As the last traces of twilight faded away.
The silent night descended.
Northwest Border, Black Mountain City.
The biting cold wind, as sharp as a knife, penetrated through the paper-covered windows with gaps, seeping into the hall.
On the cold, hard earth stove, Jixia, originally lying flat with eyes closed, suddenly felt the chill wind at his neck, sending a shiver down his spine.
The next moment, like a carp leaping, he abruptly opened his eyes, slapped his neck, sat up straight, squinting his eyes, immediately hissing.
"What is this..."
His muddled head still couldn't grasp the situation.
Then it felt like a 'blow to the head,' as waves of vague memories surged up, making him press his brow:
"These memories are..."
The oil lamp on the table flickered dimly.
With a 'whoosh', the cold wind blew, snuffing out the light.
Simultaneously, Jixia glanced around, eyeing the ebony bow hanging along the wall, along with a few tattered animal skins, his gaze gradually growing complex:
"So, that's it."
"A long dream, and the world has changed."
"Fumbling through eighteen years, today I finally know I am me."
"Black Mountain, Hunter, Jixia..."
Descending to this world from a distant realm beyond, his sealed past memories finally awakened today under great stimulation.
Jixia originally intended to stand up, trace back the memories, and touch that ebony bow.
But suddenly, an excruciating pain surged through his left leg, causing cold sweat to break out, gritting his teeth:
"An opportunity for advancement aroused such greed, nearly a decade of friendship regarded as nothing, truly the human heart is unfathomable, difficult to predict..."
After finally digesting the two strands of his own memories in mind.
Only then did Jixia clarify the situation.
In this lifetime, he was originally a registered hunter in 'Black Mountain City,' a lineage passed down for three generations, according to the rules, an unfailing heritage!
Not to mention the inner city, in this 'Outer Ring' city district, the status could be said to be second only to the constable.
Even due to being recorded in the 'Government Office', possessing some basic skills and heritage, as long as he could achieve merits, catch the eye from above...
Even transforming from 'hunter registration' to 'official registration', elevating from a mere hunter to a constable, practicing real martial arts, was not impossible!
In this world with 'Extraordinary' beings, learning martial arts is difficult.
The path with genuine developmental prospects is relatively 'safe' through entering the officialdom.
Therefore, countless people rack their brains for such a position.
And this time, Jixia caught the opportunity.
Because a Squad Leader in the Prefecture Government Office intended to use the brain marrow of a mountain spirit, the 'White-Browed Monkey', as medicine,
preparing to use Secret Technique to boost the cultivation of his family's direct offspring 'Martial Gate Foundation Establishment', hoping to secure a great future path in martial arts,
thus, especially spreading the word, ready to use the 'constable position' under his command as a lure to drive people to strive.
As they say, a word from above, a scramble below!
A constable post, however small, is still 'official registration', and a Squad Leader is already a head of constables, except for those big figures in the inner city 'schools', 'clans'...
Within these circling concentric rings, like stars surrounding the moon, tightly enclosed around the inner city's 'Outer Ring' district,
such a character is much more formidable than the lower-ninth-rate gang leaders!
Calling him a big figure is entirely appropriate.
For the pursuit of advancement in martial arts, and class elevation.
Jixia, who had already mastered the ancestral 'hunting' skills, as proficient as a ten-year hunter, did not want to pass up this opportunity.
Those with 'hunting qualifications', able to sell their prey, even spirits, to marketplaces, guilds, as well as regularly 'tribute' to the Government Office, are not numerous in the city either.
In other words...
Peers with similar intentions to climb, or those older, seeking blessings for their descendants... are not few at all.
Thus, to avoid wasting time in vain.
Jixia, who grew up with his village mate, also a hunter and close friend 'Jiang Zhou', agreed to take a chance, adventure into the mountains as soon as the rumors started, to catch the 'prey' and return!
Black Mountain adjoins the Northwest Wilderness, where spirits and even rampant beasts are frequent;
Although hunters, trained year-round, mastering hunting skills, even possessing basic martial arts, had not broken beyond human limitations, delving into the Northwest Wilderness, and the continuous high mountains for hunting was nothing but a fool's dream.
Although the White-Browed Monkey is merely a lower-tier spirit, lacking strong bloodthirstiness, easily caught by an ordinary Martial Artist,
and its range is limited to the 'buffer zone' between the Northwest Wilderness and Black Mountain City, among a few precipitous, foggy forested mountains.
It's still a spirit beast and comparable to a Martial Artist renowned for sword skills; an ordinary hunter confronted unprepared, would surely perish.
Moreover, because of the secret recipe for 'brain medicine', the White-Browed Monkeys have become increasingly rare in recent years,
so wanting to find and capture them, if not crossing those few mountains to go deeper, is not an easy task.
For a Martial Artist of rank, who is usually so busy they barely touch the ground, there is no reason to provoke a disturbance for this job,
as for the constables who have entered official status, what they want, the Squad Leader may not be able to give.
So this task fell into the hands of the second-tier hunters of hunter status.
In order to seize a chance to turn their lives around, the two of them heard some news the other day, and without hesitation, they went up the mountain at night.
After some searching, they even reached the edge of the 'Northwest Wilderness', almost entering a great danger zone, and after several life-threatening events, they barely managed to find a nest of White-Browed Monkeys!
The conditions of time, place, and people were just right.
Jixia gambled most of his fortune, specially bought the White-Browed Monkey's favorite 'Hundred Fruit Brew', and added the 'Soft Tendon Powder' that could even paralyze a Martial Artist, almost clearing out his inventory, finally luring the monkey into the trap, to drink that wine!
Then taking advantage of this great opportunity, he stepped out as the sun was rising, with the first ray of dawn falling, he drew his ebony bow, tightened the feather string, and shot four arrows in succession!
In an instant, the arrows like beads on a string, precisely pierced through the limbs of the snow-white creature, over one meter long, resembling a long ape!
As the Soft Tendon Powder entered its stomach,
even the creature had no room to jump around, only able to struggle on its last breath, the great success was in sight!
But of all the calculations...
Jixia did not expect that at this moment, a blade would come slashing at him from behind!
People understand the terror of ghosts, ghosts understand the poison of the human heart!
The cold wind of the latter half of the night was bone-chilling.
Jixia, scanning his memory, with a pair of gloomy eyes, suddenly pulled up his trousers, revealing two near-bone-deep knife scars below his knee, hideous and terrifying.
Those were left by Jiang Zhou taking advantage of his unpreparedness, luckily he dodged quickly, or it wouldn't have just been a leg injury, but...
At the same time, Jixia's eyes were filled with raging fire, almost tangible:
"The human heart truly cannot withstand a test, a chance to take a small step up, can make people take desperate risks."
"Indeed, through a layer of skin, who can clearly tell if the heart is black or red!"
"Jiang Zhou, friendship grown from childhood?"
"Bullshit!"
The five fingers of the right hand resting on the bed's edge slowly clenched towards the palm, making a 'rustling' sound, finally forming a tight fist.
If it weren't for the treacherous mountain forest terrain, sparsely populated, even as a hunter, one wouldn't say they are very familiar, thus letting Jixia's big life luckily escape alive...
Otherwise, let alone memory fusion, he would definitely have been buried in the beast's stomach, with no bones left!
Due to the leg injury and hiding everywhere, by the time he got back to the Outer Ring City District, two days had already passed since the incident.
Last night, under the twilight, he returned with difficulty, limping all the way...
Jixia then heard that 'Jiang Zhou', that damn thing, already carried his loot, put on a cyan official robe, got into the Government Office's constable roster, and transformed into a constable, taking credit for his achievements!
This made him at that time furious to the point of collapse, almost never waking up on the bed, only then did his memory fusion occur, awakening past events.
"However..."
The fist clenched with a 'creak', after the flame of anger in his eyes raged for a while, it finally gradually calmed down.
"As is often said, misfortune lies within fortune, fortune lies within misfortune."
With a flicker in his eyes, Jixia suddenly smiled silently, then, his eyes became increasingly bright:
"If it weren't for you, you wolf pup, how could I have discovered, awakening past events, reincarnating through two lifetimes, after the successful fusion of memory and Divine Soul, I could even possess such great fortune?"
At this moment, Jixia's eyes burned like a furnace, concentrating into a point, in less than a moment, a brilliant and radiant glassy golden scroll slowly emerged in front of him.
This... is named the [Reincarnation Celestial Book].
It is a gift upon his descent to this world, visible to him alone, untouched by others!
"Damn thing, wait for me to figure out the use of this Golden Scroll Celestial Book, if there's even a tiny shred of possibility to turn things around..."
"You are the first one I'll kill!"
As the first page slowly turned...
It seems there is a vast world between 'illusion' and 'reality', beckoning him forward!
With a flick of Jixia's intention.
His Divine Soul seemed to immerse into this [First Page] of the Reincarnation Celestial Book, and then...
[Celestial Book deduction, falling into reality.]
[Each identity is a brand new beginning!]
[What kind of life... do you want to choose?]
——————
(ps: New book launching, seeking monthly votes, recommendation tickets, and collections meow meow meow QWQ!)
(All identities within this book's Reincarnation Celestial Book are both past and future realities, just like the book title, thank you all for the support, go ducks!)