Chapter 2: 002: What a piece of junk meteorite!

The moon was dim, and the stars were sparse.

The night sky was like a thick, impenetrable ink, lonely and profound.

The prisoners had spent the entire day walking in shackles under the scorching sun. Both their bodies and spirits had been pushed to their limits, and that tiny, moldy, foul-smelling biscuit had become a delicacy of the world.

After eating, they lay on the ground, and before long, snores rose one after another, occasionally punctuated by the "pop" and "crack" of the burning campfire.

The government guards gathered around the fire, took out their wine skins, and began to drink.

The dried meat in the clay pot had been boiled soft, and after being sprinkled with spices, it catalyzed into a rich, overbearing aroma.

For this group of physically weak prisoners who hadn't had a full meal in a long time, it held a nearly fatal attraction.

Shen Tang heard the gulping sounds of others swallowing their saliva and the thunderous rumbling of their empty stomachs. She lowered her head to touch her own shriveled belly, lowered her eyes, and sighed inwardly—

She was hungry, too.

"Want some?" A guard scooped a bowl of soup from the clay pot. Just as he was about to blow it cool and take a small sip, his peripheral vision caught the eager, flickering gazes. His eyes rolled, he swept a malicious look over them, and laughed, "This meat soup is very expensive. If you want to drink it, you have to trade something for it."

The prisoners fell silent at once.

Hearing this, Shen Tang lifted her eyelids, her lips pressed together, and a flash of anger crossed the depths of her dark eyes.

Just because she had lost her memories didn't mean she had become a fool. She understood what the man meant—these were female prisoners with uncertain futures, about to be sent to the music conservatory. Even if they had hidden any money, it had long since been scraped clean. What else could they use to trade for meat soup?

The answer was obvious.

After speaking, the guard swept his lewd gaze over the female prisoners, enjoying the expressions of hesitation or grief on their faces as if watching a play.

Another guard laughed and slapped the back of his head.

He scolded with a smile, "You don't even bother to take a piss and look at your own reflection to see if you're qualified to climb into their beds. These are all 'noble ladies' of the Gong clan."

He deliberately dragged out the words "noble ladies."

"Noble ladies? What kind of noble ladies?" The guard rubbed the back of his head and deliberately raised his voice, "The kind that goes to the music conservatory to serve noblemen?"

"Exactly!" A third guard, emboldened by the alcohol, joined in the fun. "Isn't the music conservatory a place where you can go to have fun if you have money? It's not like us brothers can't afford the 'filth money.' If one of us can't afford it, we'll pool our resources. If we can't buy a whole night, we'll buy half a night. You take half a stick of incense, I'll take half a stick of incense..."

"Old San, who are you looking down on? Whoever only lasts half a stick of incense is a grandson!"

"Sooner or later they'll be open for business. Does it make a difference if they open for business here or after they get to the conservatory?"

Faced with such a humiliating insult, the male prisoners dared to be angry but dared not speak, and the female prisoners who were somewhat attractive were all terrified, their faces ashen.

Seeing that they were getting more and more out of line, the lead guard had to step in to stop them.

"All of you, quiet down! This is getting ridiculous! When the errand is finished, you can go to whichever conservatory you want to find flower girls for fun, why fixate on these few? Keep your spirits up and watch them! The higher-ups have given orders: if any one of them escapes, everyone will have to answer for it!"

The guards suddenly fell silent, until one of them muttered in a low voice.

"They've all had their 'Literary Hearts' shattered and 'Martial Gallbladders' cracked; what do they have left to escape with?"

Literary Heart?

Martial Gallbladder?

Shen Tang keenly captured these two terms.

Without warning, a sharp, impossible-to-ignore pain surged from the depths of her mind.

She heard the guard flattering the lead guard in a low, sycophantic voice: "These prisoners of the Gong clan, no matter how glorious they were in the past, that was the past. Although we brothers are only bottom-tier 'Gongshi,' you are a third-rank 'Zannia.'"

The other guards also chimed in: "That's right, that's right, Boss. These prisoners are either women or crippled废人; how could they possibly escape?"

Bottom-tier Gongshi?

Third-rank Zannia?

What on earth were these things?

Shen Tang's brows knit together, her teeth clenched. Enduring the pain that grew more intense with each wave, she was soon covered in a fine layer of cold sweat, her face pale. Although she was very restrained, her subtle, trembling movements still alerted the prisoner beside her.

The woman lifted her eyelids to glance at Shen Tang. Seeing her supporting her forehead with her hand, looking as if she were in unbearable pain, she snorted through her nose and turned her back to her.

She muttered, "Crazy woman..."

It was unknown how much time had passed when the sharp pain seemed to cross a certain threshold and, with a "boom," receded like a tide.

Shen Tang let out a light gasp as if granted amnesty, her eyes dazed and unfocused.

When her mind cleared, she found a fragment of strange, broken memories in her brain. She closed her eyes to organize them—two hundred years ago, as the world was about to be settled, stars fell like rain in the night. One "thief star" was particularly different, emitting a strange, dazzling purple light that stained the entire sky.

This meteor shower not only reversed the situation of the war, causing the hegemon who was one step away from the throne to die in regret, but it also rapidly changed the world.

Since then, the dragons were without a leader, and warlords and princes everywhere held their own armies.

The world returned to chaos, followed by the division into a hundred countries in endless warfare.

The people were living in misery when someone discovered that their bodies had undergone a miraculous change.

By studying literature and practicing martial arts, one could absorb the energy of heaven and earth, gather it in the "Dan Mansion," and temper oneself.

The Dan Mansion was divided into literary and martial. If one could condense the energy of heaven and earth into a "Dan," it became a "Literary Heart" or a "Martial Gallbladder," each with its own merits.

As these people explored one after another, a systematic classification gradually emerged.

The Literary Heart was divided into nine ranks; one could make words reality, create something from nothing, arrange troops, and decide victory from a thousand miles away while laughing and talking.

The Martial Gallbladder had twenty ranks; one man could hold the pass against ten thousand, and one could kill their way in and out of a thousand-strong army, leaving them in disarray.

Gongshi and Zannia both belonged to the Martial Gallbladder, being the bottom-tier and third-rank respectively. The highest-ranking Martial Gallbladder was the twentieth-rank "Chehou." Since the thief star fell from the sky, there had only been three people with "Chehou" level Martial Gallbladders, and every one of them was a hero whose strength could pull up mountains and whose spirit could cover the world, the pillars supporting a nation!

Shen Tang finished organizing these strange memories, her expression gradually turning speechless.

Because she had just been guessing whether she was a high-ranking Literary Heart or a high-ranking Martial Gallbladder, thinking that even if she were crippled, she would still have a better constitution than an ordinary person and might be able to use it to escape. Who would have thought that as soon as this thought arose, a small line of information popped up in her brain, extinguishing her hopes—

She was a woman.

In this world, a woman's body was like a bag with a hole in it; although she could perceive the energy of heaven and earth, she could not gather it in the Dan Mansion, and naturally, she had no so-called Literary Heart or Martial Gallbladder.

Shen Tang: "...Damn it!"

Did that broken meteor discriminate by gender too???

Just as she finished cursing in her heart, she heard the lead guard lecturing his subordinates in a serious tone.

"What do you brutes know?" The lead guard was feeling very comfortable from the flattery, but he hadn't lost his head. "The Gong clan was raided, but not everyone was caught. I heard there is still a 'Wudaifu' fleeing outside. If we run into him... humph!"

A third-rank Zannia could beat their group of bottom-tier Gongshi until they cried for their fathers and mothers. A Wudaifu belonged to the ninth rank; beating a Zannia was like a grandfather beating a grandson. If that Wudaifu came to rescue the prisoners, they would be lucky to escape with their lives...

Of course, this possibility was slim.

Everyone understood, and at the same time, they felt a lingering fear.

Because of this little episode, they had to put away their lewd thoughts and dared not act recklessly.

The surroundings were so quiet that only the chirping of insects could be heard. Shen Tang was just feeling hopeless when she keenly noticed movement in the hemp rope around her waist, followed by the sound of a small stone being rolled away.

The guard who heard the noise walked over.

He barked a warning: "What are you doing?"

The woman who had snatched Shen Tang's biscuit during the day swallowed her saliva and asked, "Sir, is there any meat soup left?"

Shen Tang, who was feigning sleep, twitched her eyebrows.