fourteen, clutching the wooden door and watching him warily, her gaze skittish like a startled rabbit. When their eyes met, she hastily hid behind the door.

Yu Chengfeng let out another wry smile, stepped out of the room, and gazed at the gray, frigid sky. Though he was filled with reluctance, there was no changing the facts—he would have to live out this life as Yu Chengfeng in this harsh world.

From this moment, this would be his home, and An Ning, his family.

With that thought, he turned to An Ning and forced a gentle smile. “Good morning, An Ning.”

To his surprise, An Ning recoiled as if she had seen a demon, took two steps back, muttered, “I’ll get your breakfast,” and stumbled off toward the kitchen.

He couldn’t help but smile bitterly again. Who could blame her? The original Yu Chengfeng had done nothing but gamble and drink, returning home drunk to unleash his frustrations on An Ning.

Though her appearance gave little away, beneath her thin clothing her body was covered in bruises.

Despite her frail and battered frame, An Ning still had to chop wood, haul water, cook meals, work the fields, and tend to Yu Chengfeng every day.

Her life was nothing but hardship and toil.

Whenever Yu Chengfeng recalled these memories, he cursed the original owner’s cruelty.

Death is said to be painful, but compared to all An Ning had endured, perhaps living was the greater agony.

With a sigh, he surveyed the equally ramshackle courtyard. Besides his small sleeping quarters, there was only a woodshed, a kitchen, and a latrine—all with cracks that let in the wind.

He inhaled deeply, then hurried into the kitchen. Though it was hardly warmer inside, it was still better than the biting cold outdoors.

The kitchen was just as rundown, furnished with only a stove, a battered wooden table, and two chairs.

Yet despite the sparseness, everything was meticulously clean—a testament to An Ning’s diligence.

On the table sat their breakfast: two bowls of gruel made from rice husks, and nothing else.

Though the original owner’s memories were full of such meals, seeing it up close, Yu Chengfeng found it hard to imagine anyone could consider this food fit for a human being.

It wasn’t even as good as pig slop from his previous life.

But there was nothing else to eat. Resigned, Yu Chengfeng picked up the chipped bowl. Before eating, he managed a friendly smile at An Ning.

Yet to her, that smile seemed terrifying. She glanced up, then immediately buried her head in her bowl, shoveling in the gruel as though it were a rare treat.

Seeing this, Yu Chengfeng could only laugh helplessly and start eating. No matter how unpalatable, it would at least keep him from freezing to death in this decrepit house.

The gruel was harsh, scraping his mouth and throat all the way to his stomach, making every bite a trial.

When he finished, Yu Chengfeng put down the bowl and chopsticks. “We can’t live on this alone. I have to find a way to get us some rice and meat.”

An Ning, seeing he was done, got up silently and took his bowl to wash.

Yu Chengfeng, meanwhile, began thinking of ways to improve their life. Soon, he hit upon an idea: he would put his professional knowledge to use!

He had been a chemistry teacher, after all—surely he could use chemical synthesis to change their circumstances.

The most pressing need was food. In this feudal era, the first thing that came to his mind was hunting.

The Poplar Fortress was near the mountains. If he could synthesize some caustic soda and set a few traps, Yu Chengfeng was confident that An Ning could have a taste of real, fragrant stewed meat by nightfall.

Caustic soda was the best option. It wouldn’t taint the meat with poison, was extremely lethal, and the materials were relatively cheap—just soda ash and lime. There might be some lime at home, but the soda ash would have to be bought.

Meanwhile,

An Ning quietly took a small pair of scissors from beneath her clothes. Though tiny, they gleamed with a sharpness that could easily take a life.

She could no longer endure living each day in terror, never knowing when a beating might come.

She had intentionally purchased the scissors, intending to kill Yu Chengfeng.

If it came to it, she would rather die with him.

Yet even as hatred for Yu Chengfeng filled her heart, she could not forget the kindness of the Wu couple who had raised her. Her hand shook as she gripped the scissors.

In her turmoil, Yu Chengfeng appeared in the kitchen doorway, poking his head in and asking, “Do we have any money left at home?”

His words startled An Ning so much that the scissors nearly slipped from her hand.