Chapter 4: Autumn Clothes and the Human Heart - The Departed Youth

As a beam of light caught his eye, Lu Jing was suddenly enveloped in darkness.

But then, he saw a flame burning in the boundless darkness, its brilliance dazzling and extremely bright.

Beyond the flame, he could vaguely see a deity floating in the darkness, appearing and disappearing.

"Great Brightness King Flame Heaven Great Sage Visualization Diagram!"

Various thoughts flooded his mind.

The image of the light had only appeared in Lu Jing's mind for a moment, and he hadn't even had time to see what the light was in detail.

He felt dizzy, his mouth dry, and his chest felt as if it were blocked, making him want to vomit. Perhaps it had only been a few breaths, or perhaps a long time had passed, but Lu Jing suddenly came to his senses, gasping for air.

Another gust of wind blew, bringing a bone-chilling cold. Lu Jing realized that cold sweat had soaked through his long robe!

"This painting is actually a visualization treasure map!"

Lu Jing looked at the painting on the table, paused for a moment while catching his breath, and then quickly closed his eyes, focusing his mind on the visualization realm in his mind.

The Eight Trigram Visualization Diagram appeared in his mind, and the inner image reappeared.

Lu Jing read through it line by line and finally noticed a change.

"In the 'Opportunity' section, it originally said [Blue Opportunity Triggering], but now it clearly shows [Opportunity: Great Brightness King Flame Heaven Great Sage Visualization Diagram Triggered]."

"This means that the blue opportunity has been triggered!"

Lu Jing looked at the visualization diagram in front of him, feeling a sense of joy, but suddenly, he seemed to think of something. Without showing any emotion, he folded the visualization diagram and put it in his pocket.

"Regardless, this visualization diagram must be a treasure. This is not the right place to study it."

Lu Jing stood up, but another wave of dizziness hit him, and he almost lost his balance. Staggering, he hurriedly sat back down on the stone bench.

"I only glanced at the deity's image for a moment, and the visualization time was less than a breath, yet my spirit is already severely drained..."

Lu Jing rested for a while before finally mustering the strength to stand up and slowly walked towards his small courtyard.

Lu Jing's residence was located in the northwest corner of the Lu family estate, not far from the stone table and bench.

However, what usually took the time of a cup of tea, Lu Jing took a full quarter of an hour.

"Master Jing, you're back... Oh! Master, why is your face so pale? You were fine at noon today."

Lu Jing entered the courtyard and walked into the front room, where Qingyue was just setting the table. Seeing Lu Jing return, she was clearly delighted.

As Lu Jing approached, the dim candlelight revealed his sallow, exhausted face.

Qingyue quickly came over to help Lu Jing sit down and then went to the inner room to fetch a long robe for him to wear.

Lu Jing really felt a bit cold, but he didn't want to worry Qingyue, so he perked up and said, "Don't worry. It suddenly got windy today, and I caught a chill. I'll be fine after a bit of sun tomorrow..."

"Master caught a cold?" Qingyue was alarmed and, without regard for the food on the table, was about to leave with a lantern.

"I'll go find Manager Liu and get some medicine."

Lu Jing quickly made Qingyue sit down and reassured her, "Qingyue, it's nothing serious. The room is dark, making my face look pale, but I'm fine. You going to disturb Manager Liu's sleep at this hour will only cause trouble."

"Not a cold?" Qingyue still worried, "What's a little trouble? Master, a cold can be fatal!"

"It's not winter, so it's not that easy to catch a cold," Lu Jing pointed to a few books on the table and said, "I just read for too long today and got a bit tired."

Seeing that Qingyue's expression had relaxed, he changed the subject and sniffed deeply, looking at the food on the table in surprise, "Hmm? Is this mutton?"

Qingyue quickly arranged the chopsticks and picked a piece of mutton for Lu Jing.

"This meat was sent by a maid from the Second Master's courtyard. It seems that the Second Master has made great progress in martial arts, and everyone in the estate, from the young masters and misses to the maids and servants, has been rewarded."

"Made great progress in martial arts?" Lu Jing couldn't help but feel envious.

He had been transported to this strange world and immediately placed on the list of worthless sons-in-law, making the imperial examinations almost impossible. He could only seek other ways to change his miserable fate.

Now he had obtained the Great Brightness King Visualization Diagram, but he was clueless about how to use it, what its effects were, and no one was teaching him martial arts.

"Lu Feng must have made significant progress for the entire estate to celebrate like this."

Lu Jing's thoughts were racing, and Qingyue, who was pouring water for him, said, "This afternoon, I also went to collect Master's autumn clothes."

"It's really frustrating. The two young masters and two misses of the main Lu family have excellent autumn clothes, made from the famous warm silk from Sanghuai in Jiangnan, which is both thin and warm. Only our courtyard..."

Qingyue was muttering softly, her eyes gentle, seemingly feeling sorry for Lu Jing.

Perhaps realizing that she shouldn't say such things and upset Lu Jing, she stopped and got up to leave.

Lu Jing frowned, and Qingyue explained, "Master, I'll boil another pot of water for you to soak your feet. It might help you feel better tomorrow."

The previous Lu Jing might have been used to Qingyue's meticulous care.

But the current Lu Jing genuinely felt that having someone as gentle as Qingyue by his side was a blessing.

So Lu Jing didn't refuse Qingyue, but he made a silent decision...

"I must make this life better. Otherwise, I'll be letting Qingyue down."

After dinner, Qingyue helped Lu Jing soak and massage his feet, and it wasn't until midnight that she left the inner room to rest.

Seeing Qingyue leave, Lu Jing got out of bed, lit a candle, and took out the Great Brightness King Visualization Diagram to study it carefully.

But remembering his previous experience, Lu Jing did not close his eyes to visualize again. Instead, he found paper and a brush and began to copy the Great Brightness King Flame Heaven Great Sage.

"My blood and energy are not strong, and my spirit cannot support me in visualizing the Great Brightness King Visualization Diagram.

This way, I would be wasting such a rare treasure... It seems I can't just focus on reading books; I also need to strengthen my body and nourish my spirit... But that's easier said than done."

Strengthening his body and nourishing his spirit.

Lu Jing had no idea how to start either plan.

Regardless of the difficulty of nourishing his spirit, just the effort to strengthen his body to meet the standards for martial arts training would require a large amount of food and medicine.

But Lu Jing's monthly allowance was only three taels of silver, and the estate's manager would deduct one tael for various reasons, leaving him with only two taels.

"Two taels of silver, how can I strengthen my body and practice martial arts?"

Lu Jing shook his head at this thought.

But he wasn't discouraged. He was open-minded and knew that such matters required careful planning and waiting for opportunities.

After copying the Great Brightness King Visualization Diagram three times, he carefully put it away and went to sleep peacefully.

As he fell asleep, the Great Brightness King Visualization Diagram under his pillow suddenly emitted a faint light.

Fragments of vague memories began to appear like a dream.

In the dream, Lu Jing vaguely saw many past events.

—"Jing, your eyes are just like your father's. Grow up quickly, and you'll become a hero like him."

A beautiful woman with a gentle and loving expression sat on a painted boat, enduring the cold glares of several people as she played with the baby in her arms.

—"Mom, mom..."

—"Don't cry, Jing. Get up, cough... cough..."

—"Mom, they all say I have no father and call me a bastard. What is a bastard?"

—"Cough... Jing, it's not that I don't want to buy you new clothes. Old clothes are better. See?"

—"Wow, the hole is gone, and there's a little tiger. It's so cool, Mom is so amazing!"

—"Jing, don't cry. Who says you have no father? Cough, cough, cough... I'll take you to see your father..."

...

These memories swirled in Lu Jing's dream.

Finally, the scenes merged into a single image of a young man.

The young man's body glowed faintly, looking down at Lu Jing from above.

Lu Jing sensed something and opened his eyes, standing up to look at the glowing young man.

The young man looked exactly like Lu Jing and bowed to him.

"Since I have already given up on life, I shouldn't linger in this body.

In this life, the person I regret the most is my birth mother.

Today, I am willing to offer my soul as a reward, using this body as a gift, to ask... to ask my brother to secure a posthumous title for my deceased mother, to have her buried with a phoenix crown and a red robe.

So that people who know her name will not look down on her because of her background!"

The young man finished speaking and, before Lu Jing could react, suddenly turned into a stream of light and entered Lu Jing's forehead.

Perhaps because the body was already compatible with the young man's soul.

Or perhaps for other reasons.

The moment the light entered his body, Lu Jing felt his fatigue vanish, and his mind became incredibly clear.

His thoughts gradually became clearer.

He realized... that a certain power within him had suddenly grown, grown!

Lu Jing sat on the bed for a long time. With the memories merging, he suddenly felt a deep longing for the mother of this body, whom he had never met.

"What kind of deal is this? I didn't even have a chance to refuse..."

Taking a deep breath, Lu Jing seemed to be talking to himself, "Don't worry, I'll honor this deal."