Volume One: The Wild Child Chapter Nineteen: The Solitary Journey

After a period of recovery, Little Green Mountain appeared lush and verdant, standing in stark contrast to the surrounding frost and snow, exuding the quiet elegance of a secluded garden. Shen Yian gazed at the mountain’s vibrant greenery in astonishment; after all, the Northern Territory had always been known for its bitter cold, rarely boasting such naturally thriving, springlike places. Yu Baili explained, “The Northern Territory has been affected by the Age of Awakening. Many rules and orders have changed dramatically from before, and there will be even more changes to come.” Shen Yian nodded in understanding.

As soon as they landed, Lin Changtian ran gleefully toward the crowd on the mountain, his face alight with excitement as he stretched his arms wide, eyes shut, awaiting a brotherly greeting from the two-hundred-pound Fatty.

“To be greeted and embraced—this must be what home feels like,” Lin Changtian thought. Yet his arms soon grew numb, and he felt none of the expected, meaty impact. Puzzled, he opened his eyes and glanced behind him, only to see Kui Sheng chatting with restrained pride to Shen Yian, while Chen Ziliang had been pulled aside by Yu Baili for a private discussion. Only Xu Yong was watching him with a cheerful smile, but ever since Xu awakened, he had become so delicate and refined that Lin Changtian dared not touch him, afraid he might be devoured whole.

“All right, now that you’ve all caught up, there’s a meeting in the main camp later. Don’t be late,” Yu Baili yawned, then turned and left with Shen Yian.

Everyone agreed in unison. Lin Changtian cast a resentful glance at Kui Sheng, who was still lost in his perfumed reverie, then, ignoring Kui’s protests, dragged the hefty Fatty toward the main camp.

Inside the camp, Yu Baili surveyed everyone and said slowly, “Let me introduce someone. This is an old comrade from the northern border, now the Lord of Mount Si. That means both Mount Si and Mount Yi are under our jurisdiction. We should find an opportunity to unite the bandit groups from both places and eliminate any lingering animosity. By the way, Ziliang, can your group make use of the bandits from Little Green Mountain?”

Chen Ziliang exchanged a glance with Kui Sheng before replying, “We can subdue them by force, but those fellows are all seasoned rogues. Without tangible resources, there’s little that will make them risk their lives for us.”

Yu Baili nodded. “They probably still hold out hope for Mount Yi, but once the bandits there submit to us, everything will be easier. Our top priority now is understanding the shifting dynamics of the Northern Territory, since we know nothing about these new powers. I’ve thought long and hard about who should take on this challenging task. Let me see… hmm, since you’re standing so close, Lin Changtian, it’s yours.”

Lin Changtian froze. Was this the first lesson of the Northern Territory—volunteering for every assignment? No, the real lesson was to stay as far away from that odious toad as possible.

...

With a sullen expression, Lin Changtian trudged across the endless snowy plains. Yu Baili had neither given him a clear mission nor taught him any survival tricks, only seeing him off with the words, “To be strong, you must walk through fire and death.” Lin Changtian understood the meaning: it’s not strength to be a joker, hands clasped behind your back pretending to be a master. That day, with Yu Baili’s blade to protect him, things were different. But years from now, when faced with mortal danger again, would he be left crying for rescue? Lin Changtian understood the principle, yet he couldn’t shake the sullen feeling inside, like a child sulking because his parents refused to buy him a toy.

So, he wandered aimlessly, moving from snowy plains to forests, climbing mountains, crossing streams. When tired, he’d sleep wherever he could; when thirsty, he drank from mountain springs. Luckily, his constitution was now extraordinary, and he never fell ill. Days and nights blurred together as he journeyed on.

At last, one morning, after passing through a forest, Lin Changtian saw a bustling human city in the distance. He was first elated, then his smile froze—he’d been walking in the wrong direction for months and had ended up back in the heartlands of civilization, far south of the Northern Territory.

Call him directionless, and yet he’d somehow avoided the main border checkpoint by intuition, forging an entirely new path to the central lands. Call him clever, yet he’d managed to reenact the classic fable of heading south while wanting to go north, oblivious to all the shifts in landscape along the way.

Squatting on the ground, Lin Changtian gazed wistfully toward the Northern Territory. After a long silence, he gritted his teeth, took a deep breath, and turned back north.

“Stop! Stay where you are!” a voice barked. Lin Changtian looked over his shoulder to find several soldiers with advanced rifles trained on him. He froze, squatting as ordered. The soldiers approached, eyeing him up and down.

“This guy looks weird. Think he’s a spy for the Lin family?”

One of the soldiers considered, “Judging by his appearance, he’s probably a wild man from the mountains. Let’s confirm—if he’s a wild man, we’ll let him go.”

Hearing their conversation, Lin Changtian’s eyes darted, then he began mimicking a gorilla’s hoots, thumping his chest and stamping his feet as if desperate to find a mate in the wilds.

The soldiers looked at each other. Their leader said, “He really does seem like a wild man. All right, let’s go. Take it easy on your way.”

“Sure thing, brother.” The words slipped out, and Lin Changtian’s smile instantly stiffened. He licked his lips, looking at the soldiers’ darkening expressions. “Look, it’s just that pollution mutated the wild men, so now they can greet people. You believe that, right?”

The officer smiled. “Take him away. Let the prison interrogate him—he’ll confess everything.”

...

In the Central Zhou City prison, an investigator from the Enforcement Group stared at Lin Changtian and said, “We’re all smart here. You may look a bit off, but you know what you need to confess.”

Lin Changtian forced a smile. “Why don’t you tell me? It’s my first time here, I’m not sure what you want.”

“Oh? So you admit it’s your first time as a spy?” The corner of Lin Changtian’s eye twitched. “I really am not. I was just a student, but after the Bohai Uprising, I was kidnapped by traffickers and taken to the Northern Territory. You know the Northern Territory? It took everything I had to escape—hungry and thirsty the whole way, really.”

“Wait a minute, the Bohai Uprising was over a year ago. Who are you, really?”

Lin Changtian was stunned. Had he really been lost for more than half a year? But then, confused, he asked, “Factionalism? You think this is The Romance of the Three Kingdoms? How could that be?”

The investigator frowned. “This past year has been full of disasters and mutations, all triggered by the Bohai incident. Countless species have mutated, civilians have awakened powers, and no force can control the whole situation. Of course there’s factionalism. Civilization is not what it used to be.”

Lin Changtian’s expression darkened. He hadn’t realized just how dire things had become, just as Shen Yian had warned.