Chapter 2

At night, the Dongmang Mountain resembled a slumbering ancient behemoth. Occasionally, the cries of night owls and the howls of wolves from the depths of the mountain became the only embellishments to the tranquil autumn night.

At the foot of the western side of Dongmang Mountain, a small village was also in deep slumber. At the village entrance, the only simple watchtower made of bamboo had torches crackling and occasionally hissing in the night breeze.

At the top of the watchtower, Bu Ye, who had never fired an arrow and wore tattered guard attire, leaned on the railing, gazing at the abnormally large, blood-red demon moon in the night sky. A mocking smile appeared on his lips. The blood-red demon moon was mostly missing at the top, while the bottom curved upward, as if it were smiling at Bu Ye. However, the faintly visible craters on the blood moon, like boils and pockmarks, made the smile seem somewhat bloody and eerie. Beside the blood moon were red stars of various sizes, some bright and some dim, spreading across the dark sky...

Bu Ye had arrived in this world yesterday during the day. Before coming, he didn't even know if he was dead or not. But even if he wasn't dead, he wouldn't have many days left. Before coming, the young Bu Ye had fought a deadly battle with cancer for half a year, almost being driven mad, and was about to be defeated.

Yesterday, he suddenly found himself in this world, possessing a body that was still called Bu Ye and looked exactly like him but was much stronger, seemingly ready for a new beginning.

However, he didn't want to cherish this opportunity. This was because the cancer that had tormented him for half a year had also been brought into this stronger body! Moreover, his worldview had been completely destroyed by the bleak and unfulfilled life and the torment of cancer, making him feel that this穿越 was just another prank by the capricious heavens. How could he cherish it?

Standing on the watchtower, feeling the night breeze and breathing air that was clearly a thousand times fresher than that in Beijing on Earth, Bu Ye was filled with cold laughter.

He frowned and looked down, gazing at the dim road to the south of the village and the trees along it that emitted a faint glow under the moonlight. He began to plan how to leave this village that had "given birth to and raised him" as soon as possible.

He possessed all the memories of his current body, knowing that this Bu Ye had always been in good health. Even with the cancer, this body could last for a while. Through the memories of this Bu Ye, he knew that this Bu Ye had grown up in Dongmang Village and, as an adult, had become a member of the village defense team, whose duty was to protect the village until old age.

But what did that have to do with him?

He always found it amusing that so many novels chose the same beginning, where the protagonist was thrown into the body of a weakling and gradually rose up amidst oppression and bullying. Those protagonists seemed to have no sense of strangeness toward their suddenly acquired parents and grandparents, calling them with great affection. Moreover, every穿越者 seemed to know from the start that they would rise to power, so they endured the initial hardships with ease, refusing to leave.

Bu Ye knew that if he had been thrown into a completely unfamiliar world, he wouldn't play any role-playing games to live someone else's life! If he had come to another world with a golden finger, wouldn't it be much faster and better to develop freely rather than being held back by a family he had no feelings for?

Therefore, Bu Ye would definitely leave Dongmang Village.

However, he had to wait for two more days. First, because this was a world full of dangers, and second, because he was still waiting for changes in his body.

The original owner of this body had always lived in Dongmang Village and knew little about the world beyond, but was well aware of the dangers within a hundred miles. Dongmang Mountain was home to nocturnal beasts, with the best of them, such as the iron-backed wolves and blood-eyed leopards, occasionally venturing out of the mountains. Going out of the village alone at night was a death sentence. Moreover, there were a few beasts in the mountains that had awakened to the star cloud, with heightened senses and combat abilities that could easily hunt down ordinary humans. Unfortunately, Bu Ye was still an ordinary human, at least for the next two days.

Besides the beasts and ferocious animals in the mountains, another source of danger was bandits. Dongmang Village was located at the southern end of the small country of Xiao, less than a thousand miles from the southern border. The world was in turmoil, with small bands of bandits and marauders raiding everywhere. If Bu Ye went out alone, he would face certain death. If the bandits were more cruel, they might even boil and eat him.

From the perspective of avoiding bandits and marauders, Dongmang Village was not a good choice. It was too small and its defenses too weak. The village defense team had only twenty members, one of whom was a cripple. Those with connections had already moved their families to the north. Bu Ye also wanted to go to the inland north, where it was at least safer, and he could explore the world more calmly.

Wait two more days, and then set out immediately! Although he had brought cancer, he had also brought some other things, even though he didn't know where they came from. He knew they would definitely benefit him, and their effects would be evident in two days.

Time passed, and the huge red demon moon set in the west, while the eastern sky gradually brightened. Since Dongmang Village was on the western slope of the mountain, the sun was blocked by the mountain at sunrise, making the morning particularly long. One could almost wait until mid-morning to see the sun.

However, Bu Ye didn't have to wait that long. The morning mist had not yet dissipated when the villagers began to wake up and start their work, and the sounds of human activity gradually increased. The members of the village defense team would soon gather at the southern exit where Bu Ye was stationed.

At this moment, it was clear that Dongmang Village was not particularly small, with a width of 200 meters from east to west and a length of over 300 meters from north to south. A large wall made of two-meter-high, pointed wooden and bamboo poles surrounded the village, enclosing over a hundred households and scattered farmland. Bu Ye was at the southern gate, and there was a small gate on the eastern side leading directly to Dongmang Mountain.

Bu Ye looked at the villagers working in the morning mist, dressed in hemp and coarse cloth, and thought to himself that such a life had no meaning for him.

Finally, people dressed in tattered leather armor, like Bu Ye, began to appear, some stretching and yawning, others hurriedly adjusting their armor, and they walked from various parts of the village toward the southern gate.

Bu Ye remained "diligently" on guard on the watchtower, occasionally glancing at the village defense team members inside without greeting them. If someone called out to him, he didn't respond, at most nodding his head. As a newly arrived穿越者, he found it difficult to assume his current identity; to him, everyone here was a stranger.

In no time, eighteen people gathered inside the southern gate, with sixteen standing in a line and two others, clearly of higher rank, standing opposite them. The village defense team had one chief and two deputies, and these two were the chief, Hong Zhongwei, and one of the deputies, Liang Xiong.

"Ye, come down," the chief, Hong Zhongwei, a tall man in his forties, called out, waving his hand at Bu Ye on the watchtower.

Bu Ye didn't respond, but quickly climbed down the watchtower, his agility clearly much better than before his arrival. Muscle memory, like riding a bicycle or ice skating, once learned, could be easily picked up again. Bu Ye's current agility was undoubtedly due to the original owner of this body.

He quickly ran to the end of the line and stood there, then heard Chief Hong Zhongwei ask, "Any unusual situations tonight?"

Bu Ye replied straightforwardly, "No unusual situations."

Hong Zhongwei nodded and began to arrange the day's defense duties.

Bu Ye didn't pay much attention, instead observing Hong Zhongwei and Deputy Liang Xiong, as in this Bu Ye's memory, these two, along with another deputy, Yang Yuanda, were the only three heart cloud awakeners in Dongmang Village. Heart cloud, abdominal cloud, and cranial cloud, with the abdominal cloud often called yang or yin cloud, and the cranial cloud often called soul or spirit cloud, were the essential paths to becoming a strong person in this world. The heart cloud was the starting point, and everyone who awakened would first awaken the heart cloud.

After awakening the heart cloud, the physical attributes of the awakener would at least double! The heart cloud would then sequentially light up twelve blood stars in the body, with each additional blood star further enhancing the physical attributes. In a remote place like Dongmang Village, heart cloud awakeners were the strongest people one could normally see. Given enough space, with their superior physical attributes, they could easily take down a hundred ordinary strong men.

Hong Zhongwei, with eleven heart cloud blood stars, combined with his already superior physical attributes, would be like a human gorilla when fully unleashed! Bu Ye had seen Hong Zhongwei fully activate his heart cloud blood stars during a hunt, displaying terrifying combat power. However, Hong Zhongwei's personality was as gentle and kind as his appearance, and with his strength, he had high prestige in the entire Dongmang Village.

Deputy Liang Xiong, with eight heart cloud blood stars, had been injured three years ago and was saved by the villagers, later staying in the village and becoming a deputy. Despite his height of only 1.7 meters, his fighting style was quite fierce, proficient in knife techniques, and his temper was fiery.

Although the village defense team had twenty members, most of the combat power was concentrated in the three heart cloud awakeners, and Bu Ye, as a穿越者, couldn't help but look at them differently.

As Hong Zhongwei's speech was nearing its end, a large man carrying a pile of clothes walked out of the village, standing on the other side of Hong Zhongwei with a carefree smile.

Hong Zhongwei frowned slightly but didn't say much, finally announcing to the team, "Dismissed."

Bu Ye, who had been on guard all night, didn't have to work for the next day and night and could go home to rest. Upon hearing "dismissed," he immediately started walking, not greeting anyone.

The entire team was dispersing, but at that moment, the large man carrying the pile of clothes suddenly called out to Bu Ye, "Ye, wait a moment."

Bu Ye clearly heard the voice from behind but pretended not to hear, continuing to walk forward.

The large man thought Bu Ye was distracted and raised his voice, "Ye, take my leather armor back and maintain it."

Everyone heard this, and even if Bu Ye was distracted, he should have snapped back to reality. However, in everyone's gaze, Bu Ye didn't stop and continued walking forward.

Thus, everyone knew that Bu Ye was deliberately ignoring the large man's words.

The large man was none other than the other deputy of the village defense team, Yang Yuanda, with seven heart cloud blood stars.

At this moment, Yang Yuanda realized what was happening. Bu Ye had the audacity to ignore him in front of so many people!

He, a deputy with seven heart cloud blood stars, one of the three strongest in the village defense team, had been ignored by a mere lackey!

The ordinary members of the village defense team also frowned, knowing that Yang Yuanda would not let this go.

Sure enough, Yang Yuanda suddenly spat on the ground, sneered, and then violently threw the pile of clothes at Bu Ye's back! As he threw, eight spots on his body glowed faintly, with a star cloud at his heart and seven other spots like stars, clearly using the power of his heart cloud blood stars!

"Whoosh!"

The originally light clothes flew in a straight line, like a hard object, toward Bu Ye's back, at least twenty meters away!