Chapter 26
Qin Dynasty, Year 10, 7th Month, 23rd Day
The sun had not yet risen.
Imperial City was still quiet.
Only a few street sweepers, early-rising merchants, and thieves returning from work could be seen on the streets.
In a narrow alley behind a row of shops—
A young scholar suddenly opened his eyes.
An Jin stared blankly at the sky.
His head felt dizzy.
His memories felt chaotic.
The last thing he remembered was collapsing from hunger on a dirt road more than ten miles away from Imperial City.
After that...
Nothing.
Just as he was trying to understand what happened, a furry face appeared above him.
A yellow dog.
The dog looked down.
An Jin looked up.
The dog raised one hind leg.
An Jin's pupils shrank.
As a poor scholar who had survived eighteen years of hardship, he instantly recognized danger.
Without hesitation, he rolled sideways.
A yellow stream landed exactly where his face had been moments ago.
The dog froze.
An Jin froze.
The dog looked disappointed.
An Jin became angry.
Without thinking, he jumped up and kicked.
A tragic sound echoed through the alley.
The dog let out a heartbreaking cry and ran away while questioning why humans always targeted the same location.
An Jin snorted.
"Serves you right."
Then his expression became confused.
"Wait..."
"Where am I?"
He quickly looked around.
The alley.
The brick walls.
The street.
The nearby shops.
Everything looked familiar.
Very familiar.
A few moments later his eyes widened.
"This is Imperial City!"
His heart skipped a beat.
How?
Yesterday... or what felt like yesterday...
He had collapsed from starvation near the outskirts.
He had no money.
No food.
No place to stay.
He was practically waiting for death.
Then why was he suddenly inside the city?
Who brought him here?
A kind person?
A wealthy merchant?
Bandits?
Human traffickers?
An immortal?
The more he thought about it, the more confused he became.
Then another thought struck him.
The Imperial Exam!
An Jin's face turned pale.
"Wait!"
"The exam!"
"There were still seven days left before the exam!"
"If someone carried me away to another city then wouldn't I miss it?"
"What day is it now?"
"How long was I unconscious?"
His heart immediately became anxious.
For years he had studied for that examination.
Everything depended on it.
If he missed it because he fainted from hunger, he would probably cry blood.
Then he noticed something else.
His clothes.
They were not his.
At least not the clothes he remembered wearing.
Although still scholar robes, the fabric was cleaner, thicker, and far more expensive than anything he had ever owned.
A poor village scholar like him could never afford such clothing.
His hands immediately searched his sleeves.
Then his waist.
Soon he found a small pouch.
Opening it—
Clink.
Silver reflected the morning sunlight.
An Jin froze.
He counted once.
Then twice.
Then three times.
The result remained the same.
Two taels of silver.
Five copper coins.
For a poor scholar from Black Iron Mountain Village, this amount was a fortune.
His family could survive months with this money.
An Jin's breathing became heavier.
"This..."
"How did this happen?"
Unlike the prosperous southern regions of Qin Dynasty, Qingming Town was located near Black Iron Mountain.
The area was poor.
Most villagers survived through farming, logging, hunting, and mining.
A family's yearly income often did not exceed a few taels of silver.
Yet now...
He suddenly possessed more money than he had ever seen.
An Jin felt both happy and terrified.
Happy because he finally had money.
Terrified because he didn't know where it came from.
As he walked through the city, he quickly noticed another strange phenomenon.
The atmosphere felt different.
Every tea house.
Every restaurant.
Every street corner.
People were discussing the same things.
Imperial Examination.
Third Place.
An Jin.
Dong Family.
Dugu Family.
Assassinations.
At first An Jin ignored it.
Then he heard his own name again.
And again.
And again.
Finally he stopped beside a food stall.
"What happened?"
The stall owner looked surprised.
"You don't know?"
"Know what?"
The owner laughed.
"Brother, have you been living in a cave?"
"The examination results came out three days ago."
An Jin froze.
"Three days ago?"
"Yes."
"The whole capital knows."
An Jin felt his brain stop working.
Three days ago?
How was that possible?
The examination should not have happened yet.
At least according to his memory.
He clearly remembered there being seven days left.
What exactly happened while he was unconscious?
Half an hour later.
A large crowd surrounded the examination ranking board.
Imperial examinations were one of the most important events in Qin Dynasty.
The court selected officials through examinations.
Commoners could rise.
Scholars could become officials.
Families could change their fate.
An Jin squeezed through the crowd.
Then he saw it.
Third Place: An Jin
For several seconds his brain stopped functioning.
Third place.
Not passing.
Not barely passing.
Third place.
His legs became weak.
He almost sat on the ground.
A nearby scholar quickly supported him.
"Brother, are you alright?"
An Jin pointed at the board.
"That's me."
The scholar laughed.
"Good joke."
"No, seriously."
The scholar looked.
Then looked back.
Then looked again.
His expression immediately changed.
"YOU'RE AN JIN?!"
The surrounding crowd exploded.
Before An Jin could escape, another announcement arrived.
The Imperial Court's appointment list.
Usually, successful scholars would receive low-ranking positions.
Most started from the bottom.
Yet when An Jin saw his appointment, he nearly fainted.
Seventh-Rank Historian.
He reread it six times.
A Seventh-Rank position.
Even many county officials spent decades trying to reach that level.
The crowd immediately exploded into discussion.
Many scholars became jealous.
Others became shocked.
Some secretly wondered whether An Jin was the illegitimate son of a powerful official.
An Jin himself wanted to know the answer.
Because he was wondering the same thing.
As he walked away in a daze, he heard another conversation nearby.
"That Dong Ji really deserved it."
"Exactly. Dead because of all those scandals."
"Still, who would've thought four Dong Family grandchildren and two Dugu Family grandchildren would die?"
"Those two families nearly started a war."
"Nearly? They already fought yesterday."
"True."
The listeners laughed bitterly.
An Jin stopped walking.
Dong Ji?
Dead?
His expression became complicated.
The image of the arrogant young master immediately appeared in his mind.
The same person who had prevented inns from accepting him.
The same person who had cut off his path to food.
The same person who had indirectly driven him toward death.
And now...
He was dead.
An Jin didn't know what to feel.
Hatred?
Relief?
Shock?
In the end he simply sighed.
"The dead are dead."
Then another thought appeared.
"Wait..."
"If Dong Ji died..."
"Then who exactly helped me?"
That evening, while staying at an inn, another surprise arrived.
A letter.
From Qingming Town.
Specifically—
From Black Iron Mountain Village.
More specifically—
From his mother.
Well...
Not exactly.
Because Su Bing couldn't write.
The letter was written by a villager.
The signature at the bottom read:
Written by Diamond Lee on behalf of the villagers of Black Iron Mountain Village.
An Jin immediately opened it.
The contents left him speechless.
A mysterious doctor named Johnny Sis had arrived.
The doctor stayed three days.
During those three days, he treated almost everyone.
Old injuries.
Chronic illnesses.
Broken bones.
Lung diseases.
Fever.
Weakness.
Everything.
Even his mother's hidden illness had been completely cured.
More shocking was what followed.
A plague had begun spreading from Black Iron Mountain.
Johnny Sis not only identified the disease but also found its source.
After eliminating the source, he left behind written records explaining:
Symptoms
Causes
Treatment methods
Prevention methods
A copy of those notes was enclosed with the letter.
An Jin carefully read every page.
The explanations were simple and easy to understand.
Even ordinary villagers could follow them.
Yet the knowledge itself was profound.
An Jin immediately realized that whoever wrote this was an extremely knowledgeable person.
Perhaps even more impressive than the imperial physicians.
The room became silent.
His examination had somehow been passed.
He had somehow obtained Third Place.
He had somehow become a Seventh-Rank Historian.
His mother had been healed.
His village had been saved.
The plague had been eliminated.
And somehow all of this happened while he was unconscious.
One coincidence was luck.
Two coincidences were fate.
But this many?
Someone had clearly helped him.
A lot.
Very, very much.
Late that night.
An Jin sat by the window.
The moonlight illuminated the appointment document.
The silver pouch.
The letter.
The plague records.
Everything felt unreal.
Looking toward the night sky, An Jin slowly stood up and bowed deeply.
"Senior."
His voice was sincere.
"I don't know who you are."
"I don't know why you helped me."
"I don't even know whether I will ever meet you."
His eyes became slightly red.
"But..."
"Thank you."
"You saved my mother."
"You saved my village."
"And perhaps..."
"You saved my life."
The room remained silent.
No one answered.
Yet for some reason, An Jin felt that somewhere in this vast world, the mysterious benefactor might have heard his gratitude.
And after so many years—
He slept peacefully.
Chapter End
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