Chapter 5: 第四章 失而复得（一）

A night of deep sleep.

At the beginning of the Mao hour on the second day, as the first light of dawn emerged, Qin Yang finally woke from his heavy slumber. He took several deep breaths, feeling refreshed and invigorated. After a bout of intoxication, Qin Yang even felt that alcohol was truly a good thing; as the saying goes, "one bout of drunkenness dissolves a thousand sorrows"—loneliness, sadness, and loss simply ceased to exist. The only drawback was that it might perhaps impair his judgment.

Upon waking, Qin Yang found no physical discomfort, and he couldn't help but marvel at how pure Old Zhao's liquor was last night. It wasn't like the fake alcohol people in the modern era spoke of, which was everywhere and impossible to guard against, leaving one with a splitting headache after getting drunk.

"My alcohol tolerance is so poor, yet the ancients often used wine to forge friendships. It seems I must find an opportunity to properly make up for this lesson," Qin Yang couldn't help but let out a bitter smile.

Just as Qin Yang was about to get out of bed, thinking of practicing his martial arts outside—a habit he had cultivated since the age of ten—his hand brushed against something silky. In the dim light, Qin Yang saw that he was covered by a bright red garment, its style looking remarkably like a wedding dress. This might have been a keepsake from Qing Yao's mother, or perhaps it had been prepared for Qing Yao herself.

Qin Yang knew that this must have been his newly recognized foster father or his little sister, fearing he might catch a chill in the middle of the night, bringing out the only good thing in the house to cover him. Thinking of their sincere devotion to him, Qin Yang felt another wave of emotion in his heart.

Stepping quietly out the door, Qin Yang found an empty clearing in the distance and began his morning exercises. Beside him, the creek gurgled and the frogs continued their chirping, but none of this was enough to distract him. His palms moved like the wind, following a continuous, endless cycle of generation. When soft, they hid a needle within cotton, adhering and transforming with ease; when hard, they were like cold, explosive bursts, as swift as lightning and thunder.

This was precisely a set of Bagua Palm techniques.

When Qin Yang was ten years old, he was in elementary school. One day, while returning to the orphanage after school, an old man with white hair and a white beard suddenly blocked his path. The old man asked bluntly, "Little boy, are you willing to learn skills from me? The kind of skills that will make sure no one ever bullies you again." At school, Qin Yang was the youngest in his class and had no parents; despite his excellent grades, being bullied was a common occurrence. Being a precocious child, he didn't hesitate or feel any fear when the old man asked; he immediately followed him. In the two years that followed, he mastered the old man's entire repertoire of martial arts, the most formidable of which were this set of Bagua Palms and a set of Tai Chi.

Two years later, on the eve of Qin Yang's college entrance exams, the old man was leaving to continue his travels across the world. As they parted, the old man patted Qin Yang's small head and said affectionately, "Disciple, for those who practice martial arts, martial virtue comes first. Unless it is absolutely necessary, never take a human life! I see that your bone structure is extraordinary; you are by no means a creature of the pond. Your future destiny is yet unknown, so I hope you practice diligently; in critical moments, it may well save your life. Remember this, remember this..." With that, the old man drifted away.

For over a decade, Qin Yang did not know what level his martial arts had reached. He only knew that this set of palm and fist techniques had allowed him to escape death many times. He had always kept his master's teachings in mind and had never harmed anyone within his own country. However, on the battlefield, what he used most were the various killing skills he had learned in the special forces. Facing ferocious enemies, only one word would surface in his mind: "Kill," because he had no other choice.

The sky had brightened, and he had just finished the final movement of the palm technique. Qin Yang saw Qing Yao walking toward him from a distance, carrying several pieces of clothing.

"Brother, so you were here. You, you... I, I boiled some hot water. Go back and wash up first, change your clothes, and I'll help you wash them, okay?" Qing Yao's voice reached him before she did. For some reason, the usually silver-tongued girl was actually somewhat incoherent.

"Little sister, thank you. I... I don't need hot water, I'm used to cold water. I'll go wash in the creek; just give the clothes to me."

Qin Yang quickly took the clothes from Qing Yao's hands and, like a startled rabbit, vanished into the willow thickets by the creek in an instant. His heart was thumping wildly.

By the time Qin Yang finished washing and returned to the house, Qing Yao had already prepared breakfast. On the only small table in the house sat a large plate of white flour steamed buns, a small dish of pickled vegetables, and a large bowl of noodles topped with two golden-fried eggs.

As soon as Zhao Yun saw Qin Yang enter the room, he immediately motioned for him to sit down, pushed the bowl of noodles in front of him, and said with a smile, "Child, there isn't much good in this house, but Qing Yao fried two eggs for you. Eat up quickly."

Qing Yao was also constantly urging him from the side. The two of them watched stubbornly until Qin Yang had finished the entire bowl of noodles before they stopped.

Through several moments of shimmering tears, Qin Yang finally finished the warmest bowl of noodles of his life. Then, he bowed directly before Zhao Yun and said, "The great kindness of my foster father and little sister is something I have no way to repay, but if given the chance, I will surely serve my foster father until his old age!"

If one were to say that yesterday Qin Yang still felt some impulse, then today, Qin Yang had completely integrated his heart into this family.

Without any more reservations, Qin Yang was no longer restrained. During the meal, he began to ask his foster father and Qing Yao for details regarding his rescue. Currently, what Qin Yang cared about most were the items that had been teleported along with him, because those things determined the success or failure of his mission.

"Brother, when we rescued you, we couldn't pay much attention to that. The things on you might still be on the mountain. People rarely go to that place unless they are gathering herbs or hunting. How about I go with you to look? Maybe we can find them," Qing Yao said, her face filled with urgency as she saw Qin Yang's anxious expression.

"Alright, then I shall trouble my little sister," Qin Yang's face flushed red.

"Yang, why are you being so polite to your sister? She has to go up the mountain to gather herbs anyway. With you accompanying her, I'll just let these old bones rest at home. Haha..." Zhao Yun was a man of experience; seeing the expressions of the two over the past two days, he had already guessed most of it, and his heart was secretly delighted, intending to facilitate them.

...

The great mountains outside this Zhao Family Village were the remnants of the Taihang Mountains. Although the terrain was not extremely steep, because the vegetation had never suffered major destruction, it could be considered high mountains with dense forests. Although Qing Yao knew the way, it still took Qin Yang and Qing Yao quite some time to reach their destination after entering the mountains. The fire around the giant pit had long since died out, and the charred trees were no longer smoking. Qin Yang secretly felt lucky that he hadn't started a massive fire while he was unconscious, otherwise, his life would have been forfeit in this desolate wilderness.

The two discussed their plan and decided that Qin Yang would be responsible for searching near the pit, while Qing Yao, being familiar with the terrain, would handle the perimeter. After nearly half an hour, Qin Yang still had nothing to show for it. Just as he was filled with anxiety, Qing Yao's call drifted faintly toward him: "Brother, come quickly and look! Is this what you're looking for?"

Qin Yang rushed toward the sound. Qing Yao was standing on a mound with a look of astonishment, staring blankly at a thicket of thorns below a steep slope. This place formed a natural "hollow" shape with high sides and a low center; combined with the tall and dense thorn bushes, it was extremely well-hidden, so it was no wonder even Qing Yao had searched for so long.

Like the place where Qin Yang had been rescued, the thorn thicket was mostly charred black. A pitch-black box made of an unknown material "lay" there squarely, constantly emitting a strange light.

"That's it!" Qin Yang was overjoyed and leaped down in one bound.

Having picked up the box, Qin Yang didn't bother with Qing Yao's bewildered and confused expression; he quickly crouched down and pressed his right palm against one side of the box. After a moment, a cold female voice rang out: "Qin Yang identity information confirmed. System is automatically activating device."

After another moment, the box finally opened. Qin Yang impatiently began to take stock of his equipment, which totaled six items

A specially made lightweight ballistic vest. Less than 2mm thick and weighing less than 500 grams. It could block low-level damage to the chest and abdomen from any small crossbows or hidden weapons within 50 meters.

An improved domestic Type "26" infrared pistol. Designed in the year '26 of the Huaxia Nation and equipped to troops in '30; it had a magazine-fed mechanism with an effective range of 600 meters. It came with two full magazines, totaling 40 rounds of ammunition.

A laser blade, the latest close-combat weapon developed by the Huaxia Nation. Since it had not yet been used in actual combat, its performance remained to be determined. The handle was [X] cm long and featured a touch-sensitive automatic palmprint recognition switch. In other words, without Qin Yang's palmprint recognition, it would be useless even if someone else held it.

Two gold ingots. Each ingot weighed 500 grams, approximately equivalent to 2 *jin* (Note) during the Qin Empire.

A small bottle of medicine (six pills), also a recent scientific research achievement. While it could not bring the dead back to life, as long as a non-vital part of the body was not struck, a single small pill was enough to stop bleeding and restore physical strength.

The most important was the information transmitter, a crystallization of alien and Earth civilizations, which could traverse time and space to establish contact with the base. However, Dr. Meng Hua had warned that this thing required massive amounts of energy; with current technological levels, the energy stored in the transmitter was only enough for one use.

When choosing these items originally, Qin Yang had considered them carefully.

The ballistic vest, medicine, information transmitter, and gold were necessities. First, because protecting oneself was the key to completing the mission; second, because being able to contact the base would facilitate his return; as for the gold, it was essential for maintaining a livelihood.

Qin Yang's decision to bring a pistol instead of a sniper rifle was based on two considerations. First, a sniper rifle was too heavy and would require much more teleportation energy to transport; second, it was inconvenient to carry—if he were constantly lugging around a large case, it would easily attract attention. He brought the laser blade considering that ancients mostly engaged in close combat, and since no one knew the actual strength of people in ancient times, if he encountered danger, this blade might be his tool for a desperate counterattack.

No matter how conceited Qin Yang might be, he would never gamble with his life; being prepared was far better than being caught off guard.

===================

ps Note: There is much debate regarding the specific weight units of the Qin, but they are largely similar to the Han Dynasty. Currently, the weight units of the Han Dynasty are used as the basis for this book.

According to Ban Gu's *Book of Han: Treatise on Rites and Calendars*

Weight: 1,200 *shu*, weighing 12 *zhu*. Two *zhu* make one *liang*. Sixteen *liang* make one *jin*. Thirty *jin* make one *jun*. Four *jun* make one *shi*.

Based on these estimates, one *jin* of the Han Dynasty $\approx$ 250 grams today.

One *liang* of the Han Dynasty (if divided by 16) $\approx$ 15.625 grams $\approx$ 16 grams.

Additionally, one *shi* of millet in the Qin was worth approximately 30 Qin Banliang coins. One *jin* of gold could exchange for approximately 5,000 standard Qin Banliang coins.