One moment Blue was holding onto a bench for dear life. The next he woke up to two men and a woman standing over him.
Blue opened his eyes. "Ahhhh." He screamed.
"Be still child." The woman said. "You've been out for a few days."
"Where am I?" Blue asked.
One of them men answered. "Just outside Chengdu, about a days walk. Half a day with an ox."
"Your must've hit your head hard kid." The man's brother added.
"Wait... did you say Chengdu? As in Murim?" Blue sat up.
The two men looked at each other confused. "Yes Murim, where else would chengdu be?"
The men laughed. The woman, their mother, ordered them out. She handed Blue a bowl of noodles.
"Here, you need to eat."
"I... i don't have time to eat." Blue tried to stand up.
The woman forced him back down. "See, if my little old self can keep you down, means your body is weak. Eat, then we can talk."
Blue nodded and started to eat. The old woman smiled and left the room.
As he ate his noodles it appeared. The system. Blue spit out the noodles all over the bed.
[SYSTEM INITIALIZING...]
[Welcome back, Tang Jiung]
[22 hours until synchronization.]
He stared at the screen longer than he cared to admit. He tied to touch it, he couldn't. His arm simply moved through the golden screen in front of him.
He laid back on the pillow and laughed. "Holy shit, I'm back in murim, and now I have a system. This has to be a dream." He closed his eyes and let himself rest a little more. The revelation of everything had exhausted him.
While he rested, he thought of Earth. David and Mary, even Eve. He had spent years trying to forget Murim. His father and mother's tragic deaths, his grandfathers passing. The blade that cut his head clean off.
Those three made it easier to do that. The doctors told David and Mary that Blue may act like a toddler again due to the coma. Little did they know, their son passed due to pneumonia and Blue had taken his place. They never made him feel wierd or out of place. If anything, they gave Blue the things he never had in Murim.
Mary is freaking out right now, I guarantee it. He said to himself.
He sat up once again and shook his head. "I was doing just fine on Earth, why in the hell did I get brought back here."
More memories flashed before his eyes. This time of his past life in Murim. After his mother and father died, Blue became the only dad his younger siblings knew. He worked, he cleaned, cooked. So-yeon, the 2nd oldest, would train at a martial arts academy in chengdu. At night, she put the younger ones to bed, while Jiung would meet with Yoryeon at night to train the Tang family techniques.
Blue shook the memories loose and stood. He walked toward the window, and looked to the sky. "If you brought me back here, they had best be alive, or I'm going right back to Earth."
The old woman came back in the room as he stared out the window. "Seems you're feeling better after the noodles. There's some salted pork out here if you want some."
Blue smiled and nodded.
Blue spent the night with the women and her two sons. Blue asked questions hoping they wouldn't ask him any. The men spent the night drinking telling stories about the new Martial Alliance. How the Heavnly Demon Cult, the unorthodox sects, even Mt. Hua all converged into Chengdu.
"Murim is a mess, but Namgung Hyeon, is doing his best to maintain order. I'll give him that."
Hiccup. "He's not doing shit, he's just controlling everything. You know, I hear he keeps those system users who went to Thalorin locked up in the basement of the Alliance headquarters."
"That's just a rumor. Probably spread by the Demonic Cult, I still dont trust those bastards."
Blue listened as the two men rambled on for hours about the state of Murim.
"By the way, what's with your outfit?" One asked.
"Yeah, did the courtesans come up with a new fashion trend or something?" Both men laughed. Nearly falling over themselves from the liqour.
"I made them, my outfit got ruined." Blue smiled.
Ahh, so you are a tailor. A damn fine one at that if I may say so."
Blue laughed along. "Could I borrow some clothes before I leave for Chengdu tomorrow?" He asked.
One man stood, headed to the back room. He came out and threw clothes at Blue. "Keep em, they were out younger brother's who died. He was your size, so they should fit."
The other man took a drink of the liqour. "We have to head to Chengdu tomorrow anyway, you can come with us. We will show you around."
Blue stood and bowed to the two men. "Thank you."
Before he could stand up straight a gourd of liquor hit him in the head. "I'm no martial master, dont bow, just drink."
The next morning, the men loaded up their carriage and connected the ox. Their mother came outside before they left. "Young man, here." She handed him a small leather pouch. "It's not much, but it will get you by."
"I ca-." Blue began to refuse.
"You can, and you will. Now be safe, and come by anytime." She waved and the carriage was off toward Chengdu.
As they approached Chengdu later that day, a massive sign hung above the gate that lead to the city.
Martial Alliance
The guards opened the gate, as the men weaved through the streets, Blue was in shock. Warriors from every sect filled the streets. The colors of Emei, Wudang. The plum blossom outfits of Mt. Hua, Namgung, even demonic cultists, all walked among each other.
"This feels dangerous." Blue said outloud.
One of the brothers turned back. "It is, we may be united against the monsters, but doctrines still divide us. Keep your head on a swivel around here boy, or it will get taken in an instant."
Blue continued to watch the surroundings, scuffles between sects being broken up by men in red. He presumed they were the martial alliances colors, hed never seen them before.
The cart came to a stop. "This is where we part ways, that is the best inn in Chengdu, tell the innkeeper Wang Lu sent you."
Blue hopped off, bowed to the men. "Thank you for everything."
He watched as the cart disappeared into the crowd. He turned and headed for the inn. He walked to the counter. "One room please, Wang Lu sent me."
"Wonderful, well give you a discount then, that will be one nyang." The woman behind the counter said.
Blue stared at her for a moment, confused. Did she just say one nyang for a room?
"I'm sorry, I must have misheard. You said one nyang?"
"That's right, there a problem?"
"No, no problem at all."
Blue pulled out 2 nyang and laid it on the counter. "That'll do for two weeks right?"
"More like two days." The woman sneered.
Blue sighed. "Okay, one room for two days please."
He looked at the pouch, he had 4 nyang and around 500 wen left. He grabbed the key to his room and made his way upstairs. He plopped onto the bed the moment he entered.
"So much had changed. First thing I need is money. But why is everything so damn expensive?"
His stomach growled. "Scratch that, food first."
He stood and headed toward the door, his system appeared in front of his face. Blue screamed and fell onto the floor.
"Can you fucking give me a heads up before you just appear. Damn it."
[SYSTEM ONLINE]
[User: Blue/Tang Jiung]
[Core: Ten-Thousands Poison Qi(5 years)]
[Lineage: Tang]
[Status: Third-Rate]
"Now, we can begin."
"BEGIN WHAT?" Blue hollered.
Then he noticed. 5 years. "Only 5 years worth of qi? What the hell."
Blue stood and wiped himself off. As he left the inn, he stopped just outside. Lifted his nose and followed the scent of meat.